“I’m counting on you!”
Seridan disassembled the railgun on the spot using the Magnetic Cube.
Shaaak!
The scattered parts floated in the air, spinning around the powered armor like electrons orbiting an atomic nucleus under magnetic force.
When the armor raised one hand, the components converged into a single massive shield.
A shield large enough to cover the entire towering fra of the powered armor.
Alchemy combination — Scrap-tal Shield.
“Hyaaaah!”
Seridan yanked the lever forward, maximizing the armor’s output.
A soft blue glow surrounded the machine, and then fierce magical energy erupted from its back.
BWAAAAANG!
With the shield raised, the powered armor charged straight at the Automatons firing magic—like a heavily ard knight galloping across the battlefield.
The barrage of spells smashed uselessly against the scrap-tal shield, unable to do any harm.
Of course, each impact delivered physical shock through the shield, but Seridan’s armor wasn’t so fragile as to crumble from sothing like that.
The ivory Automatons had no choice but to switch tactics.
Clack!
From both their wrists extended twin blades.
Bluish aura shimred along each edge.
It wasn’t quite as sharp as the aura wielded by true knights, but aura was still aura.
Even that solid shield would be sliced apart the instant those blades touched it.
The Automatons rushed in.
So slamd into the charging armor’s shield and clung on instead of being thrown back, hacking wildly with aura-coated blades.
KANG! KANG! SHRRK!
Sparks burst out, chunks of the shield’s edges flying away.
Five Automatons slashed furiously, and the shield’s durability plumted to its limit in seconds.
Seridan would have to discard the shield, pull the parts back magnetically, and forge a new weapon on the fly.
Instead, she boosted the output even further and stepped forward through the storm of attacks.
Her role was to clear a path.
Even if this machine broke down, she couldn’t stop.
It was a reckless choice—one she made only because she believed in Arfa.
CRASH!
The barely-holding shield finally shattered.
The Automatons sward over the powered armor like insects.
Seridan squeezed ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) her eyes shut and shouted,
“Ugh! I really didn’t want to use this!”
She slamd the ergency eject button.
The back of the powered armor burst open with a tallic clang, and her small body was catapulted out like a bullet.
Before the Automatons could react, the Magnetic Cube surged past its critical limit and detonated in a blazing explosion.
KWA-AA-ANG!
A massive blast born from sacrificing the entire machine as fuel.
Even after putting plenty of distance between herself and the armor, Seridan was caught in the blast wave and rolled across the ground several tis.
Lying sprawled flat, she muttered,
“The path is open.”
“Thank you.”
Leaping past her like a gust of wind, Arfa dashed straight toward the black Automaton.
At that mont, a red light glead in the smooth visor of the black Automaton’s helt.
It had finally activated.
When it extended its left hand, magnetic power gathered there, drawing in tal fragnts from around the room and shaping them into a sword.
A perfect imitation of Lesley’s magnetic spellcraft.
Then crimson aura flared along the blade—similar to the Living Armor power of Knight Verom.
Seeing the successful activation, Victor couldn’t contain his delight and roared,
“Ohoho! Behold! My masterpiece! My beautiful creation! This ultimate Automaton, crafted by taking the traits of the Black Dawn Society’s forr First Orders!”
Victor’s pride and joy—the black Automaton.
Also known as Black Order.
Black Order raised its empty right hand.
In its smooth black palm, a small fla flickered to life.
Fwoosh.
The fla swelled instantly—and from within it, a giant with a terrifying face erged.
KUUUUWAAAAR!
The giant of fire roared, opening its massive jaws toward Arfa.
With its bellow ca a torrent of blazing heat.
Before Arfa could even react, the flas engulfed him completely.
Even for an Automaton, there was no surviving that level of heat unscathed.
But Black Order wasn’t finished.
Its crimson-aura blade swung, unleashing crescent-shaped slashes one after another—aid to finish Arfa for good.
Seridan and Bellaruna could only stare wide-eyed.
Because within the sea of red fire, a burst of blue light flared up.
A freezing chill split the fiery giant’s breath in two, shattering the incoming crescents mid-air.
And it didn’t stop there.
The blue flash cut forward, cleaving the giant of fire vertically from brow to belly.
Glittering blue fragnts filled the air, cooling the scorched surroundings.
Seridan whispered in disbelief,
“Was that... magic?”
Even steel would have lted in those flas.
Yet Arfa stood firm within them, holding a sword—
A massive greatsword made of ice.
It was obviously conjured through magic.
Victor scread, startled out of his mind,
“W-what?! What was that just now?!”
Though flailing in panic, his sharp intellect grasped it at once.
“An Automaton using magic? That’s impossible!”
Arfa had cast magic—by his own will.
The magic used by Victor’s Automatons wasn’t genuine casting.
Like scrolls or artifacts, it was rely a pre-engraved spell triggered by mana stones, not true spellcraft.
Thus their power was inferior to that of real mages.
But Arfa was different.
He controlled mana himself, constructed a formula, and manifested magic—like a human.
Whether Victor could comprehend it or not, Arfa gazed silently at the ice greatsword in his hand.
—Arfa.
—Yes, Teacher.
He rembered vividly the conversation with Ludger before the Holy War began.
