Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Assault Magic Armor: Sirius (5)
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It didn’t take long to schedule the next test for the magic armor “Sirius,” which Lua Polaris had been developing.
The reason was that Austin, the newest member to join the Secret Society, possessed an innate talent for controlling Sirius.
The Holy Knight Austin Rainer, who had lost his physical body.
He flawlessly executed every single maneuver that Lua demanded.
As a result, Austin soon faced the next test, led by the mages of the Blue Tower.
- “……Are we flying in this state?”
A choppy mechanical voice echoed across the empty mountaintop.
At the summit of a massive mountain located beyond the imperial direct territory.
There, a colossal figure encased in black metal stood alone, gazing down at the ground.
- “That’s right, Austin. Today’s plan is a test flight all the way to the northern barbarian lands.”
Lua’s voice reached Austin’s ears through communication magic.
Lua Polaris, a member of the Secret Society.
She was monitoring Austin’s condition in real-time while receiving data from Sirius during the flight.
- “…….”
At the rear of Sirius standing on the mountaintop.
A propulsion device fitted with a magic stone was attached there.
It was a device created to grant flight capabilities to the massive magic armor.
Word had it that Lua had undergone countless inspections from the Archmage of the library to build this thing.
Since Archmage Johan had personally vetted it, its performance could be trusted without much doubt.
Clank.
Whirr-.
With that, Austin activated the back-mounted propulsion device at maximum output without hesitation.
- “Considering the stored mana plus the amount gathered during flight, reaching the north should be no problem.”
- “What if control fails and we crash?”
- “I’m trusting you on that, Austin, but… auxiliary magic will activate anyway, so don’t worry too much.”
The existence of auxiliary magic.
Hearing that, Austin quietly nodded.
From the moment he first boarded Sirius, Austin had realized he had a talent for piloting magic armor.
His intuition—
The sensations coming from his subconscious were guiding him in the right direction.
‘Come to think of it, my instincts were always sharp in battles.’
Memories from the past flashed through Austin Rainer’s mind.
From countless battlefields to his fight with Lionel, Austin’s intuition had always aided him in combat.
It hadn’t turned unwinnable fights into victories, but at least it let him know where he’d meet his end.
Besides, the concept of “death” had completely vanished for Austin now.
With his entire body covered in metal, perhaps he could even gain the upper hand against those he couldn’t beat before—
Such thoughts surfaced in his mind.
‘A body of steel… Not the most pleasant sensation, but there’s no faster way to grow stronger.’
Creak-.
Sirius assumed a flight posture.
Hiss, shiiiish-.
Immense heat began emanating from the propulsion device on Sirius’s rear.
Then, the moment Austin’s gaze turned to the sky.
- “Test flight starting now.”
- “Understood, Miss Lua.”
Kwaaaaang—!
Soon, tremendous power surged from the propulsion device, launching Austin’s body into the sky.
An enormous force shot the giant metal knight heavenward.
Wind slicing across his entire body.
A crisp sound rattling the metal.
Amid it all, Austin’s eyes fixed on the numbers appearing in his field of view.
- “Altitude’s rising fast. I’ll assist with direction control.”
Clank, creeeak-.
As flight began, small metal devices deployed from Sirius’s rear.
They were devices designed to let Austin control Sirius’s flight himself.
Fwooooosh-!
He quietly savored the sensation of Sirius cleaving through the air.
The heavy metal plates began to vibrate, and the control devices creaked under the pressure transmitted across his body.
Even so, Austin was quickly adapting to the feel of the control devices on his back.
‘This seems like a pretty dangerous way to fly. Controlling it with precise calculations won’t be easy.’
Every second, Sirius’s body moved at high speed.
A velocity where a single misstep could result in collision with something else.
Moreover, the strain on the body was no joke.
Without the protective magic of the magic armor, a single impact would shatter everything.
Screech-.
Austin’s will manipulated Sirius’s propulsion device.
At the same time, Sirius’s massive frame spun leftward and accelerated.
‘Good, no issues with maneuvering.’
Having mastered the propulsion controls, Austin attempted a short acrobatic maneuver.
Was it thanks to Austin’s keen senses?
Fwooooosh-.
Sirius responded to his intentions, displaying a variety of movements.
- “You’re handling it better than expected for a first time.”
- “Guess I have a knack for this. Of course, not many people get to try it…….”
Austin’s eyes gazed at the cloud-shrouded sky.
The experience of crossing the heavens by his own will.
Like birds with wings soaring freely, it was a dream everyone harbored.
And for Austin Rainer, this moment was a landscape straight out of his childhood dreams.
