Hm?

Something felt wrong with the desert ahead. Gus could feel a small bizarre disturbance in the faraway sand. After absorbing the existence of each of the Domineer attackers he had slain, Gus felt a qualitative increase in his senses while using his flames for sight. Unlike a human’s eye which waits for light to hit its retinas, Gus’s sense of sight used his flames to detect disturbances in his surroundings by emitting faint embers through his hollow eye sockets out to the outside world. These embers would then sense the world and return information back to Gus in a system of information exchange that could only be described as something magical. Syuna had taught him back then that desire was pivotal if he wanted to see light and in practice, this was true. His flames, unlike regular ones, responded to his desires in a symbiotic way. It’s how Gus could talk, feel, see, and hear, despite lacking all the organs necessary for it. It would be easy to call the process magic and not think too much about it, but Gus had a feeling that these flames had more to them than simply being substitutes for his senses. Unfortunately, he no longer has a teacher who can teach him the mysteries of his body anymore now that Syuna was gone.

Enough questions and mysteries, brain! I have to focus on what this disturbance is! Wait…I don’t have a brain. Where’s my concio—ah by the stars!

Finally ridding himself of his distractions, Gus intently focused his area of sight on the disturbance he had felt in the desert that had made him so alarmed in the first place. A tremor. One so small, that one can hardly notice it. But such tremors had never occurred in the desert before, and worse, the tremor was increasing in its frequency as it got closer to them.

By the stars, it couldn’t be…?

Without missing a beat, Gus turned around towards the oblivious humans behind him and ushered the words they had been dreading all day to hear.

“Get ready everyone…something’s coming our way!” Gus yelled.

Hearing the golem’s words, the human's moods quickly dulled into grim expressions as each of them readied their weapons. Even those still injured who were residing on the front of the wagon had summoned their P.G.R.s despite not having the strength to wield it.

Looking at the mighty remnant weapons, Gus realized a possibility he had not thought of before.

“Hey, Marco? Could the P.G.R.s be used by people other than their owner?”

“Wielding them? Sure. But unfortunately, a P.G.R.’s ability will not activate for anyone but the owner, making some of them useless,” Marco answered.

“That’s no problem. I just wanted to borrow that shield from Bruno, if that’s possible?”

“I’ll pass the message back. Do you know how much time we have until that thing approaches?”

“Well…look for yourself,” Gus said, pointing forward his left, large, stone arm.

Following the golem, Marco saw far in the distance a cloud of dust and sand rapidly forming towards them. With no time to waste, the handsome suited man was gone from Gus’s side, already running to the injured older gentlemen at the back.

With a sigh, Gus did some menial small stretches as he observed the coming stampede. There was no real need for the action, as Gus lacked muscles as a stone golem, but the simple movements helped calm his beating core of flames that were roaring with a flurry of emotions. Be it rage, fear, excitement, doubt, or greed, Gus knew that he needed to calm and focus for this fight. Syuna had always told Gus that it was those who remained focused in a fight that emerged victorious.

Now…when’s that shield coming by?

Dividing his senses, Gus was able to simultaneously see that Marco was currently recruiting the help of Doyle and Larry to help lift the heavy great shield that Bruno once carried effortlessly while also maintaining his sight on the stampede.

Gee, how heavy is that shield?

Realizing he had no time to stall any longer as the stampede of beasts was coming ever closer, Gus moved towards the struggling humans to obtain the shield from them. Even then, he never let the sight of the stampede leave his range of sight. And it was a good thing too, he did, as the stampede had reached a point where Gus could even see what was causing it.

By the stars…what are those things?

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The stampede…no, it was more controlled than that to be called simply a stampede. Cavalry charge was the more fitting description for the organized threat that was heading right toward the humans. Made up of two different forces, the charge of attackers consisted of riders and their steeds. Both were similar to the Domineers in the fact that they consisted of sand that formed their golem bodies, but that was where their similarities ended. The riders, unlike the Domineers, had clear characteristics that consisted of what appeared to be humanoid Crocodiles. The riders had scales made of condensed gray sand revolving around their back and head while their front side had larger flat plates of skin protecting their stomach and front. On their faces were long flat snouts that were lined with dangerous conical teeth and on their backs were giant, muscular tails. In their webbed, five-finger hands, the riders wielded curved swords made of sand that looked to be an amalgamation of teeth and bones that the Croco-men had collected. As the riders got closer to the humans, Gus could pick up excited roars from them as if they were celebrating their find.

