CHAPTER 33

Driven into a Corner

“Do you think Seiya’s okay?”

Kiriko asks me this outside the observation room, her voice full of concern.

“He’ll be fine! He’s just a little worked up because of everything that happened. Seiya’s mentally tough. I’m sure he’ll find a way to get himself out of this mess in no time!”

“Really?! Thank goodness!”

I told her everything was going to be okay, but deep down inside, I’m concerned. Seiya’s never really lost his cool like that before. Of course, I’m painfully aware of how he feels, but even now, the Killing Machines continue to drill at the south wall while others try to go under it…

“Are you okay, Kiri? It must be hard seeing fellow Killing Machines destroyed by the golems.”

“Y-yes, it is hard, but seeing humans being killed pains me even more…”

The kindhearted Killing Machine lowers her gaze, and I fall silent, not knowing what to say.

After that, Seiya sends around half of the golems at the north wall to the south wall. Unfortunately, the plan fails. The Killing Machines strike just as the golems turn their backs, and before long, the golems are outnumbered. In addition, those protecting the south wall are pushed back by the new Killing Machines with drills for arms. The new models’ performance is higher than the normal models’. It looks like one new version is essentially as strong as one golem.

…I should probably leave Seiya alone for now, but I feel so uneasy knowing that the enemy could break through the wall at any moment. With firm determination, I grab Kiriko and head into the observation room where Seiya is.

“So…? Have you come up with a plan yet?”

Without looking back at me, Seiya continues staring at the bucket monitor and mutters:

“I considered the possibility that they might break through the wall or go under it, so I am thinking about moving all the golems in Termine near the wall.”

“All of them? You mean the ones protecting the town and palace as well?”

“Exactly. While it would weaken our defense, this is the only thing we can do to protect the people of Termine.”

“But…what if the underground Killing Machines don’t return to the surface right away after passing beneath the wall? What if they continue until they reach the palace before showing themselves?”

Seiya’s face is shocked. He then nods to himself a few times.

“Oh, right. Yes… Yes, that’s… You’re absolutely right. I’ll come up with another plan.”

After returning his gaze to the monitors, Seiya begins nervously tapping his foot while biting his nails.

I can’t believe Seiya didn’t think of something that even I thought of!

I guess that’s just how mentally on edge he is right now. Feeling somewhat depressed, I decide to leave the room.

I wonder how long we have before the machine corps gets past the wall. But…I have to believe there’s enough time for Seiya to return to his usual composed self. While we may be cornered, it’s not all bad. Gazing into the sky from the tower, Kiriko gushes with a cheerful note in her voice:

“Rista! It looks like the sky’s clearing up!”

I look and see that the rain clouds hanging over Termine are already starting to disappear. It looks like the golems won’t be weakened by rainwater for now.

A few hours pass without anything eventful happening. I can’t see what’s going on underground in the south, but the earth-serpent surveillance cameras are making it clear that the new Killing Machine models are also having a hard time breaking through the extra-thick southern wall. While the golems in the north were outnumbered for a while, their abilities exceed those of the normal Killing Machines, allowing them to slowly gain the upper hand once again. The situation seems to be improving gradually, but…

“The enemy is acting strange.”

There’s doubt in Jonde’s voice. He returned to the tower after giving orders to the soldiers in Termine and is watching the Killing Machines’ behavior.

“What do you mean, ‘strange’?”

“The Killing Machines in the north and south are backing off even though they aren’t losing…”

It isn’t long before Jonde’s concern takes form. Far from the tower, a cloud of dust rises into the air, followed by a rumble.

“Wh-what the…?!”

Jonde and I strain our eyes as we stare at the dust cloud.

“No way…! That’s…!”

With eyesight far better than a human’s, I instantly see the legion of Killing Machines heading toward Termine like a tidal wave. And to make matters worse…

“Th-they’re coming at us from every direction!”

I look around when I hear the soldier yell out those words, discovering that clouds of dust are, in fact, closing in on Termine. It’s as if a giant creature were trying to swallow the kingdom whole. The noisy rumbling gradually transforms into uniform, mechanical marching as the Killing Machines get close enough to individually discern. Most of them are normal Killing Machines, but there are some new models mixed in as well. Nevertheless, what’s most surprising is the sheer number of them. Jonde wipes the sweat off his forehead with his hand.

