The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 123

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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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#123. Salvation

The bipedal walking fortress Atlas, weighing a staggering 23,000 tons, possessed such an unstable structure that it would collapse upon itself without Sung-jun’s constant mana supply, given its enormous size and weight.
Thus, upon arriving at JBLM, even after reaching the base, Sung-jun could not leave the position of the mana reactor at the center of Atlas and had to continuously operate mana without rest. Consequently, for the results briefing conducted in the central control room within Atlas, he sent a mana-constructed phantom of himself in his stead rather than attending in person.

“It is unfortunate. I wished to meet you in person and express my gratitude.”

General MacFarlane spoke toward Sung-jun’s phantom, constructed from mana.
Then Sung-jun’s phantom shook his head and replied to him.

“There is no need for gratitude. If anything, I am pushing forward with this operation and those to follow because of my own objective—to defeat the Corrosion Entity of apocalyptic grade that has appeared in the United States.”
“However, through this process, the United States of America will incur a debt to you that cannot be repaid. Moreover, the true reason I wish to express gratitude is not merely because we succeeded in an operation we could never have attempted without your assistance. It is because you have returned to us something precious that we had forgotten for so long.”
“Something forgotten?”
“Hope.”

General MacFarlane’s words were not without reason.
Witnessing the colossal mobile fortress—something they could not have imagined even in their dreams—walking toward the base of its own accord, the eyes of the soldiers at the base began to overflow with the emotion of ‘hope’ for the first time since D-day.
An existence that inspired the belief that humanity could achieve victory not merely by witnessing it fight, but simply by standing and walking.
That was the true power of Atlas, created by Sung-jun and Barden.

“The original plan was to recover the tanks and armored vehicles stored at Sierra Supply Depot, then strengthen them with your magic before advancing eastward. However, it now seems far more is possible. Therefore, I would like to alter the existing operation to advance eastward and simultaneously conduct the rescue of remaining civilians. What do you think?”

General MacFarlane, having received information about Barden’s newly joined abilities, the two types of steel golems Sung-jun had created, and finally the specific specifications of Atlas during the operation results briefing before the strategy conference, immediately discarded his existing operational plan.
If he could lure only the Level 8 quasi-apocalyptic grade Corrosion Entities scattered throughout the Western Region toward Atlas and eliminate them, the remaining Level 7 and below Corrosion Entities could be sufficiently handled with only the support of the steel golems Sung-jun had created.
Upon hearing the general’s explanation that if this were possible, not only advancing westward but also reclaiming the Eastern Region occupied by monsters would be entirely feasible, Sung-jun, who had been contemplating briefly, spoke.

“I fully understand the general’s desire to reclaim the Eastern Region for the surviving civilians, but unfortunately, it is impossible with our current military strength.”
“Is there a reason you believe so?”
“The greatest problem is insufficient manpower. If we combine all our armored forces currently available, we have only one mobile fortress Atlas, 400 two-seater steel golems, and 500 one-seater steel golems in total.
Even during our journey here, we continuously repaired damaged golems and manufactured new ones in the production space within Atlas, but we lack materials to create more. We cannot produce additional golems with the materials we brought from Sierra Supply Depot.”

The problem was not offense but defense.
Dispersing the created steel golems widely to fight and defeat Corrosion Entities in each region, and defending civilian areas against enemies that recognize our presence and swarm like packs of dogs—these presented entirely different levels of difficulty.
Therefore, Sung-jun believed that the reclamation plan proposed by General MacFarlane was impossible with only the current forces.

“Critically, we don’t yet know exactly how many Level 8 Corrosion Entities remain on the American Continent. This time, we were fortunate to face and defeat two Level 8 Corrosion Entities simultaneously, but if our enemies realize Atlas exists and deploy ten, twenty, or more Level 8 Corrosion Entities to attack us, even Atlas may not be able to withstand it.”
“I wish we could operate Atlas several more times, but since I’m the only Mage capable of serving as a mana conduit, we must accept that our current forces are all we have.”
“Then your plan is….”
“We must deploy all available forces according to the original operation and eliminate the Apocalypse-class Corrosion Entity in the Eastern Region within the shortest possible time. Before our enemies catch on to our intentions and summon all their forces from Canada and South America here.”

Yet my plan to strike at the enemy’s core with only our current forces wasn’t without its own problems.
Considering Atlas’s speed—having to traverse the enormous distance crossing the American Continent from east to west on foot—it was nearly impossible to prevent the enemy from gathering reinforcements, no matter how quickly we advanced.

“With our current advance speed, it will take at least two weeks to reach the Eastern Region. If we had only the relatively faster small golems, we could advance more quickly, but this colossal moving fortress has its limits.”

Of course, I was human and needed sleep.
Certainly, I could supply enough mana to sustain Atlas’s massive body even while sleeping, but for ‘active movements’ like advancing, using mana cannons, or wielding shields, I needed to maintain intense concentration while awake.
Therefore, the maximum distance Atlas could travel in a single day was approximately 350 kilometers.
And that was only if we spent nearly sixteen hours a day moving.

“The enemy’s movement speed will be faster than ours. Two weeks is ample time for them to concentrate all their forces in the Eastern Region to block us. So my operation to reclaim the Western Region isn’t merely to save American citizens—it’s also a diversionary tactic for our advance toward the west.”
“A diversionary tactic, you say….”
“If we disperse our forces and make them believe our objective is reclaiming the Western Region rather than advancing eastward, they’ll disperse their forces too. Since Atlas is their greatest threat right now, they’ll deploy Level 8 Corrosion Entities to attack the widely scattered steel golems in areas without Atlas. Once we identify the enemy’s exact numbers and positions that way, all that remains is finding the optimal breakthrough route and charging through.”
“You mean to keep our true objective hidden from them?”
“Exactly.”

