Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 198: Retreat Battle
Upon hearing the signal to retreat, the magic giant golems that Tiramisu and others were piloting on the frontlines, fighting against Avalushi’s golems, began preparations for withdrawal.
Missing the opportunity to retreat at this moment, before the right flank group had joined them, would make it much more difficult, so swift action was crucial.
In this tense situation, Eshad was the first to act, using his position behind the enemy to create confusion.
He held his spear at mid-level and created some distance from the enemy. Then, activating Overdrive Mode, he thrust his spear forward and charged into the midst of the enemy golems.
Eshad’s sudden charge took the two enemy golems off guard as they hurried to avoid it, leaving a gap that Eshad’s golem swiftly exploited, dashing through with all its might.
If the goal had been to defeat the enemy, Eshad would have been in the perfect position. However, since they were retreating, being separated from the group was risky, so he forcefully rejoined his allies.
Once Eshad’s golem had rejoined, the entire unit transitioned into retreat mode.
The first priority was to transport the eight pilot seats from the area. Given their size, even the giant magic golems could only carry two at a time.
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For safety reasons, they would have preferred one golem per seat, but that would leave only two golems to cover the retreat.
Therefore, the experienced pilots—Greg, Marcela, and Laurel—each took charge of two seats, while Memphio and Gable transported one seat each. These five golems led the charge into the forest.
Following them, the human warriors who weren’t piloting golems entered the forest, with five other golems guarding the rear.
Meanwhile, the magic-powered vehicles had been left behind after removing their magic stones and activation circles, which they hoped to recover later if everything went well.
The human group moved off the path used by the golems, as they couldn’t match the golems’ speed unless they used Full Enhance, a full-body strengthening spell, and slowing down the retreat wasn’t an option.
Since the enemy would focus on pursuing the golems, it was unlikely that they would target the humans who had veered off the main path.
After a few minutes of retreating, the Avalushi golems that had been positioned on the left flank advanced close to the human warriors. Isamu noticed that only seven of the eight golems were chasing, suggesting that one had been damaged in the earlier skirmish.
“They’re faster without the burden of carrying anything.”
Isamu remarked.
“Indeed. But there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Samuel replied.
With the enemy within range, Isamu and Samuel analyzed the situation while launching magic tools, such as explosive or lightning-infused orbs, to hinder their pursuers.
Though Avalushi’s golems couldn’t pursue effectively due to these distractions, they were still faster than the group transporting the pilot seats.
The gap between them was steadily closing.
For about five minutes, Isamu and his companions continued to throw everything they had at the enemy while running alongside them, but they eventually ran out of disposable magic tools.
Their desperate efforts had immobilized one more enemy golem, but with the arrival of the right flank group, the total number of pursuers increased to fourteen.
“They merged at the worst possible time.”
Isamu muttered, his face tense as he noticed the enemy speeding up now that their pursuit was no longer hindered.
“This is the critical moment.”
Samuel added. Then, pointing toward one of the golems with black mark on its shoulder armor, he asked.
“Isn’t that the one supported by a cat?”
“Yes, it is.”
Isamu confirmed, glancing through the trees at the five golems in pursuit.
“Is that so… Orihime, can you tell those cats to disrupt them all at once?”
“Mnya? Nyan-nyaff.”
Suddenly addressed by Samuel, Orihime, who was perched on her usual spot atop Isamu’s head, tilted her head slightly, then meowed with determination.
“Um, what exactly are you planning to do, Samuel-sama?”
“Well, this is the critical moment. I’m thinking of pouring all my remaining magic power into this. Since the enemy is bunched up, if it goes well, I can disable several of them at once. But for that, I need to briefly stop their movement.”
“I see… But is it alright to use up your magic?”
“If we let this moment slip away and they scatter, we’ll lose our chance. Ah, right, I likely won’t be able to run afterward. Franboise, I’m sorry, but can you carry me, or maybe piggyback me?”
“Wh-!? Carry you!? Piggyback!? …U-understood!!”
Framboise’s head bobbed so vigorously in agreement that it seemed like it might come off, her voice cracking in surprise.
“Alright, when I begin chanting, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Nyaff.”
Samuel, having asked Orihime for help as well, slowed his pace slightly to focus as he began his chant.
“I beseech thee. From the heavens above, let the descending thunder form a chain of lightning and crush the enemy…”
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“Nyaoooooo!”
At the same time, Orihime let out a powerful, long meow that echoed across the battlefield.
A moment later, the black-shouldered magic giants stopped in their tracks one by one.
It only lasted about a second, but in the midst of a running formation, that single second was crucial. The giants behind those that stopped stumbled, lost their balance, and some even looked as if they were about to fall.
All but a few of the front-running giants were forced to slow down.
“Chain Lightning!”
Seizing the opportunity, Samuel unleashed his lightning magic.
**Bzzzzzzzzzzzztt!**
A swirling band of light appeared near the front of the enemy formation, striking the foremost magic giant like the jaws of a serpent.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
The lightning spread to the nearby giants, snaking from one to the next. Isamu could see the earth-elemental magic flowing frenetically over the armor of the giants in response to the lightning spell.
Three giants—those initially struck and two others hit by the chain—collapsed to their knees like puppets whose strings had been cut.
“That’s… amazing…”
The scent of ozone filled the air as Isamu murmured in awe, eyes wide.
