“Finally, it seems that the Rank 5 Adventurers have started to get serious.”
“Looks like it.”
Fiona and I exchanged such words while standing side by side, firing bullets and fireballs at the approaching Chimera Soldiers.
Since Lily had opened the hatch on her back and infiltrated inside, the attacks from the Spada side had intensified.
Honestly, I was very curious about what the cockpit of this gigantic robot, the Ancient Golem, looked like, but I couldn’t abandon my post to follow Lily. As a trade-off for not paying attention to my rear, my focus naturally turned to the attacks around me.
Against the enormous enemy that had now come into view, the Mage class was launching flashy advanced attack magic and primal magic from above the castle wall as if they were having a field day.
Among them, the attack magic in the form of shining spheres of five colors had considerable power. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be enough for a one-hit kill. Well, after all, it took all three of us to finally take it down. Even Mages boasting great firepower would find the toughness of the Ancient Golem frustrating.
“—‘Thunder Crimson Blade!’”
As I recognized a voice that sounded familiar, I sensed an intense magical presence and instinctively looked up at the castle wall. I could not confirm the caster’s figure from this distance, but I witnessed the moment the magical sword formed of red lightning was unleashed.
While it appeared to resemble the traditional double-edged sword of Spada, it was undoubtedly pure attack magic at its core.
The gleaming blade, trailing brilliant red lightning, rushed toward the single eye of the half-destroyed Golem. There was no way this massive, clumsy creature could evade an attack matching the speed of lightning.
As intended, the giant lightning sword pierced the Ancient Golem’s face. A flash of red light and a thunderous roar filled the air.
When the red flash of destruction subsided, the figure of the steel giant slowly collapsing to the ground appeared amidst bursts of sparks and billowing dark smoke.
With its head completely blown off, the Ancient Golem presented the appearance of a headless corpse as it leaned forward and sank onto the snow, just a hair’s breadth from touching the castle wall.
With the seismic impact of the massive humanoid’s fall, a murmur arose from the Spada Army, which had been witnessing the entire situation from the castle wall.
“…Could it be that the circuits shorted out?”
If it could be taken down merely by blowing off its head, Fiona’s ‘Golden Sun’ would have sufficed. This Ancient Golem undeniably had an astonishing durability, continuing to function even when half of its chest was destroyed. There was no way the one that just fell was a defective model.
Even so, it seemed that the one-shot defeat by that ‘Thunder Crimson Blade’ was due to the hidden lightning striking and frying the electrical circuits within the Golem. Whether they resembled Earth’s electrical devices in structure or were entirely different magical technology remains unknown, but one thing was certain: there was no doubt that crimson lightning coursed through its body as it collapsed, smoking.
From an adventurer’s perspective, this meant that the Golem had a weakness to thunder. That being said, it would surely take more than a mere trickle of electricity to affect it.
I wanted to try my ‘Charged Particle Dragon Cannon’ again, but unfortunately, it seemed that opportunity would not arise.
“Alright, the Golem is almost wiped out.”
With the Spada Army’s fierce counterattack, the Ancient Golems sank one after another into the white ground.
First, we took down one. Immediately after that, four were silenced by a massive light magic shot fired from the rear tower. By this point, half of them had already been destroyed.
From there, one was half-destroyed by five-colored light spheres, and another was severely damaged by ‘Thunder Crimson Blade’. Furthermore, on the southern right side of the castle wall, two Golems were confirmed to have fallen.
Apparently, those two were defeated not by magic, but by martial arts, as both had their legs severed. Although their movement ceased, the cockpit and power source of the Golems remained unharmed, and they continued to crawl forward on their arms.
It seemed that many adventurers saw this as a chance to deal the finishing blow and were bravely swarming toward the downed Golems. Considering their immense size, even crawling forward would pose considerable danger.
“There are bound to be some that can’t fly… Don’t do anything reckless.”
The fearless fools who jumped from the castle wall to mount the mighty steel form—when I thought about my own eagerness to leap out first, I couldn’t really criticize them too harshly.
“This Golem is just a big target with armor. It’s dull and poses no significant threat since it doesn’t even counterattack.”
Fiona had a point.
