Chapter 194: Assault

The element of surprise was critical. If they were noticed by the patrol, everything would be in vain. To avoid this, they left the magic giant golem they brought from the village forest unit, waiting in the rear. Meanwhile, an eleven-member assault team moved through the forest.

While Isamu, Annemarie, Samuel, Franboise, Felix, and Liddell restrained the golem, Marcella, Laurel, Memphio, Elis, and Greg would move in to secure the operator.

The cats, Orihime and Shadow, were accompanying them. The rest of the team, along with the magic golem, remained in reserve.

(There. Just as Lady Liliene mentioned, the mark on the shoulder confirms it’s the target.)

After advancing through the forest for about an hour, Felix, leading the reconnaissance, suddenly halted and whispered a warning. They had been following traces of crushed bushes and undergrowth, likely left by something large, and now, about 50 meters ahead, they spotted what appeared to be the silhouette of the magic giant golem.

The golem, painted a grayish-brown just like when it was used in the rocky desert, was slowly advancing. On its right shoulder, there was a mark painted in black by Liliene, indicating that its operator had partnered with a cat.

(So, what’s the plan? Fortunately, it hasn’t noticed us yet.)

Samuel, while maintaining a safe distance and carefully following, sought confirmation from Isamu.

(There’s almost no clear line of sight, so our usable magic is quite limited…)

Isamu narrowed his eyes, peering through the dense forest.

There are two main types of magic that can affect distant targets:

One is the type like the fireblast, which is launched from the caster’s hand.

The other is like the ground spike, which can be activated at a specified location.

The former type is far more common, but these spells generally travel in a straight line, making them difficult to use when there are obstacles in the way. For example, fireblast detonates upon contact with any object, while windcutter weakens with every impact. Skilled magic users can bend these spells slightly, but only to the degree of a baseball curveball.

As Isamu noted, in a dense forest filled with obstacles, you’d need to be prepared to knock down trees to cast such magic. However, using such forceful magic could also risk damaging the golem.

The latter type, while more flexible in range depending on the caster’s magic power, could be cast if the target was visible. However, Isamu couldn’t think of a spell effective enough to stop the golem’s movement. His specialty, ground spike, could only activate on relatively flat ground, and the forest’s uneven terrain, filled with undergrowth, made it unusable here.

Nevertheless, they had anticipated the possibility of a close encounter in the forest. 

(We’ll approach according to the initial plan, disabling its senses before closing in. I’ll call out Orihime when the moment’s right. Once the line of sight clears, we’ll obscure their vision and move with the flow…)

After confirming the strategy, everyone nodded quietly.

The golem repeated its usual pattern: walking a bit, then pausing to scan its surroundings.

The moment they decided to strike was when the golem paused again and started moving. With bated breath, the team watched as the golem stopped, slowly surveying its surroundings.

Tension filled the air as Isamu began preparing his magic, and everyone else covered their ears just in case.

Then, just as the golem took its first step again—

“Fake Burst!”

*BOOOOM!*

Isamu’s spell exploded near the golem, startling it so much that it visibly jolted, like a human caught by surprise.

“Nyaaaaoooon!”

Orihime, who had her ears covered by Isamu’s thighs, let out a long wail at the perfect moment.

Simultaneously, the five-member assault team spread out and sprinted forward, with Isamu following close behind, Orihime now perched on his head.

The golem, confused, glanced around and readied its short spear.

“Create Brick!”

Samuel’s magic activated next, summoning around twenty brick-sized stones two meters above the golem, which fell silently.

*Clang!* *Clunk!*

The bricks hit the golem’s head and shoulders with loud, clattering noises. The golem, now disoriented by the sudden barrage of bricks, swung its short spear wildly.

“Hm. That was the first time I’ve used that spell properly, but it’s quite an interesting one.” 

Samuel said, smiling slightly at his handiwork.

Isamu had mentioned it was good magic for keeping the golem at bay without dealing too much damage, so Samuel decided to give it a try.

“Wow, with that many bricks, Create Brick is practically an offensive spell! How much magic power do you have, Samuel-sama?” 

Isamu chuckled, surprised to see the rain of bricks. He also breathed a sigh of relief, glad he hadn’t fully explained the spell’s mechanics beforehand.

