Ellis breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Damn it, even though I wanted to take it easy, it still ended up like this.” He outwardly complained as he jumped off the fallen titan’s chest and hobbled towards the side.

Ellis had aimed for a perfect victory, but somewhere along the way, he had turned into this mess of a man with blood on his clothes and holes in his skin.

He tentatively stepped on his right foot, only to let out a wince of pain. The heel of his foot ached. He was fairly certain that he had sprained it. No, it was more than that. It felt as if all the bones in his right foot had disintegrated.

Just moving it hurt. Ellis was well accustomed to pain, but this was a sort of pain that he had never quite experienced before. If he had to compare it to something, then it would be like a bag of marbles. In this case, the marbles were actually broken pieces of bone, the bag was his rapidly swelling right foot, and each twitch, jitter, and shake of said bag sent waves of pain coursing through his mind.

Suffice to say, it wasn’t exactly a very pleasant experience to have.

Normally, an injury like this would have long since healed by now. In fact, most of his current injuries should have already healed. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was quite different. He was still injured and he was still in pain.

The fault of his current predicament was nobody else’s but his. After all, who told him to be in such a weakened state?

This current condition of his not only made his body weaker, but it also slowed down his rate of recovery. For a freak of nature like him, being brought down to this level was truly quite torturous.

Since this was his first time ever experiencing something like this, Ellis did not know when he would return to normal. Going by the severity of his current injuries, there was a real risk of him collapsing from blood loss.

Even if I do, at least there’s someone here who probably won’t mind. He unconsciously glanced down. Right now, a certain flesh-colored slime was lapping up the blood that had splattered on the ground.

Ellis could only shake his head in exasperation.

Still, that burst of strength was quite convenient. Is there a way for me to control it?

Not everything about his situation was bad.

Despite the inconvenience, Ellis felt a bit expectant. The burst of strength that he had displayed was unlike anything he had ever produced before. It was sort of like a special move, a last-ditch all-or-nothing skill that the hero pulls out during times of danger. Was it possible for Ellis to learn how to control it? For him to enter that state willingly and on command?

Right now, he was still somewhat uncertain, but at the very least, he now had something to his name other than just his irregular strength… Granted, that something turned out to be an even more irregular version of his irregular strength, but the point still stands.

As such thoughts ran through his mind, Ena and Wight had arrived. The little fox floated in the air and maintained an altitude close to eye-contact. In comparison, Wight had sprinted all the way here. She rubbed up against his leg (which undoubtedly caused him no small amounts of pain), while her tail wagged excitedly behind her.

With the trio all gathered together, they finally walked back over to the fallen giant.

The Golem was not yet completely immobile. Its limbs occasionally twitched, while its head struggled to look up. Unfortunately, no matter how hard it tried, it simply could not move.

Ellis unceremoniously climbed back on top of its chest and yanked out the spear.

“…”

A soft squelch echoed through the air. As expected, the tip of the blade was coated in red. It slowly dripped down onto the Golem’s wooden breastplate like black ink on a white piece of paper.

Ellis only glanced at the blood once before he completely ignored it. He then proceeded to carve out a fairly sizable hole on its chest using his spear. After a bit of effort, he eventually managed to trace out a crooked circle. He then pried the ‘lid’ open using his spear tip. It was a similar process to opening a stubborn jar of pickles using the flat portion of a spoon.

Once he removed the lid, his eyes immediately widened.

There, he could see it.

It was a girl strapped to the inside of the Golem. Her frail body practically hung in the center of the Golem’s empty cavity. She was held aloft by a number of vines. What’s more, she was completely and utterly naked.

Ellis narrowed his eyes.

The girl… she looked young.

At first glance, her appearance suggested a woman no more than twenty-years-old, but the silver in her hair added an indeterminant amount of years to her overall image. Like with the first girl, this one also had a set of squirrel ears on top of her head. Her eyes were somewhat vague and glassy, but nevertheless, she glared up at him with pure and undisguised hatred.

Ellis frowned. He did not have the time to appreciate her bare-naked breasts. Instead, he asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”

The woman opened her mouth to speak. Unfortunately, he was unable to understand her. Not only was her voice hoarse and raspy, but the woman also spoke in an unknown language.

The frown on his face deepened.

Just as he was about to ask another question, Grisella and the rest of the group had arrived. It took them quite a while to recover from the shock of the battle, so Ellis did not blame them for their tardiness.

The solitary witch stared at the inside of the Golem cavity with perplexed eyes. A clear look of confusion colored her face. For all of her smarts, she had never once expected such an outcome. To think, these giant lumbering wood Golems were, in actual fact, a pair of beautiful naked girls!

What’s more, that wasn’t the only thing that surprised her…

After a large bout of silence, Grisella eventually spoke up, “She… she calls herself a holy warrior. A guardian of the Goddess’s divine army…”

Ellis raised his brow. “You can understand her?”

“Yes,” she nodded her head. “They speak a tongue that my master once taught me, but…” she hesitated for a split second, “that language hasn’t appeared within this world in a very, very long time!”

A deep crease appeared between her brows. The thing that her master had taught her was actually a common language used during the primeval era of the Gods. Back then, she was only granted the right to learn it purely on the basis of tradition. Up until now, Grisella never once expected to actually make use of it.