Although that enormous single eye was aimed at us, it didn’t attempt to shake us off like a bug. Its only threat came from the accompanying Chimera Soldiers. The Golem itself showed no intent to retaliate, or rather, it probably didn’t have the mobility to do so.
Under these circumstances, it was indeed safe to board it once and only needed to struggle to destroy it without risking our lives.
“Was it more of a paper tiger than I expected?”
“Siege weapons tend to be like that.”
They are either specialized for destroying buildings like castles, walls, and gates, or for killing people; it’s a functional difference. In any case, leaving these things unchecked would have posed a risk of wall collapse, leaving us with no choice but to wipe them out.
Moments like this could only be contemplated now that we had successfully held off the Golem.
“Oh, it seems Lily has done it.”
“Indeed, as expected.”
Yes, at this very moment, the Golem we had boarded came to a halt.
Like a battery running out, its pace slowly decreased until it finally came to a stop before taking a third step. Thankfully, it didn’t have to execute any sudden emergency brakes. The cessation was so quiet that one might not have noticed it had stopped.
Lily, who had entered the cockpit, must have dealt with the pilot skillfully.
Thus, we ‘Element Masters’ managed to secure the Ancient Golem without a scratch, achieving a smart victory. Of course, credit was largely due to Lily.
Nevertheless, having taken down two of them, I figured a considerable reward might be expected, and I found myself thinking about the impressive standing of a Rank 5 Adventurer when—
“Chrono! Fiona! Get away from the Golem right now!”
Lily burst out of the hatch, her face devoid of the joy we would expect for taking down a Golem. Her expression was one of urgency, as if there was no time to spare.
What is going on, I wanted to ask, but that could wait. In this line of work, a moment’s hesitation in judgment could lead to death. There was no time for leisurely questions.
“I understand, I’m heading back to the wall!”
As I responded, I shot up the now motionless Golem’s back with my magical hand. Fiona was next to me, running silently alongside.
Fortunately, perhaps because the Golem had stopped and abandoned its role as guard, there was no pursuit from the Chimera Soldiers that had been swarming us. I could solely focus on climbing straight up its vertical back.
As soon as I reached shoulder height, I leaped straight toward the castle wall. While the distance between the Golem and the wall had significantly decreased since my earlier jump, it wasn’t short enough for a simple bound back. I had to rely on Hitsugi again.
While I soared through a twenty-meter leap, I extended the tentacles of black chains straight toward the top of the wall to secure my lifeline. As I mentally commanded Hitsugi to pull the tentacles back, Lily was assisting Fiona, who had jumped into the air.
By the time I returned to the top of the wall, Lily had already lowered Fiona to the corridor. While magical hands allowed for quite a rapid aerial movement, they could not compare to a flier’s capabilities.
In any case, we had safely returned to the castle wall. Finally, I could sit down and ask Lily what was going on.
“Hey, Lily, you didn’t say to get away quickly because the Golem was about to fall, right?”
Looking back, I saw the Golem we boarded leaning forward and about to fall. The sheer size and weight of it produced a sound and shockwave likened to a massive explosion merely from falling. Once the rumbling and thunderous noise settled, Lily answered.
“I collected as much information on the Ancient Golem from its pilot via telepathy as I could.”
I thought it took longer than expected from the time the hatch opened until she finished dealing with the pilot, but I understood now. I had suspected it but didn’t imagine she would go through with it. Truly, Lily never overlooked anything.
“I learned a few things, but the worst piece of information among them—”
Suddenly, a piercing sound, reminiscent of a ringing in the ears, filled the air. At first, it was faint, but that high-pitched noise gradually, yet definitely, grew louder.
Listening to Lily’s words, I puzzled over the familiar sound.
Some kind of mechanical noise, an activation sound. It was clear that it wasn’t a natural sound. The regularity of its pitch was… right, I recognized it.
It sounded like an airplane. The roaring of a giant turbine spinning from a jet engine heard at an airport.
“—So these ten Golems were just pawns, huh.”
Through the billowing smoke, the source of that eerie jet engine sound appeared.
There were three forms.
Of course, they were thirty meters tall. They boasted the same size as the Ancient Golem we had just taken down.
