Erie
THE tower was dark and deserted inside. Dim gas lamps illuminated the interior. Erie strained her eyes against the very weak light. A spiral staircase wound up the inside of the wall, ending at a door on the top landing. The belfry had to be beyond that door. Erie sensed Heath’s presence closer than before.
“No doubt about it, Heathy’s at the top!”
“Okay.” Cliff nodded to Erie. They started their ascent up the staircase with Gandolf taking the lead. Once they made it about halfway up the stairs, they stopped. Mysterious figures blocked their path up.
“I hadn’t expected you to make it this far.”
Kiriko stepped from the shadows into the lamplight, accompanied by Legion. She looked down on them from twenty steps above.
“It appears the Golem you call Gandolf is special after all… However, I won’t let you keep getting away with things.”
Heeding Kiriko’s voice, the six members of Legion began racing down the staircase in groups.
“Wh-What the heck are these things?!” Cliff raised his voice in shock.
Erie whispered, “Be careful. That lady is controlling all these small Golems.”
“She’s Tamed this many by herself…?!” Cliff groaned.
Kiriko’s lips turned up in a faint smile. “Go, Legion! Get the intruders!” she commanded in a booming voice.
Legion jumped down the steps at them as one body.
“G-Gandolf! Don’t let any through!”
Gandolf swung his fist, intercepting the members of Legion as they dove from the stairs. But as strong as he was, holding back the six Golems of Legion was impossible.
“3rd, suppress the girl!”
3rd used the staircase railing as a springboard to dive at Erie.
“Eeeek!” Erie yelped
“Watch out!” Cliff shouted. Gandolf simultaneously knocked the Legion member away with a backfist blow. 3rd fell through the stairwell.
“Hmph. You have some skill. I’ll give you that much…” Kiriko acknowledged. “How will you handle this then?”
Two more Legion numbers jumped down from the spiral staircase. The sound of them landing on the bottom floor echoed up the mostly empty tower.
Suspicious of what Kiriko was planning, Erie looked down the stairs. To her horror, she saw the three fallen members of Legion racing up the staircase toward them.
“I-It’s a pincer attack!” she stuttered, panicking.
Kiriko leaned against the railing and swept her gaze across the entire tower. “Now then, how long will you last?”
The members of Legion left above them recommenced their attack. Gandolf tried to fight back, but his hands hurtled through the air without making contact. The narrow steps threw off his balance, rendering him unable to draw out his full potential.
Meanwhile, Legion’s many bodies executed precise, synchronized attacks from above by maneuvering along the railing or crawling down the stairs. Their claws tore several deep cuts in Gandolf’s forehead, pushing him back.
Worst yet, the rest of Legion had nearly caught up from behind. It’d be the end for Erie and Cliff if the bottom half reached them.
“Damn it! This is the absolute worst! She’s got way too much of an advantage over us!” Cliff yelled.
He was right. The basics of battle stated that the person with the higher ground always had an advantage, and Gandolf’s gigantic body made it difficult for him to quickly navigate the spiral staircase.
“Cliff, why not target the woman instead?!” Erie proposed, glaring at the woman sneering at them from the safety of her higher ground.
“I can’t because of Gandolf’s Restrictor! Besides…” Cliff trailed off.
Besides what? Erie thought to ask, but she became cognizant of the answer herself. I’m in his way…!
If Cliff was alone, Gandolf could focus on protecting him and exchanging blows with Legion. As it was, they were asking for the impossible: there was no way he could protect them both while taking on all six members of Legion at the same time.
The moment Erie realized that fact, one of Legion slipped past Gandolf’s flank and lunged at them.
“RAAAH!” In a last-ditch move, Cliff shoved it against the wall and held fast. Each member of Legion was no bigger than eighty centimeters, but they were still more powerful than Cliff. It struggled, slicing Cliff’s cheek with its sharp claws.
“Give it up, boy.” Kiriko’s cold voice rained down on them. “Legion will have no difficulty mangling you if I let it.” Fear flashed across Cliff’s face. Footsteps were closing in from behind. It wouldn’t be long before the final three members of Legion did them in from behind.
Our back’s against the wall, and the wall has claws! The second she thought that, she struck upon an idea. An idea that could overturn their dire situation. It was extremely dangerous and a risky bet, but no other means were left to them.
