Chapter 3: Reliving the Fear! Resurrection of the Golem Warrior
Deep inside the temple, rattles and metallic sounds echoed in the hall where Fio was being bound.
“That’s all the God Iron I could find.”
Melona had accepted Ymir’s proposal. The God Iron was like a thorn stuck in the body of the reviving Golem Warrior. Handing it over to Ymir so she could take it away wasn’t such a bad deal for the pink girl.
“Ooooh, that’s unexpected.”
Now released from her temporary imprisonment, Ymir made a face showing that she was pleased with herself while she inspected the weapons the slime girl brought.
Not that the ‘inspection’ consisted of anything complicated: she only needed to pummel them with her battleax, applying liberal violence.
*Krak!*
This time, unlike the previous weapons lying on the floor, it didn’t break in a flash. If anything, it was the floor that got a dent.
“Ah~, I’d rather you not do that here.”
“Why, not?”
“Well, this is a delicate place, y’know.”
“Guess there isn’t much I can do then. I’ll do the other inspections when I get back.”
Saying so, she opened the lid of the pouch she kept by her waist.
“Do you intend to put all of them in there?”
The pouch was only about as big as Ymir’s palms; no matter how one looked at it, it wasn’t big enough to even hold a knife.
“Yes, I do.”
Saying so, the dwarf started by putting away a dagger 30 cm in length inside the pouch.
“Eh?”
It went inside smoothly.
And then, in front of the bewildered Melona, she kept storing the God Iron weapons inside it, one after the other. Shortly after, all the weapons had disappeared inside the pouch.
“W-What kind of object is that?”
“Are you surprised?”
The slime girl nodded.
“This is a rare treasure handed down in our family, a magic Storage Bag! Anything can enter besides creatures, though retrieving what’s inside needs some skill.”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Suddenly, a scream made both girls jump.
“W-What?”
“Whazzat?”
The scream sounded from inside the crystal ball that reflected the battle between the Beast Empress Maria and her daughters. It seemed that the battle had ended while both were distracted by the God Iron, and they could see now Leina crying, holding a clenched fist to her chest.
“H-Hey now!”
Melona looked from the crystal ball to Fio, and couldn’t help letting out a little yelp: as if matching Leina’s cry, the boy’s body began being enveloped in a dazzling shine.
“What’s happening!?”
“I don’t know!”
A rumbling vibration came from the bottom of the earth. Cracks started running around the wall.
“This isn’t good…”
“Princess, if you want to escape, do it while you have the chance!”
Melona left the dwarf behind, and ran to the boy’s side.
“I can’t go. I haven’t fulfilled my promise yet! I can’t return until I save the boy!”
In a hurry, Ymir chased after her. However, the wall collapsed as if to block her way, and a monster that looked like a huge leech appeared from the other side of the stone wall.
“Eeek!”
She couldn’t help screaming. It was marginally better than a snake, yet icky enough to give her pause.
From that dripping, liquid body, it was clear that the monster had no skeleton. One after another came out from the gap in the wall, their whole body shaking, a miasma with a putrid smell around them.
‘Should I chop them up, or should I escape?’
In front of the hesitating Ymir, Fio’s body faded away while it shined.
“W-What’s going on!”
“No way this is happening!”
Melona’s voice overlapped with Ymir’s confused scream.
“Princess, are you still here?”
“What of it!”
“How are you going to save someone who’s disappearing?”
The pink girl morphed part of her body into an arrow shape, showing Ymir the exit; if she stayed any longer, she’d only be getting in the way.
“You have to hurry and get away. Soon, this will all collapse and get swallowed up by these guys.”
The amorphous monsters that sprung from the wall spread to the floor.
“Kuh!”
The dwarf made up her mind. She had wanted to rescue the boy, but with him gone, staying any longer made no sense.
“I got it. I’ll flee! This is the end of the deal!”
Regretting that she couldn’t fulfill Leina’s wish of saving Fio, Ymir ran to the stairs that would take her to the ground.
“No way this is happening.”
Leaving Ymir out of her sight, even as the ceiling collapsed, Melona manipulated the crystal ball to display the current situation. Even if she was buried alive, her malleable body allowed for an easy escape. The same went for the monsters filling the room; she only needed to absorb them. That was why she wasn’t in any hurry.
