‘Hyahahaha! No matter how many of you puny adventurers rally, it’s no use!’
As Slay shouted abuse from above, the golem mowed down the adventurers below. The vanguards, too engrossed in the assault to evade in time, sailed through the air, but without a moment’s delay their bodies were enveloped in healing light.
He’s right. We lack combat power.
Jade observed the situation calmly. Enough people had gathered to form several parties, but that didn’t mean that the situation was to their advantage.
‘Fuck, our attacks are useless!’
‘Oi, rearguards! Hurry up and pepper this guy with magic!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous! We can’t possibly fire our magic in the middle of the town!’
The Clay Golem’s tough defense had forced the adventurers into a fierce battle. Clay Golems are highly resistant to physical attacks, as their outward appearance suggests, and the established tactic is to attack them with magic of the element they are weak against.
‘Dammit! This is a bad place to fight.’
What to do. Jade grimaced, lamenting their predicament, when suddenly:
Whoosh! Something swooped past with tremendous force and slammed into the arm of the Clay Golem.
GIIIOOOO!
The golem let out an anguished cry. Little wonder, as the sheer momentum of the flying thing ripped the golem’s right arm off its shoulder and into shreds.
‘Hah?!’
As the Clay golem lost its footing Slay, standing atop the staggering giant’s shoulder, stopped laughing and opened his eyes in shock.
Before everyone’s eyes, the golem’s severed arm soared through the air and came crashing down into the crystal gate in the center of the main square, causing the blue crystal to tilt even further. The thing—no, the person—landed before Jade, the hem of their cloak fluttering. The small adventurer, their face completely hidden beneath a hood, wielded a giant warhammer. Jade’s eyes widened inadvertently at the sight of the figure’s small back, contrasting sharply with the size of the weapon.
‘Ali—The Executioner?!’
As the other adventurers became aware of her presence, they paused what they were doing and turned their attention to the hooded hammer-wielder.
‘Oi, ain’t that The Executioner?!’
‘Why’s that guy here?! I thought the Executioner only appeared in the dungeons!’
All eyes were on her. But Alina, disguised as The Executioner, didn’t react at all. She merely stood there for a while and did not utter a single word. From behind, a flustered Jade spoke to her.
‘Wait! Even for you, going up against a raid boss is—’
‘Executioner!’
Slay spotted the figure of the warhammer user from atop the golem’s shoulder and shouted with glee.
‘Hyahahaha! Things’re getting interesting. Aren’t you the bastard the guild’s all in a tizzy to find? Oh, I bet they would hate it if I were to kill you right here and now.’
‘Executioner!’
Jade caught Alina by the shoulders and stopped her.
‘It’s impossible to take down a raid boss with anything less than several parties! If you came to fight, you should cooperate with—’
‘How dare you’
Shaking off Jade’s hand, Alina interrupted his warning and muttered softly.
‘Eh?’
‘That house…my home…was my sole comfort…when I returned home tired from work…my refuge from modern society…my heaven…!!!’
‘Huh?’
‘How dare you, how dare you, how dare you!’
Alina’s voice quivered with rage as she tightened her grip on her hammer. A dreadful bloodlust emanated from her body, and her cloak fluttered ominously. Jade’s face involuntarily twitched at her intimidating aura, sweating profusely as he timidly called out to her.
‘H—hey, Exec—’
‘I’ll fucking kill you!!!!’
In a flash of white-hot fury, Alina kicked off the ground and in a single bound reached the clay golem’s remaining arm. Brandishing her warhammer abreast she brought it down on the beast, the force of her swing splitting the air and stirring up a gale. A painful sound rang out. The golem’s arm, previously unaffected by physical damage, was smashed into fine dust from the elbow down by her single blow.
GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The clay golem let out a plaintive cry as its body staggered backwards. Its red eyes, which so far had been fixed on Jade, suddenly turned to Alina.
‘B—Beguiling Light!’
