Divine Iron Armored Golem (3)

With Kal joining the battle, the tide shifted dramatically. We had gained only one more attacker, but that alone was enough to finally break through the Divine Iron Armored Golem's defenses.

Specifically, three shields blocked Jigoro's fists, my magic, and Kal's tail and claws, while its sword knocked away Usuba's slashes and Akane's blade chipped away at its core. We had considerable difficulty breaking through its defenses, but we had finally reached the point where we could steadily damage the core. Perhaps the path to victory was finally coming into view?

Kyuueeeeeen!

"Oh?"

"Hmm..."

"Magic!"

The Divine Iron Armored Golem had added a new method of attack at this stage. It was the same type it had used before fusing: magic emitted through gaps in its armor. Perhaps because it had three cores, it seemed capable of using all three attributes it had possessed before the fusion.

Moreover, it alternated between them, allowing it to continue using magic almost without interruption. Sebastian had already grown accustomed to dealing with it from before the fusion, so he had no trouble, but Jigoro and the others, whose role was to break through its defenses, were forced to advance while accepting damage.

"The red one lit up."

"Hah! Take that!"

There was a way to tell which attribute of magic it would unleash and when. The answer was the cores embedded in its chest. When the red core lit up, it released fire magic; when the green core lit up, wind magic; and when the blue core lit up, water magic.

Knowing the attribute in advance was a major advantage. Jigoro, who had high resistance to fire, could charge in without hesitation. The moment it fired its flames was our greatest opportunity to attack.

"However, this is taking far too long... Heh heh, since I have seen Izamu's trump card, allow me to show you one of mine as well."

"Boss, are you using that?"

Usuba readied the black sword that had cut through my magic and put some force into it. Cracks appeared across the blade, and from them, accompanied by a wet squelch, something resembling flesh began to ooze out.

The flesh swelled as though it had been hidden somewhere impossibly small, twisting and writhing into an enormous tentacle. Its pink surface was covered in glistening slime, and mouths lined with jagged fangs appeared here and there.

Black tongues, the same color as the sword, extended from those mouths, their surfaces covered in countless eyeballs. The eyes came in a wide variety, from human-like eyes to those of birds of prey and reptiles, as well as several types of insect compound eyes.

The eyes twitched and rolled about as if searching for prey, which was utterly revolting. What the hell was that weapon with such awful taste?!

"Heh heh heh... Its former owners were an NPC adventurer party. It seems they were returning from investigating some ancient ruins, and this was one of the relics they excavated there. It is a trophy I took from them. I will not tell you the details of the weapon's true nature, however."

"It's still not cute..."

"Huh? Some kinda déjà vu... Nah, better not think about anything unnecessary."

The contrast between Usuba, who lovingly stroked the surface of the flesh, and Akane, who made no attempt to hide her disgust, was amusing even in this tense situation. Jigoro seemed to have something on his mind, but Jigoro shook his head and appeared to brush the stray thought away. He had probably seen something similar in a movie or something.

Even after becoming an enormous tentacle, its weight had not changed, and it apparently still counted as a sword. Usuba swung it down with the same precise, swift movements as before. The wet smack of flesh striking something rang out, but the Divine Iron Armored Golem caught it on a shield.

However, that seemed to have been a bad move. The tentacled mass wrapped its tongue around the shield, bit down with its fangs, and began gnawing on it with a harsh crunching sound. Even the mouths that were not directly touching the shield extended their eerie tongues and coiled them around it, preventing it from escaping. If I had to put it into words, I could almost feel its powerful determination to devour the shield at any cost.

Akane had looked uncomfortable before Usuba revealed the sword's power, but apparently that had not been because she was worried about its abilities being exposed. She had simply found the tentacle disgusting. I understood how she felt. Seeing Mikero for the first time had been quite a shock, but compared to that sword, he was practically adorable.

Returning to the matter at hand, Usuba's sword was devouring the shield at a terrifying speed, but the Divine Iron Armored Golem's response was impressive. Perhaps it had realized that it could not escape while caught, so it detonated the shield too.

"Heh heh heh... Thank you for the meal."

The Divine Iron Armored Golem lit up its three cores and began reconstructing the lost shield, but the explosion had been completely meaningless. At the instant it exploded, Usuba's sword had expanded to completely surround the shield and had even eaten the blast itself.

All the eyeballs on the tongues hanging from its mouths were filled with ecstatic delight. It was clear that the weapon was fascinated by powerful weapons, but its grotesque appearance was also deeply unsettling. Ancient relics... There were probably plenty of other terrible things like this one.

The shield's regeneration did not finish instantly, so for now, it had one fewer shield. This was the perfect opportunity to attack. Usuba and I took on the shields, Kal's tail smashed the sword through sheer force, and Akane's sword and Jigoro's fists attacked the cores. The Divine Iron Armored Golem thrashed about in an attempt to stop us, but Sebastian's shieldwork kept blocking the greatsword's attacks.

Gigi... Giiiiigigi!

The damage Akane had steadily accumulated had left the cores covered in cracks. When one of them—the blue core—developed a crack, the Divine Iron Armored Golem changed again. Its armor turned pitch-black, and a sickly-colored mist sprayed out through the gaps.

"【Smoke Magic】? It's using combination magic from this point on?!"

