Battle Against the Magic Golem Army (2)

Well then, you two are my opponents.

I leveled my odachi at the knight Golem and archer Golem. I didn't know whether this provocation would have any effect, but I couldn't let them join up with the two that had gone after Jigoro. Besides, surely they wouldn't ignore me after I'd shown them hostility, would they?

'Eliminate'

Hmm. It seems to have worked. Unfortunately, I don't have a Skill for drawing an opponent's attention like Jigoro does. I had worried it might not work, but apparently there was no need for concern.

Could it be they intend to quickly take me down before regrouping? If so, I find it a little insulting that they think so little of me.

The knight Golem closed the distance with its shield held out in front. By doing so, it was hiding the sword clutched in its other hand. It was probably trying to avoid revealing its attack and giving me a chance to read its swordplay.

At the same time, the archer Golem fired an arrow. Rather than obviously aiming for my head or another vital spot, it was targeting my knees. It was displaying surprisingly solid tactics!

"Here we go! Hah!"

I knocked the arrow aside with my wakizashi, then raised my odachi. I brought it down on the knight Golem with all my strength. If possible, I intended to cleave the Golem in two along with its shield.

Gya-gya-gya-gya-gya!

However, things weren't going to be that easy. My odachi had sliced through the Tarasque's fur and tough hide, but it couldn't cut the Golem's shield. The force of the blow sent the Golem flying and left only a shallow cut on its surface.

"Even Jigoro couldn't smash it apart with his punches... huh!"

I had been watching Jigoro from the corner of my eye, but even his fists didn't seem capable of destroying the shield. If even I couldn't cut an ordinary shield, splitting a thicker greatshield was surely impossible.

Even while I was looking elsewhere, the Golems didn't wait around. Perhaps to buy the knight Golem time to get back on its feet, the archer fired a rapid succession of arrows. I knocked them all away with my wakizashi. It was irritating, but in its own way, this was fun, like a minigame.

While I was doing that, the knight Golem stood back up. Once again, it came toward me with its shield held out in front. Hmm. I could easily intercept it with my odachi, but that would just repeat what had happened before.

That would be far too lacking in artistry. Since I had honed my sword and spear techniques from my youth onward, I might as well make full use of them. Brute force was fun too, but I wanted to finish this with a more skillful method.

"In that case, shall I let you make the first move?"

Having made up my mind, I raised my odachi high overhead and let the arms holding my katana and wakizashi hang loosely at my sides. Now then, how would they come at me?

'Eliminate'

The knight Golem first slammed its shield into me. I met it with my katana and deflected it, but then it thrust with the sword it had hidden behind the shield. Hmm, hmm. A rather ordinary tactic.

"Shah!"

I brought my odachi down onto the sword and knocked it away. Having both parts of its two-stage attack deflected, the knight Golem lost its balance. I intended to seize this opportunity, but the archer Golem behind it fired an arrow to interfere.

"You're in the way!"

I cut the arrow down with a backhand stroke. That kept me from counterattacking the knight Golem with my odachi. But there was no need to worry.

"I have more than one sword, you know?"

'E... El...iminate......'

While cutting down arrows with my odachi, I drove the katana and wakizashi I had left into gaps in the knight Golem's armor. Apparently, the plating beneath the armor was thin, because both my blades sank deeply inside. Oh, it seems I managed to short-circuit something.

"Well, all that's left is cleanup, but..."

'Eliminate'

I knocked away arrows with one hand while watching how the others were fighting. Some of them were using somewhat dangerous tactics, but they probably wouldn't die. Besides, it would be gauche to rush in and help them.

"Jigoro seems to be playing around too, so perhaps I'll do the same."

Well then, Archer Golem-kun. You'll keep me company until you run out of arrows. Don't worry, I'll finish you off in an instant when the time comes. Ho ho ho!

◆◇◆◇◆◇

"Oh, come on! You two are so selfish!"

I couldn't help shouting while parrying the dual-wielding Golem's successive attacks. Whenever the three of us—Grandpa, Jigoro, and me—formed a group, I was always forced to take the role of leader.

Why? One glance at the situation should make that obvious, shouldn't it? Jigoro charges in without saying a word, and Grandpa takes advantage of that to rampage alongside him. They're both relatively sensible normally, but the moment a fight starts, they become completely self-centered. There's no way I can leave leadership to them.

If anything, I honestly think Izam is amazing for managing to keep those two on a leash whenever we're acting as a group. ...Though it is true that he sometimes starts doing things that make me wonder if he's lost his mind.

"Hey! I don't have time to think about unnecessary things!"

At this point, there was nothing else to do. I would let the two of them rampage however they pleased and focus on the Golem right in front of me. Unlike those two, who seem born for battle, I didn't have nearly as much talent. Handling even one opponent was already more than enough for me!

I somehow kept dodging the attacks launched by the Golem. To be honest, I'm terrible at defense. If I take the offensive, I can make Grandpa struggle, but as soon as I have to defend, I lose almost immediately. I just can't master things like the parries Izam taught me in such a short time.

That's why the assassin style suits me perfectly. Surprise attacks are the foundation. Ideally, I kill the opponent instantly, and even if I can't, I at least inflict a serious wound. Then I seize the initiative, attack relentlessly, and finish them off while riding that momentum. That's how I've made it this far.

'Eliminate'

"Ugh, but I really hate fighting head-on!"

