The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 136

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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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#136. Sacrifice

The battle in Kansas had cost the Eastern Regional Defense Forces roughly half of the reinforcements they’d gained during their westward advance, yet replenishing those losses was currently impossible.
With the enemy having lost over ninety percent of their assembled forces in this engagement, failing to push westward swiftly risked facing the nightmare scenario of their numbers swelling once more.
Unable to replenish soldier count, the most effective method to compensate for lost combat power was to enhance the quality of existing forces.
Sung-jun threw himself into reinforcing the existing Steel Golems alongside Barden.
By salvaging components from the irreparably damaged golems to strengthen the armaments of those still operational.

“The essence of this refit operation hinges on three objectives. First, converting Atlas into a mobile mage tower that walks the battlefield. Second, transforming the battered Hive Hornet into a flying mobile factory. And third, establishing a system allowing the existing Steel Golems to be rapidly repaired even when damaged on the battlefield.”

The concept Sung-jun had conceived drew inspiration from a scene in a Marvel film.
A scene where spare components launched from a satellite instantly replaced damaged parts.
When Sung-jun manifested the film scene from his memory through magic and showed it to Barden, the dwarf’s eyes gleamed with interest as he began scrutinizing the “Hulkbuster” armor depicted in the movie.

“So the idea is that if an arm gets damaged during combat, you detach the broken arm and attach a new one?”
“That’s how it works in the film, but my concept differs somewhat. Specifically, I’m thinking we recover the damaged unit from the battlefield during combat, repair it internally within the Hive Hornet, then redeploy it.”

The core of Sung-jun’s system relied on an emergency button—much like the ejection seat in a fighter cockpit—that would instantly trigger a dimensional shift spell, transporting the golem into the hangar.
Inside, spare components capable of rapidly restoring a damaged golem would stand ready for immediate deployment.

“Hmm. With that method, you could escape immediately even if surrounded by enemies.”

Captain Cooper, who had been listening to the exchange between Sung-jun and Barden, interjected. Sung-jun shook his head.

“Not quite. All Corrosion Entities emit a unique wavelength that distorts dimensional coordinates, making escape impossible when completely encircled. This function isn’t designed for escaping encirclement—it’s meant to be used after withdrawing from the battlefield while receiving support from allied forces.”
“Then if our forces are surrounded, the priority would be having other golems immediately drag the damaged unit to safety. I’ll need to revise the operational protocols.”

Captain Cooper worried whether pilots might press the return button and retreat without genuine danger, using repairs as a pretext.
Most of his trusted subordinates wouldn’t make such a choice, but the newly recruited pilots from civilian backgrounds might abandon their comrades and evacuate to the Hive Hornet under the guise of repairs.
Heeding Captain Cooper’s counsel, Sung-jun modified the dimensional shift spell to prevent activation of the emergency return button unless the golem sustained damage beyond a certain threshold.

“While we’re modifying things anyway, what if we made it responsive to various tactical situations? If long-range armaments are needed, pilots could return to the Hive Hornet and swap equipment.”
“But currently, return is impossible unless equipment damage exceeds a certain level?”
“We’ll allow return after requesting and receiving authorization from Headquarters.”

Sung-jun shrugged and lightly revised the incantation inscribed on the spell circle he’d created.

“It’s finished.”
“It’s like real magic. Does everything you say come true?”
“It is real magic. However, not everything comes true. Only what falls within my capabilities can be realized.”

In my absence, Barden had begun work on refitting the aerial golems he’d developed, and I decided to take charge of the modifications myself.
The existing aerial golems, designed after the F-14 Tomcat carrier fighter jet that attacked enemies at high speed before passing, seemed unsuitable for the battles that lay ahead.

“Most of the enemies are ground-based bipedal units, and there aren’t many aerial Corrosion Entities. The current design isn’t suited for combat. Rather, something like an A-10 that flies low and slow while maintaining sustained firepower against enemies would be better suited for close air support.”
“What’s an A-10?”
“A close air support fighter. It’s got the nickname ‘tank killer.'”
“If you’re planning to build a close air support aircraft, you’d be better off referencing the AC-130H Spectre rather than the A-10. Since it’s a gunship rather than a fighter, it has far greater firepower.”

The core of the aerial golem refit was to reduce movement speed while improving payload capacity, allowing it to remain airborne for extended periods while attacking enemies.
As a result, the refitted aerial golem was reborn as a massive frame with a large-caliber Gatling gun mounted on one arm and a howitzer capable of rapid-firing explosive magical shells on the other.
In the process, Barden voiced his dissatisfaction with the aerial golem’s loss of its original sleekness, but I cleanly dismissed his protests.

“Then let’s at least make it modular. We can make the air support functions detachable, and by simply swapping equipment, we can choose between aerial combat and ground support.”
“That would significantly increase the workload. The structure would become more complex too.”
“Damn it. This is my stubbornness as a Dwarf craftsman. I’ll bear the burden of the increased work.”

