Yuma observed Brigitte intently.
“Have you heard what kind of request for support you’re making to me?”
Brigitte nodded at Yuma’s question.
“They say that countless golems are pouring out from a temple behind the kingdom where nothing has happened for hundreds of years.”
“How strong are they?”
Brigitte’s brow tightened slightly at Yuma’s question.
“There are many that even Master can’t kill.”
“I see.”
Unlike Brigitte’s furrowed brow, calmness filled Yuma’s mind. Perhaps it was because he had dealt with beings of such overwhelming power before.
Even the emergence of entities that could crush Master didn’t evoke much of a reaction from him.
Yuma understood why Brigitte had summoned him without hesitation for assistance from other kingdoms.
It was because he had hinted to Brigitte beforehand.
He had asked her to inform him if any sudden abnormal phenomena occurred, even if it wasn’t within the jurisdiction of their own nation, the Astes Empire.
The fact that the Resen Kingdom was clearly an ally of the Astes Empire also factored into it.
“The exact location is here, behind the royal palace in the cave and forest. The 2nd princess is holding the final line at the forefront.”
Yuma took in the information Brigitte provided and also stowed away the map that had been laid out until recently into his Spatial Pocket.
“Let’s set off immediately.”
Perhaps it was the thought of the Evil Gods being able to create a ruckus that stirred unease in his mind, prompting Yuma to act decisively.
Brigitte’s eyes widened.
“Are you going alone?”
“Is there anyone else to go with?”
At Yuma’s words, Brigitte narrowed her brow once more.
“…Currently, the only available force within the Empire that can be dispatched to another country is the 2nd Knights Division.”
Yuma quickly organized his thoughts before speaking again.
“Not by unit. If I were to choose just one person to go with me?”
Brigitte gazed intently beyond the door.
“Among the strong currently in the Empire, there is Ella from the Three Great Knights.”
Ella of the Three Great Knights.
It wasn’t a name he was hearing for the first time.
“You said she’s a Master-level spear user.”
Brigitte nodded in affirmation.
“You remember.”
In truth, he didn’t recall her face in detail.
He only remembered the name from hearing it.
‘Master-level spear user.’
Seemed suitable for a bodyguard.
“I’ll go with the Three Great Knights first. I’ll send the 2nd Knights Division leader separately.”
“Understood.”
Yuma left Brigitte’s office and waited in front of the imperial palace.
A woman with blonde hair approached Yuma. She gracefully moved her spear to behind her waist and stood at attention.
“I am Duke Yuma’s Excellency. I am Ella Brighton!”
“We depart immediately.”
Ella Brighton responded loudly to Duke Yuma’s words.
“Yes!”
What, is she a soldier?
Yuma checked Ella with the Search Eye.
[Lv.138] Ella Brighton
Race: Human
Class: Master
Princess Brigitte had mentioned to Yuma that Ella was an exceptional individual likely to approach Grand Master level. At level 138, she wasn’t quite there yet, but the potential seemed sufficient.
“Go.”
Yuma gestured for Ethan to come over.
Ethan was already perched on the balcony in front of the palace, and he immediately spread his massive wings and landed in front of Yuma.
“Let’s go.”
Ella’s eyes sparkled.
“Yes!”
Climbing onto Yuma’s back, armored and ready for action, Ella adapted quicker than anyone else who had ridden with him up to that point.
Swwoooosh—
Since it was already communicated that Duke Yuma’s griffin was flying over the eastern border that connects to the Rasen Kingdom, they simply enjoyed the glide without considering it an airspace violation.
Yuma and Ella’s hair fluttered in the wind.
“Have you heard about the enemies we’ll face?”
At Yuma’s words, Ella opened her mouth.
“No, His Majesty the Emperor told me to ask you directly!”
Yuma thought of a question before discussing the enemies.
“Where were you before coming to the palace?”
Ella consistently replied clearly and loudly.
“I was guarding the western front!”
He had a hunch she’d be involved in the military, and it turned out to be true.
“What was your position?”
“I was a general! Stories of Your Excellency during his Marshal days are legendary in the army! It’s an honor!”
…What Marshal days?
It had barely been a week when he was in charge.
Is she being sarcastic, or is she serious?
Yuma turned slightly to glance behind him.
“Hah! Do you have business? Please, speak up!”
Seeing Ella’s red eyes sparkle beneath her blonde hair, it seemed she was genuinely speaking.
Yuma opened his mouth again.
“Up till now, all the ten nobles I’ve met in the Empire seemed to dislike being tied down by their titles.”
Though it was a trap, he had personally killed half of those ten nobles.
“That’s right! But I come from a long line of military families since birth, so it’s fine! The western marshal is my father!”
It was clear why Ella Brighton, who claimed to be twenty-eight, had such a personality.
“The enemies are likely golems.”
“Golems…! I know they usually move according to their master’s will! We’ll have to think about how to deal with the master as well!”
Ella’s words were correct. However, Yuma’s intuition told him that the owner of those golems was currently absent from this world.
