Dorothea’s blue eyes quickly surveyed the enemy forces.

The numbers are fewer than expected.

An army of over 200 homunculi.

It was absurd to have such a thought in front of a force where each individual could handle sword energy at a knight’s level, but the opponent was one of the Four Great Witches of The Cardinal Directions.

According to Franka, the Witch of the West’s direct disciple, the witch should still have more than twice—no, three times this number of homunculi under her command.

It was unclear where they were or what they were doing, but they couldn’t keep doing other things indefinitely when the Witch of the West herself was in danger.

Reinforcements were inevitable.

They couldn’t drag this out for long.

Dorothea opened the pouch at her waist.

Clink!

With the sound of glass breaking, an eerie smoke filled the area around the party.

Pitch-black smoke that looked like darkness turned into gas blocked the golden monkeys’ vision.

Thud!

From inside that smoke, the Tin Knight leaped forward.

The golden monkeys thrust their spears forward as if they had been waiting.

Naturally, they were blows imbued with mana.

As if responding to this, the Tin Knight strongly gripped his hand.

Woong!

With sword energy condensed as if about to burst at any moment, the sword in his hand flashed its blade.

This was unusual for the Tin Knight, who normally killed enemies extremely efficiently.

Slash!

Just one flash.

With a single strike drawing a line from left to right, the necks of three monkeys flew off at once.

Before the golden heads could even hit the ground, the Tin Knight kicked the corpses of the monkeys he had cut into the black smoke.

Whether enraged by their comrades’ deaths or just mechanically following their master’s orders, the surrounding monkeys all rushed at the Tin Knight.

Front, back, left, right, and above.

A multi-directional coordinated attack possible only for those with flight ability, small bodies, and abnormal physical abilities poured onto the Tin Knight.

Crown, left eye, right jaw, neck, shoulder, side, back, waist, navel, thigh, ankle, instep.

Facing attacks targeting 12 points in total, the blue flame forming the Tin Knight’s eyes flickered.

Clang clang clang!

Rough, sharp metallic sounds rang out in succession, and sparks flew from various parts of the Tin Knight’s body, leaving scratches.

But that was all.

At the damage much lighter than expected, the golden monkeys’ eyes widened.

They were hit with the sensation of the mana-imbued spear tips being deflected elsewhere the moment they were thrust in.

It felt like touching a sphere rotating at high speed, and that feeling was actually quite accurate.

Woong!

Blue and gray mana circulated rapidly over the surface of the Tin Knight’s body.

The principle was similar to what he had done when acting as a propeller behind the carriage. In the sense of generating physical force by circulating mana.

The Tin Knight’s sword swung again, and this time two necks fell.

After cutting down those blocking his path, he threw himself into the black smoke again.

It was then that the golden monkeys rushed forward to pursue.

Whoosh!

The Tin Knight, who had clearly seemed to be retreating, suddenly reversed his body and threw a monkey’s spear he had picked up somewhere along the way.

It was a surprise attack that seemed to pierce through a gap in consciousness.

Just as the golden flash was about to reach the Witch of the West, spreading the sound of air being cut.

Ripple.

The ground beneath the witch’s feet distorted as if liquid, and a golden pillar that suddenly rose up blocked the Tin Knight’s spear.

Right after the thrown spear broke with a loud noise, the Witch of the West’s complexion changed a beat late.

The knight made his assessment.

Possession of defensive measures independent of the user’s cognition. The main body’s reaction speed itself wasn’t that fast.

Although her skill as an alchemist was excellent, she was essentially a scholar rather than a warrior.

Given the tactics of leaving combat to familiars, it was safe to presume she had rarely experiences fighting in places where she herself was directly threatened.

The gamer made his assessment.

Summons were the main body. Strong skills but low stats. Judging by how she handled her subordinates, she had no talent for strategy games.

《You’re using petty tricks!》

The Witch of the West’s angry voice rang out.

It seemed she was trying to erase the fear of the threat that had come right up to her nose with anger.

The ground beneath the witch’s feet rippled again as if it were a liquid, and a huge pillar appeared, sending the witch’s body soaring into the sky.

A spherical barrier to protect the witch formed at the top of the pillar, and four mechanical arms rose from the base.

At the end of each arm hung a crossbow, spear, axe, and shield.

The golden gleaming axe was raised high, then instantly brought down upon the center of the black smoke.

The blow aimed at where Dorothea had been was blocked by the Tin Knight’s shield before it could come down fully, but just the aftermath of that collision pushed back the black smoke, revealing the party’s figures.

Dozens of spear tips flew towards the Tin Knight, whose feet were tied up blocking the axe.

The Tin Knight managed to respond to even that with his remaining one-handed sword and the armor forming his body, but he lacked hands to block enemies rushing at his companions.

Swish!

Deflecting the fiercely incoming spear over her left shoulder, Adelaide swung her two-handed sword.

Crack!

Strong resistance returned from the sword blade lodged in the enemy’s side.

She lacked strength. This was so even with sword energy added to a blow utilizing centrifugal force.

Judging that cutting through in one go was impossible, she pulled her body back while swinging the sword sideways.

When she blocked a spear swung down by another homunculus, her hand and forearm tingled.

Adelaide frowned.

As expected, they’re not weak…!

The golden shining fur, muscles woven like tough fibers, bones harder than ordinary metal weapons. Nothing was easy to cut.

