The walls of the coliseum towered over the square, and the colossi were barely visible from the upper tiers.
"Hmm, foolish old man, this is exactly what I needed. Even if you drive me away, without this thing, the barrier will soon collapse by itself, and I'll be free. Charge!"
At the command, the golems began to demolish the stone walls of the arena. One of the golems fired magical projectiles, but it had no effect; the stones absorbed the magic.
"Ha, that's how you did it. Clever, but there are always more primitive methods."
The golems sliced through the stones with their blades, and gradually, the walls began to crumble. After a couple of hours, only the lower stands with passages under the arena remained. The magical hexagons that created the dome were already trembling, and the three golems gathered where the protection was weakest.
Three colossi stood at the western wall and unleashed a barrage of magical arrows at the crystal barrier. Finally, breaches began to appear, and soon the hole was big enough for a golem's torso to pass through.
"It's time, Princess. You must run to the Academy building and take everyone from here."
"And what about you?"
"I'll delay him for a while."
The rector smiled and held up a magical shield in front of the students, investing his last strength into it.
"Hey, what are they doing?!" Seleria looked in horror at the golem that appeared at the breach. Its breastplate opened, revealing a gigantic magical core pulsating with distorted magic. "We won't be able to escape from this."
The princess raised her own magical shield, hoping to support the rector's barrier, but their powers wouldn't be enough against such an attack.
The golem had prepared for the salvo, not letting anyone escape, and now, it could crush all the survivors trapped inside the shield. But just before the golem fired, a lightning bolt flew in from the main building, hitting the center of the magical core.
"Close it!" the demon commanded faster than the golem could react, and the heavy breastplate closed, partially trapping the lightning inside. "Who was waiting for the right moment like this?"
The lightning bolt hadn't reached its target, but something familiar was left inside the breastplate, between the armor plates - a small black dagger with a bright blue blade.
"That's..." hope glimmered in Katrina's eyes.
"Silly princess," a voice sounded from the eastern entrance to the arena. "You're nothing without me."
"Where have you been all this time?!"
"I told you: a true hero always takes a little longer." A black swordsman appeared on the arena. He was the one many had been waiting for.
"Krito," tears welled up in the corners of the princess's eyes. "You say it as if you want to defeat them."
"What else would I be doing here? Or do you think I'm ready to just surrender and let this demon destroy everyone? I won't let him take anyone else from my comrades."
"Krito, Algo, and Leyra, they..."
"I know. I saw, but thanks to Algo, I know how to defeat them. I just needed to prepare," I reached behind me, taking out an elongated object wrapped in black velvet. I unwrapped the fabric from the staff, revealing a murky black crystal. "Katrina, take hold of this stone and don't let go until you feel that there's no power left."
"Hmm? Okay," the princess took the staff from my hands and followed my instructions. As soon as she grabbed the crystal, she fell to the ground, completely drained. "Everything went dark."
"Don't overestimate your strength. It drains mana more powerfully than any demon."
I continued to walk calmly towards the western wall of the crystal barrier, where the demon, mounted on the golem, patiently awaited my next move.
"Vivi, Asura, do you see my dagger in the golem's breastplate?" I asked in a whisper.
"Yeah," the girls tried to keep their voices low so the demon wouldn't catch on to our plan prematurely.
"And Algo's sword is in the same spot on the second golem. While I distract them, you two must pierce your katana or spear into the same spot on the third golem, only then can I destroy all three at once."
"Alright, but how do you plan to fight them?" Vivi asked.
"That's my concern."
"Hey, have you finished giving them orders? It's not nice to keep a girl waiting," the demon taunted. "And don't pretend to be Kurone while you're in her body."
"Hah, and here I was hoping you'd step aside while I carve up your little friends."
"Hmm, no, I have a different offer," I replied, stepping back and preparing the remaining sword I had. I started gathering magic within my body. "I'll destroy your toys first, then we can talk."
"How are you going to do that?"
"It's very simple."
In an instant, I vanished from sight and teleported to the golem standing in the center. Making a swift turn in the air, I struck the center of its breastplate, causing the golem to stagger back and sit down on the ground, surprising the demon.
"What was that just now?!" Kurone's face contorted with fury; the demon clearly didn't expect such agility from me.
"Oh, I get it!" Seleria chuckled knowingly. "He used elemental magic on himself, several elements at once."
"But that wouldn't make him that much stronger," Hilda shook her head disapprovingly.
"Why not? He used lightning magic to accelerate and gain speed for his strike, and fire magic to increase the force of the blow. He might have used earth magic to prevent his bones from breaking due to the strain."
