Ariadne summoned spirits. Her maximum was five.
The five spirits ford a protective formation around the defenseless Gerhard.
It was the only barrier against the wave-like Seide swarm.
"Huff, huff... I can do it. I can do it."
Though weaker compared to the Barka, the Seides were still formal Spirit Creatures.
In contrast, Ariadne had to hold her position. She had to abandon the elven advantage of agility and push herself beyond her usual limits.
"No, I don’t think I can. I’m going to die at this rate."
Her magical power was rapidly depleting. So was her stamina.
Ariadne extended her staff forward and chanted a spell. A small tornado swallowed up more than a dozen Seides in one breath.
"Magical power...!"
But due to depleted magical power, the effectiveness weakened, and there was a creature that tore through the fragile wind and thrust in its maw.
Ariadne swung her staff without realizing it.
With a thud, the bat-form Seide flew away, but an orc-form Seide following right behind raised its club.
She widened her eyes.
She tried to raise her staff, but there was no strength left.
At that mont-
CRASH!
Sothing fell and crushed the Seide.
Through the rising dust, what could be seen was a golem. More precisely, it was a pile of scrap tal that had been discarded by the Barka, which used to be a golem.
When the golem stopped functioning, the Barka stomped on it and let out a victory roar.
But.
--!
The battle was still not over.
Once again, the subspace opened, and the fourth round began.
"Haah..."
Ariadne, who had barely survived, glanced at Gerhard, who sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.
Gerhard, who had already summoned his fourth golem, was soaked in sweat. Not water. All sweat.
"...I’ve saved your life several tis, senior. You should be grateful for that. Not just in words, but with a clear reward!"
Like an invitation to the yacht club, for instance.
Or sothing more substantial between Fridien and Goldenheim.
Naturally, no answer ca.
"Risking my life isn’t my style!"
Ariadne forcibly gulped down a potion.
There were still many Seides.
***
’...’
When controlling a golem, a wizard becos completely defenseless.
Eyes closed, senses completely shut off. But that doesn’t an being completely cut off from the outside.
Instead of feeling through one’s own body, one feels through the golem.
Blocking sensations is done to control the golem more completely. To see from the golem’s perspective, to feel the golem as if it were one’s own body.
’Damn it.’
That’s why he felt it even more keenly.
How much he was being overpowered. How sluggish this massive body was, how fragile it was.
And how little talent he had for swordsmanship.
-!
A giant sword made specifically for the golem sliced through the air. The Barka, dodging the sword strike with ease, not even close to being grazed, laughed with a "kakak" sound.
’You damn thing!’
He extended a fist, but it was caught. The creature’s tail struck the golem’s chest.
-!
The thick armor caved in. From that impact, the golem stepped back several paces, and the Barka didn’t miss the opportunity to pounce on the golem.
CRASH-
The head, unable to withstand the jaw strength, shattered. The golem’s body collapsed.
From the shock of the forcibly severed connection, Gerhard swallowed the blood that was rising in his throat.
He wanted to give up. His magical power was nearly depleted, and his mana heart and mana rods were injured from the excessive operation.
Nevertheless.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t give up.
WHOOSH-
A new golem appeared, tearing through the subspace. It grabbed the neck of the Barka, which was stomping on the fallen golem and letting out a victory roar, and knocked it down.
’That’s the third one.’
This golem was the fourth unit.
There was only one unit left in reserve, and he didn’t even have the energy to operate that one. He had to end it sohow this ti.
CRASH!
He took the superior position over the Barka that had fallen backward and threw a punch.
CRASH CRASH!
’Die...!’
He hit it again and again.
’...Just die already!’
The Barka’s head was half crushed. But even so, it pushed away the golem and spewed out demon energy.
The golem’s armor lted and beca slimy from the acid. Gerhard shuddered at its tenacious vitality.
’Quickly...!’
CRASH, the golem’s leg broke.
The body tilted and fell backward.
’Hurry up...!’
The Barka stomped on the golem and mocked him. With sparks flying, at the mont the core of the heart was shattered.
Through the blurring vision of the golem, he saw a black silhouette standing on top of the creature’s head.
Red light surged.
An aura sword that had grown to nearly 3 ters dug into the wound of the half-crushed monster.
The creature vomited blood.
It tried to shake off the pesky fly by twisting its body.
But Gerhard didn’t miss that final opportunity.
Forcibly moving his mana heart that was overheated to the point of bursting.
He threw his last golem.
It wasn’t about control or anything else. He literally tossed it like a projectile, but for that brief mont, the Barka’s movent was sealed.
And Hyde drove another stake into the wound he had created.
CRACK-
The Barka’s head split.
With a thud, the creature collapsed.
Simultaneously, a streak of blood flowed down Gerhard’s face as he opened his eyes.
"Late! You’re way too late!"
"You’re right! Too late!"
"I did my best as well!"
"Four golems were destroyed! Do you know how much they cost?!"
"More importantly, I almost died! And instead of acting like it’s all over, could you help out here?!"
Ariadne, still in battle with the Seides, shouted loudly.
That’s when it happened.
"Young Master! Get out of the way!"
"What is that?!"
"Self-destruction...?"
The corpse of the Barka, with its neck half-severed, was rapidly expanding.
As Gerhard hurriedly erected a barrier, Ariadne raised the wind. And Hyde stood in front of Gerhard to shield him.
----!
An explosion occurred.
Terrible demon energy swept away everything around.
Rocks, Seides, underground water, and wagons.
Only the three people, protected by multiple layers of defensive barriers and artifacts, survived.
"...Ha."
Gerhard let out a hollow laugh. Most of the wagons had lted, unable to withstand the demon energy.
The horrific result made him montarily forget about his physical condition.
"Ariadne."
"Yes."
"I have two pieces of good news and one piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"Um, the good news."
"The first is that due to that thing’s self-destruction, the Seides have been completely annihilated. And the second is that I placed an artifact inside the box storing the World Tree branch. Thanks to that, the World Tree branch is safe."
"Then what’s the bad news?"
"It’s not completely unhard."
"I can see that."
The World Tree branch, poking its head out of the broken box, as if claiming it had been contaminated, had parts that were stained black.
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