SRS 33

“Intruder, eliminate.”

The golems spotted the intruders and muttered in mechanical voices as they swung massive stone fists.

“Ahh, Suhyeok!”

Isaac screamed when the punch shot toward Suhyeok.

Boom!

Fortunately, he didn’t get blown away in one hit. He braced the flat of his blade with both hands and managed to block the golem’s strike, but his hands trembled from the brutal force.

“Kylus!”

In response to his call for help, the blond kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air. He horizontally rotated his sword surrounded by golden aura and slashed the golem. A scar tore through its body.

“……”

Kylus’s expression froze. Yohan’s face changed the same way.

A hit strong enough for the aura to be visible, and all it did was scratch it? How hard was this thing?

Yohan was stunned by the golem’s toughness. While Suhyeok and Kylus began a fierce two-on-three battle, Isaac stood there biting his fingernails until Yohan grabbed him and turned him around.

“Isaac. You can use buffs to weaken enemies, right?”

“I can. But I’ve only ever used it in my previous world, I’ve never… here…!”

“Just try it. If this keeps up, those two will get pushed back.”

“But…”

“Mikael. Help Isaac.”

Yohan left the unsure young man to Mikael and took a slow breath. Just because he was a priest didn’t mean he planned to stand still while his friends fought.

“What’s happening? What are those things? Did we wake them up?”

“Shh…! Hey, do you want people to think this is our fault?”

“But Melek, shouldn’t we help too?”

“Argh! Hey, is there no priest? No healer? I think my back’s broken…!”

“Oh no, I’m gonna die!”

There were three golems, and Melek’s group had just fallen in and were too busy panicking to be of any help. That meant only Kylus and Suhyeok could fight at this distance. But the two alone were outmatched in number and strength. If Melek’s group couldn’t jump in immediately, Yohan needed to support them.

Divine power was the power of an almighty god…

“You can do whatever you wish with it.”

Yohan whispered the angel professor’s words as he drew in his divine power. He remembered how the professor shattered a window in the first class without warning.

Yohan awkwardly tried to release his own divine power by recalling the flow and force of that power.

“Ah…!”

Since he had never been trained properly, imitating that kind of release brought pain with it. Blood rose to his throat, he ignored the tight ache in his heart as he frowned. It was clumsy, but he felt invisible divine power gather into a mass floating in front of him.

He couldn’t control it delicately. In that case…

Yohan spread both hands and slammed them down. Since it was his first time using power in this form, he tried to visualize it to make the control easier.

Boom!

The golems suddenly buckled, as if a giant hand was pressing down on them.

“We did it!”

Yohan shouted with joy. But there was a problem.

“Damn it, Yohan! Was this you?!”

“Ahh! It’s heavy!”

His attack had landed on Suhyeok and Kylus too!

Seeing the two strain under an invisible weight, Yohan broke into a cold sweat.

“Oh no…”

He’d managed to use his divine power, but he couldn’t control the range finely enough to exclude the two of them. Yohan’s eyes shook as he wondered how to free them.

What should I do? Should I cancel the attack?

Just when he was about to withdraw it because he had no choice.

Mikael snapped his fingers.

Suhyeok and Kylus’s expressions immediately relaxed. They blinked in confusion as the pressure left their bodies and they stood comfortably again.

It was obvious who had helped, so when Yohan looked at Mikael in shock, Mikael stepped behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll help you.”

The soft voice brushing against his ear made Yohan flinch slightly.

“Isaac is…”

“There.”

Mikael pointed to the right with his chin.

“Ma-mana… I, I ask you… weaken the enemy…!”

Isaac trembled as he gripped his staff and cast a weakening spell. The incantation was clumsy and the magic didn’t seem to work properly, but he repeated it again, trying once more. It was real progress.

You’ve grown, Isaac!

Moved by his friend’s courage, Yohan looked at Mikael. His hand was still on Yohan’s shoulder.

“…I know you’re good at magic, Mikael. But what I’m using is divine power.”

“I know.”

“You know and you still want to help me?”

You said you couldn’t use divine power.

Yohan didn’t say the last part, but Mikael’s eyes curved, like he knew what he wanted to say.

