Chapter 88
Chapter 88. The Dolls (4)
Neiron and the doll he boasted of were crushed between the shields with absurd ease.
Perhaps because he had just struck a grand pose, declaring he would show his true strength, Neiron’s end felt all the more pathetic.
He had strutted in arrogance only to meet his match.
A death fit to be mocked.
However, Anagin did not laugh.
It was not out of consideration for his opponent.
If he could, Anagin would have gladly laughed at him.
The reason Anagin did not laugh was not simply because Neiron was weak, but because he understood that the shield bronze statue was overwhelmingly strong.
The moment he saw Neiron’s doll, Anagin sensed it was no ordinary opponent.
The doll’s body was well-trained, and the Orichalcum blades attached to both arms and legs looked sharp enough to cut just by sight—most likely enchanted with magic as well.
‘They said the true value of Orichalcum lies in enchantment.’
Above all, Anagin had seen the movement when the doll struck the shield bronze statue’s neck.
It was extremely fast, but even more impressive was the way it handled the blade. It moved like someone who knew exactly how to wield a sword.
A delicate yet decisive motion that could sever the smallest opening in an enemy in an instant.......
And yet the shield bronze statue remained unharmed simply because it was even sturdier than that.
A strong opponent had simply run into an opponent far stronger.
‘Though the price was rather steep.’
Anagin looked at Neiron, now a lump of mangled flesh crushed between the shields, along with his prized doll.
Splat!
When the bronze statue pulled its shields apart, the flattened Neiron fell to the floor with his doll, making a wet sound.
Barely recognizable in shape.
The shield bronze statue was not only durable but immensely powerful as well.
After staring down at the kneaded mass that had once been Neiron, the bronze statue shifted its gaze toward Anagin.
It might sound strange, but it felt as though the bronze statue was thinking.
From its two eyes, tinged with an unusual hue, one could sense a certain will. It was truly nonsensical...
‘No, perhaps it’s entirely possible? Magic is based on the power of the mind. I think I heard that magical tools can have a will of their own, too.’
Magic must have been used in creating the bronze statue, too.
If it possessed a will, it was not particularly surprising.
Anagin briefly considered asking it, ‘Can you think?’, he had been about to say.
Just before he opened his mouth.
Boom—!
The shield bronze statue leapt and swung its shield toward Anagin.
The shield was so massive it could cover the statue’s entire body—an incredibly powerful weapon in itself.
The ground trembled as a thunderous sound rang out.
“Not as fast as I expected.”
Anagin evaluated calmly after rolling away to evade the attack.
Sphinx snapped back.
“What are you talking about? That was insanely fast!”
Half right, half wrong.
The shield bronze statue was certainly fast.
Even more so compared to the ones in the corridor.
But it was not so fast that Anagin could not evade it.
“You barely dodged it.”
“I dodged like that on purpose. Why waste strength?”
Anagin claimed he had deliberately dodged at the last possible moment to conserve stamina.
It sounded like bluster, but he proved otherwise by continuing to evade the shield bronze statue’s attacks by the narrowest margins.
The sharpened shield’s horizontal slash, the downward smash, the diagonal swing—he avoided them all.
In the process, the Giant’s Bed and hammer he had been holding became a nuisance, so he tossed them onto the floor.
“Slow.”
After dodging a string of attacks, Anagin suddenly slipped into the shield bronze statue’s guard and threw a punch.
‘Solid.......’
The thought crossed his mind the moment his fist connected.
The shield bronze statue.... It was even sturdier than he had anticipated.
The bronze statues in the corridor had been soft enough to dent under his fists, but this one only gained a small scratch.
Practically no damage at all.
Of course, that was not the only surprising part.
Since it was not merely bronze but bronze coated in Orichalcum, greater durability had already been expected.
The real issue was how to break through.
Should he put more force into his blows? Infuse Energy(Γι) into the hammer using Yul(εὐ)? Or use the Giant’s Bed?
Various strategies flashed through Anagin’s mind, but for now, he retreated. Quickly.
Clang!