The vast sky.
The tiny land visible far below.
Amid it all, only Austin aboard Sirius enjoyed the freedom to glide through the heavens.
- “Not a bad experience, all things considered.”
Austin, looking down at the ground, shared his impressions.
Flying felt incredibly refreshing.
Perhaps sensing Austin’s emotions.
Lua’s voice, somewhat excited, filled the communication link with her story.
- “Truth is, back when I was an apprentice mage, I created a flight spell. Of course, it was smaller scale than this.”
- “…….”
- “But it was a pretty solid spell. I launched an experimental frog into the sky with it, and it went so high I couldn’t find it.”
Static, crackle-.
Amid the noise in his ears, Austin let Lua’s words flow in one ear and out the other.
It wasn’t particularly relevant to the test flight.
Instead, he focused on taking in the landscape passing below.
- “Of course, my mentor insisted the frog’s body burst and vanished, which was ridiculous…….”
- “…….”
- “He said stuff like that… Uh……?”
For a brief moment, Austin aboard Sirius streaked through the upper skies at high speed.
Soon, he heard a puzzled voice in his ear.
Crackle-.
Along with noise, Lua’s flustered voice emerged.
At the same time, a chilling sensation brushed past Austin’s back.
‘—Danger.’
Austin’s intuition began ringing alarm bells.
Rumble-.
He reflexively controlled the propulsion device.
It stemmed from his survival instincts.
- “Austin! It looks like Sirius has entered the domain of the mobile fortress!”
- “What? ‘Laplacia’?”
- “One of the Seven Castles—the lord, Corios Baklaier! His fortress seems to be floating around here!”
Lua’s urgent voice blared in his ears.
There was no time to hesitate.
Clank-.
Austin quickly twisted Sirius’s body.
- “The mobile fortress’s lord is infamous for shooting down every flying object near him without exception!”
- “……!”
- “So, you need to evade—right now……!”
Austin’s actions outpaced Lua’s words.
The moment instinctual choice tilted Sirius sideways.
Kwaaaaang-!
Artillery fire from somewhere slammed into Sirius’s side.
A heat ray slicing through the air.
A flash laden with vast mana stretched toward Sirius.
Kwaang! Kwaaaang-!
Amid the mind-shaking roar, the mana field deployed on the side swiftly blocked the attack.
- “Ngh……!”
Sizzle-!
The grazing shot created a heavy impact on the mana field.
Austin quickly checked Sirius’s status inside the shaking magic armor.
Was it because he’d moved Sirius swiftly?
Fortunately, most of the fortress’s artillery missed Sirius.
He’d succeeded in deflecting the attacks with minimal mana consumption.
- “Austin! Are you okay!”
- “Flight… control… isn’t working properly……!”
But the mobile fortress’s barrage hadn’t affected only Sirius’s metal plating.
The precarious flight path—
Sirius’s posture destabilized, causing control issues.
- “Ugh, in this state……!”
Fwooooosh-.
Failing to maintain altitude, Sirius’s body began plummeting rapidly toward the ground.
Amid the shaking field of view, Austin’s gaze confirmed the terrain.
The erratic, blurry vision irregularly captured familiar scenery.
- “At this rate… we’ll crash……!”
—Crashing toward the ground.
Realizing this, Austin desperately tried to control the rear propulsion.
Clank, creeak-.
Sirius’s metal auxiliary devices busily shifted left and right.
Even as he acted on instinct, he didn’t forget to mind the impact point.
‘If I hit a populated area, everyone there will get swept away and die!’
No matter that he’d become a heretic, he had no intention of involving innocents.
So, he had to succeed in controlling it somehow.
Clunk. Rumble-.
Austin poured all his strength into controlling Sirius.
Aiming the propulsion downward to slow down, he tried to avoid structures as much as possible.
- “Austin……!”
- “Ngh… For now… I’ll try to land intact……!”
Austin’s gaze fixed on the ground.
His intuitive control moved the propulsion.
Here, he wouldn’t let anyone die—
That resolve drove Austin.
Amid the torrent of sensations shaking his consciousness.
Kwaang! Rumble rumble-!
Thick dust engulfed Sirius’s vision.
- “…….”
Magic armor Sirius.
The black steel knight had landed on the ground.
* * * * * *
A colossal fortress floating in the sky.
—The mobile fortress Laplacia.
At the center of the vast citadel that had come from the continent’s west, a doll with fluttering brown hair sat.
The sole administrator controlling the massive traversing magic fortress was there.
The master dominating the 10,000 magic dolls residing in Laplacia.
Castle Lord Corios Baklaier gazed at the screen before him with an expressionless stare.
