Lilyâs eyes were so full of pity for me that it hurt . Itâs even harder to hear her reply, which sounds as if she understood that I was being stubborn .
So it really is impossible to lie to Lily, huh?
âNever mind me, just hurry down here . â
So I decided to change the topic, though my embarrassment was only half the reason . Our first priority was to do something about the golem, which kept on marching ominously towards the castle walls .
âThatâs right, we canât stay here for too long . â
Agreeing with what I said, Fionaâs black clothes flutter about as she gently descends upon the golemâs shoulder .
She had been carried like a princess all the way down here by Lily . As opposed to my âflightâ, Fionaâs experience seems to have been far more enjoyable . Thank you very much for flying with Fairy Airlines today! Though Lily doesnât seem to be very amused to have been used as an airplane .
âAll right, Lily, itâs your turn!â\nâYeah, leave it to me, Kurono . Iâll pry that cockpit open in a second . â
Lilyâs answer comes with a charming smile . Her plan to deal with the Golems was to open their cockpits and kill their pilots directly . Since these Ancient Golems are basically moving fortresses with incredible defensive power, it makes sense to exploit that kind of weak spot .
We wouldnât be able to do this if these golems had the mobility of those Super Robots you can see in anime, but thankfully, these guys are slow . Thatâs why it was possible to jump on them in the first place . \nâOkay, letâs see⌠how about there?â
Lily jumps down from the golemâs trembling shoulder . Rather than heading to its front, she flies towards its back and stops in mid-air at the section where its shoulder blade would be if it were a human .
As if clinging tightly to the golemâs back, Lily reaches out to its rugged steel armor with her white hands . There doesnât seem to be any switches or levers to open a hatch or anything like that, so how would Lily make her way into the cockpit?
I was getting curious, but it didnât seem like we would have time to relax while she was doing all the work .
âI knew it, there are guards . â
âWeâve been followed, havenât we?â
A group of harpy-like chimera soldiers appeared in the air, letting out loud ear-splitting shrieks . The way they fly around the gigantic humanoid golem makes them look like feathered mosquitoes in comparison .
Though they were swarming, they didnât seem to have any military formation in mind, so they simply began swooping down one by one on Lilyâs exposed back .
âGatling-Gore Mode . â
I summoned âThe Greedâ from the shadows, already transformed into a six-barrel gatling gun . The barrel used to fire that incredibly powerful âPlasma Breathâ is now cooling down inside the Shadow Gate .
âToo hot! Itâs way too hot, Master!â was Hitsujiâs complaint as she was cooling down the barrel using pseudo-ice, which is the fourth Divine Protection I reluctantly obtained the other day .
She had coiled a countless number of thin tentacles around the barrel, releasing cold air from them . This had to be done slowly and carefully, or the barrel might break like Simonâs gatling gun .
It might even be cool enough by now, but I believe that machine guns will be more useful here . The barrels start to spin around and making mechanical sounds as I point them at the harpy-chimeras . \nâBurst . â
Even if they are hard to aim at, they wonât be able to avoid a barrage of bullets . Their once colorful feathers sway down from the sky, stained by their fresh dark blood . The harpy-chimera vanguard was quickly shot down, leaving behind only the echo of their repulsive screeches still ringing in our ears .
âCome to think of it, this is the first time I have been at the vanguard together with Kurono . â
Leaving my thorough counter-attack completely unnoticed, Fiona calls out to me as if changing the topic of conversation . Even standing over the shoulder of an ancient golem, Fiona always does things at her own pace .
âAh, now that you mention it, youâre right!â
I gave Fiona a half-hearted reply while getting ready to get down from the golemâs back âwho is still standing as upright as the castle wallsâ in order to protect Lily . But sheâs probably right, this must be the first time us two ever fought at the vanguard together .
âIâve been thinking sometimes that it wouldnât be so bad to fight at the front lines together with you, Kurono . â
âWhat made you change your mind?â
Up until now, Iâve never heard Fiona say anything like âThe rear guard is the best . Iâm the happiest when providing covering fire from behindâ to express herself about the appeal of her usual battle position . Still, she doesnât seem to be unhappy about it .
âIt was a bit fun to fight side by side with Lily before . â
Donât get me wrong, I wasnât goofing around . More than that, I was having a pretty hard conflict in my heart .
But yeah, Lily is surprisingly easy to work with, so fighting side by side with her makes me feel like we have the teamwork of a well-coordinated sports team . \nThat may have seemed appealing to Fiona .
âWell then, shall we try something to see whether it really is fun or not?â
After that, Fiona and I follow Lily and make our way down the golem . Of course, Iâm using Bind Arts as a lifeline .
As for Fiona, she breaks into a run, and dashes down the golemâs surface .
Sheâs definitely not simply falling down to her death . Just like when running over the ground, sheâs running down a ninety-degree wall using a steady posture and speed .
âI hope Fiona would teach me her âAir Walkerâ next timeâŚâ
Fionaâs martial art technique was so flawless that I was murmuring such a thing before I knew it . She was like a witch .
Itâs like the phrase âIf you canât do this much, then you canât go solo . â Itâs a popular phrase, but now that I think about it, except for magic control, Fiona is surprisingly skilled .
Me? I just set up a rifle and pulled the trigger while feeling the weight of my own lack of experience .
I have absolute trust in Lily, and Iâm relieved that she has my back on the battlefield, but Fiona is equally trustworthy .
Thatâs why now I have no worries about being at the front lines with Fiona . Letâs continue to protect Lily with my fierce shots and her flame storms . \n