The First Dimensional Rift (5)
The distance to Vilheim Magic Tower was considerable.
At the Crystal Golem’s current speed, it would arrive in about four hours. We had to move faster than that.
“Everyone, prepare to move!”
At my command, my disciples sprang into action.
“Tower Lord, what about transportation?” Lia asked.
“We’ll borrow horses from a nearby village.”
“Horses? Wouldn’t that be too slow?” Carlos said, sounding doubtful.
“If we use flight magic, it’ll be faster…”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“We need to minimize mana use. Have you forgotten that the Crystal Golem can detect mana? The moment we use too much of it, we might draw its attention again.”
“Ah…”
My disciples nodded in understanding.
“Then that would be the best option,” Alberte agreed. “It lets us move quickly without using mana.”
“Exactly. Let’s go.”
Borrowing seventeen horses from the nearby village wasn’t difficult. When Lia tossed a few gold coins their way, the villagers readily handed them over.
“Tower Lord, everything is ready.”
“Good. We move out!”
We rode hard toward Vilheim Magic Tower, keeping clear of the Crystal Golem. Even as we raced along, I never forgot to keep an eye on it.
Had we been riding for about two hours?
Up ahead of the Crystal Golem, at the outer edge of Vilheim Magic Tower, I could see Roimdel standing in place.
Ten or so high-ranking mages were deployed around him, and a massive blue magic circle had been drawn across the ground.
But the circle was warped in several places, and the flow of mana through it looked unstable.
An improvised magic circle.
I could tell at a glance. It was a shoddy formation, lacking refinement.
“Is Chief Roimdel planning to stop the golem there?” Lia asked as she rode beside me.
“Hmm... I’m not sure what he intends to do. For now, keep going. Our destination is where Chief Roimdel is standing.”
“Yes! Understood.”
We changed our target and kept riding. We still had a fair distance left.
Had another thirty minutes passed?
The Crystal Golem was nearly at the place where Roimdel had deployed the defensive magic circle.
I watched to see how Roimdel would handle it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
On the outskirts of Vilheim Magic Tower.
“Chief Roimdel! We estimate the Crystal Golem will arrive in about ten minutes.”
A senior mage called out to Roimdel.
“How are the preparations coming along?” Roimdel asked.
“The output of the magic circle has been pushed to its limit. However…”
The senior mage trailed off.
“Go on.”
“The mana flow is still unstable. The mana injected simultaneously by all ten of us hasn’t fully harmonized. In particular, there are signs of mana backflow at nodes three and seven.”
Roimdel’s expression hardened.
“We don’t have time. We’ll have to do the best we can.”
“But Chief, considering the power of that golem...”
A young mage spoke in an anxious voice. Fear was plain on the faces of the others as well.
“I know,” Roimdel answered heavily.
“Even the Blue Rose Magic Tower Lord’s Thunderbolt of the Flame Emperor couldn’t stop it. The strongest fusion magic of a fifth-circle mage was rendered useless.”
He looked down at the magic circle he had created.
An unstable blue barrier. An improvised shield, far removed from perfection.
“At best, this circle will hold once, maybe twice.”
“Then...”
“In the meantime, I’ll strike it directly.”
Roimdel drew out his wand—the sixth-circle mage’s wand that had been with him for fifty years.
The antique wand, set with a blue crystal, gave off a faint glow.
“Chief! You’re not planning to go personally, are you?” the white-bearded old mage asked, shocked.
“Of course I must. There’s no other choice. And if the Blue Rose Magic Tower Lord failed, it was probably because the point of attack was wrong.”
“The point of attack?”
“Yes. The golem’s chest—the heart of it.”
Roimdel continued speaking as he observed the Crystal Golem through a long-distance spell.
“When the Blue Rose Magic Tower Lord landed his final blow, the golem’s chest flashed. That wasn’t just reflected light. It must be the core that responds to mana.”
“Then…”
“That’s the weak point. If we concentrate our attack there, it may have an effect.”
There was no certainty in Roimdel’s voice. But he was grasping at straws.
“All mages to your positions!”
At his command, the mages moved to the node points of the magic circle. The ten senior mages formed a ring around it.
Thud— Thud—
The Crystal Golem’s footsteps drew closer and closer.
“Five minutes remaining!”
The mage in charge of observation shouted urgently.
Roimdel drew a deep breath.
A sixth-circle grand mage, Chief of Vilheim Magic Tower.
He had spent fifty years studying magic, and yet at this moment, he had never felt less confident.
Can I stop that monster?
But there was no retreating. If they failed here, Vilheim Magic Tower—and the empire itself—would be in danger.
“Activate the magic circle!”
At Roimdel’s shout, the ten mages poured their mana into it at once.
Kwaaaaaang—!
A blue barrier rose into the air.
A massive translucent wall, thirty meters high and a hundred meters wide, blocked the Crystal Golem’s path of advance.
But the barrier was warped in many places and trembled with unstable, wave-like ripples.
“Maintain output! Don’t let it falter for a second! I’ll begin the incantation for Genesis Flash.”
