"Isn't the Golden Vessel a Juggernaut created by the Golden Mirror? How can that oppose the Golden Mirror? Are you going to ram into it?"
"...Yes."
That's a very pleasing plan.
If they aren't stupid, they wouldn't be beasts. Alright, I'll only help to the extent that they don't die.
Peru blamed herself thinking of those she couldn't save, but strictly speaking, the lives she saved were far more numerous. If she hadn't liberated the city, if she hadn't drawn the Golden Mirror's attention, the Jackals who escaped would have been far fewer than now. Though some were swept away by the steel fragments, there were those who luckily fled to the opposite side of the Golden Mirror, and those who wisely chose vehicles with roofs saved their lives in considerable numbers and escaped the Golden Mirror's sphere of influence.
"This way! Everyone, keep your distance and form a formation this way!"
Oppression Guild Master Hekto was gathering the surviving Jackals.
Even if war was decided, his job didn't change. While trying to harvest crops with the machine bestowed by the Golden Mirror, he noticed the anomaly first and gathered his subordinates.
The subordinates of the Oppression Guild Master, who frequently came into contact with the Golden Mirror's crops, had no resistance to the Golden Mirror. Without the Oppression Guild Master's quick response, more than half of them would have been absorbed without even knowing why.
That said, it wasn't a situation for Hekto to feel relieved either.
The roads appearing in real time were heading somewhere. Hekto pointed out the direction and muttered.
"That direction is... Claudia!"
The Golden Mirror, which had become unusually harsh, was passing through the city and heading for Claudia. That being a coincidence is a problem, but if it was intentional, it's an even more terrible thing. Because it means the Golden Mirror is moving with a clear objective.
He had sent a quick subordinate to Claudia in advance... but the Golden Mirror was just as fast. By the time the news arrives, the Golden Mirror will be right at Claudia's doorstep. Would Claudia, which lacked sufficient vehicles, be able to respond quickly?
"Damn it! I should have sent someone earlier! I was too busy dealing with the accident to notice!"
There would be no more peaceful life like before. The Jackals would have to endure an even harsher nomadic life to avoid the calamity god roaming Yeolguk.
That is, assuming they protect Claudia.
"If that road reaches Claudia, it's over. We have to somehow buy time...!"
"Mr. Hekto!"
I, who had slipped among the escaped Jackals, approached right next to him, waved my hand, and shouted. Hekto recognized me and made a dumbfounded expression.
"You're, from the Military Nation!"
"Yes! I am the peace envoy of the Military Nation!"
After being confused for only a moment, Hekto burst into anger toward my smiling face.
"Did you guys make the Golden Mirror like that!"
"How could we, who were beaten and chased away by the Golden Mirror, do anything? Rather, the Golden Mirror is the one who did something to us!"
At my single word, he became like a mute who ate honey. He also just spat it out wanting to find the culprit, not words spoken after deep thought.
...Actually, it's true that it went on a rampage because I provoked it. But that's a secret.
"You saw it yourself, right? The fact that the Golden Mirror declared war on the enemy of the Gold Nation. But too bad. It seems Yeolguk is included in that! Haha! You rejected peace, and now look at you!"
"Did you come to mock me?"
"No? That's a secondary goal, the real goal is separate!"
"I'm busy. Save the useless talk for later...!"
"You practically betrayed us, but we are still the peace envoys! To bring peace, we'll stop the Golden Mirror for you!"
Moved, Hekto looked at me with a thrilled expression.
I know the situation is urgent, but don't look at me with such sparkling eyes. It's burdensome. And I feel a little sorry.
Anyway, time was short, so I summarized the current situation and explained.
"Remnant Rust Guild Master is on her way. She will reach the Golden Mirror by any means necessary. But she says she needs the help of others."
The match became simple.
If Peru reaches the Golden Mirror and makes that Golden Bell rust, it's a victory. If not, it's a defeat.
If we win, we lose the Golden Mirror; if we lose, we lose everything. It's only losses, but worldly affairs are often like that. You have to know that even a zero-sum game is a privileged complaint.
