The start of the counterattack did not come from Bell Cranel.
- Guaaaaaaah!
"Haaah!"
Rumble... KWAANG!
One sword swung by a masked swordswoman.
The calamity-like miracle unleashed by that blue magic sword shattered one of the giant's arms in a single blow, bringing it crashing down.
Even the Magus, watching from somewhere out of sight, could not help but admire that monstrous power.
[A magic sword? It surpassed the original spell?]
His surprise lasted only a moment.
Another attack from the magic sword came flying in right after.
As he hurriedly moved the golem's body out of the path of that immense firestorm, he analyzed the cause.
The answer was unexpectedly simple.
The Magus had already heard from someone else about the craftsman who made that magic sword.
[Crozzo! So that's the junior blacksmith that one-eyed bastard was talking about!]
Bell Cranel, who had already vanished from sight, was no longer of interest.
The Magus's attention focused entirely on the two Crozzo magic swords in the masked swordswoman's hands.
And then on the masked swordswoman herself, the one using them now.
[Though that disguise is pretty sloppy. Did you even intend to hide your identity?]
His words sounded as if he already knew who the masked swordswoman was.
In fact, he did know.
Back then, on that day, she had been wearing something similar.
[But what surprises me even more is this. I never thought you'd try to stop my revenge. Of all people, the "shop clerk," you're the one doing it.]
"You do love running your mouth, Magus."
[Oh, come now. I told you to just call me An. Don't ignore a man's kindness.]
"Spare me. It makes my stomach turn."
[Hahaha! You're still prickly only with me. Cute little shop clerk, or rather...]
The fallen ally of justice.
The moment he heard those words, the masked swordswoman, Ryuu Lion, twisted her expression into something fierce.
Disgust and anger were plain in that look.
And the Magus ignored it and kept talking as he pleased.
[But really, this is a surprise. I never imagined the shop clerk would butt into this little performance by these kids. What on earth got into you?]
"Pointless talk. Naturally, I'm doing this for my friends."
[Hmm, friends, huh? Is it at the request of that lady Syr? Or... could it be because of that Bell boy?]
"Think whatever you like. I'm in a rare good mood."
[Because you get to hit me legally?]
"You know it... well!"
Rumble, KWAANG!
Once again, the magic sword's strike shook heaven and earth.
[Hahaha! Good. This kind of unexpected development isn't bad at all. No, I'd even welcome it.]
The golem blocked that terrifying storm of lightning with the massive obsidian sword in its hand.
The price was the giant sword shattering to pieces.
But as the giant's hand seized the surrounding rocky mountain, a new pitch-black greatsword was once again formed in that hand.
Result: zero damage.
Aside from the very first opening blow, Ryuu's attacks with the magic sword were doing nothing to the golem.
At best, all she could do was keep it in check and buy time.
[But how long are you planning to keep playing these childish games? I'm sure you know this too, shop clerk. At this rate, it means nothing at all.
No, the longer this goes on, the more obvious your side's loss becomes. My golem, Keter Malkuth, will keep standing strong. On the other hand, Crozzo, that brat's magic swords have a very clear limit.]
"Tch!"
[Now then, let's see. How much do you have left? One shot? Or two? Unless my eyes and calculations are wrong, you've got at most two reds and one blue left. After that, what are you planning to stop me with? Hmm? Answer me, shop clerk.]
He was right.
The Crozzo magic swords, forged from the blood of spirits passed down from the first generation, were extraordinarily powerful.
Their power surpassed not only other magic swords, but even the original spells awakened through Falna.
But that did not mean their lifespan was eternal, unlike other magic swords.
No, in a sense, the stronger their power, the shorter their life as weapons tended to be.
The Magus had seen through that and pointed it out.
[This golem, Keter Malkuth, is an imitation of Adam, the primordial human. Though my own skill is lacking and its performance has been downgraded beyond comparison with the original, the essence itself has not gone anywhere.]
"What are you trying to say?"
