"That is what you call a 'hand slip'?"
Seeing her trying to run, I wanted nothing more than to chase her down and give her a beating—but the two behind me grabbed me together and held me back.
"Look at your strength now, and look at hers," Alfred scolded. "Aren't you worried about hurting her by accident? Don't get so worked up. You're all friends—why get this angry? What if something really happens?"
"Right now, both our countries are counting on Reed's research to massively boost military industry… And leaving all that aside—don't you want the ammunition supplies Adrian's been obsessing over?"
Probably aware that I was still furious, Alfred didn't dare let go until he was sure Reed had flown far enough away. Only after a long while did he finally release his grip, then continued to lecture me in the name of "the greater good."
"What's there to fear? Even if I did accidentally kill her, it wouldn't be a big deal!"
At this point, I wasn't about to swallow that kind of argument. Still, with Reed gone and no target left to vent on, the anger in my chest gradually began to cool.
In the end, I didn't actually want Reed dead. I was just furious in the moment. Besides, this wasn't the first time she'd gone completely off the rails. And although that explosion had left me in an embarrassing state, objectively speaking, it really had been as she promised—no risk to my life.
"Since we're here," Alfred said, "why don't you bring out that golden… uh… that golden Gatling again and let me try it?"
Now that things had settled down, he didn't seem in any hurry to head back to the city. Instead, his gaze shifted to Adrian as he asked to examine the weapon.
"I can't," Adrian said with a pained look. "We're really running low on bullets. You'd better conserve them."
Even so, facing his former captain's pleading, Adrian sighed and still pulled out the golden Gatling gun and handed it over.
"…Amazing! The power! The feel! The recoil—if this were a normal person, they probably couldn't handle it, but for me it's perfect!"
Deep in the uninhabited forest that had just been flattened into open ground, there was no better natural shooting range. Alfred no longer had to worry about hitting anyone by mistake, so he lifted the Gatling and unleashed a burst of fire into the distance.
He was having the time of his life. Adrian, watching from the side, looked like his heart was bleeding—Reed's promised resupply hadn't arrived yet, and who knew how long it would take.
Honestly, those two really were birds of a feather when it came to firearms. Back in the city they'd already spent ages studying them together. Unfortunately, although many types of guns had flowed into the Astralrealm Kingdom through the Ilandra Dominion, the Gatling was the one model that never showed up. A weapon like this—an Earth-import model—was probably the only one left on the entire Eldoria Continent. Even Reed had said she couldn't fully replicate it in the short term; at best, she could try to maintain and repair it.
"That's enough, that's enough! One more test and we'll truly be out of ammo!"
"What are you afraid of?" Alfred scoffed. "Reed will definitely build you a supply line soon. Worst case, we wait a few days. It's not like you need it urgently."
…
In the end, just as the two of them were bickering again about how much ammunition remained, a harsh roaring sound suddenly erupted from the distant sky—then rapidly grew louder and more intense.
"What is that?"
It wasn't just me. Adrian and Alfred heard it too, but neither of them had any clue where it was coming from. They exchanged baffled looks, then finally turned their questioning eyes toward me.
"Hard to say… It almost sounds like… a fighter jet."
Of course, I didn't truly believe aircraft from Earth still existed in this world. But when I flew up and followed the direction of the sound, I stared in shock.
From the mountain range far in the distance, a dense cluster of black dots was approaching.
"What… is that?"
I couldn't help blurting out the same question. The fighter-like roar clearly came from those dots. Under the setting sun overhead, I could even faintly see a metallic sheen flashing across their surfaces—something mechanical.
They were fast—roughly faster than a normal angel flying at full speed. Before long, they swept over the forest near me: a black mass like a swarm of locusts, an astonishing sight.
"Those are… robots? Isn't that something that only exists on Earth's television?"
At first I thought they were coming for us. Only then did I realize their direction was actually Norvale. Because they passed close enough, Adrian climbed up onto the treetops and stared intently for a while. Soon he identified them: those "black dots" were all metallic humanoid machines—robots, not living creatures.
