"Our goal is to create a 'magic-supremacist state.'"
Eas answered the question posed by Duke Niestol Kirillo Jagus of the Jagus Principality.
"Do you honestly believe such a thing is possible?!"
When the Duke demanded in response, Eas gave a smirk with his distorted face.
"It is."
"And just how do you plan on doing that? Let's hear it," Deus Ex Machina asked, his voice tinged with irritation.
"Hehehe, you truly wish to know?"
This time, Zveid spoke up, followed by Drys in a low voice.
"...Why don't we tell them?"
"...Duke Niestol Kirillo Jagus of the Jagus Principality, shouldn't you know better than anyone?"
This came from Katol.
"O Duke of the Jagus Principality. How is it that you rule over your citizens?" Suenk laid it out bluntly.
"...Are you saying... you intend to brainwash and subjugate them...?"
The Duke, his face growing slightly pale, asked back in a hollow voice, to which Eas replied once more:
"Precisely."
"D-Don't make a mockery of this!"
The Duke of the Jagus Principality flew into a rage, yet the five "individuals" brushed off his anger like wind through willows.
"Why so indignant? Is that not what you yourself have done?" Suenk said to the Duke with an air of complete nonchalance.
"Guh..."
Hearing that, the Duke was left utterly speechless.
"...I see. Attacking the Eastern Country allied with the World Conference is difficult, so you targeted the unaligned Four Principalities instead," Deus Ex Machina remarked.
Larva smirked at the deduction.
"Quite perceptive. That is correct."
"...And the answer to 'why now' is that you wanted to bring down the Four Principalities before they officially joined the World Conference, right?" Jin D said this time. "What's more, you couldn't make your move while Markitus was around. Isn't that so?"
"Hmph, exactly right, 'Magi Craft Meister,'" Larva answered Jin D with a grin. "Because the three principalities other than the Jagus Principality united faster than we anticipated, we were forced to deploy with only these three ships against our wishes, but..."
I see. If they'd had more time, they intended to bring the ships left behind at the Western Pandor ruins as well, Laojun thought while operating Jin D.
"Thanks to you, our plans were severely disrupted, forcing us to temporarily retreat....However."
Larva's face distorted into another smirk, the nuanced expression laying bare the vast difference in craftsmanship between him and the other five "individuals."
"If we finish you off right here, our threat will be cut in half!" Eas declared excitedly.
"'Like moths to a flame,' is it?" Jin D muttered, though no one present save for Deus Ex Machina seemed capable of grasping the idiom.
"...In other words, you never intended to negotiate from the start?!" the Duke of the Jagus Principality fumed.
"Naturally. Coming straight into our grasp shows an unbelievable lack of wits."
"This is where it ends for you all."
Katol and Suenk sneered in mockery.
"Gnugh..."
"Your Grace, over here!"
Technical officer Roa Temp kicked his chair back, leaped to his feet, and shielded the Duke behind him.
Minister of Military Affairs Buena Haiti also stepped forward, taking up a defensive stance behind the Duke.
Rokou B. Sihalo, meanwhile... seemed completely paralyzed with fear in his chair, pale and trembling violently.
Jin D and Deus Ex Machina quietly rose from their seats, with Reiko and Rei standing steadfastly at their sides.
"Magi Craft Meister, Deus Ex Machina, this is the end for you as well!"
The sailor golems in the room brandished swords drawn from an unseen source.
Yet neither Jin D nor Deus Ex Machina showed the slightest hint of panic.
"...I get what you're trying to say. But you see, coming here was our strategy to gather all kinds of useful information."
At Jin D's calm words, Eas looked puzzled.
"?"
"Did you really think we wouldn't anticipate an ambush from you?"
"Did you look down on Jin and me that much?"
Jin D and Deus Ex Machina addressed Eas—or rather, all six of them.
"What?"
The five "individuals" wore bewildered looks. Only Larva's expression remained completely unchanged.
"Your Grace, and the rest of you, stay calm. Move a little closer this way."
Deus Ex Machina called the four from the Jagus Principality over to his side.
"Why would you assume we'd let ourselves be killed without a fight? That's because..."
Before Jin D could finish speaking, Larva barked an order.
"Get them!"
Almost simultaneously, Jin D and Deus Ex Machina gave their own concise commands.
"Reiko!"
"Rei!"
With that, the two girls called out:
"'Barrier.'"
"'Barrier.'"
They woke up their physical and magical defense "barrier."
"U-Uwah!"
Two sailor golems swung their swords down toward the Duke of the Jagus Principality, drawing an involuntary scream from him.
However, the blades were stopped cold thirty centimeters in front of the Duke by an invisible wall.
"...?"
"A barrier has been erected around us. Make sure not to wander far from my side," Deus Ex Machina explained to the Jagus delegation.
Jin D was likewise enveloped in a barrier smaller than Deus Ex Machina's, shielding only himself.
Meanwhile, Reiko and Rei ran rampant in all directions.
The twenty sailor golems stationed in the room were whittled down before their very eyes.
With a single kick from Reiko, two or three sailor golems were caught in the blow and sent flying.
Rei also tore through them, using her fists, elbows, and knees to slaughter the sailor golems with brutal efficiency.
"Kuh, gang up on the smaller one all at once!" Eas ordered the remaining five to attack Reiko.
However, five units were short by orders of magnitude against her.
After Reiko spun her body around once, what remained were no longer sailor golems, but heaps of scrap.