As he closed the distance, the shield bronze statue clashed its shields together left and right, just as it had crushed Neiron.
Had he been even slightly slower, Anagin would have been caught between them and reduced to minced flesh.
‘First.......’
Lowering his body, Anagin dashed forward and retrieved the hammer he had dropped.
The hammer, with a head as large as a human torso, looked terribly blunt and unwieldy—but it depended on who wielded it.
In Anagin’s hands, it moved with startling speed.
Clang!
Using both hands, Anagin swung the hammer in dazzling arcs, launching a fierce assault on the shield bronze statue, which blocked every strike with its shields.
Even after packing the hammer full of Energy(Γι) through Yul(εὐ), he felt no meaningful impact.
Still, this too was within expectations.
Without disappointment, Anagin maintained his Yul(εὐ) state and continued swinging the hammer. Faster, more flamboyantly.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—!!!
Using his entire body as leverage, Anagin attacked relentlessly with the hammer.
And not just straightforward blows—he mixed in feints.
Pretending to strike the shoulder before changing direction to attack the leg, then feigning at the leg before aiming for the head.
Yet the shield bronze statue saw through every feint and successfully blocked them all. The sheer size of the shields likely helped.
‘Then how about this?’
Sensing the hammer’s durability gradually declining, Anagin decided to gamble.
He pretended to swing the hammer with full force, then slid sideways as if the floor were slick, slipping to the statue’s flank.
The shield bronze statue, defending the front, reacted a step late to Anagin’s sudden shift, but still barely managed to move its shield in time to block.
Having succeeded in defending, the shield bronze statue swung its shield with full force and sent Anagin flying.
Anagin was thrown backward.
His decisive strike had failed, but he was not disappointed.
It was intentional.
Following the direction the shield bronze statue had sent him, Anagin flew back and arrived before the Giant’s Bed lying on the floor.
He struck the Giant’s Bed with his hammer, sending it hurtling toward the shield bronze statue’s front.
The shield bronze statue raised a shield to block.
Anticipating that Anagin might circle around again, it used only one shield.
Claang!
When the Giant’s Bed collided with the bronze shield, an ear-splitting metallic sound rang out.
Using that metallic shriek as his signal, Anagin charged forward and brought the hammer down on the Giant’s Bed with all his might.
Like driving a stake into the ground.
[Stake Strike]
Focusing all his strength into a single point on the Giant’s Bed, Anagin aimed to shatter the statue’s shield.
Perhaps, according to plan, he might have succeeded.......
But that did not happen.
The moment Anagin swung down the Giant’s Bed, the shield bronze statue brought both shields together in its hands, forming a complete barrier.
As the two shields fused, they became a massive shield reminiscent of a city gate, and faintly engraved upon it, an ancient inscription emerged in glowing letters.
「I am the city gate that guards the glorious workshop. All intruders shall be stopped by me, and they shall fall.」
The shield bronze statue was not holding two shields. It had always been one shield split into two.
And at this moment, it became whole again.
The instant the shield fused into one, the image in Anagin’s mind of shattering it grew faint—and just like that blurred image, the Giant’s Bed failed to pierce through.
What broke was not the shield, but the hammer in Anagin’s hand.
The impact that should have pushed forward rebounded instead when it failed to penetrate, destroying the hammer.
If there was any consolation, it was that the Giant’s Bed had endured.
‘Wait, is that a crack?’
Anagin spotted a fracture running through the Giant’s Bed.
It was one of his treasured possessions!
A small ripple stirred in Anagin’s heart, and the shield bronze statue did not miss it.
With the city-gate shield still fused, the statue thrust forward.
Like a massive wall charging ahead, an overwhelming pressure and impact engulfed Anagin’s body and sent him flying far back.
“Are you okay?”
Sphinx shouted toward Anagin, who had been struck by the shield and slammed into the wall.
For reference, Sphinx had leapt off his shoulder just before the hit and was unharmed.
Whether that was admirable or shameless.......
“It’s nothing.”
Anagin answered as he immediately rose to his feet.