- “Warning-.”
- “Warning-.”
- “An unidentified flying object has intruded into Laplacia’s domain.”
Around Corios, the spirit managing the mobile fortress issued real-time warnings.
In the empire’s airspace where the fortress currently floated.
A warning of a flying object approaching at threatening speed.
The brown-haired magic doll ignored the warning silently, face impassive.
“…….”
Silence hung in the center of the grand hall.
Centered on the quietly seated magic doll, the fortress’s defense systems sprang into action busily.
Whirr, whirrr-.
Heterogeneous mechanical sounds echoed everywhere.
At the same time, countless messages appeared around the magic doll.
- “Engaging intercept.”
- “Anti-behemoth penetrating beam magic cannon activating-.”
- “Expected hit probability 98%…….”
Crackle, crackle.
Various alerts popped up in the lord’s view.
The myriad messages before his eyes were everyday occurrences for the lord ruling the vast fortress.
Behemoths. Or flying creatures.
Even human magic weaponry.
Countless flying objects passed through Laplacia’s domain frequently.
“Do it yourself.”
Yet the outcome was always the same.
Destruction of approaching flying objects.
Ruthless interception was their sole fate.
Kwaaaaang-!
One of the fortress’s mounted cannons commenced interception.
Amid the sharp report.
The lord merely stared at the screen with an unchanging impassive face.
Assuming, as always, that the intruder had been destroyed.
- “……Missed target.”
- “Flying object has exited the domain.”
However, the soon-following alert twisted the lord’s face completely.
The spirit’s report managing the fortress.
It deviated entirely from the lord’s expectations.
Interception failure—
Facing the message, the lord quietly opened his mouth, face steeped in displeasure.
“Interception… failed……?”
Corios Baklaier.
The sovereign dominating the pinnacle of magitech, the mobile fortress, rose from his seat upon hearing of the failure.
The mage’s hands, unable to process the intruder breaching his domain, trembled roughly in rage.
From Corios’s mouth erupted a voice of fury.
“You stupid tin can! Can’t even handle one interception properly!”
The great mage afflicted with obsession.
He resolved to overhaul his failed management system.
* * * * * *
The temple backyard of the White Order.
In the place lined with numerous tombstones, people with somber faces gathered, heads bowed.
Before them stood a newly made grave.
—Holy Knight, Austin Rainer.
A grave dedicated to the great Holy Knight who chose noble sacrifice in battle against the black mage.
“……Austin.”
At the dead Holy Knight’s grave, a girl in a black veil gazed at the stone.
Hans the baker’s daughter, Mary.
The girl who lost her lover stared at the grave, eyes brimming with sorrow.
Until confirming the grave, Mary had denied Austin’s death several times a day.
Perhaps the fine Holy Knight was alive somewhere.
Or maybe the Order’s clerics had mistaken his appearance.
She harbored such thoughts in her heart.
“Sir Austin… my beloved knight…….”
But now, attending Austin’s funeral, she had fully let go of such lingering hopes.
Austin Rainer was dead.
It was an undeniable reality.
Countless priests, their families, and visiting mourners had already confirmed it.
The devout cleric Austin was dead.
And now, only those honoring him remained, heads bowed.
“Let us observe a moment of silence for our brother, Austin.”
Before the new tombstone, an Order priest clasped his hands and bowed his head.
Hoo-.
A heavy sigh escaped the priest.
All gathered to commemorate the fine Holy Knight’s end and offer prayers here.
“…….”
Mary closed her eyes before this reality.
Plugging her ears, bowing her head, sinking into the heavy truth.
And as Mary tried to accept the cold reality.
Kwaang! Rumble rumble-!
A sudden roar echoed, dust spreading.
At the same time, a massive vibration shook the ground.
“Ah…….”
Mary’s panicked eyes looked ahead.
The temple backyard lined with countless tombstones.
The graves that had stood there were swept away in an instant.
Even Austin’s freshly made grave was no exception.
In its place, amid the dust, purple glows flashed.
“KyaAhhh……!”
Fwooooosh-.
The shockwave’s aftermath surged, strong winds rapidly sweeping away the dust.
And from beyond, the culprit behind this emerged.
“Th-that’s……!”
“No way……!”
Black steel covering the entire body.
Purple ore gleaming at the armor’s center.
And purple glows flashing from the eye sockets.
The jet-black knight had embedded its blade into the ground, kneeling on one knee.
Amid the cries of shock from all sides.
The black-armored knight raised its head.
- “…….”
Whirr-.
The purple glows in its eyes shimmered with heat haze.