Chapter 23
AFTER PASSING through the door, Mira and Kagura bounded up the stairs by twos and threes until they arrived at the next floor.
Suddenly, their field of vision was dyed crimson. A deafening boom shook the air. It was a wave of bombardment. It made sense—once the armored man below fell, the Isuzu-sent trio would naturally have to pass through the door he guarded. A narrow passage, a small doorway—it was like shooting fish in a barrel.
“Well, this is quite the welcome party.”
“So these are the permanently stationed forces we were told about.”
Mira and Kagura brushed off the black smoke rising from below and walked on without a care. Once they were clear of the haze, they calmly looked around the clearing and glanced at the enemy forces lined up before them.
This level had metallic walls and flooring. It seemed about three hundred meters on all sides at a glance, and the forces there were emblematic of Chimera’s sheer size. In this space, even larger than the control center’s dome, stalwart dolls—technomancy dolls refitted for combat—stood fully armed, as far as the eye could see. Gregorius stood before them, the leader of this small army.
“It seems now is my time to shine.” Mira surveyed the force of over a thousand dolls and stepped forward with a small smile. Then, with the coolest look she could muster, she seized the opportunity to declare grandly, “Leave this to me. You go on ahead!”
This was the ideal situation—the perfect time to say a line she’d always wanted to say. It would perhaps rank among the top cliché fiction scenes. After Cyril had done the same before, Mira had waited for the perfect timing to get her line in. Best of all, this battlefield was actually perfectly suited to her, among all the Nine Wise Men.
Like with like—if the enemy had a vast army, then it was natural for Danblf, the One-Man Army, to stand against them. Power in numbers was Mira’s specialty, so this was truly the perfect place for her to shine.
“Okay. Have fun,” Kagura replied.
Mira’s excitement aside, Kagura knew from a strategic perspective that she was right. She didn’t waste a moment entrusting this place to Mira, and swiftly rode Tweetsuke over the enemies’ heads to pass through.
Of course, Gregorius would not stand idly by. He held his hand aloft, signaling the technomancy dolls to shoot fire at Kagura all at once. Over a thousand fireballs focused on one point and burst on impact, sending crimson flames flying in all directions.
The air shook. Faint heat brushed against Mira’s cheek. “That’s some impressive firepower.”
Eventually, the space above calmed.
“What…?” Gregorius looked up and gasped in surprise. Kagura and Tweetsuke had disappeared along with the fire. The technomancy dolls’ attack was fierce, indeed, but it wasn’t enough to totally erase a human from existence. There was only one other possibility—he searched around in a panic.
Behind Gregorius, across from the entrance where Mira stood, was Kagura. She was in front of the staircase leading to the next floor. In perfect health, she waved, turned, and skipped up the stairs. “Good luck!” she called out.
Normally, you’d protect someone as they escape after offering to let them go ahead… But it’d be stupid of me to protect a fake. Oh, how disappointing. The Kagura flying on Tweetsuke’s back had been a dummy created from Kagura’s magic. Mira knew that from the start, so she silently waved back and sighed.
“Well, it seems my job is clear.” Mira glanced from side to side as she walked toward Gregorius. The man himself clicked his tongue in irritation, turned to Mira with hateful eyes, and approached as well. The distance between them quickly shrunk, and they stopped at the ideal firing range for mages: about ten meters apart. Now that Mira was getting a close look at them, the army of dolls was quite imposing. She recalled a game battle that she’d once taken part in.
How odd. This is all reality now, but it feels like I’ve gone back to that time.
Mira found herself excited by the scene before her. Her fighting spirit was heightened, and her concentration rose. The sensation seemed to flow from within her.
“So you’re staying here all alone, against these numbers?” Gregorius asked searchingly. “You’re confident. But how are you gonna deal with the difference in power? One Pegasus or Dark Knight can’t make up for this disadvantage.” He was painfully aware of Mira’s strength, but now, she stood alone against over a thousand enemies. Normally, a summoner could make up for a numerical disadvantage somewhat by making their own numbers. However, these dolls were fully equipped with spirit weapons, so they were many times stronger than the average enemy. This was far from a normal situation.
“You’re not wrong. Such a difference in numbers is not easily overcome. Just summoning one or two helpers would still result in me being crushed under the weight of your army.” Even Mira would buckle alone against such an army. She knew that true one-man armies that could fell whole militaries on their own only existed in fiction. How ironic that she’d arrived at this answer in a previously fictional world.
“But you know…I happen to specialize in battles of numbers.”
Though this may have once been a fantasy world, her perception remained: no single person could overcome these numbers. That was why the hero known as Danblf had been given the One-Man Army nickname.
“My preparations are already complete. While we’re at it, I think it’s about time you witnessed the true power of summoning.” Mira’s eyes suddenly changed color. From their deep green emerged a clear blue.