—To be honest, I don’t want you getting involved in this battle.
—Huh? Why not? I’m a proud mber of Owens too!
—Because you’re still a child.
—For an Automaton like ...
—Not anymore. You know that yourself.
Arfa had no answer.
Ludger was right. Since the Dreamland incident, Arfa had learned the truth about his own soul.
—Teacher, even so, I want to fight.
He looked down at his empty palm.
It looked like a human hand—but inside were only gears and springs, not warmth.
—I’ve beco stronger. Not the way I wished, but still... I want to use this strength to help you.
—And you truly an that?
—Yes.
Arfa’s pure eyes t Ludger’s.
After a long look, Ludger sighed and nodded.
—I can’t force your choices now. But understand this—the coming battle will be harsh, even for your sturdy body.
—I’m prepared for that.
—Then I’ll teach you how to beco stronger.
—A way to get stronger? There’s such a thing?
—Yes. With the awareness you have now, it’s possible.
What Ludger said next had shocked him.
—From now on, you’ll learn how to use magic.
—Magic? But I’m an Automaton—I can’t use magic.
—Your body can’t. But your soul and mind can.
Ludger ford a faint blue sigil in his palm with mana.
—How do humans use magic? They draw in ambient mana and store it within their bodies. But that mana isn’t exclusive to humans.
Creatures saturated with mana beco spirits.
Plants in mana-rich lands evolve into new forms.
Arfa knew this—he had seen it himself in the Kassar Basin.
—Steam Golems and other machines run on mana stones. The power within those stones moves them. So here’s a question: is the mana used by Golems any different from that used by humans?
—I... guess not. Both co from nature’s mana, after all.
—Exactly. Humans, beasts, plants, machines—all can use mana. The only difference is whether they do so by will or not.
Ludger’s blue eyes pierced into him.
—Arfa. Are you a machine... or a human?
That alone was enough for Arfa to understand.
—But I can’t store mana, and I don’t know how to form spells.
—Why do you think you don’t know?
—Because I’ve never learned.
—True. You haven’t learned—but you’ve seen it countless tis, haven’t you?
—...
—You rember everything you see. So you know how many spells you witnessed that day in Kassar Basin.
Arfa looked down at his hand again.
The smooth palm, without a single callus, now held a greatsword once more.
Yes.
He rembered everything—
The spellcraft of the mages that day.
The art of drawing patterns in the air with mana.
The boy who once wanted to learn and imitate that beauty—
Had finally grasped what he’d longed for.
To help soone.
To protect his companions.
Arfa extended his left hand.
Flas gathered in his open palm, forming a staff of fire.
“Grandpa Rimray... I’ll borrow your strength for a bit.”
With a gentle smile, Arfa gripped the fiery staff and swung it wide.
For a mont, Seridan and Bellaruna saw the illusion of an old sage standing behind him.
FWOOOOOSH!
A tidal wave of fla surged forward, engulfing Black Order.
“D-don’t lose, Black Order!”
At Victor’s command, the black Automaton’s red eyes flared as it unleashed magic.
Ice-elent spells stored within its artifacts and mana stones activated in rapid succession.
Though each was weaker than true magic, it could fire many at once.
From the First Circle to the Fourth—
A barrage of ice magic roared like machine-gun fire.
Blades of frost, howling blizzards, spears of ice, hail from the ceiling—
But none of it mattered before Arfa’s fiery staff.
Every ice spell shattered, and flas exploded across Black Order’s body.
Yet it endured.
As Victor’s ultimate creation, it had built-in resistance to fire.
But it couldn’t withstand the next blow.
CRRRR-KRRR-SH!
The ice greatsword slamd diagonally into Black Order’s shoulder.
Its hard fra stopped the blade near the collarbone, but the impact was imnse.
Arfa released the sword and conjured a new weapon—
A violet lightning saber.
Then ca a whip of water, a spear of stone, and blades of wind, striking in succession.
KRA-KRA-KANG!
Black Order’s body was torn apart, its limbs scattering across the lab.
“This can’t be! My—my perfect Automaton, destroyed?!”
Behind his goggles, Victor’s eyes glead madly as he glared at Arfa.
“Yes... now I see! You infused a soul into that Automaton! That’s why it could use magic! But how?! Transferring a human soul into steel should damage it—make it forget who it once was!”
Victor tore off his white lab coat.
“Well, it doesn’t matter! I’ve found a specin so rare—I must capture you and dissect you piece by piece!”
“You really think you can catch ?”
“Ohohoho! You underestimate too much.”
Beneath the discarded coat was the scrawny fra of a scientist.
But as Victor tensed his body, his muscles swelled grotesquely, his form expanding.
“Did you think I only modified machines to prepare for this?”
Astonishingly, Victor had experinted on himself as well.
“A true scientist must never spare even his own body!”
“I figured as much.”
The reply ca not from Arfa, but from Bellaruna.
At that sa mont—thunk!—Victor felt a sharp sting in his thigh.
“What the—?”
He looked down to see Bellaruna beside him, having plunged a syringe into his now-bulging leg.
Smiling up at him, she said lightly,
“I guessed that a mad scientist like you would’ve experinted on his own body.”
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