Magic that combines two attributes—in its case, those attributes yielded 【Smoke Magic】, 【Explosive Magic】, and 【Lightning Magic】. 【Smoke Magic】 generated a mist that inflicted continuous damage on anyone inside it, while 【Explosive Magic】 could inflict damage and knock its targets away at the same time. And 【Lightning Magic】 activated quickly, making it difficult to evade... Its tactical options had suddenly expanded.

This was far too much of a burden for Sebastian. Perhaps because he had an accessory that protected him from poison, he remained unfazed even after being covered in Poison Mist. But if it had been Acid Mist, it would have gradually eaten away at his health and the durability of his equipment.

What should we do? Should we have Kal take over the defensive role? No, that might get Kal killed. On the other hand, if we left everything to Sebastian alone, our healing could not keep up. My 【Soul Arts】 had a long duration and gradually restored health over that period. If he took damage faster than it could heal him, we would be slowly worn down.

Recovery potions used the same type of healing, and their effects stacked as well, so taking one could further increase the recovery rate. I was already using them, but even now Sebastian's health continued to decrease. At this rate, his health would run out before we could defeat it.

"Izamu-sama, please do not concern yourself with me. I have a trump card of my own."

"...All right. We'll finish it at this pace."

I trusted his unwavering tone as proof that he had a real chance of winning, not that he was simply bluffing, and decided to keep fighting. However, I could not simply leave everything to him. All right, he might scold me later, but... let's give it a try!

"Sorry, brother. Lightning Rod."

"Ow?! Hey, bro! What the hell are you doing—A-babababa!?!"

I stabbed the Lightning Rod into Jigoro. Whenever the golem fired lightning, every bolt shot toward him instead. He convulsed, crackling as though he had been electrocuted.

"...Huh? It didn't do any damage at all?"

"Did you forget your own traits, brother?"

Jigoro had taken almost no damage. That was because he also had resistance to lightning. It seemed we could have him take the hits from 【Lightning Magic】 for us. To ensure he was ready no matter when it used 【Lightning Magic】, I stuck another Lightning Rod into Jigoro.

By then, the shields had finished regenerating and once again began forming a three-shield defense. However, Usuba's tentacle sword came at them again, trying to devour them. The shields spun rapidly and batted it away as if refusing to let it do so.

"Hey, hey, you never did that before!" So it had a countermeasure against having its shields destroyed too? But Usuba did not panic or make a fuss. He calmly swung the tentacle sword with incredible speed.

Though it could not devour the shields, the flesh mass was enormously powerful; even collisions alone made the shields groan. Each blow warped them and dented them badly. However, Usuba was not the only one deforming the shields.

"Hah! I ain't about to lose to you, Kal!"

"GROOOOOOOH!!!"

Perhaps inspired by Usuba's unexpected display of brute force, Jigoro and Kal also roared as they set their sights on destroying the shields. Jigoro's powerful fists and Kal's tail warped the shields, and just when it seemed that they had developed fatal cracks, the shields shattered almost simultaneously.

"Yesssss!"

"Graaaoon!"

"That's not what you should be celebrating! Aim for the cores! Usuba, I'll handle the shields!"

"Right! That's what we were supposed to do!"

"Yes, I shall leave them to you."

"Astral Magic Circle, Spell Adjustment, Sand Blade!"

I scolded Jigoro and the others as their means and objective began to switch places, then launched our all-out assault. I fired spell after spell to pin down the shields, while Sebastian continued blocking the greatsword in its right hand. Meanwhile, the three people and one beast dodged the sword in its left hand and unleashed every attack they had against the cores.

Kal's tail tore through the chest armor holding the cores, while Jigoro's fists, Usuba's tentacle sword, and Akane's sword plunged precisely into the cores, carving deep, fatal cracks into them. Fragments of the cores spilled out, and a haze that seemed to be magic power hissed up from the damaged sections.

The Divine Iron Armored Golem sank to its knees as though all its strength had left it, released the swords in both hands, and let them fall to the floor. The floating shields also crashed down with a clattering clang. Had we... won?

No, the victory announcement had not appeared yet. That meant the battle was not over. Everyone seemed to understand that, and we gathered together and took up guarded stances. That was precisely why we noticed the enemy changing.

"What the hell? It's started shining again..."

"Heh heh, the usual thing at a time like this is..."

"...Self-destruct?"

No, no, no, no, no! Aren't the three of you being a little too relaxed about this?! There were no obstacles in the boss area, and there was nowhere to escape. A tremendous explosion was unquestionably about to occur, and I had no confidence that we would survive it. What should I do...?!

"Leave it to me."

"Sebastian?"

I was panicking inwardly without saying anything, but Sebastian stepped in front of everyone and raised his shield protectively. When he twisted the grip of his tower shield, something resembling an anchor bolt extended from its lower section. He drove it into the floor.

"All activation conditions fulfilled. Ultimate Art activated: 'Millennium Wall.'"

As Sebastian murmured, a gigantic phantom fortress wall suddenly appeared in front of his shield. It was translucent, yet remarkably imposing. I had barely begun to stare at it in awe when the Divine Iron Armored Golem unleashed a massive explosion that seemed to sear our vision. Fierce light and a roar violent enough to feel physical seized control of our sight and hearing.