Chapter 242

Daria had found a way for magic to work, but that didn’t mean Liche’s magic could deliver an effective blow to the golem.

Using telekinesis, a medium with actual mass, to deal damage to the golem was a good direction, but compared to magic that directly converted mana into destructive force, manipulating objects to indirectly cause physical damage was on a completely different level of destructive power.

Thus, the most Liche’s magic could do was not actively creating variables but stepping in when Aila seemed to struggle against the golem, giving her a moment to catch her breath.

But even that alone quickly stabilized the battlefield situation that seemed on the verge of collapse.

*Clang!*

*Clang!*

“Ugh…! My strength…!”

“It’s dangerous!”

Aila, whose stance collapsed once again under the golem’s relentless pressure.

Previously, Arisa would intervene each time, creating an opening for Aila to regain her stance, but this time, there was no such gap, and Aila seemed helplessly about to be pierced by the golem’s spear.

But there was something that could slip through even the smallest gap that a human couldn’t.

It was a dagger sent flying by Liche’s telekinetic magic.

*Clang!*

In this way, Liche’s interference, while not delivering an effective blow to the golem, significantly reduced the burden Aila had to bear alone.

“Hoo… Thanks, I owe you my life.”

“…Don’t mention it.”

“Let’s push this momentum and take it down!”

“Got it!”

This time, Aila and Arisa switched roles, with Aila charging at the golem first.

As Aila boldly engaged from the front, Arisa circled around to the rear, positioning herself out of the golem’s line of sight.

Then, on Liche’s signal, both Arisa and Liche unleashed their daggers simultaneously from both sides.

The golem twisted its spear to block Arisa’s attack successfully, but that was all.

It helplessly took the hit from Liche’s dagger that followed.

*Clang!*

Thus, her dagger lodged between the seams of the golem’s armor.

The golem, having taken the hit, froze as if caught off guard, and Arisa cheered.

“We finally landed a hit!”

“…Did we take it down?”

Aila cautiously declared victory, seeing the golem standing motionless.

But as if taking Aila’s words as a signal, the golem’s red eyes flashed, and it began to move again.

“…It seems we’re still far from taking it down.”

Aila spoke with a heavy, regretful tone, and Arisa, as if encouraging her, responded positively.

“But we’ve landed a hit now. If we keep accumulating damage like this, we’ll take it down soon!”

“…That makes sense. Let’s keep going!”

“Yes! Got it!”

Feeling the tide of battle gradually turning in their favor, Arisa and Aila charged at the golem once more.

…

However,

As the battle continued, Arisa’s party slowly realized.

The battle situation, which they thought was gradually turning in their favor, was now slowly tilting back the other way.

*Clang!*

After exchanging blows countless times, while Aila drew the golem’s attention from the front, Arisa charged from the rear, targeting its blind spot.

It was a simple yet effective strategy they had repeated several times since landing the first effective hit.

*Clang!*

But the golem, as if it had eyes on its back, deftly tilted its spear to block her dagger.

*Whoosh!*

“Ugh…!”

“Kyaa!”

With a fierce swing of its spear, the golem sent both Aila and Arisa flying.

*Ting!*

And Liche’s telekinetic magic, aimed at the gap, was caught in the spear’s storm and deflected uselessly.

The golem’s movements were as natural as flowing water, a stark contrast to its response when they first landed an effective hit.

“Pant… Pant… Is the Ancient Empire’s golem a monster?”

“That golem. It’s getting more skilled at fighting us the longer the battle goes on.”

“It’s as if it has intelligence of its own.”

Indeed.

Just as Arisa’s party analyzed, adapted, and found strategies against the golem, the golem too seemed to become more familiar with their combat power and tactics, skillfully using minimal movement and strength to counter their combined attacks.

At first glance, golems seem to move with their own thoughts and reasoning, following their creator’s commands, but in reality, like a computer program, they simply repeat pre-programmed actions in response to keywords.

Thus, once an action is programmed, they can perform it flawlessly without error, but conversely, if an error is exposed, they will repeat the same mistake until the creator fixes it.

Therefore, Arisa’s party had been confident of their victory after landing the first effective hit.

They thought that against a normal golem, the same strategy would work repeatedly.

But what they hadn’t anticipated was that the golem they were facing was no ordinary one but a special model.

This golem was clearly modifying and supplementing its strategies and tactics during the battle, as if it were a human adapting to new information.

As evidence, the combined sneak attacks by Arisa and Liche no longer worked.

“Ugh… Could it be learning like a human…?”

“Haah… Haah… What should we do?”

Another disadvantage.

While Arisa and Aila, being living beings, grew more tired the longer the battle went on, the golem showed no signs of fatigue, maintaining the same posture and movements as at the start.

Of course.

After all, no matter how human-like in appearance and behavior, a golem is still a golem.

As long as its power source remains, the concept of fatigue doesn’t apply to it.

Thus, while Arisa’s party’s stamina gradually declined, the golem, aside from a dagger stuck 3 cm into its shoulder, looked no different from when it first appeared.

Seeing this, Arisa’s party felt their fighting spirit slowly waning.

If they retreated now, regardless of success, Kurt and Mari’s party would be the golem’s next targets, so retreat wasn’t an option.

But they couldn’t see any way to defeat it either.

Then, they would have to hold out, waiting for the other party to defeat it and come to their aid, but they couldn’t guarantee the others could defeat the golem, nor how long they themselves could hold out.

Thus, Arisa felt as if she was slowly sinking into a quagmire with no escape, cornered into a dead end, and was about to fall into despair.

“Liche.”

Daria, who had been silent since discovering the golem’s magical defense weakness, suddenly called out to Liche.

“…What is it?”

“Liche. Can you still use magic? If so, can you cast it on my signal?”

“Of course, I can still use it… but my telekinetic magic no longer works on the golem.”

But Daria, as if that wasn’t it, shook her head and corrected her.

“No. What I’m asking for isn’t telekinetic magic but the maximum firepower magic you can unleash.”

“…Huh?”

Liche, unable to understand the question, asked back.

But Daria, as if there wasn’t enough time to explain, glanced at the golem and spoke with a serious expression.

“There’s no time to explain. Just trust me, can you do it?”

“….”

At those words, Liche looked at Daria for a moment.

And at the end of that seemingly long moment, Daria nodded.

“Alright. I’ll finish the incantation and be ready. Give me the signal.”

“Okay. Thank you. Aila. Can you bind the golem’s feet?”

“It’s not about whether I can or can’t. If it’s my job, I’ll do it.”

“…Thank you.”

Aila, having received Daria’s thanks, smiled silently and then charged at the golem once more.

And Arisa, sensing something, silently supported Aila.

The task of drawing the golem’s attention, repeated several times by Aila and Arisa.

*Clang!*

*Clang!*

But this time, Liche wasn’t supporting with telekinetic magic but preparing an offensive spell.

Just as Liche’s incantation was almost complete.

The golem, which had only been paying attention to Aila and Arisa, now looked at Liche.

Until now, the golem hadn’t paid much attention to Liche’s offensive magic, even when she used telekinetic magic, it only deflected the flying daggers with its spear, not considering Liche herself a significant threat.

But now, for the first time, the golem targeted Liche.

And with a swift swing of its spear, it shook off Aila and Arisa and charged straight at Liche.

“Liche! It’s dangerous!”

But Liche, already focused on her incantation, couldn’t possibly dodge the golem’s attack, which was in sync with its master.

And in the moment the defenseless Liche and the golem overlapped.

Blood droplets scattered as if painting the air.

…