“Milady, Lady Laualliuna, on your guard.”
“Agaccion!”
Lazalisa and I stepped out in front of the mages. The blob under the pot quivered and then—
“Block it!”
—shot innumerable tentacles at us. They rained down like needles, but my furiously whirling blade and the beastmaid’s fists rebuffed every single one. Sparks flew before my eyes as the furious attacks crashed down on us like a waterfall. Agaccion was one thing, but to see Lazalisa block those feelers with her bare hands left no doubt in my mind that, as an adventurer, she was a cut above the rest.
“Mr. Souya, I’ve got a message from the Dark Lord for you,” Machina piped up. “Apparently, the saucepan part is the creature’s core, so if you destroy that, it won’t be able to keep its shape. However, it’s extremely resistant to magical attacks, so you’ll have to use blunt force. Also, she says ideally you should completely crush it to smithereens.”
I had, in fact, overlooked that possibility. So concerned about the contents of the saucepan spilling out, I’d neglected to strike it at all.
“I’ve found the Demon Lord’s weak spot,” I announced. “It’s that pot—I mean, the metallic part.”
“I see. If you’ll allow me,” Lazalisa said as she wrapped her hand around Agaccion’s hilt.
“Wha—?”
A single slash of the sword—that was all it took to generate a gust of wind and force so tremendously powerful it obliterated the furious rainstorm of tentacles. That gale was on par with a hurricane. I felt like I was watching a heroic fairy tale play out in front of me.
“M-marvelous,” Lazalisa breathed, trembling with awe. I’d thought this would be child’s play for her, and boy was I right. The beastmaid rushed at our enemy or, rather, gathered the strength in her legs and propelled herself toward the blob, cutting down all the tentacles that impeded her path. In the blink of an eye, she’d gained fifty meters on the monstrosity.
My reflexes were not fast enough to follow the sword’s movements. All I managed to see was the aftermath: two crisscross slashes on the black cauldron. The gelatinous blob shrieked and began to melt, when—
“Did you get it?!”
—I cried out, then immediately regretted it. The gooey creature reshaped itself once more, blew up like a balloon, and rammed Lazalisa with an extra-thick tentacle. She flew like a pinball twenty meters up in the air, then came falling back down and made a perfect landing.
“Formidable, indeed,” she admitted, unscathed. She must have blocked the blow just in time. Damn, this woman was tough as nails. Stronger than Lanceil even—and perhaps on par with an elite adventurer.
“I will attempt one more strike, milady.”
“No, the risk is too great. I forbid it.”
“As you wish.” Lazalisa bowed to her master’s command.
After getting the beastmaid to return my blade, I consulted with Freyja. “My lady Champion, any ideas for our next move?”
Still trembling, the Thing appeared to be watching and waiting. Looked like we’d hit the bull’s-eye on its weak spot. Even so, a mere slash was clearly not enough to bring it down. Cold sweat drenched Lana’s brow, her face still as stone.
“Laualliuna, this time, follow my lead.”
“Fine, but I can’t imagine any other kind of magic will do much—”
“I intend to lay waste to it with physical magic.” What the heck is physical magic?
Freyja raised her staff. “Lazalisa, Souya, protect us with every fiber of your being. Under no circumstances may you stop, even if you should perish.”
“As you wish, milady.”
“Understood, Champion.”
Once again, the beastmaid and I stepped into the vanguard. Lazalisa readied her fists while I ordered Agaccion to go on defense and nocked my bow.
“O august forebears of my lineage, I, Freyja Deus Gastolfo, beseech thy providence. May the mighty earth answer to thy holy name of fertility, for I am she who gathers life.” Freyja began the enchantment, her voice quiet yet strong. Suddenly, the ground behind us shot upward, and an enormous mass of dirt coalesced into a human figure. It towered above us, and I almost released my arrow in surprise.
Lana’s voice sang, “O revered Ezeus, Father of the Ancient Wood. By your divine grace, may this dirt turn to flesh, these roots to bones, and fruit to eyes. May your hallowed blessing nurture the multitude of riches tied to this elm so that though it sees no rain, nor light, nor soil, nor good fortune, your miracle shall see it prosper. And yet, here in this moment, every grace has been prepared and prosperity promised. Now, stand!”
Coiling itself around a tree and its roots, the figure’s once-bleary edges took definite shape. The newborn giant with soil for flesh, wood and bark for bones and skin, and fruit for eyes rose to its feet; it stood a full eighteen meters tall.
Crossing their staves, Lana and Freyja synchronized their voices and intoned, ““We disciples of Hoense, of destruction itself, guide all to the power of the gods as the Leaders of the Final Flame.””
“I hereby grant thee a name.” Freyja laid her hand on the giant’s leg. Her goddess had given birth to new life within the earthen statue, and now she baptized it, like some scene from a myth. “Carve it into thy very being, Wrath, King of the Meadow. I, your creator Freyja, command thee to take thy mighty fist and slay the Dark Lord!”
The giant………began walking away from the pot monster in the opposite direction, toward the abandoned dungeon.
Ah, this guy’s kind of smart. Whoops, he tripped. The colossal golem’s right leg had twisted under its weight.
“Oh, sorry, that’s my fault. I think the tree didn’t get enough nutrients,” Lana confessed. I appreciated the honesty.
“You can’t be serious, Laualliuna!”
“Freyja, have you forgotten the trouble I have with physical magic?”
“You can’t possibly expect me to remember that!”
Sensing its chance, the cauldron shot its feelers out toward the two arguing mages, but Agaccion and Lazalisa stopped them.
“Well, this isn’t good.” The tentacles wrapped around Lazalisa and the enchanted blade and threw them like Frisbees. Woman and sword bounced like skipping rocks across the meadow.
“Wrath! I order you to destroy that Thing at once!” Freyja commanded.
“BOOOOOAAAH!” the giant roared in reply, which sounded like an I caaaaaaan’t to me. Surveying the golem once more, I saw its left leg had also crumpled. It would never manage to stand like that.
“Tch!” I unleashed an arrow, but the Thing intercepted and slapped it away like a mosquito. It then reached out one long tentacle and waved it back and forth at me like a disapproving finger. “You stupid Teflon jerk! How dare you!”
Grabbing all the arrows I had, I nocked as many as I could on my bow. “May the grace of the hidden name compel you!” I shouted and let them all fly. Six deadly cannon-like bolts burst out toward our foe, each finding its mark in the creature’s blobby belly but inflicting no damage. As if that weren’t enough—
“You’ve gotta be freakin’ kidding me.”
—the Thing’s tentacle shifted into a gooey bow and shot those same arrows right back at me.
“Ladies! Take cover behind the giant!”
I was blown off my feet, and the world spun a few times before I finally stopped. Dull pain spread through my left shoulder. My stab-proof poncho had kept the arrow from piercing my body, but it left my injured shoulder numb. I could no longer feel my left arm. By the time my eyes found the pot fiend again, it had created two more tentacled recurves and had all three loaded with quarrels. Its last shot had been no joke. Did it copy my archery skills or something? I’d used a heroic level of strength, though.
“Darling!” Lana cried out, having dragged Freyja behind the earthen giant. After breathing a sigh of relief, I suddenly thought, Oh? Is this checkmate? then watched with a strange tranquility as another deadly volley headed straight for me.
Too bad, guess this is the end of my adventure—
“You dumbass!”
—not.
Every single arrow fell, rebuffed by a longsword. “Tell me if you’re going into battle, shit-for-brains!”