Larva and his cohorts had realized that despite continuously firing their strongest anti-aircraft cannons, not a single scratch appeared on the Aristotle—in fact, their attacks weren't even reaching it.
After continuing their futile assault for about two minutes, they redirected their aim toward the special cruisers flanking their fleet on either side.
"They may think they've boxed us in, but this only makes it easier for us to defeat them in detail!" Drys roared.
"All right, focus our fire on the enemy vessel ahead!"
The fleet of Neo-Magias had its 150-meter-class flagship in the center, flanked on both sides by 100-meter-class ships running alongside it.
In other words, when aiming forward or backward, it was easy to shower a target with concentrated fire from all three ships.
The three Neo-Magias vessels unleashed a combined volley from fourteen main and secondary cannons.
Since these were not meant for anti-aircraft use, their caliber was much larger, measuring roughly twenty centimeters in diameter.
From these barrels, they fired magi-stones embedded with Flame Buster—a fire-attribute spell of the highest rank within the mid-level tier.
Flame Buster was a spell that hurled a mass of flames at an opponent, detonating the instant it struck. Because its power diminished inversely with distance, embedding it into a magi-stone allowed it to activate at point-blank range, yielding tremendous destructive power.
Even so, it proved completely useless against the Azusa, which had deployed both a Magic Barrier and a Solid Barrier simultaneously.
Every single projectile burst in midair, thirty meters short of the Azusa. Naturally, the ship remained entirely unscathed.
"Gnnn... As expected of vessels belonging to the Magi Craft Meister and Deus Ex Machina!" Eas muttered bitterly.
"In that case, test out that special cannon!" Katol shouted.
Zveid immediately chimed in. "Oh, yes, exactly! Let's use that!"
With that, they began issuing orders to the remaining sailor golems.
"Ugh, our numbers have dwindled so much..." Drys grumbled. "To think our original five hundred units have dropped to barely over a hundred... And out of the two hundred combat golems, only fifty remain."
It was entirely their own doing, yet the concept of self-reflection did not seem to exist within their thought circuits.
"Damn it, this is taking too long to prepare..."
All the while, the two ships flanking the flagship kept up their bombardment, though it accomplished nothing.
(...They pay it no heed at all, do they?...Jin Nidou, what a terrifying adversary.)
Amidst the chaos, Larva alone calmly analyzed the situation.
"As long as we keep firing, they won't be able to drop their barrier either."
That assumption was completely wrong, but neither Larva nor anyone else realized it.
It took about three minutes to get the special cannon ready.
The two escort ships were still maintaining continuous fire.
"Our ammunition is running low, too..."
"Do not worry, preparations are finally complete."
Eas lined up the special cannon's sights.
"At this distance, I will not miss."
Though the targeting device had low precision, the range was merely around three hundred meters, making it easy to aim practically by eye.
"Five seconds to launch....Four... Three... Two... One..."
From aboard the Aristotle in the skies above, the entire artillery engagement was clearly visible.
"Mmgh... The fleet of Neo-Magias is truly formidable."
Rokou B. Sihalo felt threatened by the three ships relentlessly firing their cannons, but Minister of Military Affairs Buena Haiti saw it differently.
(...They are taking all that bombardment without the slightest concern... The defensive strength of Deus Ex Machina's ship is terrifying.)
Furthermore, Duke Niestol of the Jagus Principality posed a probing question:
"Maquina-dono, it appears you are not counterattacking, but is there any concern that... their bombardment might breach your barrier?"
(Your Grace... to ask about such sensitive military details so directly...)
Minister of Military Affairs Buena Haiti fretted internally, but Deus Ex Machina answered in an easygoing tone.
"Against bombardment of that caliber, we can hold out indefinitely."
Jin D added to the reassurance.
"Judging by their firepower, I believe we would be fine even if it were ten times stronger."
In reality, the barrier could withstand a thousand times that amount, but he saw no need to go into such detail.
"Ten times...!"
That meant they could easily withstand concentrated fire not just from three ships, but from thirty.
Both the Duke and the Minister of Military Affairs caught their breath.
"Oh, it looks like they're up to something," Deus Ex Machina remarked, looking down. "See? Only the flagship has ceased firing."
While the two escort vessels kept up their shelling, the flagship in the center had fallen quiet.
On Hourai Island, Laojun was observing the Neo-Magias flagship using the Peeper.
"My Lord, Reinhard-san, Saki-san. It appears they are preparing a rather interesting weapon."
"Oh?"
The first to show interest was Saki.
"Hmm... Jin, Reinhard, take a look at that. Isn't that..."
"Oho..."
It was a colossal reflector.
"A parabolic reflector, is it?" Jin murmured to himself.
"My Lord, they are likely using that to converge either light-attribute or heat-type magic."
"Probably....What should we do?"
"Yes. While there are several countermeasures, the approach depends on what they intend to focus."
"That's true."
Whether it was light or heat made a difference.
If it was visible light, it could be blocked with an Invisible barrier; if it was heat, a Solid Barrier could absorb it to a certain extent.
If it turned out to be something overwhelmingly powerful like a laser beam, they even had the Space Isolation Barrier at their disposal.
The answer became apparent almost immediately.
"It's heat, then."
Or more precisely, infrared radiation. They were applying a spell akin to Heat toward the parabolic dish, directing that focused thermal energy straight at their target.
The parabolic reflector measured roughly twenty meters in diameter. Since a standard Heat spell cast by an individual had an effective area equivalent to two meters in diameter, assuming its power scaled proportionally with surface area, it would boast roughly a hundred times the intensity.
"It's quite well thought out, but... isn't that a product of the Sciences?" Saki chimed in with a pointed remark.
"That it is," Jin replied.
"They're using magic, sure, but relying heavily on a physical object like a 'parabolic reflector' to pull it off." Reinhard also looked somewhat exasperated.
"I suppose having 'Neo' in their name makes them a bit more flexible in that regard," Jin muttered with a touch of irony.
While they were discussing it, the weapon that could only be described as a Heat Ray Convergence Cannon finally roared to life.