"Do whatever it takes so Peru can reach the Golden Mirror. Draw its attention, or apply pressure."
I don't know how many seconds the Oppression Guild Master will buy, but even that is precious.
'So he's telling us to be meat shields. Remnant Rust, huh. Surely that child can oppose the Golden Mirror. But I or the other Guild Masters cannot oppose the Golden Mirror. Because alchemy belongs to Him.'
Hekto agonized, but not for long.
Even lives have depreciation, and an old man who has used his for a long time tends to offer his life at a relatively cheap price.
No matter how far the people of Yeolguk are from patriotism, attachment grows as much as the years they've spent. Born as a person of Yeolguk and having lived in Yeolguk until he grew old, Hekto had already reached a point where he could not distinguish between himself and his country. Compared to that, his withered life was far too light.
A heavy heart and a light life. Having finished weighing in his mind, Hekto made his resolve and spoke.
"Where is the Remnant Rust Guild Master?"
"Over there."
I pointed my finger at a hill in the distance. Hekto stared in that direction, then soon frowned and looked around.
"...Is she hiding behind the hill? To ambush when the Golden Mirror passes by?"
'I can't deny that an ambush is the most effective... but would the Golden Mirror go near there?'
A hill, huh. If it looks that way to the Oppression Guild Master too, then the operation is a success. I grinned and spoke again.
"Just watch for a bit. Then you'll know."
Hekto looked at the hill half in doubt. And only after a few seconds passed did he realize why I was pointing at the hill.
Because the earthen hill was wriggling like a living thing and moving toward the Golden Mirror.
The ground looks like a single lump, but it is actually a fabric woven by stacking thin layers. The Earth Mother Goddess wove, stitch by stitch, clothes to cover her divine body over tens of thousands of years.
The Regressor used the power of Earth Weave to peel off a layer of that clothing, and hid the Golden Vessel underneath.
'Ughhhh! Even with Earth Weave...! Lifting the ground is, a bit, hard...!'
With Earth Weave, she lifts one layer of the ground. The Golden Vessel races into the space created beneath it. It was a possible feat because the Golden Vessel moved through the ground via phase transition.
...Of course, the Regressor lifting the ground was consuming a considerable amount of concentration and stamina.
Worrying about the Regressor is the most useless worry in the world.
The hill heaves and moves toward the Golden Mirror's path. The extending road looks as if a giant mole is attempting an attack from underground. The moment the two trajectories intersect is the timing for Hekto to step forward.
'The speed is almost the same. With that distance, when will they arrive? If I set off...!'
Hekto, finishing his calculation, shouted urgently.
"We're departing! Raise the trumpet!"
A subordinate beside him raised a large trumpet. Hekto applied pressure to the trumpet with his Intrinsic Demon Art. The air flowed along the complex internal structure, passed through the tube, and made a sound like a ship's horn.
Bwaaaaang. The trumpet blew long. The Guild Master's subordinates who heard the signal got on their vehicles but felt puzzled.
"Depart? To where?"
"Guild Master?! Where are you going?"
While pretending not to know and asking back, in fact, everyone was expecting it. They just wanted to confirm with a feeling of 'surely not'.
Hekto started his Juggernaut and shouted even louder than that.
"To buy time! We're going to draw the Golden Mirror's attention!"
"Pardon?"
"Don't foolishly ask back! I don't have time to persuade you! You! Equip the exhaust pipes!"
The Oppression Guild Master's Intrinsic Demon Art is the power to apply pressure to metal. Hekto mainly used pistons to convert his Intrinsic Demon Art into power.
His Juggernaut, Steel Heart, was the same. Steel Heart, made of thousands of pistons and cylinders, vibrated violently.
"I won't ask you to risk your lives for free. That's not our way!"
Unusually, Hekto's Juggernaut was only an engine. What to attach to it, what purpose to convert it for, depended purely on Hekto's discretion. Steel Heart did not distinguish whether it had a few arms, whether wheels were attached instead of legs, whether it mowed grass with a sickle or cut trees with a saw. It just silently provided power.
