Chapter 232: Diagnostics

First up was the unit’s overall destructive power. Having them fire at abandoned buildings wasn’t exactly ideal, but thankfully, magic was enough to cover that.

[Shadow Parade]

I summoned hundreds of mindless shadows from the ground. Even without me giving any instructions, the units immediately took aim—and then, a second later…

They lowered their guns just as quickly, a small rune on their chests flickering the moment they did.

“Hm?”

I ordered the shadows to stand by for a moment and stepped closer to check the rune on one unit’s chest, placing my hands over it and focusing only on its details.

Then…

[Magic-Detecting Rune]

[Detects magical signatures. Advanced detection technology used for certain machinery, specifically combat types.]

“That’s interesting…”

Well, that was a bit more normal than I expected. I’d hoped to find something better, but I guess you can’t just stumble on breakthroughs or powerful artifacts every day.

“Aim.”

I gave the order, and the units started calculating for possible targets. Their programming hesitated in the absence of hostiles.

Not until the runes flickered again.

Then all of the units immediately aimed at the shadows.

They were smart. Even after deciding my shadows were friendly, it didn’t take them a second to figure out what I was about to command.

Good thing they weren’t just mindless robots that shot at everything that looked hostile—or spared everything that looked friendly.

“Fire!”

The moment I shouted the command, I also ordered the shadows to move. They scattered and scurried around the mansion’s backyard like rats, and it didn’t take long for the robots to start dropping them like flies.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

One.

Two.

Eight.

Ten.

Twenty.

Even with the shadows constantly shifting and darting around, the units kept taking them down, picking them off even as they circled like rats.

But that still wasn’t enough to tell if they were truly effective. I needed to see how they handled a target that actually fought back.

After this, I’d send them into an actual battlefield deployment and see how well they fared there.

THUD!

BANG!

THUD!

The shadows twisted. Instead of just running around and waiting to be shot, they started attacking, using their lack of pain to hammer their bare fists against metal.

And…

Even then, the units kept taking the shadows out without losing any efficiency. Better yet, even when some units were swarmed by ten shadows at once, they didn’t look like they were getting dented at all.

A few shadows managed to cling to one unit’s arms, dragging at the joints, trying to force some kind of malfunction.

Nothing. Not even a stutter.

The unit shifted its stance and angled its weapon down in a way that should’ve been impossible with that many things hanging off it, then fired point-blank.

BANG!

The shadows burst apart instantly.

clean, efficient, and no hesitation.

I whistled, “…Not bad.”

I crossed my arms, watching as the last few shadows were picked off one by one. No wasted shots, no awkward pauses, no overlap in targets. Each unit seemed to know when another was already aiming at something, and would just move on.

They weren’t just reacting. They were coordinating. Thinking—or at least doing a really good imitation of it.

The final shadow unraveled into nothing, and the backyard went quiet again. Only the low hum of machinery and the faint, sharp scent of burnt magic lingered in the air.

I let the silence hang for a moment before speaking.

“Alright, time to purely focus on durability next.”

[Shadow Parade]

Another wave rose up, but this time I shaped them differently: larger, heavier, their forms crammed with magic until they stopped flickering like smoke and started to look solid. Something not quite human, not quite beast, caught somewhere in between.

“Engage.”

The shadows didn’t scatter this time. They charged.

THUD!

The first impact echoed as one of the constructs slammed straight into a unit with enough force to crack the ground beneath them.

The unit slid back half a step, just half, then planted its foot and held its ground.

“…Good.”

The rest crashed in right after.

Fists hammered down. Claws scraped against metal. Bodies slammed into the units from every angle until—

CRACK—

One of the rifles snapped in half under the pressure of a shadow’s grip.

There it is. Finally.

I leaned forward a little, attention sharpening, as the disarmed unit didn’t freeze or hesitate. The rune on its chest flared and it moved in, its arm shooting out to grab the shadow by the throat. It lifted the thing clean off the ground, then slammed it down hard enough to shatter it on impact.

So they adapt.

“Switching to close combat when disarmed…” I nodded to myself. “Useful. Very useful.”

Another unit got dragged down, swallowed under sheer numbers until, for a moment, it vanished beneath the mass.

Then—

BOOM!

A pulse of force erupted from its core, blasting the shadows away in every direction.

Oh?

“…That’s new.”

I didn’t remember seeing that in the manual. Which meant it was either some kind of emergency function, or Benedict had slipped in a little surprise.

Either way, I wasn’t complaining.

The fight didn’t drag on much longer after that. Even against the reinforced shadows, the units held their ground, some damage here and there, a few dents, and small delays.

But nothing that actually stopped them from doing their job.

When the last shadow fell, I let out a slow breath.

“Alright… that’s enough.”

I stepped forward and stopped in front of the nearest unit. Up close, the damage was easier to see: surface scratches, a bit of strain around the joints, and one casing with a hairline crack. Nothing serious.

I reached out and gave its chest a light tap, right where the rune pulsed faintly beneath the surface.

“Not bad at all…”

Honestly, they were in better shape than I’d expected. Which only made what I was about to do even more interesting.

“Now then…”

I glanced toward the mansion, then back at the line of units. Time to see how they handled something a little less predictable, something that didn’t follow neat little patterns.

Something that could actually think…

“I think I already know how this will end, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

I couldn’t help the slight curl of my lips.

[Command]

The air behind me began to twist, slow and deliberate, as a long, thin neck pushed its way out of the distortion. It bent into view like something forcing itself through reality, warping the space around it.

“Let’s see how you handle this.”

The False Hydra’s head tilted, that uncanny smile stretching just a bit too wide.

And then—

“Attack.”

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