Chapter 19
Chapter 19
THE COMMANDERS AND SOLDIERS saluted us as we departed. Reyha saw us off with tears in her eyes.
Clara and I took off on the phantom horse.
They wouldn’t last long, but Clara cast Protection and Mana Shield protection spells for us. I had already used Invisible Demon since the night before, so I put it to use.
“Are you seeing this?” Clara asked.
“Hard to miss it…” The thing was huge!
We were still in sight of Axeholm.
From there we could see a massive figure. But this wasn’t a figure we were happy to see.
The Rust King appeared from the shadow of the rocky mountain in front of us.
The shape was undoubtedly the same as the rust beasts. It had six legs and looked like a lizard with a body covered in rust. There were horns jutting out of its head, and it possessed some four or five outstretched tongues.
But the size…
“It’s as big as the digdag worm from yesterday,” I said.
“And that’s only the length…”
While we were flying high in the sky, I looked down at the earth-shaking king. It was about thirty meters long. It was about the same size as a digdag worm in length, but the king, with its barrel-like torso and six skittering legs, was a far more menacing presence.
When I imagined what the scene would look like if it reached Axeholm, it reminded me exactly of an anteater. The more I thought about it, the truer it seemed. If Axeholm was an anthill, did that mean the beasts had been waiting until it was stocked full of food?
Forget about anteaters and concentrate on your plan, I urged myself.
“Get us a little closer,” I told Clara. “I’ll use Destruction. If all goes well, it might be over in one shot.”
“Got it. Moving closer!” Clara gallantly kicked the phantom horse into an airy gallop.
We plunged as fast as a roller coaster. I watched the Rust King grow bigger and bigger as we approached, waiting for the perfect moment to cast my spell.
“As a consequence of this spell, one target will be obliterated. Destruction!”
My imagined self rolled the decahedral dice at the bookrest for the tome of Destruction within the sixth-level spellbook archive. Though there was a risk of failure, an instant-death spell was definitely best here.
Just so long as I didn’t fumble…
Please, work!
I put the image of failure out of my mind and rolled the dice. It felt like an eternity passed while I was waiting for the clattering sound of the dice to stop.
The result was…
***
“Destruction!!”
Fortunately, the spell activated successfully. My two selves completed the spell out loud in unison. Shining beads of light shot forth into the Rust King’s huge, lumbering body.
“Shu-gee-gee-geeee?!”
The king’s cry was even more shrill and metallic than the other beasts’. Its red, rust-covered body burst from the inside, sundered by the power of Destruction. It turned to dust right before my eyes…but didn’t disappear!
“What?!” I shouted.
“What happened?!” Clara demanded.
There was no doubt that all the rust covering the king had flown off in chunks and pieces. It spread like a cloud, obstructing our vision.
But the king itself was still alive. Its rock-like skin had been hidden by a solid layer of red rust. Now it was exposed, but it didn’t look like it had suffered any damage.
Destruction is a single-target spell. In other words, not only was the king too large to easily strike dead, under the spell’s rules, the red rust was treated as an existence independent of its body.
How is that fair…?
“Margilus! What next?!”
“Oh! Next, I hit it with Fireball.”
Foooom!
The king stretched out its tongue at the phantom horse circling overhead and spat out a stream of saliva. It wasn’t a single shot like the beasts had fired. This was more like a sprinkler, spraying in all directions and melting everything in its path.
I held on for dear life as the horse swooped to safety. “Agh!”
The hell?!
Not even the fanciest flying would save us from this acid rain for long.
Clara decided to take the phantom horse down. The horse’s body exuded white wisps of smoke. The steed neighed in pain from the burning of the king’s powerful acid.
Thanks to Clara’s multiple protective spells, we didn’t suffer any serious damage. But—
“Neiiigh!”
“Hold on tight!”
The phantom horse had excellent mobility, but it wasn’t made for combat. It couldn’t withstand the strong acid rain, and it gradually lost altitude. No…it was crashing.
I held Clara around the waist with one arm and the saddle with the other. Was there some way I could protect her? I was glad I had my staff with me.
***
“Margilus!”
I must have only been out for a moment. I picked myself up from the ground.