"What's a robot?" Alfred asked, not understanding. "Could it be that those people from the other world never left? I heard they're very good at climbing into metal weapon-boxes to fight!"
With all the rumors about Earth people coming from the Empire, he instantly panicked, thinking the otherworld visitors had quietly arrived in the north and were about to attack the Astralrealm Kingdom.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "They're not Earth people, and they're not Earth-made weapons. They belong to the monsters' side."
As a former Earth human, I knew perfectly well: modern Earth simply couldn't manufacture something like this.
And to me, those robots were old acquaintances. I'd even faced one up close before. Back when I traveled with Blanche and the lizardman Kurnel, the robot that nearly abducted Nicola looked exactly like this—only back then there had been just one, and it didn't seem capable of flight.
"The monsters' subordinates?" Alfred's face turned deathly pale. "If what you're saying is true, that was a whole army of over a hundred 'people.' The capital is going to be in serious trouble!"
Especially after I mentioned that each robot's strength could rival a Tier Six expert, Alfred immediately spun around and sprinted toward Norvale at full speed, abandoning Adrian and me without another word.
"You can fly back first to help," Adrian told me. "The captain and I will follow right behind!"
With the royal capital in such danger, Adrian was never going to back down. He reminded me quickly and started chasing after Alfred.
But after a few steps, he noticed I was still standing there, unmoving. He turned back, puzzled.
"What is it? Do you think there are too many of them—that the capital might not hold?"
"No." I shook my head quickly. "I think I just saw Michelle. If I'm not mistaken… she's here too…"
Michelle had been flying at the very front. Compared to the massive robot swarm behind her, she hadn't stood out much, so the others hadn't noticed.
To be honest, I couldn't understand why Michelle—missing for so long—would suddenly appear here. Was it because Elara happened to be staying in the capital, and Michelle wanted to wipe everyone out in one sweep?
Ever since she left last time, there'd been no news at all. No one had seen her—not even her own subordinates, who all thought she'd vanished. But now that she had appeared, and was leading a huge robot army toward the capital, it meant she was fine—and that the battle when the Cycle of Rebirth descended had probably failed to persuade her after all.
"Michelle… I see." Adrian patted my head gently, as if he'd read my thoughts at once. "Don't worry. You're not who you used to be. I believe this time you won't lose to her again."
He wasn't wrong. Even though I felt my strength had skyrocketed, facing a Fire Angel who possessed a complete energy authority still made me uneasy.
"Thanks… You said it," I murmured. "Then I'm going."
With Adrian's encouragement, my mood instantly lightened. I rose into the sky and flew toward the capital. Even if I couldn't win, I was confident I could at least survive. I'd never retreated before—there was no way I would start now.
It was near dusk. As the sky darkened, I reached Norvale in just a few minutes, arriving ahead of everyone else.
I had assumed that with such an invasion, the capital would quickly descend into a sea of flames. But to my surprise, the entire city was eerily quiet. The bustling market districts that were normally lively deep into the evening had gone dark. Residents had retreated into their homes, and there were almost no pedestrians in the streets and alleys.
The reason was obvious: the robot legion hovering in the sky above the city's central lake.
But it was different from what I'd imagined. After entering the city, the robots didn't burn, kill, or loot like monsters would. Instead, they formed up silently outside the lake-centered royal castle, as if waiting for orders and watching for the right moment. Even when my stealthy approach drew the attention of a few robots, they seemed to have received instructions not to attack—they didn't react at all.
"Strange… Are they really here to attack the capital?"
Seeing this, I began to doubt my initial judgment. This didn't look like a siege at all—more like they'd come with some special purpose.
On the Astralrealm Kingdom's side, defensive measures had already been deployed. A large force of Gryphon Knights guarding the royal castle was now facing the robot legion from afar in a tense standoff. But neither side had started fighting yet. At the very front, the Gryphon Knights' commander was speaking with the leader of the robot legion.
"I've already said it once," the leader demanded coldly. "Hand Elara over immediately, or we'll forcibly search for her ourselves!"
As expected, the leader was none other than Michelle—the one with twelve pairs of flame-red wings. From her tone, it seemed she'd come here once again to make trouble for Elara.