As soon as he was in range of his opponent again, Corwyn once again repeated this game of dodging and attacking, while simultaneously keeping a part of his awareness on the flow of Arcor. The moment he successfully hit the golem with his swords, he immediately retreated back and surveyed the overall situation of the battle. What gained his attention in particular was the fact that Teo wasn't just aimlessly slashing at the metallic construct like he was. Over and over again, the young swordsman targeted the same areas of the golem, and hit them with extreme precision. He truly deserved the praise of being a natural talent in swordplay. Corwyn had never seen someone display such ability at such a young age. Not even Hanaan had this kind of talent.
Corwyn wondered what Teo's purpose was in striking at the same spot every time, but very soon he started to understand his aim. Since the golem was made out of solid steel, there was no way to physically wound it. Waiting for it to get tired wasn't an option either. But the area around the joints of the legs seemed much thinner and easier to penetrate. By hitting the exact same place over and over again, Teo would slowly but surely break the golem's leg and cause it to lose its means to run. It was not a bad strategy.
However, Corwyn's guess was only half-right. Teo was indeed planning on following this strategy, but in order for it to actually work, a considerable amount of time was needed. They didn't have that time though, as their current plan was to stall the enemy until their back-up arrived. Using that kind of method against the golem would make sense in a 1v1, but not in a battle between two groups. No, his reason for doing this was something else.
In order for Corwyn to sniff out the puppeteer behind the mechanical creature, they needed to pressure their opponent to the point where he had to use more Arcor to execute more complicated moves. As long as he wasn't a complete fool, the enemy's ability user would come to the same conclusion as Corwyn, that he tried to bring down the golem through striking at the same spot countless times. Hopefully, that would make that person nervous enough to spend more Arcor on the control of the golem.
The battle continued on just like this. While Corwyn and Teo battled the golem, they occasionally took a glance at the situation of their comrades. No one had died thus far, but several people already had suffered injuries, and the assault of the Red Vipers was not letting up in the slightest. It was only a matter of time until the first casualties would come to be, and once that happened, their battle would become even harder to fight.
Corwyn didn't know what had happened to their other group, but they should have arrived by now. Had something happened to them? He was not sure, but the thought of their reinforcements being dead frightened Corwyn. They couldn't hold out much longer against the bandits, and he was still unable to do anything against the battle machine in front of him. He had to do something to tilt the scales in their favor, and he had to do it soon, or their group would become annihilated. Teo as well sensed the difficulty of the situation, as he was beginning to look around more fervently, searching for some kind of opportunity. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any, and all he could do was to keep on focusing on his task of drawing out the puppeteer.
The plan had at least been successful in some ways. As the fight became longer and longer in time, the flow of Arcor towards the machine had indeed increased when compared to before. Corwyn could make out the general direction from where it came, but not the exact location of its origin. In order to feel the flow of Arcor more clearly, he had to focus his full attention on it. As he was currently in the middle of a fight, doing that was simply not possible.
His only choice was to withdraw from combat temporarily, even if that led to the pressure on Teo increasing. Corwyn didn't like it, but that was the best solution he could think of in their current predicament.
"Teo, I'm going to fall back for a second! Can you manage on your own for a while?"
Teo blinked for a moment in surprise, but fervently nodded his head not long after. It didn't take him much time to grasp what Corwyn was after.
Once he knew Teo was aware of what he was planning, Corwyn quickly retreated and left the fight to his friend. For a moment, he was breathing heavily, and sweat kept on running down his body. They had engaged the enemy for so long already. Feeling exhaustion was unavoidable. He had to calm his breathing though, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the task ahead.
As soon as he had calmed down to some extent, Corwyn closed his eyes and let his consciousness wander. Gradually, he started to focus more and more on the Arcor in the air around him. The energy slowly entered his field of awareness. He could feel it pulsating through the space around him, flowing in its predetermined directions. His consciousness followed that flow, searching for even the slightest disturbance within it.
As his mind approached the golem, the stream of Arcor became more violent, more disorganized. Corwyn concentrated even harder, as he wanted to find the root of the disturbance. Bit by bit, he traced back the Arcor controlling the golem to its owner. It made contact with one of the bandits nearby. No, it couldn't be that one. He was too focused on fighting in close combat. The one behind him? The flow of Arcor was merely grazing him. That wasn't the one he was searching for either.
Corwyn followed the Arcor even further back into the rows of the enemy. However, no matter how many times he checked, he couldn't feel the energy being absorbed into either one of them.
(Does that mean that the one controlling that thing is even farther away?)
He couldn't help but feel astounded. Being able to manipulate something as complex as a golem was not a simple feat at all. And that ability user could control it from a distance where they couldn't even see him? That was more than just a talent. A person like that was an outstanding ability user even among the stronger ones.