Clara’s glorious rear end was right in front of me. She stood firm, guarding me. Beyond the gorgeous blonde, the giant Rust King towered over us.
“It’s still the usual ten seconds, right?!”
“That’s right…”
That was all I needed to hear. I knew exactly what she meant. My body hurt all over, but I got up and stood next to Clara.
For a moment, she looked at me with her blue eyes. We were finally both standing, covered in mud. We naturally moved closer, holding each other up.
At times like these, we didn’t need to be hesitant or circumspect. I was almost having fun.
“Shu-geee!”
The Rust King opened its mouth wide and aimed its multiple tongues in our direction. Upon closer examination, it had the flat, varied teeth of an omnivore.
The holes at the tips of its tongues swelled.
I had already decided which spell to use. I felt scared, but brave at the same time. I was sure Clara would come through for me.
“As a consequence of this spell—”
“Let’s not die! Falga Hails Luxord!”
Clara cast her spells in a beautiful voice, even at times like this. Her extended fingertip shined for just a moment. A second later, a glow bright enough to burn my eyes cut through the sky in a flash.
“Shugeeah?!”
The scorching light burned off several of the king’s tongues, piercing clean through its upper jaw. There air split with the kind of whooshing sound I’d only ever heard in science fiction movies. This was probably the first time the king had ever suffered such an attack. It was no longer spitting acid, and instead shook its head like crazy.
“Geo!”
“I summon the statue that belongs to me. Apport!”
At the very moment Clara called out to me, I finished casting my spell. The activation judgment was successful.
Apport was a spell that summoned objects through space. I’d prepared a trick up my sleeve last night for precisely this situation.
I’d thought the probability that I would need to use this spell was very low. But the time…was now!
CLANG!
“Huh?!”
Between us and the writhing king, a grey wall and two stone pillars suddenly appeared. We looked up at a massive statue with a barrel-like body and two long, thick arms.
“Golem,” I cried out, “Crush that monster!”
CLANG!
The night before, I’d snuck out to the fifteen-meter-tall Kadrak statue in front of Axeholm. There, I’d made a few…special adjustments. The Kadrak became the main material for a unique application of Create Monster: Special. I turned it into a Living Stone Statue.
It wouldn’t have worked if it had been an ordinary statue. Since it was a sophisticated human-shaped statue that even had articulated joints, I was able to further convert it into a Living Stone Golem without too much processing.
Under the logic of my spells, a golem counted as an item rather than a monster. By the power of Apport, it whisked from its emplacement to the ground right before my eyes. The giant golem slowly swung out its fist—the sound of its joints moving was music to my ears.
CLANG!
“Shu-greeee?!”
The giant fist of rock hit the Rust King square in the head. The monster only reached up to the stomach of the golem, and couldn’t withstand the impact. It let out an unpleasant scream as it tried to retreat.
“Again, golem!”
CLANG!
This time, the fist dropped straight down from above, striking the Rust King in the back. Without any more red rust as armor, there was no hope for the king.
Or so I thought.
“Shu-gee-gee-gee!”
At the king’s roar, Clara gasped in surprise. “Was that…magic?!” She sat sprawled on the ground—it seemed she had expended the last of her mana.
The monster’s maw opened wide. “Greee!”
The cry carried a strange, almost musical timbre. There was power in that sound, power equivalent to a spell. Red rust appeared out of thin air, rapidly materializing all over the king’s body.
“No way,” Clara muttered, stunned. “If it has this much magical power…”
But it had made a mistake by casting a protection spell instead of attacking the golem.
I called for the fatal blow. “All right, golem! Finish it!”
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The golem swung its long, thick arms around and slammed its fists into the body of the king. Its onslaught was merciless. Every successive hit sent the red rust flying, only for the king to repair the damage with magic. This went on for a while.
The king spat out its acidic mucus from its remaining tongues, but soon enough, it ran out of the strength it needed to regenerate its rust-red armor. I issued a new order.
“Lift it up, golem!”
CREEEAK!
The golem faithfully picked up the king’s lizardlike body and hoisted it high. The injured king’s legs furiously pumped as it tried to escape. It aimed every horn on its head at the golem’s body.
CRACK!