“It’s fine. Trust me.”

He whispered and used his other hand to hold Yohan’s chin, turning his gaze forward.

“Look ahead…”

Forced to face forward, Yohan watched the students fighting the three golems. His divine power was still pinning the golems down, but not perfectly, so the creatures sometimes swung their arms and blocked the attacks. Even though Suhyeok and Kylus dodged, the gusts of wind still sent them flying into the walls.

“Tch!”

They didn’t give up. They rushed again and carved deeper gashes into the golem’s body. Isaac’s weakening buff was finally starting to take hold.

“If you help just a little more, we’ll win.”

Mikael whispered. Yohan nodded, deciding to accept his help. He still wasn’t completely sure, but he had no other choice.

Seeing the change in Yohan’s eyes, Mikael softly smiled.

“Focus and look through your divine power. Since the power belongs to you, you should be able to see its shape.”

Yohan followed the instruction. As Mikael said, the space that had been transparent now showed a golden outline.

“Since it has a shape now, it’ll be easier to control than something invisible. Now imagine that divine power as your hand and connect it to your senses.”

Mikael lowered his hand from Yohan’s chin and placed it over Yohan’s pale hand that was pressed on the ground. The warmth seeped into him, and Yohan’s fingertips twitched.

“Form the shape into a hand. …Yes, like that. Now make it reach past Suhyeok and Kylus and grab only the three golems. If the size isn’t enough, use more divine power and make it bigger.”

His explanation was kind and far easier to understand than the angel professor’s teachings. Yohan did as Mikael said and infused more divine power in, shaping the invisible hand until it was three times the size of a golem. Then he clenched his real hand with all his strength, and the divine hand copied the motion, grabbing the golems and pinning them in place.

“I caught them!”

He shouted in excitement.

“You’re good.”

Mikael smiled and let go. The warmth on Yohan’s hand was replaced by cold emptiness. Feeling that hollowness, Yohan forced himself to remain focused and held the golems firmly.

“You should help too.”

While Yohan sweated and kept the three golems pinned, Suhyeok and Kylus attacked with everything they had. Even Isaac, nearly drained of mana, continued trying weakening spells. Mikael turned to Melek’s group, who were doing nothing, and spoke coldly. Startled, they fumbled out their weapons.

“Y, yes! We were going to help!”

“Starting now!”

Thirteen students finally joined in.

“Turn solid rock into soft mud!”

Melek held his staff and cast a spell. The magic students each added their spells to weaken the golems further.

Thunk!

The added support worked. Suhyeok’s and Kylus’s blades pierced through a golem for the first time, and their faces brightened.

Whish!

An archer’s arrow followed, striking weak spots like the neck and ankle joints.

“Hyaah!”

The close–range fighters shouted as they swung their swords. With everyone attacking at once, the weakened golems’ forms quickly crumbled.

“Hah… hah…”

Yohan was sweating as he held the golems down until the very end.

“Yohan. You can let go now.”

Mikael advised gently, seeing how exhausted Yohan was from maintaining such delicate control. However, Yohan didn’t stop until the golems were completely destroyed. Only after he was certain that they had won did he withdraw the power and fell to the ground.

He didn’t even care about dirt getting on his clothes as he sat down and wiped his face. A hand with long, straight fingers appeared in front of him. It was offered to him, asking to be taken. Yohan hesitated, then grabbed Mikael’s hand and stood up.

“Thank you.”

“This wasn’t much.”

After telling him he did well, Mikael let go and walked toward the fallen golems. Yohan watched his back for a moment, took a deep breath, and rejoined the others.

“Yohan!”

Suhyeok ran over and hugged him.

“Thank you! That was you holding the golems the whole time? You’re amazing!”

He patted Yohan’s back as he thanked him. It felt nice, though Yohan’s back tingled from the hits, so he pushed Suhyeok away and looked at the shattered golem pieces.

…They really defeated them.

Seeing the remains with his own eyes made the victory real. Yohan smiled, gathered his excited friends who were spinning him around by the hands, and looked at the temple–like structure the golems had been guarding.

“Let’s go.”

Still excited from the win, Suhyeok led the students forward.