
Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 197: Heist Operation, Round Two
Of the two Avalushi magic giant golems left near the rest area, one placed its cockpit next to the earth wall Samuel had created and started climbing over it. The golem was aware that a battle was happening on the other side, and all the golems were heading in that direction.
As the magic giant climbed the wall, it tried to cross over to the other side but noticed a pale green wind barrier just beyond the wall and gave up. The wind barrier had the property of deflecting or dispersing anything that collided with it, so diving in carelessly would risk the golem being torn apart.
The golem, still perched on the wall, quickly signaled to its allied golems heading toward it with a hand sign.
“Rock Fist!”
*Kid-kin!*
Samuel tried to fire a restraining spell, but since he was too far, the other magic giant golem that had been on guard knocked it away with a spear.
“Hmm, even from this distance, they can shoot it down… Quite impressive.”
Samuel muttered, slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected his spell to be deflected.
“They’re very skilled pilots indeed… Wait!”
Isamu, watching with a grim expression, noticed the golem that had climbed the wall descending and running along the wall while carrying its cockpit. The other golem that had been defending it followed suit.
“They’re trying to regroup after signaling to split up! They’re going to attack from both ends of the wall!”
Liliene, who understood the hand signals used by Avalushi forces, issued a warning.
Hearing this, Tiramisu and Elis’ golem glanced at Felix for direction.
“Don’t pursue! We’re already outnumbered—if we split up, we’ll be overwhelmed! Fall back with Liliane’s machine and the cockpits, and set up a defensive formation!”
Felix ordered.
Acknowledging the command, they retreated with Liliene machine and the cockpits to the edge of the rest area. Five of their seven magic giant golems formed a fan-shaped defensive line, with the remaining two positioned inside the formation. The unmounted members quickly gathered and began discussing their strategy.
“We’re still facing nearly 20 of their golems. A frontal assault would be risky.”
Isamu responded to Felix’s question.
“Exactly. Our best bet is to lure them into a trap, as we originally planned.”
“Although we’re outnumbered, we have multiple magic users and some hidden troops. Plus, the princess can create openings using their cats. We’ll use that to our advantage and draw them out.”
“Understood. First, we’ll use Drexler, who successfully escaped into the forest.”
“Right. The enemy will have to bypass the pond to reach us, so we’ll have Drexler move during that time.”
Drexler’s golem, which had been stationed beyond the wall, slipped into the forest unnoticed during the confusion. Whether Drexler chose to blend in with the Avalushi forces or act as a separate unit was left to him, but it seemed he had opted for the latter.
“Got it. Drexler will move into position where he can see the enemy’s cockpit. Once the enemy is distracted, he’ll try to capture their cockpit.”
“Yes, that should work. But if multiple golems are guarding the cockpit, Drexler should immediately fall back and regroup.”
“Shall we cut the mana pass to discuss this?”
Felix glanced back at the row of cockpits before confirming with Isamu. While the machines were stationed on the other side, the cockpits were gathered here for easier defense.
“If we cut the connection, the situation might change, and we don’t know if they can see our battle from their side. We’ll need someone to signal.”
“Understood. Ulysses, head over to Drexler, relay the plan, and keep an eye on the situation from the trees. Signal us when the time comes.”
“Roger that!”
“Whether you steal them away or retreat, once the results are in, please head straight to Anne and the others’ hiding place, Ulysses. Your magic will likely be the key to wrapping up this operation.”
“Whoa… that’s a lot of responsibility. I guess I’ll have to give it my all.”
Ulysses’ face twitched slightly at Isamu’s words as he began chanting a spell.
“Full Body Enhancement, Full Enhance!”
“Alright!”
With that, Ulysses, using a toned-down version of the Full Body Enhancement spell, gave a short greeting and dashed off.
“Is that… Full Body Enhancement?”
Samuel was shocked as Ulysses rapidly shrank into the distance, moving at an inhuman speed.
Full Body Enhancement that hasn’t been converted into the new magic is known for consuming a lot of magic power without much effect.
Even Samuel, who boasted one of the highest magic power capacities in the kingdom, was no exception to this common perception.
“Haha, it’s a bit of a trade secret. Still, only a handful of people can actually use it.”
Isamu shrugged his shoulders slightly as he spoke.
Even within the Klaufeldt family, the only one who could use Full Body Enhancement at the same level as Isamu was Ulysses. In terms of practical combat, only Annemarie, Marcella, and Felix could handle it.
Full Body Enhancement magic is difficult to master even if you understand the meaning behind the incantation.
(Though honestly, it’s scary to think that this guy could probably master it right away if I explained it to him…)
Glancing at Samuel, Isamu shivered slightly at the thought.
Soon after Ulysses disappeared into the forest, magic giant golems appeared from both sides of the wall.
“They’re here! Eight on the right, nine on the left. They’ve split up nicely…”
“Yes, and the ones with marks… Ah, the right has three, and the left has four, huh?”
“Even though it’s just a one-unit difference, should we take on the larger group on the left?”
“Yes, and they’re also closer.”
“Got it.”
“Then, let’s hold off the right side. Samuel-san, Franboise-san, I’m counting on you too.”
“Of course.”
“Leave it to me.”
The group set their sights on the larger force on the left side, preparing for their retreat.
“Grand Spike of Earth!”
Yu activated his Grand Spike of Earth spell right in front of the leading units in the right-side group running in two columns.
Though he kept the density low, Yu adjusted the spikes to a wide range to stall their advance.
Two large protrusions, rising above knee-height, appeared in front of the leading two units, forcing them to brake suddenly.
Crash! Crash!
The sudden halt of the two leading units caused a chain collision with the following units, which had been too close behind to stop in time.
Though not broken, the fallen and entangled units created obstacles, completely stopping the group’s advance.
