Right before his eyes, Jared saw magnificent portals spontaneously appear in hispound.


    A hundred? No


    A thousand? No


    A million? No!


    Portals that added up to exactly three million suddenly appeared all over his line of sight, covering his field of vision with their blue hue. The immense surge of energy emanating from the portal was extraordinary, enough to make him slightly tremble in response.


    ''W-what is that?!'' Jared thought to himself, forcing himself to show no fear.


    Was this kind of a thing possible? Such Magic that allowed spontaneous spacial rifts to form? It was true that magic made all things possible, but weren''t there limits to certain phenomena?


    No one being could possess such energy, so Jared instantly ruled out that possibility. Rather, he was more concerned about what happened next.


    "What in the world are they…. Ah, no way…" Almost as soon as he made the statement, he began to sense movement within the spacial rifts, and then ''things'' began to step out from them.


    The metallic surfaces of some of them gave their identities away instantly, but Jared was shell-shocked by the level of advancement and design of each model.


    ''T-these are… Golems?!''


    But they weren''t Golems, were they? They were Automatons.


    Emerging from the portals as well, after the Golem Automatons had, were the real Golems. However, unlike the ones coated in simple metal skin, the Golems were covered in the element of whatever Familiar dwelled within them.


    Elements like fire, lightning, ice, etc.


    Several other specialized Elements covered the Golems, and despite being lifeless pieces of machinery, they were being controlled by the Familiars within them, making them as capable—if not more capable—than the Automatons.


    Jared and his allies didn''t know much of any of this, though.


    The portals closed as soon as the ''things'' within came out, and the blue blots that littered the sky rapidly vanished.


    All except one.


    ''What is… all this? What is that?!'' Jared wondered to himself, already feeling immensely threatened by the number of adversaries that now stood before him.


    Using a supposedly impossible power, the Outers had managed to bring an army of three million to the scene. It boggled his mind, made him anxious and slowly brought in an emotion that he thought he had long discarded.


    Fear!


    ''No… I shouldn''t jump to conclusions. They could be advanced holograms or they could even be fodder.'' He couldn''t guarantee their efficacy in battle just by looking at them alone.


    ''That one portal still bothers me, though.'' Jared red at thest remaining blue blot, hovering at the epicentre of the army that littered the sky. ''What could be within?''


    Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately for him, he didn''t need to wait for long.


    The blue distortion of spacial energy slowly parted, revealing the one that proceeded from it. The being was shrouded in tinum-like armour, and it appeared so regal that its elegance could not be described with mere words.


    It was brimming with dignity and power, having a humanoid form, yet the nature of an artificial entity.


    ''That looks like… Gawain?!'' Jared''s eyes widened instantly.


    He couldn''t believe it. The enemies had their own version of ''Gawain''?!


    ''How? Did they find the prototype? No, that can''t be. How did they replicate my masterpiece? How were they able to get the materials or effects right?''


    It made no sense!


    What made matters worse was that this version of Gawain seemed even better than his own model. It puzzled him to no end.


    "L-Lord Jared… What should we do?" He heard a voice ask him from behind.


    It belonged to Jane, his sweetheart. She had an expression of worry etched onto her face. No, it wasn''t just her. All the generals had looks of horror or disbelief as they all witnessed the amazing sight before them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What else?" Jared forced his lips to curl upward and he gave an undaunted smile. "We attack, and we win."


    They couldn''t postpone their project any longer, after all, they had alreadye so far. No matter the enemy''s intentions or strength, Jared still believed his forces could hold them off until the process wasplete.


    And once it wasplete, it would be the end of everything.


    "Jane. Summon Gawain and Hugo. They will lead the army while we take care of the Outers." Jared narrowed his eyes.


    "Understood!"


    "As for the rest of you Generals… you are not to underestimate them. Give your best shot and do not even consider losing!"


    "Y-yes sir!" Abellion responded instantly.


    "I understand!" Elrich Lendertwale answered.


    "Yes, my lord!" Gerard replied.


    With most of his elite forces concentrated in this ce, Jared was confident in ultimate victory. He had been nning this for so long after all.


    ''Curse that Neron. He took me by surprise!'' Even though he had tried his best not to underestimate the Outgroup and the Midas Empire, this sort of thing happened.


    It made him look foolish.


    ''But how could I have predicted this?! DAMNIT!'' As he was having this thought, an incorporeal entity moved close to his ears, dropping its bony hands on his shoulders.


    ~Curse that Ciel. What has she done? Has she reawakened her Ancient Magic?~ A cold, hollow voice leaked out from the ghost.


    ''What do you know about this, Merlin?'' Jared swiftly asked, his frown deepening.


    This was his problem with Merlin. He never told him everything he knew.


    ~Ciel possessed vast power akin to this in her past life. But reincarnation has made her weaker since she lost the connection to this World''s power source…~


    Jared gritted his teeth in even more frustration. ''And you didn''t tell me this, why?''


    ~I didn''t consider it to be relevant. Ciel was already weakened. There was no need to know of her past strength.~


    No need? Looking at the situation now, how could Merlin be such a fool as to say that there was no need for him to know?


    Still, Jared swallowed his annoyance and joined Merlin in ring in the direction of the white-haired girl among the Outers.


    ''So Ciel is the one behind this, huh?''


    Now that he knew the strongest in the team, as well as their weak link, Jared felt more confident.


    ''Let''s kill them all!''


    ~Agreed.~


    *


    *


    *


    [A/N]


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