— "The Flight of Hope, the Wings of the Phoenix."
Kristal once again uses a body reinforcement technique to evade the golem's attack.
— "The Leviathan's Transcendent Blades."
Now it's Dijiid's turn to attack the golem.
Her magna materializes into condensed water. Compressed, then propelled forward, it slices mechanically through the golem like a succession of laser-like strikes, slowing it down. She somehow manages to keep the golem's movements under control.
At the very least, Kristal manages to stay out of danger.
— "Messenger of Inamia, the Blazing Flames of Hope."
Kristal's technique is somewhat similar to Dijiid's. She condenses her flames to increase their impact. Once they take the shape of arrows, their temperature rises high enough to melt limestone—and with it, the earth itself.
But the golem once again manages to shield itself behind walls of stone.
The collision between water, fire, and rock, however, creates a dense, blinding mist.
Hidden behind a large tree, Dijiid and Kristal find themselves together once more while the golem searches blindly through the fog.
— "Damn... These body reinforcement spells consume far too much magna. I'm almost completely drained already, and that ugly thing is still blocking all of our attacks. It's unbelievably fast."
— "And it's incredibly tough as well. Hang in there. Reinforcements shouldn't be much longer."
— "Even then, the support mages won't be able to hold it much longer. The circle they used to disrupt Earth-type magna may stop working at any moment. And if that happens, the golem could kill all of us with a single attack."
— "Then I'll deal with that monster alone while the rest of you escape."
— "Have you lost your mind? Did you see what it did to Sheyes? Do you really think you can last another five minutes?"
Dijiid smiles at Kristal.
— "Honestly, Kristal... I think you underestimate me a little. I've only been fighting alongside you so far because I wanted to analyze it. Even so, I still don't believe I can defeat it. But I'm confident I can hold it off for your five minutes."
— "...Damn it. You Quasers really are monsters."
She takes a deep breath before speaking.
— "I'll give the retreat signal."
— "Good call."
Dijiid steps out of her hiding place and runs as fast as she can, drawing the golem's attention.
Kristal raises a hand toward the sky.
— "May our deed carry the prophecy."
A phoenix emerges from her hand.
It explodes at a relatively low altitude.
But the message is delivered.
The Tower Mages hidden throughout the forest abandon their positions and retreat.
Anna is already close enough to the area when the signal is given.
"Hold on, girls..." she murmurs.
"I'm coming."
The golem immediately turns back toward Kristal.
It prepares to attack her, but Dijiid stops it.
— "No. You're not going anywhere."
— "From the deepest depths of the ocean, I call upon the Shark Tide Currents."
An enormous quantity of water bursts from Dijiid's body and engulfs the golem before it can charge at Kristal.
Then the water compresses into a gigantic sphere, its currents swirling violently in every direction.
Kristal stares in disbelief.
— "Am I dreaming, or is that an area spell?... B-but... area spells are Master-level techniques for Tower Mages. They take time to cast properly..."
"That damn ... Only High Knightesses can cast an area spell while remaining an active frontline fighter."
Meanwhile, Anna stops running.
She has reached the battlefield, surprised by the enormous sphere of water standing before her.
— "An area spell? Are they becoming fashionable or something? I'm starting to think I'm the only Knightess who doesn't have one. Still, this spell has a few flaws, and I doubt she can maintain it for very long, even if magna isn't exactly a problem for the Quasers."
She thinks out loud.
Kristal notices Anna standing beside her in amazement. She walks over to her.
— "Little Anna? What are you doing here? Dijiid doesn't have much time left to hold it. You need to get out of here."
But Anna doesn't even look at her.
Her eyes remain fixed on the massive sphere before her.
— "You can leave, Kristal. I have to find someone."
— "Someone? Who?"
— "The one controlling this golem."
— "What?... But... Oh... that explains it. But..."
Anna walks forward once again.
She calmly circles around the sphere, paying no attention to what is happening inside.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Kristal follows her, all the while anxiously watching the battle unfolding within the sphere.
Dijiid's spell contains the golem magnificently.
As an Earth summon, water is its natural weakness. Besides, water has always been regarded as the strongest element. It has always held a certain advantage over all the others.
The golem tries to attack Dijiid with all kinds of sharp spikes erupting from its body, but its attacks take time to reach her.
And Dijiid, fighting within her own element, is both incredibly fast and incredibly powerful.
Anna comments.
