“There's a curious anecdote about the last moments of a mad king, in a faraway country, long, long ago. I don't know how veracious it is, but... Shall I tell you ? The story goes like this. On the verge of defeat, the king ordered his mages to do whatever was needed to prevent the collapse of his nation. 'Build more of them !', he yelled. 'There isn't enough stone left in the careers, your highness !', the mages apologized. 'Then use whatever you find ! Use the houses, use the walls, use the castle ! Build more of them !', he screamed. The mages complied, and eventually they won the battle. The city was saved, yet nothing was left of it. Every bit of the city had become part of them. In the end, fate played one of its tricks on the king. He was accidentally crushed by one of the things that stood in place of his palace, because now there were simply too many. Well, I wonder, how much of it is true ?

-???”

* * *

Azcheron

“So, what do you make of this ?” Azcheron inquired.

It was morning now. The Saint and the knight had regrouped in the evening, and they decided to wait until daytime to see the captured golem. Well, of course the golem was 'dead' by the time they arrived, but since Azcheron had dismembered it in a clean fashion, the scholars were confident they could work with it.

Baestar was the first to report. “As expected, there's no mana left it this one. I assume the two big ones aren't worth the trouble ?”

Azcheron nodded. “One took too much damage from the explosion, the other is almost entirely obliterated.”

“Mmh... I would have liked to check out the one who survived the blast. Either the stone that composed it was special or naturally sturdy, or it had some sort of protective enchantment. Though that wasn't enough to defend against a mana orb, eh ?”

“I can still show you the remains later. It's not too far from here.”

Nathaniel and Yorl entered the conversation. “I, at least, have good news,” the former said. “There are carvings of writing on some of the bricks and a large stone that looks like a stele. If we take these back at the Academy, I can probably translate it, given enough time.”

Oh, interesting.

Yorl hurriedly took his turn to speak. “Well, I, too, have good news, heh. Thanks to you not destroying the whole golem, I managed to find what I believe to be an artefact.” He pointed to a specific spot on the golem's torso. “Parts of it, at least, because it's broken. Probably the thing that kept the golems moving. It must have broke somehow when you neutralized the golem, and therefore the mana drain was interrupted.”

Huh, that's also interesting. Were these guys always that useful and efficient ? No, I guess we have to thank this convenient golem ! Yes, truly convenient. It made this journey worth the trouble.

“Any idea how the artefact works ?” Baestar wondered.

“At first glance I'd say it's a plain mana absorption device, the kind that can be manufactured in large numbers. I think our first guess was accurate. The original spell made the golems what they are, and the artefact simply kept them working by feeding them mana.”

So, the military purpose seems like a credible theory. Maybe Nathaniel's scribblings will be able to tell us more about what happened. I can already make some deductions, but they're far-fetched... Also, I wonder if the desert would disappear given enough time, if we destroyed every golem ? But right now, there's something else I want to check.

Azcheron gathered everyone and made a proposal. They couldn't afford to stay too long in the desert, seeing as they had to be mindful of their supplies. Yet there was now three things to do. First was studying the small golem. Then, Baestar had to check the remains of the resilient golem. Finally, Azcheron wanted to see if there was a reason the three golems were initially doing nothing. This had been teasing him ever since they noticed it. Why would these overly aggressive stone giants stand here, merely looking at the ground, when they should have been able to spot the group with ease ?

“You are suggesting that we split in groups ?”

“Indeed. We'll make camp here for now. Nathaniel will stay here with Isabella and Caspar, with the small golem. Baestar, Jeffrey and Rudolph will check the bigger golem that survived the explosion. The rest will come with Yorl and me.”

Yorl frowned. “You're taking Erin, Pat and Wilhelm with us ? Expecting trouble, maybe ? Why am I needed, by the way ?”

“That's the point, I don't know what to expect. It could be some unknown device messing with the golem's behaviour, in which case you'll have something else to study. Or it could be... anything else. And if it's moving and alive...” He looked at the three that'd come with them. “Well, it can't hurt to have you guys with us.”

Everyone understood, but Erin voiced her concern. “What if one of the groups is targeted by golems ?”

“Well, our group won't have any issue. As for the other two, we'll give them bombs. But I'd say, just to be sure, that Nathaniel and Baestar should scout their surroundings with magic, on a regular basis.”