“Now that there are no more nuisances… geh!”
Seeing the data that appeared on the crystal ball, her face instinctually grimaced in surprise.
“This is early, WAY too early; his feet haven’t been reconstructed yet!”
The Golem Warrior hadn’t yet recovered from the damage dealt by the holy sound of the Sword of Unicorn.
“At this rate, worst case scenario, both his legs will come off.”
Fio, who had been providing the Golem with energy, had disappeared. Which only meant one thing: the creature had stolen enough energy to move by now.
[The Golem Warrior, moving…]
Melona pulled the crystal ball closer.
“Airi, can you hear me? This is an emergency!”
***
Deep inside Fiend Island.
A dim flame was lit within the jet-black darkness. Under the illumination such fire provided, the form of a huge skull could be appreciated. It resembled a person somewhat, but it was not human.
There was a big hole on its forehead, and at the top of its head, big horns extended from both sides. On top of the skull, strange organisms like leeches moved about, overlapping with one another to make up its flesh. These organisms, the sort that had overflowed into the hall where Fio had been constrained, were the cells of the Golem Warrior.
After absorbing the power from the spirit tree’s Dryad (back from the elven forest) and from the young boy Fio, with his infinite recovery abilities, the Golem’s resurrection was in its final stages. It was no longer necessary to provide energy from outside sources; from then on, it would just assimilate the neighboring creatures and constitute its own body.
Airi looked vacantly at the situation. Even though she was a wraith, she did have a physical body, and she could very well end up as a sacrifice to the Golem to be used as sustenance. To prevent it, her mistress had made special adjustments. As a side effect so she could give orders to the Golem while not being absorbed, both her hairstyle and dress’ colors had changed (while still being the same style as usual): her hair had changed from a reddish-brown color to blonde, and her black costume was now purple.
“Airi, can you hear me? This is an emergency!”
She heard Melona’s voice coming from the crystal ball tucked away in her skirt. It was rare for her to sound so desperate.
“What would be the matter?”
“The Golem Warrior has gone into operation! How are things there?”
Below her, the head was obtaining flesh from the skeleton, forming a thin purple hull.
“Its head is about to finish. It’s also making some growls.”
“I see, then, there’s no doubt that this vibration… uwaoh!”
The pink girl raised a scream in the middle of her talk.
“What’s it this time?”
“The ceiling fell. If this wasn’t me we’re talking about, I’d have been crushed to death.”
Something in her words struck her as odd. Fio should also be where Melona currently was; she had delivered him personally.
“And the young master? Is he safe?”
“Ah~, about that~”
She could hear the hesitation from the other side of the crystal ball.
“Just give it to me straight.”
“He disappeared.”
“Disappeared…”
“Yep, he up and vanished. He let out a lot in the end tho~ It was thanks to him that we made it this far.”
Airi’s sight became blurry.
[These are… tears. I was prepared for it, but I still feel sad.
If he’s really disappeared, it’ll be hard to bring him back, even with Mistress’ power.]
“Huh? What a plain reaction.”
“Back when I brought the young master here, I had already made up my mind.”
To prevent Melona from noticing, she answered in an intentionally cold tone.
“I see~… by the way, Airi.”
“What is it?”
“Can you control the Golem Warrior over there?”
“I can’t.”
“That was fast~”
“Yes, didn’t we resurrect the Master Swordswoman Maria to control it in the first place? What became of her?”
“Well, our precious Maria escaped.”
“Moron! Go catch her right away.”
“If I could, I'd have done so long ago.”
Airi gave a sigh to compose herself; it pained her to admit it, but Melona was right. Still, it didn’t deny the fact that Maria was indeed resurrected by their mistress the Swamp Witch in order to control the Golem.
“Her escape isn’t something we can laugh off.”
“I knoow~, but at this rate, the Golem will start rioting on its own. Isn’t there anything you can do on your end?”
“As I have told you, I can’t.”
“Ah~, don’t be so cold, just try to get things done somehow. I’ll come up with an excuse for the witch.”
