(Showcasing themselves right away, huh...)
I observed the approaching golem unit.
The golems, their heavy footsteps thundering, advanced in formation.
No human soldiers accompanied them.
Using shared-vision capabilities, the mages were likely controlling them from a safe location.
This was a tactic I had anticipated.
One could say that shared vision existed precisely for this purpose.
It was far superior to sending flesh-and-blood soldiers to the front lines.
Even if they were destroyed, they were merely golems, and the mages would only suffer minor exhaustion.
It prevented valuable personnel from being wasted needlessly.
The golem unit had both arms raised horizontally, fingertips pointed in our direction.
The moment the Demon Lord's army entered range, they intended to open fire.
Grom glared at the golem unit with undisguised irritation.
"You wretched, insolent things... Demon Lord, what shall we do?"
"Leave them. We press forward."
I replied in a resolute tone.
It didn't matter what the golems did.
We simply charged ahead.
If we didn't advance, we couldn't invade the Magitech Nation.
While we marched forward in silence, my subordinates began their incantations.
Refraining from unnecessary attacks, they continued waiting for the order to cast their spells.
In an atmosphere so tense you could hear a pin drop, the Demon Lord's army advanced toward those lifeless weapons.
Just moments before the golems' guns activated, Henry's command rang out.
"——Fire!"
In the next instant, my subordinates unleashed their spells in unison.
A kaleidoscope of spells tore through the sky and crashed into the golem unit with overwhelming force.
The golem unit deployed defensive magic.
Spells clashed with a shrill, piercing noise, and the vast majority were blocked.
It appeared they had pre-loaded a massive amount of mana to enhance the quality of their defenses.
Some spells broke through the defenses and struck the golems.
The damaged golems immediately began to malfunction.
Henry seized the opportunity, sniping their central cores and bringing them to a halt.
I had shown Henry the golems' blueprints beforehand, so he knew their internal structures.
That was why he could target their weak points with pinpoint accuracy.
Before his arrows, neither defensive magic nor steel armor meant a thing.
In the overall battle between the Demon Lord's army and the golems, the Demon Lord's army held the advantage.
Grom fired off spell after spell to seal the deal, shattering layer upon layer of defenses as he destroyed the golems one by one.
(I'd prefer minimal damage — less damage means more value when we salvage them...)
I thought to myself, but Grom was on cloud nine.
It would have been tasteless to rain on his parade.
If we searched within the capital, we'd surely find official blueprints and undamaged golems.
It was best to let Grom have his fun here.
And so we continued our assault for some time.
Through relentless trampling, the golem unit was annihilated.
The Demon Lord's army stepped over the wreckage and headed toward the former main gate.
Dolda had apparently gone off somewhere — there was no sign of her returning anytime soon.
The last I saw of her, she was running along the outer wall, hunting for the living.
From the distance, explosions and battle cries echoed.
As long as she was fighting energetically, there was no problem.
Before long, we had successfully infiltrated the capital.
Beyond the outer wall, rows of nondescript buildings stretched out before us.
They were all white-painted, boxy two-story structures.
In some places, four- or five-story buildings — or even taller — could be seen.
All of them shared the same architectural style, their exteriors remarkably uniform.
Nondescript, yet they gave an impression of functionality.
Whoever had ordered this was either meticulously tidy or a thoroughgoing rationalist.
People who spotted us were desperately scrambling to flee.
They were all running in the same direction.
Likely, evacuation routes had been pre-determined, and they were following them.
According to my detection magic, the people were clustered in several locations.
All of them were in sections protected by defensive magic and barriers.
They appeared to be evacuation sites for sheltering civilians.
I controlled the undead I had brought along and dispersed them throughout the city.
I had them split up and assault several of the evacuation sites.
The Magitech army would be forced to divert forces to defend them, naturally thinning their attacks against us.
As an aside, I had no intention of turning every last civilian into undead.
A moderate number of sacrifices would suffice.
I only intended to exploit the chaos that followed.
As long as it bought enough time to accomplish our objective, that was all that mattered.