Of course, the plan was not safe ! It was careless, even. Any other time, Azcheron would have mocked and spat on such a decision. In novels, groups separating in smaller groups always resulted in awful consequences, ranging from tragic death to stupid death. But right now time was pressing Azcheron, and everyone was aware of that. The return journey would take longer if they had to carry Nathaniel's stones, and they might run out of water for the horses if they delayed their trip back for even a day. And, although he wasn't worried anymore about the mountain's dragons, what if they had to take a longer route to cross it ? He was hoping they could head east starting tomorrow.

Everyone got ready, Nathaniel's party prepared a camp, and Baestar and Azcheron's respective groups each went their own way. The Saint's destination was much farther, however. He expected the trip to take a few hours.

As the horses walked at their own pace in the sand, Azcheron, riding with Erin as usual, scouted the desert from time to time. He couldn't afford to waste a lot mana here, because he had not completely recovered from the previous day. That was the reason he felt he had to take both Erin and Pat with him. Obviously, he couldn't say that in front of everyone.

Only Erin is aware of how much mana I had to consume yesterday. Baestar knows I casted a mana orb, but until he sees the remains of the golem, he couldn't possibly know the scale of the magic I used. I may have a large mana pool, but I messed up badly and I had to drain quite a bit from it to save Erin in time. It wouldn't do too make the others worry. There's no guarantee we'll find anything dangerous there, after all.

But Azcheron's worries eventually took shape. As they closed in on the place the three golems were previously gathered, he saw a fourth one. Inertly laying down and, he imagined, dead. Was that the reason those three were staring at the sand ? Grieving, perhaps ? No, Azcheron realized soon enough. The other golems had been investigating, trying to find out the cause of its death. Because the fourth golem seemed oddly untouched.

This golem didn't appear to have anything out of the ordinary. Aside from one thing. There was a small shadow atop its corpse. Whatever that was, the Saint became instantly wary.

“This... is strange,” he muttered, frowning. Erin turned her head and showed him a confused expression. Azcheron's eyes looked into hers. “Expect trouble. Get ready for anything.”

Erin nodded and turned back wordlessly toward the horizon. After a while, she seemed to have understood the cause of Azcheron's worry. The group was now close enough for everyone to see. On top of the golem's inert body, someone was sitting.

Azcheron used sight magic to observe the figure. It was clad in a steel plate armour, similar to the one Erin was wearing. A knight. The knight's face was hidden behind a rusty close helm, and the dusty armour didn't give away the gender of its wearer. Yet Azcheron had no doubt the person inside was a man. His posture, his size and frame, everything told of a masculine figure. He was holding a sword, and Azcheron tensed up, noticing the man's grip tightening slightly when he spotted the group.

A thought was itching at the back of Azcheron's mind. He confirmed his suspicions when he examined more carefully the golem. It wasn't untouched. There was a single hole in the middle of the torso. He remembered Yorl pointing at this particular spot.

That was were the golem's core was supposed to be. The hole and the knight's blade were of the exact same width. Azcheron immediately dispelled his sight magic. He had a feeling he might need his mana.

Great. This feels like one of these badly written stories. When the protagonist's party encounters a potential threat, while his own power is restrained or weakened. No way I'll fall for this plot device ! This guy's obviously skilled, but if he really is an enemy I'll play it safe and just murder him immediately.

The group stopped at a safe distance from the golem's corpse and the mysterious man. The knight stood up and waved at them.

“Hello. What a coincidence, meeting people here ! 'Tis not the most popular destination for leisure trips,” he said, speaking through his helmet.

He speaks Common ? So he's probably from the Empire or the north. Maybe he's an Imperial knight. Did he guess we were from the Empire by seeing our clothes ? But he's right, this place is not a mere vacation location. Why is he here ?

Azcheron stepped forward. “Good day ! A curious coincidence, as you say. It appears we also have the same hobbies. Golem hunting ?” He pointed to the pile of rocks.

The knight's head tilted. “Why, of course. What else is there to do here ?” He jumped off from the golem, landing on the sand.

“Indeed, there isn't much to do.” Azcheron squinted his eyes.

This knight is so fishy it's not even funny. Is he alone ? Doesn't he have a mount ?

