When I was enjoying breakfast together with Kuina and Aura the day after I checked up on Rorono, Rorono came bursting in.
"It"s finished, the strongest golem"s finally finished!!"
She was visibly tired. Her hair was ruffled and her grooming was a little poor. Her eyes were heavy with bags and yet, it burned brightly.
She most probably spent all of the previous night working on completing the strongest golem by installing the twin cores into the best body made of orichalc.u.m.
She didn"t even have to say a word; her excitement alone was enough for me to know her news.
"Well done, Rorono."
I praised her so, walked toward her, and then embraced her. Upon doing so, she hugged me back.
"Ah! Rorono-chan"s so sneaky."
"Now, now, Kuina-chan, calm down. The strongest golem that Rorono-chan"s speaking of seems like a really amazing thing. It"s truly worthy of praise."
Kuina and Aura looked at Rorono and me as they conversed.
"Uhhhh. I understand. But Kuina too will do amazing things so that Oto-san will praise me as well."
Kuina"s somewhat innocent remark worried me a little. She was skilled in combat but not so much in administrative affairs. I just hope her efforts won"t be in vain…
"I wanted to say show it to me immediately but let"s get to that after you"ve eaten a meal. You haven"t eaten anything after those cookies, correct?"
We didn"t need to eat food to survive but we enjoyed doing it all the same. It brought us peace of mind which was something we did need.
"Mhm, alright, I"ll show it to master as soon as the meal is over."
"Aura, if you don"t mind."
"Already on it."
Before I had noticed, Aura was no longer where she was and had moved to the nearby kitchen.
The smell of b.u.t.ter then drifted in the air. Using b.u.t.ter and eggs procured from Avalon, she was expertly making some scrambled eggs. Concurrently, she was also grilling some crisp bacon.
Afterwards, she sandwiched both bacon and egg into a bread made by the Skeletons and then garnished it with her self-made flavorings.
Based on this sandwich alone, one could tell Aura"s culinary skills were truly superb.
As for dessert, there were the golden apples from the First Tree. Its effects were similar to before, only stronger. Its effects were so strong, I suspected it could even extend a person"s lifespan.
These golden apples were now part of our daily breakfast and thanks to that, we were in great health.
Rorono greedily munched on the food Aura served before her. The apple too was gone in an instant.
"These apples really have much greater effects than before. If I had these, I could research for at least year without ever needing to sleep."
Pfft, I almost spewed out the tea I was enjoying after our meal.
While it was indeed true that these golden apples could make one unaffected by fatigue…
"Don"t do that, Rorono. Your body might remain fine but your mind won"t."
"Sorry."
She apologized like that and then tasted the apple juice she held in her hand.
"Now that you"ve finished your meal and have also rested, won"t you show us the might of the new golem you just made?"
"Ok, leave it to me."
Like that, we went out to see the new golem. It wasn"t just me and Rorono; Kuina and Aura were also quite interested in seeing in it.
◇
We relocated to the training area within the Mines.
In there, we didn"t have to worry about being seen by the public so we could go as wild as we desired.
And so, Rorono activated the star of the show, the Orichalc.u.m Golem.
"It"s a very stylish golem, isn"t it?"
"Its power will remain exceedingly high even with a slim design so I went with that, made it light-weight, and emphasized speed."
The golems she had made up to this point stood at around 3 meters high and had very broad bodies. Their bodies were so broad, they seemed short and stout despite their height.
This one was different though. It was two and a half meter tall with a rather slender build. It was close in appearance to a human, a very tall yet slender human.
It had the shine peculiar to orichalc.u.m which was somewhere in-between gold and silver.
But most of all…
"It has such an amazing amount of magic power."
"Mhm. As I"ve said before, with the twin drive system, the two golem cores resonate not only with the orichalc.u.m but to each other as well. This results in the total output not being the sum of the two cores" individual outputs but their product. In this case, since the cores are highly attuned to one another, the total output is effectively the square of either cores" output. Their magic power rivals that of an average A rank monster"s."
As expected they weren"t as strong as Kuina and the others but they were still plenty strong.
"And how does the prospect of the ma.s.s production of these golems stand?"
