Breaking the Siege (3)
The walls of the Ma Tower were crammed full of Heavenly Mechanism Golems. Each one was a warrior forged from steel with an unbreakable will. Ten of them alone could suppress a Legend-rank threat—no need to elaborate on their power.
"Hold on tight. I'm breaking through."
"Kyaaack!"
Even I would be in danger if we got fully surrounded. The key to this operation was punching through before that happened. Yu Hana was roughly secured with tentacles, so I could focus purely on the fight.
"Here we go."
I'm trash in close quarters. But magic? That's my domain. I decided to turn myself into a one-man tank with spells.
"Beast arms shall sprout forth—this is a new evolution."
"All shall kneel beneath the beast's feet."
⟨ Beastflesh Transmutation ⟩
My arms morphed into mantis sickles, my lower body into spider legs. Shin-nim hated this spell with a passion, but damn if it didn't work.
[I hate bugs...]
I'll snag a new spell soon. Just bear with me this once.
[If my hubby says so. I'll understand.]
I love you, Shin-nim.
[Love you too, hubby!]
While soothing Shin-nim in my head, I smashed through the encirclement in reality. I bisected blocking golems with my sickles, shoved charging ones aside with spider legs. Burning mana like it was nothing left me with stamina to spare.
"I could do this all day!"
"I'd die by then!"
Some weird noise from behind, but I let it slide through one ear. A new foe had appeared.
One was a massive knight golem, bigger than the rest and clad in armor. The other wielded a staff, chanting spells like a proper mage.
"Ho ho."
Just from looks, their tactic was obvious. Knight tanks while the mage preps heavy artillery. Simple, but effective.
"Not bad...!"
As expected, the knight barreled through the mob golems straight at me. It swung a massive hammer; I blocked, then body-checked it back. Protecting the mage, classic. The trash golems restricted my movement to help.
"Sorry, golems, but I'm a mage too?"
But they were missing something crucial. Sure, I was charging in like a berserker, but I was still a mage. Sniping a defenseless caster from range? Easy.
"Deep sea, manifest thyself."
⟨ Deep Sea Manifestation ⟩
A mini version of the Deep Sea Manifestation I'd used before. Lower power, but chanting time slashed to nothing. Waves of the abyss flooded the walls—not lethal on its own, more like field control.
And on that field, my second ability hit max overdrive.
"Waters, cleave."
I felt the deep sea rippling at my feet. Felt the golems walking it. Locked on the mage and unleashed slashes.
Krunch!
First hit blocked by barrier, knight charging in to interrupt. Too bad.
"Cleave, cleave, cleave."
No runes, no circles—just will, and the sea obeyed. Slashes rained down. Desperate barriers shattered; the mage golem got diced without a counter.
"What, were you two lovers?"
The knight golem vented steam, raging out. Overclocked body sped up, swapped hammer for sword, lunged at me. A golem with emotions? Whatever—it piqued my interest.
[I've got a proposal.]
Parried its swift sword strikes with my sickles, then spoke. It reacted like it understood. Intelligent? Then negotiation was on the table.
[Help me, and I'll revive your lover.]
[Lying? Why would a strong one lie?]
Water chains lashed out, binding its limbs. Immobile now. It had to know I could end it anytime.
Lies are for the weak. The strong take what they want without them.
[Good choice.]
It bowed its head. I dripped a drop of blood onto it. The droplet seeped into its core, deep sea essence infusing it. Steel flesh sprouted meat, teeth, claws. Half-machine, half-beast monster now.
[Hold the golems till I return. Then I'll revive your lover.]
Uglier now, but power multiplied several times over. In melee, even I'd lose. Perfect for stalling the golem horde.
"...You can really revive it?"
"Oh, you understood?"
"My major's linguistics."
I dashed inside the walls, leaving the knight behind. Yu Hana piped up cautiously. She'd caught our yokai tongue chat.
Revive it? Obviously.
"It never died in the first place."
"Pardon? I saw it turned into cube steak."
She sounded flustered. Fair—I'd diced the mage golem into ten pieces.
"It protected its drive core somehow. Seemed competent, so I spared it."
"..."
Even as its body shattered, it held the barrier. Got me intrigued, so I didn't hammer the core. Whoops, accidental scam.
Felt her glare burning my back, but I stood tall. Not killing it was sparing it, right? No lies here.
"Aigoo, what's this now."
Racing across the inner fields, something blocked me again. Eagle head, lion body, scorpion tail, bat wings—chimera mashup, licking its chops at me.
"This Ma Tower? Where're the mages?"
"No idea..."
Mages were cautious, sure, but this was ridiculous. Walls breached, intruders inside, and still just summons?
Getting a look at that bastard's mug was a pain.
"Your breath stinks. Scram."
No time to waste. Chimera's halitosis was nasty, so I poured all mana into my legs. One strike.
Cross slash flew, bisecting the chimera, soaring on to quarter the gates too.
"Let's keep moving."
"Sorry, Professor... Sorry, friends...!"
Anyone'd think I brought a terrorist. Nah, just here to wring the mastermind's neck. No plans for innocent mages—unless they got in the way.
"Oh, Mastermind~ Hey, villain~ It's Dinner time~"
Anyway, proper tower sweep began. Not random—I headed high up. Big shots lurked in the penthouse, especially if they were the puppet master.
"Seize him!"
"Blast him with spells! Buy time!"
"Of all times, Dean's absent...!"
Mages blocked sporadically, but no match. A mere tub of water subdued most; tougher ones met the deep sea personally.
[No eating. Just bite.]
[Chomp chomp.]
"Argh! Help!"
Annoyance? A labyrinth floor. Direction-losing magic everywhere, traps on every step—vicious.
[Deep sea soldiers, come forth and annihilate His enemies.]
I didn't clear it—the Punisher smashed every trap ahead, me trailing behind. It emerged a total mess, but whatever. We'd arrived.
"..."
"..."
Vaster than outside views suggested, twisted structures amid which stood a man. Masked face, heavy cognitive distortion magic.
"To actually storm in... absurd."
"..."
Anyone else would've been fooled—even his mom. But I knew. This was the puppet master. The fool who'd dared touch Shin-nim.
"Professors and the Dean will arrive soon."
"Guess I gotta wrap up quick."
"Think I'll go down easy?"
"We'll see."
I shrugged; he sighed. Staff materialized from thin air, aimed at me. Hundreds of magic circles bloomed—each dwarfing my mana-based spells. The space brimmed with his mana.
Saga-rank, as expected.
High-up in the massive Ma Tower? Had to be strong. Stronger than anyone I'd faced.
Logically? Run. But...
"Ten minutes. That's all you get."
Too bad—rage had me by the throat. I raked claws across my neck.
Shlick!
Artery severed clean.