Before that, I first needed to eliminate the Magitech Legion in front of the building.
Leaving them alone would only invite trouble later.
And in the interest of cutting off future worries, it would be best to deal with them.
Since this shouldn't take long, I planned to crush them all at once.
I began channeling my magic.
Mixing miasma into it to ensure a lethal strike.
A pitch-black sphere materialized above the Magitech Legion.
It began swirling, growing denser by the moment.
The power compressed within dwarfed anything the golems or tanks could muster.
An ordinary person who merely approached it would watch their body crumble into dust and rise as undead.
The Magitech Legion noticed the anomaly at once.
The golems were the first to react.
They tried to destroy the sphere with their finger-mounted guns.
The bullets hit their mark but were swallowed into the sphere and vanished.
They merely rippled across the surface, having virtually no effect.
It was like dropping pebbles into a lake.
Unable to fire from that distance, the tanks began moving in unison.
However, they were bumping into each other and scattering in every direction, so it seemed unlikely they could get into firing range in time.
The soldiers in those strange suits of armor were retreating with faces pale with terror.
Only the golems held their ground, continuing their assault.
After all, they had no pilots inside.
Even if destroyed, their demise wouldn't directly kill the operator.
(A naive assumption...)
As I watched the golems carelessly firing their guns, I activated my spell.
The sphere burst apart and became a torrent of black sludge that flooded across the ground.
Faced with the massive volume of miasma, the golems were swallowed helplessly.
Submerged and trailing white smoke, they vanished from sight.
The tanks were similarly swept away by the deluge.
Perhaps panicked by the sight, several cannons activated on their own.
The beams tore through nearby buildings, and unlucky soldiers caught in the blasts were obliterated.
Overturning tanks were being coated in miasma and beginning to dissolve.
Meanwhile, the soldiers leaped into the air.
With surprisingly nimble movements, they landed on rooftops, escaping the torrent.
Every one of them was deathly pale, staring down at the torrent ravaging the ground below.
"...Hmm."
I watched them closely.
Their agility defied explanation through mere physical enhancement alone.
It seemed those strange suits of armor held some kind of mechanism.
The armor worn by the soldiers had an unusual shape.
It was bulkier than standard issue, with a box attached to the back.
Magical energy circulated between the interior of the armor and that box.
The output was substantial—roughly equivalent to two ordinary mages.
Quite impressive for what a single individual could channel.
Using that power, the armor enhanced the wearer's physical capabilities.
That was how they could move so nimbly.
It turned out those suits of armor were yet another type of weapon.
The box on the back was filled with magical energy that served as fuel.
A formula for controlling the armor was also built in.
Judging by the formula's lineage, was it a variant of the golem?
Small golems were embedded throughout the armor, augmenting the soldiers' movements.
(Interesting. This wasn't in any of the documents I've gathered so far. An original new weapon?)
It was something entirely different from conventional armor.
Compared to tanks or golems, it was vastly more agile.
Since the soldiers wore them directly, their proficiency in close combat was also high.
They could handle a wider range of situations than any other weapon.
Their overall capability and versatility were outstanding.
"Incredible invention. John Dou really is a genius."
"Now's not the time for praise. Here they come."
Just as I was genuinely impressed, Logan's warning voice rang out.
The soldiers who had evaded the black torrent were approaching along the rooftops.
They had finally noticed our presence.
The guns they carried had blades of magical energy at their tips.
They were firmly imbued with holy attributes.
A weapon that could handle both ranged and melee combat.
(Pretty impressive equipment, but their assessment is still naive.)
With that judgment, I unleashed a forbidden spell and took control of the torrent drenching the ground.
Lifting the entire torrent, I detonated it overhead.
The scattered miasma came down as rain.
"Ugh, what the—!?"
"Aaaaaah! My eyes, aaaaaaah!?"
"H-h-hieee?! No, no! Somebody, help!"
The soldiers drenched by it lost all momentum.
They writhed atop the rooftops, groaning in agony as they transformed into ghouls.
The miasma downpour ended quickly, but every soldier who had tried to close in was annihilated.
Every last one of them had become a ghoul.
Only Logan, whom I had shielded with magic, was unharmed.
The miasma that had rained down evaporated and dissipated.
The soldiers were agile but fragile.
They had specialized so heavily in mobility that they had absolutely no defenses against magic.
That was pointless.
Against someone like me who could cast spells without incantations, they were nothing but perfect targets.
A groan came from a nearby building.
Sliding out through a window was an undead in a robe.
About a dozen of them emerged one after another.
They shuffled away at a sluggish pace.
Those undead had been the mages operating the golems.
Having been indoors, they had of course avoided the miasma rain.
As for why they had transformed—it was because the golems had been caught in the initial torrent.
The ability to remotely operate golems meant there was a magical link between them and their operators.
By tracing that link, I could accomplish what would otherwise be impossible—an attack directly on the operators.
I interfered with the golems that had been swallowed by the torrent and seized control of their operation formulas.
Then I reversed the flow of miasma through the link, inflicting a catastrophic mutation on the mages.
For those who had been certain of their safety, it must have been utterly unforeseen.
As for miasma, I had trained with it daily until I could wield it freely.
That was how I expanded the diversity of my spells.
Now that I could use countless spells that would have been impossible in life, it would be foolish not to take advantage of them.
Logan looked at the devastation around us and sighed.
"Let me know next time you're going to use miasma magic. It's hard on the heart."
"...I'll do my best."
I replied after a brief pause.
There were times in the heat of battle when such courtesies weren't possible, so unfortunately I couldn't make any promises.
That said, Logan wasn't exactly lodging a serious complaint either.
Before I had shielded him, he had already been deploying his own spells to protect himself.
We had been together long enough that he could sense what I planned to do next.
We descended from the roof and made our way to the massive building in question.
There was no sign of the Magitech Legion emerging from inside.
According to my detection magic, there were a fair number of people inside.
Perhaps they had realized there was no point in mounting a defense, because the place was unnaturally silent.
I focused on the building's entrance.
It was sealed with magic, but I sensed no traps.
I could probably destroy it with ease.
If all I wanted was to steal the Relic Stone, I could use more brute-force methods, but that would prevent any conversation with John Dou.
There was also the risk of damaging the Relic Stone.
I needed to identify him from the presences within the building and proceed safely and calmly.
Just as I reached for the door with that thought, a strange static noise rang out.
I stopped and searched for the source of the sound.
A magical device had been installed beside the door.
The noise seemed to be emanating from it.
The persistent static gradually became more distinct.
Eventually, I realized it was a voice.
"...Can... you... hear me...?"
A man's voice, tense with anxiety, came through.
It was stiff in tone, cautiously probing toward us.
I exchanged a glance with Logan, then responded.
"I can hear you. Who are you?"
"My name is... John Dou."
The voice's owner answered, betraying a slight hesitation.