This was an unexpected development.
I never thought the modified tank would be destroyed so thoroughly.
It wasn't the kind of weapon that would break apart and explode so easily.
The reason it ended that way was that the Steel Knight's attacks exceeded all expectations.
The tank was engulfed in flames, but Diera should be fine.
She wasn't the type to die from something like this.
Leaving her alone wouldn't have caused any problems.
More important, though, was the Steel Knight.
That abnormal physical strength was troubling.
Piercing the tank with a halberd, lifting it, and hurling it aside — that was truly outrageous.
Even within the Demon Lord's army, there were few who could pull off the same feat.
Even accounting for the enhancement provided by golem prosthetics, that level of physical strength was impossible.
I observed the Steel Knight.
His magic power far surpassed that of an ordinary mage, but it wasn't noteworthy in particular.
It fell far short of my own — to put it bluntly, it was within the margin of error.
It couldn't explain his aberrant physical strength.
As I continued observing, I noticed an imbalance in his magic power.
The areas of high output were presumably the prosthetic components.
There was almost no organic body left; only the head and chest retained a notably higher proportion.
They housed the brain and heart — those were almost certainly his weak points.
(This is...)
I felt a sense of unease about the Steel Knight.
The nature of his magic power was peculiar, giving off an artificial impression.
The prosthetics alone weren't the cause.
It was as though some kind of magical transformation had taken place.
This was likely the source of the Steel Knight's power — and precisely what I wanted to uncover.
Merely observing with my eyes wasn't enough to grasp everything.
I wished I could capture him alive and extract the answers directly from his mouth.
Depending on the results of interrogation, I might even find a clue to the trigger for Hero Awakening.
(The battle situation is overwhelmingly in our favor. There's no need to rush.)
I shifted my gaze to the Steel Knight's rear.
The Magitek Army was in a state of near-total collapse.
A succession of artillery bombardments and magical attacks had paralyzed its command structure, and quite a few soldiers had already begun to flee.
Even without pursuit, it would crumble on its own.
Despite this situation, the Steel Knight did not stop advancing.
Alone, he charged straight into the Demon Lord's army.
He hadn't thrown his life away.
He was burning with extraordinary fighting spirit.
"Now! Smash right through him!"
At Henry's command, the Demon Lord's army resumed its assault.
The tank corps opened fire, and the rifle squad unleashed volleys.
Between these, Henry added his own archery, sniping at the Steel Knight.
In response, the Steel Knight charged forward in a straight line.
Deflecting attacks with nothing but a single halberd, he steadily closed the distance.
(Impossible. What's going on here?)
I marveled at the sight.
The Steel Knight wielded transcendent technique and physical strength, achieving a perfect defense against every attack aimed at him.
Compared to the early stages, both the speed and precision of his defense had clearly improved.
The more cornered he became, the more dramatically his power increased.
Eventually, the Steel Knight's defense turned into counterattack.
Rifle rounds deflected by his halberd ricocheted back into the Demon Lord's army.
Cannonballs were similarly sent flying back using sheer brute force.
The Demon Lord's army weathered it with emergency defensive magic.
Fortunately, there were no casualties.
But from that point on, every subsequent attack was either dodged or deflected.
They couldn't wound the Steel Knight.
Against a single Hero, their numbers-focused long-range attacks were rendered completely useless.
(If this continues, we'll start taking real damage...)
Perhaps I should step in myself.
Just as I was thinking this, Henry leapt from atop his tank.
Bow in one hand, he sprinted toward the Steel Knight at full speed.
"Hahahaha! Hell yeah — I'll be your opponent!"
Henry declared with a savage grin.
He apparently intended to take down the Steel Knight personally to prevent further losses to the Demon Lord's army.
No — looking at him, that wasn't what he was thinking at all.
He had assessed the battlefield and simply couldn't contain his impulse any longer.
Henry lunged at the Steel Knight.
The Steel Knight stopped in his tracks.
In a flash, the tip of his halberd became a blur.
A ringing metallic clash echoed through the air.
Henry's bow had caught the halberd's thrust.
From there, Henry launched a spinning kick.
A devastating strike from point-blank range.
Moreover, both combatants' weapons were occupied in the exchange.
Dodging or defending from that position would be nearly impossible.
But then, the Steel Knight's right shoulder engaged.
From it deployed a small-scale defensive barrier.
One of his built-in functions.
Henry's kick struck the barrier head-on.
The Steel Knight was blown backward by the impact, sliding across the ground before regaining his footing.
There were no visible wounds.
He had managed to weather the kick successfully.
Without that defensive barrier, his arm would have been torn clean off.
"Not bad at all! Give me more of that!"
From there, Henry unleashed a relentless barrage.
He alternated between powerful strikes using his bow as a bludgeon and close-quarters combat techniques.
The Steel Knight countered with his halberd.
But he was clearly on the defensive.
He had no room to counterattack, devoting himself entirely to defense.
His power was growing in real time, but Henry was pressing him with attacks even more ferocious than his rate of improvement.
Henry was a man who had once been considered a candidate for Demon Lord subjugation.
He was someone who could have fought alongside me and that person.
Given his conduct, he had never once been called a Hero.
But he possessed strength worthy of the title.
Even after joining the Demon Lord's army, Henry had demonstrated his abilities without reservation.
In a meritocratic group dominated by inhuman beings, the fact that he reigned at the very top was clear evidence of that.
A man like that couldn't possibly be weak.
"Opening spotted!"
Henry deftly spun his bow.
Slipping past the halberd's guard, he landed a crushing blow to the Steel Knight's knee.
The Steel Knight staggered, unable to hold his ground.
He used the halberd to prop himself up and avoided a full fall, but it was a critical opening.
Henry's fist drove into him.
——The Steel Knight, a gaping hole punched through his torso, soared high into the air.