Chapter 61
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Must Be First Place (5)
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The moment the light flashed...
A present different from the future I'd seen appeared.
In the future, a massive shield had definitely formed at chest level,
protecting the core below while attacking with the rest of its structure.
...But right now.
It was half a beat faster than expected.
Instead of a shield, a massive boulder slammed straight into Marian.
"Marian, fall back──!"
"Guh──!"
Before I could even shout my warning,
the boulder that had formed in an instant shot upward like it was surging.
Kwaaaaaang───!
An enormous shockwave erupted.
The deafening crash and impact from Marian's sword clashing with the giant boulder.
Marian's body bounced back through the air, spinning as it flew.
She seemed to have lost consciousness from the heavy blow and fell limply downward.
I immediately reached out toward her.
"Marian─!"
"I've got her!"
Ruena beat me to it by a step.
Ruena's arm shot out quickly, grabbing Marian's arm.
The two of them tumbled straight to the ground.
A cloud of dust rose up,
and soon, two wriggling figures appeared within it.
They didn't seem to have major injuries.
I could vaguely make out them helping each other up while catching their breath.
Good...
I checked the golem's arm that Ruena had been blocking the whole time.
Fortunately─.
Luke and Lime had bound the golem's arm with vines, restricting its movement.
The vines made by the dryad,
reinforced by Luke's magic, looked as sturdy as steel wire.
"Well done, you two─! Ruena, you okay?!"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"What about Marian? Is she alright?"
"......Ugh, everything hurts."
Marian's voice came through.
She was staggering from the impact,
but her mind was clear, and it didn't look like a fatal wound.
Marian slowly pushed herself up, her face scrunched in pain.
"Ugh──!"
"Hey, you good?!"
"......My arm... feels dislocated."
Marian gritted her teeth.
She must have taken the collision on her arm and strained it badly.
It doesn't look broken on the outside...
I quickly scanned the golem.
Its slow but imposing body had come to a complete halt.
If it's like this now, I could toss a healing potion or two.
I pulled an emergency healing potion from my pocket and got into throwing position.
Right then─.
The golem, which had been quiet, flashed with light once more.
"Guh─!"
"What now─?!"
I hurriedly put on my safety goggles to check.
Beyond the flash, the red core was pulsing furiously.
Which meant─.
It was using the special magic the professors had set up.
What is it? Another boulder flying at us?
I peered carefully beyond the flash.
This time─.
It was a different pattern from before.
The golem's upper body folded in half and twisted sideways,
then the core and surrounding structures detached and shot upward.
Soon, they all clumped together into a single form.
"Th... that's..."
"That... doesn't look anything like what Celen described..."
Luke was right.
A form I'd never seen in any future.
Not a shield, but a small flight-specialized golem.
A vortex created by the core spun fiercely below, generating propulsion.
A moment later─.
Some structures rose up as well,
transforming into a shape with sharp blades protruding in all directions.
What the hell...
Without giving us time to grasp the situation,
the small flying golem spun violently and charged at the two of them at high speed.
"Ruena─! Marian─!"
"Guh..."
"Wh-what─?! Why is this thing so fast──!"
Fortunately, they both managed to dodge somehow,
but the golem made a sharp turn in midair, changed direction, and dove at them again.
High speed.
Transformation into a small golem.
And unpredictable mobility from free flight.
A sight impossible in the futures I'd seen.
What in the world...
Standing around stunned wouldn't help.
While scanning changed futures for countermeasures, I quickly analyzed the cause.
In the previous future, it had definitely been─.
A shield.
Defense boost.
The sudden change now was─.
Flight.
Mobility boost.
Clearly different traits.
A complete reversal of the established rules.
Why the sudden difference?
I quickly replayed recent events.
Ruena blocked one arm,
Lime and Luke sealed the golem's legs with dryad vines.
Marian's summon drew the other arm's attention─.
Then pushed back the arm Ruena was blocking,
allowing a precise strike on the core section.
Finally,
Marian leaped up to shatter the casing around the core.
Ah, no way─!
In that instant─.
A major realization flashed through my mind.
Yes.
The premise itself was wrong.
The transformation magic that altered the golem's form and increased its defense.
A massive shield forming at chest level to protect the core.
My hypothesis had been:
Special magic to boost the golem's defense.
But─.
The true nature of the professors' special magic on the golem
was adaptive transformation magic that changed its form to compensate for weaknesses, not just defense boosting.
In the original future, we'd targeted and tried to smash the golem's various weaknesses.
But now─.
We'd focused on restraining movement and suppression.
Intent on eliminating structures that could become a shield before it could form one.
That's why it changed.
Our future.
Damn. What do we do now...
Fortunately, the two were distracting the small golem.
Ruena deflected blades while dodging,
and Marian, with her injured arm, focused purely on evasion without further injury.