"Do you realize the strain it puts on his body?!" Hilda exclaimed.
"Yes, and that's why he won't be able to fight at such a pace for long. No matter what he tells you, try to finish the preparations as quickly as possible, or he'll end up badly," Seleria urged the three girls who were supposed to assist in the battle.
I won't be able to fight for long, five, maybe ten minutes at most, but I can hold them off. I directed lightning magic into my legs and attacked the other two golems. Before striking, I imbued my hands with fire magic and released wind magic along the blade, yet even then, I could barely make a dent in the golem's armor. The crack was too small to disable the golem.
"You won't be able to destroy them that easily; you're just wasting your effort," the golem with the demon on its shoulder began to rise and prepared its magical weapons for a salvo.
To destroy their armor, I'd have to strike dozens more times, but I wouldn't have enough time for that. So, I decided to change tactics. Leaping towards the right golem, I gathered fiery magic within my body and struck with all my strength at its solar plexus. The golem staggered and fell backward. Instead of trying to destroy them, I'll just knock them down until the preparations are complete.
While the golems on the sides were getting back on their feet, the central golem targeted me and opened fire. I raised an earthen shield around myself, but the magical arrows began tearing it apart. In a matter of seconds, they managed to breach the wall, but I was no longer there. Utilizing wind magic, I leaped as high as I could and struck the golem's head.
A large crack formed in its thick helmet, giving me a view of the golem's heart. However, before I could deliver the finishing blow, the golems on the sides started firing from their arm-mounted weapons.
I needed to give Asura and Vivien a chance, but they couldn't approach while the golems kept a watchful eye on the arena. Whenever the girls tried to leave the Arena, the golems stopped them with a barrage of magical arrows. And the girls lacked adequate defensive skills against such an attack.
Evading the golems' fire, I landed on the back of the central golem and, driving my sword into its armor, hung there, not reaching the ground.
The golems ceased their fire, seemingly losing sight of me. But soon, I leaned back and saw where I was hiding. The central golem swiftly turned around, and its companions opened fire. So, they were connected somehow; if one couldn't see the target, neither could the others. That was good. If the demon had better control over Kurone's power, he wouldn't have lost sight of me. Thus, blinding them would be enough.
I jumped towards the entrance of the arena, near the spot where the girls were hiding. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that they were already supporting Katrina so that she wouldn't fall, and her staff was almost charged.
"As soon as they're blinded, act," I whispered to the warriors.
The swordswomen nodded silently and prepared for the attack.
Debris from the coliseum's walls littered the area, and that was precisely what I needed. Gathering all the earth magic I could muster, I hurled the largest boulders at the golems' heads.
"Haha, it's a waste of time," the demon paid no attention to the rocks and ordered the golems to aim all their weapons at the spot where I stood.
I concentrated the power of wind in my sword and released it in blades of air at the boulders. The rocks scattered in the air, and following them, I sent a whirlwind that lifted all the smaller pieces of the wall from the ground. It couldn't harm the golems, but through the cloud of dust, neither they nor the demon could see my actions.
"Don't let me down, and I'll get the props," I said.
The girls rushed out of their hiding place. As they had planned beforehand, Vivien took her spear by the very edge, and Asura perched on its blade. With a powerful thrust, the warrior was sent flying straight towards the chest of the last golem. Before the strike, she gathered ice magic in her blade, and the sword easily pierced through the weakened metal, chilled by the cold.
"Now it's time to run," Asura still had about ten meters to fall, but she created an icy slope beneath her feet and slid towards her friend.
"I thought you could only create ice with your katana," Vivien said with cautious admiration.
"No time to explain," the girls didn't test their fate and rushed back into the arena.
"Thanks for recharging," I grabbed the staff from the princess's hands, and she sighed with relief.
"What dreadful artifact have you hidden there?" The sorceress looked at my bundle with apprehension.
"Oh, this? I just made it in my spare time," I casually walked towards the western edge of the Arena, from where two warriors were already running back, indicating they had completed their task.
"Damn, do you think that will stop me from destroying you?!" Following the demon's command, the golems dispersed the dusty cloud with their hands, and she could see me again. "You even returned to your friends, which makes it even easier."
The golems raised their arms and aimed all their weapons at the arena, but they decided not to take risks, keeping the main weapon protected by the chest plates. And that worked in my favor.
I unwrapped the cover from the staff. It was a beautiful staff made of black metal in the shape of two intertwined snakes, holding hazy black crystals at the base and the tip of the staff. Magical symbols were inscribed on the snake scales, and now they glowed with a golden light of lightning magic.
