Ellis momentarily blacked out.

This was probably his first time ever losing consciousness during a battle. What’s more, it had not been the result of an enemy attack, but rather, of his own doing. Ellis had over drafted his strength. The short burst of power that he had previously demonstrated a few seconds ago had left him completely drained.

Right now, his arms were numb and his mind felt hazy. It was a completely different sort of sensation from having his limbs forcibly ripped off or his body mutilated into a bloody mess. Somehow, it was even worse.

Back then, his strength had been more than just simply physical strength. To be honest, Ellis did not quite know the specifics. It was a gut feeling of his, but regardless, he held far more value in his instincts than any sort of rational thought that might pop into his head.

Then, was it magic? He couldn’t help but wonder. Something similar to body strengthening?

Body strengthening magic was practically a staple within the wider world of fantasy novels. At the very least, he had encountered quite a few during his short stint on Earth. And going off of the stuff that Grisella told him, he also knew that a form of it existed within Lull.

The possibility was certainly there, but…

Could it have really been body strengthening magic? The skeptic in him refused to accept such an easy answer.

Ellis felt like his guesses were within the ballpark, but unfortunately, he neither had the ability to confirm nor deny any of it.

Besides, I did not feel any of the mana that Grisella previously talked about…

The more he thought about it, the less convinced he became.

In the end, Ellis met an impasse.

With his mind still caught within the swirling fog of his thoughts, Ellis peacefully drifted off into a world of motionless dreams.

****

Ellis was probably unconscious for less than a minute or so. Of course, for the person in question, it felt like an eternity.

When he eventually did wake up, he found himself stuck underneath one of the fallen Golem’s giant arms. In addition, he felt a slight tingling sensation on his own arm. He looked over, only to see a certain slime greedily lapping up all the blood that poured out from his injuries.

Ellis’s expression immediately fell.

This damn thing… To think that you’d actually take advantage of me even though I’m in such a perilous situation… what an ungrateful child!

He inwardly cursed. The Slime quickly noticed his awakening. That, or it had unwittingly heard the cries of injustice that Ellis ceaselessly shouted out from deep within his heart.

Mumei stopped and suddenly raised its ‘head’. After a few seconds of silence, it began crawling towards him. It slowly made its way across his arm, down his shoulder, and over his chin, only stopping after it had reached his left cheek.

Ellis felt a cool sensation spread throughout his cheeks.

“…” He did not say anything.

Even though it looked as if Mumei was affectionately greeting him, in truth, the damn thing was simply absorbing some of the blood that had splattered on his face.

Ellis could only shake his head in exasperation. He slowly crawled his way out from underneath the Golem’s massive frame.

He groggily stood up. Almost immediately, he noticed a few things. His clothes were torn, his hair was ruffled, there was blood all over the surroundings, most of which were his, to be honest, there was a lot. Still, the most important thing to note here was his own body.

It felt weak, he felt weak. It was a similar feeling of weakness that someone would feel after waking up from a year-long coma for the first time. Naturally, it was scaled back to meet Ellis’s standards.

If he focused hard enough, then he could somewhat ‘feel’ his body recovering. Unfortunately, the rate at which he recovered left much to be desired.

Next, he turned his attention over to the battlefield.

His eyes gravitated to the ‘core’ that he had personally plucked out from within the Golem’s chest cavity.

Back then, his eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on him. Indeed, the thing that had been inside its chest and the thing currently lying sprawled on the ground really was a young and beautiful girl.

It was a girl with silvery white hair. She was completely naked; her exposed body revealed a rather sizable chest and a bountiful behind. Still, that wasn’t what drew his attention. Her most noticeable features were the squirrel ears on her head and the fluffy tail that stuck out from her butt.

“…”

Ellis was momentarily stunned by the current set of events. A few thoughts buzzed around in his head.

Had that girl really been inside the Golem this whole time? If so, why was she standing guard out here? I thought the Holy City was an abandoned ruin, but judging by the current situation, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore…

Before he could think any further, an angry roar reverberated throughout the forest. Ellis hurriedly looked over. He immediately caught sight of the remaining Golem barreling towards him.