[Still don't get it, shop clerk? Adam is a great being who came forth from the gracious land of Paradise and lives by it. Therefore, this golem, as his imitation, is the same. The blessing of the gracious land... while it stands upon that ground, Keter Malkuth is immortal. In other words, the idea of victory never existed in the first place!]
The instant he finished speaking.
Creak, KRRRUMBLE
"What the—?!"
The golem's arm, which had been broken and collapsed by the first magic sword strike, was restored in an instant and returned to normal.
At that unbelievable sight, Ryuu could not hide her shock and drew in a breath.
This was almost like...
"Self-regeneration? Just like the Black Goliath from before!?"
- Guaaaaaaah!
With its body restored, the giant roared in delight.
Ryuu once again tried to swing her magic sword to stop it, but...
"Tch, no."
Remembering the Magus's earlier warning, she stopped the blade before it could strike.
As he had said, the number of uses left in the magic sword she held was now very limited.
At this point, the single most effective blow against the giant was unquestionably that Crozzo magic sword.
She could not afford to waste such an important weapon carelessly.
So she changed her mind and decided to use a different tactic from here on.
"No choice, then."
She strapped the magic sword back behind her and drew the wooden sword at her waist, her original weapon.
[So you're finally coming at me directly? I was getting tired of waiting.]
"I've thought this from the start... you talk too much!"
The giant reached out toward her as she charged in like a gale.
But she deftly changed direction, slipped past the giant's grasp, and leaped onto the arm in front of her, racing straight toward its head.
And then came a fierce blow.
"Haaah!"
Bang!
- Uoooooh...!
"As expected, it's tough."
Even after she put considerable force into the strike with the power of a Level 4, the giant's head only barely reacted.
That meant the giant's durability was at least Level 5.
"Its potential is at least equal to the Black Goliath. No, with someone like him controlling it, it's an even more troublesome opponent."
This is a pain.
After briefly exchanging blows with the giant, Ryuu clicked her tongue in frustration.
Even so, nothing about what she had to do would change.
Fortunately, unlike the Black Goliath she had faced on the 18th Floor, this golem's movements were still on the slow side.
If she could somehow exploit that, there might be a sliver of a chance.
- Guaaaaaaah!
Bang!
"What!?"
Just as she reached that conclusion, the giant's movements suddenly changed.
No, to be more precise—
"Swordsmanship? With that enormous body!?"
[I can do this too~]
The giant swung its sword at Ryuu, who had just dropped back to the ground.
It was not some crude clubbing motion driven by brute force alone.
It was a precise sword strike, however basic, imitating human swordsmanship.
- Guaaaaaaah!
Bang! Bang!
"Tch! How can this—!"
She was being pushed back.
Its overall speed was still much slower than Ryuu's, that much was certain.
But the giant had overwhelming strength and massive weight behind it.
Once those were combined with human swordsmanship, which drew the simplest and most optimal path, its slow speed was no longer much of a problem.
Instead, it became a ferocious offensive that even Ryuu, a veteran Level 4 adventurer with abundant combat experience, could not ignore.
In the end—
Bang!
"Kraaaah!"
Ryuu was driven back by the giant's assault, and her slender body was sent flying.
Her reliable weapon, the wooden sword "Albus Lumina," made from the branch of the Great Sacred Tree, did not break, but it was flung far away along with its owner.
For the moment, she was left nearly defenseless.
And the giant did not miss that brief opening.
- Guaaaaaaah!
With a thunderous roar, the giant raised the pitch-black greatsword once more.
[Do you know this, shop clerk? A sword...]
It's stronger when swung with two hands than with one.
A perfectly obvious, perfectly simple fact.
But if the one doing it was a giant of monstrous size—
KWAANG!
Then it became something impossible to ignore.
"Guhk!"
Ryuu Lion was blown back again by the fierce pressure wave that erupted across the exploding ground.
Although the attack had been intentionally misdirected due to the constraint that it could not directly kill, the aftermath alone was already terrifyingly powerful.
Having at least pushed her far away, the giant turned around and shifted its gaze.
Now then, the next target was...
[Still at that?]
The white-haired boy who was rescuing the remnants of Apollo Familia from the collapsed rubble.
Bell Cranel and his companions.