We materialized on the roof of a building.
We were quite a distance from where the Demon King’s Army, led by Grom, was currently engaged—closer to the capital’s center. Perhaps because the residents had already finished evacuating, the area was eerily silent. Even the undead I had dispatched were sparse here. As for the living, I could see a group of what appeared to be mercenaries fighting a pocket of undead in the distance, but they didn't seem to notice us. I left them to it; there was no need to go out of my way to kill them.
Beside me, Logan wiped the sweat trickling down his cheek. Though his expression remained composed, I could see the tension in his frame. He let out a long, heavy breath.
"That weapon from earlier was staggering. Its power rivaled that of high-tier magic."
"If they are mass-producing those, they are a force to be feared indeed," I replied.
As I spoke, I felt a growing certainty that my predictions were correct. I could feel similar signatures scattered across various parts of the capital. They were likely more tanks—at least a hundred of them from what I could sense. To counter the Demon King’s Army, the Kingdom must have been steadily manufacturing them to bolster their numbers.
Still, there weren't enough to cover the entire capital, so the tanks were distributed in even intervals. They moved between evacuation sites and the front lines of the Demon King’s Army, alternating between escort duties and interception. Despite the distance between units, the tanks moved with impressive coordination.
They likely had a sophisticated communication network in place. That explained how they could respond to the Demon King’s Army’s assault with such proficiency. It wasn't surprising; for a nation like the Technomagic Kingdom, developing superior communication technology would be a priority.
I decided to shroud the entire capital in interference magic. A black mist manifested around me before the wind carried it away, dispersing it through the streets. With this, long-distance communication via magic would become nearly impossible. Unless they possessed an incredible amount of output, they wouldn't be able to hold a proper conversation.
As the caster, I was the only one unaffected. I established and maintained a telepathic link with my executives, adjusting it so they could initiate contact from their side as well. It was vital that I remain reachable at all times.
While I worked, Logan was busy determining the direction of the Secret Stone. It was hidden by advanced concealment techniques; even I found it difficult to identify through magic power alone. It could only be found by tracing the trace amounts of power leaking from the Great Spirit—a feat possible only for races closely attuned to spirits, such as the Elves.
However, precise detection was physically draining. For that reason, I had told Logan to focus only on the general direction for now. By limiting his focus, he could conserve his energy. We could save the precise tracking for when we were closer.
Having finished his assessment, Logan pointed down the street. He steadied his breathing before reporting his findings.
"The direction hasn't shifted. Keep teleporting at the same intervals."
"Understood."
I began to manifest the spell, but my attention was caught by a tank passing on the road below. It was almost directly beneath us, having likely cut through a side street. Fortunately or otherwise, it seemed the crew had spotted us.
The tank screeched to a halt, and its barrel began to rotate. It tried to bring its main gun to bear, but the mechanism struggled. By design, there was a limit to how high the barrel could tilt. It couldn't target us while we were positioned directly above it.
The crew seemed to panic, as the tank's movements became visibly frantic. After jerking the barrel up, down, and side-to-side for a moment, the tank began to slowly reverse. It was likely trying to gain enough distance to bring us into its line of fire.
Powerful as those shells were at long range, the machine became utterly vulnerable once the distance was closed. Perhaps accompanying them with golem escorts would have been the correct tactical choice. It seemed the tank was a weapon meant to be operated from a specific distance; however, between their lack of numbers and the speed of our infiltration, they were unable to utilize them effectively.
"I'll handle this," Logan said, invoking his spirit magic.
A row of trees growing alongside the tank began to writhe. Their branches lashed out, entwining the vehicle in a tight grip. I watched as they began to leech its mana—the speed of the drain was enough to have withered a human into a husk in seconds.
Stripped of its fuel, the tank went completely dead. There was no risk of the cannon misfiring now. Logan looked down at the trapped machine and offered a cool, faint smile.
"I've neutralized it without damaging the frame. It should serve as a perfect specimen for analysis."
"I appreciate it," I said, offering him my sincere thanks.
Logan was a man unsuited for direct clashes of brute force. He excelled at technical, ingenious methods—fields where even I couldn't match him. The only reason he had struggled against the Empire's Army in the past was that he had a village of people to protect.
Logan’s true potential lay in guerrilla warfare where he could move freely. He was the type of man who could seize a brutal victory by discarding his pride or personal hang-ups. His versatile magic was capable of burying an army of ten thousand. In that sense, he was a specialist in the same vein as Dorda, though their methods were polar opposites.
Two crew members came rolling out of the silenced tank. As they attempted to flee, I sent spears of miasma whistling through the air to transfix them. Once they rose again as undead, they began to wander aimlessly.
"There they are! Fire!"
A soldier’s shout erupted from a nearby building, and a volley of bullets whistled toward us almost instantly. I deflected them with a warding spell. It seemed our flashy takedown of the tank had finally given away our position.
There was no reason to linger, so I used concealment magic to mask our presence as I triggered the next teleportation. Following Logan's directions, we vanished and reappeared on another rooftop further in.
Logan narrowed his eyes and pointed toward a specific landmark.
"...There."
Standing before us was a massive, windowless structure. It was at least thirty stories tall, coated in the same clinical white as the rest of the city. It dwarfed every surrounding building. Its presence was profoundly unnatural.
It appeared the Secret Stone was held within.
The Technomagic Army was massed in front of the building. A sea of tanks and golems stood guard, and magic cannons had been positioned at key intervals. Soldiers armed with guns and wearing strange, reinforced armor patrolled the perimeter.
A security detail? If the Secret Stone was being kept there, such heavy protection made sense. Thanks to my concealment magic, the army had yet to notice us. Had we been exposed, we would have been buried under a mountain of fire immediately.
I sensed a spy hiding within a nearby house—one of the agents assigned to watch this sector. I opened a telepathic channel.
"How is the situation?"
"The target is secure, My Lord. John Doe is currently holed up inside that building. There have been no signs of him attempting to leave."
"I see."
It was a coincidence, but John Doe was inside the same building as our target. This was convenient; it would allow me to settle both objectives at once and save me the effort of a second search.
And yet, a heavy sense of foreboding settled in my chest.
The Secret Stone—the ultimate magical catalyst—and a technician with genius-level intellect. It was difficult to believe their presence in the same location was a mere coincidence. If they were simply being kept there for their own protection, that would be one thing. But I had a feeling it was something else entirely.
I should prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Taking the current situation into account, I reached a grim conclusion. The invasion was proceeding smoothly, but I couldn't afford a moment of complacency. The Technomagic Kingdom had all the pieces on the board for something truly dangerous.
I would need to keep my guard up when I finally came face-to-face with John Doe.