With EeDechi and Barrett, the two formidable warriors, fighting at their side, the gnolls' assault melted away like snow under a blazing sun, collapsing into total chaos in an instant. Knights and militiamen cut down the fleeing gnolls, the snowfield strewn with muddy footprints, shattered weapons, severed limbs, and chunks of gore, blood turning the ground a deep, vivid crimson.
EeDechi slung her armor-crushing hammer over one shoulder, too lazy to join the pursuit. A light breeze carried the sharp tang of blood, stirring her lustrous golden hair. She was just about to tug her scarf down from her face for a breath of fresh air when a knight rode up on a sturdy brown horse and halted before her.
The knight's face was gaunt and aged, but his body beneath the gleaming silver full-plate armor was still powerfully built. He removed his helmet and introduced himself with a warm, beaming smile.
"Brave warriors, this battle turned thanks to the two of you. I am the local lord—Martin Smith. Might I ask where you hail from?"
EeDechi started to answer, then realized she couldn't risk letting her accent slip. She turned her head away and ignored him completely.
Lord Martin's smile froze in place for a long half-minute, growing painfully awkward, but EeDechi still refused to speak, her face set in cool arrogance. Another knight came galloping up, his full-plate armor scarred with sword marks, three gnoll heads swinging from his right hand, blood still gurgling and dripping from the severed necks.
The newcomer circled EeDechi twice on horseback. Clearly furious at her attitude, he bellowed, "What appalling manners! You stand before a viscount personally ennobled by the king himself—Martin Smith, lord of Greenbriarshir! Answer the lord at once!"
Martin waved a hand at the armored knight, signaling him to leave her be. But the knight refused to back down. He opened his mouth to say more when a thunderous rumble of footsteps shook the earth, and every head turned toward the forest.
WHOOSH!
A massive tree trunk burst from the dense forest like an enormous wooden spear, smashing straight through the bodies of one gnoll and one militiaman in a single brutal line.
The gnoll chieftain and shaman were already dead, and the surviving gnolls had scattered into the woods. Knights and militiamen stared uneasily in the direction the "spear" had come from, hearts heavy with dread—what kind of monster could snap a pine tree as thick as a man's embrace and hurl it like a javelin?
Crack. Crack. Countless branches snapped and broke, sending sheets of snow cascading down. A colossal stone golem, as tall as the forest trees themselves, came striding forward, shattering limbs in its path as it advanced on the battlefield.
The stone golem looked like a walking statue carved in the image of an ancient warrior, every detail of its armor etched with lifelike precision. It seemed as if it had just woken from the earth itself—its square, chiseled stone face was smeared with mud, and withered moss still clung to its slab-like feet.
The joints where its stone blocks met still looked like solid rock, yet they moved with the smooth, living flexibility of flesh and muscle. That was the power of magic. Its enormous eyes, carved with blank, soulless pupils, turned their gaze upon the soldiers on the battlefield.
The militiamen trembled where they stood. To them, the golem might as well have been a holy paladin statue from a temple stepping down from its pedestal and coming to life. A few bold mounted archers drew their enchanted longbows and loosed arrows at the creature. The shafts bounced off its stone hide without leaving so much as a scratch.
At the golem's feet, a man in a red robe was sprinting for his life. He wasn't short, yet he barely reached the golem's knee. He looked up and unleashed a string of fireballs, but the flames splashed against the stone like harmless raindrops and died instantly.
The stone golem noticed him. It lifted one massive foot to stomp down exactly like a man crushing an ant. But contrary to everyone's fearful expectations, its movement was anything but clumsy.
The red-robed man threw himself into a desperate roll and barely escaped being turned into a smear of bloody pulp. The golem's foot slammed down and missed. Without hesitation it pivoted smoothly and lashed out with a powerful right kick. The top of its stone foot clipped the man, sending him hurtling backward through the air.
The colossal stone golem leaned forward with surprising grace, its massive stone fist clenched tight as it drove downward—straight toward the fallen red-robed man.
Just as the man was a heartbeat away from being pulped, a silver-haired girl burst from the forest. She cast a spell like a telekinetic drag, yanking the limp wizard clear of the killing blow, then scooped him into her arms and sprinted for her life.
The silver-haired girl shouted at the knights still on the battlefield, "Get to the Mage Tower and find a high-level mage! This isn't something we can fight—it's a Construct!"
Constructs were basically magical robots. Instead of electricity or fuel, they ran on raw arcane power. These giant humanoid ones came in different types depending on what they were built from: clay golems, iron golems, stone golems, and flesh golems.
