Chapter 246

────!

Without making a sound, the golem charged forward with the momentum of a battle cry, wielding a greatsword.

“Not a chance!”

Serena threw a bottle of poison she had been carrying for emergencies at the golem. As the golem sliced the bottle in half, she triggered a pre-stocked spell.

“Crimson Veil!”

At the same time, Mari’s body began to glow with a dazzling array of colors as spirits manifested around her.

“I’ll help too! Sara! Burn that armor to ashes!”

[You’re asking for a favor right after summoning me? You’re in a hurry! Got it!]

The fire spirit, though modest compared to Serena’s magic, diligently shot flames at the golem.

The flames from Serena’s Crimson Veil and Sara’s fire both struck the golem directly.

But before she could even confirm the result, Serena immediately gave Mari the next combat order.

“Don’t let your guard down! The enemy won’t budge from just this! Prepare the next attack!”

“Yes! Understood!”

The two of them tirelessly prepared for the next round of magic and spirit attacks.

“Stop! Both of you! Run away now!”

But Karina, witnessing their desperate struggle, screamed in anguish, trying to stop them.

She already knew how their efforts would end.

Serena’s magic didn’t work on the golem.

The spirits Mari summoned were too weak to make a difference in this battle.

In contrast, the golem was a monster capable of holding its own against Kurt, a master.

The overwhelming difference in power made the fight seem hopeless.

It was a pitiful struggle.

So Karina desperately tried to dissuade them, but they ignored her and continued preparing their next attack.

“Stop…! Mari! Serena! I’ll be fine!”

“Karina, be quiet! Every time we’ve taken on a request, you’ve always protected me and Rena alone! Now it’s my turn to repay that debt!”

“If you tell me to run away one more time, I’ll hit you!”

“Please! Stop! We’re all going to die like this!”

“Even if that’s the case, I can’t abandon my comrades!”

“Don’t order me around!”

“Run away!”

“No!”

“You run away! Your body’s a mess!”

Thus, Karina kept pleading for them to flee, while the two of them, despite the odds, stood their ground against the golem.

As the three argued, they suddenly noticed something strange.

“…Wait a second.”

“…Something’s off, isn’t it?”

“Huh…?”

The golem, which should have charged by now, wasn’t moving.

Even as they argued, the golem remained still.

When they finally looked back at the golem, they were shocked to see it flailing, its body engulfed in flames.

“It’s on fire?”

“The magic… worked?”

Yes.

For the first time, the golem, which had been nullifying Serena’s magic, was now burning.

The golem, panicking, was desperately trying to extinguish the flames rather than continuing its attack.

Though the fire was quickly put out after a few shakes, the fact that it had caught fire at all was a significant change.

“Maybe the repeated hits from the explosive alchemy potions wore down the magic-nullifying effect on the golem’s armor!”

“Exactly…!”

Seiri quickly deduced the situation, and Serena, hearing the hypothesis, smiled brightly.

“You’ve been nullifying my magic all this time…! Now it’s my turn!”

She began unleashing the magic she had been stockpiling, just in case.

The mana around her wand surged, and flames began to rise in the air, forming a massive spear of fire.

“Here! Take this! Crimson Lotus Arrow!”

Serena, as if venting her frustration, unleashed her strongest spell, hurling it at the golem.

*Crackle!*

And then…

….

….

The fiery spear vanished upon touching the golem, just as it had before.

“….”

….

A few seconds of awkward silence followed.

The golem, its red eyes glowing, began to move again, and Serena cried out in frustration.

“Why isn’t it working? It worked just now!”

────!

But the golem didn’t care. It raised its greatsword, aiming to cleave Serena in half like a guillotine.

Even Karina, a seasoned warrior and Silver Rank Adventurer, couldn’t fully block such an attack. Serena stood no chance.

“Rena! Look out! Sara!”

[Got it!]

Mari, not one to stand idly by, immediately asked Sara to shoot flames at the golem.

The flames were pitifully weak, but she hoped they would at least serve as a distraction to save Serena.

But what happened next was something no one expected.

────!

The golem, its armor catching fire again, panicked and immediately backed away from Serena.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t Serena the golem was avoiding—it was Mari and the spirits she had summoned.

“…Huh?”

“What’s going on…?”

Mari and the others were stunned by the unexpected turn of events. Meanwhile, the golem frantically tried to extinguish the flames on its body.

“What? So it wasn’t my magic that worked earlier…”

“Was it Mari’s spirit attack that actually worked?”

[Ahem! My flames are pretty hot, you know!]

────!

As the golem extinguished the flames again, it raised its greatsword, ready to finish the fight. Mari and the others, still reeling, had no choice but to respond.

“Nai! Erect a water barrier!”

[My turn!]

The water spirit Nai created a water barrier to deceive the golem.

“….”

“….”

“….”

“….”

────!

But when the water barrier was erected and the golem collided with it, Mari and the others felt their resolve waver.

The golem, which had previously overwhelmed them with both strength and intelligence, now shielded itself with both hands, seemingly terrified of the water.

“The spirit’s power… worked?”

“Why! My magic didn’t work, but this did?”

“What’s going on…?”

The golem wasn’t actually harmed by the spirits.

After all, they were just low-level spirits.

If they were truly powerful, Mari wouldn’t have kept them hidden until the last moment.

So, despite the golem’s exaggerated reaction, there was no real damage.

Yet, the golem was overreacting to the spirits’ attacks, as if it had never encountered spirits before.

It was like a cat seeing a cucumber for the first time, jumping in place with its tail puffed up.

“This is strange. The golem has the physical ability to overwhelm Karina and armor that nullifies Serena’s magic, yet it can’t handle low-level spirit attacks.”

“No. It’s not just that it can’t handle the attacks—it’s reacting as if it’s never seen spirits before. No, as if it’s encountering the concept of spirits for the first time.”

This was an unforeseen variable.

And one that was extremely favorable to Mari and the others.

“Wait! This could still be the golem’s psychological warfare! Be careful!”

“Ah! You’re right! Nai! Shoot a water cannon!”

[Anytime!]

But they couldn’t let their guard down.

The golem had already tricked them once by pretending to weaken.

So Mari quickly composed herself and asked Nai to attack.

────!

The golem, hit by the water spirit’s attack—more of a light shower than a cannon—covered its face with both hands, trying to block the water.

“Siru! Blow some wind!”

[I’ll summon a storm!]

The wind spirit Siru summoned a breeze—stronger than a fan’s high setting but far from a dragon’s breath. The golem used its greatsword as a shield to protect itself.

“Nomi! Rock attack!”

[Hmph. I’ll bury it in the ground.]

The earth spirit Nomi’s attack was more like a shower of pebbles mixed with dirt. The golem shielded its head with both hands, as if boulders were falling from above.

“….”

“….”

“….”

“….”

Mari and the others fell silent, unsure of what to make of the golem’s bizarre reaction to the spirits’ attacks.

Karina was the one to break the silence.

“…Honestly, the attacks from Mari’s spirits are a bit underwhelming, but the golem’s overreaction is also…”

[What? What’s wrong with our attacks!]

[We’re actually pretty strong for low-level spirits!]

As the golem continued to overreact to the spirits’ feeble attacks, Karina felt her strength drain, and she slumped to the ground.

Around that time, Arisa and the others joined in, and the golem, surrounded by low-level spirits shooting water, fire, wind, and earth, was finally brought down by Daria’s Dispel Magic and Serena’s barrage of frustrated spells.

Serena, unleashing her magic in a final burst, was filled with resentment.

“Why did only my magic not work?!”

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