The head snapped toward the nearest unit—the one with the broken gun—and lunged, jaws wide, like it wanted to swallow it whole. I still had no idea how sothing like that would even work, but...
BOOM!
The Hydra’s head slamd into the ground.
H-Huh?
THUD!
W-What the hell!?
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
To my utter shock, the unit was actually fighting back. And it wasn’t so pointless, suicidal charge either. No, it had the Hydra completely pinned, locking it down so hard it couldn’t even move.
THUD!
It was hamring away at the Hydra’s ugly head, fist after fist, blow after blow.
"That thing can see it?"
[A-a-a-a-nno-ying]
The Hydra screeched inside my skull, then suddenly stopped dodging and just tanked one of the unit’s punches head-on. Its grin stretched even wider the mont it realized the hit didn’t do a thing.
GROWL!
"Stop!"
I yanked the Hydra back, dispelling it before it could start tearing the unit apart. Testing them was fine, a few dents and scratches were fine—but I really didn’t want to straight-up destroy one.
These things were expensive. Ridiculously expensive. And I’d rather not have to look Evelina in the eye and explain how I broke one.
"What’s up with them...?"
They could see the Hydra. That was new. But how...?
I narrowed my eyes, scanning the new units for anything that might explain why they were resisting it—and then it hit , in the dumbest, most disappointing way possible.
Of course they’d be immune...
They were literally robots.
I doubt mory tricks or the Hydra’s invisibility effect would work on them at all.
"Is that it?" I muttered. It was the only thing that made sense.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be sure.
SNAP!
Another Hydra head burst into existence beside . I ordered the units to take aim and—yeah, that first one definitely wasn’t a fluke.
In seconds, every rifle was trained on the Hydra’s head hovering over my shoulder.
So that was it, huh?
Aside from people noticing mory gaps, it turned out another one of the Hydra’s weaknesses was constructs—or at least, things dumber than humans, or things that didn’t have a normal kind of mory.
That was... actually pretty interesting. Definitely sothing I’d need to rember next ti I used my abilities in places crawling with machines.
And Eryndor was definitely one of those places.
SNAP!
I dismissed the Hydra. With that little experint out of the way, it was about ti I actually started putting them to use.
No more tests.
They were clearly battle‑ready. I didn’t even feel the need to try them out in the field anymore—the way they handled my shadows and the Hydra was proof enough.
All that was left was to give a single order—and unleash them.
Sure, there’d probably be so unrest at first. But once the citizens realized these things wouldn’t touch them unless they did sothing stupid... that problem would sort itself out fast.
"Let’s see..."
I flipped through the manual. Apparently, Benedict had already set up a special command inside their systems. A full map of Berian was preloaded into every unit, just waiting for Benedict’s trigger phrase to activate it.
He keeps finding new ways to impress , doesn’t he...
Well, that made my job a lot easier.
But is that really the best activation phrase he could co up with?
"Begone, in the na of Lady D’Arclight."
I spoke the command, and the units imdiately stirred to life. The one with the broken weapon marched straight for the crates of guns the workers had left behind, tore the planks off, and calmly grabbed itself a new rifle.
Smart. Very smart.
RUMBLE!
FISS!
Steam hissed and tal joints groaned as they marched out of the mansion in formation, each one strong enough to probably hold an entire street—maybe two—on its own.
[Dark Step]
I teleported to the roof and watched as they slowly flooded the streets. The citizens froze, staring in shock at the sudden appearance of so many tal soldiers. So people even dropped what they were doing; one even instinctively reached for his gun.
And...
BANG!
One of the units reacted instantly. It shot the weapon clean out of the man’s hand, then broke away from the formation and took up a guarding position at that very street.
So they didn’t default to lethal force either?
I think I actually love them.
They were perfect, absolutely perfect...
I’d thought they’d be nothing more than a temporary asure—just sothing to hold the line while Evelina and I worked on building more loyal citizens to hire as law enforcent.
But now? I wasn’t so sure we even needed to continue with that plan anymore.
These things were more than enough on their own.
[Darkfire Step]
I teleported to another rooftop, this ti using a combined formula. After realizing that kind of thing actually works, it only made sense to co up with as many usable spell combinations as I could.
It would be a waste not to build on a breakthrough like that. Besides, this rooftop didn’t have any shadows I could teleport to anyway.
So a custom teleport spell was necessary. It also helped get used to the basics of combining spells.
Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as hard as creating that custom healing spell. Compared to healing, everything else felt like child’s play.
"This place seems good."
I looked down at the street, spotting two units assigning themselves.
[Darkfire Step]
I teleported to another rooftop overlooking a different street, and there I saw a unit already pinning down what looked like a thief, calmly handing a stolen purse back to its owner.
"By the gods... these things are horrifying."
I couldn’t help but smile. With them patrolling, Evelina and I didn’t have to worry about leaving this place on its own for a while.
Although... I do wonder how the inquisitors will react when they see sothing like them.
Hopefully none of them are dumb enough to pick a fight with one. It’d be bad for their health—and for Evelina’s and my pockets.
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