Having cast aside the wreckage of the head, the Necro-giant seized the golem's lone remaining arm, which still protruded from its own torso.
Then, with a surge of overwhelming strength, it snapped the limb like tinder.
The severed arm was tossed away, rolling pathetically across the debris.
"Stop! Don't you dare...!"
John’s panicked voice rang out.
The giant's hand clamped down on the golem’s other arm as it prepared to fire its beam, wrenching the joint back in the opposite direction. The malfunctioning beam misfired within the mangled mechanism, the backfire scorching the Necro-giant's front.
Naturally, the Necro-giant didn't flinch.
With cold indifference, it began raining down a relentless barrage of punches. The golem's chest cavity caved in further as its internal mechanisms were pulverized. Blue liquid sprayed from the ruptures in its hull. Whenever the machine showed even a hint of resistance, the Necro-giant’s fury seemed to mount, accelerating its destruction.
The battle had devolved into a one-sided massacre.
Is this the end? I mused, watching the scene from a distance.
The golem had lost its head and both arms. Its other components were being systematically dismantled; it no longer possessed any means to counterattack. It was merely waiting for the final blow. Perhaps the voice amplification system had finally failed, as John's screams were no longer audible.
Before long, the Necro-giant's movements began to sluggishly falter. The power sustaining its form dispersed, and its flesh began to bubble and froth. It started to melt, spewing thick white smoke.
It had reached its operational limit.
I hadn't expected it to endure a protracted battle, but it had expired sooner than I anticipated. Taking multiple hits from those beams was likely the cause. Even though I could repair the giant near-instantaneously, the nature of the beams was fundamentally antithetical to its composition. I suspect I was forced to consume a vast amount of miasma just to keep it from dissolving earlier.
Still, it had done its job. Thanks to the Necro-giant’s efforts, the golem was now little more than a pile of scrap. It had served its purpose well.
The golem lay silent on the ground. Perhaps it had finally been rendered immobile by the catastrophic damage to its entire frame. In stark contrast to its desperate struggles just moments ago, it was now eerily still.
No, that's not it.
I rejected the thought immediately. I sharpened my senses, focusing my perception. The power of the Secret Stone had not yet diminished. It was still linked to the golem, continuing to pulse with energy. However, that magic power was no longer being distributed through the machine’s limbs; it was concentrating entirely in the center.
Specifically, it was gathering around the pilot, John.
In that instant, the golem's torso split open, and something propelled itself outward. It burst through the Necro-giant's back and soared into the air—a smaller golem.
The projectile-like machine possessed a spherical torso with limbs attached. It lacked anything resembling a head, giving it a utilitarian, almost crude appearance. However, calling it "small" was only accurate when compared to the Giant Golem; it was still two sizes larger than a standard model, standing taller than an ogre.
I detected both John and the Secret Stone within that unit. There was no mistake. John was hunkered down inside that sphere.
An escape mechanism, then, I realized, looking at the hollowed-out shell of the Giant Golem.
That Spherical Golem was likely an emergency contingency. Under normal conditions, it served as the cockpit controls, but if the main unit was destroyed, it could function as a standalone vessel.
As I analyzed the situation, the magic power remaining in the discarded Giant Golem began to surge erratically. It spiraled into a single point, the output climbing dangerously as it bypassed every safety magic formula in its system.
Before the thought of danger could fully form, a massive explosion erupted.
The Necro-giant, which had been pinned to the machine, took the full force of the blast. Against an impact that shook the very foundation of the earth, the giant frame of corpses was instantly pulverized. The Giant Golem itself was reduced to scorched metallic wreckage. It was so utterly mangled that it no longer retained its original shape, now indistinguishable from the surrounding ruins.
It seemed the Giant Golem had been equipped with a self-destruct function. A vicious surprise. Had I been at close range, the blast would have caused far more than just a fatal wound. Entrusting the close-quarters combat to the undead while I maintained my distance had been the correct tactical choice.
"Uoooooooh!"
John’s war cry echoed across the wasteland.