[Immortal Arts: Hermit’s Cursed Eye]
This was an ultimate technique of the Immortal Arts that allowed the wielder to utilize the mana in nature as their own. Mira had built up her status as a one-man army through the combination of summoner and sage abilities.
[Evocation: Dark Knight]
She used the inexhaustible fount of mana without reservation, casting basic summoning magic. The summoning circle was like a black hole, from which a large black knight emerged. Waves of black flames covered its form, and two red lights were all that filled its vacant eyes.
One. Two. Ten. Twenty. A hundred. Two hundred. Magic circles linked together like chains, each spitting out a Dark Knight. It all happened in seconds. In this short of a time, Mira created a thousand Dark Knights that stood obediently behind her.
“No way…” Gregorius had lost his absolute numbers advantage in a blink. Shock was plastered on his face; he was speechless before the endless army of Dark Knights.
This man had thought he had a good grasp of Mira’s power. He couldn’t underestimate her, couldn’t let his guard down. That was why he’d gathered such a large force in one place. No matter how strong she was, she was just one mage; once she ran out of mana, she would be greatly weakened. The dolls were here to ensure she ran out.
But Mira had easily overcome that obstacle. Looking around, Gregorius surmised that he couldn’t expect her to run out of mana any time soon. At the same time, he recalled a certain verse of a heroic paean regarding Wise Man Danblf. It claimed that he was like a reaper of death who could raise a horde in seconds.
We’re not gonna make it in time, are we? No; we’re close. She’s no reaper. If I can keep her here for ten minutes, I’ve won.
Wise Man Danblf was but a legend now. Gregorius shut his eyes to shake off the nightmarish thought, suppressed his growing panic, and silently glared at Mira.
***
Mira glanced behind her, surveyed the army of knights, and murmured in satisfaction, “Hrmm, just as rehearsed. Perfect.” In order to be ready for a battle against Chimera’s full forces, she had practiced replacing the Dark Knights’ weapons with Sanctia during the summoning process.
As weapon spirits, Dark Knights were inherently weak to weapons with oni curses. However, the holy sword Sanctia resisted the curse thanks to the Spirit King’s power within her. At minimum, she could serve as a means of defending the knights. As a result, each of the summoned Dark Knights wielded their own holy sword. They were vastly stronger than any of Mira’s previous armies.
Both armies stared each other down. Finally, Gregorius’s side made the first move. The technomancy dolls all fired at once. Great fireballs rained down on Mira and her army, turning the battlefield into a hellscape in an instant.
“Even their fire is a big deal when you put a thousand together.” Mira swiftly summoned a wall of Holy Knights in front of her, peeking out from a gap between them to gaze at the waves of fire closing in. The Dark Knights swung their holy swords to shake off the flames, waiting for their opportunity.
There was a brief pause in the waves of fire. Mira seized the moment and emerged from behind her Holy Knights, spreading her legs wide to lower her center of balance. “Shall we begin our counterattack?”
[Immortal Arts Inheritance: Waning Windmill]
Mira thrust her right arm forward, whipping up roaring winds. They condensed into a tornado that pierced through the rain of fire and into the middle of the army of technomancy dolls.
“This again?!” As the whirlwind enveloped him, Gregorius withstood it by blocking it with his black staff. This spell had gotten him once before; there was no doubt the staff was a countermeasure made just for this purpose. However, it did not protect the technomancy dolls. Nearly a hundred of them were crunched into junk by the attack.
After confirming that the rain of fire had thinned, Mira healed the recoil damage on her right arm with a potion and finally gave the order to attack.
“Chaaarge!” she shouted.
All at once, the thousand-strong black army charged, shaking the floor with a low rumble. The technomancy-powered dolls ran to meet them with swords and shields in hand.
In the center of the battlefield, Mira’s army and Gregorius’s soldiers met. There was a boom as ruthlessly destroyed dolls went flying. Armed with the power of the holy sword Sanctia, the Dark Knights were more indomitable than ever.
“That’s…more than I expected.” Even Mira was surprised by this. She grinned at the newfound power of her army. However, they were up against Chimera Clausen’s technomancy dolls reinforced by the power of spirits. These abominations would not go down without a fight.
A burst of light glowed ahead. It was the light of desperation she’d witnessed at the Ancient Ring Gate.
Every single one of these dolls has a spirit bomb installed? Worse, they don’t harm allies caught in the blast. Hrmm… I wonder how they made that work?
Faced with this new information, Mira quickly began analyzing the situation. The explosions themselves were smaller than the first one she’d seen, only extending about five meters in each direction. But as they had the incredible power of spirits within, they were strong enough to blow away a Dark Knight’s armor. Meanwhile, they posed no danger to their fellow dolls.
Even when they fell, they got their revenge. That was truly an efficient strategy for disposable dolls.
