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The mass production models of Libra converted their left arms into blades and attacked Scorpius. This speed certainly would not shame a Level 700 creature. Normal opponents would not be able to respond to it. However, Scorpius stopped both blades with her bare hands and terminated their movements with a mocking smile.

“Later, idiots.”

By grasping the blades, she forcefully threw them away. With the sound of breaking joints, cracks appeared on the shoulders of the mass production models. However, the mass production models instantly retracted their blades and readjusted their positions, avoiding the worst possible outcome. Immediately, the two units in the rear fired The Right Scales.

However, Scorpius advanced fearlessly and avoided their shots. As if to return a greeting, she extended her tail and pierced the right arm of a mass production model, blowing her away from the shoulder.

“I understand you girls now. Unlike the original, far from being equipped with Brachium, each of you only has one of the Scales. In other words, I need to neutralize you first.”

Then, she aimed for the other cannon-type model. Realizing she was under attack, the cannon-type model spread her wings of steel and retreated into the sky. But Scorpius jumped upwards and easily caught up with her.

“Idiot. Did you think you can escape!?”

Scorpius mocked her and slashed with her claw. That alone took the right arm of the cannon-type model. Immediately after, her tail pierced a hole in the model’s chest. The interior parts were scattered and the mass production model shook as if she was malfunctioning.

No, she was in fact malfunctioning. Unintelligible noises escaped from her mouth as if she could no longer converse. But still, she was a weapon built for combat and a steel doll meant to defend Blutgang. There was no fear on her face, only the steel-like will to accomplish her purpose.

It did not matter if she lost her weapon or if she received extensive damage. In this situation, she would only hinder her comrades and could no longer be considered a combat power. Thus, there was only one thing to do. The mass production model grabbed the tail that penetrated her with her remaining arm. Unbelievably, she used it to penetrate herself further, bringing herself close enough to kiss Scorpius.

“…Self-destruct…sequence…start…”

“!?”

The body of the mass production model started to glow, pouring out electrical currents. Her glass-like eyes started to chip, while cracks spread across her face. Scorpius realized what she was trying to do. This doll intended to deal a final attack using a self-destruct mechanism. But no matter how Scorpius struggled, the tail was embedded too deeply and was stuck. If she had a few seconds, she could break herself free, but she did not even have those few seconds.

A flash of light.

The entire sky shone brightly as an explosive sound roared. A pillar of fire rose into the sky, scattering the clouds. The shockwave damaged both Scorpius’ army and the golem army, significantly reducing their numbers.

Witnessing this scene, the marshal of Blutgang was convinced of Scorpius’ death. The loss they received in this battle was massive. Not only did they lose their precious high-level golem troops, they even lost one unit of Libra mass production models. The remaining three units were not undamaged. The damage of the unit that was pierced in the belly was particularly serious. Other units had lost their weapons. Since they could not repair these units, they had essentially lost three of them.

But they had won. Despite making a great sacrifice, they defeated one of the Twelve Heavenly Stars. …No, let’s correct this. If she was defeated, they could at least comfort themselves.

“…Impossible.”

When the smoke cleared on the scene, the marshal cried out in despair. The other crews must be the same. They watched the outcome of the fight in disbelief, or rather with a refusal to believe.

“—That was dangerous. Even I felt the chills just then. I have to be careful now.”

Scorpius’ appearance was almost the same as before the self-destruct explosion. No, there were, in fact, some changes. Both her arms were waving with black scissors-like ends. They were probably weapons created by condensing mana. Some parts from the mass production model were still attached to them. Seeing this, the marshal understood what happened. In that moment, she…In the instant before the explosion, she forcefully cut the mass production model apart and escaped!

“But now, it’s over. After seeing it once, I won’t be caught in it again. Then, what’s left is the one with the hole in the belly, another one that lost her weapon, and one that is in perfect condition…Haha, isn’t the outcome already decided?”

“……!”

Confident of her victory, Scorpius flew towards the remaining three units. Even when they were in perfect condition, the mass production models were at best able to put up a good fight, so could they possibly win now? The answer was of course, “No.”

There was no longer any chance of victory. And even if there was, it would have been mutual destruction. The way would be to somehow catch Scorpius in the self-explosion. In other words, Blutgang had lost its trump card.

♏

Oh, there you are. They seem to be noisy scorpion-type magical beasts.

Leaving the interior of Blutgang to Libra and the others, I went outside and grinned when I saw the scorpion army that stretched for hundreds of meters long. Based on what I could see, the scorpion magical beasts were of decent quality. Although there were some small fries, it was common to see Level 100 to 200 among them.

But it was surprising that the fighting strength of Blutgang was at the same level. The golem army fearlessly fought the magical beasts, while the artilleries of Blutgang were scattering the enemies. What impressed me the most was a high-level woman in black at a far distance.

She should be Scorpius. The “Ruphas” within me said so. Furthermore, the combat-oriented golems were doing well so far to match Scorpius. The golems that looked like Libra dealt with Scorpius with splendid coordination. However, being combat-oriented was merely that. They could not really be a match. No matter how hard they tried, Scorpius would win. One of the units had a large hole in the belly and was half-broken. The other two units did not look good either.

“What a pity.”

