“Emergency! Level 1 emergency!”

“The humans have rebelled. All hangar vehicles, proceed to Queen Victoria immediately!”

I activated Deva’s Eye, peering through the truck’s frame. I could see armed androids scrambling into other transport vehicles.

“Okay, the operation is a success!” Winslow said. “The EMP in Sector 1 went off without a hitch. All forces are converging on our comrades.”

“But we’re the ones who will drive the final nail in the coffin, right?” I asked.

“Exactly!”

The autonomous vehicle’s engine hummed to life. It was no coincidence we’d managed to hide aboard this one. The vehicle inspector for this part of the city was human. Since androids lacked the developed sensory abilities of humans, tasks like checking for explosives or contaminants were still delegated to them. And on duty today was an undercover Resistance agent. That was the gist of it.

“It was a pain to get the timing right. We waited for decades,” Winslow said.

The schedules of three key people had to align like clockwork on a single day: Dr. Hylde, who would detonate the EMP from inside; the gatekeeper, who would swap the doctor’s bag with the one containing the device; and the inspector, who would let us through. It had to be a day when all three were on duty. There was a reason Winslow said an opportunity like this would never come again.

Bellica, studying a holographic map, gave an update. “We’ve entered Route 72 as planned. Proceeding directly to Sector 3, according to the manual.”

“Good, good!” Winslow exclaimed.

As he’d explained, the chaos in Sector 1 was a diversion. During a Level 1 emergency, all android forces across the city were programmed to converge on the source. According to their protocols, the units in our convoy were assigned to defend Sector 3.

An underground passage, like a massive tunnel, opened before us— a shortcut. Our vehicle sped through it.

“We have entered Queen Victoria,” Bellica announced.

After racing through the tunnel, our convoy split off, each vehicle entering one of the countless doors lining the walls. The door behind us sealed shut, and we ascended as if in an elevator. Moments later, we emerged into the heart of Queen Victoria. Armed androids were already disembarking.

“Our turn,” Winslow said.

“Right!”

He closed his eyes and brought his palms together.

<Winslow Original – Over Stealth>

A shimmering, otherworldly magic coated our bodies, making our forms glitter with rainbow light as if reflecting a hidden sun. ‘This is stealth?’ It looked more like we were wearing neon signs that screamed, ‘We’re right here!’

“I’ve kept the soundproofing magic up, too. Now, jump.”

“Yes!”

Winslow and Bellica leaped from the truck without a second thought. Feeling a knot of anxiety, I cautiously followed a moment later.

‘Oh.’

It was working. Androids were everywhere, a veritable army of them, yet not a single one noticed our glittering forms.

“Hahaha! Amazed by the power of my magic, my junior?” Winslow gloated, seeing my expression. “I spent a very long time creating this spell. Conventional concealment magic can’t fool their biological sensors, but this little trick neutralizes any detection technology they have. It’s me, Winslow!”

“That’s incredible.”

His behavior was questionable, but a Tower Master was a Tower Master.

“Now, be careful not to touch anything. No matter how stealthed we are, if we bump into an android, it’s all over.”

“Understood.”

“Then let’s go!”

We moved with extreme caution. Androids were stationed everywhere. Even with the soundproofing magic, I was afraid to make a single footstep. One wrong move, and gunfire would erupt from all directions, turning us into Swiss cheese.

“Haah.”

As I wiped sweat from my brow, Bellica smirked. “Scared?”

“Shut up.”

She tiptoed behind a nearby android. Staying just out of reach, she raised her hands above its head.

“Ta-da, bunny ears!”

“…Hey!” I hissed, trying to stop her. She just burst out laughing, and Winslow joined in.

“That’s right! You need to relax, but don’t get overly tense! Be flexible! That’s what separates us from those android bastards!”

He had a point, but they seemed a little ‘too’ relaxed.

“This is the magic of the great Tower Master. What are you so worried about? That the spell will suddenly wear off?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Trust me, my junior!” He flashed an unnervingly bright, white-toothed smile. “It’s me, Winslow! This kind of transformation magic is my greatest specialty, after all!”

I had to admit, maintaining that bizarre diet magic all day was impressive in its own right.

-Tower Master.

Ea, who had been observing silently, spoke in my mind.

‘What is it?’

-You seem to find the tenth a bit unreliable. Why is that?

‘…I don’t know.’

It was true that Winslow lacked the gravitas of Roist and Minerva. They possessed an authority that commanded respect, while Winslow felt more like the goofy guy from down the street. But impact and trust were two different things. Why did he make me so uneasy? Was it his appearance? The fact that I’d found him buried in a pile of trash? No, that wasn’t it.

‘Right. It’s not that I don’t trust him. It’s that something is bothering me.’

-What might that be?

‘That diet magic circle.’

The spell was always active, a permanent fixture on his body except when he slept. Studying its formula, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was fundamentally inefficient.

“Jance!” Bellica called out. “What are you thinking so hard about? I said relax, not zone out. Hurry up!”

“Ah, sorry.”

Right. I had to push these thoughts aside and focus on the mission. I had to rescue Hong Yul.

* * *

We passed through Sector 3 and were now in Sector 4. Security was tight everywhere. The androids’ manual-driven defense system was so well-established that they hadn’t all rushed to the chaos in Sector 1. Each one was rigidly guarding its assigned post.

“Alright, that’s the entrance to Sector 5!” Winslow announced.

Beyond it lay Sector 6, where Eve was waiting. But as the most critical area, its security was on another level. There was only one entrance, and it was guarded by that same blue membrane.

