96 Chapter 96: Light Golem

I watched Kishimoto Hikaru warily.

"It sounds as if you're expecting me."

Kishimoto shrugged as she whirled her staff almost lazily.

"I was. I mean, I heard how you killed five of us…six, if we include the one killed by the vampire queen. Of course the demons are going to use you as their trump card to counter us heroes. What was it, they're calling you the Hero Slayer now, aren't they?"

"…"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I continued keeping my eyes on her.

"But wow…I had no idea how you were able to do that. Wipe out most of my forces in less than ten minutes…"

Kishimoto frowned as she glared at my tanks.

"What's going on? Isn't Restia supposed to be a medieval fantasy world? How and where did you get tanks from? Isn't this essentially cheating?"

I shrugged. "It's not our fault that you inaccurately assume Restia is a medieval fantasy world when it's actually on the brink of industrial revolution."

Kishimoto's frown deepened. "The industrial revolution only produced the steam engine and trains. Tanks only appeared slightly before World War II. We didn't even have tanks during World War I."

"That's when you're wrong." I grinned smugly. "The first battle tanks were actually fielded during World War I, as a response to the stalemate that occurred on the Western Front. The British fielded the first prototype tank in 1916, and then the French produced their own tanks and fielded them in 1917. They sucked really badly in World War I, though."

"Show-off," Kishimoto snarled. "What are you trying to prove? That you're some kind of military history textbook? This is why everyone hates you! You're such a know-it-all!"

"No, I'm just a military otaku who wargames during his free time, especially in the 41st millennium. Especially because I'm an Imperial Knight and Imperial Guard player…so I have to know my history of tanks pretty well. You want to know about how Leman Russ tanks are manufactured on the forge worlds of the Adeptus Mechanicus and distributed to the Imperial Guard armored regiments? Ah, no, they're called Astra Militarum now. Ryza manufactures the most plasma weapons and are probably one of the few forge worlds able to recreate the Leman Russ Executioner tanks. But apparently Armageddon can do that too, and their mass produced Leman Russ tanks and Chimera APCs are used by the Armageddon Steel Legion for armored warfare…"

"Shut up! Who cares about all that?!"

"Warhammer 40,000 fans."

"Well, I'm not a Warhammer 40,000 fan! This is why everyone hates otakus! They should all die! Including you!"

"Oh, just shut up already!"

Kishimoto unleashed another Divine Lance at me, which I parried with my right hand. Again, the twelve barriers of my Redwood jacket protected me from devastating damage. When she saw that I was relatively unscathed, Kishimoto narrowed her gaze.

"Just what the hell are you? No…it's your equipment, isn't it?"

Why would I tell you? Were you an idiot or something?

"Hmph. No matter. All I need is overwhelming strength to smash all those defensive barriers in one hit."

Raising her staff, Kishimoto conjured a spell. Golden light slammed down from the heavens and bathed her.

"?!"

I instinctively stepped back and activated Absolute Appraisal.

Name: Kishimoto Hikaru

Species: Human

Job/Rank: Holy Mage/Hero

Special Abilities: Divine Lance, Holy Magic

Then the spell she was casting must be holy magic…

Or so I thought, but when she finished casting it, the golden light turned into a gigantic lump of metal. Gleaming, golden metal, but a lump of metal nonetheless.

Upon closer look, the lump of metal was humanoid in shape. As I stepped forward, I saw that it was a gigantic metal soldier whose body was covered in armored plating. Golden wings of light stretched out from its back, giving it an angelic appearance.

"What's that supposed to be, a Stormcast Eternal? Huh, did I get that right? I mean, I don't play Age of Sigmar…"

No, it was a Golem. I remembered seeing it once, used by the late Count Raum who I had slaughtered in combat. It was a titanic pilot-controlled fantasy mecha that possessed an immense frame and superhuman strength. Although it was slow and its attacks were repetitive (obviously they hadn't developed very sophisticated artificial intelligence in this era yet), it possessed a hard, sturdy armored body composed entirely of metal. Even a graze from a single attack of that monster was enough to obliterate an armored knight and turn him into a bloody pulp. In fact, it was so powerful that its fists could smash through even a heavily armored tank.

It would take a lot of firepower to bring one of these things down. The upside was that a Malthas tank was sturdier, with Toughness 8 and 12 wounds. In contrast I bet a Golem had a similar statline to a Dreadnought, which was probably Toughness 7 and 8 wounds. A couple of lucky lascannon shots would be able to take it down. Hell, concentrated fire from the main plasma Executioner cannon and sponson plasma cannons should be able to deal enough wounds, especially if we supercharged the plasma weapons.

Well, there's the risk of sustaining mortal wounds from supercharging the plasma weapons, but if I'll be able to mitigate that with our regimental doctrine that allows my tanks to re-roll hit rolls of ones if they didn't move.

And they hadn't moved an inch, so we should still get the regimental doctrine bonus from Born Soldiers.

However, tanks had a WS of 6+ and were horrendous in close combat. The Golem would absolutely rip them apart in close combat. And right now, the Golem was too close for comfort. And knowing Kishimoto, it would have some sort of invulnerable save…cough, I mean holy barrier or whatever defensive spell protecting it.

The Golem was formidable especially in close combat. Already, its fist was glowing with powerful golden mana.

"That's…"

"Ha ha!"

Kishimoto emerged from her cockpit to gloat at us. Stepping out of the open hatch, she sneered condescending at us.

"Kobayashi-kun put a big bounty on your head. Dead or alive, that makes you worth something to me."

The moment the last word left her mouth, a powerful Doombolt slammed into her and sent her flying back into the cockpit of her Golem.

"Guh! What the fuck?!"

Blood dripping from her mouth, Kishimoto staggered out of her cockpit and glared at me from the hatch.

"What the hell?! Attacking me when I'm talking and before I got into my cockpit?! Have you no honor, you scoundrel?!"

"What, you think this is Titanfall 2 or something? A cinematic for you to exit your cockpit and gloat over the protagonist? I'm not Jack Cooper, of course I'm going to abuse the opportunity and shoot you while you're exposed like that."

To emphasize my point, I fired off another Doombolt that smacked her off her feet and sent her crashing back into her cockpit. Despite putting all my power into those spells, it seemed that Kishimoto's Divine Protection had deflected most of the damage, allowing her to escape fatal wounds. The bitch was still alive and kicking.

"Bloody bastard!"

Cursing, Kishimoto wisely closed her hatch this time, protecting herself from another onslaught.

"Sir…!"

"Stand back, people. I've got this."

Glancing at the meter at the left bottom corner of my glasses, I hit the V button. Right after that, I heard Matsukaze's familiar voice.

"Standby for Titanfall."

An explosion echoed overhead and Matsukaze crashed down from the heavens. Her systems warning her beforehand, Kishimoto piloted her Golem and had it stumble back to prevent herself from getting crushed by Titanfall.

"It's my turn!" she crowed and began blasting Matsukaze with Divine Lances from her Golem's arm cannon. However, the powerful spells merely dissipated against the shimmering dome shield that protected my Titan.

…evidently Kishimoto had never played Titanfall or Titanfall 2.

"What's going on?!" she demanded when she saw that none of her attacks were going through. "What's with that forcefield?! Why aren't any of my attacks penetrating?!"

I ignored her and sprinted across the barren wasteland, which was still glowing red-hot from the plasma barrages of my Malthas Executioner tanks. Sliding beneath Matsukaze, my Titan suddenly reared up and grabbed hold of me, then placed me inside his cockpit. All the while, Kishimoto continued her hail of Divine Lances, but none of them was able to break through the glowing barrier.

Unfortunately, the moment I did so, the dome shield expired. I was forced to draw Matsukaze's broadsword and used sword block to defend myself from Kishimoto's Divine Lances. Noticing my moment of vulnerability, Kishimoto cackled and capitalized on it.

"Finally! That dome shield is finally gone! I'll destroy you!"

Well, even if I didn't embark on my Titan, the dome shield would eventually disappear anyway. It only stayed up for thirty seconds, maximum and after that Matsukaze would go onto autopilot and act according to his artificial intelligence protocols. I had him set on Follow Mode, so he would naturally head toward my position.

Best to pilot him myself rather than wait for that to happened. Plus once the dome shield expired, both of us would be vulnerable to enemy fire when I tried embarking after that. Might as well get it done while we still had protection.

Clang!

Grunting, I slowly moved Matsukaze forward, meter by meter. Kishimoto's fierce barrage was wearing down the health of my Titan, but I managed to keep him in a healthy condition while closing in the distance between us. Right when Kishimoto paused, I quickly unleashed an Arc Wave to stun her Golem.

"Whoa?!"

Kishimoto cried out when her vision suddenly blurred, a result of the bluish-white arc of energy unleashed from my sword and smashing into her Golem. As the Golem staggered, stunned by the electromagnetic pulse, I floored the accelerator and boosted my Titan forward. The jet thrusters on Matsukaze's back flared as he propelled toward the enemy.

"!"

Kishimoto managed to parry Matsukaze's strike with a heavily armored hand. Swinging around, she tried to punch me. I instinctively yanked the gear and had Matsukaze slide backward to avoid the gigantic fist.

That was dangerous! Even Matsukaze would be severely damaged if he tried to block that fist head-on!

The power fists of the Dreadnaught…uh, I mean Golem had a damage value of 3. It would quickly shave a quarter of Matsukaze's health if it hit. Fortunately, it was unwieldy, which meant that Kishimoto was forced to deduct 1 from her WS when using it in combat. In layman's terms, it meant that the Golem's attacks were slow and ponderous and thus easy for me to evade. However, the moment they landed, they would deal terrible, terrible damage.

Fortunately, if Kishimoto's Golem was the equivalent of a Dreadnaught, then my Titan was the equivalent of an Imperial Knight. Unfortunately, it was not the equivalent of the bigger chassis such as a Knight Paladin, Knight Warden or Knight Errant, but rather it was more appropriate to compare Matsukaze to an Armiger-class Imperial Knight such as an Armiger Warglaive. Gritting my teeth, I tried to pivot Matsukaze to stay out of Kishimoto's range while slashing at her Golem. My sword strikes landed o the clumsy Golem, but barely scratched its thick armor.

"This will take too much time," I muttered as perspiration dripped down my face. My attacks were barely dealing any damage to the heavily armored Golem. At this rate, it would become a battle of attrition, where my stamina was pitted against the Golem's ridiculous durability. All it took was one mistake and my Titan would be damaged irreparably.

Fortunately, it seemed like I wasn't the only one getting frustrated.

"Just die already!"

While I continued to dance out of reach of Kishimoto's Golem's fists, she swung around wildly and frantically, unable to control her temper. Seething, she tried to launch a Divine Lance at close range, but I dodged that too. It was practically a Ronin-class Titan dancing around a Legion-class Titan and staying out of its aim.

"Stop moving around! Stand still!"

"Do you honestly expect me to stand still and let you hit me?"

I was baffled at Kishimoto's demands. What kind of idiot would listen to such an unreasonable request?

Furthermore, despite costing more in points and being a bit bigger, the Armiger Warglaive…I mean Matsukaze was only Toughness 7 (same as the Dreadnaught…I mean Golem). It packed more wounds, though, but 12 weren't that many more than 8, particularly whe I considered the devastating damage the bloody Golem could do in close combat. My Titan was less durable than a Malthas tank, with the same number of wounds.

If Kishimoto whittled it down with a couple of attacks, the movement, speed and efficiency of my Titan would begin to degrade, thus compounding my problems. Since her Golem had less than 10 wounds, Kishimoto didn't have to worry about degradation.

Clang!

"You!"

Kishimoto hollered in frustration as I left another shallow scar on her Golem, the broadsword chipping away at its armor. Well, at least I could do some damage. If I carried on at this rate, I might be able to destroy Kishimoto in an hour or two. Relying on the auspex in my Throne Mechanicum, I mean cockpit, I continued to deliver the attacks to the same spots. As long as I concentrated my attacks there, I would eventually be able to launch a lethal strike that would take out Kishimoto's armored Golem once and for all.

Unfortunately, someone didn't have the patience for that.

"You'll take too much time."

"Eh?"

I blinked when Lilith's voice blared over the vox. Turning my head slightly, I caught sight of her striding forward, spear in hand.

"Can you leave the diversion and attack to me? It'll be faster that way."

"W…wait a minute, your highness!"

Elia's voice crackled over the vox, the Captain sounding flustered and panicked.

"Do you intend to fight that Evelyn's Chosen's Golem by yourself?!"

It seemed that she was trying to stop the vampire queen, but Lilith had made her decision and overruled the infantry officer.

"It is possible with my Crimson Blood Lance."

"That's certainly true…" I muttered. I hated to admit it, but Lilith's curses would bypass the Golem's armor much better than my Titan's physical attacks.

"If there is no problem, then I'll go ahead."

"Ah…"

Before Elia could stop her, Lilith sprang out of the tomb. She bounded onto the wasteland, her crimson spear in her hand glowing ominously as she drew vast amounts of mana into it. It almost seemed that the space around her was distorting.

"Your highness…!"

Harker sounded like he was in awe, but at the same time I could detect the worry in his voice. The tank crew of The Blessings of the Emperor seemed to hold their breath as they bore witness to Lilith's savage attack.

Fast!

I couldn't even track her with Absolute Appraisal or the movement auspex on Matsukaze. It was almost as if Lilith had disappeared, her figure turning into a red and black blur.

With her extraordinary speed, Lilith closed in on the Golem in an instant. Kishimoto reacted, spinning around instinctively to confront the new threat.

"What's this…?!"

The Golem issued a mechanical roar and reared its left fist back. Turning around slowly, it unleashed a devastating blow with its massive arm, which almost resembled a gigantic battering ram that disappeared into a golden blur.

"Watch out!"

The fist that approached Lilith's back seemed too close for comfort, and Sergeant Harker yelled out a warning in reflex when he witnessed that terrifying scene from within the safe confines of his Malthas tank.

…however…

"Eh…?"

The moment it looked as if the fist had struck, Lilith evaded it without even glancing over her shoulder.

Her skills were incredible. She had evaded minimally without any unnecessary movements. It was impressive, considering she did that right at the last moment too. And even as Lilith evaded, she was thrusting her blood-red lance forward.

The blinding red flashes shrieked across the air as Lilith hammered the Golem's arm with her Crimson Blood Lance, unleashing several tiny blood-red explosions.

"What the hell?!"

Kishimoto swore under her breath and spun her Golem around to fully face her tiny opponent. She raised its other arm to launch a second attack, but Lilith did not budge.

"Lilith-san! Dodge it!"

This time, I was the one who hollered the warning, but Lilith continued to ignore me. However, she didn't have to.

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For some reason, the Golem's movements stopped, probably because of Lilith's earlier barrage, and its fist hung motionless, suspended just mere centimeters away from Lilith.

"That's…"

I frowned as I studied the scene, and right before my eyes, Lilith launched a spectacular attack by smashing her spear right into the Golem's chest.

That cursed attack…that would bypass the Golem's armor and strike directly into Kishimoto's heart. The moment she pierced Kishimoto's heart, the battle would be over.

"AAAAAAAH!"

A scream resounded throughout the wasteland as Kishimoto's heart was pierced. The Golem stopped moving upon the death of its pilot.

"Hmph."

Lilith withdrew her spear and turned her back on the immobile Golem. Meanwhile, the rest of us watched, overawed.

What the fuck?! An enemy that Matsukaze's attacks could barely get through…Lilith defeated it in just a single instance?!

Even though I knew of Lilith's abilities and curse, I couldn't help but be astonished by the insanely short amount of time she took to eliminate a hero. That was Kishimoto Hikaru, one of Evelyn's Chosen! One of the human heroes!

And she took just the better part of a minute to slay her!?

Well, this takes her tally up to two. If I slack off, she'll catch up to my achievement of scoring five kills…

Not that I was trying to compete against Lilith in trying to kill more heroes, but my pride as the Hero Slayer took a hit.

On the other hand, this solved the problem altogether. We had secured the tomb from enemy hands. The leader of the expedition, the so-called hero, Kishimoto Hikaru had been slain. Eighty percent of the human army had been annihilated. The remaining thousand or so soldiers stayed out of range, unable to approach unless they were willing to be incinerated by the steel ring of Malthas tanks I had positioned around the tomb.

No matter how I looked at it, it was a crushing victory for the Demonic Alliance, and for Haemorage. And we achieved it without losing a single soldier.

"Amazing!"

"That was incredible, your highness!"

The soldiers were cheering when they saw how easily and effortlessly Lilith had handled the fearsome Evelyn's Chosen.

"Well then…now that the main threat has been eliminated, I supposed we should go investigate the tomb. Major, do you mind lending me a platoon or two as an escort?"

"A…ah, right. Captain Kratz, you heard that, right?"

I thumbed the vox and informed Elia, but she didn't reply. Evidently she was still stunned by Lilith's overwhelming victory.

"Captain?"

"H…huh? O…oh, right! Yes, I'll prepare the escort detail immediately!"

I sighed and left it to her.

"Your highness, you just finished a battle with an Evelyn's Chosen. Would you like to rest a bit before resuming exploration of the tomb?"

"I'm fine. I would rather get this mission done and over with."

"Lilith-san…?"

I frowned inside my cockpit when I heard Lilith's firm tone. There was something about her behavior that seemed strange.

Is Lilith-san…by any chance…impatient?

Well, it made sense. Lilith probably wanted to investigate the tomb before that bastard Bradley Kreuger arrived. We couldn't allow the ancient weapons and treasures in Alcuard's burial ground to fall into his hands. Lilith would want to recover them before him.

"Ku ku ku...as expected of my future wife. Your skills and combat abilities are nothing short of splendid."

…we were too late. The surviving human soldiers found themselves surrounded and trapped by Bradley Kreuger and his retinue of soldiers. They had finally arrived…House Kreuger's infamous vampire knights.

"…but an Evelyn's Chosen isn't so easily defeated, you know?"

While I rolled my eyes at Bradley's mocking tone, a white explosion engulfed the stationary Golem that stood in the middle of the wasteland.

"…huh?"

I gaped as the Golem self-destructed, only to reveal a golden inferno burning furiously within.

In the middle of that inferno, the bleeding figure of Kishimoto Hikaru slowly raised her head and glared murderously at Lilith.

"Bitch…I'll fucking kill you!"