Magi Craft Meister 564
16 Resolution With The Demons Arc
17-13 A Second Time
Jin started remodeling Reiko.
First of all, he replaced her Ether Converter and Mana Driver with the newly created Magi Reactor.
Since the Magi Reactor took up the same space previously used by the Ether Converter and Mana Driver in Reiko’s frame, no space was wasted, which increased the device’s efficiency, causing Reiko’s output to increase by 60%.
Next up was Reiko’s armor plating.
Its first layer was the same Mithril silver casing as before.
But its second layer was made of a casing made with Grand Dragon scales.
With this, she would be sturdier than ever, but Jin also added another function to it for good measure.
That is, a very small “Magic Canceller”.
Since it was the smallest one Jin could produce, its effective radius was about 10 centimeters from Reiko’s body, but it was enough to prevent the effects of the Ether Stampede.
If Jin had given her a Magic Canceller larger than that, it would interfere with her other functions.
“And let’s make the full-scale Magic Canceller into a bracelet for her to wear.”
He made a simple Mithril silver bracelet that still looked good on Reiko.
“Okay, that’s done… Let’s do some maintenance as well.”
Reiko was made with materials of excellent durability, but considering how much work she puts out, it wouldn’t be strange for her to deteriorate faster than usual.
Jin replaced her Magical Skin, Magical Muscles, and so on, with materials that had been further improved in durability with an Ether impregnation treatment.
He also reviewed the joints and checked her skeleton for any bending or cracks. Jin smiled, satisfied with the results.
“Reiko, start.”
“Hello. Father.”
In the end, Reiko woke up with a higher degree of completion.
Jin then explained each function to Reiko.
“Then, I should pass some of the increased output to the Magic Canceller.”
“Yes. And the proper Magic Canceller is that bracelet. It has an irradiation angle of about 120 degrees in the direction of the Magi Crystal attached to it.”
“Understood.”
The other Magic Canceller would be installed on Pegasus 1 and will be used to provide aerial support in addition to Falcon 2 and 3.
Jin himself wanted to ride on Pegasus 1, but both Laojun and Reiko strongly opposed to the idea, so he eventually settled for having Deus Ex Machina there on his behalf.
＊ ＊ ＊
Meanwhile, Laojun had the Land corps dispatched to the land of the demons while continuing to retrieve as many transfer markers as he could.
By ridding an area of all of its transfer markers, Laojun was trying to eliminate Nega-Doll 001’s escape routes..
Additionally, Laojun continued to use its mobile terminal, Laozi, to keep a close watch over Nega-Doll 001’s actions.
He would watch Nega-Doll 001 from a distance, hiding behind a thin ceiling board in his base.
Though he wanted to make a hole in the ceiling board so that he could observe him directly, Laozi feared that Nega-Doll 001 might notice him, so he continued to use the Finger Golem he had sent out for reconnaissance.
(He’s been inactive for about 16 hours now. His physical condition must not be so great after all.)
Then it dawned on him. Nega-Doll 001 was not very active physically.
(No. 700672 has weakened over the years, but what if …?)
Resuming his observation on that premise, he found some facts to support that theory.
His movements were sluggish. He was by no means impaired, but seemed to be even slower than Reiko and the others when Laojun first met them.
(He’s not as well done as a homunculus when compared with No. 700672, so it wouldn’t be strange if he reached the end of his life sooner than him.)
It would be wonderful if he were to perish and cease functioning without Jin’s side having to intervene in any way, but it didn’t seem like they were going to be so lucky.
And there was another great concern regarding Nega-Doll 001, possibly the biggest one of them all..
Nega-Doll 001 would often contact someone –or something– else.
In other words, he wasn’t operating alone.
Laojun had considered the possibility of using Laozi to attack Nega-Doll 001 for a chance to potentially put an end to his plan, but this was the reason why he chose not to do that.
A mysterious companion, or maybe a subordinate. Its identity was unknown.
Whenever they contacted each other, they would use very few words and talk to each other in code.
Laojun could distinguish a name, though: “No. 13”.