“Yes... This place would make us crave for any distraction, really. Did you witness the large explosion that occurred yesterday, not far from here ? It's the reason I came back here, in fact. I was hoping it had attracted more golems for my hunt ! Sadly there's only one of my first victims.” He nonchalantly motioned to the rocks behind him.

Should I tell him about our explosives ? It could dissuade him from trying anything stupid, or it could make us look threatening enough for him to do something brash... There's no way to know. I'll try to play it off as something mundane.

“As it happens, we are the culprits. We were... distracting ourselves from boredom, I suppose ? I hope it didn't inconvenience you, err...”

“Ah.” He took a few seconds to take his helmet off. “Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself.”

The helm revealed a surprisingly ordinary face. His features were manly enough, without being too defined or rough. Unremarkable eyes, normal complexion and dark brown hair. He must have been around thirty years old. The only thing that struck Azcheron was the large confident smirk plastered on the knight's face.

Yorl gasped. Azcheron glanced at the group but aside from Yorl, nobody was reacting in an intriguing way. Erin seemed tense, though. Like Azcheron, she probably felt that the man's presence here was very odd.

“I am known as Oscar. Perhaps you've heard of me.”

Azcheron raised a brow. Yes, he had heard of this man. Unfortunately, he had heard of this man.

Now he understood Yorl's reaction. The scholar probably saw him once in the capital. Another quick look at the group told him that everyone else also knew of this name. Because they behaved as if they were about to draw their swords.

The reason was simple. Oscar was a hero in the Empire. And at the same time, he had the worst reputation a hero could possibly have. Even Anton deemed the guy the greatest jerk the continent had ever seen.

After all, Oscar was infamous for vile deeds such as stealing achievements and killing other heroes or notorious individuals.

Well, that's convenient. I'm not a hero. Yet. And I don't have any known achievements. Yet. Well in truth, I'm somewhat achieving, at the moment. In the middle of the act of achieving major discoveries in the Desolate Lands. Right, that's bad. We can't let him know about our findings regarding the golems.

In any case, let us not antagonize him. I'll start with a proper greeting. He may be a professional bastard but he's still a hero, with connections, ties and whatnot.

He glanced yet again at Erin and grinned. She made an panicked expression and before she could stop him, he irresponsibly, yet knowingly, wasted mana on sound magic.

“I AM AZCHERON, THE RAHAL SAINT ! I HAVE INDEED HEARD OF YOU ! IT IS AN HONOUR TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE, OSCAR ! YOUR DEDICATION TO PURSUE GLORY SHOULD SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE TO US ALL !”

Oscar made a surprised face, but his smirk promptly came back. It seemed to be more of an amused smirk than a condescending one. “Haha ! My, my... Azcheron, eh ? The pleasure is mine.”

It worked ! Wonderful.

Though Erin looked horrified. Maybe it was an insensitive thing to say ? Oscar was a rascal and a murderer, after all.

Oscar carried on. “It's good to see high-spirited youngsters like you. Especially ones who don't lose sight of what matters in life ! My ways are suffering from a large misunderstanding nowadays, and I was starting to think that maybe the whole ally of justice thing had became the trend...” He sighed in relief. “Thank you, Azcheron. You gave me my confidence back !”

Azcheron's group seemed somewhat less tense now. It was probably a relief for everyone to know that they were in Oscar's favour.

If this whole hero thing didn't work out, I was thinking of becoming an famous assassin with stool metamorphosis magic, but maybe I should really make my career in politics, flattery and Empire overtaking. Enters a new potential job opportunity, the Imperial Palace !

Yorl decided to speak up, revelling in worldliness. “Well, it surely is a surprise to meet you here, lord Oscar.”

Oscar stared at the scholar for a bit, before finally remembering who he was. “Ah ! If it isn't professor Yorl ! What in the world is a famous academician like you doing in this remote wasteland ?”

“Hahaha ! Well, I was thinking that I'd like to visit the dreaded Desolate Lands before I die ! I'm getting old, you know.” They both chuckled and indulged in small talk. Yorl adopted a confident attitude, this Yorl was entirely different from the whining one they had to bear with ever since they left the Capital.

