Chapter 555 – A Split-Second Decision

The Guardian Rock Golem, which rejected all intruders, appeared to be guarding the entrance to a large building in the plaza.

At first glance, it appears to be standing perfectly still—like an ornament placed before a doorway.

Then, taking the lead, “Blue Thunder Beasts” burst into the plaza. Close behind them came Tauro and the “Black-Golden  Wings” to provide support, along with the twins “Silver Twin Mages.” Immediately, they began casting various physical strengthening and defensive spells.

The Guardian Rock Golem reacted instantly to the new intruders and began to move.

Leading the charge, Jack of “Blue Thunder Beasts” readied his magically strengthened claw blade and leapt into the golem’s guard. He struck at what appeared to be a vulnerable joint—the back of its knee—and disengaged in a hit-and-run maneuver.

The golem responded even to Jack’s quick movements, crouching and swinging a hardened fist.

“!”

The blow was astonishingly fast, but Jack narrowly evades it and retreats.

Taking his place, the longsword wielder Longa and the battle-axe user Ack attacked the golem’s right and left shoulder joints respectively.

The golem shifted its target to the two of them.

It seems that, just as I had observed—it seemed to target whoever had attacked it last.

Like Jack, the two struck once and pulled back.

The golem chased after them, swinging its fists down in rapid succession. They barely rolled aside in time to avoid the blows.

Then, Bomane—the explosive mage of “Blue Thunder Beasts”—cast an explosive flame spell, hurling it at the golem’s head.

The head explodes with a loud bang.

“Did we get it!?”

Just to be sure, Jack once again slashed at the back of its knee to redirect the target to himself in case it shifted to Bomane.

As the dust cleared, the golem stood there as if nothing had happened and immediately attacked Jack again.

“Tch! Hardly a scratch!”

Clicking his tongue, Jack dodged and maneuvered behind the golem while maintaining its focus.

This created a pincer formation, putting Jack and the other members in a position to attack from both sides.

With this method, they might gain the advantage.

Longa and Ack again attacked the same shoulder joints as before from behind the guardian rock doll, aiming to destroy the body parts.

The golem reacted instantly.

Its upper body spun a full one hundred eighty degrees—attacking  them directly.

““It didn’t do that when fighting the Olog-Hai!””

Caught off guard by the unexpected movement, Longa and Ack barely avoided the strike by diving aside.

Sensing the danger they were in, Bomane immediately cast another explosive flame spell to draw the target away.

And so, they continued rotating around—taking turns drawing the golem’s focus while attacking—for about thirty minutes.

During that time, Tauro and the others provided support, occasionally handing over magical recovery potions to Forest, the priest and strategist of “Blue Thunder Beasts,” who was also acting in a support role, providing both magical and physical support.

The same went for “Silver Twin Mages,” who took turns supporting with magic in what is likely to be a drawn-out battle.

As their roles became clearly defined, one concern remained: the golem’s presumed special attack—the shockwave.

Since “Blue Thunder Beasts” were holding it’s attention, they would naturally be the ones exposed to it.

The question was how to act then.

Ragune possessed her prized Mirrored Magic Turtle Rectangular Shield, capable of reflecting magic and defend against ranged attacks, and those abilities had been further strengthened through training at the Dragon’s Den. 

So she had absolute confidence in her defensive capabilities.

However, how effective it would be against the shockwave was unknown. Ragune considered that she might want to draw the first shockwave herself and attempt to block it.

Tauro, too, was most wary of that attack.

From what they had seen, the Guardian Rock Golem had excellent resistance to both magic and physical attacks. Its durability is likely to be quite good considering its size, so the only way to deal with it would be to gradually accumulate damage on the same area.

But that meant they would likely have to endure at least one shockwave. They would have to rely on Ragune, as well as Aeris’s powerful barrier magic, and Zion’s specialized defensive shields.

If those failed, whoever was its target—and those nearby—would suffer heavy damage.

Considering that, it might be dangerous to go along with Blue Thunder Beasts’s proposal

The Blue Thunder Beasts’s strategy was to gather everyone within layered defensive magic and endure the shockwave together, so if they couldn’t defend against it they would all be in danger of being wiped out.

Watching the battle unfold, Tauro concluded that for such a prolonged fight, it was not worth taking that risk.

Then Jack’s voice rang out.

“It’s coming! Get ready!”

The signal that a shock wave was coming.

In that instant, Tauro shouted,

“Aeris, Zion, Ragune—defensive magic on me! Pera, go to Aeris!”

Then he used Teleportation to move away from the group alone. Drew his bow, and fired an arrow immediately.

It was an arrow from a powerful bow, fired with strength-enhancing abilities granted by his equipment, it was a mighty shot.

The arrow struck cleanly into the golem’s head.

The target shifted to Tauro.

The next moment, the shockwave was unleashed toward him—just after Aeris and the others’ defensive magic had been cast upon him.

The shockwave from the Guardian hits Tauro with a roar that sent ripples through the air.

In the very next instant, Aeris’s proud, high-grade barrier magic shattered.

It quickly broke through Zion’s defensive shield and Ragune’s defensive magic ability was torn through as well.

This was what Tauro had feared most.

The possibility that the golem’s ultimate shockwave could destroy defensive magic had crossed his mind.

That was why he had ordered Pella away as well, just in case.

At the very last moment before taking the full brunt of the shockwave, Tauro used Teleportation again, returning to Aeris’s side and narrowly avoiding a direct hit.

But he had not escaped entirely.

Blood burst from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

“Tauro!”

“ Tauro-sama!”

Aeris and Zion immediately cast healing magic.

“You idiot! Don’t pull stunts like that!”

Without taking his eyes off the golem, Jack attacked the guardian, making himself the target once again before it could pursue Tauro.

“…It’s okay. I have the ‘Super Recovery Regeneration’ ability. Unless it’s instant death, I won’t go down that easily…”

“Guff!” Tauro coughed up blood as he received treatment from Aeris and the others.

“…But thanks to the leader’s split-second decision, we now know that shockwave is more dangerous than it looks. A prolonged fight is to our disadvantage. Once the leader recovers, we’re joining the front lines,” Ankh said, kneeling beside Tauro.

Aeris and the others nodded, hurried on to continue treating Tauro.