That's why I honestly hate straight-up fights like this, and being forced entirely onto the defensive was the worst. My enemy was a dual-wielding Golem, just like me. That meant I could read its movements to a certain extent, but knowing what it would do didn't mean I could respond perfectly...

'Eliminate'

"Whoa! That was close!"

My Race was Assassin Jewel Slime. With "Assassin" right in the name, my Agility was the highest in the clan. As long as I focused entirely on dodging in earnest, I wasn't likely to get hit easily.

On top of that, thanks to evolving with an item I'd received as an event reward, my base Defense was actually high enough to rival Iris's. The name "Jewel" wasn't just for show. As a result, a glancing hit didn't do me any real damage. My HP was the second lowest in the clan, after Izam, though.

But my slime body was holding me back. Its size hadn't grown at all since I started playing, so there was a bigger difference between me and the dual-wielding Golem than between an adult and a child.

'Eliminate'

"Oh, come on! Isn't it cheating to use stomps in addition to swords!?"

The Golem didn't just slash at me with its swords; it also tried to stomp me with the soles of its feet. As for me, my reach was far too short to counterattack. Even when I stretched out my surface as far as I could, I couldn't reach as far as the Golem's upper arm. What was I supposed to do!?

I knew I couldn't win as easily as the other two did, playing around in a two-on-one fight, but it still frustrated me a little. I knew I couldn't move the same way they did, but I wanted to defeat my opponent in a cool way of my own, at least. It was a silly bit of pride, but I was a sore loser by nature, so what could I do?

"Huh? If I don't take any real damage, do I even need to defend?"

As I wondered how to turn the situation around, that thought suddenly came to me like divine inspiration.

That's right! Deflecting attacks and counterattacking like those two was only possible for inhuman monsters like them. Someone with only ordinary talent like me couldn't reproduce their godlike technique. So I should take advantage of my high Agility and Defense, ignore the enemy's attacks, and keep attacking relentlessly!

'Eliminate'

"That doesn't work!"

Yeah, it seemed I really only took a tiny amount of damage. In that case, I would stop worrying about defense and evasion and just attack, attack, and attack! I would put the attacking style Grandpa had praised front and center!

"Take that! Hyaa! Haaaah!"

'Eliminate'

The dual-wielding Golem and I stopped moving our feet and began slashing at each other. That's when I realized I had another advantage. We Slimes have a weakness called a core. Conversely, that meant attacks against anything other than the core were not very effective unless the attack had an attribute we were weak against.

To reach my core, an enemy would have to break through my rock-hard Defense and send a blade all the way to the colorless, transparent core hidden inside. In a situation where magic wasn't functioning properly, wouldn't that make me extremely difficult to finish off with physical attacks?

'Eliminate'

"The armor is hard, but... if I aim for the gaps!"

The Golem's armor was incredibly sturdy. It seemed different from the α- and β-types we'd fought before. But with an artificial Golem, there were inevitably gaps around the joints. My blades could get through there!

I bounced around the Golem, repeatedly targeting its joints as I swung my daggers. The Golem struck back, but it couldn't quite keep up with my speed. I took the occasional lucky punch, but it barely did any damage. This could work!

'Eliminate'

"Here...! Piercing Thrust!"

I quickly circled behind the Golem and used a Martial Skill with both daggers, driving their blades into the joints behind both of the Golem's knees. Piercing Thrust increased the power and critical-hit rate of stabbing attacks. How about this!?

Crack-crack...!

When I stabbed in with my daggers, I heard an unpleasant sound, like something breaking. I felt it connect! But I couldn't be too careful. I twisted the daggers once to damage the inside further, then pulled back.

The moment the daggers came free, the Golem slumped to the ground. I later heard from Iris that my attack had completely destroyed the ball joints supporting its knees. Of course it couldn't stand after that.

"Now I'll finish you off!"

I drove my daggers into the joints of the immobilized Golem. First, I targeted its shoulders and elbows to stop its arms from moving. They were difficult to see and target because they were hidden beneath the armor, but it wasn't impossible. Just as I intended, my daggers destroyed all four joints, two on each side.

'Eliminate'

But my opponent was a robot-like Golem. It forcibly twisted at the waist and used the momentum to swing its arm at me. No matter how badly mangled it got, it still refused to give up... What incredible persistence!

So I drove my daggers through the gaps in its armor and into the joints at its waist as well, just to be sure. I stabbed it again and again. I could hear the unpleasant crack-crack of something breaking over and over, letting me know that it was working!

BZZT!!!

Ah... I think I just heard something that sounded fatal. The Golem started spasming too...

'El...im...inate......EliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminateEliminate'

"Ugh!? Gross!!"

Did it bug out!? It only ever says "Eliminate," and now it was repeating the same part like a broken radio in a horror movie! Gross! Creepy! And above all...

"Shut up!"

'Ha.........'

I decapitated the Golem with my dagger on impulse. The speaker that produced its voice must have been somewhere in its head, because I could no longer hear a sound.

Still, I might owe this Golem some gratitude. It helped me establish a new fighting style. It's nothing but a silent scrap of metal now, but thanks.

"Those two... their sickness is showing. Iris and Izam... they'll manage somehow. Cal... whoa..."

When I looked at everyone else's battles, I decided there was no need for me to join in. The battle maniacs could be ignored; they were just playing around. Iris and Izam were fighting as the two of them, so it would be rude to interfere. As for Cal... that wasn't a fight I could jump into. Yeah.

So maybe I'll just watch from the sidelines! Watching other people fight is educational too!