“That is the Ancient Golem, no, the ancient humanoid heavy machinery in its fully restored form. ‘Full-Tuned Taurus.'”
Even at first glance, the differences from the ones we just faced were glaring. There were openings in armor across its body. From those openings, bluish-white particles of light were erupting, glowing even from this distance.
However, what shone the brightest was its back. It was emitting a torrent of bluish-white light directed downward, and just when I thought it couldn’t be, it—levitated.
It didn’t just take off, but that steel giant was definitely floating. It was hovering several meters above the snow while emitting light from the soles of its feet.
It was likely that the main booster was located on its back, while the auxiliary thrusters were in its legs, waist, and soles.
I had no idea how fast the blue light propulsion could generate speed, but judging by the magical presence I felt, I was confident it harbored power comparable to an Earth rocket engine. No, it might have already surpassed Earth’s scientific capabilities the moment it floated.
“…This can’t be real.”
There was no time to be slack-jawed. At the same time, I had no time to devise any decent countermeasures against these clearly superior models than those we had faced earlier.
Just when I thought “oh no,” the giant called Taurus, as Lily referred to it, had begun to move.
With an earth-shaking roar produced by its boosters, the Taurus shot forward in a straight line.
No, technically, it was flying. It glided over the snow as if it had become an avalanche itself.
“Damn, this thing is fast—”
As it kicked up a snowstorm in its wake, it exuded an aura that felt as though it had transformed into a force of nature.
Two machines darted to the sides while a third remained stationary in the center. Considering our current position, the only one we could intercept was the one approaching from the right.
Even so, the Taurus was sprinting in a way that made the earlier sluggishness look like a lie, and I had no time left to charge my ‘Charged Particle Dragon Cannon’. Neither Fiona nor Lily would have time to incant spells.
“We can only fire as much as we can—Grenade Shelling.”
“We have no choice—‘Flame Spear’.”
“‘Great Flash Cannon’.”
We had no choice but to face it with our maximum firepower in the mere seconds before the Taurus reached the wall.
From around us, the adventurers and soldiers lined up on either side desperately attempted to counterattack against this Taurus, which evidently appeared to be a stronger opponent.
The stout bows fired by martial arts and the advanced attack magic launched were powerless against the approaching Taurus, scattering ineffectively. Its polished steel armor remained unblemished and unburnt.
My attack would likely be similarly ineffective—though I anticipated that, there was nothing else I could do at this moment.
What I shot out were simultaneous ‘Grenade Shelling’ shots fired from six gun barrels. If they hit, they could obliterate even a charging Dortus.
Fiona had cast her abbreviated incantation of ‘Flame Spear’, while Lily had uniquely employed a full incantation for the advanced area attack magic ‘Great Flash Cannon’, both undoubtedly having high power.
The six rounds of grenades trailing black smoke, alongside the whirlwinds of flames and beams of light, exploded against the Taurus, which continued its reckless advance without so much as attempting to dodge.
“—Damn it, it doesn’t even flinch.”
As the moments of explosive flames and dust burst apart, the unscathed Taurus Made its appearance.
At that point, the distance to the castle wall had dropped below two hundred meters.
Facing the imposing silhouette of the giant robot looming nearer, I felt my spine freeze. No, it’s impossible—I couldn’t stop this.
“Get down, Chrono!”
I complied, wrapping an arm around Fiona’s shoulder as I crouched down. Within seconds, the massive form would crash into the castle wall, evident to anyone.
No, simply crashing would be preferable.
I had already seen it. The Taurus’s right arm was undoubtedly armed unlike the last one.
The glaring change after the booster flared prominently was indeed that right arm. To put it in one word—drill. Rather, that was the only way to describe it.
It was the very image I pictured when launching my pile bunker, just like something a giant robot would be equipped with.
The colossal drill attached to the Taurus was clearly operational, whirring powerfully at high speed.
The Taurus had drawn back its right arm with the swirling spiral of destruction. That was the last image I saw before dropping to the ground.
In the next moment, the giant’s pile bunker would surely explode against the Great Wall of Galahad.
“—Guh!?”
Sure enough, I heard it. The sound of the wall, the one protecting Spada, cracking under the tremors of an earthquake-like blast.