The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 122

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#122. See It Yourself and You’ll Know

Seth Macfarlane, Commander of the Western United States Defense Force, waited for Sung-jun and his party to return with a prayer in his heart.
With communications down, he had instructed motorcycle-mounted observers to report on the battlefield situation from midway points, but the reporting system had completely collapsed when an unexpectedly massive swarm of Corrosion Entities emerged from the Sierra Supply Depot, the operation area.
Even for the strongest Awakened, it was nearly impossible to break through hordes of monsters numbering in the tens of thousands, assess the situation of friendly forces, and return safely.
As a result, the last report General MacFarlane heard was the observer’s declaration of surrender: “The enemy numbers are too great—surveillance is no longer possible.”

‘Can they succeed?’

From the start, the operation had slim chances of success.
Sung-jun’s plan itself—to breach the siege surrounding the Sierra Supply Depot, which was encircled by an enormous horde of monsters, recover the armored forces within, and return safely—was absurd, but the subsequent plan to advance eastward using those recovered assets was even more preposterous.
Yet there was only one reason General MacFarlane accepted Sung-jun’s proposal.
If the Mage named Sung-jun truly abandoned cooperation and departed for Europe, it was certain that the remaining civilians in the United States would have no choice but death.
In the end, the choice before General MacFarlane was whether to do only what was possible within current means to survive a little longer.
Or to stake his life on one final gamble, knowing it would fail.
And the General had wagered everything on the man named Sung-jun, who introduced himself as a Mage.
He knew that if the operation failed, the Western Defense Force—already barely holding on—would face existential crisis.

‘If I’m going to die anyway, I’ll die struggling to the bitter end rather than withering away.’

It was a thought he could never have entertained before Sung-jun arrived.
The enemy’s power was too overwhelming; even if the Western Defense Force deployed its full strength, it would deal no more damage than an earthworm trampled beneath a boot.
But the arrival of the Mage named Sung-jun reminded General MacFarlane of a word he had forgotten: ‘hope.’
A man commanding twenty-five thousand undead immortals and two undead heroes who appeared stronger than any American Awakened.
What future joining hands with him might bring, even General MacFarlane could not predict, but at least one thing seemed certain.
He could inflict greater damage on the enemy than the entire remaining Western Defense Force could muster.
After praying in this manner for some time, standing outside the base and gazing at the horizon, he spotted a motorcycle racing toward him at full speed in the distance.

“Carter!”

Summoning Carter, his Driver, MacFarlane boarded a military vehicle prepared in advance and moved toward the direction from which the motorcycle was approaching.
His heart was so ablaze that he could not even wait for the motorcycle to arrive at the base.
Meeting the motorcycle at a midway point outside the base, the General opened the door before the vehicle had even come to a stop and ran toward the motorcycle.

—Screeeech!—

“No, sir—if you cut in front of a motorcycle traveling at that speed, what happens then?”
“Quiet. Just report. What’s the situation on the battlefield? Did the man named Sung-jun successfully infiltrate Sierra Supply Depot?”

The Soldier who had arrived on the motorcycle removed the helmet from his head, revealing his face.
He was one of three thousand Civilian Drivers who had been assigned to infiltrate Sierra Military Base alongside Sung-jun.

“I’m not certain you’ll believe the report, sir.”

***

General MacFarlane, listening to the Soldier’s report, found himself unable to close his mouth.
According to the original operation plan, while the 1st and 2nd Assault Teams pinned down the enemy, the 3rd Assault Team—which had infiltrated the base with Sung-jun—was to recover the armored equipment inside Sierra Supply Depot and then withdraw from the operation area.
But what Sung-jun had accomplished inside the base was something that diverged from the original plan by roughly two million light-years.
As the report progressed to the point where Sung-jun had disassembled an intact tank inside the base to construct a bipedal steel golem, General MacFarlane’s eyes widened as he shouted at the Soldier.

“You’re telling me that man is capable of such a thing!?”
“In truth, sir, it’s not entirely surprising. Some of the vehicles we deployed in this operation were equipment that Sung-jun enhanced through magic, were they not? Of course, simply reinforcing equipment with magic and disassembling an intact tank to create something entirely different are matters of a different dimension altogether. Speaking from the perspective of someone who witnessed that spectacle with my own eyes, it was a scene difficult to describe in words.”

At the General’s insistence that he somehow explain it, the Soldier mobilized every ounce of vocabulary at his disposal to clumsily describe the process by which Sung-jun had constructed the steel golem.
As he did, the General, imagining the scene in his mind, muttered with an expression as though his very soul had departed.

“…Then the recovery of equipment from that location was to secure materials for new equipment for the Eastern advance.”
“No, sir. I thought the same thing at first. But after witnessing what happened afterward, I realized that assumption was completely mistaken.”

According to the Soldier’s account, the steel golems Sung-jun had created possessed such formidable power that they could easily contend with Corrosion Entities of level six or below.
If multiple units combined their strength, they could fight on equal footing with level seven Corrosion Entities.
Yet even that overwhelming power, which far surpassed human Awakened, proved useless against the enemy’s devastating numerical superiority.

“It merely extended the duration we could hold out. Ultimately, those steel golems alone could not break through the enemy’s encirclement surrounding Sierra Supply Depot, let alone launch an advance to the Eastern Region.”
“But you’re here now, aren’t you? That means you broke through the encirclement, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, sir. However, I cannot report on what happened afterward. Sung-jun ordered me to report only up to this point, as he wishes to surprise you, General. That man—despite possessing such tremendous power—is remarkably cheerful and playful.”

Watching the Soldier refer to Sung-jun not as “he” but with the honorific “sir,” General MacFarlane shouted.

