Giant Killer

With a rumbling like the earth itself was shaking, the avalanche bore down on them from behind.

The mage unit had deployed massive illumination magic as a light source, so they headed straight for the city walls.

There was no time to open and close the large gates.

Rope ladders were lowered from above, and those who reached them scrambled up in a panic.

"Hurry and climb!"

Alexia, who was up above, dropped a ladder down to where Azu and the others were.

Azu kept her momentum and used the ladder rungs to dash up the city wall.

She nearly missed her footing just before reaching the top, but Alexia grabbed her arm and forcefully pulled her up.

Elza climbed the ladder behind Azu.

The moment Azu and Alexia grabbed Elza's hands and pulled her up, the avalanche finally struck the wall.

The city wall shook with a thunderous roar.

Azu and the others couldn't stay standing; they crouched and pressed their hands and feet to the ground, barely holding on.

The avalanche was stopped by the thick wall surrounding the city and appeared to have subsided.

The snow reached more than halfway up the city wall.

Had they been swallowed by the avalanche, they would have been hit with tremendous force and completely buried in snow.

In this cold, that could have been fatal.

"What in the world is going on? Hey, is everyone here?"

The guild master called roll while catching his breath.

Unfortunately, not everyone had made it back.

Perhaps they'd been caught in the avalanche.

"… I see. We can only be grateful we at least protected the city."

"H-Hey, Guild Master."

"What is it?"

One adventurer pointed toward where the avalanche had occurred.

"Isn't that snow… moving?"

"Come on, what are you talking about."

Looking exasperated, the guild master turned his gaze toward where the adventurer was pointing.

The blizzard had weakened somewhat, but visibility was still poor.

One of the mages helpfully moved the illumination magic closer.

There was just a massive amount of snow.

"Don't scare me like that."

The guild master said that and slapped the adventurer on the back.

But the next moment.

An enormous arm emerged from within the snow.

First one. Then a second.

The two arms slammed into the snow and sank.

In their place, something else began to rise.

It was a golem.

Just like the Ice Golem from before, a face with no eyes or nose emerged from the snow.

As the golem's form became clearer, the snow visibly diminished.

"This thing is using the snow to build its body! Attack it and stop it!"

Someone shouted that in a panic.

But from atop the city walls, only bows and magic could reach.

Arrows had almost no effect on packed snow, so they had to attack with magic.

"Phew."

Alexia exhaled once and downed a mana potion.

From using major spells repeatedly, her hair was sticking to her skin with sweat despite the cold.

Her complexion was a bit pale and her breathing ragged.

Elza gave Alexia a blessing.

"The target's closer now, so it's easier to hit."

Alexia wiped her sweat and said that with a fearless smile.

Several other mages had collapsed from mana exhaustion; the rest were cooperating with Alexia.

"Azu, I'm going to completely vaporize this thing, so it'll take some time. If it doesn't look like we'll make it, block it just once."

"Understood."

Azu drew her sword and stood in front of Alexia.

Alexia closed her eyes and began chanting quietly.

Using all the snow, a body one size larger than the Ice Golem stood before the city wall.

It clasped its hands together and raised them overhead.

It was like a massive hammer.

Becoming a shadow, it blocked even the faint moonlight.

Had it identified Alexia as a threat? At this rate, Azu would be hit directly along with her.

The other adventurers attacked the Snow Golem by whatever means available, but it only slightly scraped the surface with no real effect.

Some screamed and fled.

Amidst all that, Azu stared fixedly at the golem's arms.

With sluggish movements, they were brought down.

Feeling as though time was slowing down, she gripped the sword's hilt until it hurt.

She raised the power of the Apostle to its limit and waited.

Rainbow colors surged from her right eye, and all that mana poured into her sword.

Azu glanced at Alexia, but her chant wouldn't make it in time.

She licked her dry lips and swung her sword timed to the moment the golem's arms would connect.

If her timing was even slightly off, she would be crushed under the difference in mass.

At the perfect moment, Azu's sword collided with the golem's arms.

In sync with that, she released all her mana.

The first thing she felt was an impact so severe she thought her arms would shatter.

Fortunately, only the sensation had vanished; her arms were still there.

They were bent at a slightly odd angle, but getting away with just this was fortunate.

The strike infused with the Apostle's power had deflected the golem's arms magnificently.

She had hoped to blow them off, but the opponent's mass was too great; scraping away part of it was the best she could manage.

The deflected golem arms swung down again.

Strength drained from Azu's hands, and her sword fell at her feet.

All strength left her body, and she lost consciousness as if fainting.

"That's enough!"

Alexia caught the fainting Azu with one arm and pointed the battle-axe in her other hand at the golem.

"Feel the trembling of power that fills the atmosphere. Let my battle-axe return you to ash. Heavenless Flame."

With the completion of the chant, massive layered magic circles deployed above the golem's head.

They glowed red and rotated, then immediately after, a pillar of flame shot down toward the ground.

The pillar of fire, even larger than the golem's body, instantly vaporized its snowy form, and steam engulfed the surroundings.

The temperature around them changed dramatically, becoming hot like a sauna.

The raised arms lost their torso and fell as chunks of snow.

Having handed Azu to Elza, Alexia spun twice in place.

She channeled the centrifugal force into her fire magic-heated, glowing red battle-axe and intercepted the falling snow, shattering it.

"There!"

Having successfully intercepted, Alexia threw her battle-axe straight at the ground.

There lay the purple core that had been trying to flee again.

The moment the slime-like, viscous substance was struck by the superheated battle-axe, it let out a shriek, crumbled away, and vanished.

"Elza."

"What?"

"Sorry. I'm at my limit."

Saying that, Alexia lost consciousness and collapsed spread-eagle.

"Great work, both of you… That was no ordinary monster."

No one heard Elza's words.