Ch.255Kidney Equipment (3)

A moment later, at the entrance of the temple.

“The treatment is complete.”

“….Thank you, Priestess Joanna.”

After visiting the temple carrying the blood-soaked Hanna, I expressed my sincere gratitude to Priestess Joanna who had treated my injuries after I sent Hanna inside for healing.

Ah, for reference, the reason we fought like this was ridiculously simple.

When I visited, Hanna, who had obtained new equipment, became so excited that she ambushed me, resulting in a literal bloody battle between us.

Despite the equipment being somewhat difficult to handle, she wielded it as skillfully as if she’d been using it all along. I couldn’t subdue her easily, leading to such an intense fight that both of us ended up covered in blood.

It seems all our previous sparring sessions weren’t for nothing. With no way to subdue her without injuries, I finally managed to restrain her by belatedly activating my blade shield and slashing her.

Anyway, after subduing Hanna and delivering her to the temple, I too had to receive treatment with holy water for the “non-regenerable” scars that had formed all over my body before I could leave.

And the next place I headed to was—

“Ah, you’ve arrived. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Lord Falten.”

It was the Golem Armor Hangar where the powered suit and bombardment unit requested by Droop Bazilit were being built, and there stood Lord Malacai Falten who had been waiting for my arrival.

Perhaps he was waiting because a demonstration of the equipment was scheduled after my arrival. After exchanging some small talk with the visibly excited Lord Malacai Falten, I naturally made my way inside the hangar.

The interior resembled a massive factory seemingly designed for manufacturing mechanical devices, and the hangar itself was easily dozens or hundreds of times larger inside than it appeared from outside.

Inside this building, which exuded an atmosphere closer to steampunk or science fiction than medieval fantasy, stood a large non-humanoid machine unlike anything I had seen before.

This machine, positioned as shown above, could be simply described as something extensively attached to a human form. With its wide sides and back, it clearly showed both similarities and differences compared to ordinary humanoid machines.

The upper body consisted of the core powered suit and sections capable of mounting various armaments. The power source—purified byproducts from fallen angels—was positioned in what would be considered the back.

Thanks to this, the thrusters attached all over the back could be powered as needed, and if necessary, they could even draw upon Droop’s magical power as fuel.

Additionally, the equipment attached to the lower body of the machine was mostly for flight purposes.

At the center of the lower body was a device that created a near-weightless state for the machine, and replacing the legs were four mechanical-magical brooms—an increase from the traditional two.

Each broom was equipped with six thrusters that generated propulsion along with magical flight capabilities, and at the waist area was a rod-shaped magical broom that also functioned as a type of rocket.

The interior could be filled with liquefied magical power to serve as an auxiliary fuel tank, and the high-output thruster at the end could further increase speed during linear maneuvers.

This overwhelming machine, which seemed to have poured everything into mobility and speed, also possessed armaments befitting its original purpose of flying at high speeds through the sky while unleashing firepower.

“Is that the main armament?”

“Yes. Isn’t it magnificent?”

“….Indeed.”

The high-output main armaments, which could be equipped one on each side of the protruding weapon mounts on the body, were divided into three major options.

One was the high-output magic cannon, which was originally planned as the main armament—a processed version of the main gun from the golem armor ‘BASILISK’.

It was a weapon designed to attack large targets with typical but powerful force, processing physically formed magic, amplifying it internally, then condensing it into magic mass-projectiles before firing.

Another planned armament was the magic barrier. This was a type of active defense system that worked by spraying magic to intercept incoming enemy attacks.

Its efficiency was excellent as it only deployed at the moment of incoming attacks to precisely intercept them, but this came with the disadvantage of reduced responsiveness in emergency situations.

And the grand finale, the new armament, was the machine gun-type rapid-fire anti-infantry weapon. It consisted of two multi-barreled rotary rapid-fire magic cannons reminiscent of miniguns.

While relatively less powerful, its rapid-fire capability made it difficult for human-sized targets to counter, and despite the reduced power, human targets with relatively weak durability could hardly withstand it.

However, the chronic weakness of this rapid-fire weapon—excessive ammunition consumption, or in this case, magic power consumption—was something that simply couldn’t be resolved.

Therefore, if one of these weapons was equipped on each side, regardless of the machine’s firepower, the excessive consumption would inevitably hinder its high-speed maneuverability.

“….Amazing!”

Regardless of such considerations, I sparkled with excitement at the impressive features of these weapons and soon shifted my attention from the main armaments to the auxiliary ones.

The auxiliary weapons originally designed for this machine consisted of two types, with eight connection pods allowing for the installation of eight auxiliary armaments.

The auxiliary weapons were naturally developed with the premise of supplementing and improving deficient areas, and over time, they naturally evolved from the initially conceived ideas.

Originally, they were supposed to be equipped with fixed laser-type magic rapid-fire weapons, but as the main armament options increased, the auxiliary weapons meant to support them naturally expanded as well.

The laser-type rapid-fire magic cannon, which was already planned for use, simply formed magic in the form of flashing lasers. While it might lack in other areas, it excelled in anti-personnel firepower.

Though its penetration power and overall force were somewhat low, it could strike evenly throughout its range, potentially targeting vital points, and was particularly powerful against large groups of enemies.

There was also a smaller version of the main magic barrier with reduced coverage, and a single-shot auxiliary magic cannon type weapon.

There were even experimental types like mounting minigun-like weapons, or unconventionally attaching auxiliary arms with close-combat weapons.

Beyond these fixed weapons, there was also equipment that could be added as needed.

For instance, the multi-launcher weapon firing explosive warheads that had been considered from the beginning could be attached when needed and then detached when the ammunition—which couldn’t be resupplied anyway—was depleted.

It was also possible to equip bombing systems doubling as bomb storage, or auxiliary fuel tanks filled with liquefied magic to extend operational range.

After observing this massive and majestic equipment with all its comprehensive specs, I sent a signal to Droop who would be inside.

‘Droop! Can you hear me?’

[Yes, I can hear you!]

Perhaps due to the headband-type communication device installed in the helmet inside, we could exchange ideas through thoughts. I signaled him to come out.

More precisely, I asked him to separate just the core powered armor part.

-Whirring, click. Whoosh….

With the sound of various mechanical devices working complexly, the massive machine split in half, and from inside emerged a fairly large mechanical giant about 3 meters tall, along with a drone-like machine.

What appeared to be an armory—not particularly large but emanating the presence of angelic essence—moved with a heavy, impressive clanking sound. In this atmosphere, I suddenly felt the need for a “test run.”

Come to think of it, such a machine would be difficult to test except in an opportunity like this, so perhaps… it would be better to engage in a match.

Therefore, I decided to make a bold proposal.

“Droop, Lord Falten. I have a suggestion.”

[“….A suggestion?”]

“Yes. Don’t you think we need at least one demonstration of the machine’s operation?”