Yet that was not all there was frightening about the horde. What was even more threatening than the riders were the steeds they were riding on top of. With the appearance of what could only be described as a mix between a rhino and a hippopotamus, the steeds had large, powerful jaws and teeth of a hippo combined with the mighty horn of a rhino that rested on their snout. Made of sand like all inhabitants of the desert, the giant steeds about six feet tall each charged with the ferocity of a rhino as their jaws opened periodically to join the roars and growls of their riders. In total, Gus counted twenty of these pairs and immediately cursed his past self for swearing to protect these humans.

I thought I was just going to be fighting those domineers again…

Feeling a bad premonition about the whole thing, Gus distracted himself temporarily by looking down at the mighty steel shield that Larry, Marco, and Doyle had painstakingly prepared for him. Looking at the ox icon designed in the center of the shield, Gus remembered that Bruno’s P.G.R. was called the Pavise Ox and had the supernatural ability to not only turn light to hold for the owner but also have the power to abnormally absorb incoming shock. Bruno had used this power to minimize the losses of those who had charged with him to the front lines, and this is the reason why there was still a decent amount of survivors left among the cohort. It was a mighty fine shield for the towering golem of stone to dawn for this battle.

“Thank you, I’ll make good use of this,” Gus said as he picked up the large shield with some effort.

Nodding their heads in between breaths, the three men seemed somewhat down when looking at Gus holding the giant shield with one arm.

“Is something the matter?” Gus asked in confusion.

The trio seemed surprised by Gus’s question and looked at each other in the eyes before turning back to Gus with exaggerated impassive faces.

“Just thinking about the battle,” Doyle said with a straight face.

Marco and Larry nodded their heads along to the brawny man’s words in similar stoic expressions. It seemed none of the three men wanted to spill the beans.

“Bwahaha! It’s hopeless to compare yourself to the golem, gentlemen!” Bruno laughed from behind as he rested on the wagon.

The trio in return gave dirty looks back to the older man with the broken arm, their bodies looking stiff from embarrassment as Bruno continued to laugh at them. Gus could only silently look at the four men with confusion as he fitted the pavise shield onto his right arm, not knowing what to make of the situation.

What in the stars are they talking about? Is this another chapter of human pride I’m witnessing right now?

Despite human pride still being an enigma to the golem, such behavior was strangely endearing to watch for Gus. He wished to see more of such moments in the future but to do so, Gus would need to overcome this current challenge.

Let this be a battle I will never forget…

After quickly assembling with the other six defenders, Gus gave them a quick rundown of the enemies they would be facing and the countermeasures they should enact. After formulating a plan, Gus separated from the wagon to march on ahead to the charging pack of beasts.

Wielding the heavy Ox Pavise in one hand, Gus could feel his core rumble once again with emotions as he got closer and closer to the incoming attackers. Looking back periodically, Gus saw his fellow defenders ready their weapons as they moved out into formation. The plan the team came up with was simple. Gus would be in the front and would aim to wreak as much havoc as possible amongst the attackers to attract their attention. Meanwhile, Marco would fire from the back with his flintlock as the rest of the human defenders picked off any other stragglers from the attackers while protecting the injured who were still residing on or near the wagon.

Ah…I can still remember their horrified faces when I told them who our foes were.

With a chuckle, Gus recalled how the human defenders had turned deathly pale when he had told them of the charging hippo-rhinos coming their way. If it wasn’t for the need to protect the wagon to survive in this desert, Gus would not have been surprised to see the humans flee at that very moment. Luckily, the fighters of the group were quick to adapt to the challenge and got themselves mentally ready for battle shortly after. It seemed that witnessing Gus’s earlier prowess in battle had reassured the humans with the idea of challenging the attackers. What better ally than a past foe they had once dreaded to fight for weeks upon weeks?

Not that it matters to me.

Raising the heavy pavise shield with one arm, Gus looked at the charging horde of beasts with bloodlust hidden deep behind his hollow eyes. Allowing his emotions to fester, Gus felt his inner flames turn ravenous for more existences to be consumed.

“Come, reptiles! Ride your steeds to my embrace. I shall welcome you with steel and stone! Witness the might of an uneroded golem!”

With excited passion, Gus met the roars of the rapidly approaching enemy with his own. And then, as the distance between them shortened to just mere feet, Gus’s world turned to that of pure chaos and violence.