This old guy... I can't believe it. I'd have buried him in the desert myself had he not found this artefact. Still... even a guy like Oscar isn't a stranger to these social things, huh ? Well, it matters not.

Azcheron walked to Erin who was standing a bit farther away. He tried to joke about the situation, while she clearly was in the mood for reprimanding him about his stunt. They were having great banter, from Azcheron's point of view at least, when they heard it.

“...and it turned out these golems were built with stone and rocks from houses and walls. Some even had writings on it !”

Yorl. It was Yorl, of course, who else ? Are you kidding me ?

The Saint was seriously considering offing the stupid scholar right now, but he had spilled too much already. Beheading him would not change anything at this point.

“Ooh... I reckon you would be bringing back quite the discovery.”

Azcheron froze when he saw Oscar's face. His expression was different. Colder, he'd say. And it wasn't just his face, his whole posture was different. As if...

This is bad, he thought, and his worries were confirmed when he saw in the corner of his eye Erin stiffening up. He wasn't the only one to feel uneasy because of Oscar's bearing.

“Mmh ? 'Would' ? We will, you mean, haha !” Yorl said with a troubled voice.

Shut up ! Stop insisting ! I'll kill you !

“I'm afraid you won't ?”

And Yorl fell on the sand.

Azcheron's eyes widened as he saw blood gushing from the scholar throat. Hmm ? Though I thought about it, I don't think I actually killed him. And I wouldn't have done it like that. Beheading would be the right way, no ? What's with this half-hearted job...

The sound of swords being drawn brought him back to his senses. But when he looked away from Yorl's convulsing body, Oscar was already thrusting his weapon in Pat's chest. The sword had pierced through Pat's steel armour as if it was nothing.

In the blink of an eye, Azcheron gathered a large quantity of his mana in a sphere, a mana orb. The spell flew straight at Oscar, but he effortlessly dodged it.

Shit, was the only word Azcheron could think of. No one just 'effortlessly dodged' a mana orb at full speed. There was too much information coming in. The agility and the reflexes of the man. An enchantment ? Then the stone golem and the armour. What kind of sword could penetrate such materials ?

Wilhelm staggered, and Azcheron knew that the soldier was already dead before he even collapsed. Oscar just stood here, next to the three bodies, smirking. The Saint figured Erin and him were only alive because they had been talking a bit away from the group.

He assessed the situation.

Three dead. I couldn't even see properly what happened and I wasted mana. He's fast. Then I'll need faster magic. Though I can't just throw things at him and hope it hits, I need to make my spells count. He glanced around. Where are the horses ? Did they run ? There's not much in terms of escape means, now. So... no choice, we have to fight, heh.

“I'm sorry, Azcheron. But I can't really let any of you come back alive from here. Especially if you plan to return with important discoveries. That'll dim the greatness of my own return. But you understand, right ? I pursue glory above all, so I can't let you claim these achievements. You will die here and I shall be the one to bring your findings back to the capital.”

This is a bad joke. I get why people say you're scum, now. Killing everyone because you're hungry for fame. So predictable. Damn zealot. It's like you're the evil version of me. Are you mocking me, is that it !? Hrmpf.

“Erin,” Azcheron called out. “I think it's time you try out the hardening enchantment I taught you. Or else you won't be able to block this guy's strikes.”

“I imagined that much.”

“So I see that you're a mage, and your friend Erin must be a spellblade, like me. I'm even more sorry then. This is probably not your dream environment for a mortal combat.”

You bet. You'd be already dead if we weren't in this place. How convenient for you !

Azcheron drew his longsword with fashion, even if he knew that only Erin would be able to stand up to that man's skills. Drawing a sword looked cool, Azcheron liked to look cool, and people learning about his tale would enjoy him looking cool. With one hand, he stylishly pointed the tip of his blade toward Oscar, but he was ready to cast a spell with the other.

Oscar griped his own sword with two hands. “But if you two still intend to struggle, I can only commend you. Azcheron and Erin, fight bravely, and people shall know of our clash when they hear my tale.”

Wha-... How dare you ! Nnnggg...

His smirk widened even more. “The harder you struggle, the better. I never say no to an epic battle since it'll end up in my story. Now, I guess this is where they would place the cliffhanger. Give our future listeners a run for their money, will you ?”