“There must be ten thousand of them—no, even more than that! Were they waiting for reinforcements?!”

“There’s no way we’re gonna be able to stop that many!”

“We can do it! If we gather all the golems in Termine and send them into battle, we should be able to fight them on an equal footing! It’s risky, but we have no choice! We have to defeat them while the sun is still out!”

“Y-yeah… Right…”

Jonde’s strategy is no different from Seiya’s earlier, and I can no longer object to that plan. There just isn’t time. After the Killing Machines join the army of reinforcements, they surround the golems protecting the outer walls. It’s a hair-trigger situation, but even then, the Killing Machines don’t move.

“Wh-what are they waiting for this time…?”

A thunderous explosion echoes from above. But after looking up, I shudder as a geometrical figure is being painted in the sky above Termine.

“A magic circle?! Don’t tell me that…!”

The bad feeling I had in my gut comes true. The magic circle glows, and the clear sky fills with dark clouds, followed by a squall of heavy rain. The golems’ movement is clearly affected as they are pelted by the vicious rainfall. They become sluggish as the horde of Killing Machines surrounds them. I even see some golems within the walls fall to their knees.

B-but why?! How did the enemy know they were weak to rain?! We just figured that out ourselves only a few moments ago! There’s no way any of this information could have leaked outside the walls!

I can’t gather my thoughts, and there’s no time to reflect. The Killing Machines attack the weakened golems in unison. The slowed golems are gradually defeated and return to dust. After getting past the golems’ defense, the Killing Machines head straight for the wall, allowing the new models to begin drilling through it.

Jonde turns on his heel and heads toward the observation room where Seiya is.

“Jonde?! What do you plan on doing?!”

“Even sending every last golem over there isn’t going to change the tide of battle! We need the Hero out there! We have no choice but to fight on the front line ourselves!”

“B-but Seiya is in no condition to do that!”

“I don’t care! I’ll drag him out into battle myself if I have to!”

“W-wait! Let’s calm down and talk about this!”

In the middle of our argument, Jonde and I, along with Kiriko, crowd into the observation room…but I can hardly believe what I see. Seiya is sitting on a chair with his legs crossed while elegantly sipping on some tea. Jonde trembles with rage.

“A-a-are you seriously relaxing with a cup of tea?!”

“Jonde, wait! I’m sure Seiya is just trying to relax, so—”

“Do you honestly think we have time for that?! Ready yourself! We’re going into battle!”

But Seiya doesn’t look up from his tea.

“The tea in Termine has a wonderful aroma. It’s similar to what we call Darjeeling tea in my world. Simply delicious.”

After speaking with a soft tone, Seiya takes another sip. Jonde grabs him.

“Did the tea make you drunk?! The enemy’s plan worked, and the golems have been weakened! We don’t have time to waste!”

“Oh, shut up.”

Seiya suddenly splashes his tea in Jonde’s face!

“Wh-what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“You smell like a zombie, so I thought a little Darjeeling would make you smell better. From now on, I’m calling you the Darjeeling Zombie.”

“How dare you! I’m going to kill you, you worthless excuse for a Hero!”

Jonde is incredibly pissed, but more importantly, there’s something that stands out to me about Seiya’s ill-mannered behavior.

S-Seiya’s back to normal! I mean, there’s nothing normal about his normal behavior, but he’s back to his usual self! What the heck happened?!

Seiya ignores Jonde while staring at a certain screen displaying one earth serpent’s camera. Pictured on the screen is a unique Killing Machine that’s about three times larger than normal ones and has four arms and four legs. Staring at the spiderlike mechanical monster on the screen, Kiriko mutters:

“Father…!”

Th-that’s the Machine Emperor Oxerio?! If the general himself is here, that must mean that they’re coming at us with everything they’ve got with this third wave of enemies! They plan on finishing this battle!

“This monitor is displaying what an earth serpent installed on the south wall is seeing. I set it up so we could communicate through it as well. Give it a try.”

