The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 131

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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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#131. Fly, Golem

The winged golems streaking across the sky and conducting aerial bombardment were a form I had never encountered before.
These were newly created golems, born from technology Barden had developed by analyzing the F-14 Tomcat from the USS Hornet—once an aerospace museum before being retrofitted as an airborne carrier.
Like bombers soaring through the heavens, these golems unleashed torrents of ordnance from their entire frames onto the ground below, then dutifully returned to the Hive Hornet to resupply before being deployed back to the battlefield.
Even as these initial assault golems diligently shuttled between the battlefield and the Hive Hornet, the flagship itself never ceased its advance, hurtling at full speed toward Atlas’s position.

“The long-range support units standing by on deck are to commence fire the moment enemies enter their effective range, without awaiting further orders.”
[Understood. All artillery batteries, memorize your firing sequence according to weapon range! All units, stand by for fire!]

The flying golems Barden had created were capable of vertical takeoff and landing, requiring no expansive runway for their return to the carrier for maintenance.
Thanks to this, the Hive Hornet’s deck maintained considerable free space even as numerous flying golems traversed it, and across that open expanse, golems mounted with long-range cannons bearing massive barrels on their backs stood arrayed in neat rows and columns, resembling the gun turrets of a battleship.

[Range confirmed. Mana coordinates locked. Commence barrage!]

Golems equipped with long-range missile launchers that resembled enormous boxes mounted on their backs opened fire first.
Following in succession, golems bearing massive cannons nearly ten meters in length initiated their assault, and as the distance to the enemy closed further, multiple rocket launchers and missile pods erupted in unison.
While the ten-meter-tall heavy golems provided supporting fire, the four-meter-tall light golems transported mountainous stacks of ammunition and missiles through vertical elevators connected to the deck, ferrying them to the firing golems.

“Once the drop commences, our first priority is to intercept the insectoid vermin rushing toward Atlas! The enemy numbers are vast—maintain your vigilance!”

At that same moment, countless golems stood within the drop ports inside the Hive Hornet, awaiting their turn.
The instant the green light signaling the beginning of the drop illuminated, they would descend to the ground to thoroughly eliminate the insects attacking our forces.
Within the frames of golems designed for close-quarters combat, equipped with swords and shields, Skeleton Soldiers I had summoned served as auxiliary pilots.

-Whiiiiiir~Whiiiiiir~~-

As a massive siren warning of imminent drop blared and the hangar floor began to slowly open, a writhing mass of insectoid Corrosion Entities became visible, so densely packed the ground itself disappeared beneath their forms.
The moment we plunged into that abyss, a terrifying wave of monsters threatened to shred our limbs in an instant.
Yet the Soldiers riding in the golems showed no trace of fear, merely waiting for the red light above their heads to shift to green.
And finally, as the signal chimed with a ‘zing’ and the green light illuminated, they erupted in cheers and hurled themselves into the chasm below.

“Let’s goooooo!!!”
“Crush them!!”

As dozens of tons of steel golems plummeted from the Hive Hornet to the ground, massive pillars of earth erupted skyward at the impact sites.
The steel knights, having leaped from a thousand meters above, quickly regained their footing and wielded sword and shield against the monsters surging toward them, indiscriminately striking down every creature in sight.

“Assault unit operations initiated.”
“Good. All that remains are those abominable colossal monsters….”

As General MacFarlane approached Atlas’s position, he deployed every available means to assault the Level 8 Corrosion Entities.
From aerial bombardment by flying golems to long-range artillery strikes.
However, unless it were an attack on the scale of the massive mana cannon mounted on Atlas’s left arm, the ultra-massive Corrosion Entities exceeding forty meters in size possessed durability that rendered them impossible to topple with the standard armaments equipped on ordinary golems.

“Damn it, I suppose we have no choice but to use that.”

The “that” the General referred to was the ultimate contingency measure Barden had previously devised for precisely this kind of emergency situation.
Once the General made his decision and picked up the communication microphone to contact Barden, a profanity-laced response came back immediately.

[Are you insane? I explicitly told you that thing wasn’t made to be used!]
“I remember. But we have no alternative, do we? We must eliminate at least several of these accursed monsters to have any chance of victory on our end.”
[If something goes wrong, everyone here could die! I’m an undead with an immortal body, so I might survive somehow, but you mortals won’t!]
“I’m prepared to accept that level of risk.”
[…Do as you wish.]

With Barden ultimately abandoning his attempts at persuasion and stepping back, the General obtained authorization to deploy the “ultimate contingency” Barden had created.

“We now activate the final armament ‘Nemesis.’ All crew members proceed to emergency positions. Target: Level 8 enemy Corrosion Entities. Operate all eight mana reactors from number one through eight to critical runaway threshold per my instructions.”

The ultimate weapon “Nemesis” that Barden had devised as his trump card was a last-resort measure that fired the eight mana reactors essential to maintaining the aerial carrier as if they were missiles.
A weapon that attacked enemies by launching mana reactors—modified within specialized launch bays and operating at maximum capacity to the point where immediate detonation would be unsurprising—like missiles.
Naturally, the moment even a single mana reactor separated from the main body, the main body’s operational capacity would plummet drastically, making Nemesis an armament that should never be used under normal circumstances.

“The moment the first missile launches, Hive Hornet’s altitude will drop significantly. After the fourth launch, altitude maintenance becomes impossible, so all crew prepare for close combat.”
“How many shots do you intend to use, sir?”
“All eight.”

