“Ogrekin...!?”
“Don’t tell me they're new enemies!”
The soldiers of the Aiwood Kingdom grew uneasy at the sudden appearance of the Ogrekin. To them, demi-humans were still hostile forces. The situation hadn’t improved at all; if anything, it had arguably taken a turn for the worse.
“Humans!”
“You bastards! Are you with the Sorcerers!?”
The sentiment was mutual on the Ogrekin side. To demi-humans, humans were the enemy. This was, after all, inside the Sorcerer's Castle. There was no reason to believe any human found here would be an ally. They immediately concluded these were more of the villains who had stolen their loved ones.
“Do not waver, brave warriors of Aiwood! Strike down the Ogrekin along with the golems!” Bareya bellowed.
“Who cares if they're with the Sorcerers or not! I'll slaughter every last one of them!” an Ogrekin warrior roared back.
With the golems caught in the middle, the tension between the two factions reached a breaking point.
“Stop! Stop it!”
A voice pierced the impending clash. A figure darted between the legs of the towering golems and lunged at one of the Ogrekin, clinging to him.
“Dad, don't! You can't fight these people!”
It was Rou. The Ogrekin boy stood before his kin, pleading desperately.
“Rou! You... you’re alive!?”
“Dad...!”
It seemed Rou’s father was among the war band. The concentrated mass of murderous intent that had been on the verge of exploding suddenly slackened and dispersed.
“I was so worried! Sara was taken, and then you were gone... I thought killing was all I had left, so I threw myself into a suicidal charge...!”
“Humans are the enemy, I know! But these people are trying to save my sister. You can't fight them!”
“Rou, what on earth are you talking about?”
The man looked at his son with a dazed expression. Rou continued his appeal nonetheless.
“Just cooperate for now! Please, don't fight. At least wait until we've saved my sister!”
“No, but Rou—”
A golem lunged at the talking pair with a deep roar. Still holding his son, the father swung his club and smashed the construct apart.
His power was staggering. Without using a single drop of magic, he had pulverized the combat golem with raw physical strength alone.
“Dammit! I don't understand any of this! None of it makes sense! But... fine. I'll crush every enemy left standing!”
“For now, kill these things!”
“Kill the Sorcerers! We can kill the humans later!”
The Ogrekin warriors threw themselves at the golems. Watching them, Bareya and his men felt their own hostility fizzle out.
“They are certainly enemies... however, it's clear which one we should strike first.”
Bareya shattered a golem with a precise thrust of his spear.
“Ignore the Ogrekin for now! All units, focus on the golems!”
“Yes, sir!”
Following Bareya’s lead, the soldiers turned their blades back toward the constructs.
It was a classic case of “enemies in the same boat.” Faced with a common foe, people who had been trying to kill one another only days ago were now fighting side by side.
“Smash the golems!”
“Tear them apart!”
“I don't care if they regenerate! Just keep killing them!”
“Raaaaaagh!”
They broke the golems. Again and again, whether they restored themselves or not, the warriors continued the destruction.
Slowly, as the cycles of annihilation repeated, the golems’ regeneration began to lag. Had they reached a functional limit? Or was the caster finally running low on mana? Regardless, the golems were not truly immortal. The end of the battle was approaching—slowly, but surely.
“...Wasted too much time. That guy’s going to get ahead of me again.”
In the heat of the fray, Lyubase clicked his tongue as he cut down yet another golem.