Shortly after Lina activated the new large-scale sorcery in the capital...
Rio curiously stared up at the sorcery circle floating in the sky. The golem was similarly distracted by what was going on and looked up warily.
What kind of sorcery is this?
Rio had never seen it before. In fact, the spell formula was so complex, he couldn’t tell what kind of sorcery it was.
Aishia, this is the sorcery Celia mentioned, right?
Probably.
According to her message, as soon as they received the signal, they were to use their transcendent powers to defeat the golem.
In that case, all that’s left is to use our powers and defeat them...
Rio wondered for a brief moment if he should continue to fight without using his powers. But the light energy flowing from the golem’s entire body probably meant it had greater combat abilities than before.
Rio could probably increase his own abilities if he raised his degree of assimilation, but since he didn’t know how much he could fight in his assimilated state, he decided that it would be better to avoid a drawn-out battle against the constantly regenerating golem. If he fought in his assimilated state without using his transcendent powers, it was possible he would reach his limit first.
There’s no other choice. But we can only use it twice.
Aishia also agreed to using the transcendent powers. Even after taking into account the burden it could place on Rio, she decided that taking it down quickly was the least risky option to take.
Got it. What about Sora?
Rio looked up at Sora, who was floating in the distance. Sora was similarly intrigued by the sorcery circle overhead and had paused in her battle to observe it. The same went for the golem she was facing. In his current state, Rio could move right next to Sora in a matter of seconds, but...
In that case, we can use this chance...
Transcendent ones had the power to summon their disciples. By thinking silently, Rio could immediately bring Sora to his side.
“Dragon King!” Sora cried as soon as she appeared.
“Sora, I’m going to use my transcendent powers to defeat the golems,” Rio said, getting straight to the point.
“Sora believes that’s best too. These things will keep regenerating as long as they have magic essence, so defeating them normally won’t do anything.”
“I see. So that’s why she said to erase their internal essence using my powers...”
“There’s no one who can’t be defeated by the Dragon King’s powers!” Sora boasted smugly, puffing out her chest.
“But I was told to only use my powers up to two times. Since I can’t risk missing, can you help me out?”
If he missed with his powers both times, the golems would be left to run free without any means of being defeated. That’s why he couldn’t afford to miss—if he were to use his powers, he had to be sure he would hit them.
Sora nodded, tapping her chest proudly. “Of course! Order away!”
“I want to ensure the transcendent power hits. Can you use an attack that can stop the golems from moving? I’ll finish them off during that time.”
Rio had only ever used his transcendent powers once before. In all likelihood, he had to pause briefly before using his transcendent power. Against an opponent that could move as fast as the golems, it would be preferable to have a clear opening such as by sealing their movements.
“Easy peasy. Just leave it to Sora! There’s no way an invincible duo like us would lose to those junk piles!” Sora said confidently.
I’m here too, Aishia immediately called out through telepathy.
“Ahahaha, that’s right. Aishia says it’s a trio.” Rio laughed as he passed on her words.
“Hmph. That Aishia...” Sora’s cheeks puffed up like a small balloon.
“In that case, it’d be better to fight three on two from here. We won’t be able to know if it’d be better to take them one by one or both at once until we try...”
“Got it. Sora will lure the other big guy over here first.”
Sora swung her right arm in circles while glaring at the golem in the distance. It had already begun flying towards them in order to reach Sora after she teleported. Its body was releasing light energy just like before.
“Ha! Looks like Sora didn’t even need to lift a finger!”
Sora also released an energy from her entire body like the golem and began her counterattack. She charged towards the approaching golem, swinging her fist to meet the golem’s fist with a tremendous impact. The shock waves traveled all the way to Rio.
Sora really is amazing...
He felt like he could rely on her strength.
We can’t lose to her either. Aishia, raise the degree of assimilation—
Yup, I’ve already raised it.
Rio and Aishia increased their assimilation level with determination.
