The building was no longer capable of withstanding the current destruction taking place within it, its walls and pillars gave way and the roof came down. Tara and the girls didn't stick around for it, grabbing the still unconscious Yeil and getting out of there. The golem tried to follow but it wasn't fast enough, the whole building toppling on it. For a while after all the rubble had come down and the dust had settled it was quiet, though a few passerbys had come to witness the commotion.
For those who had stuck around long enough they saw the beams of flames shoot through the walls onto the streets, marring the road with shallow tunnels as well as adjacent buildings. With the ensuing chaos of course a few calls of distress had already reached the Guardians.
However the golem wasn't done yet, its form rising from beneath the the rubble of the building. Its groans and creaks resounded chillingly in the atmosphere. One more thing for Tara to worry about was that its core had finally reached its limit.
"It's about to blow," Aya pointed at the core that was sparking and flashing dangerously.
"We can't have that. Rose, can't you put a barrier around that thing?" Tara turned to the black haired female.
"I can, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough," Rose replied.
"Just try," Tara pleaded with her.
"Fine."
"The holy knight, sword of Tamirath, shield of might, come forth Arthur of the seven knights," Rose chanted.
The spirit of the Holy knight Arthur began to take form in a shimmering white light. And the spirit was ardorned in full armor with his mighty great sword in his right hand held against the ground and his shield in his left. He looked ethereal in his white armor giving of the aura typical of summoned spirits.
Arthur during the time he was alive way back before even the formation of Tyra was considered as one of the greatest warriors in history with his unshakable shield and fierce sword, laying waste to demons in the great battle of humans against the demons.
Arthur the spirit sheathed his blade behind his back, holding his massive shield with both hands his slammed it into the ground. White light surged forth from it towards the golem. Four shields rose from the ground, surrounding the golem as they bore the dragon crest same as Arthur's shield. The four shields towered over the golem at four meters each, completely encasing it just as it was about to blow.
With a last whine of its gears the core finally gave in, exploding in a grand mass of fire and smoke, and even though the shields held up and stood strong against it it couldn't stop the reverbating shock waves it released, building up dust everywhere, knocking down multiple witnesses and breaking the windows on the adjacent buildings. The ground beneath the golem though didn't have the same fortitude as the shields, sinking in along with all the rubble and remains of Alloway's building while the flames and hot air funnelled through the top of the shields releasing into the sky.
A giant sink hole formed, its size matching that of the former building that had stood on top of it before being at least three metres deep. The four shields disappeared along with Arthur as Rose released the spirit.
"Finally," Tara was washed with relief. This was turning out to be a very long night for them.
If she could relax now was the time, but only for a moment. What she discovered at that secret chamber was almost slipping from her mind when she felt the journal brush up against her in the jacket pocket. That jogged her memory, recalling all the shocking details she had read.
Alloway Corey was not the simple merchant everyone believed him to be. He had wilder ambitions, bigger aspirations that he had every intention of achieving so much that he would go to the lengths of developing these metal monstrosities. Tonight would be a big part of fulfilling his goals. As he had it detailed in his journal the one in the chamber was nothing more than a prototype, and the orb Yeil used as a core would only sustain it for a while. And the true finished version of the golem was already done. The only piece he was missing was a core and it so happened that an expedition time had recently discovered the Sarphin Soul and did nothing more with it than stuff it behind some display case for the public eye.
They didn't know the true value of the gem and Alloway Corey was not one to sit back and let such an opportunity go to waste. Hiring two skilled thieves to recover the gem for him had gone splendidly well and he didn't regret spending that much money on the heist alone. The two men had been rewarded generously for their work and now Alloway Corey had the means to push forward with his plans sooner rather than later.
Tonight he would take his new weapon over to the city lord's manor and show her the kind of power it truly takes to rule a city as fine as Halberg. He had an airship being prepared at his mansion in the posh side of the residential district, and by midnight they would be set to move the golem towards the city lord manor.