Seiya holds an earth serpent out to Kiriko. She timidly picks it up before speaking to Oxerio through it like with a microphone.

“F-Father? Can you hear me?”

After a few moments of silence…

“…Is that the Killing Machine who was captured by the humans?”

Unlike Kiriko’s, Oxerio’s voice sounds forced and robotic.

“I will not negotiate. Whether or not they destroy you means nothing to me. I can create countless others to replace you.”

Oxerio’s cold, distant voice causes Kiriko to slightly tremble, but she musters the courage to continue:

“C-could you please stop attacking the humans?”

“What’s gotten into you? I see no reason to halt the mission. Our army currently has a tremendous advantage over them. I unleashed a magic circle for rain with the magic device granted to me by the brindle-haired demon, thus weakening the golems. In addition, it will not be long before we can destroy the wall from all four sides. Furthermore, the drill unit was able to reach two hundred and fifty meters underground and is currently making its way underneath the wall. Nothing stands in the way of our victory.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking you to stop, Father! I don’t want to see any more humans killed or machines destroyed!”

“Killing humans is our duty.”

“Father…!”

Oxerio has no interest in reaching a compromise. That’s when Jonde suddenly points to one of the monitors.

“Look! That monster was telling the truth! The south wall is about to come crumbling down!”

A fissure runs through the south wall, and according to Oxerio, the other walls are like this as well. But even so, Seiya calmly declares:

“Don’t worry. I’ll strengthen the walls.”

Oxerio seems to have heard Seiya as well.

“While you may be able to repair part of the wall, your mana is already at its limit. I suspect you will not be able to repair multiple spots simultaneously.”

Ack! He was even able to predict that?! Wh-what are you going to do, Seiya?!

But Seiya casually snaps his fingers and says:

“Repair Iron Wall.”

Then the ground begins to rumble.

“Seiya! You regenerated the south wall that was about to break, right?!”

“No, I repaired all the walls.”

“R-really?! You had enough MP left to do that, huh?!”

“I also increased the thickness of the walls twentyfold along with extending the depth by two thousand meters.”

“…Excuse me?”

I—I must be hearing things.

“Um… Could you repeat that one more time?”

“The reinforced walls are twenty times thicker and extend two thousand meters underground. Not even an ant can get through now.”

…Jonde, Kiriko, and I all exchange gazes. Then, after a few moments of silence…

“““Whaaaaaat?!”””

We scream.

“B-but you said that you could only increase the thickness and depth by five!”

“Besides, if you could do that, then why didn’t you do it sooner?!”

“E-everyone, wait! Look at that!”

Kiriko points at multiple monitors displaying what’s happening outside the walls. The cameras show something breaking through the ground and rising to the surface.

“Enemy reinforcements?!”

Jonde frowns, but what appears is not a new type of Killing Machine. It’s a golem over twice the size of a Killing Machine. Jonde turns to Seiya in astonishment.

“There are golems outside the wall?! When did you do that?!”

“I hid them underground around Termine before doing anything else in case of an emergency.”

Countless golems start crawling out of the ground like zombies coming out of a grave.

“How many of them are there?!”

“Around thirty thousand.”

“‘Thirty thousand’?!”

“There are probably a little more than that, though. I made so many that I lost count.”

Seiya wasn’t lying, either. An unbelievable number of golems can now be seen on the monitors.

“I surrounded the machine corps surrounding Termine with these golems.”

The instant Seiya utters his plan, a magic circle appears in the sky over Termine once more.

“S-Seiya! It doesn’t matter how many golems there are! They’re going to be powerless against the enemy if they get rained on!”

Rain mercilessly pours onto the golems that just swarmed out of the ground like cicadas, completely soaking them.

“What the…?!”

But they start crushing the Killing Machines as if the rain doesn’t slow them down at all! If anything, it’s like they’re unleashing their true power that they have been saving to smash, tear apart, and overwhelmingly push back the new type of Killing Machines.

“Wh-what’s going on?! I thought rainwater was supposed to weaken them!”

Seiya sends Jonde a reproachful glare.

“The golems I created have no weaknesses.”