There was no choice.
Hive Hornet carried a total of eight mana reactors.
Even if I fired all eight available Nemesis missiles, two Level 8 Corrosion Entities would inevitably remain.
Now was a situation where I had to accept such risks and absolutely reduce the enemy’s numbers.

“If not a single mana reactor remains, the defensive magic circles aboard Hive Hornet will cease functioning as well. The golems possess independent mana reactors, so they can conduct operations autonomously, but what of the Civilians inside Hive Hornet? No matter how sturdy Hive Hornet’s external armor is, without defensive magic support, it will be breached by the enemy in an instant.”
“Draw mana from the remaining golems’ reactors to power the defensive magic. Of course, we won’t be able to protect the entire vessel, but at least we can maintain defenses around the accommodation spaces where the Civilians are sheltered.”

Following the General’s orders, the crew aboard the Hive Hornet brought countless cables and connected them to the Steel Golem.
The expansion port connected to the Steel Golem’s mana reactor was originally designed to operate magical artifacts like cooking tools or communication devices in field conditions, but in emergencies, it was engineered to draw vast amounts of mana through such multi-connection configurations.
Once all preparations were complete, General MacFarlane issued orders to the Soldier with a stern expression.

“Nemesis One. Fire.”

In an instant, a tremendous explosion erupted as a portion of the Hive Hornet’s external armor detached entirely, revealing a massive launch aperture.
From within, a mana reactor so excessively overheated that it turned the entire missile-like storage chamber a glowing red was fired at supersonic speed toward a 40-meter Level 8 Corrosion Entity.
Sensing an extraordinary threat from what resembled an entire steel building being hurled at them rather than a mere missile, the Level 8 Corrosion Entities retreated and backed away from the vicinity of Atlas.
Yet despite its overwhelming mass and size, the colossal mana reactor launched at near-supersonic velocity struck its intended target with perfect accuracy, even as the massive creature attempted to evade.

-KRAAAAAASH!-

Upon impact, the missile-form mana reactor did not detonate immediately.
It was designed to burrow deep into the creature’s body before detonating, maximizing the damage inflicted.

-KRRRRRRUNCH!-

In that instant, the head section of Nemesis, heated to an intense glow by extreme temperatures, began rotating with ferocious intensity.
It bored through the Level 8 Corrosion Entity’s thick, hardened exterior like a drill, piercing forward relentlessly.
Simultaneously, the rocket-like propulsion system of Nemesis expelled a tremendous torrent of mana backward in a violent surge.

“SCREEEEEEECH!!!”

It would have been less painful to be pierced through in a single instant, but the Level 8 Corrosion Entity’s absurdly thick and rigid exterior produced a counterintuitive effect—slowing Nemesis’s penetration to a moderate pace.
Forced to experience the agony of a massive steel column over five meters in diameter boring through its body in slow motion, the colossal Corrosion Entity shrieked in fury and brought its razor-sharp claws down mercilessly, yet even attacks powerful enough to shatter Atlas’s external armor left not a single scratch on Nemesis’s main body.

-CLANG! CLANG CLANG!-

“Foolish creature. This is a weapon that takes one of the eight mana reactors supporting this entire massive aerial carrier and fires it after pushing it to its absolute limits. Did you really think such attacks would work?”

The moment Barden spoke, the Corrosion Entity’s exterior, which had been barely holding together, shattered into fragments with a sickening crunch.
And in that instant, Nemesis’s colossal body, rotating like a blender and grinding away the creature’s exterior, was sucked into the depths of the 40-meter Corrosion Entity’s body and vanished from sight.

-KRAAAAAAASH!-

Witnessing their ally reduced to tens of thousands of chunks of flesh raining down like a storm, the enraged creatures shrieked and charged toward the Hive Hornet.
Yet the Hive Hornet, having eliminated one Level 8 Corrosion Entity with a single missile strike, had already completed preparations for firing the second Nemesis.

“Nemesis 2, fire.”

With a deafening roar, the massive aerial carrier lurched violently and began its gradual descent.
The six remaining magitech reactors could no longer support the overwhelming weight of the aerial carrier, and its altitude continued to drop incrementally.
Watching another Level 8 Corrosion Entity explode into a mangled heap, General MacFarlane ordered the remaining reactors to push their output higher.

“We’ll have to overload them before firing anyway, so crank the output to maximum!”

In that instant, the Hive Hornet’s descent slowed, and its altitude began to rise once more, however slightly.
But as units 3 and 4 fired in quick succession, the Hive Hornet—now with only four reactors remaining—released an eerie groan and began its slow plunge toward the surface.

“Magitech reactor output at maximum! Altitude cannot be maintained! Eight hundred meters to surface! Seven hundred fifty! Seven hundred! Continuing descent!”
“Prepare units 5 and 6 for firing while redirecting all remaining thrust from flight systems to propulsion.”
“That will only accelerate our fall!”
“Precisely. That’s the point.”

At General MacFarlane’s words, the expressions of the Soldiers in the control tower froze.
The General’s command to redirect all output to the propulsion systems.
There wasn’t a single Soldier here foolish enough not to understand what that meant.
The General intended to expend all eight Nemesis missiles and use the carrier’s own mass as a final weapon to eliminate the two remaining Level 8 Corrosion Entities.

“Kahahaha! You wretched insect bastards! Today I’ll teach you the terror of the United States of America!”

As the Soldiers in the control tower listened to the General’s plan—if they were going to fall anyway, they might as well fall upon the enemy’s head—admiration echoed through their minds: *Our General truly is a genius.*

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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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