The mangled golem forced itself up.
The magic cannon, now empty of ammunition, detached and fell to the ground. It had likely been jettisoned as dead weight.
『Guh...!?』
The moment John let out a startled grunt, the golem staggered. It managed to brace itself and avoid falling, but its movements were erratic. It appeared that the circulation of magic power was being obstructed; functional failures were beginning to sprout across its entire frame.
The golem was a structure that seemed to be held together by a series of miracles. I had never encountered such a sophisticated weapon, yet that very precision was its downfall. Even the slightest misalignment invited total ruin, and the more damage it sustained, the more catastrophic the failure would become.
『Shit...』
The golem came to a halt a short distance away. It didn't launch a fierce assault as it had moments before, but merely took a defensive stance. It seemed the pilot had realized that mindless attacks were now meaningless. John was acting with a newfound, heavy sense of caution.
I reflected on the situation. His magic cannons were spent, and I had proven I could reflect his beams. Furthermore, I could utilize teleportation to evade him almost indefinitely. None of the golem's attacks had been enough to kill me. While I might be inferior in terms of raw output, there was an irreversible gap in the versatility of our abilities.
Manufactured weapons possess clear limits. No matter how much ingenuity is applied, they can never escape the framework of their design. The fact that they lack the concept of growth is the ultimate weakness of any machine.
"......"
I allowed miasma to seep from my body, reconstituting my melted flank and arm. The repaired sections took on a texture more akin to wood than bone, but that was of no great concern. I could move my hands of miasma without any sluggishness; they would hold out at least until this battle reached its conclusion.
Throughout my recovery, the golem watched me. It maintained a careful distance, ready to fire its beams the moment I moved. I had layered my responses in a way that should have broken his spirit, yet he still intended to fight. Even in this losing battle, John had not abandoned the hope of victory.
In fact, he had regained his composure and was searching for a way to turn the tables. In a sharp reversal from his earlier rage, he had fallen silent. I had intended to strip him of his will to resist by cornering him mentally, but it seemed I had only spurred him on.
John was unexpectedly tenacious. His ego remained intact, and the primary personality had not surfaced since the start of our duel. This stubbornness and refusal to yield could almost be called heroic. The fact that he was challenging the Demon King alone spoke of an extraordinary level of courage.
I couldn't afford to let my guard down. I had to proceed with absolute certainty.
At present, my goals were clear: destroy the giant golem, seize the secret stone within, and then kill John Doe. Our conversation had made it plain that reconciliation was impossible. He could not be recruited into the Demon King’s Army, yet I could not afford to let him live. His ingenuity and technical skills were far too dangerous to be left unchecked.
Even though John was cornered, I avoided a careless approach. What I feared most was being bathed in the power of the Great Spirit at close range. The golem still maintained a high output of energy. If my entire body were obliterated by a beam, there was a chance my soul itself would be damaged. Such a blow would interfere with my ability to resurrect, making it far more dangerous than any standard holy attribute attack.
Therefore, I had to neutralize the golem from a distance, ensuring it could no longer retaliate before I moved in to seize the secret stone.
Having decided on my course of action, I immediately invoked my art. Reacting instantly, the golem pointed both hands toward me, but it didn't fire. It was wary of another reflection. That caution allowed me to construct my spell without interference.
I diffused my consciousness across the broad expanse of the capital. In the process, I perceived the corpses scattered throughout the ruins: those devoured by the undead, those crushed by falling buildings, those incinerated by the golem’s beams, and those who had simply perished in the crossfire.
I synthesized them all using the Authority of the Valley of the Dead, drawing in the wandering undead to add to the mass. Then, I summoned the collective whole to my side.
Before long, an eerie mass of flesh appeared, crawling over the rubble like a colossal caterpillar. It gathered from every corner of the battlefield, piling up in front of the retreating golem. To the sound of wet, viscous squelching, a mountain of flesh and bone knit together.
『W-what the hell is this...』
While John watched in dazed horror, the mass of flesh formed into a giant humanoid. It resembled a grotesque doll made of red mud, standing tall enough to rival the golem. Across its surface, faces, hands, and feet bubbled up and sank back into the gore.
As a finishing touch, I sealed the grudges and spirits drifting through the capital into the flesh giant, saturating it with dense miasma. With that, the creature was transformed into an undead wreathed in black flames—a monstrosity that no ordinary magic could ever realize. This was the Necro-giant, a horror that only a Demon King could create.
Standing in the air, I looked down at the frozen golem.
"Within this form dwell many of those you slaughtered. You should taste the weight of their hatred."
The moment I spoke, the Necro-giant lunged forward, trailing blood. It leaped at the golem with the movements of a starving beast.
『Dammit...!』
The golem immediately fired a beam. The Necro-giant didn't even attempt to dodge. Holes were punched through its torso, but it didn't slow down, slamming its fist into the golem with enough force to send it flying.
『Guh!?』
The golem tumbled across the debris, crushing the few remaining intact buildings before it finally ground to a halt. Its abdomen was heavily dented, hosing sparks into the air.
The Necro-giant was a mere collection of corpses, not a living thing. It had no vital points. Every inch of its body was composed of muscle and bone, fueled by the burning spirits and miasma within. Due to its nature, it could only exist for a short time, but it possessed more than enough power to rival the golem.
The Necro-giant pounced, pinning the golem to the ground. It raised its fists and began to rain down blows with ferocious momentum. These were physical strikes backed by absolute brute strength. The golem’s weakened defense magic was shattered in an instant.
Massive fists pulverized the metal body. Each strike caused the exposed internal mechanisms to detonate in a series of explosions. The auto-repair systems couldn't keep up; likely, the machine had already run out of spare parts.
『Let go! Get off meeeeeeee!』
John screamed, firing rapid-set beams from the golem’s fingers. The Necro-giant was riddled with holes, but the flesh merely writhed and sealed the wounds instantly. The barrage of fists never stopped. The ground beneath the golem began to cave in from the sheer force of the impact.
『Shit, shit, shiiit! Why is this happening? How could I—!』
The golem’s arm thrust upward, skewering the Necro-giant’s torso. It didn't matter. The Necro-giant didn't stop; instead, its flesh clamped down on the golem’s arm, trapping the fist inside its own body.
John had lost his composure. Even he was shaken by the sheer brutality of the assault. The Necro-giant had stripped away his final psychological advantage: the golem's size.
Then, the Necro-giant’s head split open. It wasn't a wound; the creature had opened its maw of its own accord. From that jagged rift, a pained, collective roar was unleashed.
"――――――!!"
Both of the Necro-giant's hands clamped onto the golem's head. Brute force alone did the work as the giant wrenched the head free. Metal buckled under the pressure of its crushing fingers, and the golem’s head shattered into a thousand shards.