“Ruooooooo….”
The people of the City Hall stared dazedly at the Golem which suddenly appeared.
Having heard its roar, those that were inside started flooding out of the building as well.
Upon witnessing the Golem’s massive size, there were none that didn’t fear it.
The City Hall was a “Safe Zone” which monsters cannot enter.
Despite knowing that, they could not stop themselves from trembling.
What does it want to do?
That was what everyone was wondering.
“Ru~u~u~o~ooooo….”
The Golem slowly strode forward.
“It’s coming towards us…”
“No way. Don’t tell me it can enter here?”
“I-it’ll be fine… Fujita-san told us that monsters can’t come in here…”
“But that thing is coming right at us…”
Most of them were non-combatants that didn’t have occupations or skills to fight.
As the Golem gradually approached one step at a time, the shaking intensified, paralyzing the people with fear.
Doubt started to rise in their hearts.
— Was it really safe in here?
The Golem advanced forward as if to answer that question, and when it was 100 meters in front of the City Hall, “that” occurred.
Bachin!
The Golem was pushed back as if it was impeded by an invisible force.
“O~o.”
The refugees raised exclamations of amazement.
The territory created by the mayor’s “Town Development” skill served as an absolute boundary line with a radius of 100 meters centered on the City Hall, and no monsters were allowed entry.
“Ru~o~o…”
Once again, the Golem slowly reached out with its arm, but once again, its hand was repelled by the invisible wall.
“Ru~u…”
The Golem, now sounding annoyed, raised its fist to pound on the invisible wall.
ZUZUN!
A powerful shockwave reverberated across the City Hall.
Short screams were heard as people crouched down on the ground.
When the smokes cleared, people saw how the Golem couldn’t move forward even a single step.
“RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!”
The Golem slammed its fist against the invisible wall over and over again, only to have it deflected each time.
While everyone was still fearful, they were convinced of a single point.
— It couldn’t enter.
Just as the mayor said, the “Safe Zone” was out-of-limits for monsters.
Eventually, the Golem deemed it a waste of time and began to retreat, leading to cheers being heard from the City Hall.
The refugees were so relieved that some people plopped down on the spot and began to shed tears.
While all this was happening…
“…Hey, what’s it trying to do?”
The first to notice was an elderly man who was standing watch near the barricade.
He had been excused from the decisive battle due to an injury he received during an expedition two days prior.
Within his line of slight, the Golem was crouching down and scooping things up by using its hands as a shovel.
“Ruuuu….”
The paved asphalt roads peeled off like thin ice, revealing the bare ground underneath.
Next to the depressed ground, the Golem twisted its body while holding onto the rocks and soil it dug up.
Its form was similar to that of a baseball pitcher’s.
“H…Hey, hey.”
No way, no way, no way—
The elderly man finally understood what the Golem was trying to do.
“EVACUATE INTO THE BUILDING!!!”
As if to drown out his shout, large amounts of earth and sand rained down on the City Hall.
“On a fundamental level, the City Hall’s so-called ‘Safe Zone’ is not absolute.”
The night before.
With that as its opening speech, “It” began speaking.
“There are several loopholes. From what I can tell, there are around three.”
It put up one finger.
“First is if the monster is in a party with a human. In that case, the monster will be treated as the human’s companion and allowed entry. Whether the monster’s abilities would be restricted or not, I have no way of telling… But you, who resent humans to such a degree, have no intention of allying with one, yes?”
“…”
Slightly, the foothold beneath it shook as if irritated.
It raised another finger.
“Second, damages and effects of skills received from outside will not disappear even if someone enters the ‘Safe Zone’. This includes bruises, fractures, paralysis, poison, and brainwashing. If we properly brainwash some humans to make them cause a riot, the humans will self-destruct… Well, neither you nor I have brainwashing skills, so this method is off the list as well.”
“…”
Its feet swayed.
Enough with the exposition and get to the point.
“Don’t rush me. I don’t like to rush to conclusions and results. I like having long conversations…But then again, the plan won’t work out if I don’t have your cooperation…”
It sighed before raising its third finger.