“Hmm?” Just then, Rio glanced over at those in the rooftop garden. Under the current situation, he was yet to realize Latifa and the others had regained their memories. However, he noticed their oddly heated gazes and expressions as they gazed up at him. He found that rather strange, but they were currently in the middle of a battle. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by them and promptly turned his gaze back to the golem.
It’s coming!
The other golem was making an attack at Rio. It seemed to have converted the energy flowing from its body into propulsive power. On top of its increased offensive and defensive power, its speed had also increased dramatically. However, with their increased assimilation, Rio was also able to increase his speed further. He reacted perfectly to the golem’s charge and avoided colliding with it.
As soon as the golem passed him, it forced itself to turn around and make another attack. Rio also used his spirit arts to wrap his sword in powerful light energy and timed his slash for the same moment. But the golem caught his slash with the energy emitted from its claws.
The next moment, the essence in Rio’s sword increased, condensed, and strengthened in force. At the same time, the golem’s claws also increased in essence density and force in order to face Rio.
Rio immediately retreated, distancing himself from the golem. Energy scattered from the sword in his hand like fireworks. He rapidly accelerated towards the golem like a drawn bow, swinging his sword horizontally at the golem’s chest, but the golem leaned backwards and avoided Rio’s slash by a hair’s breadth. It then proceeded to twist its body and swipe its arm at him; Rio also rose upwards to evade the range of its attack. He manipulated his posture midair and turned upside down, this time descending towards the golem at a rapid speed. But the golem started flying away from him. Rio immediately chased after it.
I think I can use the transcendent powers while fighting, but...
As Rio expected, it would be difficult to aim his powers while in a one-on-one fight. He was hoping for a chance to use it while fighting it, but there was no opening to ensure his power would hit the mark.
I’ll probably only be able to maintain the activated power for a brief moment.
Just like how humans knew instinctively how to move their bodies and breathe, Rio instinctively knew how to use his power of elimination inherited from the Dragon King. In short, his transcendent power of elimination manifested as light. For example, he could cut his target with his Spirit Arms if he wrapped the sword with the light of his power, or he could make the light take the shape of another weapon and fire it across a wide area.
However, he hadn’t verified the details and specifics of his transcendent powers yet. After all, it was a dangerous power with the risk of death even in an assimilated state. He couldn’t just test its use recklessly.
It seems to be wary of my strikes, and it could flee outside the range of my power with its speed. We’re definitely going to need Sora’s help. While this guy’s running around...
With that decided, Rio looked over at Sora, who was fighting the other golem nearby.
“Hey, you! Stop running from our fistfight!”
The other golem seemed to have realized it was at a disadvantage in straight close combat and attempted to distance itself.
All right!
Rio accelerated and moved behind the golem facing Sora. He swung his energy-clad sword and tried to bisect the golem. But the golem immediately noticed his approach and moved to evade him.
He can avoid it even at this timing, huh? But...!
Barely escaping from the sword’s range like that was nothing short of impressive. But Rio’s goal had been to create a temporary two-on-one situation, and that goal had been successfully achieved.
“Dragon King!” Sora charged in the direction the golem evaded towards, and with that, the golem’s reaction was finally delayed. Realizing it was impossible to evade in time, the golem focused the energy emitting from its body around its arms. It folded its arms in front of its body to defend itself against Sora’s blow.
“Haaah!”
Sora took the energy wrapped around her body and gathered it around her dragonkin fist, slamming her punch into the golem’s crossed arms with all her might.
Immediately after, a booming roar and shock wave shook the area like a meteor had fallen. Forced back by Sora’s incredible strength, the sturdy golem’s body buckled.
The waves of energy the golem had gathered served as a barrier, but it was unable to block the force completely. The arms it used to defend itself were pulverized, rubble flying through the air and vanishing.
The golem immediately began to repair its missing arms while distancing itself from the threats of Rio and Sora. Feather blades flew around the air.
“Sora won’t let you!” She flew ahead of them, predicting the golem’s intentions. Rio stayed in place and sent light orbs after the feather blades, making it easier for her to move.