To disable multiple magic giants by stripping their magic armor wasn’t something even close to ordinary magic. It was far beyond the norm.
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But even for Samuel, it had clearly taken a toll.
With a thud, Samuel collapsed to his knees, just like the giants he had brought down.
“Samuel-sama!!”
Franboise immediately rushed to his side.
“Heh, seems I’m out of magic… Franboise, I’m counting… on you…”
With those words, Samuel, cradled in Franboise’s arms, closed his eyes and lost consciousness.
“Leave it to me, Samuel-sama!!”
After gazing at Samuel’s face for a moment, Franboise hoisted him onto her back and stood up.
“If only I could stay like this forever…”
Her whispered words, however, went unheard by anyone.
While Samuel held off the enemy with a powerful blow, Greg and his team, piloting a magic giant golem, successfully gained some distance.
About 10 minutes later, they were nearly caught again, but this time, Julius and Sarah, who had been lying in wait along their escape route, launched a surprise attack and delayed the enemy further.
The two who had ambushed the enemy joined the main formation, and together, they managed to reach their intended point while continuing to hold the enemy at bay. The location was a battle-scarred area where large monsters had fought, with a 5-meter-wide and 50-meter-long section of the ground gouged out and trees felled.
At the far end of this makeshift path, the ground had been raised with earth magic to form a stage-like platform, where Julius and the others had arranged their control seats. Annemarie and the others were there as well.
Greg’s team placed their control seats on the platform and formed a defensive perimeter around it.
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Without delay, the pursuing Avalushi golems charged in. They hesitated for a moment upon reaching the suddenly open area but quickly regrouped upon spotting the gathered enemy golems ahead.
Although the space was open, it wasn’t very wide, so two or three golems formed into units, raised their spears, and slowly advanced.
At that moment, the chanting of a spell could be heard. It was a layered chant, with both male and female voices, likely indicating the simultaneous casting of the same spell.
The ones chanting were Annemarie and Ulysses, who had previously joined from Avalushi’s hideout.
“Water, rise in an instant, become a torrent, and unleash your might! Localized Flood: Flash Flood!”
When the spell activated, two circular mirrors of water floated in front of the raised platform. One was about three meters in diameter, and the other about one meter, positioned side by side.
Seeing this unfamiliar magic, the Avalushi golems halted, while the allied golems quickly moved onto or behind the platform.
*Rumble…*
The ground rumbled, and…
*Whoosh!*
A massive surge of water suddenly erupted from the mirrors. Water poured out in a torrent, filling the gouged-out ground and rushing forward with a thunderous roar, engulfing the halted Avalushi golems in less than a second.
Within a few seconds, the water mirrors disappeared, and the flow of water ceased, leaving the area silent. The Avalushi golems were now partially submerged in what had become a small pond, some of them toppled over and completely underwater, likely due to the high water pressure.
“*Energy Bolt!*”
*Crackle! Crackle!*
Lightning bolts rained down from Liddell, and…
“Take this!”
Mizeroi threw something tied to a rope into the water.
*ZZZAAAAP!*
Two seconds later, intense flashes of lightning erupted from the water three times in succession. It was a modified lightning orb, previously used in their battle against river sharks in the Lusalsa River. Mizeroi pulled back the rope and threw it again, repeating the process until no golems were left moving.
“All right, it’s a success for now. Begin the recovery of the magic stones! Stay alert—there may still be active golems!”
After a brief period of observation to ensure the water had drained away, Mizeroi, from atop the platform, gave the command. The allied golems began to move all at once.
“Good work, everyone. Ladies, please rest.”
Mizeroi praised Annemarie and the others, who were exhausted after expending all their magic, and then descended from the platform.
The localized flood spell used by the two was a simple one that unleashed a large amount of water in a designated direction. As a new spell, it had little power and was considered one that no one ever used, since it was no more effective than a hose for spraying water.
In situations requiring a large volume of water, the standard practice was to use the water tornado spell, as employed by the mercenary Count Eleonora. However, the water tornado spell is difficult to control due to its tornado-like water column, which is problematic when trying to avoid damaging the golems.
To minimize destruction, Isamu taught this old magic to the two mages with large magic power reserves and they used it to temporarily submerge the enemy, enabling them to efficiently neutralize the golems with lightning-based magic.
Over the next hour, they removed the activation magic stones from all the enemy golems. The magic stones were located in places that couldn’t be accessed without tools, and unlike ordinary magic tools, the golems had a standby mode, making it rare for them to be completely shut down.
The task involved restraining the golems to prevent sudden movement, but none of the golems showed signs of reactivation, possibly due to being broken or having lost the will to fight.
Once the enemy golems were immobilized, the team turned their attention to recovering their control seats and the magic vehicles they had abandoned. Since most of these were at the previous hiding location, they all moved back there together.
There was some concern that the Avalushi pilots and guards might try to escape, but understanding the risks of fleeing into the forest on foot, all of them surrendered quietly without attempting to run.
“More than half of them look like they’ll work with just a little repair.”
Greg said as he approached Isamu and Liliene, who had been inspecting the cockpit.
“That’s great news! For now, we’ve secured enough golems for everyone, including me, but we could definitely use some backup units for reinforcements.”
“Ho ho ho, indeed. Well then, I’ll start repairs right away. I’ll have five of them ready to move by tomorrow.”
“Thank you so much!”
And so, Isamu and his group successfully acquired more magic giant golems than the number of pilots they currently had available.