Ch.129The Rampage – The Full Story

In the distant past, when the servants of the gods still roamed freely upon the earth and their bloodlines operated directly at the forefront of the mortal realm.

During that era, approximately several thousand years ago, there existed a massive nation in what is now the Desert of Death, known as the “Ancient Empire.”

This empire, which flourished beyond what ordinary humans could imagine thanks to the wisdom borrowed from the gods, operated unique equipment called “Golem Armor” in various ways.

These were the pinnacle of magical engineering—instead of using the algorithmic thought processes typically installed in golems, they were designed to be controlled by human pilots, allowing them to freely manipulate mid-tier physical capabilities.

Even in the mythical age, the ability for lower-tier beings to wield mid-tier power, which was naturally limited in number, presented virtually limitless possibilities and applications.

From heavy machinery at construction sites to roles in excavation and mining—these were the diverse applications of Golem Armor….

Naturally, among these roles, the most significant was undoubtedly the military utilization of Golem Armor.

Even with their transcendent technology, they ultimately found it impossible to create through conventional means what this technology enabled: “an army composed entirely of mid-tier units,” which they employed in various configurations.

As a result, Golem Armor in the Ancient Empire evolved into increasingly refined cutting-edge weaponry over time, structured into three distinct “generations,” much like modern military equipment.

First-generation Golem Armor was exactly as the name suggested—crude equipment made by attaching control mechanisms and cockpits to the body of a golem.

Without anything particularly special, it merely allowed lower-tier beings to exert mid-tier golem physical capabilities, primarily designed for engineering or construction sites rather than military purposes.

The second generation—which accounts for almost all Golem Armor discovered today—was sophisticated equipment built around military operation with the concept of “mid-tier infantry” as its foundation.

Constructed with armor plates mounted over an internal frame (consisting of skeleton, power lines, and components), it sacrificed some of the raw physical power of the first generation in exchange for superior stability and precision.

If first-generation units were closer to heavy machinery that one boarded and piloted, second-generation Golem Armor was more like an enhanced version of the human body that one wore and controlled.

And then came the much-anticipated third generation. While armor up to the second generation was designed to “elevate lower-tier beings to mid-tier,” third-generation Golem Armor was uniquely conceived from the outset for beings of mid-tier or higher.

To be precise, beyond this broad framework, no specific concept had been fully developed before the “Great Catastrophe” struck the Ancient Empire, leading to its downfall and leaving only a handful of experimental units in existence.

Naturally, when even intact second-generation Golem Armor mass-produced in factories is nearly impossible to find, third-generation units are so rare that in the vast majority of cases, not even parts can be located.

Yet remarkably, the Metal School, after persistent exploration of the desert, succeeded in acquiring one of these exceedingly rare third-generation Golem Armor units.

It was found in a section of a massive munitions factory buried in the sands of the Desert of Death, once the heartland of the Ancient Empire. This portion of the factory, separated during its transformation into an otherworldly space, had been a department for testing experimental units.

Thanks to this, they obtained not only the intact third-generation experimental unit (Golem Armor) but also numerous documents containing information about it.

The identity of this third-generation experimental Golem Armor being tested at the research facility was a technology demonstrator into which the munitions factory had poured all their latest innovations without regard for cost, to showcase their technological prowess.

It featured liquid metal in key joint areas enabling variable functionality, as well as dimensional storage capabilities that preserved its weaponry intact—truly a treasure trove of ancient technology, but….

“What? You don’t understand it?”

“I-I’m sorry…. but it’s truly impossible for us! We have nothing to work with!”

What good was it that this equipment had been created using the most advanced technologies without regard for cost, even by ancient kingdom standards, when their current technological capabilities were so insufficient that they couldn’t even interpret the smallest part of the armor?

Of course, these were experts in their own right, and with the factory blueprints available, they could explain its primitive structure, but interpreting elements requiring knowledge of multi-dimensional-mystic equations or dimensional refraction networks was simply impossible from the start.

What drove them to desperation was that automata built using the structures they had barely managed to interpret from the blueprints showed significantly improved performance compared to existing models.

If even something equivalent to dirt under a toenail—let alone a fragment—could exert such power, the main body itself was too precious to risk damaging by careless handling, and yet….

“Heheheh…. Ha-hahahahaha! I found it! I found a way!”

Humans are creatures who always find answers—whether they’re the right ones is another matter—and so the mages of the Metal School, after much deliberation, finally discovered a method to utilize this third-generation Golem Armor.

Namely, through an experiment to activate it.

Until now, they hadn’t been able to properly conduct activation tests because the Golem Armor consumed so much magical power, but as mentioned earlier, humans eventually find answers, don’t they?

If humans cannot handle it, then the solution is to use something that isn’t human. In short, they planned to use a Dragon Heart—the heart of a mid-tier dragon captured by one of their ancestors—as a power source.

Although they didn’t understand the armor’s structure fully, they had the blueprints, which allowed them to devise a method for a non-human pilot.

Furthermore, they attempted to use the infinitely magic-producing Dragon Heart as that pilot, installing a control device to regulate and operate the Dragon Heart.

And they did this secretly at a branch located in another school’s territory, no less.

Logically, there would be no reason to secretly conduct an experiment like inserting a Dragon Heart into the pilot’s seat on someone else’s territory, but in the current situation, experimenting with such an unpredictable item was dangerous, with no way to know what might happen.

Of course, normally one would avoid dangerous experiments with unpredictable outcomes, but mages are a breed who knowingly prioritize satisfying their curiosity above all else.

Knowing full well that the consequences could be disastrous, they chose the Soul School’s headquarters as their experimental site—once again, mages were actively demonstrating why they are ostracized.

Anyway, for these reasons, they proceeded with their experiment using materials they had secretly brought in.

The unit stood 10 meters tall with an impressive appearance that seemed modeled directly after the human form. According to discovered documents, it was named Epsilon-7 (Epsilon being the project name, 7 indicating it was the seventh concept), and a processed Dragon Heart was installed as its power source.

Thanks to this, they should have been able to remotely control Epsilon-7 through the Dragon Heart—a pure power source completely lacking any autonomy—and conduct various experiments, but….

The problem arose here.

The Dragon Heart contained what could only be called the lingering thoughts of its original dragon owner—extremely faint, normally too weak to have any effect whatsoever.

But Epsilon-7 happened to be equipped with a system called Brain-Incom.

This special internal system read brainwaves and soul signals detected from the mind, bringing the response time between pilot and armor to near-instantaneous levels, allowing the pilot to use the armor truly as if it were their own body.

And the principle behind this system was to “amplify” the mind it read.

Yes, this amplification element took the hatred and resentment harbored within the Dragon Heart—directed toward the humans who had hunted down a being of intelligence clearly superior to their own—and amplified it to the extreme.

The dragon’s magical power, tainted with obsessive hatred amplified from mere lingering thoughts without even a soul, seized control of the drive system. Control components burst apart, and through magic partially recreated around the heart, the interior filled with flesh.

Moreover, as it transformed, the thoughts that naturally fused with the system drew out weapons stored in the dimensional storage function, giving the creature access to weapons imbued with abundant ancient magical engineering technology.

And as it continued its transformation, at some point, the creature realized it was standing firmly on its territory—

[—■■■■■■■■■!!!]

The creature boldly announced its presence by unleashing a torrent of dragon fire, recreated through the unit’s functions.