The Spherical Golem, propelling itself with fire jetting from its soles, charged straight at me. Though its flight path was somewhat unstable, its speed was formidable. In its hand, it gripped a Spear of Light—a magic power spear heavily imbued with the holy attribute. In its other hand, it held a shield generated by defense magic.
Does he still intend to defeat me? Admirable tenacity.
Feeling a flicker of genuine respect, I reached for my waist. There hung my Keepsake Sword. I would have lacked the reach to use it effectively against the Giant Golem, but against this smaller unit, it was the perfect tool.
"Die, Demon King!"
The golem unleashed a thrust backed by a roar of pure desperation.
I evaded it by a hair’s breadth, drawing my blade as the machine streaked past. Using its own momentum against it, I delivered a grazing slash across the golem's hull.
"......"
I lowered my sword and turned. The golem used its thrusters to stabilize itself in the air. Thick black smoke billowed from the gash my blade had left.
—That was shallower than I expected.
It appeared a powerful layer of defense magic was woven directly beneath the outer plating. It had been enough to deflect the angle of my blade. It was a design meant to absorb damage while minimizing the severity of the breach. Despite the change in size, the output of the Secret Stone remained constant. Relatively speaking, the density and strength of the machine's spells had actually improved. It had lost its range, but its durability had increased exponentially.
"You and your damn dodging...!"
The golem banked in mid-air and dove at me again. It used the full force of its momentum to drive its spear forward in another thrust.
Poor. He fights with the skill of someone less than a recruit.
I watched the incoming spear and sighed internally. This wasn't a flaw in the golem's performance; it was a direct reflection of John's own combat ineptitude. He had likely only learned the bare essentials of how to pilot the thing.
I deflected the spear with defense magic, then stepped inside his guard to close the distance. I swung the Keepsake Sword upward, targeting the golem’s exposed underside.
"Guh, you—!"
The golem tried to swing its shield into the path of my blade, but it was futile. With a single strike of the Keepsake Sword, I sheared through the shield's defense magic. In one fluid motion, I followed through and severed the arm holding the spear.
"You’ve done it now, you bastard!"
The top of the Spherical Golem hissed open, revealing a gun hidden within. It fired the moment I tried to reset my stance.
"……ngh."
A spray of pellets peppered my body. The single shot had scattered the projectiles in a wide arc, specifically designed to make evasion or total defense impossible. I managed to swat most of them aside with my sword, but the remainder struck home.
A searing, burning pain radiated from the impact sites. The pellets had been infused with the holy attribute. I could feel some of my bones cracking under the force of the strike.
However, that was the extent of it. The attack wasn't powerful enough to halt my movement. While the numbness and pain would linger, the injuries were well within my threshold of tolerance.
"You cannot kill a Demon King with a mere gun."
With those words, I manifested a hand of miasma, seized the gun, and crushed it into scrap. Then, I hurled the entire golem toward the ground.
The machine crashed into a mountain of rubble, unable to even attempt a landing. As it tried to right itself with sluggish, broken movements, I bombarded it with a relentless succession of Great Magic.
Columns of absolute flame incinerated the area, lightning rained down from the heavens in a series of deafening cracks, and a thick miasma mist relentlessly corroded the machine's hull. I gave it no quarter, allowing no room for a counterattack as I piled on the destruction.
...That should be sufficient.
I eventually ceased my onslaught. Smoke and dust hung heavy in the air, obscuring everything. I summoned a magical gust of wind to sweep the haze away.
There was no longer any trace of the city. Even the piles of rubble had been utterly erased. Only a vast, desolate crater of scorched earth remained.
"……"
In the center of that desolate landscape lay the only exception.
The Spherical Golem.
Its internal mechanisms were exposed and it was shattered almost beyond recognition, but it still existed. It had somehow endured the storm of Great Magic.
With the hiss of escaping pressure, the top of the golem opened like a hatch. A man emerged from the ruin.
Looking up at me was John Doe, encased in a suit of reinforced armor.