A giant golem appeared right in the middle of the city. It was easily five times as tall as the highest building here. Its skin was made of hardened rock-like dull black metal, and on its head was one singular red orb that looked like an eye.

The eye then glowed even more brightly than before, and Mana began rushing toward it.

O-Oh no….!

NO!

My tails were standing in alarm. I couldn’t dodge it. I would be no more than a speck of dust if it hit me. The people around me felt it too, as they all crouched down and hid behind trees and furniture as if it was going to save them.

“N-Nira.”

{Already on it!｝

Nira turned human in a flash of bright light and stood in front of me protectively. She glared at the colossus while letting her palms face toward it.

I didn’t do nothing either. With both of my hands on Nira’s shoulders to balance her out with Aura, I gritted my teeth and waited.

And waited.

The tension cut through my skin and ruptured my organ. The sky was growing redder and redder by the moment.

I could see a drop of sweat running down Nira’s neck.

And then it happened.

It was as if all the color was drained from the sky and focused on the eye of the Colossus. A red beam of pure Mana was shot toward the casino, tearing everything in its path apart. The shockwave from such an attack blew away anything nearby out of the city.

Taking it head-on was Nira. Her feet dug into the ground as the beam pushed her back into the earth.

I tensed as well and hugged Nira tightly. My tails hardened and dug into the ground so as to give her some better anchoring.

After a full minute, the attack finally stopped. Steam billowed out of the Colossus as it stood still to rest.

But I couldn’t let my guard down yet. Cracks appeared all over Nira’s body as she screamed in pain. Red Mana poured out from the cracks at such a high pressure that I was surprised I wasn’t blown away.

“AHHH! IT’S GONNA! IT’S GONNA—”

With my jaw clenched, I took hold of Nira’s right arm and directed it toward the Colossus. My Aura forcefully pushed inside Nira as I tried to redirect the raging Mana to her hand.

After some agonizing minutes, I finally did it. All the Mana was focused on Nira’s hand.

“I-I’m scared….”

Ever since I turned Nira into my Gift, this was the first time I’d seen her so vulnerable. I embraced her even more tightly and slowly let my Healing Skill seep into her body to soothe her pain.

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“Just let it loose. I’ll find you an Artifact after this. Promise.”

And Nira let go of her control. Her right hand glowed bright red and exploded, sending a stream of the beam’s Mana and all that she’d absorbed in a few days back toward the Colossus.

The giant golem, who had just regained its movement again, was hit by the beam. It staggered a few steps back and was stunned again. This should give us about ten minutes of peace.

Nira slouched back onto me. Her hand was gone, but no blood came.

I quickly ripped part of my skirt off and wrapped it around Nira’s hand; all the while, I patted her head with a smile.

“You did good.

“It’s okay.

“We won—”

“No, we did not.”

I frowned and immediately glared at the owner of the gruff voice. He was a man clad in armor with unkempt dark hair. He looked like the commander of this town’s guards. His green eyes gazed at Nira and I both with pity and regret.

“The Colossus is going to move again soon.”

“Why’s that my problem? I’m fucking leaving this place!”

“I’m afraid you cannot do that?”

“What!? And how are you going to fucking stop me!?”

“I’m not.” He shook his head fervently. “But I wouldn’t recommend leaving. The city’s surrounded by blasted Monsters of all kinds. Even the inner city is infested with Monsters now!”

“So it’s that bad….”

If this guy knew of the city’s situation this early, then he must be a competent commander. But the problem was….

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Don’t put yourself down, girl. And the other girl you’re holding. Everyone saw how you stopped that beam.” He rubbed his hands together nervously. “Though Sir Ohjin’s Gift would’ve deflected the attack, there was no doubt half the city would’ve been blown away.”

I nodded. Why didn’t Ohjin fight the thing? I mean, I could tell that the Colossus was strong, but as long as he was half as powerful as he was when I died, he wouldn’t have any problem dealing with it.

Could it be….

The Demon King’s curse? Could it be that he was bound to the land the casino was on? That must be the case.

“And? Do you seriously think we know how to defeat that thing after it withstood that attack?”

“Yes,” he said, deadpan. “I think you’re the only hope of this city. Unless of course someone more powerful miraculously arrives.”

Considering all of my choices, I sighed. Looks like I can’t get out of this one.

“Fine.” I sat down and let the unconscious Nira rest on my thigh. “Answer some questions for me. How the fuck did that thing appear without anyone knowing?”

“It was a tourist attraction,” he said, embarrassed. “A-A Relic of another time. W-We thought it was safe since no one knew how to activate it.”

“Uhuh. And why is it targeting the casino?”

“Sir Ohjin has something the Demons want.”

“Demons?”

“Blasted Demons! I knew we should’ve never let them inside!”

Woah there, calm down with the racist stuff.

This was no time to fool around.

“A-Anyways, anything else you want to know?”

“Give me a map of the city. Mark down places that are swarming with Monsters.”

The commander obliged and ran with his tail tucked between his legs. He soon returned with exactly what I asked for.

Ah, this is annoying.

It was almost as if the ones behind it knew what I was going to do.

“The bell tower, why is it so infested?”

“Truly, I have no idea. But the Monsters made it their goal to occupy the tower first.”

Just my goddamn luck.

But it was my only way of fighting the giant thing.

“Gather all your available guards here.” I crunched the map up and threw it away. “Tell them to be ready to throw away their lives. They have to get me to the top of the bell tower.”

I summoned Aerin in my hand and stabbed her into the ground.

“From now on, you listen to my orders. No exception!”