"You know, demon, your golems are a very effective weapon, but everything has its weaknesses. They are strong and virtually invulnerable to ordinary warriors in this form, and the magical barrier protects them from magic attacks at a distance. However, the barrier is maintained by symbols inscribed on the armor, and just like the shields of the inquisitors, it protects only from magic at a distance. But with direct contact, magic channeled into a weapon can deal damage."
I stopped not far from the center of the arena, standing in the path between the golems and the students gathered in the eastern part.
"But not every weapon can withstand magic powerful enough to destroy such enormous golems. And I can hardly gather enough magic myself, but I can use someone else's," I extended the staff forward, "and from a great distance, most of the magic will break against your barrier. But if I manage to create a breach in your defense in advance and direct magic there, everything will work out."
The demon raised an eyebrow doubtfully and looked down at the chest plate, where an extraneous detail could be seen. My sword's hilt protruded from the chest plate, and in the other golems, the blades were also visible.
"Damn," she cursed.
"It's too late. Thanks for not noticing these lightning rods earlier," I just had to direct the magic into some spell; although I knew not so many of them, let it be what it may. "Spark."
Aside from direct magic manipulation, the only spell I knew was this one, and with Katrina's power, it was incredibly potent. And my staff further amplified it.
A gigantic lightning, the size of the golem's chest plate, broke off from the top of the staff. Striking against the remnants of the crystal shield, it split into three parts and rushed towards the swords. The blades served as conductors for the spell, bypassing the anti-magic shield. The full force of the lightning crashed into the golems' heart stones. In an instant, their chest plates shattered into pieces, leaving a pile of metal on the ground.
The spell had achieved its goal, and the golems were destroyed, but I was still dealing with the aftermath of such potent magic. Even though I used the staff to channel the power, it still affected my body. Tiny electric discharges paralyzed my muscles, making movement difficult. I could only sit on the ground, waiting for it to subside on its own.
However, someone wasn't willing to wait until I recovered. Shaking the dust off her tattered dress, the possessed sorceress emerged from the debris. Her red eyes still revealed the fact that the demon controlled her actions.
"Admirable," the demon applauded with disgust, approaching closer. "Not many can wield magic so well, but it's still not enough."
"Release her; you won't be able to fulfill the contract without your puppets," I tried to get up, but the aftereffects of the lightning still held me back.
"Really? I don't think so. Even without these toys, I still possess a part of the archdemon's power, and it won't be difficult for me to kill my target. Though that won't help me break the seal."
"Then why are you persisting? We will expel you from her body anyway."
"Well, no, that option doesn't appeal to me either. Instead, I'll annihilate all of you with a single blow."
"You won't have enough power for that."
"Ha," the demon smirked malevolently. "You don't know how much magic is swirling in the air right now. All these young students, full of energy, have given me quite the boost. Besides, all the golems we faced so far were just creations of this sect trying to replicate what I had created in the last few months before my imprisonment."
"Damn," I got up unsteadily and staggered towards the demon. He needed to be stopped before he made his next move.
"But to create the perfect creation, I need one very strong soul that could resonate well with me," the demon theatrically gasped and raised his hands in surprise. "And guess what? I have one."
A sinister smile spread across Kurone's face.
"Stop!" I didn't have time, and the girl's body was engulfed in flames. But it wasn't ordinary fire; it didn't burn her body. It was demonic fire, sucking her soul out.
"Kurone!" I rushed to catch the girl before she fell to the ground. Her body emitted a faint reddish glow, with which her life was leaving her. But along with it, the demon was severing his connection. The sorceress's eyes returned to normal, and she smiled at me shyly, just like before.
"Krito, you did come for me," her voice was very weak; it seemed she could barely remain conscious, but she still wanted to say something to me before the end. "I didn't want this; I'm sorry. I would've gladly died there if I knew it would protect all of you. But you still would've come, and you would've fallen into the same trap."
"Yes, I wouldn't have left you there."
"I wanted to protect everyone. If the inquisition had stopped persecuting you, I wouldn't have cared what happened to me. I succumbed to his persuasion; it was my stupidest decision."
"Ha-ha-ha," the demon was still there, laughing, existing only as a bodiless spirit, knowing that I couldn't harm him. "I told you they'd stop, but I never said I wouldn't do anything to them. I'll destroy everyone here, and you'll be able to meet them on the other side."
"Forgive me. I was glad to be able to help you and everyone else. It's a shame I won't be able to embark on another adventure with you," a gentle smile adorned her lips for the last time.