“The third loophole. That is to use long-distance attacks from outside the ‘Safe Zone’.”
The shaking subsided.
It was interested in listening to the full story.
“Attacking from outside the ‘Safe Zone’ cannot directly harm the humans inside. For example, throwing a boulder at a human inside the ‘Safe Zone’ would have no effect as the boulder would lose its momentum and fall powerlessly. The same can be said for ‘Shadow’ and ‘Roar’. ‘Shadow’ can’t be extended inside whereas ‘Roar’ would lose its power once inside.”
“…?”
The shaking began once more.
Wasn’t this inconsistent with what it previously claimed?
Even if it made long-range attacks from outside the “Safe Zone”, it would be meaningless if the people inside were unharmed.
“What did I just say? Although the boulder would lose its ‘momentum’, it doesn’t change the fact that it can enter the ‘Safe Zone’.”
In other words…
“If you use your immense power to do it on a larger scale— what do you think will happen?”
A rain of earth, sand, and concrete poured down on the City Hall. However, the moment they entered, they fell powerlessly on the ground without hurting anyone inside.
“Ru~u~u~uooooooooooo!”
However, that wasn’t the end.
The Golem grabbed a nearby building and hurled it towards the City Hall.
It easily uprooted large buildings and structures as if it was harvesting radishes and carrots before throwing them all towards the City Hall.
The moment they entered the “Safe Zone”, they all lose their momentum and fell on the spot.
Apartments, railroad tracks, and roads.
It kept throwing everything around it.
What would happen then?
Simple.
Things will begin to accumulate.
The City Hall and the surrounding area will quickly be buried.
“If we can’t enter, we simply have to lock them inside.”
That was what “It” suggested.
There wasn’t a need to touch the human directly.
If they were buried alive under the rubbles, they would die by themselves.
If they tried to escape, that would be like jumping into a boiling pot.
The moment they got out of the “Safe Zone”, it would crush them.
It was a plan which could only be executed by the Golem which had a massive frame and possessed extraordinary strength.
“You have to be kidding…”
“Hey… don’t you think we’ll be buried alive at this rate?”
“Where’s the mayor? What’s the mayor doing?”
“I don’t know! He’s staying inside the office and not coming out!”
Once again, the people left in the City Hall were mostly those that didn’t have skills.
They were extremely vulnerable in this world and were not capable of escaping from the mountain of rubble that was forming.
Confusion and fear spread around in the blink of an eye.
With the rubbles steadily accumulating, the prison with the name of “Safe Zone” was about to be completed.
“Ruoooooooooo!”
The Golem tossed a building again.
However,
“Reflection!”
A dazzling light wrapped around the building before it got reflected backwards.
“!?”
Its body stiffened for a moment due to the unexpected event.
The Golem immediately put forth one of its arm to defend.
The impact transmitted throughout his body, but that was it.
Since the building was thrown with one hand, it was able to block it with one hand as well.
It was a simple matter.
“Ruuu…”
Rather than that.
It was familiar with the phenomenon just now.
It recalled a recent memory.
Although it was just temporary, an abominable skill had caused it to lose one of its arms.
Where?
Where was the culprit?
Then, on the rooftop of a building which was slightly away from the City Hall, it saw the figure of a woman standing there.
A slender woman who it believed would be blown away with but a single blow.
On her shoulder was the damnable female fox.
“Ruuu…”
Change of target.
That human came first.
It crushed some buildings and grabbed onto the debris.
This time around, it decided to throw multiple pieces of boulders instead of a single piece as a countermeasure against the reflection ability.
“Ruu..?”
Just before it was about to throw the boulders, the Golem saw that the shadow beneath the woman was spreading in a strange manner, and “something” came out from there.
What was it? A weapon?
It mattered not.
What can the puny human’s weapons do against it?
There was no way that it would be wary of something at that level.
“…”
It heard a faint voice.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of something cracking echoed throughout the surrounding.
Along with a powerful collision, a large crack appeared on the forehead of the Golem.
“RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?”
What! What happened?
The Golem shook in disbelief.
