January 15, 10:00 AM.
“My Lord, an emergency has occurred.”
Jin, who was in the workshop, looked up at Laojun’s voice. Reinhard and Elsa, who were staying with him, were also present and turned their attention to the report.
“What happened?” Jin asked.
“The Former Leonard Kingdom Investigation Team is in a dire situation.”
“What?!”
“...Does that include my brother and the others?” Elsa asked, her voice trembling.
“Yes. Please look at the screen.”
A magi-screen flickered to life, displaying an aerial view captured by Sky 21.
“Wh—What is that thing?” Jin muttered.
“I speculate it may be a magi-creature, but the details remain unknown.”
＊ ＊ ＊
“What’s going on?!”
Everyone spun around in shock as the earth behind them suddenly erupted. Standing before them was a translucent Rock Wolf.
No—it was merely something in the shape of a Rock Wolf.
“Is that...?”
“A Rock Wolf? No, it’s different!”
While its silhouette resembled a Rock Wolf, its surface was not covered in fur. The way it shimmered with a slimy, oily sheen proved it was something else entirely.
Eighteen of these Rock Wolf Copies emerged from the disturbed earth, kicking aside the soil as they manifested.
“...It can’t be!”
Everyone recognized that texture. It was the mysterious semi-fluid they had seen before.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Laojun, what are those things?” Elsa asked, her eyes fixed on the magi-screen. It was only natural for her to be confused, as she hadn’t been privy to the earlier events at the ruins.
“This is only a deduction, but...” Laojun began, providing a brief summary of the events he had been observing.
“I see. So they threw away the contents of those containers,” Jin said.
“Yes. They discarded everything into a single pit. Essentially, they unintentionally mixed the various substances together.”
Hearing this, a thought occurred to Jin. “Could that be... a remnant of the Great Magic War?”
“Yes, My Lord. I believe so. It is likely an incomplete weapon from that era.”
There had once been a magi-weapon known as the Gigas—a monstrosity that absorbed surrounding mana and converted it into its own energy. Laojun speculated that the substance sealed here was of a similar nature. Though it was a conclusion drawn from incomplete data, Jin felt the assessment was likely accurate.
“Too valuable to destroy, yet too dangerous to use. Perhaps, as a last resort, they sealed it away in a cellar in the frontier and left a warning,” Jin mused.
“Yes. And as the years passed, the knowledge of what was sealed was lost, and the warning was eventually discarded or destroyed,” Laojun added.
Knowing the monster’s origins did nothing to resolve the immediate crisis. Jin had checked with Anne, but she possessed no data on such a thing.
“A semi-fluid protoplasm, a corrosive liquid similar to sulfuric acid, gray stones, and the carcasses of Rock Wolves...”
When these elements were dumped into a single pit, they produced monsters in the shape of Rock Wolves.
“If they had added a human instead of a wolf...”
“It’s possible,” Jin agreed.
If it were a weapon from the Great Magic War, it wouldn’t be strange for it to absorb the bodies of its enemies and create a mockery of their forms.
“If that’s the case, are those gray stones the key?”
“The probability is high. They likely function as a control core—or more accurately, a magic core.”
As Jin and Laojun refined their deductions, Elsa let out a cry that was almost a scream.
“Brother!”
＊ ＊ ＊
“Whoa!”
The movements of the Rock Wolf Copies were somewhat slower than the original beasts. However, when a knight slashed at one of the attacking copies, their sword began to dissolve.
The metal didn't vanish instantly, but the blade was eaten away until it was barely two-thirds of its original width. The thin, sharp edge had simply melted.
“It absorbed the corrosive liquid... We can’t touch them!” Fritz shouted, his face turning pale. “The Golias units will be dissolved too!”
They couldn’t touch the creatures, and they couldn’t cut them. Magic was their only remaining option.
“Wind Cutter!”
Because the creatures were essentially semi-fluid, they were a poor match for wind-attribute magic. The Rock Wolf Copies simply knit themselves back together even as they were being sliced.
“Anyone capable of fire-attribute attack magic, open fire!” Fritz commanded, retreating to a safe distance.
“Fire Bullet!”
Responding to his order, a mid-level fire spell was unleashed. It struck a Rock Wolf Copy with pinpoint accuracy. However, even that wasn't enough to destroy it. Although half of its body was blasted away, it reformed into its original shape an instant later. Its overall size had certainly shrunk, but it hadn't taken decisive damage.
The knights’ spirits faltered.
To make matters worse, the horses were startled and bolted. Since they were just about to depart, they hadn't been tied up, and the panic proved contagious. With the horses gone, their only means of escape were their own feet, the Golias units, and the hot air balloons in the sky.
“Fire Bullet!”
Another attack struck home, but the Rock Wolf Copy remained undaunted. Even as parts of its body were scorched away, it simply shrank slightly before returning to its original form.
“Keep at it! It is doing something!” Fritz urged, rallying his discouraged knights. If the creatures were shrinking, they were being weakened.
At that moment, a Saber Boar appeared, perhaps drawn by the commotion or simply lost. It was a creature roughly two meters in length, brandishing a pair of massive tusks and prone to charging when agitated.
Whether startled or aggressive, the Saber Boar lowered its head and charged at one of the Rock Wolf Copies. The moment the copy was struck and seemingly pierced by the massive tusks, it lost its shape and reverted to a viscous fluid. It immediately enveloped the Saber Boar.
Because the fluid was translucent, the witnesses could see exactly what fate befell the beast. They watched as its fur melted, its flesh sloughed away, and its bones dissolved. Then, the viscous fluid that had been a Rock Wolf Copy reshaped itself into a Saber Boar Copy.
“It can take the form of whatever it absorbs!” someone screamed.
Engaging in close combat was now officially a suicidal act.
“Golias 5! Get Jade and the women on board!” Fritz ordered.
One of the Golias units knelt and extended its hands. Jade Nephroi and two female knights scrambled into its palms. The giant golem then stood tall.
Having secured the three people least suited for combat, Fritz readjusted his grip on his longsword. For the moment, the Golias units were not being attacked. The creatures seemed to target only living beings.
I wonder what would happen if we all climbed onto the Golias... Fritz thought as he dodged another lunge.
He didn't have time to act on the idea. The Rock Wolf Copies began to swarm around Golias 5, clearly targeting the three people held in its hands.
Suddenly, a Fireball descended from the sky. It was an attack from one of the hot air balloons. The aerial crew had finally realized the severity of the situation and begun their support.
One of the Rock Wolf Copies took the Fireball head-on and was instantly engulfed in flames.