I found the proposal intriguing and fell into brief contemplation.
After all, if possible, I wanted to save even a few more surviving citizens in the Western Region.
But even as a diversionary tactic, covering the entire vast US Western Region was impossible, so I needed more materials to create additional steel golems.
Moreover, considering the inevitably slower movement schedule, I needed to equip Atlas with additional living facilities so that the ten thousand soldiers inside could live comfortably.
As I weighed the merits and drawbacks of both plans, the General spoke.

“The operation I’m thinking of isn’t toward the west, but toward the south. Specifically, to San Francisco, 1,200 kilometers to the south.”

Seeing my confusion at the suggestion to go to a city already destroyed and reduced to ruins, the General continued.

“You’ve already used equipment from the Sierra Supply Depot to create steel golems and the moving fortress. That means if we have materials, creating even more golems should be possible.”
“It’s certainly possible, but why San Francisco? Unlike the Sierra Army Depot, it’s simply a major city where people lived, and now it’s completely collapsed into ruins, isn’t it?”
“There’s an aircraft carrier there. An enormous steel structure made of more than enough steel for you to use as golem materials.”
“But the soldiers told me that all remaining U.S. Navy carriers were sunk after D-day….”

“That’s referring to active carriers. In Alameda, a short distance from San Francisco, there’s a museum made from a decommissioned aircraft carrier. The USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum. Come with me there. Let’s resurrect that retired hero who served in World War II and the Vietnam War. A retired hero who remained with the American people as a museum even after decommissioning—let it save the despairing American people once more.”
“And let’s revive the retired hero who was active in World War II and the Vietnam War. So that this hero, who has continued to be with the American people as a museum even after retirement, can save the American people who have fallen into despair once more.”

***

The reason the Marine, Aviation, and Space Museum built using the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Hornet in Alameda could remain in relatively intact condition was fortunately because the museum had entered a period of major maintenance on the day of D-day.
Since only a minimal number of personnel were stationed at the museum, which was on standby in preparation for the next operation, it avoided large-scale attacks from enemies, and after D-day, everyone was too busy surviving to pay any attention to an aircraft carrier being used as a museum.
Therefore, the Hornet suffered no significant damage beyond attacks from the few Corrosion Entities that had infiltrated the museum interior on D-day and could be preserved in a relatively intact state.
Even some of the combat aircraft displayed for exhibition remained in perfect condition.
However, since these aircraft were only placed there for exhibition purposes, whether they could actually operate was an entirely separate matter, though this was not particularly important to Sung-jun.
After all, what Sung-jun needed was only the components that could be disassembled and used as materials for golems.

“My son used to enjoy visiting this place, so I remember it well. It doesn’t carry nearly a hundred like during active service, but there are about seventeen combat aircraft on display. Among them are the F-14A Tomcat, F-4S Phantom II, F-8J Crusader, and F/A-18C Hornet. There are also World War II aircraft like the Avenger and Wildcat.”

As General MacFarlane traveled aboard the Atlas to reach Alameda, he shared with Sung-jun’s phantom information about the USS Hornet Marine, Aviation, and Space Museum that he knew.
From the historical fact that the original Hornet had sunk and the one now on display was another aircraft carrier that inherited the name of the previously sunken Hornet, to stories about the major facilities inside.
Sung-jun, who had been confined within the mana conduit and forced to continue tedious mana operations, listened to the General’s account with pleasure and learned of the legendary achievements accomplished by the Hornet.
The Hornet they now sought was a war hero that had shot down hundreds of Japanese aircraft in the Philippine Sea Battle, and it was a historic ship that had commanded the landing operations at Iwo Jima and Okinawa and retrieved the spacecraft of Apollo 11, humanity’s first lunar landing mission, from the ocean.
The Hornet as described by the General was a great vessel that had accomplished feats sufficient to become a museum in its own right.
To the point where it felt regrettable to disassemble it and turn it into a golem.
However, the General instead persuaded Sung-jun that being reborn as a golem and saving American citizens would be what the Hornet would wish for, and thus Sung-jun, arriving at Alameda 1,200 kilometers south of JBLM, finally discovered the decommissioned aircraft carrier the General had spoken of.

“That is the USS Hornet. A hero of World War II and an aircraft carrier that is practically the history of the US Navy itself.”

Beside General MacFarlane, gazing at the Hornet displayed on the screen with pride in his expression, Sung-jun’s phantom nodded.
Then he spoke to the General.

“A magnificent ship indeed.”
“I agree. Though the vessel was built nearly a hundred years ago, it still looks magnificent. It feels somewhat regrettable that we must now disassemble that magnificent ship.”
“No. We won’t disassemble it.”

Upon hearing Sung-jun’s words, General MacFarlane turned to look at him with surprised eyes.
Then Sung-jun’s phantom spoke while gazing at the Hornet.

“As you said, it’s too magnificent a vessel to disassemble and use as materials. So we’ll use it as is.”
“Use it as is, you say….”
“I’ll enchant it with magic to make it capable of flying.”

A new plan Sung-jun had formed after learning about the Hornet’s history on the way to Alameda.
It was to create an “aerial carrier” that would fly through the sky using the Hornet, a hero of World War II, carrying thousands of steel golems.

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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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