Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

This had to be what the blacksmith had talked about. The bad premonition had come true. She herself had dodged a lightning strike and several attempts to ambush her with these weird daggers.

Incensed, about the old demon's betrayal, she saw no reason to leave him be. Climbing the tower, she found the demon was distracted by the bard's giant pet and she used her chance to end him.

Her fangs tore through the demon's nape, severing the head except for a thin strand of skin, still keeping it attached to the body. Bones and cartilage crunched as she chewed and swallowed her bite.

It was her first time tasting Demon and it tasted horrible. The rakshasa girl spat out what was left in her mouth and looked down at the city.

The centipede who had his kill stolen turned away and followed the massive sandstorm that was moving through the city. She could barely make out the massive golem, lumbering ahead towards the harbor.

She also saw the priestess ride her giant sloth, following the sandstorm from a distance. The hero was occupied on the battlefield and showed no sign of retreat. There was no trace of the slavemancer.

However, as she looked down at the scene of battle, the hole ripped into the city wall, the primary barrier flickering unstably, she watched the despair in the soldiers' eyes grow as they looked up to the tower.

Where she was still standing with the demon's almost decapitated corpse stuck to her arm. The death of Culus meant that their hope was gone. The cloud furnace had no operator, and their cloud cover would dissipate.

Cade realized her mistake. Maybe the blacksmith had his reasons not to make a move against the demon? She had to hurry. The rakshasa girl gave the hero one last look, before copying the saintess and following the sand cloud towards the harbor.

She noticed crooked silhouettes in the wake of the golem. The citizens had evacuated to the shelters, who were those? Despite the danger, she couldn't help her curiosity and got closer to take a look.

As the sandstorm moved on, the figures became clearer. Made of cobblestones and bricks were creatures not too far from abominations in appearance. Congregations of humanoid and bestial heads and limps stuck to humongous bodies of up to 5 meters in height.

Intrigued, the rakshasa watched these things, but they stood still, like statues. Was this the blacksmith's doing? She couldn't imagine what he was planning.

Maybe she would have understood more if she stayed but decided to rather make her way to the harbor.

...

"Shit! You just ripped out a whole chunk of the wall! Aren't they done for?" Ellie asked equally excited and shocked. The group stood on the head of the moving colossus and could barely see the thing's shoulders. Everything else was hidden in the sandstorm.

The golem's body was both, made up of whirling sand and bricks from the city wall. It was a pure application of <Golem Artisan> as this kind of creation was far easier and faster than his golem knights. Although a lot less cost-effective.

He had spent a big soul made up of at least 40 medium souls, to make this beast possible.

"Although they tried to kill us, isn't this a little much?" Brock asked concerned. The people had been desperate when they tried to betray them. Even if they were to hold a grudge, the civilians were innocent.

"They didn't just try, Misto is dead." Ellie corrected him.

"And so is the one who killed him. The citizens had nothing to do with it." brock insisted.

"Geez, stop bickering. You make it sound like I condemned them all to death, just because a chunk is missing from the wall. There are only a few hours of the day left. As long as they stay in their shelters, the people will be fine. Look, I am even working on some measures to take care of the aftermath."

Seth was not a monster. Using the formation on the golems head, he kept producing golem souls from the souls he had collected from the battlefield. Under the cover of the storm, he spawned a small army of weird and unique golems. It was no perfect plan as he didn't know how well they would work.

The quick creation of golem soul was a perk of <Golem Artisan>, although the efficiency was horrible without complicated adjustments. On the way to the harbor, he burned through a third of the souls he had collected, leaving 100 golems with the instructions to protect the shelters during the blood sun.

The group on the golem watched the smaller bizarre figures pop up behind them in bafflement.

"If the soldiers on the wall do their job, I'm sure Akhaz won't fall today, which means they survived longer than they should have. They would have fallen during the third wave if we were not here." Seth explained as he kept making golems.

"Won't the cloud cover disperse, with the death of the demon?" Marcel wondered, looking at the sky.

"I don't think he is dead. Although the lightning stopped, the clouds show no signs of weakening. I don't think that demon is truly dead, despite our cannibal girl biting his head off." Elza mentioned her doubts and pointed at the sky.

It was true, the cloud cover was dark and healthy.

"See, their chances are good. No need to worry, let's get out of here." Ellie concluded.

"Then we have to hurry even more before that Demon gets back to throwing lightning at us."

With the soldiers busy at the wall and the citizens in the shelters, the city was empty. The golem made its way to the harbor unhindered, except for the buildings crumbling left and right as it walked through the slightly too narrow streets.

The rubble of the houses did not stay down for long before it would rise again as Golem Warriors. There were another 50 before they reached the harbor. Seth's sandstorm surrounding them had slowly calmed down as they neared the harbor, where they now saw Cade, Yvette, and the merchant already waiting for them.

Having died down, the sandstorm finally revealed the full figure of the golem. It was between 10-15 meters in height. Its body was not just made up of the materials of the wall, but also of a freely swirling cloud of sand, almost resembling a desert elemental.

Its towering figure kneeled, so the passengers could jump off its head.

"Hubert, quick now! We have to get out of here!" Seth called after a look at his map.

"What about the hero?" the merchant asked. Right after finishing his question, a bolt of lightning aimed for them but was blocked by the golems broad back.

"Hurry! The others are on the way." Seth urged him.

"W-What is that?" Ellie asked and she was not the only one muttering in surprise.

Understanding the situation, the Merchant had immediately brought out the magic vessel he had purchased from his dimensional shop, using the currency he made by selling the four ships.

The lower half of the vessel looked like the streamlined body of a luxury yacht, while the upper half looked like the elongated dome of a zeppelin. The whole hull had a polished metallic hue.

The airship floated about half a meter above the ground. A gate opened and a boarding ramp was lowered.

"I will explain later. Get in!" Huber exclaimed as he boarded the vessel first to start up the engines and control.

The inside was as one would expect from a luxury yacht. It was a little narrow, but everything was made from expensive materials. There were several doors, but Seth ignored them and followed Hubert to the cockpit.

"Are you sure, the hero is on his way?"

Seth didn't answer and only pointed down at the street, where two figures just exited an alley and entered the docks.

"Is that our ride? Don't leave without us! Hurry, Mr. Harker!" the slavemancer called. They were the hero Been Harker, holding Rich the wounded slavemancer in a princess carry.

At the same time, the harbor was brightly lit by another bolt of lightning that was blocked by the golem.

"Will the lightning be a problem?" Seth asked concerned. It would be a shame if they were shot down right after setting off.

"It's okay, I thought of that. The ship is armored against magic and lightning. Okay, we are ready. I can start once everyone is on board."

The moment the hero charged over and entered the ship with Rich, Hubert attempted to close the entrance, but Seth suddenly grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Wait just another moment," he said, but his eyes were focused on something else in front of him.

"Okay, we can start." he changed his mind just a moment later.

Slightly confused, the merchant shrugged and started the vessel. Its altitude rose and it got ready to fly off toward the open sea.