As they continued their sporadic magic attacks from a distance to keep the golem occupied, the golem suddenly stopped.

It looked down at its feet as if searching for something, and Orihime, perched on Isamu’s head, let out a sharp cry.

“Nyaooon!”

“Nyaooon!”

Hearing this, Shadow, who had been on Greg’s shoulder, leaped down and started running.

“Marcella, follow Shadow! It’s likely to have found the enemy’s cat!”

“Got it!”

Marcella’s team immediately shifted west, following Shadow.

Meanwhile, the golem, though briefly disoriented, resumed its defensive stance, realizing it was under attack. However, despite its greater speed compared to a human, the golem struggled to track Isamu and the others.

The dense forest, though sparsely treed in places, still made movement difficult for the massive golem, preventing it from fully utilizing its abilities.

Unlike their previous encounter near Pitche, Isamu and his team only needed to buy time this time, so they kept their distance, hiding in the bushes and focusing solely on long-range attacks.

Though the magic giant golems were equipped with thermographic sensors, their effectiveness was significantly reduced when obscured by undergrowth and brush.

What made the situation worse for the enemy was the presence of the kingdom’s top mage and the captain of the magic knights, both trained by him.

“Lightning ball!”

*Crackle, crackle!*

“Energy Bolt!”

*Zing!*

Rare lightning-attribute spells crackled through the forest.

“Hmm. Just as Matsumoto mentioned, the magic is being nullified.” 

Samuel observed.

“Yes. It’s quite similar to how my magic was neutralized by the Klaufeldt family’s armor during the exhibition match.” 

Franboise replied, also slightly surprised.

Both Samuel and Franboise were elite mages capable of using almost every type of magic. In their previous battle against a magic giant golem, only Liddell could use lightning magic at combat level, but this time, they had three users.

So far, the golem’s armor was absorbing the damage, but from the enemy’s perspective, taking down the lightning mages first would be a priority. However, with attacks coming from various directions, targeting them was nearly impossible.

As a result, Isamu and his team managed to stop the magic giant golem in its tracks without receiving any direct hits.

Meanwhile, Marcella’s group, following Shadow through the forest, encountered a tabby cat running toward them after about fifteen minutes.

“Mew!”

“Nyaow.”

Shadow and the tabby exchanged a few short meows before turning and racing back the way they had come.

After trailing the tabby cat for another ten minutes, Marcella’s team discovered what looked like a box carriage, camouflaged with undergrowth and bushes, which they suspected was the control station.

(No doubt, that’s the carriage carrying the control station.)

Greg nodded as he confirmed from a distance.

(Just one guard… As expected, but once the control station’s found, there’s not much he can do.)

Marcella chuckled as she watched a lone man standing guard and surveying the area in front of the box carriage.

(Right. Adding too many guards would defeat the purpose, so staying hidden must’ve been their priority.)

Laurel, standing beside her, had a grim expression.

“Greg, how skilled is the guard?”

(Despite some training, he’s no match for a knight. Just about as skilled as a fairly capable adventurer, I’d say.)

(Thanks. Elis, ready? You and I will charge in with a slight time lag. Laurel, take that opportunity to get around to his side or back and neutralize him.)

(Understood.)

(Memphio, please stay with Greg as added security.)

(Understood.)

(Alright, let’s go on my spell signal.)

Everyone gave a small nod to Marcella’s instructions, and Elis moved a short distance away from her while Laurel began positioning herself to approach from the side.

Seconds later, Marcella initiated the attack.

“Blast Edge!”

She cast a spell, lowering its power and increasing its number to avoid lethal damage while launching a surprise strike.

“Wha—?!”

The guard recoiled, stunned by the sudden magic assault.

Though his armor protected him from significant damage, a few wounds left streaks of blood in the air. At that moment, Elis charged from the front left, and a heartbeat later, Marcella emerged from the front right.

“Damn it, what the hell is this?!”

Cursing under his breath, the guard drew his sword, bracing himself for defense.

Clang!

He managed to block Elis’s strike, but with Marcella joining the fray, he was quickly pushed back. Although she could have used her lightning sword, this time Marcella opted for standard gear to give the less experienced Elis some combat practice.