“Please don’t forget those words.”
Airi stood up straight and soundlessly slid down towards the middle of the golem’s brows. Its eyes, reminiscent of a jet-black quartz, reflected her dimly lit figure.
[How far can we make it without Maria as a control device?]
She resolved herself anew, and began casting the spells received from her mistress.
“Now, wake up, you who will destroy the world.”
A war cry echoed in the dark depths of the earth in reply.
***
“Hiee! What’s the deal with *these things*!”
Ymir ran up the stairs crowded with giant leeches as she crushed them underfoot.
[I can’t very well get buried alive somewhere like this, let alone with these bizarre critters.]
“Uhee, kuah.”
Screaming at the feeling of squashed meat transmitted through her boots and the putrid smell that arose, she kept running with a one-track mind.
[I have to join Leina as soon as possible and escape!]
At that moment, a gust of wind blew from below with an enormous force.
“Geh!?”
It was easy to guess what had happened in the basement: a huge cave-in. Probably, the underground hall Melona was in collapsed, and all the air accumulated inside had been pushed out.
Or rather, it wasn’t just air that had come out of there; it was clear as day to her dwarven eyes—able to see through the dark—that tentacles reminiscent of a creature’s internal organs were also coming up while wriggling.
“Gyoeeeeeeeeeh!”
Not worrying a bit about her possibly unseemly appearance, she ran screaming.
However, the tentacles were faster. They came at her like a tsunami, assimilating the leeches in its way.
“Auh!”
The dwarf fell down noisily. The tentacles had caught her feet.
“Why youuuuuu!”
Ymir drove her battle ax into the wall, and struggled not to get pulled in.
However, the wall was more brittle than she thought, and it crumbled down.
[Talk about a flimsy wall! WAY too flimsy!]
“Ngaaaaaah!”
Ymir screamed, and letting go of the battle ax, she tore up the tentacle with her Ancient Gauntlet.
“Don’t touch me, you ruffian!”
As if responding to her cry, her dress gave off a silver glow. All the tentacles bathed in that silver shine fell down, twitching.
“Ooh… is this… the Mithotil’s power!?”
Mithotil was a rare metal even in the Iron Mountain, said to be a deadly poison for those that came from hell or darkness.
Ymir’s dress had that metal woven into its fibers.
“Phew, it always pays to be prepared, as they say.”
Maybe in fear of the mithotil’s light, the tentacles withdrew to the earth. The leech-like creatures that were filling the stairs had disappeared without a trace, probably devoured by the tentacles.
“I have to hurry and escape, the things sleeping in this island’s underground are too dangerous!”
***
[When was the last time she cried?
When the nanny who was taking care of her left the mansion?
When the small birds she was so fond of died?
No, it was when Mother… when Maria died.]
Her father, Earl Vance, had said this to Leina: “Feel free to cry for now. Once you become a ruler however, you must not shed a tear, as the one who governs the country”.
He said so with a resolute attitude as her mother’s body was placed in the coffin. Maybe intending to set an example, he didn’t shed the smallest of tears. The nobles sitting in a row didn’t cry as well, not even her mother’s relatives.
‘I don’t want to become a ruler who can’t shed tears!’
She didn’t remember what Earl Vance had replied to her then.
“Good grief, who’s that crying?”
From below Elina—who didn’t know what to do—, Maria called out to her.
“You must be Leina? What a helpless child, always crying…”
“Ah, you… regained your senses…”
Still holding the wire in her hand, Elina spoke on behalf of her crying sister.
“I was in my senses. The whole time.”
The mother whispered softly, and turned her sight towards the younger girl. Her blue eyes gave off a gaze as sharp as a knife.
“Eek…”
She couldn’t help flinching before those eyes that seemed to go into her head.
“Untie this.”
Hearing that drained all the strength from her fingers. Back when she saw her as a were-beast, the girl had concluded she was a fake and was too willing to kill her, but now that she had regained her human appearance, she didn’t have enough strength to even try to turn her blade against her.
“If you don’t untie it, I’ll manage by myself, but expect plenty of retaliation in that case.”
“Eeek!”