As much as Corwyn admired the puppeteer for his skillful control, he still couldn't ignore the fact that that person was his enemy. He forcefully brought his mind back to the problem at hand. If the golem's master was not among the rogues fighting at the front, he had to hide somewhere in the back. As skilled as that person might be, even the most incredible ability user couldn't ignore the fundamental laws of the Arcor. The farther away one wanted to send the energy, the weaker it became. One could train his ability to maintain it for a longer distance, especially those with the puppeteer ability, but there was still a limit to how much one could improve in this area of Arcor-control.
Therefore, Corwyn's guess was that the ability user still had to be within a reasonable distance to the rest of the Red Vipers. If that was the case, he had to locate him, no matter how much it exhausted his concentration. Focusing his mind as strong as he never did before, Corwyn tracked the flow of Arcor back to its owner bit by bit. Veins were bulging on his forehead. His breathing became ragged once again. But he endured it. He only had this one chance.
His senses spread out farther than ever before. Every time he was about to reach his limit, he thought about how everything relied on him finding his opponent, and pushed beyond his limits. Like this, his awareness kept on expanding farther and farther.
He was about to pass out from exhaustion, when finally, he found a spot where the flow of Arcor was interrupted, being drawn towards a living being rather than its original path. This had to be the person Corwyn was looking for. Hastily, he discerned the ability user's position. He was hiding behind a small corner between two buildings, near the plaza where the battle took place. As soon as Corwyn was certain of this, he opened his eyes abruptly. About a minute must have passed while his mind was elsewhere. It might not appear long, but in a fight, one minute could be the difference between life and death.
Fortunately, a quick glance at the situation told him that everyone was still alive and fighting, even though the condition of the adventurers had worsened even more. There was not much time left. Corwyn turned his head towards Teo. His friend was still battling the golem, the exhaustion visible on his face as well. The golem must not have given him an easy time. He hadn't received any serious injuries though, so his condition was still much more favorable than the one his comrades were in.
"Teo, I've found him!"
Corwyn didn't waste any time. At this moment, every second counted. He shouted towards his friend, telling him to get ready. Teo slightly twisted his head while dodging one of the golem's attacks. He briefly glanced at Corwyn with his eyes and nodded, signaling that he had understood his friend's intentions. Both of them waited for the moment when the figure of metal attacked again, evading its strike. Using this opportunity, the two dashed forward, bypassing the puppet and running towards the direction Corwyn pointed at with his sword.
The bandits in the rear of the formation showed surprise on their faces at the sudden change in attack patterns. The one standing the nearest to the golem hadn't expected them to ignore the golem all of a sudden, and reacted a tiny bit too late. Corwyn and Teo both quickly slashed at him with their swords from both sides, taking him out instantly.
Not even looking back at their victim, they continued their sprint towards the hidden ability user, occasionally striking bandits in their way. Over the course of this whole battle, Corwyn and Teo had fought many engagements together, and both were somewhat familiar with each other's combat style from their training together over the last months. Although this was the first day ever they were truly fighting side by side in actual combat, their cooperation was better compared to ones between any other fighters present at the moment. After the initial one, they managed to take down two other opponents on their way.
The sight of them pressing forward fearlessly ignited the morale of group 1's members, making them attack their enemies more aggressively despite their injuries. The bandits clearly hadn't expected this sudden turn of momentum, shifting the battle situation in an instant. The one controlling the golem seemed to be panicking as well, as the golem's movements became more sluggish. He didn't seem to know who he should attack with his iron fists.
At long last, Corwyn and Teo seemed to have reached the puppeteer. They both immediately attacked him with their swords. Of course, their target was no idiot. Since the two of them had been single-mindedly sprinting in his direction, it was rather obvious that he had been discovered. With a quick backroll, the ability user avoided their blades. He then jumped back while moving his arms and fingers, probably commanding the golem to return. Corwyn wouldn't make it that easy for him though.
Now that their enemy had finally stepped out of the shadows, he saw how he looked like for the first time. The person wore the same grey tunic and mantle as the other rogues. The only noticeable difference was that this one had hidden his face completely with a mask. Only two eyes were visible through it. The figure was slightly smaller than Corwyn, with a slim frame which spoke for the person's high agility.
With another strike, Corwyn forced the bandit further back, trying to interrupt his commands towards the golem. Again, his attack was evaded, but fortunately, he wasn't fighting this battle alone. Teo instantly used the pause between Corwyn's attack and initiated a thrust at the rogue's chest. This time, it looked like it would definitely hit, but at the last possible moment, the puppeteer avoided it by bending his body at a weird angle.
This person truly knew how to evade attacks!