The Mechanical Era

Kristina walks along the halls of the palace, carrying a few files to be turned over to Kant. Since the arrival of the demonic wave, Rose Valline has requested Hoverdam to send a few of their elite 'knights' to help combat, contain, and terminate powerful demons that have been spotted in the area.

What they hope to do, is to take out as many of the powerful demons as they can at first, so that they won't have to deal with them later. Demons tend to do surprise raids on towns and cities, which they can avoid by taking out high-ranking demons.

Being the head of the Demon Extermination Force, Kristina Robins had to work alongside Kant Maybale and Alan Fleck to implement the Demon Extermination Forse as Kant had intended in the charter. While the overall rank structure hasn't changed much, there have been some massive changes in other areas.

The way the DEF worked was far closer to how the Hoverdam Police Force worked. A bunch of officers trained in how to deal with their targets, in this case, demons, and handle them accordingly. They are to take requests from the knight hall, which is now called the DEF headquarters, in order to earn more money and experience, allowing them to climb the ranks.

They were also given some new uniforms to wear, which Kristina was not exempted from. Instead of her usual long-sleeved silver uniform with a long purple skirt, she was handed a new uniform to wear. It consisted of a black suit with silver accents and a silver emblem, a crisp white shirt, and a black bow tie for the top.

Covering her bottom consisted of a black skirt that covered her knees, black stockings, and some black shoes. Although she was given the choice to wear pants, Kristina rather preferred to wear a skirt.

The other agents were fitted with similar attire. It mainly consisted of a black suit with multicolored accents and emblems, hinting at your ranking in the DEF. While men were ordered to wear straight ties, women were told to wear bow ties instead. This is their professional uniform, the one they wear for appearances.

As for their combat uniform, they are still fitted with the old wrought iron suits of armor, with a few possessing runic armor they managed to gain from the war. Although the weapons were still in good condition, Kristina thought that her new agency could use an upgrade.

She soon arrives at his doorstep. Upon taking a deep breath, she clears off any dust from her new uniform to look sharp and knocks on the door. Although she was there to just deliver the file, she desired to talk with Kant about something.

"Come in." she hears a deep, monotone voice speak from the other side.  Kristina opens the door and went inside. Once she closed the door behind her, she bows down and greets Kant good morning.

"Good morning your majesty."

"Good morning to you as well, General Director Kristina. What brings you here?"

"I have come here to deliver the file that you requested. However, I would like to talk to you about a few improvements the DEF can go through. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course. Take a seat," Kant replies. Kristina takes her seat on the wooden chair. She then hands over the file to Kant, who started to read it through. According to the file, Hoverdam has been requested for about 30 knights, or agents, to be sent over to various cities around the area.

Before their deployment, The DEF had made sure to arm them with the necessary equipment, including swords, bows, spears, shields, potions, and even FLM-18Rs, before sending them off.

As of yesterday, about 25 agents have already reached their destination, with another 5 more on their way today. There was then a list of all the cities that they were sent off to, as well as the number. Once he is done reading, he places it on the side of the table and turns to Kristina.

"Thank you for handing over the file. Now, I believe that there is something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes sir. I was wondering whether the DEF could get stocked with new weapons."

"Hmm... Why is that?"

"Well, from what I know, with the new machines that you have brought to the city, I feel that the Demon Extermination Force could be fitted with much more effective weapons than before, which would allow them to be able to fight more effectively in a time when demons are infesting the continent.

You see, sir, most of our Agents normally use weapons and armor made of wrought iron, as it was the most effective material without being too expensive. Considering that you are building a steel mill, it could be possible to upgrade to steel armor, which is stronger and lighter than wrought iron.

It would allow the agents to be more flexible, stronger, and safer while fighting the demons. They all mostly consist of elite knights, which I guarantee you, sir, are one of the most powerful soldiers you can find in our city," Kristina argued.

Kant's left hand rubbed his chin as he listened to Kristina talk. Once she finished, Kant asked another question.

"I will look into it. Is there anything else that you wish to speak of?"

"Yes sir. It is in regard to the void weapons."

"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Robin, I am not sure what you mean by void weapons. Could you please explain?" Kant asked.

"Of course sir. Void weapons, also known as 'anti-mana' weapons, are a type of runic technology where a special black crystal known as an 'anti-mana crystal' or 'void crystal' is fitted to a socket to give said weapon or armor anti-mana properties.

The concept of how void weapons is very simple. As demons are creatures that are partially or fully made of mana when the blade of a void weapon comes into contact with a demon, it cancels out a lot of its mana, making it weaker, and more vulnerable.

A demon with less mana is a creature that is far less strong, and far less regenerative than a normal one. This logic has also been seen to work with humans who possess mana. But that is not all.

There is also void armor, which is, as sir can guess, armor that has anti-magic properties. Void armor is a type of armor that can cancel out any magical attack that is thrown in its way. Although, we mainly use it in its shield form, as people normally cannot use their magical abilities while wearing the armor."

"Hm... I see. What is the catch?"

"The catch is that building a void weapon is an incredibly difficult and strenuous task. Void crystals are very tough compared to other materials, and are about as rare as gold.

Once the crystal has been found, it now much be properly cut in order to fit it into the socket properly. As the crystal is measured to be on the tougher side, kind of like a diamond, this could lead to many chances of failure, which just add to the cost of producing one void weapon."

Kristina took in a deep breath, before continuing.

"However, considering that we now have new technologies and machines at our disposal, I was wondering whether we could build a workshop for a void weapon, to start producing a few of them and equipping all our agents with one.

Considering that this would be your area of expertise, sir, do you think that it is possible?" Kristina questioned.

Kant leaned back on his chair, and start to think it through. Although building a device specialized in the process is technically feasible, he was not familiar enough with what Kristina was suggesting to make any guess.

"Hm... I am not sure. I will need to inspect one of these void crystals before I can proceed. Would you mind telling the assistant minister to bring some to me, as well as books regarding the subject? I would like to know as much I can before proceeding."

"Alright, sir. I can do that."

"Good. Now, I assume that is all?"

"Yes sir, that is all. May I take my leave?"

"You shall Director General Kristina. You shall."