Seeing that faint smile on Maria’s face, childhood memories flooded Elina’s head at once. Their mother Maria wasn’t one to forgive easily, even for little children pranks. It was no exaggeration to say that her discipline was the cause of Elina not being willing to cross any lines.
“Y-You can’t have recovered your memories too?”
Elina’s voice trembled.
“Of course, I know until what age you wet your bed, and I also know that you put the blame on the maid who witnessed it.”
“Geh…”
The girl’s face turned pale.
[Only three people should have known about that incident…]
“Now, untie this.”
Overpowered by the woman, the other followed the instructions obediently.
“You’re a good girl, Elina.”
She gave a blooming smile, still nude as she was.
Nothing was covering her fair skin. Her breasts, large but not sagging, drew a beautiful curve, flowing down into her ribs and the shape of her abdomen, which felt like she was rich in flesh there. The curve continued from the tight waist to her hip bone, ending in her slender legs.
Elina’s cheeks went red despite herself, seeing the body of that woman who didn’t look like she has had two daughters.
“E-Err, Mother, I should get you some clothes.”
“Never mind that, it’s only us here anyways.”
Maria gently stroked her daughter’s head.
“Or, did you mean to take off yours?”
“Err…”
She had suggested getting clothes for her in the spur of the moment… but in order to ride the siege arrow, she had only been able to bring what could fit in her hands, she had no spare clothes at all on her.
The mother carefully studied her, as the girl felt cold sweat down her temple, and smiled suddenly.
“I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t fit in your clothes, Elina.”
Maria lifted her breasts up from below and shook them gently to emphasize her point.
“Kuh… s-so what if I have tiny breasts?”
“Oh my, so you agree then?”
Elina’s fighting spirit was completely obliterated. As expected from the inventor of the Cursing Words, she was fearsome.
“Elina, you did well.”
The mother patted her head again with a smile.
“Making prompt decisions and having snap judgment is important for a warrior. You weren’t confused by my appearance nor slacked your grip; you’re a full-fledged warrior already, Elina…”
The girl’s cheeks softened when she heard that from her mother.
“In comparison…”
Then, she glared at the girl who was sobbing, having fallen to her knees.
“Leina! What are you doing?!”
The sharp rebuke made the older sister straighten her back with a jump.
“M-Mother…”
The woman let go of the younger sister and walked towards the other with a dignified step. Despite being completely naked, with nothing on, her attitude of a general in full battle regalia made both sisters see superimposed on her the figure of the Master Swordswoman from the olden days.
“Leina, I’m disappointed in you.”
She released a stinging gaze towards the crying girl.
“So I can’t get you to kill me, now can I?”
The two girls doubted their ears.
“What do you mean, Mother?”
However, the very moment she asked, the earth shook violently with a rumbling sound.
“Kuh!”
Elina sunk her spear into the ground straight away to keep her balance. Leina didn’t have enough time to pull her sword out of its sheath, and fell to catch herself with her hands.
“B-Big Sis!”
The earth was raised in front of the younger girl’s eyes, the flat terrain cracked; it was all rapidly changing into steep terrain.
“A-Aaaah…”
The earth suddenly and sharply rose, turning sideways. The moment the flatland turned into a cliff, the older sister lost her balance and was thrown into the air.
“Big Sis!”
She shouted; she couldn’t jump from her position.
“Elina, get back now!”
Maria screamed, running towards Leina over the collapsing earth.
“Hiaaaaah!”
“Leina!”
The mother’s hand grabbed her daughter’s in midair.
“Mother?”
Maria used one of the many siege arrows Elina had released as a foothold, and pulled Leina up by force.
“No matter how old, you’re still a girl who needs someone to watch over her, aren’t you?”
Embracing her raised daughter, she then whispered to her ear:
“If you want to save the world, kill me right here.”
“Mother, what do you mean?”
The girl asked, surprise showing in her eyes.
“If I’m alive, I’ll bring trouble to the Earl.”
“Trouble? I’m sure Father will be delighted.”
“You don’t understand, Leina.”
The mother showed a slightly sad smile.
“What do you think the witch has resurrected me for?”
The daughter looked on, puzzled, as she saw the huge pillars towering from the earth being slowly pushed out, as if something from the bottom of the earth was pushing upwards.
