LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 233.1
Chapter 233.1. Second Half
Kamishiro Serika is currently in a lush forest. The beautiful autumn leaves color the surroundings, making it seem like the perfect tourist spot. If it weren’t for the gunfire and beastly roars echoing from all directions, it would be flawless.
The trees’ leaves have turned crimson, and fallen leaves cover the ground. I move through them, rustling as I go. Actually, there’s no rustling. Instead, there’s the whirring sound of joints moving, and the heavy clanking of metal.
“Is that all made by you, Serika?”
Sakimori, who is walking beside me, pushing through the bushes, looks at my armored suit with a curious expression. I see this from the monitor inside my helmet and smile.
“Indeed! This is my personal reinforced armored suit, the ‘Paladin.’ It’s the fruit of magic, skills, and science combined.”
A fully armed, reinforced armored suit. The orichalcum armor made with the Philosopher’s Stone has resistance to physical and magical attacks, and despite its appearance, it’s extremely light. It uses magic tools that enable continuous levitation, so if this armor were made of iron, it would weigh over a ton, but it only weighs 10 kg—light as a feather.
The excessively thick Western armor, mechanized and crafted with skill crystals and magical tools, is strengthened at the joints with [Strength] and [Precision] The armor is reinforced with [Fortification], and it comes with twelve mind-controlled daggers, modified from the magic sword Dancing Dagger, six small shield bits that generate magical barriers, and two gun bits. [Levitation] and [High-Speed Maneuvering] are added to the body, and both shoulders are equipped with [Resonance] to disrupt enemy magic and martial techniques.
The Paladin can be controlled through visual input and a touch panel on the gauntlet, making it a highly functional armored suit. The backpack, equipped with auxiliary arms, holds numerous weapons, and of course, several magic tools are embedded throughout the armor.
“Can it be mass-produced?”
“If you had a Philosopher’s Stone and a lot of skill crystals and magic tools, sure.”
“So, not many can be made, huh?”
I nod at Sakimori, who has a troubled look on his face. It doesn’t work that smoothly. The technological level of this world is extremely low. If I had the technology from my original world, it would’ve been a bit easier.
“This armor has a major flaw: without a skill like mine, [Puppet Art], which allows the user to fully utilize the tool’s potential, it can’t be operated.”
“So it can’t be controlled, huh? You could teach someone the [Puppet Art] skill, but the tool’s operation is your unique skill.”
“That’s the current limitation. Now, let me show you the power of the Paladin.”
No ordinary human could control such a complex, mechanized armored suit. It might be possible if brainwave control were developed, but that technology doesn’t exist yet. That’s where the [Puppet Art] skill comes in.
The [Puppet Art] skill allows one to control dolls. I connect my thoughts to the Paladin, treating it like a puppet. Just like gears clicking into place, I can fully perceive every part of the Paladin and move its body freely. Since Serika’s body is inside it, I can also use the skill that lets me maximize the tool’s potential.
“Now, Paladin, live up to your name and show your holy knight’s strength.”
The auxiliary arm takes out a gatling gun from the backpack. Because of the drawbacks of the skill that lets Serika craft any magic or martial art, she can’t use them directly. But that doesn’t mean she’s powerless. She can use all kinds of skills and magic indirectly through tools. And she can manipulate mana.
[Enchant Magic], activate.”
The Magic Enhancement embedded in the gauntlet activates, and the gatling gun faintly glows with mana.
Through the monitor, I detect monsters hiding between the trees. The sub-monitor shows heat signatures with thermal imaging, and sonar detects movement. The [Alarm] skill in the helmet senses the approach of enemies.
Only Serika can use so many magical tool skills at once. An ordinary person would be limited to three. Once one of the strongest team members, Serika smiles, her pink lips curling, as she aims the muzzle forward.
When I pull the trigger of the gatling gun, a thunderous roar erupts as the bullets tear into the monsters hiding among the trees. The reinforced armored suit’s power easily suppresses the intense recoil of the heavy gunfire.
“Gah!”
“Gyaaa!”
“Gurgh!”
The bullets shred through tree trunks and pulverize them, showering the monsters with gunfire. With death cries, the monsters fall. Kobolds, orcs, and ogres alike stand no chance before the gatling gun. The trees are stained with blood, and smoke from gunpowder drifts through the air.
“Impressive.”
Sakimori compliments me, so I proudly puff out the chest of my armored suit.
“Heh, you can pat my head if you want.”
“Good girl, Serika, as expected.”
“I’ll expect it later.”
Sakimori, clad in black, pats my head through the helmet, so I purse my lips and start walking, thinking, “What a teasing guy.”
With the horde of monsters defeated, lower demons appear from behind them, launching fireballs at us. The scorching flames rush toward me, but I narrow my eyes and control the Paladin.
[Destruction]
The fireballs are dismantled and vanish by my skill. I use [Resonance] on the surprised lower demons. The magical sound waves nullify their barrier, and with another volley of bullets, they’re shattered into pieces.
The lower demons’ barrier. It seemed easy to dispel. It looked simple, but even in the previous world, research on nullifying barriers had been conducted.