Chapter 207: Magic Traps and Booby-Traps

“Ugh!”  

“Argh!”  

With a resounding explosion, large shards of wood scatter, crashing into two massive figures attempting to lift the fallen tree. Both are flung back by the blast’s force.

“The tree… exploded!?”

“What now!?”

“Is it a magic attack?!”

The sudden explosion from the fallen tree catches the soldiers of the Zun army off guard, sending a wave of confusion through their ranks. Another first-generation giant, attempting to clear the logs, instinctively steps back.

“What are you doing?! If it’s magic, then there are enemies hiding in the forest. Find them!”  

“Y-yes, sir!!”  

Igor’s commanding voice snaps the panicking soldiers back to reality, a testament to his hardened experience on the battlefield. However, this command proves to be a fatal mistake.

*Bzzzt!* *Boom! Boom!*  

“Arrgh!”  

“Aghh!”  

“Oof!”  

The first-generation giants, following Igor’s command and diving into the forest, are once again struck by an unknown assault. This time, the attacks resemble lightning magic, followed by another round of explosive spells. Igor stands there, watching the magic giants being pummeled, muttering in disbelief.

“What is happening…? Just what is going on here?”

The series of traps, of course, were set by Isamu and his companions the previous night. Though hastily prepared, these simple setups were made deadly with the help of magic and Isamu’s handcrafted magic devices.

For instance, the hidden pitfall had been enhanced with a mud spell, camouflaged over a softened surface, but with a clever addition. Instead of collapsing immediately, thin but extremely strong metal roots called Metal Leaches were used to support it. A magic circle embedded within detects pressure, and when triggered, the Metal Leaches soften just enough to allow a delayed fall, maximizing the effect. Samuel had grimaced at the use of such expensive materials for a trap, but Isamu’s strategy was clear.

Other traps include modified explosives inside logs and high-voltage electric wires hidden within the forest. These enhancements are almost unknown to anyone outside Isamu’s circle, including Igor and the Zun soldiers, making the booby traps shockingly effective.  

“Get back! The forest is filled with traps! Retreat!”

Just as nearly half of the squad has entered the forest, someone shouts, noticing the danger. Seeing their comrades fall to unseen attacks, the first-generation giants retreat from the forest, following the command.

One of the men, hidden in the shadows, watches this and smirks, signaling to someone deeper in the woods.

At the signal, two figures dash forward from the forest at incredible speed. Bathed in a faint glow, Ulysses and Liddell, using the full-body enhancement technique taught by Isamu, charge toward the retreating soldiers. Each holds something in their hands.

With a shout, Liddell hurls her object toward the group of giants. The net unfurls in mid-air, entangling several first-generation giants within its grasp.

“Take this!”  

Touching the magic stone attached to the net, Liddell activates it, and a blue-white surge of electricity courses through the web, sending a barrage of sparks flying in every direction.

“Gyahhh!!”

“Uwaahhh!”

For what felt like the umpteenth time today, screams echoed from the first generation units within the net.

Upon seeing this, Liddell and Ulysses cloaked themselves in a faint glow and vanished back into the forest.

“What on earth is going on…? Hmm?”

Igor, stunned by the unexpected turn of events unfolding before him, suddenly noticed something amiss.

“None of the imitations have taken any damage…? Why…!!? Could it be!? Watch out! The imitations are betraying us!!”

Igor’s face twisted as he shouted out this conclusion, though he had realized the anomaly just a moment too late.

By the time he shouted, the imitations had already begun to act.

“Whoa!?”

“Tch!”

“Gah!”

“Damn it!”

Suddenly, the second-generation magic giant golems, who had always stayed at the back of the formation, launched a surprise attack on the first-generation units.

Caught off guard, the first-generation units took the full brunt of the attack. Some fell from the blows, and others sustained severe damage, though a few managed to endure. The extent of damage varied among the units, partly because they’d already been weakened by various booby traps. Units that had taken substantial damage were unable to withstand any longer and collapsed, while those with lesser damage held their ground.

In an all-out ambush, the brave second-generation forces rendered several of the first-generation units inoperable, then split into two groups to continue their assault.

The eight second-generation golems at the front pressed their attack on the remaining first-generation units, who were starting to recover from the chaos. Activating their Overdrive Mode, they fought two-on-one, matching or even outpacing the superior first-generation units. Meanwhile, the cats, led by Orihime, provided accurate support.

