Leave a comment

The large golems wreaking havoc in the town were powerful, but ultimately just a distraction. Grog’s objective was to create chaos in the town to attract everyone’s attention, and go attack Jace with another golem while no one looked.

He calculated the guards keeping watch over the gates would not be able to stop both golems, though once they got the help of adventurers they would manage somehow.

But in reality, the number of guards on duty and the level of adventurers in town, made it tricky to deal with two golems. Not to mention that as bad luck would have it, the sub-master of the biggest clan Soaring Dragon had left that night.

The lack of guards, and an important adventurer being gone, meant the distraction should work perfectly.

“You’re Grog from the blacksmiths’ guild, right? You’re under arrest, don’t try to resist.”
“What? You weren’t supposed to have the manpower to find me.”

Grog stared dumbfounded at the guards arresting him. This was on the opposite side from where the large golem was going wild, on the street where the blacksmith Jace lived. There, a group of guards surrounded Grog and a golem.

“Sadly for you, an extraordinary adventurer is helping us.”

If the A rank adventurer Ophelia was not helping them, the guards would have lacked the manpower to focus on Grog and his plan against Jace. The divisional officer trusted Ophelia’s hunch that the two golems were a distraction, so he sent the remaining guards to Jace’s. They had found Grog on his way there, and that led to their current situation.

“I feel like you’re really underestimating my golem. Are you sure you can stop it and me with so few people?”
“…”

Hearing Grog, the guards lost a bit of confidence. When they left, two smaller divisions had already been taken out by a golem. The steel used to build the golems was of the highest quality, the Sorcery Core was made of illegal materials, and the maker was incredibly skilled. Compared to monsters, those golems sat around a B rank. A small group of guards was nowhere enough to deal with even one of them.

“Go, my golem! Get rid of this roadblock, and crush Jace!”

At Grog’s behest, the Golem took a step forward to dash into the guards.

“Uncover your lid, cauldron of hell, and let your flames out!”

Following that shout in a beautiful voice, a dark red magic circle appeared beneath the golem’s feet. If there had been a magician present there, they would have identified that circle as that of a spell of the highest level.

“Punish this cowardly fool, Hell’s Eruption.”

The chanting was over.

A column of fire sprouted from the magic circle, releasing light and heat that shattered the darkness of night. That was a manifestation of a small portion of hell.
The guards, Grog, and the people who lived nearby who watched curiously, all trembled in awe and fear.

Eventually the flames died down, and a pile of scrap metal was left where the golem stood. A person landed on that spot, a woman on a staff, wearing black clothes that looked like a personification of the night. She was Ophelia Eto Gardeland, the black witch who had cast Hell’s Eruption.

“My golem…”

Grog fell on his knees, lost for words.

“Ophelia! Thank you for helping.”
“Is this the last one?”

One of the guards greets her, and Ophelia calmly climbs down from her staff while asking that.

“So far we know of the two destroying the city, the one here, and the last one that escaped outside the walls.”
“So four in total. I’ve destroyed the other two, so no need to worry about them anymore.”

Hearing Ophelia, both the guards and Grog were shocked. While he had been pressed for time building them, Grog had absolute confidence in his workmanship, and the first golem had caused considerable damage to the first guards who fought it, but it had been destroyed.

“Hah…hahahah. But this isn’t over yet. Even if I can’t kill Jace, I’ll let him taste absolute despair.”

Grog looked up with unfocused eyes, laughing maniacally.

“You said one got outside the walls, right? Then his daughter must already be…ahahahahahah!”
“What are you saying!”
“Jace’s daughter Mir should be hunting outside. He probably sent a golem her way too.”

The divisional officer approached them confused, and Ophelia explained the situation. Grog’s plan was to have two golems as distractions, and then attack both Jace and his daughter Mir.

“You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!”

A guard shouted enraged and started approaching Grog trying to grab him, but then the fallen golem moved again. The guards quickly hold their weapons ready again, and watch carefully. The golem’s movements were slow, but constant, raising its arm.

“Ohh, I knew my golem was better than that. Now go, get rid of these pesky-”

SLAM!

Grog’s body vanishes below the golem’s arm. All that remained of him was a thick red liquid spreading from below the iron fist. Having overcome its own limits, the golem finally stops moving forever. It was almost as if it only reactivated to kill Grog.

A commotion stirred through the street, but Ophelia snapped out of it and quickly climbed on her staff again.

“I’ll let you clean up here, I’m going to the forest.”
“Ophelia, we can send a troop of guards to make sure Jace’s daughter is safe!”
“They won’t get there on time. My daughter is there too anyway.”

Saying that, Ophelia ignored the officer’s suggestion and soared into the sky. Her black frame blended into the night sky, quickly becoming impossible to see her.

Being hit by the golem’s fist, Natalia was pushed below the ground. But she still managed to get back up soon after.

Jane had heard that Natalia was Ophelia’s masterpiece. That was why she did not question her intelligence that rivalled the average human’s, or that she had won in a fight against Danny, or that she had survived so far in this fight. (Though that might also be because of her lack of knowledge of magic automatons.)

Seeing Natalia stand back up did not particularly surprise her either. Except for the aura that seemed to surround her.

Natalia was running quickly, even though her leg was twisted in an unsightly way. A human would be wailing in pain, but magic automatons felt no pain, making it possible.