“Hrmm. Not bad.” Mira’s lips curled upward as she recalled a battle from long ago. Strangely, this felt just like back then, even though it had all happened in-game. However, Mira did not dwell on the feeling; instead, she surrendered herself to the heat of the moment.
“I see… So they differ based on unit.” Mira continued to analyze the battlefield. The dolls seemed to be divided into units. Only dolls of other units would be vaporized when a nearby spirit bomb detonated. It seemed that each doll within a unit carried the same kind of spirit bombs and wore spirit gear that would defend them from that kind. That meant they couldn’t defend themselves from the spirit bombs of the other units.
Mira’s analysis was only based on superficial observations, but it was enough—now that she saw how the dolls were divided, she moved her forces to disrupt enemy lines.
“She figured it out…” The brawl became more chaotic, and Gregorius’s forces started to get wrapped up in each other’s explosions more often. When he realized what was going on, he clicked his tongue angrily and gazed at his pocket watch. “Still not ready…” he muttered. “Time for plan B, huh?”
Gregorius knew well that if not for the spirit bombs, his forces would be culled in no time due to their lesser individual strength. He quickly gave his next orders.
***
Just as Mira had planned, the dolls stopped self-destructing. In hand-to-hand combat, the dolls armed with spirit gear were still quite strong, so there were some meager losses on her side. But all in all these were little more than a rounding error; it was only a matter of time before her army annihilated the enemy forces.
But the forces of Chimera weren’t done yet. Gregorius still had options. He raised his staff, and the metal walls on either side of the floor swung open.
“My word. You still had more?” Mira asked.
Within the walls, technomancy dolls began to awaken. They numbered at least three thousand, and each was fully armed. The moment they were activated, they charged.
The dolls moved to surround Mira. Each individual was weaker than a single Dark Knight, but they outnumbered the knights nearly four to one. She could press on with her forces, but it would be a Herculean feat to control the whole army alone while they were being surrounded like this.
“This reminds me of the old days…” Superior numbers were an overpowering advantage. But as the One-Man Army herself, Mira knew that she could still make it through this.
A silent wake under the moonlight—the grave marker an unsheathed sword.
The myriad colors from the heavens guide your way.
Two rosary summoning circles met and overlapped. Even in the middle of a battlefield, Mira’s chant carried clearly, reaching Gregorius’s ears.
“Is that an incantation?! Stop her! By any means necessary!” Gregorius brandished his staff, and all of the dolls fighting Dark Knights turned toward Mira.
Ripped from the eternal wheel, the maidens called to battle.
Their swords play a dirge and cut a rainbow through the skies.
The dolls all fired at once; a rain of fire was directed at Mira. However, the majority of them were cut down by the Dark Knights’ swift reactions and holy swords, while the rest were blocked by the Holy Knights at her side.
Gregorius did not give up. The dolls began throwing their own allies at Mira. Nearly ten of them flew straight at her, lighting the fuses of the spirit bombs stored within them as they sailed through the air.
Dark Knights caught the flying dolls and jumped into the air with them in hand, carrying them away from Mira, where they exploded harmlessly with a blinding flash of light.
“Damn you!” Gregorius clicked his tongue again. The Dark Knights and Holy Knights protected Mira too well for him to interrupt her incantation. He’d wanted to stop it—especially now that he knew her true power more intimately—but all of his attempts ended in failure.
Descend to me from the evening sky, my chosen seven clad in light!
[Evocation: Valkyrie Sisters]
Energized by the last line of Mira’s chant, the rainbow-colored magic circles became gates connecting far-flung spaces. They shone brilliantly, and out stepped the oldest Valkyrie Sister, Alfina. With long, fluttering green hair like the wind itself, deep-blue light armor, gauntlets, and greaves, she was the very image of a war maiden clad in a divine aura.
Her presence was overwhelming. It took Gregorius’s breath away.
However, the evocation was not yet complete. Following Alfina, the second and third sisters emerged from the magic circles. They kept coming until the last one appeared, seventh sister Christina. Then the magic circles dispersed, their job done.
“The Sisters Seven answer your summons.” Alfina stepped forward, and the remaining six lined up behind her. They knelt as one. Though they were different in small ways, their gear all matched, and each item they bore was exquisite and beautiful.
“Right. It’s been a while, Alfina. I’m glad you all seem to be doing well.”
The virtuous warrior maidens served Mira just as retainers would their king. This was proof of just the sort of summoner Mira truly was. Gregorius was at a total loss for words. If even these divine apostles served her, was she truly human?
But what mattered most now was how to win this battle.
With the appearance of the Valkyrie Sisters, he was at a clear disadvantage. Still, his face held no resignation—only admiration. It seemed that, despite everything, his confidence in his own victory had yet to be shaken.
Gregorius glanced at the pocket watch in his hand, as if the object was the source of his confidence. With a smirk, he murmured, “Just a little longer.”
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