“Damn it! What is going on?!”

As he retreated, defending against their attacks, Laurel came up silently from behind.

“Gah…!”

He turned to see her, but too late; a solid blow to the neck with the hilt of her sword sent him crumpling to the ground.

“Good. Elis, tie him up. Greg, would you stop the magic control devices?”

“Hoho, such efficiency. Leave it to me.”

Greg emerged from the bushes, following Marcella to the control station.

Thanks to Isamu and his team’s successful suppression, the enemy pilot remained seated without severing the mana pass link.

“…Completely defenseless, huh?”

“When operating them individually, it seems we’ll need to consider a few things.” 

Marcella and Laurel exchanged amused glances.

Beside them, Greg quickly checked the state of the control station.

“Everything looks good. Now, I’ll stop the control station. I’ll leave securing the target to you.”

Greg touched the activation magic stone near the pilot’s hand.

With a soft hum unique to magic devices, the magic circles drawn on the floor and seat dimmed and extinguished in seconds.

“What?!”

The sudden severing of the mana pass startled the pilot, bringing him back to awareness.

“Why did the pass—huh?!”

As he opened his eyes, he found himself restrained and a sword pointed at him, unable to comprehend his situation and shouting in shock.

“Hohoho, resistance is futile. Now, release your mana pass peacefully.”

“Wha—?! How do you know about that? Only people from Avalushi should know… I’ve never seen your face before!”

The pilot was further confused by Greg’s unexpected words.

“There are many things in this world you’re unaware of, my friend.” 

Greg replied, narrowing his eyes.

“Huh?”

“What…?”

And with that, the movement of the magic giant golem came to a dramatic halt. Holding its short spear in a poised stance, it froze completely.

“It seems Marcella and the others successfully subdued the pilot.” 

One of the team members noted.

“Indeed. Now, if we can just transfer the pilot registration smoothly…”

“Greg did mention he couldn’t forcefully release the link. Hopefully, the pilot cooperates.”

As the assault team waited in suspense, a few minutes later, the magic giant golem began to move again.

It shifted the short spear to one hand, flexed its open hand, rotated its shoulders, and started doing light stretches.

“Ah, looks like the pilot has successfully changed over.” 

Isamu said, watching as the magic giant golem walked toward him and gave a knight’s salute.

“Ha, must be Marcella or Elis piloting now.” 

Isamu chuckled.

The golem waved at Isamu, then turned and began heading in the direction Marcella and the others had taken.

“Alright, so far, everything’s going according to plan.”

Isamu nodded in satisfaction as three magic giant golems stood in docking posture before him. After capturing the first golem, they spent hours successfully seizing a second. Now, they had returned to their backup unit with their spoils.

“Samuel, how are your magic reserves holding up?” 

Isamu asked Samuel and Franboise, who had been casting lightning spells rather heavily against the two golems.

“Hmm, it’s dropped a bit, but I still have about half left.” 

Samuel replied.

“I’m about the same.” 

Franboise added smoothly.

“…That’s incredible, you two. After casting so much and still having half your magic power left!”

Isamu had suspected they had some energy to spare, but hearing the extent of their reserves was astonishing.

“Then, let’s rest for a bit, meet up with Liliene-san, and move on to the next phase.”

“Understood. This is where the real test begins.”

“Indeed, and it will only get more challenging from here…”

“So, we’re finally entering enemy territory… Ah, Matsumoto-dono! Now would be the perfect time for that rallying cry you used during the exhibition match, wouldn’t it?”

Samuel, sitting on the back of the magitech vehicle and drinking water, looked at Isamu.

“A rallying cry? …Ah, that one! Haha, you’re right. Alright, Tiramisu, let’s do the usual!”

“Got it!”

At Tiramisu’s cue, they formed a circle, with Samuel looking quite pleased to be part of it.

“So, we’ve managed to get our hands on two magic giant golems. Let’s go teach those traitors a lesson with these bad boys, alright?” 

Tiramisu announced with a grin.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Stay safe out there!”

“Stay safe!!”

The unique rallying cry echoed briefly before fading into the vast forest, absorbed by the towering trees.

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