— "Wow... So she's at the center of the sphere? That's clever. A mobile area spell... very practical. Even if it's still imperfect, Dijiid is a Knightess. Close combat is her specialty. Any opponent who doesn't share her element would have a hard time against her."
— "And you... aren't you afraid of dying, Anna?"
Dijiid assaults her opponent at an astonishing speed, the force of every strike greatly amplified.
Unable to stop her, the golem is forced to spend its magna regenerating.
It counterattacks as quickly as it can, but Dijiid refuses to let up.
The best part is that whatever happens inside the sphere poses almost no danger to the outside.
Within it, up and down no longer exist.
Only the currents dictate gravity.
And those currents are completely random.
But Kristal can't stop worrying about Anna.
— "Forget it, Anna Fort De Rush. I'll drag you out of here myself if I have to."
Anna continues to ignore her.
As her fingers brush the ground, she murmurs,
— "I can't find anything unusual... Yet I would've sworn a golem like this should be under someone's control."
She looks at the sphere once more.
Only a minute into the battle, the golem has already gained the upper hand.
The sphere is gradually filling with mud, which can harden at any moment and strike Dijiid from any direction.
Without even realizing it, she has gone from being the attacker to being the one driven back.
Kristal panics.
— "See? It's getting bad! I told you this golem isn't normal! It adapts to your techniques, to your counters, until you finally break! We have to get out of here!"
— "So that's it..." Anna says, lowering her eyes as though she has just realized something of great importance.
Then she raises her head again.
— "How arrogant of me."
— "What?"
Without another word, Anna jumps into the sphere.
Kristal reaches for her hand, trying to stop her, but she's already too late.
— "That girl is unbelievably stubborn."
Once inside the sphere, Anna begins by casting a simple air bubble charm to help her breathe underwater.
Then she follows it with a vortex, manipulating the flow of the currents at will—in other words, taking control of gravity inside the sphere.
Her first priority is to disperse the mud.
Her second is to protect Dijiid.
Dijiid immediately notices the change and realizes the one responsible is below her.
— "Anna Fort De Rush... you ridiculous little fool. I cast an area spell, and you're the one manipulating it however you please."
For the little time she has left, Dijiid unleashes her full potential and resumes her assault on the golem.
The golem constantly changes shape in an attempt to escape.
But with Anna controlling the aquatic currents, it struggles to move properly.
Kristal watches with shining eyes.
— "Damn... Those two bitches are really making a fool of me. Dijiid casts the area spell... while Anna manipulates it with Wind Magic... Wind Magic... Are you kidding me?"
A smile slowly spreads across her face before she continues.
— "Haha... Why didn't we think of that? The golem may adapt to all of our techniques and strategies, but in the end, it's still a machine. All you have to do is overwhelm it with superior strength, speed, and magna. Because no matter how much magna it was given, it can't sustain a process like this forever."
And she is right.
Even after Dijiid can no longer move and devotes the last of her magna to keeping the sphere intact, Anna continues the assault.
Countless wind blades are condensed, launched, then accelerated even further by the buoyant force she exploits with masterful precision, never giving the golem a single moment to regenerate.
By then, Mariane and several professors arrive just in time to witness the battle.
In the end, Anna overcomes the golem.
She dissects it with blades separated by the finest possible distance, until at last its core—a tiny marble-sized sphere—is finally reached...
And shattered.
Dijiid, exhausted and lying on the ground:
— "I can't feel my body anymore."
Mariane speaks.
— "You girls did well. Thanks to you, we managed to keep the number of casualties to a minimum."
Kristal replies,
— "Sheyes is the real heroine. She did everything she could to protect the others before we arrived. By the way, how is she? She was in terrible condition."
— "She's doing much better now. Don't worry."
— "Thanks to Inamia."
Dijiid nods.
— "Yes. Thanks to Inamia."
Then she looks toward Anna.
While all the injured participants rest, still shaken by what happened, Anna is questioning their professor about the little marble.
— "This is the first time in my life I've seen a Wind Knightess this talented. I definitely made the right decision coming to the Eastern Academy."
Now it is Mariane's turn to look toward Anna.
— "The golem you fought was an Exterminator Golem—the worst invention ever created for war. It constantly adapts to its opponents, making it an extremely troublesome enemy. To defeat one in single combat, you would normally need a Sage or a Knightess of the Round Table. You should all be proud of yourselves."
Dijiid and Kristal exchange a glance.
They see things rather differently, but neither of them says a word.
— "However... the distress signal remains a complete mystery. Who could have cast such a spell?"