All that was noted down in the journal meaning they had to move fast and try and stop the airship before it set off. It wasn't much time till midnight with roughly thirty minutes left. They trio had to borrow horses from the arriving Guardians, barely giving them any information on whatever happened. It'd be up to them to question the witnesses currently at the scene.
Riding at full speed Tara commed the liutenant, informing him about everything as they rode towards the residential district.
"Looks like our suspicions about him were correct. He's recent movements and contacts have all been rather strange. To think he'd be planning something of this magnitude. I'll have a group head for the city lord's manor and another for Corey's. I'd rather you wait for back up before you try and take this on but I doubt you'd listen. Good luck captain," Liutenant Alphius ended the call.
"Keep up the pace girls, we're close," Tara snapped on the reigns, spurring the horse to move faster.
They were just a few metres away but unfortunately it was enough for them to see the airship rising up from behind the mansion.
"Damn it!" Aya swore behind her.
"Rose, get us up there," Tara spoke.
"A please would be nice, but whatever. Come forth Armis."
Above them a giant spirit gryphon spawned, opening up its beak and letting out a shriek. It dove low enough for Rose to jump on its back along with Tara and Aya, letting their horses go while they flew over the mansion gates. The gryphon moved too fast for any of the mansion's security to respond flying straight for the airship which was already making its way towards the city lord's manor.
"Get us on that ship," Tara yelled through the blowing wind as they soared towards the airship.
Armis' speed was enough to reach the airship before it could go too far from the mansion, the three girls dropping on the top deck while Armis' presence disappeared. Right at the beginning their were already obstacles as eight guards lined up to stop them. However Tara prioritized reaching the golem before it could be put into action. If the one she fought back at the warehouse proved to be quite sturdy that her magic barely did anything against its tuff shell, what of the finished more improved version with an even better source of power. Such a thing could lay waste to the city lord's manor if not part of the city itself.
"Shinzo!" Rose spoke, summoning forth the spirit of a samurai warrior of the past wielding his deadly sharp katana. He was even in the traditional samurai armor.
Shinzo cut through the first two enemies with ease, going through them with an unexpected speed putting the rest on alert. The remaining put a fairly good fight, holding back the samurai spirit on their own, adding to that also having a mage among them.
The mage did well in her supporting role, healing her comrades when they got injured, supporting them as well with offensive spells and it was obvious to the girls they would need to deal with her first if they were to proceed.
Tara pushed through the enemies, avoiding engaging them and solely aiming on reaching the mage at the back. However it wouldn't be that easy for her, the mage casting multiple ice spells aimed at her. Some she dodged, others she blocked with her sword with one grazing the side of her waist. If that wasn't enough a male wolf man stepped before her, swinging his axe at her head forcing her back. She knew she shouldn't spend too much time disposing him, casting wind blades spells on her dual blades and launching them at the beast kin.
The wolf man brought his shield forward in an effort to block but he couldn't cover everywhere with his feet getting cut up by the blades making him wince in pain. Before he knew Tara's foot slammed into his shield knocking him back, obstructing the mage's view of Tara.
"Move you fool!" The mage shouted at him angrily, pushing him aside with a small gust of wind she conjured before casting a massive ice wall along the floor that grew out with its spiky tips heading straight for Tara. Tara thought about moving to the side but the ice wall widened, covering most of the top deck. She cast air spell on her feet that launched her high into the air avoiding getting skewered by the mage's spell.
The mage girl saw her launched up in the air, preparing another ice spell to finish her off in the air but Tara was faster, casting a fireball mixed in with air magic to give it speed akin to a missile. Seeing the incoming spell the mage barely had time to raise an ice wall in front of her with the fireball exploding into the half raised wall with such force it tore a hole into the lower cabin and launched the mage to the edge of the ship, blacking out when her head hit the metal railing.
Tara had kept the mage busy long enough for Aya and Rose to take care of the rest ending the battle on the top deck and getting ready to move into the lower decks. The airship itself was very large, with three other sizable decks below the first. Tara and her company would have to go through each carefully looking for the golem while fighting off the enemy.
'It will be a long night indeed,' Rose sighed, following Tara down the stairs down to the lower level...