Despite having a body only slightly larger than a child’s, their strength was enough to throw rocks their own size, and they naturally knew how to imbue weapons with mana and strengthen their bodies.

Moreover, if things looked unfavorable, they would even fly away into the sky.

The Tin Knight, who could kill several of these in one blow, was simply abnormal—the homunculi handled by the Witch of the West were each stronger than ordinary knights.

Although Adelaide had experience cutting down about twenty homunculi while facing a homunculus troop alone, that was only possible because the opponent’s goal was capture, and Adelaide had the Belt of Amaryllis—a sacred treasure.

Facing enemies deliberately filled with killing intent while having lost the sacred treasure, it seemed difficult to even hold out for 20 seconds, let alone cut down twenty.

Finally, just as she was about to lose balance and be pierced by a spear.

Clang!

An attack flying in from the side blocked the spear about to pierce Adelaide.

It wasn’t the Tin Knight’s assistance.

A homunculus with golden fur and two wings, a blow from a homunculus was what saved Adelaide.

The homunculus trying to attack Adelaide showed a bewildered emotion at this sudden interference from a comrade.

But as if not caring about such reactions, the homunculus that had protected Adelaide thrust its spear and stabbed the homunculus that had once been its comrade.

Several other homunculi also fought against other homunculi trying to attack Adelaide, with their backs towards her.

The number of homunculi that had betrayed like this was exactly five.

It matched exactly the number that had died at the Tin Knight’s hands in the battles so far.

《Now you’ve done it!》

The Witch of the West’s single eye looked down at the rooftop filled with rage.

Squelch.

At some point, something strange was flowing on the rooftop floor.

A strange liquid that looked like plant sap or algae blooming on water became a turbid stream gradually conquering the rooftop.

Green liquid seeped into the corpses of homunculi that had been pierced, unable to react to the sudden betrayal of their comrades.

Right after, something like plant stems grew between the golden fur and the blood vessels flowing underneath.

Stand.

Something that had once been a corpse nonchalantly stood up, then naturally swung its weapon at those who had once been its comrades.

At the center of this bizarre phenomenon.

There was Dorothea, grasping her staff.

Protecting her body with a translucent barrier, she defiantly provoked the witch while withstanding the attacks of the flying homunculi, “Looks like you don’t have the capacity to deal with corpses this time? Well, I guess someone who fled to such a high place out of fear of attacks wouldn’t care about their subordinates’ funerals.”

《Insolent child, your arrogance reaches the heavens!》

Three of the four arms sharing roots with the golden pillar swung.

The arrows shot by the crossbow, though not as large as the ones they had been hit with before, were still sufficiently huge, the axe was ferocious, and the spear was fierce.

But, that was all.

Clang!

The Tin Knight’s swinging sword deflected the spear, his shield blocked the axe, and a kick changed the arrow’s trajectory.

The witch’s attacks meant to punish Dorothea were futilely blocked before the wall that was the Tin Knight.

As a price, parts of the Tin Knight’s body were pierced and cut away by the spear, but those wounds were nonchalantly restored when mana was poured in.

Whoosh!

Adelaide, who had been rampaging outside, threw herself inside the defensive wall where Dorothea and Sophia were.

The barrier that had been blocking the homunculi’s attacks in real-time allowed Adelaide’s entry without any issue.

“Healing!”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

Holy power flowing from Sophia’s hands quickly healed the wounds all over Adelaide’s body.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he needs supplies over here!]

As if responding to the Tin Knight’s call, Adelaide, who had healed her wounds, rushed out again and delivered a powerful blow, and in that gap, Dorothea poured mana into the back of the Tin Knight, who had returned inside the barrier.

Perhaps because there was no time to calmly flow in mana, it was poured in like flipping a bucket.

Half of the amount transferred leaked out to strange places as the mana wasn’t properly conveyed, but Dorothea didn’t care. Right now, there was no resource more precious than time.

When about 1/4 of the mana tank was filled, the Tin Knight leaped forward again.

During that short pit stop, Adelaide had already been driven into a corner and was staggering. She looked like she was about to become mincemeat, despite Sophia continuously healing her wounds from a distance. No joke, it seemed like she would perish if left alone for just two more seconds.

While sending Adelaide back inside the barrier, the Tin Knight glared at a homunculus who was pouring out particularly sharp attacks among the others.

Seeing the flame-like belt wrapped around its waist, the Tin Knight’s eyes flashed.

It was equipment that had no particular meaning to him whose body was metal, but was absolutely essential for his still fragile pupil.

Slash!

The Tin Knight’s sword drew a violent trajectory.

It was crude swordsmanship thoroughly devoted to killing the enemy, without any noble ideals or dignity.

It wasn’t that the sword energy was crude, but the nature of the swordsmanship itself.

In the time it took to exhale once, three more homunculi perished, but the belt monkey he had targeted was still intact with only a bit of cloth cut away.

It seemed to be properly benefiting from the sacred treasure’s effect.

Just as he was about to deliver a quick follow-up strike, the huge golden weapons wielded by the witch again targeted the barrier where Dorothea was.

The Tin Knight withdrew his attack and once again stood to block the witch’s weapons.

Wild blows coming from all directions again chipped away at his body, but at his feet, fallen homunculi soaked in green liquid raised the flag of rebellion.

It was a fierce war of attrition.

***

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