Erie steeled her resolve and whispered in Cliff’s ear, “Cliff, I need a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Have Gandolf… me…” She explained her plan to Cliff in hushed whispers so Kiriko couldn’t overhear. His eyes went round.
“Are you serious, Erie?! That’s way too dangerous!”
“Do you have any better ideas?”
Hesitation flickered across Cliff’s face. She didn’t blame him. Her plan was far from strategic. Still, she wasn’t going to back down from it.
Cliff had detoured from his primary objective to come to this bell tower for Erie’s sake.
It’s my fault we’ve been caught in this scrape! That’s why…
“Please, Cliff. Let me fight my way too…!”
She convinced Cliff to take the plunge with her. “Brace yourself…” he said softly.
She gave him a firm nod in return.
The pitter-patter of Legion’s many feet had arrived just behind them. Using that as the trigger, Cliff ordered, “Gandolf…THROW ERIE!”
Gandolf grabbed Erie’s torso with both hands. Her heart squeezed in her chest in anticipation of the fear that was about to hit her.
“…Excuse me?” Kiriko’s perplexed voice fell on them from above. Gandolf ignored her, drew Erie back in his hand like he was about pitch a baseball, and threw her toward the highest landing platform on the spiral staircase.
“EEYAAAAAAAAAAH!”
She had braced herself for it, but actually being hurled through the air brought bone-numbing fear spiking through her body. Steeling herself against the panic bubbling in her stomach, Erie locked her eyes on the platform above.
Thankfully, Gandolf had thrown Erie almost perfectly to the top of the spiral staircase. Just, the distance was a tad short.
“NOOOOOOO!” Erie thrust out her arms in a desperate bid to cling on. One of her hands caught the railing, and she barely managed to hang on with that one hand. In that same instant, she felt a surge of unknown power within. Her delicate arm hauled her entire body up and over the railing.
Is this what they call near-death hysterical strength?!
Erie wanted to admire her impressive feat of strength, but she didn’t have a second to spare for doing so.
“Wh-What are you trying to do?!” Kiriko charged up the stairs like a bull after a red flag. Erie burst into a run for the top. The staircase quickly ended at a door.
Heathy is behind this door!
Erie dove to the door and wrenched the doorknob to the side. The knob wouldn’t turn.
Kiriko’s voice rose behind her. “Obviously, I locked the door.”
Erie whirled around and saw Kiriko pointing the tranquilizer gun at her. Overwhelmed, she took a step back. She retreated back as far as she could, so that her back was pressed against the door.
“This is as far as you go, Erie Reyer. Surrender peacefully.”
“But what will happen to Heathy if I’m caught?”
“We will dispose of him without hesitation,” Kiriko cruelly announced.
Erie answered her callousness with unwavering determination. “I see. In that case, I won’t be letting you catch me.” The muscles in Kiriko’s face stiffened.
Erie felt the cut link reconnect.
She smirked. “If only the belfry was a tad bigger for you… My Restrictor reactivates as long as I come within five meters of him…even if there’s a thick door in the way!”
Kiriko’s eyes flew open in surprise. The doorknob behind Erie loudly shattered to pieces.
“Heathy, defeat her!”
The door opened, and Heath burst into the tower.
“…!”
Kiriko fired the tranquilizer gun at Erie. But Heath stopped the bullet with his hand and brought his other down on her neck like a sword.
“UGAH!”
Kiriko collapsed on the ground with that single strike. Heath caught her before she rolled down the stairs and leaned her against the wall.
“C-Come back here…!” she weakly protested.
Heath held Erie in his right arm and returned to Cliff and Gandolf without heeding Kiriko’s calls to stop.
“Cliff, now!”
Cliff nodded, and Gandolf swept away the swarming Legion with his right arm. Heath picked up Cliff with his left arm and jumped down the stairwell with Gandolf. Gandolf landed on the bottom floor of the tower with a bang, while Heath landed lightly on his soles. Erie and Cliff set their feet on the ground, freeing Heath’s arms.
“Thank you, Heathy…” Erie said, pulling out a hidden object from under her shirt. It was the butcher’s knife she had stored away carefully wrapped in a cloth. Heath took it and gripped the hilt.
Now we’re ready! I’ll never be separated from him again!
“Let’s go!” Erie said, her resolution clear.
Cliff nodded and took off running with her. They heard Kiriko shrieking down at them as they slipped out the tower door.