“Stone Wall!”
“Stone Wall!”
Seeing the enemy’s movement stop, Samuel and Franboise raised another wall.
Starting from the wall that had already been set up to divide the resting area, they connected it to form an L-shaped barrier.
The result was a U-shaped enclosure, trapping the group of magic giant golems from the right side.
Only the rear remained open.
“Wind Wall!”
Additionally, Franboise raised a Wind Wall along the side facing the group’s position.
The Wind Wall was taller than the earth wall created earlier, and though it could be climbed over, it was meant to prevent escape from the front.
“Thank you both! This should buy us some time.”
“No need for thanks. However, it’s surprisingly difficult to avoid outright destroying them…”
Samuel furrowed his brows as he responded to Isamu’s gratitude.
With his vast magic power reserves, Samuel likely found it more efficient to disable the units by destroying them.
“Apologies, Samuel-sama. Maintaining this Wind Wall will likely drain a lot of my magic power.”
Meanwhile, Franboise had beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Though she had considerable magic power herself, she couldn’t match Samuel’s capacity.
Unlike the Stone Wall, which required no additional mana after being cast, the Wind Wall needed constant mana to maintain.
Considering that she had already used a Wind Wall earlier, it was no wonder Franboise was running low on mana.
In fact, the fact that she could still maintain such a large Wind Wall at this point was nothing short of remarkable.
“That’s fine. There’s no one other than Franboise who could do the same thing. Besides…”
Samuel paused for a moment, then turned around and continued speaking.
“Besides, unlike me, you’re a first-rate knight even without magic, aren’t you?”
As soon as he finished, he turned back around.
“Sa-Samuel-sama! Thank you so much!”
Surprised by the unexpected compliment, Franboise blushed with joy.
“Now then, next is this side.”
Having temporarily dealt with the magic giant golem on the right, they moved on to handle the one approaching from the left.
“Princess, could you help out?”
“Nyafu.”
Orhime responded to Isamu’s request by hopping lightly onto his head.
“Nyaooon!”
She let out a long cry. However, after waiting a bit, there was no sign of the left-side magic giant golem’s behavior changing.
“Was it the one on the right? Princess, once more, please!”
“Nyaooon!”
This time, the golem running in the middle of the group suddenly showed signs of holding its face and slowed down.
When connected to a cat via a magic link, one can sense the cat’s presence even during control, so that golem was probably scratched by that cat.
The golem that had slowed down caused the others to brake abruptly to avoid colliding with it, splitting them off from the five ahead.
At that moment, a flash of light shot up from the forest where Ulysses had run. This was Ulysses’ signal, confirming the capture target and blinding the enemy escorts. Drexler was likely storming the cockpit all at once.
“Everyone, this is our turning point!”
While saying this, Isamu cast full-body reinforcement on himself and began throwing explosive orbs from the magic vehicle at the approaching magic giant golems.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With deafening explosions, the orbs detonated. The magic defense circles protected the golems’ bodies, so the damage wasn’t severe, but their heads were left unprotected. The sound and visual impact also caused the five golems to halt in surprise.
Additionally, since some of the orbs exploded on the ground, several small craters were formed.
Isamu threw more orbs, further slowing them down and creating more craters. The enemy now had to choose between attacking from the forest or crossing the uneven craters, but since Isamu’s side was on flat ground, they held the terrain advantage.
After a moment of hesitation, the leading golem gave a hand signal, and the group charged straight ahead.
They chose to face a direct battle, despite the poor footing, over the detour route, which would force them into an unfavorable one-on-many fight.
Isamu’s magic giant golems also began closing the distance. Finally, the long-awaited battle between groups of magic giant golems, not seen for hundreds of years, began.
If this were a battlefield, the goal would simply be to destroy the enemy, but neither side could afford that here. Isamu’s group needed to capture the golems to fight against Zun, and the Avalushi side couldn’t afford to lose machines for their later operations.
These conflicting objectives lent a cautious atmosphere to the battle.
The terrain advantage and mutual hesitation kept the fight at a stalemate for several minutes. Then, from the forest behind Isamu’s right, came the loud sound of branches snapping.
For a moment, Isamu and his companions panicked, fearing it might be enemy reinforcements, but then they saw the top of the approaching golem glowing red, and they sighed in relief.
Drexler’s golem emerged from the forest, carrying the enemy cockpit under its left arm and cutting through branches with a spear in its right hand.
Isamu noticed that the machine was glowing with dark magic light.
“As expected, they’re using Overdrive Mode.”
The “Overdrive Mode” Isamu mentioned was an official term for a function that temporarily boosted the performance, especially speed, of magic giant golems.
Given that quick reinforcements were crucial, using this mode without hesitation was a good decision.
Incidentally, the name was, of course, coined by the first Avalushi, Abel.
Upon learning that such a feature existed, Abel had apparently exclaimed, “It’s so cool that it even has a ‘Berserk Mode!'”
Drexler’s golem placed the captured cockpit on the ground and charged toward the frontline battle.
Liliane, Felix, and Eshad rushed to the cockpit, stopped the magic tools, extracted the pilot, and restrained them while initializing the magic link.
Once Eshad got into the cockpit, Liliene also boarded, and they sent their magic giant golems running toward the frontlines.
With the addition of two golem to their side and Eshad’s golem unexpectedly flanking the enemy, the once-stalemated battle quickly shifted in Isamu’s favor.
But the momentum didn’t last long. The group on the right finally finished bypassing the wall and began advancing toward Isamu’s team.
“It’s about time to pull out. Everyone, retreat!!”
Seeing this, Isamu ordered a full retreat.
Bang!
At the same time, Felix’s fake burst explosion rang out as a signal for the magic giant golems to withdraw.
The battle in the forest with Avalushi had finally reached its climax.