“Fair warning: my Over Stealth magic won’t work on the units in Sector 5. They’re under Eve’s direct control,” Winslow said, setting down his bag.

“What? Why not?” I asked.

“Eve can read human emotions. She’ll use that to pinpoint our location.”

“…Is that magic?”

“Pure technology.”

Winslow opened the bag, revealing another EMP device. “It’s weaker than the one we used at the entrance, but it should be enough to briefly neutralize that gate and drain some power from the units on the fifth floor.”

He activated it. A timer appeared, counting down from five.

“Get ready!”

Bellica and I swallowed hard, dropping into a low stance. The timer hit zero, and the device pulsed. Electromagnetic waves washed over the area.

The blue membrane blocking the entrance vanished.

“Now!” Winslow yelled.

We dove inside. Sector 5 was a massive, hollowed-out sinkhole. Looking up revealed the same sight—countless floors rising to a dizzying height, crisscrossed by bridges. The space above was filled with flying androids, all waiting for us.

“There are too many of them,” I observed.

Bellica bit her thumb. “Looks like Eve already rolled out an update to counter the new EMP device.”

She was right. The flying androids were completely unaffected. Did that mean we had to fight our way through all of them?

“Run!” Winslow shouted. “The path to Sector 6 is up! Follow me!”

“Yes!” we replied in unison.

Winslow took the lead, and we followed close behind.

“Level 1 threat detected.”

“Exterminate immediately.”

The androids’ eyes flashed as they swooped toward us. Others held their positions, aiming their weapons. But they weren’t firing bullets. Beams of red lasers shot through the air.

“Aaaah!” Bellica screamed.

A storm of light rained down from above. A pillar grazed by a laser was sliced clean through without any resistance, sending a chill down my spine.

‘Ea, can a shield block that?’

-It cannot. The level of their technology is too different.

Tsk.

I desperately activated Deva’s Eye, pushing my Predictive Evasion to its limit.

“Don’t you worry, my friends!” Winslow yelled from the front, gesturing at the air.

<Winslow Original – Mirror Guard>

Transparent shields materialized before the descending lasers. The beams struck the mirror-like surfaces and reflected, streaking back to shoot down their attackers. Between the incoming and reflected lasers, Sector 5 descended into chaos.

“Huff, huff! This is tough!” Winslow panted.

“It’s going to take forever to climb up like this,” I said.

He nodded. “We need to thin their numbers!”

“What’s the plan?”

“It’s me, Winslow! Of course I have a plan. Bellica!”

“Yes!”

As if on cue, Bellica opened a subspace portal. Countless missile pods emerged.

“Since you’re in the middle of the sixth-floor trial, you should already know this spell, right?”

<Wind Sagittarius>

Winslow conjured wind magic behind the missiles, using it as a propellant. Dozens of missiles shot forward like arrows, slamming into the androids. A chain of massive explosions rocked the chamber as shattered android parts rained down.

“Hahaha! How about that? This is the magic of this great mage!”

“You’re amazing, Tower Master!” Bellica cheered.

‘In this case,’ I thought, ‘shouldn’t the credit go to the scientists who made the missiles?’

“Whoa!”

Winslow, mid-gloat, ducked as a laser beam seared the air where his head had been. “Can’t let my guard down for a second. Alright, let’s keep moving!”

“Yes, Tower Master!”

We scrambled for the upper floors. The stairs were too slow, so we each found our own way. Winslow grabbed Bellica and created a path of rebar as he ran, while I took a different route, shooting down androids as I went.

“Can’t we just use flight magic?” I yelled.

“No! If I add flight to the mix, I won’t be able to cast other spells!”

‘It would probably be better to just drop the diet magic and fly,’ I thought.

“Bellica! Missiles!”

“Right!”

They’d brought Bellica for her subspace, and she was performing her role as a mobile missile battery perfectly. She’d pull them out, and Winslow would launch them with Wind Sagittarius, blasting androids to pieces. Explosions bloomed everywhere.

“Tower Master! Watch out ahead!” Bellica shouted.

An android with a sword-like device raised its weapon, but Winslow simply gestured. A magic circle flared to life on a nearby wall, and a sliver of metal shot out, piercing the android’s head.

“Hup!”

He manipulated metal with fluid skill, choking and stabbing androids or creating makeshift stairs to climb. He was undeniably a great mage. I used my shield as a stepping stone, and whenever I fell behind, I closed the distance with a burst of Devastar.

“Huff! Huff! Almost there!” Winslow gasped.

The ceiling was just ahead. The androids, determined to stop us, began firing high-output laser barrages.

“Tower Master! We’re out of missiles!” Bellica reported.

“This is bad!”

“I’ve got it.” I pulled a mana elixir from my pouch, bit off the cap, and drained it, simultaneously unleashing all my mana.

<Rapid Arrow> ×500

Magic circles bloomed in the air like a field of flowers, and a torrent of golden arrows rained down, filling the space. While the bewildered androids took evasive action, we widened the gap.

“Not bad, Jance!” Winslow praised. “Hahaha! As expected of a student taught by the great Winslow!”

‘I haven’t learned a single thing from you yet!’

Regardless, we finally broke through the ceiling. Winslow sealed the entrance behind us with his metal magic.

“Whew.”

I let out a soft sigh and looked up. This was the highest level of Sector 5, the ceiling of Queen Victoria. It felt like we’d been dropped into the middle of a colossal soccer stadium. The sheer scale of the place was overwhelming.

“There it is. Sector 6,” Winslow said, his gaze fixed ahead.

At the far end of the chamber was another gate of blue membrane. Beyond it lay Eve.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep