The building that had hosted the Holy Four Assembly bore no resemblance to what it had looked like mere hours ago.
It was a scene that could only be described as wreckage.
The second floor had already collapsed, leaving only the first floor standing. Even that was being systematically demolished by the Necro Golem's swinging arms and legs, until nothing was left but a shadow of its former self.
That final remaining section, too, was effortlessly destroyed by a single blow from the Necro Golem in the next instant.
"Seto, let's go!"
"Gruu!"
The moment the building was completely destroyed, Rei called out to Seto. Seto responded instantly, carrying Rei on his back as he broke into a run and took to the sky after only a few strides.
From atop Seto's back, Rei briefly glanced toward the place where he had been moments ago—more precisely, where Orban, Robel, and Dwanda had been.
But there was no one there anymore.
While the Necro Golem was still busy destroying the building, they had moved to evacuate the people on the main street. They had also reached out to workshops other than the Dolan Workshop and to golem owners, coordinating with those who agreed to mobilize their golems.
Still, I would've preferred it if destroying the building had taken a bit more time.
It had only been about ten minutes since Orban and the others had moved out. Given that, the evacuation of the main street probably hadn't progressed much yet. In fact, it was questionable whether people were honestly following Robel and Dwanda's instructions. It wouldn't have been surprising for some to refuse, insisting they couldn't just up and evacuate on such sudden orders.
If there were many such people, advancing toward the main street right now could mean finding that no one there had evacuated at all.
"But... even so, I can't just let the Necro Golem do as it pleases!"
"Gruu!"
Seto purred in agreement, as if to say, That's right! Beating his wings, he closed the distance to the Necro Golem.
From the Necro Golem's perspective, it had just finished destroying the building and was taking a breather—perhaps even basking in the afterglow, if any such intelligence remained—when it was suddenly interrupted. It was only natural that Rei and Seto, having committed such an intrusion, would be regarded as disagreeable.
The Necro Golem, which had until now acted silently, opened its mouth wide toward Rei and Seto. That said, the creature's head resembled a mass of flesh, so the sudden splitting open of that mass was surprising even to Rei.
"Seto!"
"Grururu!"
Seto responded instantly to Rei's call. Beating his wings, he immediately shifted from where he had been. A purple Breath unleashed from the Necro Golem's mouth tore through the space Seto had occupied just a moment before.
"It had another attack method?!"
Rei glanced behind for an instant, toward the direction the purple liquid Breath had been fired, and saw that several buildings there were dissolving.
A Corrosion Breath—distinct from the rot fluid. In a way, it was an attack befitting the Necro Golem, but for anyone on the receiving end, the destructive power was no laughing matter.
The only saving grace was that the evacuation of this entire area was already complete, meaning there should be no casualties. Though if, for some reason, there were people who hadn't evacuated despite being told to, it wouldn't have been surprising if they were already dead.
"But... that doesn't mean we can just sit here and take it!"
Rei shouted from Seto's back, but even while shouting, he couldn't afford to attack. If he attacked here, the rot fluid would generate green poison smoke. Since people had evacuated, no one would die from the smoke even if it were produced—but given the current situation, Rei judged it better to refrain, since there was still a possibility of casualties.
Given that, the best he could do now was not attack, but rather circle around the Necro Golem to draw its attention and make it recognize them as targets to be eliminated.
That maneuvering relied entirely on Seto.
To fulfill Rei's request, Seto repeatedly pulled away from and then closed in on the Necro Golem. Each time, the Necro Golem attacked, but Seto swiftly— with movements that could even be called elegant—evaded each strike and provoked the creature further.
This continued for about ten minutes.
Perhaps the Necro Golem finally grew irritated with Seto, who kept pestering it endlessly no matter how many times it drove him away. It had been staying near the building until now, but apparently judging that Seto's presence had finally become too troublesome, it took a step forward.
That leg—skinless, nothing but exposed flesh. Yet the step it took was far swifter than Rei had anticipated. From the way it moved while destroying the building, Rei had assumed the Necro Golem would be slower. His expectation was completely off the mark; the creature's movements were quick.
Of course, it wasn't faster than Rei or Seto, so it wasn't as if they couldn't react at all...
"Whoa!"
A purple Breath fired again from the mouth of the Necro Golem chasing Seto. Seto beat his wings and evaded the attack, and Rei shifted his weight to avoid becoming a burden during the turbulence.
Still, the Necro Golem's fast movement speed is troublesome in the sense that it leaves less time for evacuating the main street. ...Then again, if it were slow, that'd be troublesome for us in its own way.
If the movement speed was fast, the main street evacuation wouldn't finish in time. But if it was slow, the Necro Golem would fire Breath at the surroundings or attack with tentacles along the way. Either way, damage to Egginis's cityscape was inevitable.
That said, even if the movement speed was slow and Breath or tentacle attacks occurred, buildings might be destroyed, but since people would have fled, there was a chance no casualties would result. Looking at it that way, it should have been better for Rei if the Necro Golem was slow on its feet.
"Seto, I know it's tough, but hang in there. The extent of the damage to Egginis's residents depends on our actions. Given that, all we can do is give it everything we've got."
"Grururu!"
Leave it to me! Seto purred in response.
While staying alert to what was behind them, Rei had been stroking the back of Seto's neck when—
"Huh!? Seriously?!"
He noticed that a short distance from where Seto was flying, near a building, several men in their late teens to early twenties were standing around. Evacuation orders had been issued, so why were they still in a place like this?
Rei couldn't understand it either, but if the Necro Golem continued moving as it was, the building where the men stood would undoubtedly be damaged.
Change the route?
The thought crossed his mind for an instant, but if Seto carelessly changed direction here, the damage incurred before reaching the main street would definitely increase.
"Get out of the way! Right now, flee in a different direction from where we're heading!"
Hearing Rei's shout, the men—who had been frozen, overwhelmed by the approaching Necro Golem—bolted as if freed from a spell. Rei felt relieved seeing that they ran in a direction different from the one Seto was heading.
That said, there was still a considerable distance before reaching the main street, and for something like this to happen here made him worry about what lay ahead.
Orban and the others are thoroughly carrying out the evacuation... no, with such a short amount of time, that's impossible.
There hadn't been much time to begin with before the Necro Golem completely destroyed the Holy Four Assembly building. Given that, there was no way they could fully evacuate everyone from the main street and the roads leading to it.
If people had been honestly following evacuation orders, that would be one thing, but there might be some who couldn't evacuate even when suddenly told to. There could also be those who simply disliked obediently following orders from above. It wouldn't be strange for such people to exist.
Whether what Rei had just seen was due to either of those reasons or some other cause entirely, he couldn't tell. But regardless, it was an undeniable fact that they were in the Necro Golem's path.
What do I do? Help anyone like that from here on out? That's out of the question.
For a moment, the thought crossed his mind that maybe he should help them, but he immediately dismissed it. Right now, Rei and Seto were being targeted because they had provoked the Necro Golem too much. Given that their original goal was to irritate the creature and lure it to the main street, that was only natural.
In such a situation, Rei and Seto couldn't go rushing toward wherever unevacuated people happened to be. Doing so would only increase the danger.
He considered dismounting from Seto and heading over on foot, but there was no guarantee the unevacuated people were few in number. If that were the case, he'd end up having to dismount every time he found someone else, turning it into an endless cycle.
Rei had no desire to deal with such a tedious process, and—more importantly—there was also the possibility that the Necro Golem viewed Rei and Seto together as enemies. Given that, even for a short time, if Rei and Seto separated, it was uncertain which of them the Necro Golem would target.
If it went after Seto, that would be one thing, but the possibility of it coming after Rei wasn't zero.
Given the situation, Rei judged that he shouldn't go out of his way to extend a helping hand to those left behind, and that it was better to simply pass them by.
...That said, having people die meaninglessly would leave a bad aftertaste, so although only slightly, he had been adjusting Seto's flight path to keep the Necro Golem away from the buildings where stragglers were located.
But as a result of Rei's scheming, the Necro Golem crashed into a different building opposite the one where the stragglers had been. From the point of impact, rot fluid spilled out, generating green poison smoke the moment it touched the ground and the building.
"Tch, this thing is seriously troublesome!"
For Rei, the single biggest reason the situation had become so problematic was that rot fluid. It had the destructive power to dissolve the ground and buildings upon mere contact, and on top of that, it produced powerful poison smoke as it dissolved. In that sense, it was truly a troublesome substance. If not for that rot fluid, they could have just defeated the creature right there at the site of the Holy Four Assembly building.
"Grurururu!"
Seto let out a sharp cry, beat his wings, and banked away from the spot. A tentacle pierced through the space where he had just been.
"What... the tentacles' range has increased?!"
That was surprising even to Rei. Seto had carefully gauged the reach of the Necro Golem's tentacles and had been flying at a distance where the attacks were just barely out of range. And yet, the Necro Golem's latest tentacle strike had easily pierced through the space Seto had occupied, demonstrating a reach that clearly exceeded what it had been capable of moments ago.
Had Seto misjudged the distance?
He considered that possibility, but knowing Seto, he couldn't imagine him making such a mistake.
If so, it was more logical to assume a different explanation—such as the range of the Necro Golem's tentacle strike having suddenly increased.
But why? It shouldn't have absorbed any human corpses... so is it really absorbing buildings and such? Did it absorb the building when it crashed into it just now?
Even when the Necro Golem was destroying the Holy Four Assembly building, it had been growing larger for some reason, despite not absorbing any corpses. Thinking back on that, it wasn't impossible that it had absorbed the building it struck and destroyed moments ago.
Given how things are, I can't let it come into contact with buildings either. On the main street, I want the golems to destroy buildings and move food stalls aside to keep the Necro Golem from growing any larger... wait, could it absorb golems too?
The Necro Golem had already absorbed corpses and building wreckage. Thinking about it, it wouldn't be strange for it to absorb the golems that would likely be deployed on the main street. In that sense, Rei felt that heading toward the main street was dangerous—but since he couldn't let the Necro Golem roam freely through the city, he had no choice but to press forward.