A golem was an unstoppable juggernaut whose only reason for existing was to obey its master's commands without question—whether to guard or to destroy.
No one knew what had become of this stone golem's master. It was probably running on nothing more than the raw instinct to drive out intruders.
The terrified knights and militiamen had already broken and fled in every direction. The stone golem strode after them on its two sky-high, tree-trunk legs, moving at a calm, unhurried pace. Its steps weren't quick, but each stride was so impossibly long that it easily outpaced a galloping horse.
In the blink of an eye it crushed the nearest militiaman beneath one slab-like foot. The wet crunch of bones shattering was sickening, like someone grinding a crisp cracker to powder.
"My lord, we have to leave—now!" The same knight who had scolded EeDechi earlier wheeled his horse around. He flung the three gnoll heads aside, his voice thick with raw fear. "At that thing's speed, it'll run us down without even trying."
Martin also urged EeDechi, "Brave warrior, you need to get out of here right now. I've heard only the magic-steel pickaxes forged by dwarves can even scratch a stone golem Construct. Ordinary weapons and spells are completely useless against it."
EeDechi said nothing. She strode straight toward the stone golem. She knew she had to take this giant down. Otherwise at least half the slower militiamen on the field would be crushed beneath its feet. And there was no telling how many villagers would die if the uncontrolled golem rampaged through the nearby settlements afterward.
It risked exposing her identity, but right now she was the only one who could handle this stone giant. She had to step up.
The golden-haired adventurer hefted the armor-crushing hammer in her grip. Even though the heavy weapon had been alloyed with adamantite during forging, it was still just an ordinary hammer.
She swung her arm in a full circle and hurled it. The hammer streaked forward at blinding speed, air friction igniting a trail of brilliant fire like a straight meteor launched from the earth. It smashed straight into the stone golem's head and shattered it.
Stone chips rained down like gravel, but the headless golem did not fall. The head had apparently been nothing more than decoration; losing it changed nothing. The construct lifted its massive legs and charged straight at EeDechi.
With a helpless sigh, EeDechi reached into her spatial ring and drew her giant sword. She leaped in one bound to the same height as the headless golem and brought the blade crashing down. The golem's surface only showed a few faint cracks under the blow. It swung its huge palm upward, trying to snatch her out of the air.
"So tough!"
EeDechi marveled at the construct's incredible hardness. She planted her foot on its outstretched fingers, used the leverage to leap higher, and unleashed five lightning-fast slashes across its torso. The once-impenetrable stone golem finally shattered with a deafening crash, crumbling like fragile porcelain and collapsing into a heap of broken stone blocks.
Lord Martin Smith rode up on his horse and exclaimed with heartfelt awe, "Brave warrior, you are every bit as powerful as the legendary war god Aucisius himself!"
EeDechi ignored the praise. Her attention had already been captured by something nestled among the rubble of the fallen stone golem: a transparent cylindrical box framed in dark-gold metal.
She picked it up. The box was a little larger than her palm, its edges trimmed in dark-gold metal, and crystal panels inside divided it neatly into five compartments.
Three compartments were empty. In the other two, one held a small metal figurine encased in sleek, angular full-plate armor. The second contained a stone statue whose face was identical to the stone golem that had just dominated the battlefield.
EeDechi cast 5th Tier Magic: Artifact Appraisal on the box. Lines of glowing text appeared before her eyes:
[Item Name: Constructs Storage Box
Material: Unknown
Quality: Divine Artifact
Function 1: Construct Containment
Currently stored: 2/5
Iron Golem Savior Titan
Stone Golem Guardian Smile
Note: Think of it as a robot model case or action-figure display box. Except the figures inside have basic sentience, can grow to enormous size, and can kill. Your giant murder machines are now pocket-sized and portable! The ultimate must-have for home and travel.
Function 2: Construct Seizure
Note: Can forcibly claim another person's Constructs, override their command directives, and make the new owner the Constructs' master.
In short, it lets you steal someone else's hard-earned Constructs and use them for yourself. For all the wrong reasons, we highly recommend doing exactly that.
Congratulations! Because you have slain the guardian of an ownerless relic,
both golems—and the storage box itself—are now yours.]
EeDechi's eyes lit up. She finally felt like she had struck gold. Turning the Constructs Storage Box over in her hands, she spotted a line of engraved Common script on the dark-gold base:
"Imperial Year 1339, the Great Expedition began.
"I followed eight emperors, with no chance to turn back. Elsa, I leave this small toy for our child yet to be born.
"Goodbye, my love, do not wait for my return."