Until now, Hekto had attached a corn harvester designed by the Golden Mirror, but now he detached all the 'parts for harvesting corn'. With a clatter, to the core that fell off, his close aides brought parts to their respective positions. Larger wheels, spring-loaded joints, and even dozens of exhaust pipes.
The completed Juggernaut boasted a crude and ferocious body. From the exhaust pipes came a rough sound matching its appearance.
"Instead, I'll give you a reward! I will buy your lives with my money!"
Rumble. Steel Heart spouted airflow instead of blood flow. The hot wind wrapped around his Juggernaut and turned into power. A scorching heatwave gushed from the exhaust.
"To those who follow me, I will equally distribute all the wealth I have accumulated so far! I say this as the Oppression Guild Master!"
Hekto left only those words and loosened the reins of Steel Heart. The Juggernaut roared and the wheels scraped the ground as if tearing it apart. Creating a storm behind it, the Juggernaut shot out, becoming one with the wind.
The Jackals buzzed. Because most of them knew how vast the Oppression Guild Master's wealth was.
The Oppression Guild Master was the Golden Mirror's closest aide. He made money by processing and selling food for a long time. Hekto's wealth was unimaginable, enough to easily support close to a thousand subordinates.
"Is it true?"
"No way. He's not some drifter from nowhere, I've never seen the Guild Master break a promise."
Lives are precious. But if money you couldn't earn even if you worked your whole life is on the line, the story is different. If they luckily survive, they will live in luxury for the rest of their lives.
"Ugh, whatever! It's not like we're told to die!"
"It's a one-time shot! If I hit it big once, I'll leave this damn country!"
"Are you an idiot? If you have money, why leave the country? Just go to Claudia and live in luxury!"
The Jackals, who had nothing to lose but their lives, shouted boldly and got on their vehicles. Whipping beasts that might be mules or horses, they ignited the creaking engines. The Jackals aiming for a fortune ran after the Oppression Guild Master.
"Let's go! You only die once, not twice!"
"We somehow survived earlier, right? Just one more time!"
Spitting out screams close to shrieks to elevate themselves, the Jackals of Yeolguk uniformly followed Hekto.
Hundreds of vehicles raced across the barren wilderness. Dust rose thickly. Their target as they raced, driving noise and dust, was the Golden Palace.
The appearance of the Golden Palace, which had undergone several transformations, was now closer to a royal palace. A fortress surrounding itself with thick walls stood on the empty land. Not a single small gap could be seen on the high walls, and birds with steel wings flew above the sharp spires.
The fortress, which looked impregnable... was moving. It was hard to believe, but it was a speed that wouldn't lose even compared to the light-bodied Jackals.
"More! Step on it more!"
Hekto raised the output even more and urged.
The goal was disruption, but at this rate, it was difficult to even approach. A slightly different method was needed.
Seeing the Jackals following behind, the Oppression Guild Master increased the speed even more. Leaving even his subordinates behind and taking the lead, he operated the Juggernaut and brought out a cannon.
"Oh Golden Mirror! If you truly intend to abandon Yeolguk!"
Hekto, who used his Intrinsic Demon Art instead of gunpowder, could exert more powerful force the longer the gun barrel was. Because of that, the Oppression Guild Master's cannon was the size of a Juggernaut. The gun barrel, which looked to be over 10 meters long, dared to aim at the Golden Mirror.
"Step over my corpse!!"
Thump. A sound more like beating a drum than an explosion was heard. Hekto's cannonball flew accurately toward the Golden Palace, but it didn't score a direct hit. The moment it reached the Golden Palace, the cannonball was absorbed as if sinking into water.
The attack was in vain, but what was certain was that he sufficiently drew its attention.
As if answering, something suddenly protruded, breaking the windows of the Golden Palace. As if to show the difference in class, it was a cannon dozens of times larger and longer than Hekto's.
Something like that shouldn't exist in reality. With that length, it was only natural that it would bend under its own weight. However, the Golden Mirror even alchemized a cannon that was only theoretically possible.
Then it would be able to fire it too. Hekto urgently ordered.
"Everyone, evade!!"