Thirty minutes after the start of the bombardment, the machine golems had yet to reach the Seventh Kingdom’s line of defense, to everyone’s surprise. Thanks to the cannon fire raining down on the behemoths, their advance had slowed to a crawl. This was possible thanks to the high performance of the Humanity Defense Coalition’s prohibitively expensive anti-demon artillery.
Actually, that wasn’t the only reason they’d been able to hold back their enemies so well. The artillery used by the Seventh Kingdom surpassed other kingdoms’ in both firepower and stability. And how exactly was that possible, one may ask?
“The difference lies in the batteries,” Yoshida said to himself. The artillery batteries had quickly been designed and manufactured for this war by the kingdom’s craftsmen. These metal, revolving batteries that supported the artillery were difficult to set up because of their massive weight, but after that step was handled, they allowed the artillery on them to smoothly rotate all 360 degrees. They also reduced the recoil when firing, allowing the full force of the magicite explosions to be transferred to the shells.
There was still one problem in the end.
“Dammit! Why are they so tough?!” one of the gunners said. While they’d managed to keep the machine golems at bay, they’d yet to destroy a single one. The golems only gained minor dents on their bulky armor from even direct hits. They then resumed their march soon after.
“The situation will worsen over time,” Yoshida murmured as he transported water to the gunners. There was still distance between the machine golems and the first line of defense, but the humans had no means to deal with such a large number of colossal foes at melee range. They had to defeat the golems before they drew close enough to strike, or at the very least reduce their numbers substantially before then.
If we can manage that in time, he thought.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, Mister Yoshida.”
“Oh! Mister Adolphe!”
Several men wearing towels wrapped around their heads arrived, carrying many trays loaded with supplies. They were the Seventh Kingdom’s proud weapon craftsmen.
“In exchange for our tardiness, we made something worth the wait.”
“I’d never doubt the quality of your work,” Yoshida said. He hastily hoisted as many supplies as he could from the trays.
“Here, take this!” he said once he reached the gunners.
“Nice, they’re finally here.” The gunners accepted the supplies from Yoshida and swiftly loaded them into their artillery. After their preparations were finished, they once again adjusted their weapons’ sights. “Fire!”
The bombardment loudly echoed across the front line. This time, the shells fired tore through the air as sharp as knives, until they struck the golems and stabbed through their armor. The golems’ massive bodies wobbled and, their defenses breached for the first time, they collapsed.
“Hell yeah! Did you see that?! Now those are the drill shells we created by pouring all of our heart and soul into our work!” cheered one of the craftsmen.
The supplies the craftsmen had brought were enhanced artillery shells. They differed from regular shells in their elongated shape and pointed tips, as well as the helical pattern carved on their surfaces. At first glance, they looked like what the craftsmen had called them: drills. The improvements over regular ammunition didn’t stop with their appearance. They used the heat-resistant metal tungsten as coating over the metal they used for regular shells.
Just what kind of effect did that have on them? First off, the long shape and helical pattern gave the shells screwlike rotation as they flew straight ahead. Thanks to the heat-resistant tungsten coating, their shape didn’t warp from the heat of the magicite explosion, unlike conventional shells. The end results were shells that tore through the air like drills, their sharp tips rotating at a high enough speed to pierce through their enemies with immense perforating power.
“Fire! Fire!” The gunners fired drill shell after drill shell. The machine golems went down, one after the other. Of course, that alone didn’t mean they could relax. The craftsmen had made each drill shell by hand in a short amount of time—hardening the metal for their special shape, layering on the tungsten coating, and even carving the helical pattern—which meant that they had a much more limited supply of them when compared to the conventional shells.
Thanks to the craftsmen banding together, they still made a considerable number. It was worth the trouble of going to artisans across the kingdom and pleading for their help. Yoshida had been the one to enlist the craftsmen’s cooperation, although he didn’t negotiate with trickery or threats. Instead, he stated the king and empress’s authority, then prostrated himself and earnestly begged for their help. Anyone could have done the same.
Nevertheless, it had been effective. At the rate things were going, the knights would annihilate the machine golems before they ran out of shells, as long as they didn’t waste too much ammo.
“Yes, we can do it,” Yoshida whispered.
As if he knew what Yoshida was thinking, Loki of the New Seven Black Stars snapped his fingers. “Form Change!”
“What the heck is that?” Yoshida muttered apprehensively.
Astonishingly, the golems crowded together in one spot and started disassembling their bodies. As efficient as worker bees, they took the resulting parts and combined them into a new form, until the golems had become one enormous golem.
The resulting golem was so massive that it had to surpass four hundred meters in height, taller than some of the great towers in the world Alan had come from. Such was its enormity that the top of it was hidden by the clouds.
“D-Don’t falter! Our target only became harder to miss!” a gunner called out above the noise. They once again launched their drill shells at the colossal machine golem, but to no avail.
“How can it be so sturdy?!”
Along with growing taller by twentyfold, the golem’s armor plating had grown thicker. It could repel the specialty shells that had been taking down golem after golem only moments ago. The golem slowly raised its leg, casting its imposing shadow over Yoshida and those around him.
“Oh no! Retreat!” Yoshida shouted before he dashed away with such speed his legs looked like they might drop off. The rest of the knights fighting soon grasped the situation and scrambled to get away.
The golem’s giant foot stomped on the defensive position they’d been occupying a moment before. From the golem’s perspective, it was just taking a step forward, but for regular humans, it felt as if a meteor had just crashed into them.
“Whoa!” Yoshida was knocked several meters away by the ensuing wind pressure. He rolled across the ground, gasping in pain.
Though his body protested, he somehow managed to pull himself to his feet after a few seconds. The scene that lay before him was bloodcurdling. Their outpost had been trampled flat, and in the same motion, over one hundred knights had become no more than stains on the ground. Even the lucky survivors were missing limbs and riddled with shrapnel. They groaned in agony. The sight would become another addition to the many tragic events from the Titanomachy that had been carved into Yoshida’s memory.
“Urp!” Yoshida covered his mouth with his hand to stem the nausea.
This was something he couldn’t get used to, no matter how many times it happened. He just couldn’t. It made him keenly aware of how unsuited he was for war. Alan, Dora, or Norman would probably head straight for the machine golem while brimming with determination, while Kevin, Isabella, or Derek would analyze the situation and quickly come up with a countermeasure. Compared to them, he could only cower in fear.
I really only became a hero to fill out the roster.
But he couldn’t let himself wallow in self-loathing. Just one step from the enemy’s humongous golem had crushed a fourth of their defensive position and over a hundred knights who’d failed to escape in time.
“H-How can we even stop a monster like that?” Yoshida mumbled.
The Seventh Kingdom’s knights were helpless against the tremendous demonstration that size equaled power. Anyone could predict the inevitable outcome if things continued in this manner. The enormous golem would move straight ahead, stomping the defensive lines in its path until it eventually reached and destroyed the royal castle too. With the castle in ruins, it could take its time searching for the seal stone located underground. If just two of those stones were destroyed, the sealed entity within, the one that would lead humanity to its ruin, would be unleashed.
Though, that also means we can afford to let one be destroyed. Even if they failed to protect their seal stone, as long as the rest of the Seven Heroes won, things would work out.
“But no, that’s not good enough!” Yoshida shook his head. “We can’t risk even a one in a million chance of that...thing being unleashed.”
“All right, let’s go, you guys!” A young man’s voice rang out across the battlefield.
“Yeah!” Five other voices answered in unison. With Griffith at the vanguard, six young warriors made their appearance. The Great Six valiantly stepped forward to take on the enormous machine golem.