The horns swung with all the force of a pile driver. One of them came in contact with the golem, but it shattered easily. The dwarves’ sturdy stone statue had also been enhanced with magic. It might be said that the golem was itself a completely magical weapon.
“As a consequence of this spell, I will summon a lightning bolt two meters wide and twenty meters high. Lightning!”
“Shugeeaaa?!”
I aimed my Staff of Wizardry at the Rust King and called down the thunder.
For a moment, a pale blue light spread out over the earth, and a roaring wave of sound shook us where we stood. The lightning that fell from the heavens penetrated the king just as I’d planned, coursing in a straight line through its entire body, top to bottom.
As if to show off its sheer tenacity, the king endured my Lightning.
But I had more where that came from. I used every last attack spell in my arsenal, one after another, until I’d completely burned its giant body.
Well, almost every spell. I did restrain myself from dropping Meteor.
***
When I returned to Axeholm with the golemized Kadrak, the dwarves gave us an enthusiastic welcome. I instructed the golem to walk every step away of the way.
Garde, head of House Zamslon, certified me as a “true friend of Axeholm” there on the spot. The dwarves responded with raucous cheers.
***
Clara had also played a big part in our victory, but she fell asleep right after we got back to Axeholm. Apparently, it was a side effect of the Physical Boost spell. Reyha and Lade weren’t feeling too well, either.
On the way, Clara had explained what it felt like to receive such a blessing. “…Immediately after your enchantment fell over me, my power doubled. Truthfully, it was much the same during the previous battle at the daemon nest.”
According to Clara, she didn’t normally have the aptitude needed to use the ultra-high-level spell Falga Hails Luxord.
Yet according to the rules of D&B, Physical Boost had no effect on the mental ability scores of INT and WIS. If that was true, then why had her sorcery been enhanced?
***
Clara and the others were unable to attend, but there was a celebration and several ceremonies. It all took about two days.
Regarding my appropriating Kadrak, a monument that had taken fifteen years to build, I was prepared to weather scorn and anger. Contrary to my expectations, I was praised. When I told them that since it wasn’t really made from golem materials in the first place, that its golem-like movements were only temporary, I was met with disappointment.
The dwarves reaffirmed their commitment to the anti-daemon alliance with Castle Getaeus, and vowed to swiftly commence trade. They also promised maximum cooperation in establishing a tunnel and road to Filsand. Compensation for exterminating the rust beasts had been paid out in both cash and goods. We’d won a considerable wealth of money and supplies.
Trade with Filsand, however, still required the consent of Filsand itself.
While I was considering whether we should return to Castle Getaeus first before setting out on a new mission, Garde came to me with a proposal.
“Conveniently, the daughter of the duke of Filsand happens to be here visiting on business. Why don’t we consult with her tomorrow?”
***
Later that night, we ate together in my guest room.
“…I didn’t realize that girl was the daughter of the duke of Filsand,” Clara muttered. “How troublesome.”
“Our first impression might not have been the best,” I agreed.
That duke’s daughter was the one we’d happened to meet in the elevator.
Clara might have been embarrassed, but I felt pretty awkward myself. Chances were good that I’d made the worst impression of all.
Garde took on the role of intermediary, but the actual discussions were to begin the next day. What will I do if she refuses?
“I believe she’s Elisabel Roney Filsandia,” said Ild. “I’ve heard rumors about her. They say she’s something of a prodigy when it comes to trade negotiations and diplomacy.”
“She knows about your battle with the rust beasts, correct?” Reyha pointed out. “Her impression must have changed after that.”
“Well, just sitting here fretting about it won’t change anything,” I said. “Why don’t we take a bath to prepare for tomorrow?”
“Mmm,” Lade intoned pleasantly.
“Oh, yes!”
Everyone from Castle Getaeus had already become enamored with the hot springs. They stood up quickly at my suggestion.
Then…
Just as we were heading to the door to leave, there was a violent knock.
Reyha’s response came fast and sharp. “Who goes there? This is the room of the great magic user, Lord Geo Margilus. State your name and business.”
The stiff voice of a man both angry and nervous replied from the other side. “I’m sorry for coming so late. I am a member of the Filsand knights. We have lost track of the daughter of the duke of Filsand, Lady Elisabel. I want to search your room.”