Just then, the other golem that had been left ignored made a move. While Rio was busy controlling countless orbs of light, it approached him from his blind spot.
It’s here.
But Rio turned to face the golem as though he had been expecting it. He readied his sword in his hands, and the energy wrapped around it instantly swelled. The golem was only a few dozen meters away from Rio, so it was completely out of range, but...
Rio aimed his sword at the golem and swung it. The torrent of light overflowing from the blade turned into a slashing attack and scattered across a large area. Realizing that a direct hit would deal considerable damage, the golem immediately altered its path dramatically to avoid the strike.
Good.
Having gained a brief moment of time, Rio turned his attention back on Sora. Sora had brought her battle into close combat and was overwhelming the golem that had lost both arms. Fireworks sparked from her fists, condensed energy on the verge of bursting out of control as she whittled away the golem’s armor.
The golem’s repair was unable to keep up with her attacks, slowing its movements greatly. The problem was how it would resume regenerating the moment it was left alone.
“Sora, let’s start with that one!”
They couldn’t afford to let this chance pass.
“Okay! Sora will keep its movements sealed!” Sora replied as she swung her fists, signaling her readiness.
Aishia!
Yup.
With that, Rio focused his mind on activating the transcendent powers. The surface of his sword was charged with light. His sword had been wrapped in light energy in the battle until now, but this light was clearly a different kind of glow. It was as though the light was part of a different world, giving the sword a pure white silhouette.
“Guh...”
The sword wrapped with transcendent power was mysteriously comfortable in his hand, but it weighed a considerable amount. Although it was activated, a target was yet to be designated, so it was essentially in an energy efficient state. It would be difficult to maintain this state for a long time.
He probably had less than twenty seconds at most. If he didn’t use the power properly in that time, the first shot would be wasted with the same amount of burden applied.
As I thought, I’m completely defenseless the moment the power is activated.
It would be a little challenging to activate the power while moving. Feeling relieved that he asked Sora for help, Rio took a deep breath to regulate his condition.
Is it not going to attack?
Then, he glanced at the other golem that was being ignored by them. He was clearly unguarded right now, so it wouldn’t have been odd for it to attack. In fact, the golem had actually attempted to do just that, but suddenly stopped for some reason.
It seemed like it had realized Rio was activating his powers and stopped out of caution. Whether it knew that it was the Dragon King’s power or not aside, it seemed to be aware it was facing its natural enemy.
Whatever, this is our chance.
At any rate, they had no time. With his transcendent powers already activated, he couldn’t afford to think about other things. He was told not to use his powers more than twice. Since he couldn’t waste a single shot, the only thing he thought about was making sure his shot hit his mark.
“Sora, I’m going to stab this sword through its body!” Rio shouted, readying his sword.
“Okay!”
At this point in time, he could sense he had a little over ten seconds left to use his power. The golem facing Sora was still yet to repair its arms, and its body was utterly tattered. Despite that, it seemed to sense the danger in Rio’s sword and attempted to flee.
“Sora won’t let you!”
Sora immediately grabbed the golem’s tail and legs, yanking them towards her. The golem was unable to move from her restraint and froze midair.
The next moment, Rio accelerated towards the golem Sora had suppressed.
“Hah!”
The sword in Rio’s hand slid into where the heart would be located on a human body without any resistance at all. The light vanished from the golem’s eyes.
The transcendent power of elimination only applied to the target in Rio’s mind. He had activated his power while wishing to erase all the magic essence stored within the golem. The sword in Rio’s hand glowed brighter, until the light in the sword spread towards the golem, painting it white. The golem’s silhouette turned white and stopped moving like time had stopped.
After that, the sword in Rio’s hand lost its glow, and the light surrounding the golem suddenly went out too. The golem had vanished without a trace—leaving only its core behind, which promptly began falling to the ground.
“Ah! Conditum!” Rio quickly used the Time-Space Cache to store the golem core.
“Wonderful!” Sora cheered.
“Thank you. That leaves just one more...”