"I would say it"s possible but I can"t guarantee when it can begin until I have a.n.a.lyzed this child"s test results. I intend to make it practice in the [Crimson Cavern] while I conduct further research."
I see, that"s good, I thought.
I still haven"t seen it move and yet I could already sense the countless possibilities that could come from this golem.
"So, what kind is this child?"
Kuina asked Rorono so.
"This one is designed for general purposes. With the fact that it is tenacious enough to endure the output of the twin cores in mind, this little one is genuinely tough, fast, and strong. The range of movements it can perform is quite similar to humanoid beings. It can also make use of whatever weapon a humanoid can use. This one will serve as the fundamental design but as my study makes progress, I intend to also deploy golems that specialize in long-range combat, in close-quarters combat, and in mobility."
When she became one of my [Monsters of the Covenant], Rorono obtained the ability to customize the golems. She had already made specialized golems before but considering this was the first one to make use of the twin drive system, a general purpose type was probably for the best.
"Try making it move now, Rorono."
"Alright. Let"s start with basic movements."
Like that, Rorono gave commands to the golem.
It started with an all-out dash, suddenly changed its course and then jumped.
At that, Aura clapped her hands.
Such speed, I thought. It was so fast it would make one forget that golems were known for their slowness.
"With the cores" excessively high output, the improvements to the joints for improved movement, and its light orichalc.u.m body, this much movement is within expectations."
Rorono somewhat triumphantly declared so.
"Next, weapons."
The new golem picked up a heavy-machinegun usually used by the Mithril Golems. After a few moments, the new golem then ran as it fired the long and weighty heavy-machinegun.
"Are you kidding me?"
This weapon was indeed strong but its weight and recoil were no joking matter. And yet, the heavy-machinegun often used on a fixed position was wielded much like one would an a.s.sault rifle.
Even the Mithril Golems with all their might wouldn"t be able to handle the weapon as skillfully and would therefore take considerable amounts of time to adjust their aims from the recoil.
To top it off, the new golem jumped into the air and continued firing.
"Again, with this new golem, this much is expected. Now… to test its defense. Kuina, try firing your shotgun at it."
"Understood."
Kuina took out her favorite shotgun and fired it.
Bang.
Rorono has made various improvements to this shotgun which included: a larger caliber; the use of mithril powder in the bullets so that one could insert their own magic power into it to further increase the damage; the [Explosion] enchantment which, after firing, makes the sh.e.l.l explode and scatters the shots more forcefully.
With all of these improvements, even an A rank monster would be shot through. If the target was an ordinary golem, it would most probably be turned into sc.r.a.p metal. As for the new golem…
"It"s almost unscathed?"
I let out a voice of surprise. There were a few scratches on its surface but that was pretty much it.
"Rorono-chan, what, it"s so tough. It kinda reminds me of that Orichalc.u.m Gargoyle from before."
"This is tougher than that. In order to increase its defense and ward off impact, its outer armor is designed to be rounded. Moreover, magic power is also made to flow to its armor, further increasing its durability. Next, let"s conduct tests for its magic defense. Kuina, try casting your flames into it."
"Are you sure?"
"I"m sure."
"Alright!"
Kuina gathered her magic power and formed a lump of high-density flame on the top of her palm. Shortly afterwards, it flew like an arrow.
Burning as hot as the sun itself, it made a direct hit. Should Rorono or Aura were to receive that hit, it might be fatal even for them.
The arrow of flame hit the golem in its chest and then engulfed it whole.
After a while, the flame disappeared.
While the golem… it remained unharmed.
"In order to move its limbs, magic power is made to circulate throughout its body but due to the cores" excessively high output, some of the magic power leaks. And so, this excess power, through the magic arrays already installed in the golem, is then used to act like a shield at all times against magical attacks. Additionally, its material itself, orichalc.u.m, is immensely resistant to magic. With all these, the golem is nigh invulnerable against magic."
Overwhelming speed, offense, and defense… this golem had it all.
"Impressive, Rorono."
