Chapter 533: Cheating

Upon arriving at Temira, a reconnaissance unit was dispatched to assess the situation. As expected, the large device that Rafishal had predicted was quickly found due to its sheer size. However, the forces guarding it exceeded our expectations.

“We confirmed during reconnaissance that around 10,000 magic machines are guarding it,” someone reported.

“Ten thousand! Are there really that many?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, and they’re all Federation soldiers, which means we can’t afford a reckless battle that would result in heavy casualties. That makes things tricky.”

Ranelle seemed puzzled by the scale of it and turned to Jean.

“Even so, isn’t this a bit much for just a coup? Even if they’ve been preparing for a while, it seems too well-organized. It’s strange…”

“Most of the soldiers probably don’t even realize they’re part of a coup. That’s likely why they’ve jammed communications and locked down information.”

“That means we can’t just go in and take them all down indiscriminately, huh?”

“I’m not saying not to fight, but try to take them down as peacefully as possible.”

“How do you ‘peacefully’ take someone down!?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

Easier said than done…

To avoid alerting the enemy, the main forces stayed back at a distance, while Nagisa and I headed out to destroy the communication-jamming device.

“We’ll go on foot. We don’t want to be noticed until we’re close.”

“Fine, but keep in mind, my Diatena can’t move as fast as your Arleo II. Don’t go too fast, alright?”

“I know, I’ll match your speed.”

With that, we set off, though I ended up moving too fast a few times and got scolded by Nagisa.

After about an hour of walking, we finally spotted our target. The security around it was much tighter than I imagined, and enemies were everywhere.

“There it is. That huge thing is the communication-jamming device.”

“What should we do? There are too many guards. If we go any further, we’ll definitely be spotted.”

“Yeah, we’re bound to get noticed anyway, so we should just rush in from here.”

“Got it. Let’s go full speed.”

“Alright, but be careful. Remember, take down the magic machines as ‘peacefully’ as possible.”

“Jean said the same thing, but how exactly do you ‘peacefully’ take them down?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

I see… Mimicking Jean’s response is actually quite handy. I’ll use that from now on.

Abandoning stealth, we made a mad dash for the communication-jamming device. Unsurprisingly, the magic machines guarding it spotted us and attacked.

Nagisa quickly figured out her own solution to ‘peacefully’ take them down. She grabbed the arm of one attacking magic machine, snapped it off, and threw it away. She then kicked another in the knee, breaking it and rendering it immobile, allowing us to move past.

Nagisa’s really good at this. Seeing her solution, I decided to cheat and copy her. I targeted the arms and legs of the magic machines, disabling them. I wasn’t as graceful as Nagisa, but I could still cut off limbs with my sword. While minimizing damage, we took down the attacking magic machines one by one.