Fragments were falling down from its forehead.
How did it get hurt? From the tiny bullet coming out of that peashooter?
However, immediately afterwards, the Golem was stupefied once more.
—She’s not there!?
On the rooftop of the building, the female human who was standing there had suddenly disappeared.
The next moment, it felt another impact from behind.
***
Ichinose’s Point of View.
She took a deep breath and glared at the Golem.
“It probably noticed our existence.”
“Kyu.”
The Golem should have figured out that the previous phenomenon was the result of Kiki’s “Reflection”.
In fact, she would be troubled if the Golem didn’t realize this.
She had Kiki use “Reflection” not just to prevent the Golem from attacking the City Hall, but more so to make sure that its attention was on her.
“Oh, it’s looking at us.”
The Golem noticed them.
With this, the first stage of the plan was complete. Next up.
“Momo-chan.”
“Wan!”
Momo who was waiting stepped on Ichinose’s shadow from behind.
Then, the shadow stretched out greatly before revealing a sniper rifle from within.
No, the gun was too long and unconventional to call it a sniper rifle.
Its length was well over 2 meters and there were various attachments on it.
It was clearly different from the sniper rifle she had used so far.
A few days ago, she had gained a new occupation along with a skill through Gatcha.
The occupation was called “Weapon Craftsman” and the skill was “Weapon Enhancement”.
The effect of the skill was as one would expect from its name.
Enhancing the sniper rifle required a lot of magic stones, materials, and MPs, but they managed to get all of them in the last two days.
She continuously hunted monsters, gathered the necessary materials, and succeeded in strengthening the gun.
It resulted in the birth of the Anti-Golem weapon known as “Ichinose Special Ver 2.0”.
The part about “Ver 2.0” held no particular meaning. She just named it so because it sounded cooler.
She also took out a bullet from her bag.
This bullet was a unique products created through “Ammunition Creation”.
She deftly loaded the ridiculously lethal bullet which was capable of manslaughter just by bludgeoning people.
“Furu furu.”
Aka then changed its body into a structure which helped support the barrel of the modified gun.
With this, she was ready.
She stood on her knees, held her gun in place, and adjusted her breathing.
Slowly, she pulled the trigger.
“Eat this!”
Along with an explosion sound, a bullet was fired at the Golem.
The bullet which was a masterpiece in and of itself, formed a large crack on the Golem’s forehead with its immense kinetic energy.
“RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Even before it was modified, the sniper rifle boasted the power of an anti-material rifle as a result of Ichinose’s skill corrections.
How powerful was it after it was modified?
It was no longer appropriate to compared it to an “Anti-Material Rifle”.
Now, it was more an “Anti-Castle Rifle”.
“Next!”
Not even third-rate snipers would relax after the first shot.
She immediately reloaded.
Looking closely, her hands were shaking slightly.
(What amazing recoil… and this is with Aka-chan protecting me.)
Ichinose’s entire body was screaming from the recoil of the gun.
Ichinose’s status had been significantly weakened by becoming a “Hiki Komori”.
It was only thanks to “Body Strengthening” that she recovered to an extent where she could move properly.
—In other words, her status was not at the level where she could handle the specs of the enhanced gun.
How many more shots would she be able to shoot?
“Still”, she laughed as she wiped off the sweat on her forehead.
—Everyone is trying their best. I can’t show a pitiful performance.
“Momo-chan!”
“Wan!”
Now that she had confirmed that the bullet was effective, it was time to move to the second stage of the strategy.
Momo’s “Shadow” spread, wrapping around both Momo and Ichinose before engulfing them.
Had a few seconds passed?
One of Aka’s clones welcomed them as they reappeared.
As per their plan, they had arrived at a building behind the Golem.
She held the gun and pulled the trigger again.
“RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?”
A crack ran through the completely exposed back of the Golem’s head.
“Next!”
“Wan!”
Momo’s “Shadow” once again swallowed them up, and they emerged the very next moment at a building right next to the Golem.
(I’ve evaluated multiple times already… but this skill is truly amazing.)