There was no information on what kind of technology this unknown third-party had. So there was no way to know how things would turn out even if Nega-Doll 001 were to be defeated right at this moment.
There were too many uncertainties. In addition, Laozi wasn’t even sure he would be able to attack Nega-Doll 001 directly.
And even if he could manage to defeat him, it would be mistaking the cause for the end, and the situation could end up worse than before.
Therefore, Laozi’s objective was to identify Nega-Doll 001’s mysterious ally.
In this way, Laojun discovered another fact,
As he had guessed, Nega-Doll 001 seemed to be getting weaker.
Still, he couldn’t afford to underestimate him, since Laozi still hadn’t been able to fully identify the true identity of all of the Magi Machines in his base.
(It might be too naive of me to expect the perfect chance to come up, after all.)
After much deliberation, Laozi determined that his best course of action was to attack Nega-Doll 001 as soon as the opportunity arose.
Right at the very moment Laozi arrived at that conclusion, Nega-Doll 001 teleported away.
At first he thought he had noticed him and ran away as a result, but a few seconds later, Nega-Doll 001 came back.
(He must have launched an attack somewhere.)
Since Laozi didn’t know what Laojun knew, he could only assume that Nega-Doll 001 must have attacked some unknown clan.
The thing that made him think that he had gone to attack somewhere was that his absence had been very short. Therefore, it was possible that he had thrown something like a bombe somewhere and then instantly came back to his base.
And this “bomb” Nega-Doll 001 had thrown just so happened to be an Ether Stampede.
(You killed so many innocent people right before my eyes… I can’t hesitate anymore.)
＊ ＊ ＊
Bafrosk, the chief of the Kaigyaku clan, had a rage swirling inside him like a black smoke.
He was also having a meeting with other clans.
Among those, the “Kaijin” clan was their most reliable partner, as they had very good diplomatic relations with one another, enough for both clans to have arranged a wedding between Bafrosk’s daughter, Bemiarouge, and the Kaijin clan’s chief’s son Dogmaraud.
“Hmm, an Ether Stampede, you say? So we’re dealing with someone capable of unleashing those at will…?”
With him was Florodorus, the chief of the “Kaijin” clan. He was the father of Dogmaraud, a demon who had once confronted Reiko.
With its nearly 150 members, the “Kaijin” clan was considered to be one of the most powerful of the radical clans, rivaled only by the “Kaigyaku” clan. They specialized in Explosion Magic, and many of them could also use both Gravity Magic and Transfer Magic.
Therefore, it was natural for Bafrosk to rely on them.
He had also learned that the chief of the “Kyouran” clan had been killed, and his son, Raidoros, became their new chief.
With 80 members of “Kyouran”, 80 of “Kaijin”, and 20 of “Kaigyaku”, the survivors of each clan had joined forces and were devising a plan to battle Nega-Doll 001.
“So our opponent is called ‘Nega-Doll 001’, huh? What is that guy?”
“I’ve heard that it’s a magical creature created by our distant ancestors which has grown to despise us.”
“Hmm, it’s hard to believe such a thing. It’s far too convenient.”
“I understand that, but regardless of what he is, the fact that he killed 90% of my clan remains unchanged.”
“That is true.”
“And I don’t think it will end there. He may even set his target on the Kaijin clan next.”
Then, as the conversation had reached that point…
Someone suddenly appeared in front of them, as if they had just transferred themselves in.
“Father!”
“What? Dogmaraud!”
Having been interrupted during his meeting, Florodorus spoke with a hint of displeasure in his voice.
“The ‘Shundo’ clan has been wiped out!”
“What did you say!?”
The “Shundo” clan was a mid-level radical clan of about 50 members.
“And we were trying to get them to help us…”
Dogmaraud had been sent as a messenger to other clans because he could use Transfer Magic.
When they heard about what happened from him, they all thought it had been caused by another Ether Stampede.
“Ugh… How dare he attack our brothers…”
Although the connections within each clan were considerably strong, the ties between different clans were nothing to write home about. But this wasn’t the case anymore.
As one would expect of a situation like this, the chiefs of the radical clans agreed that they wouldn’t stand for it.
