If one were to describe it, would calling it a field of monsters be the right expression?
Most of them were unremarkable monsters, but I could see monsters capable of flying through the sky and monsters that looked like they could scale walls.
"With so many of them, no wonder the Count said he'd step in himself."
Since this was a defensive battle fought along the walls, the numerical disadvantage was largely overcome, but with those numbers, they'd tire out quickly.
They could mobilize as many mages as possible, but all the competent combat mages would be at the front lines, so there wouldn't be many to spare. In the end, the Count must have figured he'd have to plug the gap himself.
And that was the battlefield I was being mobilized to right now.
Driving the Cyclops, I exited through the entrance I'd prepared in advance for later use and saw the gate closing behind me.
The Count was watching from above the gate. I turned only the Monoeye to look his way, and I saw him nod.
—"I'm counting on you."
It was just one line, but that was enough.
I grabbed the machine gun and aimed it at the monsters.
Through the crystal orb installed to serve as a radar, I oriented myself toward the direction where the enemies were gathering the most and activated the machine gun.
—Ratatatat!
Lacking in many ways, but faithful at least to the function of firing bullets, the machine gun began to spew fire.
There were no bullets loaded yet, so in truth I was basically shooting chunks of metal, but they were chunks of metal this size flying at high speed.
The limbs of the monsters caught in the bullet's straight-line path began to be literally pulverized.
Even while firing a machine gun of such power, the Cyclops's shooting posture didn't waver in the slightest.
"I don't know why they're rushing at us, but with this many, you can just shoot roughly and hit everything!"
Moreover, this was the rear rather than the front lines, so the terrain was fairly flat.
Considering the Cyclops's bulk, practically all the ground before my eyes was flat.
Even if monsters came rushing in enough to fill the plains, if it was a situation where shooting meant hitting, the Cyclops's firepower was bound to be maximized.
While magic rained down from behind, burning or searing the monsters, I slowly drove the Cyclops forward and continued firing.
"As expected. In terms of rate of fire, this side is definitely superior."
The mages' magic is powerful, but it has the drawback of requiring concentration with each shot.
The knights' attacks can't cover a wide area at once.
The Cyclops was covering all these shortcomings.
The machine gun that had been spewing fire for a while eventually ran low on ammunition, but I didn't let it bother me and quickly initiated a reload.
I detached the magazine, inserted the one hanging at my waist from above, and fired.
Despite the considerable time this action took due to the machine's bulk, very few monsters got past during that gap, and afterward it was simply a matter of opening fire once more.
—"Hurry with the reorganization! This side is largely resolved with just the Cyclops! Form the mages into squads, leave one squad here, and send the rest elsewhere!"
—"It's overwhelming, overwhelming, my Count!"
Even amid the monsters bursting apart, the excited voices of the Count and knights came through the sound collector.
They had every right to be excited; the battle situation, which they had been confident of winning but worried about due to the overwhelming numerical disadvantage, had been drastically overturned by a single Cyclops.
And I was getting excited too.
"The firing range is considerable. It seems the destructive power is maintained even over there. So the maximum effective range should be about this much..."
I was in the process of properly assessing the performance of the Rodelini machine gun, which had only undergone a few test firings so far.
Moreover, not even after emptying another magazine did the arms or other parts come under strain.
At this point, it was safe to say that with these specs, mass production was viable; the combat effectiveness was practically proven.
It was exactly then that I was thinking: if I just figured out how to make the anti-personnel weapons I'd previously thought necessary, the battlefields in which the Cyclops could play an active role would never be limited.
—Whir, whiir.
"...Large monster detection."
After my battle to the death with the Sandworm, I had made sure to improve the radar's detection of large monsters.
I immediately turned the Monoeye to check that direction.
I could see a monster heading this way, tearing through the trees of the forest.
—Grrrrr....
"I didn't expect to meet one of those here."
In terms of sheer size, it rivaled the Cyclops.
A one-eyed giant with tremendous musculature and long arms.
—"My Count, we have a problem! A Cyclops has appeared!"
—"Not the allied one? No, a real Cyclops?"
The original namesake of the name Mina had arbitrarily given it—the one-eyed giant monster, Cyclops.
But its frame was enormous.
"I heard that even monster Cyclopses were about this size."
But the one approaching now was another head taller.
They say that usually the leader of a group is bigger; that thing might be one of those.
At the very least, it looked like it had tremendous stamina.
"But I can't retreat."
The Count had just finished reorganizing his troops, convinced of victory here.
A bold decision made because the Cyclops alone had replenished a significant portion of their combat strength had been twisted by a sudden variable.
At this point, it was impossible to call back forces capable of facing that giant monster.
In other words, the only thing that could face it was the steel giant.
I saw the one-eyed giant glaring and growling at me disapprovingly.
And accordingly, I aimed the machine gun.
"We both only have one eye, so let's have a go!"
The machine gun spewed fire, and the one-eyed giant charged this way.
Even as its body was pushed back or wounded by the shells, the one-eyed giant reached the Cyclops in an instant and tried to strike at me with its fist.
I quickly raised my arm to block, but the one-eyed giant immediately swung again, knocking the machine gun away, then rammed its shoulder into me and pushed me aside.
"Seems it knows this thing is dangerous...!"
Proof that monsters aren't ignorant of which weapons pose a threat to them.
My most needed weapon went tumbling across the ground and away, and the Cyclops fell.
As if not missing that opening, the one-eyed giant climbed onto the Cyclops, swung the tree it was holding to make my head spin, and struck wildly downward.
Thud. The sound rang out multiple times.
And after the one-eyed giant raised both arms and struck down with all its might about three times, the moment it tried to strike a fourth time.
"You've had your fun; that should be enough, you bastard!"
I immediately boosted output, raised my arm, grabbed the opponent's arm, lifted my upper body, and headbutted it.
The large, wide helmet-shaped armor deployed to protect the Monoeye struck the opponent's jaw squarely. I grabbed the one-eyed giant as it staggered backward as if concussed, and threw a punch.
The steel fist twisted the giant's jaw and uppercut it.
The one-eyed giant, unable to properly resist due to a mild concussion, barely came to its senses, blocked my fist, and roared as it tried to strike at me again, but—
—Kugung!
A steel hand with boosted output caught the one-eyed giant's fist.
I immediately pulled it in, kneed its abdomen, then sent my fist straight at the one-eyed giant's face. With a crisp crunching sound, the one-eyed giant fell backward.
"It's not over yet!"
I immediately used the Cyclops's backpack to charge at the one-eyed giant.
With output nearing maximum, I lifted the opponent.
—Pshick, pshiiiek!
The sound of pressure releasing echoed from various parts of the frame.
That meant the opponent was heavy.
But the steel arms endured even that and lifted it properly.
"Fly away!"
I hurled the one-eyed giant straight in the direction the monsters were rushing from.
The one-eyed giant, already larger than typical, became a living battering ram and crushed the monsters.
The terrible sounds of monsters bursting apart echoed across the battlefield for a while, and the one-eyed giant rolled across the ground.
And then.
—"Wooooooh!!"
As if enraged at being thrown, the one-eyed giant radiated a blazing heat from its anger and entered the cockpit's field of view.
—"Wooooah!!"
"Is that the Berserk ability that real Cyclopses are said to have?"
The one-eyed giant's trump card; when sensing a life-threatening crisis, it dramatically raises its strength by burning through its own lifespan.
Unable to gain the upper hand in the exchange just now, the opponent was undoubtedly thrashing about with all its might.
"Good. That. When your life's in danger, you don't spare any means."
I immediately drew the dagger from my waist.
A prototype close-combat weapon made from the special rare metal of the Phoenix domain.
As I channeled mana into it, the blade began to glow red-hot.
"I can't back down either."
So.
"I'll do my best until the very end!!"
Spreading my voice through the speaker, the Cyclops's Monoeye gleamed.
Against the one-eyed giant radiating heat as it charged, the steel giant began its charge.
****
Immediately after Eisen sortied, the Cyclops factory was running busily.
"Hurry with Unit 2's assembly! Halt Units 3 and 4! Those are the Merchant Lord's orders!"
"Stop maintenance and immediately check all the materials that were brought in!!"
Artisans and merchant guild personnel were bustling about, and Noel, Mina, and Erica stood among them.
Noel, having heard the orders Mina had given everyone moments ago, spoke with slight worry.
"What if something goes wrong like this?"
"I have plenty to say, so it's fine."
Mina said so, then made a slightly bitter expression as she spoke.
"It seemed like an excessive thought, but there's nothing wrong with being prepared."
"That's true."
Sounds of battle could be heard from afar, and cheers occasionally rang out as well.
Eisen's Cyclops must be achieving definite results.
But the defensive battle was still ongoing, and Mina quietly watched Unit 2, which was under assembly.
"If we can get this far, we'll manage somehow."
Having started simultaneously with the factory's opening, it was a Cyclops on the verge of completion, with only final adjustments and the attachment of certain parts remaining.
Unlike Unit 1, which Eisen had mostly built alone, this would be the first machine born from this factory.
Originally, they had planned to assemble it slowly to verify how well the factory artisans could handle the final process, but immediately after the territory's defensive battle began, Mina had thrown everyone into this.
"If it's completed during the battle, we can send it out; if not, we still have one more actual unit in our possession, so it's a gain either way."
"You never take a loss, do you."
Noel snapped back slightly at Mina's words, but soon added quietly.
"Which is why now is the most dangerous time, right?"
"Yeah."
She nodded toward Erica, who was in full armor, and Mina spoke quietly.
"If you think about what Count Phoenix would hate the most, the most dangerous place right now is here."
Having said that, Mina quietly looked around.
At a glance, it seemed like a picture of three academy women simply gathered together.
But looking closely, electricity that seemed to reveal tension crackled around Noel; Mina stood ready to form the hand seals for holy magic at any moment; Erica was already in full armor.
The merchant guild personnel also sensed the atmosphere of the three women, and though they feigned calmness, they couldn't hide their tension.
And two servants of the Count's house hurriedly entered the factory and shouted.
"Lady Erica, urgent news! You are asked to gather everyone inside the castle for a moment!"
"Whose order?"
"The Count has just sent a messenger to inform us. For now, to the shelter...!"
It was an extremely urgent voice.
Erica's expression changed.
With a very cautious face, she nodded and asked quietly.
"Who told you I was here?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm asking how you knew I was here."
As the servants' expressions changed, Noel tapped the ground with her staff.
Electricity quietly began to spread through the surroundings, and Noel looked at them with cold eyes and spoke.
"What is the reason you cannot answer?"
"That is..."
"Right now, Erica is the Count's spokesperson. Therefore, you should have looked for her at the official shelter, or the messenger should have come here with you."
Right now, Count Phoenix is personally commanding the castle walls.
Therefore, the person in charge within the castle has naturally become Erica Phoenix, so by common sense, Erica should be at the shelter controlling the nobles.
So, if a messenger had come, they should have looked for her at the shelter first, heard that she wasn't there, and then come here.
"It's common sense that messengers must be relayed from commander to commander, considering the risk of the message being distorted along the way."
Reina appeared from behind the servants.
She, with eyes incredibly cold—ones you'd never see normally—quietly opened her mouth.
"Perhaps it's different where you're from? Rats of the Argent Empire."
The servants' expressions changed.