But─.
Neither was in a state to carry out orders.
"Ah! This side's starting to move again too!"
"What?"
I snapped my head up at Lime's words.
The golem's main body, which had been still, began moving again.
Luke, grasping the situation, shouted urgently.
"Lime! Summon more dryads! I'll reinforce them!"
"I can't! I've used too much mana! And summoning takes time...!"
Those two had reached their limits in multiple ways.
I pulled two special wires from my pocket.
A thief's essential tool.
Usually for crossing to opposite buildings or attacks, but...
Now, to bind the golem arm that Luke and Lime were barely holding.
I quickly drove the wires held in both hands into the ground.
Then, I stole a bit of mana from Ruena and infused it into the wires.
As the mana flowed in─.
The wires shot out with a sharp hiss, wrapping around the golem's arm and climbing up.
A short gasp of admiration came from behind me.
"Whoa, what is that?!"
"...Self-defense tool. In case some group targeting Ruena shows up, for binding enemies in emergencies."
"Ah, I see."
"...As expected of Eliad's aide."
In times like this, being Eliad's aide was truly a blessing.
Otherwise─.
I'd have had to wring out some excuse.
Confirming the wires were secured, I said to Luke.
"Luke, we won't last long like this. Reinforce it with magic!"
"Yes! Got it!"
Blue light flashed from Luke's staff.
Mana spread from the ground along the wires.
The reinforced wires gripped the golem's arm even tighter.
"Looks good!"
"Yeah, this should hold for a bit."
"But at this rate, it might lift the ground up too."
"We have to do something before then."
For now, the immediate fire was out.
Now...
The problem was landing the decisive blow.
I glanced to the side.
The small golem was still spinning furiously, tormenting the two.
Its trajectory was utterly erratic.
Mobility so unpredictable it defied prediction.
But─.
Even if prediction was impossible, foresight was not.
I quickly stole Ruena's futures to grasp its next trajectories.
There─!
I pulled out the last wire from my pocket.
Then the bags of various sizes with strings attached.
I stuffed them full of cookies and expensive potions from my pocket.
And then─,
staring piercingly in the direction from the future, I began timing it.
Three.
Two.
One.
Now─!
A thief never misses a target they've set.
And─.
That instinct was perfect this time too.
The wire I threw hit the exact spot without a millimeter of error.
Kiiiiiiing──!
With an impact like my arm might rip off─,
the wire's tip pierced straight through the small golem's center.
"Ngh..."
"Celen──!"
"I'm fine!"
Cookies.
Potions.
The bags too.
I stole the small golem's power, stripping away the cost of all the forced gifts to the golem.
In that moment─,
the small golem, which had been retreating rapidly, slowed drastically.
"The golem's speed is dropping─!"
"Wh-what?! Celen, you're ridiculously strong?!"
Not strength—I'd stolen its power—but I didn't bother explaining.
The pain like my arm was being torn off eased significantly.
But─.
I hadn't stolen all its power.
The small golem was still hovering in the air, slowly retreating.
It was holding on somehow,
but the wire coiled inside the device was starting to unravel bit by bit.
Then─.
Ruena's urgent shout rang out.
"Celen, hold on tight! I'll somehow climb up and...!"
"No! Not enough time for that! Ruena, any magic that reaches that far─?!"
"I have one, but I'm out of mana right now... Ugh──!"
Maybe because the core-bearing small golem was caught.
The giant golem thrashed wildly like it was going berserk.
The dryad vines tore off like paper.
Even the ground-anchored wires were on the verge of ripping free,
and Marian's summoned flame wyvern took a hit and plummeted into the ravine.
Ruena, who had steadied herself, hurriedly struck the opposite arm that the flame wyvern had been distracting.
I was holding the small golem with the wire,
and Lime and Luke were scrambling to reseal the golem's legs.
All our limbs were tied up, so to speak.
All except─.
One person.
Yes. This was the only way now.
"Marian──!"
"Uh, yeah?!"
"You use your magic to blow that thing away in one shot─!"
"Wh-what?! Me──?!"
My dagger can't reach.
Ruena lacked mana, and
she couldn't cast spells while blocking an arm.
Everyone knew.
That Marian was the only solution.
As all eyes turned to her, Marian fidgeted and mumbled.
"I, me... To cast magic..."
"Yes! Your magic can definitely do it, Marian!"
"I'll cast reinforcement magic on you right away!"
"Hurry. Celen's struggling."
The team urged her on relentlessly, leaving no room for hesitation.
I felt the same.
Gripping the wire tighter, I opened my mouth.
"You wanna lose to Scarlett?"
"Grrrr──!"
Marian squeezed her eyes shut and rapidly tapped the air.
The moment her movement stopped─,
enormous magical power began emanating from Marian.