"Whoa!"
The emergency exit doors were blown off their hinges, and two golems lunged toward the King and the Prince. However, a copper-colored maid golem intercepted them.
"I won't let you!"
It was Lotte. With her slender limbs, she blocked the fists of the attacking security golems and even managed to throw one of the opponents.
Her arm sustained a slight dent, but she paid it no mind as she engaged the other one, twisting its arm and brilliantly ripping it clean from its socket. She then grabbed the golem's remaining arm and, remarkably, swung the machine around before tossing it away.
Lotte turned toward the King and the Prince to report the situation.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness. It appears that the majority of the golems within the castle have gone on a rampage."
Combat golems, such as security golems and ritter golems, were beginning to pour in through the other entrances like an avalanche.
Safe inside the barrier, Jin and Beena felt absolutely nothing from the golems' attacks. In the midst of the carnage, Jin looked at her.
"Beena, are you all right?"
"W-w-w-what on earth is h-h-h-happening?"
Jin lightly tapped the shoulder of the near-panicking Beena to try and calm her down.
"Stay calm. You'll be fine as long as you stay by my side."
After reassuring her, he explained the situation.
"The golems in the castle have likely been hijacked."
"What did you say!?"
Jin briefly recounted the story of Albus, the golem he and Reinhard had encountered.
"The magical power I felt just now was hundreds—no, thousands of times stronger than that. Furthermore, it happened twice: once for Erase and once for Write In. You understand what that means, don't you?"
Beena nodded, her face pale.
"Yes... I don't know who is behind this, but it means the golems will only follow that person's orders now, right?"
"Exactly. Most likely, the only ones that weren't hijacked are my Lotte and Reinhard's Schwarzritter."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"I don't know if I'd call it lucky, but the orders given through Write In are likely simple. In other words... just 'go wild' or 'attack humans'."
"Schwarzritter, crush that one!"
Like Jin, Reinhard had analyzed the situation and concluded that things were incredibly dire. He couldn't save everyone in the hall, so he was searching for Elsa and Count Kuzuma. They had been separated during the initial chaos.
Scanning his surroundings, Reinhard issued orders to Schwarzritter. The golem had just finished striking down a ritter golem that had come from outside.
"Pick up its sword... Good. Now, come here."
In the brief moment of respite he had created, Reinhard had Schwarzritter retrieve a weapon. Now it had a means of attack.
"Elsa! Louis! Where are you?! Are you safe!?"
Reinhard called out for Elsa and Count Kuzuma. In response, a voice cut through the din.
"Reinhard! I am safe!"
He breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the count's voice, but it was short-lived as a golem moved to attack the man.
"Schwarzritter!"
At the very last second, Schwarzritter sliced off one of the legs of the golem attacking Count Kuzuma—Zingel.
"My apologies—and my thanks," the count said.
Reinhard rushed to Count Kuzuma's side, told him to stay close, and then spoke a command.
"Barrier."
He activated the Protect Ring he had received from Jin. With this, the two of them were safe for the time being.
"What about Elsa!?"
Naturally, his next concern was his cousin. Elsa was currently isolated.
Thanks to the Protect Ring she had received from Jin, she was uninjured, but she was surrounded by hostile golems.
"Rai-nii... Jin-kun..."
Because of the barrier, the golems were stopped thirty centimeters away from her, but Elsa, trapped inside the shimmering dome, looked as though she was about to burst into tears from pure terror.
"Help... me..."
"Damn it, what in the world is happening!?"
Most of the nobles had no idea what was going on; half of them had either been knocked unconscious by their own nearby golems or were lying on the floor with severe injuries.
"Celes! It's me! Don't you recognize me!?"
The crystal golem Celes, belonging to Stearena Gamma—the magi craftsman from the Celuroa Kingdom—was no exception to the rampage. However, its body was made of crystal and was fragile under impact. Its hand, swinging at empty air, accidentally collided with another passing golem and shattered.
"Ah! Celes!"
While swinging its remaining arm, it struck a wall, and Celes finally lost both of its limbs. Seeing that she was no longer in danger of being struck, Stearena clung to her creation.
"Please! Stop this! I don't want to see you break!"
As she cried out, Stearena used Craft Magic.
"Write In."
Currently, only Jin and the mysterious golem were capable of using Erase. Therefore, Stearena chose Write In as a means to stop Celes. This caused the control commands to become a jumbled mess, and Celes came to a Stand Still.
Her relief was short-lived, however. Stearena took a heavy blow to the head from a golem behind her and lost consciousness instantly. Simultaneously, Celes was smashed to pieces by that same golem.
"Gwaagh!"
At the center of a particularly loud scream was Taurus. Although it didn't hold a sword, the massive, person-sized tower shield was a sufficient weapon through its mass alone. With a single swing, three or four people were sent flying.
"St-stop it, Taurus!"
The creator of Taurus, Jade Nephroi, was desperately trying to stop his golem. But it wouldn't listen. Eventually, the tower shield swung by Taurus grazed Jade's arm, and blood sprayed out.
"Hiiie!"
Even though it was only a graze, Jade turned pale and turned to run. But another golem was waiting for him where he fled. Fortunately for him, that golem was a female type. Consequently, its blow only resulted in several broken ribs rather than a fatal wound.
That said, the pain caused Jade to collapse on the spot, where he vomited blood and fainted.
"Your Majesty! Your Highness! Are you safe!?"
The royal ritter corps finally arrived, fifteen strong. The armor and protective gear they wore were covered in nicks and scratches. It was only natural, as they had fought through dozens of golems just to reach this hall.
"Do not scatter! Move in groups of three!"
The captain issued the orders. To defend against golems attacking from all directions, they could afford no blind spots. They advanced slowly, each man taking responsibility for a 120-degree arc. They had to rescue the King and the Prince, but they also had to save the heavyweights of the state, such as the chancellor, the minister of finance, and the minister of defense.
"U-u-uaaaah! D-don't come any closer!"
"Tch!"
One of the royal ritters had just slashed at a gold-colored golem that was attacking a fat count. However, it proved to be sturdier than it looked, and he only managed to inflict a shallow wound. On the other hand, the ritter's sword was now notched from the impact.
"Damn, so it's not just for show."
By attacking it, the golem's target shifted from the fat count to the ritters.
"It's coming, stay sharp."
The three ritters gripped their swords and prepared for battle.
"Damn it! Get out of my way!"
Kelly, the captain of the royal ritter corps, was currently clashing blades with Iron, the creation of Beena's teacher, Gladia Hampton. It was a troublesome opponent, as it was wielding a sword taken from a security golem it had already defeated.
Even an ordinary security golem was about a head taller than a human, giving it a longer reach. They weighed three to five times more than a person and possessed several times the strength.
Although Jin had assessed Iron as "ordinary," its performance was still higher than that of a standard security golem. It was only because he was the captain of the ritters that Kelly could fight it on equal terms; an ordinary soldier wouldn't have stood a chance.
On and on it went.
The hall was dominated by chaos, transforming into a gruesome scene filled with screams, the clashing of metal, and the stench of iron. Most of the participants were either injured or unconscious, and those who were truly unfortunate had already stopped breathing.
In the midst of this, a counterattack was finally about to begin.