The cats, evidently aware of all the traps’ locations, guided the pilots toward first-generation units that had sustained significant damage from the traps. This steadily increased the attrition rate on the first-generation side.

The ten units positioned at the back quickly secured the pilot’s seats they had hidden at the start of the ambush.

“Nyaa—!”

The cats sent a signal to the pilots, indicating that everything was in place.

“Thanks, Hime! Alright, let’s retreat!”

“Myaaaow!”

With Orihime’s long cry echoing in their heads, the second-generation units swiftly moved into retreat mode. The units fighting at the front began to concentrate their attacks on a single area near the road. Since they didn’t have enough numbers to form a thick line, it wasn’t long before a gap appeared in their formation.

Seeing this opening, the units holding the pilot’s seats all started to run at once.

The eight second-generation golems fought desperately to shield the others on either side of the road. The units that managed to break through raised their Overdrive Mode’s power level and leapt over the traps, heading north. The remaining eight units followed, each one leaping over the traps in turn.

“Don’t let them escape! If that many get away, it’ll be trouble!”

Igor yelled at the sight of the second-generation units retreating so smoothly.

“Ohh!”

“Let’s chase them!!”

Hearing the order, the first-generation units scrambled to pursue. Although they were powerful enough to run fast, their massive weight made them less agile than the second-generation units. Unable to leap over the traps, they had to remove fallen trees along the edges of the road before they could give chase.

Boom!!

Just as they began their pursuit, a thunderous roar echoed, engulfing the advancing first-generation units in explosions once again. This time, the attack came from the forest.

“Alright, one more shot, then we pull back!”

“Understood!”

Following Felix’s instructions, Liddell and Ulysses loaded lightning and explosive shells into the magic cannons, which had been designed for horizontal firing.

Boom!!

After firing twice, they packed up the magic cannons, activated their full-body enhancements, and headed north through the forest.

The magic giant golems of the first generation were left reeling, more than half of them unable to continue fighting at this point. Although the remaining units had also sustained some damage, they resumed the chase, unwilling to let their prey escape. In terms of raw speed, the first-generation units were faster, so they began to close the distance bit by bit.

But with Overdrive Mode activated and receiving full support from the cats, the second-generation units gave it everything they had. Just before they could be completely overtaken, they finally made it to Meraja.

The last unit, piloted by Drexler, entered the city gate just as it closed behind them.

Simultaneously, Yaliskov’s cavalry arrived at the location where a trap had been set.

They had initially been pursuing the Felker family but had turned back, likely due to concerns over this situation. 

What they saw left them stunned: over half of the first-generation magic giant golems lay destroyed.

“What… what on earth is this…?”

Yaliskov was speechless at the sight of the utter devastation.

He had sensed something was wrong, but even he hadn’t anticipated the situation to be this severe.

“Did they fall to explosive magic? These golems are equipped with anti-magic armor, so they shouldn’t be easily taken down…”

He muttered as he surveyed the ground scarred by blast marks.

“You there! What happened here!?”

He questioned the operators who had been left behind with the now-immobile golems.

“We’re not exactly sure… We thought the ones in front had fallen into a pit, and then explosions and lightning magic started hitting us from all directions…”

“Then, all of a sudden, those imitations betrayed us…”

The operators, dejected, explained the situation as best they could.

“What? The Avalushian troops betrayed us!?”

Though the details were vague, it seemed that they had fallen into a trap and were ambushed by the Avalushians.

“And the general pursued them, right?”

“Yes. He said we had to finish them off here, or it’d be trouble later on…”

“I see… We’ll pursue them as well!”

With a firm order, Yaliskov spurred his horse northward.

“Lightning magic? Of course, the Avalushians know our weaknesses, but they rarely use magic themselves, and they don’t carry magic artifacts. So, how…?”

Although he understood the situation, Yaliskov couldn’t shake his doubts as he rode onward.

Meanwhile, Igor, who had just missed capturing the Avalushian golems by a few minutes, glared at the closed gates in fury.

“Damn it! Curse those Avalushians!!”

Throwing his helmet to the ground in frustration, he managed to restrain himself from charging into the city in a blind rage.

“Even though they have magic giant golems, they’re still just ‘imitations.’ Besides, we still have some of the first-generation golems left. It’s infuriating, but once I join up with Yaliskov, we’ll crush them once and for all…”

As Igor calmed down, he muttered, turning his rage into fuel for the next battle.

However, the misfortunes of the Zun forces were far from over.

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