Since Barden was volunteering to take on the hardship himself, I saw no reason to stop him and let him proceed with the work as he wished.
With that, Barden drew upon the new knowledge he’d gained from disassembling U.S. Military weapons and all the knowledge he possessed as the greatest Dwarf craftsman, completing a variable golem that was nearly a work of art.
In less than thirty seconds, it could shed its heavy ground support equipment and swap into gear designed for aerial combat with enhanced mobility and anti-air capabilities—a new golem of remarkable engineering.
Even Captain Cooper gave a thumbs up, saying he’d never seen anything so magnificent in his life. Having completed such an impressive aerial golem, Barden handed me the production line blueprints for it.
I drew the necessary magical formations on each drive component to ensure the blueprints would function properly, and Barden set about constructing the production line within the Hive Hornet.
However, a new problem emerged during the process: the Hive Hornet’s interior space, already cramped from having to accommodate thousands of massive Steel Golems ranging from four to ten meters tall, was too tight to install a golem production line.
With no way to undertake the massive material-intensive expansion work on an aerial carrier, I solved the problem once again through magic.

“Let’s just connect a Subspace and shove all the production facilities inside it.”

Using magic that seemed to make ‘anything possible,’ I resolved every obstacle and finally began the full-scale refit of Atlas as originally planned.
The objective was singular.
To convert the mobile Fortress Atlas—whose capacity had been reduced from three thousand to five hundred personnel—into a walking mage tower born solely for combat.
I intended to apply the structure of the magical circuits built within my own body to Atlas, making it function like a ‘colossal extension of myself.’

“The newly reborn Atlas must become a mage’s colossal extension in every sense. It will continuously cast catastrophe-class spells that normally cannot be unleashed due to the limitations of flesh and soul, and it will enable me alone to cast ultra-massive-scale spells that would ordinarily require thousands of Mages deploying large-scale magical formations.”

When Sung-jun spoke of a ‘Mage Tower,’ he wasn’t referring to merely a space where Mages gathered to reside.
Among the Mage Towers constructed for attack or defense rather than research, the tower itself sometimes functioned as an enormous magical circle.
And among them existed ‘ritual towers’—structures built on a city-wide scale, designed solely to channel a specific incantation through an architectural implementation of a colossal magical circle.

“If you arrange the magical circles in this manner, the mana circuits will connect in various formations depending on posture, and it will activate as a super-massive magical circle supporting specific incantations. In other words, we’re constructing whatever magical circles are needed moment by moment using Atlas’s body.”

The way a Mage swung both arms and gesticulated with their fingers while chanting an incantation was a form of conscious ritual to transform their own body into a kind of magical circle.
Pressing both palms together to draw circles with the arms, or tracing trajectories in empty space with mana flowing from fingertips to construct magical circles for incantation activation—this was the principle behind the ‘casting motions’ that Mages employed.
Hand seals formed with fingers, circular dances drawn by moving the arms, ground-striking techniques that stamped the earth to inscribe specific magical circles into the ground—there were countless movements in how Mages activated magic, and I had meticulously inscribed the mana circuits required for every single one of these movements into Atlas’s body.
And among all of these, what I had most painstakingly constructed was the incantation formula for necromantic magic—a form of dark sorcery that drew upon the life of sacrifices to manifest power greater than conventional magic.

“Wait, I’ve seen this magical circle somewhere before.”

Barden, observing the colossal magical circle I was inscribing across Atlas’s entirety, furrowed his brow and muttered.
Then, with an expression of horror, he cried out.

“This is insane—are you in your right mind?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“This is an incantation formula for dark magic activated at the cost of death! I’ve seen a similar magical formula before! A king obsessed with dark sorcery once summoned a Demon King using the entire population of his kingdom as the price!”
“Oh, I thought you were only interested in engineering, but you have quite extensive knowledge of magic too? That’s right. This is a magical formula that summons a Demon King at the cost of lives.”
“But setting aside what the magical circle actually is, where exactly do you intend to procure all those sacrifices needed to offer up a Demon King? Surely not the humans aboard Atlas? And even then, five hundred wouldn’t be nearly enough….”

Barden, who had been thinking for a moment, crossed his arms over his chest and stepped backward.

“Don’t tell me the reason you ordered survivors gathered in the Hive Hornet was to use them all as sacrifices….”

At that, I brought the edge of my hand down hard against Barden’s head.

“What the hell do you take me for, saying something like that?”
“But there’s no other way to procure that many sacrifices….”
“So you’re saying you see me as the kind of person who would sacrifice every woman and child aboard the Hive Hornet just to summon a single Demon King?”
“…Given how you normally treat me, it’s not entirely implausible….”

Barden, who had been muttering, let out a yelp and clutched his head from the mana-infused strike.

“Next time I’ll drive a Void Spear through your forehead. Since you’re immortal anyway, you won’t die, right?”
“Ugh… Understood. Then where exactly do you intend to procure the sacrifices? If you’re not using the Hive Hornet’s passengers as sacrifices, and you’re not using Atlas’s crew as sacrifices either….”

Seeing Barden’s aggrieved expression as he questioned me, I smiled.
Then, gazing at the mountain of Corrosion Entity materials piled in one corner, I spoke.

“I’ve already paid the price upfront. Though the quantity is still somewhat insufficient.”

The sacrifice I had paid as a “down payment,” as I had just mentioned.
It referred to the souls of over a hundred million Corrosion Entities that had perished in this battle.

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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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