Chapter 227

#227 The Tin Knight and the Tower of Greed (7)

There’s a game called hide-and-seek.

You split people into two teams, with one hiding while the other tries to find them.

It’s incredibly simple, but because of its simplicity, various rules are often needed to make it engaging.

For example, limiting the hiding area to “you can’t go outside” or imposing movement restrictions like “you can’t move from your hiding spot once you’ve crouched down” are common rules.

Otherwise?

Well, depending on the skill levels of the seeker and the hiders, it can get pretty lopsided, and usually, the seeker ends up in a tough spot.

And right now, the folks on the side of the Tower of Control were deeply feeling how horrifying “unrestricted hide-and-seek” could be.

“Damn it, can’t we find them yet?! Isn’t detection magic supposed to be useful for situations like this?!”

“W-well, it’s a magical automaton, so we have to detect its magical energy without any biological response, and with all the combat and attack spells being thrown around, the flow of magical power in the castle is a complete mess, so it’s not working properly!”

The Tin Knight never faced the enemies head-on.

He kept moving around the castle, hiding among the terrain, striking from ambush, and then disappearing.

A soldier stabbed to death by the Tin Knight right after opening a closed door.

A knight losing his leg to blades that suddenly shot up from the ground while searching the second floor.

A wizard whose head got cleaved open by the Tin Knight diving from a high place while activating detection magic in the courtyard.

There were no limitations on hiding spots or areas, and even places previously searched couldn’t be considered safe, and worst of all, the seeker in this hide-and-seek game was nothing but a target for assassination, not some invincible powerhouse.

Bit by bit.

The main forces trapped in the castle were dwindling.

Bruha gritted his teeth and barked orders.

“Gather all personnel in the training ground. Knights and wizards, bring all the useful forces together in one place!”

Bruha believed that the Tin Knight didn’t possess the power to overwhelm the entire castle alone.

If the Tin Knight’s power was rated at 100, then Bruha and his subordinates had over 1000.

Yet they were still getting completely overrun because the “power they brought to face the Tin Knight” was always below 100.

So, conversely, instead of awkwardly searching here and there, if they just huddled together, the Tin Knight wouldn’t be able to rampage anymore.

Setting aside the actual numbers, Bruha’s judgment that they needed to stay together instead of spreading out was sound.

There was just one thing.

《Below! Right below here! There’s the filthy old man’s blood!》

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts that he has spotted the boss!]

It was just that making that judgment came far too late.

With a rustle, the ceiling of the room where Bruha was staying was suddenly sliced out in a rectangular shape.

What should have protected their heads transformed into a press that crushed everyone below.

Boom!

The reason wizards bring magical familiars along is mostly to protect themselves.

Though Bruha didn’t react to the sudden ambush, the spirit he had contracted with ensured his protection.

The lizard-like spirit shone its eyes, and in an instant, an egg-shaped flame wrapped around Bruha, exploding.

The explosion didn’t affect the inside of the egg but incinerated everything around it, whipping the collapsed ceiling into oblivion.

However, what could be protected was only Bruha’s own safety.

His comrades in the same spot met their demise swept away by the flames before being crushed by the ceiling.

“How dare you!”

Wrath lit up Bruha’s eyes.

Not out of grief for the fallen comrades… but pure rage at the realization he might have lost his own life as well.

Bruha quickly summoned all his magical power.

Boom!

And before he could even unleash his magic, his body was sent flying sideways like a tennis ball.

“Gah!”

The reason Bruha survived without being instantly killed was that the egg-shaped shield endured the Tin Knight’s lethal blow.

Being of Lognir’s bloodline, which boasted superior magical blood, his magical power was vast, and so was the defensive capability of the magical familiar.

Among the things Bruha could wield were extensive area-of-effect attack spells, pinpoint sniper techniques targeting specific foes, and various summoning skills.

The title of 4th Grade Wizard was not just for show, and his role as a battalion leader was possible due to his genuine skills, not just bloodline.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that since time is running out, he’ll finish this before patterns emerge!]

However, no matter how many abilities and techniques one has, if there’s no opportunity to use them, it’s all meaningless.

The moment the Tin Knight swatted the egg-shaped flame with his shield, three gems embedded in the shield erupted with magical energy.

Boom!

As Bruha’s body was sent reeling back after demolishing several walls within the castle, the lizard spirit screamed out in shock.

The moment Bruha was thrust outside by bursting through the outer wall of the castle, the flame egg surrounding him shattered like glass.

Bruha’s body landed right on top of some other battalion that was passing by.

Boom, a figure who looked like a wizard was crushed beneath Bruha.

“Damn, who the hell- B-Bruha!?”

