“We’ll pin it down with the frontline automated machines, then carry out a saturation attack with hypersonic missiles. Based on calculations from <Froze>’s reaction speed and durability in the previous battle, the result indicates that should be enough to finish it, however...”
“Big Sister, <Froze> has obviously gotten stronger!”
“Can something really get that jacked in just a few days...?”
Looking at the footage of <Froze>, whose neck and hind legs had clearly thickened, Eve was thoroughly creeped out.
That said, beyond biotechnology lay the node of artificial life manufacture, and in that context bodily remodeling in a matter of days was hardly unheard of. The real issue was that it had managed to do it without any apparent technical basis or equipment at all.
“As long as magic might be giving form to a living being’s awareness and desires, then if it can happen, it can happen!”
“Come on... that’s still just one hypothesis, isn’t it...?”
Asahi said it with complete confidence, but Eve remained skeptical.
Naturally.
Well, most of what Asahi said was pretty slapdash anyway, so it was fine to ignore it.
“But Big Sister, it’s happening right in front of us, so we have no choice but to accept that this is how it works! We have to assume <Froze>’s physical performance has improved to match those enlarged muscles!”
“I know, I know. Sigh. I thought we were pretty ridiculous ourselves, but they’re something else too. Still... we built in a big enough safety margin, so in that sense maybe this is still within expectations?”
“Yes yes, Commander Ma’am. <Iris> has judged it to be within acceptable parameters. We had even accounted for the possibility that the child-sized individual, <Hati>, might appear as well, so in that sense we still have plenty of room.”
The worst-case assumption had been that all three <Fenrir> would attack in coordination. Even if <Hati> was only child-sized, that also meant it would be smaller, quicker, and still a powerful threat organism. A specimen smaller than a multi-legged tank, but stronger than one, rampaging freely in all directions would be a nightmare in its own right.
“So the child didn’t come out after all. Well, we haven’t laid a hand on their forest territory, so I figured it probably wouldn’t.”
For <Froze> and <Yarn>, <Hati> was something that had to be protected. If all three ever attacked together, it would probably be when their forest territory had been violated.
“<Iris> has declared the start of combat.”
“The output of the airborne power-supply drones has risen to combat level.”
“Jotun M has requested full combat output from all ships.”
“The rear Jotuns have also shifted to combat output.”
A massive amount of energy began converging on the battlefield. The enormous power generated by fusion reactors was being poured into the system, and microwave output spiked.
And it seemed the two bodies, <Froze> and <Yarn>, had recognized that change as well. With shockwaves bursting around them, both launched their massive bodies into motion.
They should still have been separated by several kilometers, but the distance between both sides closed in the blink of an eye.
“<Froze>, followed by <Yarn>, now within effective firing range.”
“Ballistic calculations... complete. Opening fire...”
The electromagnetic accelerator cannons, the multi-stage electromagnetic projection cannons, and the laser and maser cannons all activated at once. They were unleashed at the two targets in an effort to restrict their movement.
“Multiple hits confirmed. No damage.”
“Magic barriers confirmed. Unable to neutralize.”
“<Froze> is fast~”
“Top speed exceeding 600 meters per second~”
<Froze> moved at nearly Mach 2, with <Yarn> keeping pace at a comparable speed. In seconds, the two crashed into the mass of deployed multi-legged units.
Just planting a foot generated shockwaves. Simply moving destroyed large numbers of machines. When lumps of metal came into contact with a perfectly rigid body moving at supersonic speed, all they could do was break apart and scatter like sand.
“Heavy losses among the four-legged tanks~”
“Concentrate attacks on the hind legs~”
The local tactical AI began a delaying action. Attacks were focused on the rear legs, the key to movement.
No matter how fast an object moved, it still had to kick off from something in order to accelerate, which made that single point easier to predict.
Unfortunately, the multi-legged units used as footholds became precious sacrifices and were smashed apart by the very shells meant to hit the target.
The sensors buried in the ground were also falling silent one after another. Even so, the data gathered from multiple directions allowed <Iris> and the local strategic AI to continue calculating the predicted destinations of <Froze> and <Yarn>.
The unexpected factor of <Froze>’s increased bulk had existed, but that information had already been incorporated, and the accuracy of the predictions was improving at an accelerating rate.
“<Yarn> has exhaled flame. Direct hit. Jotun M-3 destroyed.”
“Jotun M-2 has moved in to cover. Its movement appears to slow when it exhales flame. We can target the next one.”
Even while taking attacks, <Froze> and <Yarn> went on destroying the local forces one after another. At this rate, the frontline units would be annihilated before long.
But of course, that situation had already been anticipated.
“Big Sister, the missiles are about to arrive!”
Asahi announced it in a voice full of excitement.
“I just hope these can handle it...”
Launched from the rear the moment the battle began, the anti-magic-barrier missiles were large missiles equipped with hypersonic mass-projectile warheads.
There were sixteen of them.
It was, in every sense, a saturation attack powered by sheer volume.
Last [N O V E L I G H T] time, <Froze> had launched what appeared to be flaming masses capable of anti-air attacks. For that reason, the missiles had each spread out, taking positions where even if one were targeted, the others would not be caught in the same attack.
Warheads plunging in at six times the speed of sound, over 2,000 meters per second. The warhead alone weighed four tons, and when the missile body itself was included, even with fuel already spent, the total mass likely still approached eight tons.
The kinetic energy that represented, by simple calculation, was approximately 16 gigajoules.
By comparison, an early gunpowder-based armor-piercing shell with a shell weight of twenty kilograms and a muzzle velocity of around 600 meters per second had an initial energy of only about 3.6 megajoules.
That meant roughly 4,400 times more energy.
And unlike a shell, the projectile continued accelerating until the instant it struck.
Its speed did not decay. The impact would be driven into the target in full.
“Missile group, five seconds to impact~”
“<Froze> reacting. <Yarn> now reacting as well.”
“Oh! They moved!”
The missile group was still flying nearly ten kilometers away.
And yet both <Fenrir> had clearly shown signs of noticing it.
But <The Tree>’s encirclement was not lax enough for that alone to save them.
No matter how great their physical performance was, by shelling the legs or the ground that served as the starting point of their movement, it was possible to bleed off their momentum.
That said, it also seemed this method was gradually being adapted to.
Their timing when stepping forward had begun to change, and there were now clear signs of them stamping down on places where there was obviously nothing there at all.
“But... it’s already too late!”
Asahi cried out in excitement, and at the same moment, streaks of light plunged into the battlefield on the screen.
Unfortunately, with Eve’s dynamic vision, the Mach 6 missiles looked like nothing more than lines of light.
At least some of them had probably scored direct hits. The missiles were diving in from above at a shallow angle.
Against the two threat organisms, their likely paths of escape had also been predicted, and the missiles had been dispersed across the highest-probability points.
The missiles that missed their targets slammed into the ground and erupted in huge explosions. The warheads were nothing more than solid metal projectiles, but their collision speed was absurd.
The earth peeled upward, and an immense mass of soil and rock blasted into the air.
Then the two threat organisms burst out through that wall of dirt and debris, tumbling into view.
“Observation in progress. Damage confirmed. Judged effective.”
The images captured <Froze> and <Yarn>.
Both had clearly taken damage.
It looked as though <Froze> had taken a direct hit near the base of its left foreleg, which now hung limp and powerless.
As for <Yarn>, the injuries appeared to be on its head and back.
In both places, wounds could be seen that looked as though they had been torn open.
Even so, neither appeared to be seriously hindered in its movements.
The two of them sprang back up, snarling as they glared at Jotun M.