Up until now, Wight and Ena had done their best to hold it back, but after seeing Ellis crawl out from underneath its defeated comrade, the Golem finally reached its breaking point. It ignored the pesky flies that swarmed around it and directly rushed towards Ellis.

In response, Ellis quickly tried to get up, but a moment of weakness abruptly washed over him. He staggered and almost fell back down to the ground. Not even three seconds later, the Golem was already upon him. It grabbed onto his torso and lifted him up like a child playing with a doll.

The Golem shook and smashed him to the ground. At the same time, he felt numerous spikes emerging out from its palms. They pierced through his legs and stomach.

Ellis unconsciously howled in pain. Blood dripped down from in between the Golem’s massive palms, but it did not stop there. Like before, numerous tendril-like branches quickly wormed their way into his body.

He gritted his teeth as waves of pain rocked his mind. Still, despite his admittedly terrible situation, Ellis did not give up hope. He was different from before. Right now, he felt as if he had just broken through an invisible bottleneck. The earlier frustration from before had vanished, replaced by a new found sense of confidence.

Even with his body in a currently weakened state, even if his opponent was a calamity-class monster molded out of near-indestructible wood, he still firmly believed in his own victory.

Ellis breathed out a long, hiss-like sigh. He closed his eyes and pushed against the Golem’s palm.

The Golem was determined to squeeze the life out of him, but unfortunately, it was destined to not have its way! Slowly but surely, the creature’s massive hand unclenched.

Although he could only muster about a third of his normal strength, even that much far outstripped the Golem’s power! This was to be expected. From the very start, Ellis was stronger than these hulking lumps of wood. The only thing that they really had going for them was their durability, and that was a problem that he had long since solved!

Its hand trembled from the exertion. Unfortunately, no matter how much power it devoted, the outcome remained the same. The moment that the Golem’s hand had opened wide enough, Ellis lightly bent his knees and kicked off.

A fleshy pop rang through the air as he forcibly dislodged himself from the spikes. His bloody figure rocketed towards the ground.

Fortunately, before he had the chance to eat a mouthful of dirt, his descent abruptly slowed. A gentle breeze circled around him. It felt similar to a soft, pillowy cloud.

It took him less than a second to figure what had happened.

Wind magic. More specifically, Ena’s.

It quickly pulled him along, just as the Golem’s massive foot came slamming down. He narrowly avoided the blow but the ensuing pressure threw him off course.

Ellis rolled across the ground, dirt and other sediment mixed with the blood that previously dyed his skin, giving him the overall appearance of a beggar.

He coughed out a mouthful of dust as he groggily stood up. At almost the exact same time, a black blur rushed towards him. It stopped just in front of him.

“Wight…” Ellis subconsciously called out.

The little wolf wagged her tail in excitement. Her fur appeared somewhat matted, but otherwise, she had remained relatively unharmed. Fortunately, she had listened to his advice and focused most of her efforts on avoiding.

Right now, Wight held a black spear within her jaws. At some point during his quick scuffle with the Golem, while Ena had moved in to save him, Wight had gone ahead and retrieved his weapon.

“Thanks,” Ellis simply stated as he retrieved the spear with open arms. He then ordered her to stay back and wait with the others. Although Wight was reluctant, nevertheless, she complied.

Now, the only ones left were him and the Golem. Ellis was fully prepared to finally end this long drawn out battle. Judging by its current mood, the Golem was inclined to do the same.

It had yet to be appeased. In fact, its numerous failures only served to further increase its rage.

As Ellis’s grip on his spear tightened, he couldn’t help but recall the first Golem that he had defeated.

Back then, he had triumphed over his last opponent with pure strength. That incident had been a result of his growing frustration. The Golem had simply been the sandbag that he used to let out his stress. With that sort of bothersome emotional baggage gone, Ellis felt more inclined to fight smarter. At the very least, given his current weakened state, he did not want to over-exert himself any more than necessary.

Right now, the charging Golem was reflected deep within his irises.

To be honest, its display of anger somewhat surprised him. Was this inanimate looking thing really angry over how he had killed its friend? It was a bit difficult to believe, but the Golem before him clearly possessed emotions.

