"Sword, do you recognize me?"
"..."
A red-eyed golem and a blue-eyed golem were locked in a fierce struggle.
To be more precise, the red-eyed golem—Sword—was launching a relentless, one-sided assault, while the blue-eyed golem focused entirely on parrying and diverting the blows.
"Sword!"
No matter how many times Lance called out, there was no response. The only answer he received was another flurry of attacks.
"Has something been done to it? This is going to end badly at this rate."
The blue-eyed golem was clearly hesitating, unwilling to damage Sword, whereas Sword felt no compunction whatsoever about harming its opponent.
"Ugh."
Finally, Sword caught the blue-eyed golem’s right arm in a joint lock at the elbow and forced it backward.
Because it was a golem and possessed no sense of pain, the injury did not cause it to falter in agony, but the gap in their combat effectiveness widened even further.
"Sword, stop!"
But Sword did not stop.
Though the blue-eyed golem’s expression remained a mask of indifference, damage was mounting, and its movements were visibly becoming sluggish.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Fire Bullet!"
"You bastard! What if you start a fire?! Thunderbolt!"
Fritz and the bandit leader traded spells in a rapid exchange.
Both men were highly skilled in taijutsu, making it difficult for either to land a decisive blow.
"Fine then! I’ll settle this in close quarters!"
Losing his patience, Fritz closed the distance in a single, explosive leap. The bandit hurriedly moved to intercept him.
"Guh, Fireball!"
Fritz didn’t flinch. He caught the sphere of flame directly with his sword. Then, without breaking his stride, he swung the blade at the bandit.
"Whoa!"
A Fireball had the property of igniting whatever it touched. Whether it hit a sword or a shield, it would cling to the first surface it contacted and continue to burn.
Fritz, well aware of this, had sacrificed his sword specifically to catch the spell. It wasn't a trick he could pull twice, but he had staked everything on this one opening.
Startled by the sight of the flaming sword and forced to dodge wide, the bandit lost his balance.
Fritz’s follow-up strike was already closing in.
"Ngh!"
The bandit managed to take the hit on his left arm, which was protected by a metal gauntlet.
Fritz tried to bring the blade back for another strike, but the sword—still engulfed in the Fireball—had become red-hot and finally succumbed to the heat, bending uselessly.
"Tch!"
Discarding the ruined weapon, Fritz drew the emergency dagger from his waist.
In that brief moment, the bandit regained his footing and produced a knife of his own.
At such close range, a Fireball was as likely to harm the caster as the target, and the same held true for Thunderbolt. Left with no other choice, Fritz and the bandit began to clash with their short blades.
＊ ＊ ＊
"This golem is quite something."
Edgar was currently engaged with the golem called Glar.
In terms of physical stature, the difference was like that of a child facing an adult—perhaps even greater—but Edgar did not yield an inch.
Though he was Elsa’s creation, he had been built under Jin’s direct supervision using a wealth of rare materials from Hourai Island. He was not a unit that would fall behind any ordinary golem.
"Elsa-sama is watching. I cannot afford a disgraceful performance."
That said, his opponent was remarkably high-performance.
In a slugfest of punches and kicks, Edgar struggled to gain the upper hand due to the massive weight and reach advantage Glar possessed.
"Very well. I shall use a weapon."
Using a knife crafted from a Gigant Peeder shell, Edgar lunged forward, disguising the thrust as a standard punch.
Expecting a blunt strike, Glar merely pulled back slightly to prepare a counter. The knife plunged straight into Glar's right eye.
When infused with mana, a Gigant Peeder shell was only marginally less durable than adamantite. It was far harder than the magi-crystal used for a golem's optical sensors.
"!"
Glar showed no signs of pain, but its depth perception was immediately compromised. With the golem reduced to a single eye, Edgar’s follow-up attacks finally began to find their mark.
＊ ＊ ＊
"..."
Elsa stood behind her barrier, silently monitoring the three separate battles.
She felt a prickle of irritation at her own inability to help. She briefly considered contacting Jin to ask for advice, but a quick calculation of the time difference told her it was roughly 4:00 AM on Hourai Island. The sun wasn't even up yet.
She decided to try and handle the situation herself for just a little longer.
Just then, Moritz arrived, having been alerted by the commotion. Two male servants followed closely behind him.
"Wh-what in the world is going on?!"
"Ani-sama, look..."
Moritz listened to Elsa’s explanation with visible shock.
"I understand the situation, but... how can you be so calm, Elsa?"
"Eh?"
Having accompanied Jin through so many crises, Elsa had reached a point where a little backyard brawl was no longer enough to rattle her.
"So, what do we do?"
While Moritz was highly capable in the realm of politics, he was an absolute amateur when it came to physical violence.
"There is nothing we can do right now. I want to support Ani-sama and Edgar, but it’s difficult."
Both pairs were moving at such high speeds that any outside interference was just as likely to hit an ally as an enemy.
"Ugh, I really should have hired more guards and security," Moritz muttered, his voice thick with regret. It was, unfortunately, far too late for that.
"Is there really nothing we can do...?"
Neither Moritz nor Elsa specialized in attack magic. The servants, meanwhile, were cowering with their tails between their legs, offering no hope of assistance.
However...
"A shift in perspective..."
Elsa thought of Jin—the man who had turned Craft Magic into a weapon.
"Yes. At the very least, I can help Ani-sama."
Elsa focused her gaze on the fight between Fritz and the bandit. She waited, timing her move for the exact moment Fritz’s back was turned.
"Light!"
Focusing her mana, she cast the spell directly into the bandit's face with the force of a flashbang.
"Gwah!"
They had been fighting by the dim glow of the Moon, the garden's nightlights, and the occasional flicker of combat magic. Elsa’s sudden burst of brilliance caught the bandit completely off guard.
She cut the light after only a second, but the damage was done. The bandit’s vision would not recover instantly.
"Light Ball."
Elsa immediately followed up with a softer, steady light to illuminate the area for her brother.
"Well done, Elsa!"
Fritz didn't miss the opening. He tackled the blinded bandit to the ground, expertly pinning him and rendering him helpless.