Jade hurriedly drew his sword and plunged the tip, glowing with a bright light, into the ground. Having taken back the aggro that was about to shift towards Alina, the golem turned back to face Jade. Confirming that the beast had stopped moving towards Alina, Jade sighed in a mixture of relief and shock.
S—such attack power!! If I’m not careful, she’ll take the aggro in one go!
A tank can use magic to steal aggro, but if the other party members keep unleashing powerful attacks, the enemy’s attention will be drawn to the assailants. They have to be constantly on guard to ensure that the aggro doesn’t shift, as it might after a black mage finishes casting a strong spell. However, in all his years of working as a tank for the Silver Blades, Jade had never broken out in a could sweat at having aggro stolen from him. And what Alina unleashed was nothing more than a simple blow.
I didn’t think she’d be this strong!
A different tension than that of before made Jade furrow his brow. In order to prevent Alina from stealing the enemy’s aggro, like she did just now, he’d likely have to recast Beguiling Light each time she attacked.
Alina’s cloak…It doesn’t look like proper armour, and it certainly doesn’t look like it can withstand an attack from a raid boss. If worst comes to worst, I can’t let her get hit even once!
Or rather, don’t fight against a monster in just a flimsy cloak! You’re giving this tank a heart attack!
Muttering complaints to himself, Jade found himself holding his breath in tension. He readied his shield and observed Alina’s movements to make sure the enemy’s aggro didn’t leave him for even a second.
‘For the sin of destroying my paradise…you deserve death…I’ll smash you into the depths of hell!’
But Alina was oblivious to Jade’s concern. As she muttered in anger, she kicked off the ground and leapt effortlessly to the same height as the golem’s head towering over the rooftops, her warhammer held aloft in the air, her cloak flapping in the wind
‘Kn—Knock her down, Clay Golem!’
At the panicked Slay’s ill-considered command, the golem raised its arm with sluggish motion. But it no longer had an arm to raise. Alina had destroyed them both.
‘You can apologise with your death, you big, useless lump of rock!’
Alina’s wrath bore down on the crown of the golem’s head.
Here it is! I’m taking back the agg—
Jade readied his sword, ready to cast Beguiling Light again—but he quickly stayed his hand.
With a thunderous roar, the overwhelming shock unleashed by Alina’s attack caused the golem’s head to sink into it’s own torso—no, it went straight through its torso and crashed into the ground at its feet.
““Huh?””
The dumbstruck voices of Jade, bracing himself to take back aggro, and Slay, witnessing Alina’s impossible batting power up close, overlapped.
It wasn’t just the two of them. As everyone in the main square who had seen the Executioner’s fight fell silent, the now headless clay golem ceased to move.
‘O—one hit and it’s over?’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Our attacks haven’t even managed to put a crack in it.’
‘Am I dreaming?’
As Jade looked at the shocked adventurers, their mouths agape, it suddenly dawned on him why Alina was so unconcerned about her armour. It wasn’t a matter of ignorance. Her overwhelming power could end any encounter with a single strike, making armour completely unnecessary.
After landing, Alina didn’t spare Jade or the other adventurers a second glance, and started walking at a brisk pace, her warhammer resting on her shoulder.
‘D—Don’t come closer!’
Slay shrieked with fear as he lost his footing and fell to the ground.
‘Wh—who the hell are you? What’s with that attack power! It’s not human! It’s impossible! Impossible!’
Ignoring Slay’s words, Alina simply advanced in silence.
‘Say something, you mon—’
‘Weren’t you taught’
Alina mumbled.
‘that you shouldn’t destroy’
Finally, Alina reached Slay and paused, looking down at his pale, desperate face.
‘Eek!’
‘other people’s belongings, you’
Alina raised her warhammer
‘soreheaded piece of shit!’
‘Gyaaaaaaa!’
The heavy sound of a blow thundered through the town, shattering not Slay’s face but the pavement cobbles next to his ear.
But her warhammer, which slaughtered a raid boss in one hit, was more than enough to knock away Slay’s consciousness and make him wet his trousers.
Slay we hardly knew ye.