“To make you her underling?”
“And you think I would make an obedient underling?”
The girl shook her head.
“Her aim in reviving me was *that*.”
Maria pointed to the scene developing before their eyes, a scene Leina couldn’t believe: strange creatures similar to huge leeches had shown up, them being the ones pushing the pillars out.
“What’s… that?”
“That thing was created by an evil god from the age of the gods, part of the body of the evil god sealed by the angels.”
Remembering the legend Ymir told her, Leina was quick to nod.
“The witch has revived me to control it.”
“Why did it have to be you, Mother?”
“Because I’m the wife of Vance. Earl Vance keeps contending with the Queen over the supremacy of the Continent, but what if his supposedly dead wife was alive and assaulting lands by manipulating an evil god? The Queen’s Army wouldn’t take this transgression lying down. Of course, they would counterattack the Earl’s territory. The peace that has been maintained by the Queen’s Blade system would disappear, and we’d go back to the dark ages and their constant wars.”
Maria talked matter-of-factly.
“If that time ever comes, we have to make sure no one can say that Earl Vance had brought the seeds of confusion…”
Before the mother could finish talking, the siege arrow reached its limit.
“Mother!”
Leina—barely staying on the arrow’s base—extended a hand towards the mother, but Maria didn’t try to grab it. She judged it calmly: at that height, if she didn’t catch her hand, she would die.
“Mother!”
In front of the girl, Maria smiled and was swallowed into a crack of the ground.
Or rather, before she could sink into the earth, Leina clearly saw how an irregular mass of meat coming out of the earth’s depths swallowed the woman up.
“How could it…”
Her body trembled in primeval fear.
[If this island itself is the body of an evil god… How could I even defeat it?]
The meat lump that had swallowed Maria came closer towards her, wriggling like a leech.
“Big Sis! Are you okay?”
Elina’s voice sounded from overhead. Apparently, she was fine.
“Wait a second. I’ll drop the wire.”
With that, she lowered it.
“Hold on, Big Sis.”
However, the moment she reached for the wire, the heteromorphic lump of flesh rose from her feet and enveloped her body.
“Big Sis!”
“Elina! Run away!”
At the very instant she shouted, her whole body got immobilized, and she lost consciousness.
***
“Mother!”
Maria didn’t grab the extended hand on purpose.
[If I fall like this, I’m sure to die. Even if this is the second time I die, I won’t have that many regrets; Elina has grown as a warrior, and Leina didn’t seem to have forgotten her innate kindness.]
“What a bad mother. I…”
“That’s not so bad, is it?”
Her body was surrounded by a pink liquid, from which an unexpected voice sounded.
“Wanting to see one’s daughters is a normal feeling for a parent. I wouldn’t know tho.”
Wrapped in Melona’s body, the mother fell into a jet-black liquid.
“I’ll have you go back to your original job now.”
As Maria struggled inside her body, Melona placed the black crown on her head.
***
The crewmembers gathered in the deck of the Erebus were going abuzz:
“What IS that?”
Captain Shade couldn’t help but stare in wonder at the scene developing before his eyes.
The island kept rising and caving in, changing its shape significantly.
If that was all, it would have been fine; throughout his long life as a sailor, he had seen volcanoes appearing at sea sometimes. However, what was happening then was a phenomenon the likes of which he had never seen before.
The towering huge pillars that surrounded the decaying temple on top of the island were falling one after another, and a mucous substance pulsing black overflowed from their remains.
“You won’t know what that is, will you?”
The captain handed the binoculars to the girl by his side. Elina’s maiden, Irma, had been weakened by sea sickness during the voyage, and still with a pale face, she stared at Fiend Island.
“The Gray Ooze… it swallows things.”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“There was something similar in the illustrated encyclopedia I was shown in the Great Library of Gainos.”
“What’s its weak point?”
“I don’t know. But, if it’s a living thing, it should be weak to fire.”
Upon hearing her, the captain ordered them to fire bullets right away.
No matter what, they couldn’t lose Elina, one of the Earl’s successors. It was the most important rule to follow as a soldier protecting the Earldom.
***
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