Bruha’s eyes were half-open, and drool dripped from his mouth.

In a state that was clearly not normal, the wizard and his squad quickly got into battle formation, both startled and flustered.

A 3rd Grade Wizard and several knights. Meeting the most skilled of various small battalions in the castle was sheer luck for Bruha.

But it was also misfortune for them.

Smash!

The Tin Knight jumped out from between the walls that Bruha had just crashed through.

Crack! The magical sphere that Gale had given him began to dissolve in a chaotic manner and seeped into the Tin Knight.

If the remaining magical power was combined with the newly charged amount, the residual energy stood at about 70% of maximum.

The Tin Knight extracted all of it, leaving only 20% behind.

In the next moment, only the Tin Knight, who unleashed the technique, understood what transpired.

The knight about to swing a sword at the descending Tin Knight, the wizard casting protective spells, and the familiars striving to protect their masters there.

Every single one was instantly torn to countless pieces.

Their demise looked as though dozens of gigantic blades were mercilessly grinding the ground.

The elite team capable of achieving numerous military exploits had tragically met their end without even having the chance to showcase their skills.

The Tin Knight’s Skull Necklace chimed.

《Gone! All gone! The filthy old man’s blood is no longer here!》

[The ‘Tin Knight’ announces that he seems to have reached four digits and will now retreat!]

Although there were still a decent number of enemies left in the castle, the Tin Knight disregarded them and set off on his journey back.

It took quite a while for the remaining soldiers, yelling out to find the now nonexistent Tin Knight, to realize everything was over upon spotting the silver hair submerged in a pit of blood and flesh.

***

Originally, the relationship between Gale Elilraz and the Tower of Control wasn’t very good.

In fact, when the Tower of Control first approached her, they immediately promised her the 4th Grade position.

Considering that even those who had spent decades accumulating merit in the same tower had to work their butts off to enter the 4th grade, that was a massive benefit.

At that time, the potential marriage candidates mentioned included Giras, Valdeus, and Teur, all of whom were strong contenders for the next ruler of Control.

The Gray Old Man practically offered Gale a spot as the future queen, and people expected her to “naturally” accept the offer.

But.

“Eh? No thanks?”

The proposal was brutally rejected, and Gale entered the Tower of Guardian.

And the only reason she gave for it was that she “wanted to create the best Magical Automaton.”

It was a monumental incident where the royal blood of the king was overshadowed by just one puppet, and while Control seemed to brush it off on the surface, many nursing grudges simmered beneath. Giras’s immediate attempt to assassinate her upon seeing Gale’s face wasn’t without reason.

So when Gale’s significant symbol, the White Knight, appeared before the forces of the Tower of Control, it was practically a given that they would be itching to smash him to bits.

And it was even more because they were facing not many enemies, but just a single White Knight.

“If we turn that Magical Automaton into a heap of scrap and toss it at the feet of that damned girl, that’ll be the end of it!”

The commander stationed in another castle about 30 minutes away from Bruha cackled with that thought.

Boom!

That smile stiffened with a single blow.

“Stop! Stop it at all costs!”

“Damn it, what kind of ridiculous output is this! How much money has been thrown at this!?”

The White Knight didn’t charge alone into the castle to play a perverse game of killing hide-and-seek like the Tin Knight did. That was only something the Tin Knight could pull off.

Instead, he executed a hit-and-run tactic in his own way.

He’d lead with his spear, slamming it against the castle quickly and powerfully, and then bounce back before they could react.

Logically speaking, it didn’t make any sense.

The castle was hardly made of paper, so what problem could arise from just slamming a spear against it?

A problem arose. A very big one.

Crack.

Crack!

Craaaack!

At first, it was just a tremor, then cracks began to appear after several repetitions, and after about ten, an entire section of the castle wall crumbled down.

The Tower of Control wasn’t foolish either; they tried to cast defense magics and send interception teams, but the output was too high to block entirely with defensive magic, and the speed was too fast for interception teams to handle.

Considering that the magical energy unleashed in each hit-and-run by the White Knight was greater than that of an average wizard’s total magical energy, it could be deemed a natural outcome.

This horrific guerrilla attack continued until a frustrated commander personally tried to intercept but ended up becoming a pin cushion for the White Knight, after which it finally stopped, and the White Knight, having taken down the bloodline of Lognir, soared away on a distant ship, as if there was no further business to attend to.

The Tower of Control urgently dispatched orders to nearby battalions to track him down, but the ship sped away into the sky with alarming velocity.

And about an hour later.

A similar process repeated in another battalion.

The automata didn’t need rest.

The magical power required to move them was still overflowing.