Lah was right. But Duke Yuma’s intuition said that the owner of the golem was currently a being that didn’t belong to this world.
One of the gods in the Divine Realm must be controlling the golem.
“After all, the temple where the golems originally were was built to honor the golems that protected the kingdom a thousand years ago.”
A thousand years ago, the golems appeared out of nowhere to stop the invasion of gigantic monsters that had cast a shadow over the kingdom. Those golems then entered the mountains behind the kingdom and suddenly stopped moving.
Inspired by the mythical scene of the time, the king turned the space where over a hundred dormant golems curled up into a temple—to honor the golems that had safeguarded the kingdom.
But now, a thousand years later, those same golems that saved the kingdom had suddenly begun attacking its citizens.
That’s why Duke Yuma was convinced this was the scheme of a god currently residing in the Divine Realm.
*
In the Second Princess Palace above the Resen Kingdom’s royal palace.
It had turned into a scene of desperate struggle. The Third Prince’s palace beyond the Second Princess’s was no different.
The forces at both locations were moving to annihilate the golems. While their goal was the extermination of the golems, things were not going according to plan.
Just defending against the golems was proving to be overwhelming.
The golems, which had protected the Resen Kingdom a thousand years ago, were showcasing their might. This time, however, they were the ones trying to obliterate the kingdom.
KWA-BOOM─!
The royal palace fortress was partially destroyed by the giant fists of the golems.
Princess Meinel of the Resen Kingdom gazed at the fallen knights and soldiers on the battlefield. Blood was strewn all over the ground.
The soldiers advanced with their spears raised.
Fifty soldiers formed a line and simultaneously thrust their spears forward.
A chilling flash of light shot out fiercely.
One spear did not even touch the body where the golem’s heart was, and all the spearheads were bent and shattered.
CRACK!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The golem merely appeared to be swinging its palm clumsily.
Even if it made contact, it shattered.
Even when the knights swung their swords with all their might, there wasn’t even a scratch on the golem.
Only those at the master level could chip away at its stone. But there were only seven masters in the Resen Kingdom. And currently, only three of them were on the scene.
It was infinitely insufficient to handle the more than a hundred golems.
WHOOSH──!
Soldiers and knights struck by the horizontally swung giant stone palm of the golem were smashed into the ground like bloodied pancakes.
Some died with their insides bursting, others were pierced through by a broken heart structure. Bodies lay everywhere, their necks snapped, instantly dead.
It’s said that anger can overcome fear, but that’s only possible when there’s at least a glimmer of hope in the fight.
It’s a story that can only happen at times like this.
However, the golem covered in the blood and flesh of those comrades was not an enemy that could be matched. Only the emotion of fear prevailed.
The commander of the 2nd Knights of the Resen Kingdom, Ryuntod, ignited a bright aura blade on his sword and charged at the golden golem at the front.
KAAAAAANG!
Swinging thrice, Ryuntod could only step back with a dazed expression. As a master, he had cleaved two golems in half. But this golden golem right in front of him had not even a scratch.
KARRRRRRRK!
With a bizarre sound, a mouth opened in the massive golden rock, forming a crescent shape. It looked like the face of a predator eyeing its prey.
Bwoooong─
The yellow golem next to the golden one lifted a shattered pillar with both hands and threw it.
The 2nd Knights commander was smashed right into the back of Princess Meinel by the pillar.
“Cough…!”
Thick blood erupted from the commander’s mouth.
Sreung.
The brown-haired princess Meinel drew her sword.
Meinel’s green eyes shook violently. Though she held her sword, her arms wouldn’t move.
“I’m coming!”
A flash of light suddenly shone beside Meinel.
Swaaaaaaaan!
A woman, seemingly falling from the sky like a lightning bolt, swung a spear at the yellow golem that had just thrown the massive pillar.
Tookwaaaaaaaang!
The spiraling spear mercilessly smashed all of the yellow golem’s rocks, shattering its core heart within.
KRRRAAAAAAAK!
As one of its minions suddenly fell to a human, the golden golem raised its massive arms high, glowing with a red light.
[Lv.268] Golden Golem
Race: Golem
Alignment: Evil
Rank: Grand Master
Feature: An entity being used by an unknown god’s minion.
Incredible magical energy rapidly concentrated in its clenched fists.
And then it came crashing down.
At the moment that terrible attack was about to hit the woman, Ella Brighton.
[Flash]
Something appeared before Ella’s eyes.
KAAAAAAANG──!
With a booming sound, a cloud of dust billowed up.
Meinel quickly raised her right arm to shield herself from the approaching dust.
KARRRRAAAK!
As the dust cleared at the moment of the golden golem’s scream, the brown-haired princess, Meinel, swallowed hard at the sight before her.
KWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
It was disassembling.
The golden golem, larger than an ogre, was breaking apart completely.
Even the golem that had withstood the commander’s sword strike was being ruthlessly destroyed.
Countless square stones were relentlessly smashed into the many golems behind them.