Ah, that shouldn’t be a Golem, but rather…

Before he could finish that thought, the Golem was already upon him.

Two giant arms came crashing down towards him.

Even before they reached the ground, Ellis was already gone. He jumped up. He momentarily stalled in the air, while the Golem smashed its fists into the ground. The earth cracked, while dust and debris scattered throughout his surroundings.

Ellis lightly landed back down on the Golem’s massive arm.

As if by reflex, wooden spikes suddenly shot out towards him. Ellis dodged most of them, while the ones that he couldn’t, he simply tanked or forcibly broke through using his spear. Like this, he paved his way forward as he raced up its arm.

By the time he got to its shoulders, The Golem’s wooden head suddenly turned towards him. For a moment, the crookedly carved smile on its face cracked. From its depths, emerged over a dozen vine-like tendrils.

These vines were different from the branches and spikes that the Golem usually sent out. They were less durable, but several times more flexible. What’s more, the vines were covered in small, dagger-like thorns, similar to a rose.

Due to their flexibility, the vines were a lot faster than the spikes. The first few immediately wrapped around his legs. Their thorny protrusions dug into his skin and opened up his old wounds.

As the seconds flew by, more and more vines wrapped around him. They considerably slowed him down, enough for the spikes to penetrate his body. At the same time, a giant arm came smacking down from the sky.

Watching all this, Ellis gritted his teeth. He hurriedly slashed at a few of the vines around his feet before he used all of his remaining strength and abruptly jumped back.

The vines around him instantly snapped, while the Golem stumbled backward from the resulting force and fell on its back.

Ellis soared through the air before he fell back down to the ground. Unfortunately, he could not stick the landing.

A few seconds later, he leaned against his spear and groggily stood back up.

He bitterly chuckled to himself.

Considering what’s inside, I’d like to show a bit of mercy, but… that’s a bit difficult to do…

Ellis briefly inspected his body. Most of his clothes were in tatters, while giant bloody holes covered his flesh. Clearly, his injuries had yet to heal, and the vines certainly didn’t help. It was quite apparent, but his current weakened state also seemed to have affected his recovery rate.

Ellis did not really mind his injuries. Most of them were negligible; they did not affect his movement speed.

He looked up. As the Golem struggled to get back up on its feet, Ellis coldly snorted.

Fighting this thing in close range is a pain in the ass…

Because of the nature of its armor, it was practically impossible for him to approach the Golem without injuring himself. This became more and more apparent the longer the battle drew out. In particular, the spikes that grew out from its wooden shell reacted to even the lightest touch.

Well, I don’t really need to approach it.

With the Golem temporarily immobilized, now was the perfect opportunity to put an end to this battle. Ellis lifted himself up and pulled his arm back. He gathered the rest of his remaining strength and sucked in a mouthful of air.

In one swift motion, he hurtled the spear forward while a guttural roar leaked out from his throat.

This time, he did not aim for its head. He had learned a lot from the first Golem. If his guess was correct, then its weakness was right… there!

BOOM!

Just when the Golem was about to get back up on its feet, a black bolt suddenly struck!

The spear penetrated the center of its chest!

For the first time, the wooden giant expressed panic. Its arms flailed in the air as it collapsed back down with a resounding thud. Unfortunately, although the spear had successfully landed, due to Ellis’s current weakened state, the blade did not get very deep.

Fortunately, this was well within his expectations. Even before the spear had reached the Golem, Ellis was already on the move.

He rushed forward like a crazed beast. He kicked off the ground and soared through the air. As his frail figure came falling back down, Ellis expended the leftover dregs of power still within his body and fiercely stomped down onto the spear’s end. He forcibly drove its blade even deeper into the Golem’s chest.

Amidst the sound of cracking wood, he eventually heard a soft squelch.

At that moment, the Golem’s movements suddenly turned jittery. Ellis collapsed on its chest, while the creature attempted to retaliate. It tried to stand back up, it tried to swat him away, it tried to pluck the spear out of its chest, but ultimately, its efforts were all in vain.

With one last final groan, the wooden giant collapsed onto the ground like a puppet with its strings cut loose.