A city at the height of prosperity was set ablaze in the blink of an eye, and the Bronze Giant attacked without the slightest hesitation.
While moving, it still avoided plowing straight into buildings. But the moment it began trading blows with its target, it stopped caring about those things. To the gods, they were barely worth noticing.
Boom!
Shiomi dropped like a meteor and crashed into the Bronze Giant's back. The Chosen Spear's silver blade punched through its armor, yet did nothing to truly slow it down.
The giant only staggered from the impact for an instant. Then the roar of its engines grew harsher, power surging as it shook violently, making it impossible for Shiomi to stay on its back for long.
That wasn't all. One after another, gunports split open along its arms and chest. What fired wasn't missiles, but concentrated Mana cannons. And they clearly weren't simple straight shots. The built-in spellwork made the beams bend mid-flight, arcing around to target both Shiomi and even the Bronze Giant itself.
It was, after all, its own Mana. When the Bronze Giant was created, it had likely been designed with the assumption that it could endure its own firepower.
A chain of explosions tore across the giant's body and the space around it. Shiomi slipped away in time and landed on the roof of a building only half the giant's height.
The Bronze Giant swung its thick arms, kicking up gale-force winds that scattered smoke and dust. Its eyes flashed, and it locked onto Shiomi again.
"Ta-ta-target con-con-confirmed—"
Rumble!
Another thunderous impact.
A blow that paired speed with brute force smashed straight through the building Shiomi had been using as a foothold. The sleek white modern structure, all clean lines and designer flair, collapsed into rubble in an instant. The people inside didn't even have time to scream before they became part of the ruins.
"Built like a tank. I've stabbed it with the Chosen Spear that many times and it still barely matters," Shiomi muttered as he dodged and landed atop another building.
"It's a Divine Construct. Toughness like that isn't surprising," Scáthach said, shaking her head. "If blades alone won't do it—"
As his master spoke, Shiomi looked up.
Higher in the air, Morgan hovered above them, her expression cold as she flicked her hand at the Bronze Giant.
The magecraft of 'Tower.' The Holy Lance Rhongomyniad descended.
Sensing the overwhelming Mana, the Bronze Giant crossed its arms at once and deployed a defensive barrier.
It was a shield tough enough to make even human Magi blanch, but against Morgan's grand magecraft, it still came up short.
The Holy Lance soon crushed the Bronze Giant down until it could no longer stay upright. Its massive frame was swallowed by a torrent of golden Mana.
The entire district around it was obliterated. Not a single building remained intact, and the once-refined streets had become nothing but ruins.
When the light finally faded, the Bronze Giant lay sprawled forward on the ground. Its bronze armor was all but melted away, exposing an inner framework of orange-red crystalline "bones" that gleamed with Mana.
"Tough to the very end. What a hassle to break," Morgan said as she descended to the ground and studied the motionless giant. She raised her hand again, ready to finish it off and destroy it completely.
Then something shifted across the giant's bronze body, and Morgan's eyes widened.
In the next instant, Shiomi hooked an arm around Morgan's waist and yanked her back, dragging her out of the spot just as a barrage of Mana cannons rained down from above.
While enduring Morgan's magecraft, the Bronze Giant had secretly fired upward, setting those shots to fall later and buying itself a fraction of time before the bombardment came crashing down.
"A machine with intelligence like this?" Morgan froze for a moment.
"That's no ordinary robot. It's a god-forged construct, an executor of the will of the Olympian gods," Shiomi said with a faint smile. "It's not strange for it to have a few tricks up its sleeve."
"True. If it were really that simple—" Morgan began, then suddenly stopped.
"You see it too, right? That thing's tricks don't end there," Shiomi said. He had clearly noticed it first.
The outer armor, which had been almost completely melted and destroyed, was visibly restoring itself. In just a few seconds, it returned to a fully intact state.
"It's a machine, yet it's recovering from its 'injuries' like a living being?" Scáthach's expression turned curious. "Could that be Klironomia?"
"No doubt about it," Shiomi narrowed his eyes. "And it's not the kind you'd find in the temples of Atlantis."
"The Olympian gods themselves are machine gods with distinct functions. The machines they create are naturally endowed with the necessary Klironomia."
"Klironomia derived from living gods. Those divine nanomachines can repair anything at a speed that surpasses Proper Human History and even Chaldea's technology."
"Not just living beings. Even cold machinery can be restored."
"Regeneration… if we ignore the fact that the giant is a machine," Morgan said, casting a glance at Shiomi.
Shiomi looked back at her and nodded. "I can feel it. She's coming."
The Goddess of Plenty, Demeter.
The same goddess who had clashed twice with Chaldea in Atlantis, then vanished without appearing again.
She slowly emerged from the smoke and descended onto the Bronze Giant's shoulder.
But unlike any previous encounter, she seemed strikingly silent this time. Her eyes held only a cold detachment, as though she were gazing down upon all things from on high.
No longer a gentle, nurturing mother, but a harsh and severe one, ready to punish any disobedient "child of man."
"Long time no see… or maybe it hasn't been that long," Shiomi said as he looked at her. "You don't seem any different at a glance, yet it feels like you've taken on an entirely different divine nature, Goddess Demeter."
"I have never changed. I am the Mother of the Earth, the Goddess of Fertility," Demeter replied coolly, her gaze fixed on Shiomi. "As expected, the gates of Atlantis could not stop you. And the Sea God Poseidon has already fallen."
"If you still cherish your life, then please step aside, Goddess of Plenty," Shiomi offered, more out of formality than expectation.
Everything was exactly as Demeter herself had anticipated. After being summoned back to Olympus, Zeus had once again tampered with her logic, completely stripping away the part that embodied mercy and reshaping her thought patterns into something far colder.
More than that, Demeter's power had been further enhanced. Even without exchanging blows, all three of them could feel the change.
"My wife and my master will hold the giant in check," Shiomi said as he raised a hand and wiped down the Chosen Spear. "Goddess Demeter, I'll handle you."
His gaze and Demeter's locked onto each other. Both of them knew perfectly well who the real target was.
"Is that so? Then we'll make it our goal to take down the Bronze Giant as fast as possible, smash it until it can't regenerate anymore—"
Scáthach stepped up beside Morgan, already poised for battle.