"Fire!"
Soldiers stuck their heads out of nearby windows and unleashed a hail of gunfire from every direction.
I deflected their fire while wafting miasma to turn the soldiers into undead.
(So guns have reached the rank-and-file soldiers too. They've come a long way.)
As I watched them become ghouls, I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind.
It was Luciana.
She gestured broadly toward the cityscape.
"I'd like to go off on my own from here — mind?"
"Sure. Take care of it."
"Alrighty. I'll do my best~"
Luciana nodded gleefully and disappeared into an alley with several subordinates in tow.
She was off to carry out sabotage, no doubt.
Disruption and interference were her signature specialties.
Her capabilities were beyond question.
As long as Luciana was handling it, there was little to worry about.
I asked Logan to pinpoint the direction where the secret stone was hidden.
From here, the Demon Lord's army and I would part ways, and the two of us would head there on our own.
The army could be left in Henry and Grom's hands.
I wanted to wrap things up while they dealt with the Magitech army.
Just as I relayed this and was about to teleport, I detected a high-output mana response in the street ahead.
Could it be another golem?
But what appeared when I looked was a box-shaped weapon.
It looked like a mana cannon fitted with multiple wheels, roughly two sizes smaller than an actual mana cannon.
Multiple iron-plate shields lined its sides.
(That's...)
I recalled that the intelligence I'd obtained in the Imperial Capital included a matching weapon.
If I remembered correctly, it had been designated as a "tank."
I had also seen a small-scale model in the magic workshop beneath the Imperial Capital, so I was certain.
According to the documents, it was essentially a mobile cannon.
Two operators rode inside to operate it.
Iron-plate shields had been installed as countermeasures against close-quarters attacks and magic.
Magical scripts for defensive magic were carved into the reverse side, ready to be activated at any moment.
Rumbling with a deep bass drone, the tank advanced down the street.
Compared to a golem, its movements seemed sluggish, but the firepower of its mounted cannon was on an entirely different level.
Judging by the mana signature, it wasn't even in the same league as the soldiers' guns.
(I can't believe they've already deployed these. Did they rush production to counter the Demon Lord's army?)
While I marveled at the Magitech Nation's technical prowess, mana began converging in the tank's cannon.
The mana, compressed to its limit, was fired as a pale blue beam.
Before I knew it, it was bearing down right in front of me.
I deployed multiple layers of defensive magic.
In that instant, the beam struck in a shower of sparks.
With a grinding, screeching sound, the defensive magic was shaved away from the surface.
(Is this... dissolving the magical scripts...?)
While I observed, the beam's force weakened, and eventually it cut off entirely and vanished.
It seemed capable of sustained fire with considerable destructive power.
This was a serious threat.
Without any defensive measures, we'd have been wiped out in one shot.
The tank's barrel was glowing red-hot.
It was retreating, trying to hide behind a building.
Its inability to fire in rapid succession was the same as the mana cannons in the Imperial Capital.
It seemed these were still under development.
(You're not getting away.)
I dropped my defensive magic and unleashed a forbidden spell.
Black thorns burst through the cobblestones ahead and pierced the retreating tank from below.
The thorns then grew rapidly, lifting the tank into the air.
They coiled around the entire tank in layer upon layer, applying relentless pressure.
The restrained tank groaned and buckled, gradually beginning to crush inward.
The cannon fired its beam, but it only pierced uselessly into the night sky.
Eventually, the tank snapped in half and exploded.
Blasted flames scattered outward, scorching the nearby buildings.
(Hmm. Quite the sturdy weapon.)
Mentally appraising the tank, I swept the surrounding area with detection magic.
Multiple high-mana signatures were converging in our direction.
Golems, tanks, or soldiers with guns, most likely.
The Magitech army was mobilizing for interception.
Their forces were converging on our position.
They clearly wanted to stop the Demon Lord's army's advance at all costs.
If I was going to steal the secret stone, now was the time.
I entrusted full command to Grom and teleported away with Logan.