Roimdel raised his wand high. An immense surge of mana burst from his body.
Genesis Flash...
Roimdel’s strongest offensive spell as a sixth-circle mage.
A three-system fusion spell of light and lightning, it was the finishing move he had perfected over a lifetime.
Dazzling white light began to gather at the tip of his wand. The surrounding air ionized, crackling with static.
“Chief! The golem has made contact with the barrier!”
Thud—!
The Crystal Golem laid a hand on the blue barrier. At that instant, the shield shuddered violently.
Crack—!
“Output is dropping rapidly!”
One mage screamed.
“Hold it! Just a little longer!”
Roimdel grit his teeth and kept gathering mana for Genesis Flash. The wand itself began to tremble under the strain of overload.
Kung—!
The Crystal Golem brought a massive fist down on the barrier.
“Agh!”
The mage assigned to node three was slammed by mana backlash and collapsed, and part of the barrier broke away.
“Node three has collapsed! The barrier is falling apart!”
“Just a little longer...!”
Sweat streamed down Roimdel’s forehead.
Kung—! Kung—!
The Crystal Golem struck the barrier again and again, and the blue wall began to crack like a spiderweb.
“Node seven has reached its limit too!”
“Endure it! Just a little more!”
At last, the white light on Roimdel’s wand was complete. The brilliance condensed, glowing like a tiny sun.
Now!
He lifted the wand high, and an enormous amount of mana erupted from his body in a single burst.
The full power of a sixth-circle grand mage.
“Genesis Flash!”
A colossal spear of light took shape. It was forged entirely from pure white radiance, and it must have been at least twenty meters long.
Whooooosh—!
The spear of light shot toward the Crystal Golem’s chest, straight for its heart—fierce as a divine spear descending to deliver judgment.
Kwa-gagagakwang—!
The spear struck the Crystal Golem’s chest.
And for an instant, the heart of the golem burst into brilliant light before exploding, flooding the surroundings with blinding radiance. The nearby trees were swept away and toppled by the shockwave.
“...”
“...”
A brief silence followed.
“...Did it work?” one mage asked cautiously, lifting his head.
Smoke and dust slowly cleared.
And when the scene was revealed, despair settled over everyone.
The Crystal Golem was still standing.
Aside from a tiny crack in its chest, it was almost completely unharmed.
“...No way.”
Roimdel’s face turned pale.
A sixth-circle grand mage’s three-system fusion spell. A direct hit aimed precisely at the core—and all it had done was leave a small crack?
The Crystal Golem raised its fist again.
“Chief! The mana—!”
One mage shouted like he was screaming for his life. Roimdel had exhausted an enormous amount of mana, and the stability of the magic circle had plummeted in an instant.
Kukung—!
The second fist came down.
Kwa-gagagakwang—!
The blue barrier shattered into fragments.
Shards of mana scattered like glittering dust.
“Agh!”
“Kuhk!”
The mages at the nodes were struck by the backlash and collapsed, while some of them coughed up blood.
Roimdel, who had borne the greatest shock at the center of the formation, dropped to one knee as well.
“Kgh...”
Mana backlash had damaged him internally, and blood spilled from his mouth.
“Chief!”
The white-bearded old mage rushed over and supported him.
“I’m... fine.”
Roimdel said in a trembling voice.
Thud—. Thud—.
The Crystal Golem resumed its advance, stepping over the shattered magic circle and toward the fallen mages.
“F... fall back.”
Roimdel said, swallowing blood.
“Everyone, retreat to Vilheim Magic Tower!”
“But, Chief! If we give ground here—!”
“There’s no more way to stop it!”
Roimdel shouted in a voice filled with despair.
“My strongest fusion spell didn’t work. It did no more than leave a tiny crack!”
“...”
The mages fell silent at Roimdel’s words.
A full-power strike from a sixth-circle grand mage. An attack that had targeted the weak point exactly. And yet it had done nothing but leave a small crack.
“We have no choice but to make our last stand behind Vilheim Magic Tower’s barrier. Hurry...!”
They withdrew to the final line of defense: Vilheim Magic Tower.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I watched the entire scene through long-distance magic.
The moment Roimdel’s Genesis Flash struck the Crystal Golem’s chest, I held my breath.
Did it work?
But the result was disappointing.
Just a small crack.
That was all the three-system fusion spell of a sixth-circle grand mage had managed to create.
“Tower Lord... how are we supposed to stop that golem?” Alberte asked anxiously.
I didn’t answer. I kept watching the Crystal Golem.
The crack in its chest... and that glowing heart.
That was definitely the weak point. Roimdel had been right.
But the problem was durability.
If a direct hit from a sixth-circle grand mage only made a tiny crack...
My Flame Concentration Cannon would have even less effect.
“Tower Lord, shall we join Chief Roimdel?” Lia asked.
I nodded.
“Yes. We’ll link up with him first. And then...”
I looked once more at the Crystal Golem.
We need to find a way. A way to bring that monster down.
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