"I"m proud of this golem. However, it does have a weakness. It"s quick and resilient but that"s pretty much it. Physical attacks are all it can do; against an opponent where physical attacks are ineffective, this golem"s powerless. Moreover, there are still enemies that can break through its defense. For example, it might have been able to withstand Kuina"s shotsh.e.l.l just now but if she switches to using slug sh.e.l.ls and keep shooting at the same spot over and over again, the golem"s defenses will crumble. Kuina is also fairly capable of dodging the hail of bullets coming from its heavy-machinegun. Moreover, even though I said it"s nigh invulnerable against magic, if Kuina were to use her future form, the golem will surely burn to ashes in the end."
"Naturally!"
Kuina puffed her chest as she confirmed.
"Aura and her anti-materiel rifle are also capable of defeating this child. Like Kuina, she can similarly target a point over and over again until it breaks, only this time from a much longer distance away. In the first place, with her as the opponent, no matter how the golem tries, none of its attacks would reach her when she"s up in the sky."
"Yeah, that"s right. If I were to fight it, I"ll do it like that, rapid-firing from high in the sky. That way, gravity will serve as my friend. All of its attacks will be weighed down by gravity, in which case, the power and range of the attack will be decreased. In the meantime, all of my attacks will improved by gravity. The whole thing can"t even be called a fight anymore."
"The golem will also be near powerless to Wight"s miasma. No matter how high its magic resistance may be, it wouldn"t be able to do anything against the miasma. The other way around, the golem"s bullets wouldn"t affect Wight since before they even hit, they would be dissolved by the miasma. ……And then, it goes without saying that this child is also no match against me."
Yes, it was by no means invincible. Another way of looking at it though was that one had to be on a similar level as these girls first before he could reliably win against the golem.
"Its main draw isn"t its strength. First of all, it"s the fact that it can be ma.s.s-produced. In the near future, we would have hundreds of A-rank-equivalent golems. Secondly, it"s versatile. Since they can wield any kind of weapon, they can respond to any situation with the right weapon in hand. Next is its adaptability in the sense that it can battle in whatever terrain, be it under the water, within a volcano, on an iceberg, on the plains, on the wastelands, or even in outer s.p.a.ce where there"s no air. Lastly, its ability to fight in a prolonged war. These children will never tire and will never need sleep. These children have everything one can look for in a soldier; these children are the [Perfect soldiers]."
The more I heard, the more fearsome the new golem sounded and I unintentionally gulped down.
If there was something I could add to what Rorono said, it was that this new golem could be disposable units. There was no need to worry their loss. I could nonchalantly send them to suicidal missions, something I would never dare order to Kuina and the others.
"Rorono, advance their ma.s.s-production with all haste. These golems will be useful."
"Yes, that"s the plan. I will also include any improvements I have found into the final versions. I"ll also make basic weapons with them in mind."
Geez, each and every one of my subordinates is so reliable.
I was so thankful for Rorono. I dreaded to imagine what it would be like if she was another Demon Lord"s subordinate.
"Rorono-chan, what will you call this child? It"s using special cores so calling it an ordinary name like Orichalc.u.m Golem is so boring!"
"Surely, yeah. They"re this strong after all. Can"t you give them a better name?"
After hearing Kuina and me, Rorono placed a hand on her chin.
"The twin cores can only be implemented by me and, by extension, only by Avalon… Also, this child will be Avalon"s guardian. Moreover, this child is already a being outside of the convention of golems and thus can"t really be called one. So, for the golems equipped with a twin drive, I want to call them as Avalon-Ritter."
I smiled. Avalon-Ritter. It"s pretty good.
"Ok, from now on, they shall be called Avalon-Ritter. Make more of them, Rorono."
"Yes! Leave it to me!"
With that, we concluded the day"s experimentation.
When we were about to return to our house, a blue bird landed on my shoulder.
It was the one given to me by [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas so that we could exchange letters.
However, she wasn"t the only one I have been corresponding with recently; it had also committed to its memory the magic power of Marcho as well as that of the [Time] Demon Lord Dantalian.
"It"s from Marcho? She can make time for me tomorrow? Great."
I had sent her a letter which detailed my wish to meet with her and be advised on what I should do when the potential war against the humans do indeed happen. I didn"t imagine she would reply this fast though.
I would soon be imposing myself on her. Of course, I wouldn"t come empty-handed. As was proper when visiting another Demon Lord, I was going to bring a gift as compensation for her time.
And so, I sent out the blue bird to Marcho"s dungeon to confirm our meeting.
Ritter means knight in German.