“Is that what you call a report!? Do you think this is a time for such pranks!? Your commanding officer is me! That’s an order! Report immediately on what happened after that!”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot do that. Ever since I swore loyalty to him in that place, I have resolved to become his faithful servant. If he commands me to advance to the Eastern Region, I will charge forward before anyone else. If he commands me to rush at the enemy and die, I will die.”
“What in the world did you witness….”
“I cannot convey the subsequent details, but showing you what was included in the earlier report with my own eyes would not violate orders, would it? Once you see it, you will understand why I swore loyalty to him.”

The Soldier finished speaking, turned around, and extended his hand toward the empty Road.
Then, in a solemn voice as if chanting an incantation, he spoke.

“Come forth. Maverick.”

In that instant, the air shimmered, and a colossal steel giant standing four meters tall materialized before us.
The Golem that Sung-jun had personally gifted to some of the Soldiers participating in the operation was a custom-made creation capable of being summoned and dismissed anywhere at the user’s desired call sign.
A warrior of steel crafted so that even ordinary Civilians without Awakened powers could operate it freely.
Observing the rideable Golem, custom-painted in a combination of white and blue to match the operator’s preferences, the Soldier spoke.

“This is a rideable robot personally bestowed upon the Soldiers participating in the operation by Sung-jun. Or rather, he instructed us to call it a Golem, so that’s what we should call it. For your information, this is my exclusive unit, so no one else can operate it. I personally chose both the custom color scheme and the call sign, Maverick.”
“What exactly is this…?”
“Since you won’t be able to operate it anyway, you’re welcome to touch it as much as you’d like.”

The steel Golem that entered General MacFarlane’s vision possessed a magnificent design that stirred something dormant deep within the man’s chest merely by looking at it.
If they could acquire enough of these steel warriors, an advance into the Western Region might no longer be merely a dream.
The Soldier then spoke to the General, who was caressing the steel Golem’s external armor with an entranced expression.

“This is an early prototype, so it’s somewhat smaller. The second Golem he created is a two-seater, so it’s considerably larger. It’s more than twice the size of this one, so you’ll be even more amazed when you see it.”
“There are other models besides this one?!”
“You’re quite surprised. But the truly astonishing part is something else entirely. And when Sung-jun arrives shortly, you’ll see it whether you want to or not. In any case, now that you’ve witnessed this machine, you understand that my report wasn’t mere boasting, don’t you?”

As the Soldier directed his will toward the steel Golem he called Maverick, the colossal steel knight knelt upon the Road.
The chest armor opened, revealing an elegant cockpit, and the Soldier, abandoning the motorcycle he’d ridden here, lightly ascended into Maverick’s control seat as if showing it off.

“Then I’ll be heading to the Military Base now. I want to surprise the ones waiting there, since I won through that fierce competition and won the rock-paper-scissors match.”
“You’re going to ride that thing to the Military Base?!”
“Wouldn’t that look absolutely spectacular?”

I had to admit, I was curious about how the Soldiers at the Military Base would react.
Perhaps for the Western United States Defense Force, which had known nothing but endless retreat since D-day, this could become the first beacon of hope they’d witnessed.
General MacFarlane spoke to the steel Golem, which was holding his motorcycle like a toy.

“Is there perhaps a spot available on your shoulder?”

***

The expected cheers never erupted.
Instead, I saw only soldiers who had grabbed their weapons and burst forth with frightened expressions, as if an enemy had suddenly appeared.
However, the soldiers who were about to fire anti-tank rockets the moment they saw General MacFarlane riding on the steel golem’s shoulders suddenly realized that the robot-like knight who had appeared so abruptly was not an enemy, but an ally.

“What in the world is that….”
“Was equipment like that hidden underground in the Sierra Supply Depot?!”
“No, that can’t be right. If something like that existed, we would have pulled it out and used it on D-day.”
“Then where did that thing come from?”

From the soldiers who had rushed out with anti-tank rockets to the mess cooks who had come outside with ladles for a better view, every soldier at JBLM had poured out to watch the golem and General MacFarlane riding on its shoulders.
And finally, when the golem knelt and lowered General MacFarlane from its shoulder to the ground, opening its cockpit, an exclamation burst from the lips of all the soldiers watching.

“Brandon!? Is that you?! You were piloting it?!”

When several soldiers who recognized the golem’s pilot shouted toward him, the pilot called Brandon broke into a wide smile.
He then explained to the gathered soldiers the circumstances thus far, details about the golem he had piloted, and the events that had unfolded at the Sierra Supply Depot.
Of course, when Sung-jun’s orders interrupted his explanation midway, impatient soldiers demanded additional details, but Brandon refused to explain what had happened afterward.
It would be faster for them to see ‘it’ with their own eyes than for him to explain what had transpired afterward.
How he managed to break through the encirclement of two Level 8 Corrosion Entities and millions of monsters to escape, what abilities the dwarf-like new person who had joined them at the Sierra Supply Depot possessed, and where the thousands of tanks that countless soldiers had risked their lives to recover had gone.
Brandon, who had kept his mouth shut despite the barrage of countless questions, finally realized that the moment he had been waiting for was approaching, and he turned his head to gaze at the horizon.

“Don’t ask questions and look over there. Then you’ll be able to understand everything.”

The moment thousands of soldiers remaining inside the base turned their heads in unison, they immediately understood why Brandon had said they would be able to understand everything.
The reason Sung-jun had been willing to make sacrifices to enter the Sierra Supply Depot.
The reason Brandon had been able to safely break through the encirclement despite the overwhelming number of enemies.
And the question of what had become of the countless monsters that had blocked our forces.
The sixty-meter-tall ‘logical answer’ to all of it was now ‘walking’ toward the base with great strides, the crimson evening glow at its back.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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