Cliff
CLIFF was hard at work repairing Gandolf inside Akizu Company’s garage. While he desperately tackled the task at hand, out of nowhere, he heard a crash that shook the walls.
What was that?
Something had collided with the garage wall. He glanced outside the window and saw a massive Stone Golem.
Eben?! Why’s he here?!
Jair stood at Eben’s side, too. But the situation was even worse—a collapsed Erie was within their attack range.
Judging by what Cliff saw, Eben had thrown Erie, and she crashed into the garage. Heath was nowhere to be seen. Eben lumbered closer to the defenseless girl.
Oh no…! She’ll be killed!
He hadn’t gotten over the fear Jair had instilled down in his very core the day before. Neither of Gandolf’s arms moved yet either. Cold, greasy sweat coated Cliff’s whole body.
A person’s going to be killed right in front of me… By Master’s hands, at that…! The moment the thought hit him, a fire lit in his heart and under his feet.
Cliff started making Golems in order to protect people. If he forsook Erie despite that, regrets would haunt him for the rest of his life, no question about it. And there was no way he could fight the upcoming battle to save Lovel if he had those feelings biting at his heels!
Cliff mustered all the courage within him and rushed out of the garage with Gandolf.
“URYAAAAAAAH!”
Jair turned toward Cliff’s war cry. Gandolf charged Eben, slamming into the stone giant with his chest. Cliff rammed into Jair too, but Jair merely glared at him without even stumbling back a step.
“You again? Do you have a death wish?” Jair snarled as he threw a straight punch at Cliff’s face.
“Gagh!” Cliff skidded backward and tumbled over. He saw Erie’s face on the ground right beside him.
“Wh-Why are you—”
“I-I came to save you…or that was the plan.”
Surprise flashed on her face. Cliff shoved to his feet and asked, “Master, why are you doing this?!”
“Master? You on about that again? What in the world are you talking about?”
“Are you kidding? You’re Master, right?! Aren’t you Master Roche? The boy who taught me how to create Golems?! How to use Engrave Incantations?!”
Jair’s face twitched. Did he finally remember? Cliff’s flicker of hope was smothered when Eben approached with fists raised to crush him.
In a fraction of a second, Cliff grabbed hold of Erie and jumped to the side. Eben brought down his stone fists, obliterating the ground where Cliff lay seconds ago.
Jair’s ruthless voice came pouring down on the horrified Cliff. “I’m Jair. The human called Roche no longer exists.”
While his face and voice were the same as Roche’s, he was clearly different from the Master Roche Cliff knew well.
“Eben, kill them both,” Jair said over the speechless boy.
The instant he heard that command, the hesitation in Cliff’s heart gave way to a new surge of determination.
This isn’t Master. He looks just like Master, but he’s a different person.
He decided to believe that—at least in this dire moment where hesitation could spell death. Cliff held his head high and yelled his enemy’s name for the first time.
“Fine, JAIR…! I’ll just defeat you and protect Erie through to the end!”
“Just try it if you think you can,” Jair replied. Eben surged forward, throwing punches with monstrous speed.
Gandolf leapt in between Cliff and the attack. He took Eben’s blows to the chest and held his ground.
“Go for the knees, Gandolf!”
Gandolf promptly drove a knee into Eben. Eben’s body shot into the air with that single blow and crashed onto the ground with an earth-shattering boom.
Jair observed the power behind Gandolf’s hit and muttered irritably, “I see, that must be the Engrave Incantations Lovel formed. It’s even capable of granting tremendous power to a crude Prime Body.”
“The Engrave Incantations aren’t the only thing that’s powerful. Even if it’s piecemeal, Gandolf has a solid Prime Body.”
“So it appears, but don’t think you can win with kicks alone.”
CRAP! He noticed! The second Cliff sensed danger, Eben rose to his feet and grappled Gandolf. He hoisted him into the air with the spirit of a titan and hurled him against the ground with accelerated speed.
“NOO!”
The ground cracked and Gandolf’s back sunk in. Eben’s left hand reached over and seized his trachea.
“Sh-Shake him off, Gandolf!”
Gandolf thrashed on the ground, but it wasn’t enough to break free without any arms. Eben swung his right fist down at Gandolf’s forehead.
Gandolf wrenched his neck aside, avoiding the blow by a hair’s breadth. But the stone fists continued to rain down on him with relentless precision. Gandolf fought frantically to avoid the blows by moving his neck alone.
“Why doesn’t he use his hands?!” Erie shouted.
“He can’t move them! The Engrave Incantations are incomplete!” Cliff answered.
“What part is incomplete?!”
“I’ve been looking into it nonstop since yesterday, and I think what’s missing is the Engrave Incantation for his shoulder joints!”
“In that case—” Just as Erie said that, Eben’s fist made contact with Gandolf’s face. The back of his head sunk into the ground, completely sealing his movement.
He’ll be done in! The second the fearful thought crossed Cliff’s mind—
A soft light abruptly illuminated the surrounding darkness.
Cliff was surprised. Even Jair’s expression appeared quizzical.
Light had enveloped Gandolf’s arms. The incomplete Engrave Incantation repaired itself in record time.
Could this be—
Cliff shifted his eyes to Erie. Light shone from her hands toward Gandolf. Just like he had seen Lovel do three days ago in the underground station.
“Remote Engrave Incantation!” By the time Cliff raised his voice to shout in recognition, Engrave Incantations had covered Gandolf’s arms and vanished within. The senses Cliff had lost returned at the same time. Gandolf’s fingers twitched as if alive, like a repaired nerve.
Seeing that, Cliff roared, “GANDOLF…PUNCH HIM OOOOOUT!”
Gandolf clenched his fist and launched its iron might with his full bodyweight thrown behind it. Eben’s chest instantly burst open. Stone fragments scattered, raining down like pebble hail, leaving fist-sized dents.
In a single blow, the cube in Eben’s chest fell apart, and he ceased moving.
“Tch!” Jair hissed. But that wasn’t the end of their fight.
Without missing a beat, Erie raised both hands over Eben. Light radiated from her hands once more, engraving brand new Engrave Incantations throughout Eben’s entire body.
She’s casting a second set of Engrave Incantations?!
Jair seemed to catch on as well, but it was too late. Faster than the length of a single breath, Erie howled, “My name is Erie Reyer! With truth as my witness, I give thee the name BOULDER!”
She was trying to take control of Eben from Jair. His expression darkened, tinged with unease.
“Live as one with me and return to dust with me! I order thee to kill that man!”
Erie finished the naming in one breath, causing the suspended stone statue to convulse. The Engrave Incantations covering its body vanished, leaving behind only the emeth on its forehead and the Restrictor on its chest.