They couldn’t relax yet. Just as Rio was about to turn to the remaining golem, he felt a weight that threw him off-balance.
“Dragon King?!” Sora cried, rushing to Rio’s side.
“I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy for a moment. What’s more important right now is the remaining golem.”
Rio smiled to brush off the pain, correcting his posture and turning to the remaining golem. The situation was now completely two-on-one, with Rio and Sora having the advantage. However, they couldn’t lower their guards yet. There was only one safe use of the transcendent power left. The fact they couldn’t afford to miss a single hit of the power still hadn’t changed.
On top of that, the golem also seemed to understand its unfavorable position. It should be aware that the elimination power Rio had just used contained its natural enemy. That’s why the golem refrained from charging recklessly and maintained its distance silently instead.
“Please rest here, Dragon King. Sora will capture the remaining one for you,” Sora said as she stepped in front of Rio and faced the golem.
In response, the golem spread its wings and sent all its feather blades shooting at Rio and Sora at once.
“Ha, that move won’t save you now! You’re helpless against the Dragon King and Sora!” Sora shouted, opening her mouth to make a breath attack, but the look on Rio’s and Sora’s faces fell. With its wings of light still spread, the golem turned to face those below them at the Galarc Castle.
The golem released a large number of spears from its wings of light, aimed clearly at those in the rooftop garden. Each spear of light was around a meter wide in diameter and contained enough force to create a strong explosion upon impact.
The golem they were currently facing was the second golem Reiss had sent. Its goal was to take the lives of those in the rooftop garden of the castle and eliminate anyone who got in the way. It had probably decided that fighting with Rio and Sora would only result in its defeat, so it was aiming for the weak first to increase the probability of achieving its goal.
It was a rough method to take, but an accurate assessment of the situation.
The next moment, Rio began his sudden descent.
“Dragon King! Ngh!”
Sora hesitated, unsure if she should let Rio go alone when he was suffering from the recoil of using his powers. But she realized it would be bad to leave the golem’s main body alone and approached it to suppress it.
“Oh! You... Wait!”
However, the golem also began a rapid descent after Rio, leaving Sora no choice but to charge after it.
Rio accelerated with all his might to stop the golem’s attack. His falling speed instantly reached the speed of sound, but the spears of light were even faster.
Ngh...
The place they had been fighting the golems was nearly two kilometers aboveground. Even if they descended at the speed of sound from their initial velocity, it would take five seconds. Rio knew he wouldn’t make it at his current speed.
Of course, if Celia and Sara’s group worked together to put up barriers, they should be able to withstand ten to twenty of the spears. But the number of light spears the golem released in that brief amount of time was close to a hundred. Over half of them were raining down in the area where Celia and the others were gathered, and the rest were aimed at their surroundings to prevent their escape.
In which case, even if they could defend themselves against the spears, the castle around them would be destroyed anyway. Without a foundation to stand on, they could fall and die, and those within the castle would be crushed to death too.
With only two seconds until impact, it felt like time was slowing down around them.
It’s no good. I won’t make it in time...!
The sight of someone dear to him dying flashed through Rio’s mind. There was nothing he could do if he couldn’t make it in time, he could only pray that they would be lucky enough to avoid any deaths, there was no choice but to give up—whether he liked it or not, that was the situation.
But was there really no choice but to give up?
Could he really do nothing but watch?
No!
Rio didn’t want to give up. He didn’t want to just watch... Which was why Rio surpassed his limits.
“Ggh!”
The maximum degree of assimilation should have been at one hundred percent, but Rio rose beyond that wall of his own will.
No, Haruto!
He could hear Aishia’s panicked voice.
I will protect them no matter what...!
Rio’s body reached a higher level of existence that wasn’t human. Freed from the heavy restraint of a human body, his body swayed like it was radiating energy. Then, his speed quickened explosively.
Strangely enough, he couldn’t feel any air resistance. Thus, Rio shot towards the rooftop garden like a lightning bolt, faster than the golem’s spears of light.
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