Deus Ex Machina's Aristotle flew steadily toward the west.
Cruising at an altitude of roughly 3,000 meters, it maintained a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour.
With the distance between Avalon and Arcadia measuring approximately 480 kilometers, the entire flight would take around two and a half hours.
Since all of the invited guests had flown aboard airships before, none of them were overly giddy, yet they still gazed down at the passing landscape with keen fascination.
"The view from the sky truly is magnificent, isn't it?"
"Indeed it is. Ah, we should be approaching the southernmost tip of the Celuroa Kingdom before long."
Fione Fias and Tomax Bartman chatted amiably about the scenery unfolding below.
However...
"The interior of the Aristotle... What breathtaking craftsmanship... Ahh..."
Illumina Ratkin, the Chief Administrator's Adjutant and a former disciple of Marikka, examined every detail of the Aristotle with unbridled magi craftsman curiosity.
"Wattes, look—this is the technical prowess of Lord Maquina, who stands shoulder to shoulder with Jin-sama."
"Yes, it is truly something to behold."
"Elena-sama, we must redouble our efforts as well."
Elena and her companions were enjoying the rare journey in their own way, treating it as an invaluable learning opportunity.
Clouds drifted beneath the hull, the land fell away behind them, and soon an artificial island floating in the vast expanse of blue sea came into view.
"I-Is that...?" someone muttered upon spotting the landmass.
"Yes, that is Arcadia," Maquina replied. "It is my base of operations. Earth was piled high and boulders were stacked atop a cylindrical foundation one kilometer in diameter to forge an artificial island."
"I-Incredible..."
While smaller in surface area than the two-kilometer-wide Avalon, the fact that it had been crafted to blend seamlessly into nature made it a marvel in its own right.
"Roughly four hundred years ago, Jin-dono—the Second Generation Magi Craft Meister—and the First Generation Deus Ex Machina joined hands to build it."
"Aha... Technical prowess truly beyond imagination." Tomax Bartman was awed from the bottom of his heart.
And then...
"Our escort has arrived to greet us," Maquina added, prompting their eyes to widen even further.
"They are called the Komet."
These were sleek, slender airships, each measuring twenty meters long and five meters wide. A full fleet of twenty was airborne.
They floated in flawless formation, ten ships flanking either side of the Aristotle's flight path.
"They make up my Air Force, capable of reaching a top speed of three hundred kilometers per hour."
"T-That's..."
"Astounding."
With the sole exception of Elena, everyone who heard those numbers was left in sheer disbelief.
The Aristotle began its gradual descent.
"The peak in the center is Mount Olympus. It rises one hundred and eighty meters above the surrounding plains."
In truth, since the plains—the surface plateau of the artificial island—sat about thirty meters above sea level, the peak's true elevation was 210 meters.
"That mountain is artificial as well, I presume?"
"Indeed," Maquina confirmed with a nod to Tomax Bartman's question. "I am told the First Generation Maquina and the Second Generation Magi Craft Meister Jin Nidou-dono spent years hauling earth and stone to raise it."
"Incredible..."
Leaving Elena aside once more, the guests could only marvel at the sheer magnitude of such an undertaking.
"There is an airfield on the south side."
Sprawled across the southern end of Arcadia lay a dull silver expanse, roughly three hundred meters square, serving as the landing grounds.
The Aristotle glided down smoothly between the escorting Komets and touched down on the airfield.
A gangway was extended, and Maquina stepped down first to welcome the guests as they followed.
"Welcome to my Arcadia."
Drawn up in neat ranks before them stood twenty units of the Arma, the island's Army.
Since Tomax Bartman and the rest of the Avalon contingency were already familiar with the Arma, they took no shock in the sight; however, Wattes Schretzer and Edda Eema, who had accompanied Elena, could only stare wide-eyed.
"Is the airfield here made entirely of metal?" Illumina Ratkin asked.
The surface of the airfield was forged from embossed 18-12 stainless steel to provide slip resistance.
Beyond this landing area, the outer plating encasing the entirety of Arcadia's main superstructure was composed of 64 light silver (a titanium alloy) on the exterior and orichalcum (magi-beryllium copper) on the interior, sandwiching a layer of mithril mesh between them—though this fact remained undisclosed.
"Yes. You see, this platform doubles as a hangar," Maquina explained as he ushered the guests into a transport Golem automobile driven by Arma 1.
"A-A hangar, you say?"
"Indeed. Take a look."
As soon as the Golem automobile carrying Maquina's party cleared the airfield, the landed Aristotle lifted off once more, hovering roughly fifty meters in the air.
In the very next instant, the airfield split in two.
"What?!"
"H-How can this be?!"
The massive metal plates forming the airfield parted down the center, sliding open to the left and right.
Owing to the immense scale of the mechanism, it took nearly five minutes for the 300-meter square aperture to open completely.
"The space below serves as an underground hangar and dock."
"..."
Confronted by engineering on such a monumental scale, the human guests were struck completely dumb.
Only Elena—having been informed beforehand, and possessing the natural poker face of an automata—remained entirely unfazed.
"Even Avalon lacks an underground dock of this magnitude," Illumina Ratkin breathed, her voice thick with wonder.
"The Aristotle measures a full one hundred meters in length, after all. A dock of this scale is quite necessary."
"Even so, it's astonishing... It sounds cliché, but words fail me."
Once the Aristotle and the twenty descending Komets were securely housed within the cavernous depths, the massive doors slowly slid shut, returning the airfield to a seamless flat surface.
"If it were merely a routine landing, I wouldn't go through the trouble of stowing the ship every time. I simply wanted to give you a proper demonstration of what Arcadia is capable of."
The Golem automobile began to cruise forward smoothly, heading straight toward Mount Olympus towering in the distance.
At the foot of the mountain, a massive entryway parted.
"My base is located inside Mount Olympus."
Maquina explained that the facility had been built directly into the artificial peak.
"The mountain was constructed by layering stone over a hollow framework, you see."
Hearing this, the guests could only murmur in awe.
"Good heavens..."
"To think that mortal hands could construct such a thing..."
The Golem automobile passed through the entrance at the base of the mountain and drove inside.
"It's remarkably bright in here."
The passage ceiling was lined with Ether Lights (AL), illuminating the way with ample brilliance.
At the end of the corridor, the vehicle pulled up and stopped within a colossal circular hall.
"Please step out here."
Maquina led the disembarking guests toward an elevator situated at the center of the hall.
"This will take us up to the commander room."
The guests boarded the elevator alongside Maquina, which was likewise circular in design.
"Well then, let us proceed."
The top floor accessed by the lift was the central commander room of Arcadia.