The four-legged tank was a simplified model redesigned on the basis of the operational record of the formally equipped MLT-E Series multi-legged tanks, with disposability built into the premise from the start.
A wide range of functions had been omitted or replaced with simplified versions, and compared to the original multi-legged tank, total weight had been reduced to roughly half. That had been achieved through efforts such as aggressively reducing weight in every area where strength was not required and replacing some parts with high-strength fibers such as carbon nanotubes.
Even so, its total weight still exceeded 20 tons.
So what happened when something that massively heavy slammed into a hastily built log barricade?
Naturally, the barricade would be smashed apart without offering any obstacle at all—
or rather, that was not what happened.
Wood, especially along the grain—in other words, in the vertical direction—had extremely high strength. By weight, its compressive strength was about twice that of iron. If two structures with the same cross-sectional area were made at equal weight and collided head-on, wood would actually win.
Perhaps it had struck at a bad angle, but one of the sharpened logs slipped neatly into a structurally weak point. The four-legged tank rode up over the barricade without losing speed. The log could not endure that speed and weight and snapped, but the four-legged tank also lost its balance.
Its lightly armored belly was exposed right in front of the cleric-soldiers hiding behind the barricade.
The thrust-out spears punched through the armor like paper and pierced critical internal components.
“B-18, silent.”
But that was as far as it went.
There was not just one four-legged tank.
Another one blasted through the log barricade and succeeded in smashing its leg into the cleric-soldiers hiding behind it.
And the same kind of scene played out at multiple anti-cavalry barricades. Some of the four-legged tanks were destroyed, while the others used their weight and brute force to literally sweep aside the hidden cleric-soldiers.
“Six units disabled. Successfully eliminated 13 enemy cleric-soldiers.”
“...At least that’s still within the projected losses.”
The result of sending 50 four-legged tanks in dispersed charges against four anti-cavalry barricade points, where they faced 20 cleric-soldiers, was that 6 tanks had been lost. They had inflicted casualties on 13 of the enemy, leaving 7 still standing.
That said, the losses had occurred through close combat.
Still, that gave them a rough sense of the opposing cleric-soldiers’ capability.
“It seems their combat ability does not differ all that much from the cleric-soldiers previously stationed in the towns. <Iris> appears to have judged this within acceptable range. She has selected continuation of the operation.”
Akane’s tension level dropped slightly. Eve confirmed that out of the corner of her eye, then gently stroked Akane’s head.
The four-legged tank group destroyed four anti-cavalry barricade points, then started running again in pursuit of the fleeing cleric-soldiers.
Microwave power was received and converted into electric current. That current, fed through a transformer, drove the leg motors in powerful kicks.
The shared AI controlling the four-legged tanks learned the characteristics of the anti-cavalry barricades. It fed that back into the network and analyzed the next targets. It adjusted the body posture at the instant of impact, letting the pointed ends of the jutting logs slide off the armor. The front legs stabbed into the base of the barricade, converting the charge momentum directly into lifting force.
As a result, the log barricade was ripped out from the roots and hurled into the air in a single blow, breaking apart.
But the cleric-soldiers exploited that opening and drove their spears into the front armor of the four-legged tanks.
The front armor was, naturally, the thickest part of the vehicle.
Laminated armor made of ultra-high-tensile steel, ceramic, carbon fiber, and polymer resin was being pierced by the tips of nothing more than ordinary steel spears.
It was the very height of absurd fantasy.
But the front armor had been designed with even that possibility in mind.
Beneath the armor was a buffer space formed by multiple layers of internal armor, so being pierced by a few dozen centimeters caused no impact on internal functions. It would have been a problem if something exploded inside after penetration, but fortunately it seemed the enemy did not possess that level of absurd ability.
Even while being stabbed with spears, the four-legged tanks kept driving their bodies forward by sheer mass.
They swept aside the cleric-soldiers who panicked and tried to flee.
The second collision resulted in only minor losses. Of the 16 cleric-soldiers present, 6 were rendered combat incapable, while 10 escaped.
At that point, the Divine Kingdom side made a move.
