Proofread by Thomas F
'Don't stop them, let the attack come at me!' I said to Azalia and Jon. It's not just that the defensive golem's power had increased, but also that of the artillery.
Their condition had gone from bad to worse within a moment.
It had become powerful enough that if they tried to stop the attack coming, they would be defeated within seconds.
The lances came, and they were not alone; with them came orbs. The lances are now even more powerful; they are longer, thicker, and much faster than before.
The Bark Shields appeared in their path, integrated with Iron Veil.
The lances clashed against them, and orbs exploded with such power that it would make a Great Mage shudder.
I barely looked at it and dodged the coming hammer before attacking. Its shield moved to defend, while it tried to pull back its hammer, but once more, my attack struck.
Immediately, I moved left and struck the golem again before moving once more.
I made one attack after another; the golem tried to defend, but it could not. I was too fast for it, but despite that, I was not daring to attack its head.
I could see the small change, how it had opened its face. Even with my increase, I would be in trouble if I attacked the head.
That's why I did not. I focused slowly on its limbs and back.
My power has increased, and I am holding my own against it. Even so, I know these opponents are dangerous. I have the advantage for now, but I cannot afford to grow careless. Every move has to be measured, and every opening has to be taken with caution.
The attacks from the artillery came once more, but I defended with the Bark Shields, while continuing my relentless attacks against the golem.
The artillery golem is also now constantly attacking me, but I am defending with my shields.
I wish I could do something about it. I thought of that while defending against another attack, but I could not do so until I finished the one I was fighting.
I am striking it at every attack and making the film over it paler and thinner.
Still, it is not fast enough.
If I had been fighting against people and using such power on their bodies. I would have killed hundreds of enemies by now, but here, I am only fighting one golem.
It is making me frustrated knowing how difficult it is to deal with, even when my strength increased, but also happy.
However, my happiness was immediately tempered when the words she had spoken earlier rang in my mind. I pushed those away; first, I have to defeat them and get them.
I will think about the rest later.
So I focused more and kept up my attacks.
I hope it won't take long! I said to myself. I am burning through aura fast. My control had improved tremendously since I fought with the necromancer, but it didn't give me unlimited reserves.
They are quite limited, and I have to finish the enemy with that before I reach empty.
Once more, I struck my blade against the golem, and this time the film grew very thin, so transparent that one had to look closely to see it was still there.
One move, at most two!
I thought joyfully, but a moment later my thought turned somber as its speed suddenly increased.
"Fuck!"
I cursed loudly, and the gravity doubled.
I moved fast, dodging the hammer coming at me with incredible speed and power. It followed me immediately with another attack, which I dodged.
I took a step forward for the attack, but immediately abandoned the plan when it appeared directly in front of me.
I dodged and tried again, but it didn't work.
It's studying me. I realized that suddenly; it had not done that earlier. It now knows my attacks and what I will do and is predicting things.
I wanted to curse the makers of this thing when I saw that, but forced myself to calm down and continued with my efforts, yet it would not stop.
It knows everything about my fighting style and is now using it.
There are skills like that, and the knight had trained me on how to beat them, but they all require some time—time, which I don't have.
I am getting rapidly to my limit, and there is also that other golem. I have to defeat it soon, then move on to the second one.
If I don't do it soon, I will be too tired.
A minute passed, and then another and another; it kept predicting what I would do when I suddenly noticed something, and a risky idea came to mind.
I wouldn't have even thought of doing it before, but seeing that it predicts my moves left me no choice.
Still, I didn't jump on it immediately and did a few tests.
I could succeed. I would have liked to run more tests, but unfortunately I don't have time and have to finish it. Thinking that, I moved.
The plan is surprisingly simple. Use its battle strategy against it. It had molded its whole fighting style to mine based on the data it had collected.
Now, I am going to exploit that very thing.
I moved to attack once more, and like before, it had reacted just as I expected. It moved in front of me and swung its hammer at me.
Usually at this time, I retreat to dodge, but this time, I increased my speed.
I really hope it will work! I thought and leaped when there was barely half a meter of distance between me and it.
I leaped fast toward its head, the thing I had earlier abandoned attacking and was now going for. It reacted immediately and brought its shield up, totally hiding its face, while the hammer came from behind.
I smiled, seeing that. Of course, I expected it and twisted in the air until my head was down and legs were up.
I have become quite good at it. I needed to be creative since I don't have skills like Air Steps.
A moment later, I reached the position. The one directly above it and brought the sword down. It reacted quickly and raised its shield above its head.
I smiled; this too is expected. It is why the Aura Blade appeared behind its leg and shimmered.
The golem reacted, but not fast enough, and the blade struck it. I watched with bated breath as the film shimmered before it disappeared, and with it, the golem froze.
A relief flooded me.
I tried that move before, but the bastard was quick to dodge and defend; this time I became bait and used the Aura Blade integrated with Tempest Razor to finish it off.
Shields appeared in front of me, and I defended against the artillery attack, which was now even more powerful.
I have now become its target; the others have become secondary.
'I hope you have a plan, General," I said to her as I moved toward the artillery. She did, and she sent it to me, and I have to say, it is very daring.
They will take a massive risk, but I trust them.
"Good, I am ready," I said, and immediately, nine aura blades and six cyan shields appeared while Azalia looked into the sky.
I immediately attacked with all nine aura blades and moved the defensive shields in front of Azalia.
As the blades reached it. A sphere of energy appeared around it, defending against the attack.
Seeing that, I smiled, and twenty-four blades appeared. Sweat poured down my body, and I felt a massive headache, but I bore it and sent it toward the artillery.
If it behaves like the artillery that Colonel Orok and his men fought, then it can't attack when the sphere is protecting it. Once we destroy the protection, it won't come back for thirty seconds.
Twenty-four blades struck it at once, and immediately the cracks spread.
Though a moment later, they began to heal when another twenty-four struck it. Making the crack spread like a spiderweb; I gritted my teeth and summoned another twenty-four.
A moment later, the sphere exploded, and Azalia and Jon immediately launched the attack.
The golem attacked back, but the intensity was lower and should remain so for fifteen seconds.
My shields defended the attack coming toward me and them, while launching another twenty-four blades. It attacked back at them, but my blades tore through them.
Struck the golem; at the same time, Azalia and Jon struck it as well.
"It's on its last leg!" screamed Jon, and it was.
It's not as defensive as an armored golem; the combined attack had brought it to its last leg.
"Be careful!" I warned as its crystals shone, while I summoned the blades. They appeared around me, one after another, crossing twenty-four.
I felt the blinding headache, and blood leaked out of my ears and nose, but I didn't stop.
We have fought enough; it's time we finished it.
With that thought, I released the forty-eight aura blades. Integrated with the power of Tempest Razor.
The golem reacted, sending the massive lances and orbs at them.
They clashed, and the attack from it was powerful enough that it destroyed my aura blades.
Well, they were just a distraction.
In the next moment, Azalia and Jon broke from the protection of my shields and drove straight toward the artillery, striking it head-on.
Its crystals blazed, making my heart beat, and I moved to summon new shields to protect them when, suddenly, the shine disappeared, and the attacks dematerialized.
"We did it!" Azalia said, her voice carrying far more emotion than usual.
"Yes, we did," I grinned, then slumped to the ground, too tired to remain standing.