“What is it?”

Dina turned to face me as I muttered to myself.

“Hmm. The golems that look like Libra were Level 700. In this era, they should be considered rare artifacts. It would be a shame for them to be destroyed…By the way, previously you said that a Level 100 golem was worth a few million eru, so how much would these golems be?”

“They would be national treasures.”

“Eh?”

“These are extremely valuable golems considered to be national treasures.”

…This wouldn’t merely be wasteful anymore. Well, if a Level 100 was worth a few million, it wouldn’t be strange for them to be of such value. In the first place, nobody in this era, including myself, could create a Level 700 golem. For them to be sent to the frontline was the evidence that Blutgang was being driven into a corner. If these golems were destroyed, the loss they would suffer would be immeasurable…

“There’s no other choice. Let’s end this quickly. Dina, my weapon.”

“Which one would you like?”

“The whip sword.”

I reached out my right hand as I answered. A gate opened to match it and the sword which I frequently used was in my hand.

The whip sword—In the game, this weapon was a little slow in terms of an attack action, but it had a wide attack range. Because it could deal with a large number of small fries with a single attack, it was my favorite weapon. Although I would use a different weapon during a boss fight, the whip sword was what I would use most of the time. But it could not be used just yet.

“Dina, clear the field.”

“Please leave it to me.”

If I attacked right away, the golems would be affected. That would be too wasteful. It wasn’t like I could not build them, but that number would be too troublesome and tiring. If I could avoid destroying them, it would be best. As it happened, we did have such a way.

“X-Gate!”

Combining divine and arcane powers, Dina opened the gate. The chosen location was the ground of the entire battlefield. It was a little surreal to see all the golems drop into a hole on the ground. Only the golems went through the gate, leaving behind the magical beasts. X-Gate was ineffective without the target’s consent, so while non-living things such as golems could be transported, the magical beasts would remain. This property was particularly useful in separating the battlefield. Now, I could attack without reservations.

“Now then, let’s do this.”

I swung the sword in a wide arc and with all my might. The blade swayed like a snake and extended to a long distance. And then, the elongated blade swept through the entire battlefield!

I should do some adjustments, but if they died with this, it would be fine. Even though these scorpions were Scorpius’ minions, they were not my subordinates. In the first place, they followed Scorpius instinctively because she was a monster of the same type. They were basically murderous monsters without intelligence, so there was no need to hesitate.

Still, it would be useful later to capture some high-level magical beasts, so I adjusted my attack to leave the stronger ones alive. If they died from this attack, they were not worth the while to capture them at all. In any case, I wanted to raise Virgo’s level quickly.

When my attack ended, the battlefield was changed completely. All the golems had vanished. Not much was left of the scorpion army, except for the high-level ones. The glow of the mana released by the dead magical beasts was absorbed by my body.

Was this experience points? I shouldn’t have seen this before. Was this visible now that I was more in sync with Ruphas?

No, this was bad since all the experience points were flying towards me. It was pointless for a Level 1000 character like me to gain more experience points. Virgo could not level up like this. I concentrated to somehow stop the mana from coming towards me.

Don’t come here, go over to Virgo!

She should be able to get some experience points for participating in the battle.

Power leveling, come on!

As I concentrated, the mana did not enter my body. Instead, it began to concentrate in the palm of my hand. I was surprised when Dina gasped, but I couldn’t worry about that right now.

Accumulate, accumulate…and the mana condensed into a shiny, golden fruit…It was a shape I was very familiar with. It was an apple.

“What is this…?”

I murmured in spite of myself. The experience points had become an apple. I couldn’t understand this. Perhaps it would be like power leveling if it was consumed by an ally?

Dina was looking at me with a stern expression…no, she was looking at the apple in my hand.

♏

“Golden apple?”

“Yes, golden apple.”

The mansion of the Wisdom King in Svalinn.

In the guest room, Megrez was telling the hero about one of the myths of this world. Its credibility was said to be astronomically low, but Megrez still related it to the hero. This was because Megrez was convinced that this legend was closest to the truth, regardless of what others might think.

“There used to be no mana in Midgard. The white-winged people who lived in the high mountain of Vanaheim collected the impurities (mana) of the world. This became the golden apple, the forbidden fruit that nobody should touch.”

“Forbidden fruit…”

“But some of the winged people ate the fruit and incurred the wrath of the goddess. They were stripped of their wings and exiled from the mountain, becoming humans. In other words, those who ate the fruit intentionally became the common ancestors of all humanoid races except for the flügels. After this incident, the flügels lost the ability to gather mana, which then overflowed the world.”

Megrez said up to this point and turned the page of the book he was reading. That book was The History of Midgard • The Secrets of the Birth of the Seven Races.

“But isn’t this just a legend?”

“Oh, it is a legend. Most people probably don’t believe in it. If I did not meet her, I would probably treat it as a stupid joke and laughed it off. But it is real.”

Megrez laughed calmly as he looked at Sei. Then, he said something that the hero and his companions would not want to know.

“The so-called secret formula that you are seeking to quickly raise one’s level…is the golden apple…And to the best of my knowledge, the only person who could produce it is…Ruphas Mafahl.”

Image from Light Novel Volume 3.