"What did you just say?"
A roar like a furious lioness tore down the Clock Tower's main thoroughfare.
The girl in the rigid crimson formal dress—Lorelei—was shouting at the top of her lungs.
The heir poised to ascend the throne of the Barthomeloi family had received word that "Radiant Gold · Rhodes" had been placed under a Sealing Designation. She had rushed here without pause, fully intending to personally pass judgment on Mr. Rhodes.
That plan had clearly collapsed.
Only minutes earlier, Rhodes had piloted a Harrier fighter straight through the Clock Tower's defensive wards. Worse still, he had altered the spell arrays hidden within the barrier during the breach. Now the Clock Tower's pursuers were locked out by their own defenses, and the magus forces couldn't even deploy.
"My apologies, Lady Lorelei," said a magus from the Sophia-Ri family in a mild voice. It sounded deferential, yet carried an unmistakable edge. "But if you have a better idea, feel free to try."
"Hmph!"
Lorelei snorted sharply and barked an order at the magi behind her. "Clone unit! Begin a combined chant. Target—the Clock Tower's defensive barrier!"
At the command, the faces of the Clone unit magi drained of color. For the Clock Tower, its outer defensive barrier was a matter of dignity. Destroying it, even in an emergency, was tantamount to slapping the Twelve Lords across the face all at once.
They were loyal to Barthomeloi, but even so, they couldn't ignore the consequences of letting Lorelei run wild.
"What are you hesitating for?" Lorelei shouted. "Do you think this pitiful display honors Barthomeloi's name?"
The magi flinched. Wearing strained smiles, they began chanting, forcibly compressing a grand twelve-section spell into something with Anti-Fortress properties.
A gale erupted from the ground, swelling in an instant into a tornado tens of meters high. It lacked the sheer lethality of a Noble Phantasm, but its power was unmistakable.
The vortex slammed down.
The barrier shattered with a thunderous roar.
"Boom—"
◇◇◇
Two hours later, outside a military harbor on Britain's eastern coast.
Seven or eight luxury Lincoln sedans screeched to a halt. Dozens of magi poured out in orderly succession, ignoring the soldiers guarding the area. Under layers of subtle suggestion spells, the mundane troops posed no obstacle at all.
Led by Barthomeloi Lorelei, they stormed into the harbor.
What greeted them was a sight none of them would ever forget.
A steel ship—no, a warship.
Those with a trained eye could recognize the silhouette of a World War II–era Japanese vessel. Yet its exterior was wrapped in high-strength armor plates refined through modern technology.
Twin-mounted 127mm guns with fifty-caliber barrels were trained directly on them. Magical radiance flickered along the barrels, runes reflected across the silver armor plating, and an oppressive sense of indestructible mass settled into every magus' chest.
Ordinarily, this would have been nothing worth remarking upon. A single World War II battleship modified with magecraft posed no threat to elite magi, nor would it inspire awe.
But now—
The immense silver warship was rising.
Yes. Rising.
It lifted from beneath the sea, its draft line climbing higher and higher. Vast magical waves rolled outward as the 1,600-ton destroyer tore itself free of the deep blue surface. Seawater cascaded from its hull, every drop clearly visible even to the magi watching.
Under the stunned gazes of the Clone unit, the ship continued to ascend until it hovered eighty or ninety meters above the ground.
A relic of the Second World War had become a flying destroyer.
"…This…"
Even Lorelei, proud to the point of arrogance, felt a wave of powerlessness wash through her.
This was the fusion of modern science and classical magecraft. It was far beyond what a single Barthomeloi family could achieve. They might modify firearms, but constructing a flying warship of this scale was utterly impossible.
"We… withdraw."
The words were forced out of her throat, thick with humiliation. Lorelei spun around sharply and left the military harbor, the other magi staring after her in silence.
Perhaps this was the first time Barthomeloi had ever bowed its head.
Before undeniable power, even the highest pride could only be ground into dust.
◇◇◇
"Hmph. This is the result of several years' work. Not bad, right? How does the hull feel, Yuudachi?"
Standing on the deck, Rhodes smiled into the sea breeze. At his side, Yuudachi maintained her stiff, expressionless façade.
"Unable to determine…" The mechanical tone slipped from her translucent lips.
Rhodes gave a helpless chuckle. "You can stop pretending. I can see straight into a girl's heart, you know."
"Huh?"
Yuudachi froze, then her face flushed bright red. "No way! So Master really is some kind of abnormal pervert! Poi!"
"Tch… I won't tolerate slander like that." Rhodes sighed, though a hint of guilt lingered beneath it.
He wasn't some degenerate who could read women's hearts. It was simply that Yuudachi's core contained recorded spell arrays. Any action she took could be accessed and perceived by him.
It was excessive. But it was also necessary to ensure loyalty. Even when he trusted them, Rhodes didn't mind stacking an extra chip on top of that trust.
"I…"
Watching the exchange, RyuZU jolted in alarm. She feared Rhodes' punishment, yet worried even more about losing his trust.
"It's fine," Rhodes said lightly, smiling at the anxious maid. "If I couldn't accept something like this, why would I have given you that personality in the first place?"
He waved it off. "You're mine. Always will be. Being a little willful is allowed."
"…Mm."
Her voice trembled as RyuZU hastily wiped away her tears. A joyful smile bloomed across her face once more.
"As expected… my Master."
She turned gracefully, stepped in front of Rhodes, and sank to one knee, her voice filled with reverence.
"Eight Steel Golems. Two Shadowsteel Golems. Eighty-six Maid Pleasure Golems. Dozens of modern Armored Golems rebuilt from contemporary machinery…"
"And in the Middle East, one hundred and twenty thousand werewolf golems already advancing toward Romania, along with several veteran mercenary companies…"
"Beneath our feet, the flying destroyer Yuudachi Kai Ni, and aboard her, the ship spirit Yuudachi…"
"And of course, myself—RyuZU, the clockwork golem."
"Together, we march toward Romania. Together, we will prove to those decadent magus nobles the light of change you bring!"
"You shall claim the Holy Grail."
"And we shall stand with you."
"As the blade in your hand."
"Never retreating."
"Until death itself."