Perhaps because the four-legged tanks had effectively driven a wedge into the defensive line, forcing a response.
A single cleric-soldier—likely Grand High Priest class—jumped down from the city wall surrounding the Holy Capital.
“There it is.”
It would not be an exaggeration to say this charge had been carried out precisely to lure out that kind of force.
Draw out an individual with high combat power and evaluate it.
The priests they had clashed with in several towns had also been powerful individual combat units, but if multiple multi-legged tanks engaged them at once, they could still be eliminated.
So then, how strong was a Grand High Priest, who was expected to be even stronger than that?
“<Iris> has started combat-power assessment.”
The 44 four-legged tanks all halted at once, then split into 4 teams and formed dense formations within each team.
If all units gathered in one place, some kind of area attack might annihilate them all at once. But if they spread too far apart, they could be picked off individually. This was the formation selected as the compromise.
The Grand High Priest kicked off the ground.
The instant it looked that way, the Grand High Priest had already crossed several hundred meters in a single moment and had already completed the swing of the sword in hand.
With that one blow, a four-legged tank was completely destroyed.
Its internal mechanisms were cut cleanly in two, and it ceased functioning.
But there was no time to leisurely confirm that.
A neighboring unit instantly slammed down one of its legs at the approaching Grand High Priest, but the attack was dodged as if that were only natural.
As a little bonus, the leg was cut clean off, and using that severed leg as a foothold, the Grand High Priest leaped diagonally and landed on the back of the four-legged tank on the opposite side, then split its body in two.
The four-legged tank, cleaved into front and rear halves, ground to a halt.
Elapsed time:
8 seconds.
In that tiny span of time alone, 10 four-legged tanks had been cut down in succession.
An overwhelmingly ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) one-sided combat ability.
Mobility that seemed not to care in the slightest about the speed of sound, and slashes that ignored the actual length of the sword blade.
One group of four-legged tanks had been annihilated, and the Grand High Priest fixed sights on the next prey.
But 8 seconds was more than enough time to track that movement, analyze it, and rewrite the tactical program.
The leg motors, their limiters cut, drew out torque at the edge of their design limits.
While evaporating some of their paint and lubricant, the four-legged tanks performed maneuvers beyond their normal limits.
The Grand High Priest reflexively swung the sword at a leg inserted into the predicted movement path. The slash split the leg apart, but it did not negate the leg’s kinetic energy. Following inertia, the superheavy mass of over 1 ton continued straight toward the Grand High Priest.
Naturally, that level of attack was deflected as if it were nothing.
The Grand High Priest planted a hand on the incoming leg and slipped smoothly aside.
But the control AI had predicted even that movement, and had hidden the leg of another machine in the dead angle behind the first.
Struck by a steel leg from an unexpected position, the Grand High Priest’s eyes widened in shock.
The sword in hand was not in a position suited for a swing, and because the first heavy object had just been evaded, balance had already been broken.
More importantly, the body was airborne.
There was nothing around to serve as a foothold.
At this rate, there would be no proper chance to form a defensive posture before being swept away by the leg of the four-legged tank.
Impact.
The Grand High Priest flew through the air like a pebble that had been kicked away.
And yet, for a direct hit, the speed looked strangely low.
The striking leg had bent into a crooked V-shape.
The joint, subjected to abnormal stress, had been completely destroyed. It would probably never move again.
The Grand High Priest rolled across the ground, then sprang back to feet.
At a glance, there seemed to be no injury at all.
Apparently, at the instant of impact, the Grand High Priest had defended with the free hand.
The composite armor had been gripped barehanded and crushed inward, converting impact force into destructive force while also letting the body be blown away to bleed off the shock.
“Wow.”
Watching the entire exchange, Eve let out a voice despite herself.
It seemed the four-legged tanks were simply no match.
They had been given respectable performance through weight reduction and motor-output enhancement, but apparently that still did not even reach the enemy’s feet.
“<Iris> has completed the combat-power assessment through close-quarters engagement.”
“Next, we shoot.”
Akane murmured that.