His body throbbed, but it was not enough to keep him from moving. That said, the situation was undeniably worsening.
Of the weapons he had brought—the Giant’s Bed and the hammer—the hammer was destroyed, and the Giant’s Bed was cracked.
Effectively unusable.
Anagin still had his bare fists, but from Sphinx’s perspective, that was honestly worrying.
If even the Giant’s Bed and hammer could not break the shield, what could his hands possibly do?
Of course, the shield bronze statue’s movements were slow enough that Anagin might be able to dismantle it piece by piece.......
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
But that no longer seemed easy.
The bronze statues that had been guarding the corridor had entered the workshop.
Statues armed with spears, spear and shield, sword and shield, and axes.
The ones Anagin had shaken off had now arrived.
‘Were the practitioners taken down?’
The sudden increase in numbers compensated for the shield bronze statue’s relatively slow movement.
Sphinx climbed back onto Anagin’s shoulder and suggested,
“Should I use magic?”
"Would that even help?"
Sphinx was appalled by Anagin's rudeness.
To say such a thing when she was offering to help...
However, it was a valid question.
Her wind magic did not pair well against heavy bronze statues.
She could push them back, but destroying them would be difficult.
Unless she maximized its power, it would be hard to turn the tide.
“You can help me.”
“How?”
Anagin asked while dodging the charging statues.
The bronze statues formed a formation around the shield bronze statue and targeted Anagin, while he slipped through weak points, breaking their formation as he retreated.
Fortunately, the corridor statues were softer—when Anagin struck them with his fists, they dented.
But carelessness was fatal.
Every time Anagin exposed even the slightest opening, the shield bronze statue closed in swiftly and attacked.
Then the other statues would attempt to surround him.
As Anagin was gradually pushed onto the defensive, Sphinx said,
“Lend me your Energy(Γι). If you do, I can create a typhoon that will sweep this place clean.”
The source of magic was ‘Yeom,’ but Yeom was not the only thing used.
It was essential, but not the sole means.
There were surprisingly many ways to strengthen magic.
A place saturated with massive amounts of Yeom, various reagents, sacrifices, or even Energy(Γι).......
If she received Energy(Γι) from Anagin, Sphinx judged she could cast magic powerful enough to overturn the situation.
Besides, though she did not mention it, ever since becoming his familiar, she had felt her magic grow stronger for some reason.
“Not necessary.”
Contrary to expectation, Anagin flatly rejected her offer.
Sphinx blinked in surprise.
He was not the type to cling to pointless pride.
“If we do what you said, this entire place will be wrecked.”
“.......”
Sphinx could not deny it.
Since the most powerful wind magic was wide-area magic, it inevitably caused collateral damage.
And now that she had grown curious about this Ruin, she did not want to see it destroyed either.
But still.......
“You don’t need to consider me. First, we need to get out of this situation.”
She told him he did not need to hold back for her sake.
Even if he pretended otherwise, Anagin was quietly considerate. She did not want him to choose a harder path just for her sake—
“—What nonsense are you spouting? I'm doing this because I'm also curious about what this place is!"
Sphinx felt something shatter inside her.
It was her faith in humanity, love, and hope.
“Besides, I don’t need your help.”
Anagin muttered while being pressured by the shield bronze statue head-on and fending off the surrounding bronze statues.
No matter how one looked at it, he was being cornered. And yet he claimed he did not need help?
When Sphinx eyed him skeptically, Anagin gave a grin.
A grin that seemed to say he would prove it was no bluff.
“Don’t tell me you found a way to break through? That shield is practically a city gate.”
“A city gate, huh.... Probably?”
Though he added a question mark to his words, his actions were decisive.
He widened the distance from the shield bronze statue and counterattacked a bronze statue approaching from behind.
Keeping his body low to the ground, he swept his leg as if scraping the floor, knocking the statue down.
Grabbing the fallen statue by the shoulder and waist.......
[Battering Ram]
He swung it toward the approaching shield bronze statue.
Like striking a city gate with a battering ram.
And astonishingly....
Boom—!!
It worked.