With sweat rolling down on her forehead, Ichinose once again realized how awesome Momo’s skill was.
Momo’s new skill was known as “Shadow Migration”.
After repeated level-ups, Momo’s “Shadow” had become quite formidable.
Previously, she could only dive into the shadow of Kazuto, but now she could bring along other people and move to the location of any shadows cast by her party members.
Although it wasn’t as spacious as Kazuto’s Item Box, she was capable of storing some tools inside shadows as well.
This skill displayed a great synergistic effect with Aka in the team.
Momo was able to freely move to any of Aka’s clone.
They had placed 14 clones of Aka beforehand around the buildings of the City Hall.
A combination of Ichinose’s sniping ability with Momo’s “Shadow Migration” which gained access to various “Doorways”.
“Ultra-High-Power Infinite Hit-And-Run”.
This was the deadly tactic they came up with to defeat the Golem.
(I won’t give you the chance to recover. I won’t give you the change to withdraw. I will continue to shoot without end.)
The cracks on the Golem’s body enlarged after being hit by the bullets a second and third time.
Even though the Golem tried to discover Ichinose’s sniping spot, it was only after she had moved to a new coordinate.
“Ruuu….u~u~u~o~o~o~ooooooooooooooooooo!!”
“…!?”
However, the Golem soon changed its tactic.
It crushed the debris in its hand into even smaller pieces before scattering them into all directions.
The pieces were insignificantly tiny from the Golem’s perspective.
Nevertheless, it was more than capable of dealing fatal damage to a person.
The surrounding buildings were destroyed, and many of them collapsed one after another.
Swept up by the catastrophe, many signs of Aka’s clones disappeared.
(So it figured it out…!)
Ichinose clamped down her teeth.
The Golem was planning on crushing the very essence of their plan.
(Nearly half of the gateways were destroyed…and it was done in a single attack…)
It seemed that the Golem wanted to suppress them with brute force.
Her hands shook.
Was it from the gun’s recoil, or was it from fear? Perhaps both?
Regardless, now that she had come this far, stopping here was not an option.
“Momo-chan!”
“Wan!”
She relocated to another point.
When she tried to hold her gun, immense pain rushed over her body.
“Take this!”
Ichinose pulled the trigger with all her remaining strength.
Yet another crack manifested on the Golem’s body.
“Ru~o~o~o~oooooooooooo!!”
Without minding the damage on its body, the Golem once again threw the debris in all directions.
Aka’s clones started dwindling rapidly.
Eventually, there was… zero remaining.
“Huu…Hu….”
While sweating profusely, Ichinose glared at the approaching Golem.
The Golem, wary of any potential attacks, did not come closer than it deemed necessary.
“Huuu… You seem very cautious, but… will that be okay with you?”
“Ruu…?”
Perhaps it heard her voice, because the Golem immediately halted its movement.
“To focus only on me, that is.”
Ichinose stuck out her tongue and chuckled.
The Golem thought that this was her last struggle, but it suddenly noticed something.
Where did that female fox go?
And then—
“Nice job, Ichinose-san.”
The voice of Ichinose’s most trusted man echoed from behind the Golem.
The voice which was suddenly projected from behind sounded familiar to the Golem.
Yes, it was the voice of the human who had injured it the day before—
“Ru~uooooooooooooooooooooooon!”
It roared.
It twisted its body in an attempt to look at the human’s figure, and a part of its body broke down.
“…Ru~o?”
When it beheld the figure of the man, a question mark appeared on top of the Golem’s head.
What… was that?
Based on his appearance alone, it was certain that he was the hateful person from the previous day.
However, his right arm was abnormally gargantuan.
From his elbow down was a huge pipe-like object, and from the opening of the pipe which was dozens of centimeters in diameter, the Golem saw the gleam of a sharp metal tip.
Yes, it was like a “nail”.
The Golem was struck by a chill which it shouldn’t have been capable of experiencing.
That’s—not good!
“Eat this, Titan! This is our trump card – a pile bunker!”
ZUUUN!
The Golem was pounded by a terrifying strike which scattered its body.