After all, what sort of concept was the Era of the Gods?

Most of today’s history books only possessed records dating back to 100,000 years ago, back when the lands had yet to be united and the races of man were still well within their infancy. The earliest known language arose around the same time the first major civilization came into power.

The Balakans, a group of tightly connected tribes that resided within the eastern shores of the continent. Together, they were loosely considered the first major civilization of recorded history. Their records went as far back as 81,000 years ago.

For comparison’s sake, the Medina Dynasty was only 3,000 years old, and even that was already considered ancient!

The history that she knew of contradicted with the purported ancient knowledge that her master had taught her.

According to her master, the Primeval Era of the Gods was a period in time in which the deities walked along-side man. They ruled large and powerful kingdoms that spanned the entire globe. It was a time of great prosperity and technological and mystic advancement. Most importantly, that era had lasted for tens of millions of years before it abruptly came to an end roughly 1.5 million years ago.

As a child, she wholeheartedly took her master’s teachings as Gospel, but when she grew older and began exploring the world on her own, for the first time, she came to doubt her master’s words.

After all, how could an era of Gods and mighty kingdoms exist more than a million years ago when the first traces of civilization traced back to a mere 100,000 years?

The very concept of a million years in of itself was already a completely absurd thing that she had trouble wrapping her head around.

What’s more, her master had no real proof of this Primeval era, aside from an obscure language with a questionable background.

Now, despite all of her doubts, that language suddenly showed up here, ring in front of the holy city of a lost god.

She couldn’t help but wonder, had her master been telling the truth all this time?

Grisella turned her attention back onto the girl inside the Golem.

Her mana was thin, almost negligible. Rather than the girl actually being a calamity-class existence, it was more accurate to say that the Golem was a set of ‘armor’ that could transform someone into a calamity-class threat.

Grisella’s frown only deepened.

Weapons and armors possessing great power were not unique concepts. In fact, many such tales could be found in virtually every corner of the globe. Still, a legend was one thing, but an actual working model?

Her shoulder’s uncontrollably trembled. It was an unprecedented discovery!

Of course, off to the side, Ellis held similar thoughts.

Truth be told, he thought that the Golem kind of resembled a mech. Giant, thirty-meter wooden mechs were certainly the type of fantasy thing that an author looking to subvert tropes would come up with.

Ellis, being the man that he was, also yearned for the romance of one day piloting a giant city-destroying robot. Right now, he felt as if he had taken an incomparably small step towards achieving this dream.

“…”

He shook his head and pushed aside his wandering thoughts. Ellis focused his attention back onto the naked girl within the Golem cavity. Her breath had turned shallow, while the fog that obscured her eyes had unknowingly increased.

“Why are you guarding this city?” He asked.

“…” Even after waiting for a while, the girl did not respond.

“Are there more people inside the city?”

“…” Again, no response.

“Where did you get that armor?”

“…”

Ellis proceeded to ask the girl a few more questions. Of course, all of his questions had been translated by Grisella. Unfortunately, even after five minutes passed, the girl remained silent. She stubbornly bit down on her lower lip and glared up at him with vengeful eyes.

In response, Ellis furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his head.

After his unsuccessful session of questioning, he did not really know what else to say to this obstinate lady. He had several more questions floating around in his head but unfortunately, getting a response to those questions seemed all but impossible.

“… for now, let’s wait.”

He originally wanted to take a quick break. Ellis hoped that time and the constant pain (she was still injured, after all) would ebb away at her stubbornness. Leaving her in pain like this was a form of torture, but it couldn’t be helped. He really had no other solution. After she was thoroughly subdued, he would come and ask his questions again.

Unfortunately, his plan would never come to fruition.

As the seconds ticked by, the girl’s expression grew paler and paler.

His frown deepened.

Is she dying?

In retrospect, it wasn’t surprising. The spear had pierced through her chest, right where her heart should be. Even now, he could still see the big red gash that traveled from her collarbone all the way to her ribcage. Most normal people would be dead by now.

Should I heal her? He inwardly wondered.

There were still a lot of things that he wanted to know and this girl’s existence certainly made him curious. In a seemingly abandoned ancient city like this, why was such a young girl here? Why was she inside the Golem? Why was she guarding the archway? Were there other people inside the city?

… Also, she was a beautiful individual. Some part of his baser mind did not want to see a cute girl like her die a dog’s death.

Staring down at the girl, he knew in his heart that he would not be able to get the answers that he so desperately wanted, nor would he be able to save her. The girl’s skin began to wither. Ellis watched in both shock and horror. She had gone from looking like someone in her late teenage years to someone well past the precipices of adulthood. She rapidly aged as the seconds flashed by.

“…”

At the brink of death, the girl suddenly opened her mouth and spoke. Grisella quickly translated, although her expression remained in a state of disbelief.

“I… I have guarded the holy city for more than a… a million years. To think that I would fall here… how truly lau—”

Before she could finish, the girl was abruptly interrupted.

To everyone’s surprise, Mumei suddenly wormed its way into the Golem cavity and attacked.

The squirrel woman’s eyes bulged in shock. She was completely caught off guard. Everyone watched in mute horror as the little slime jumped directly into her still open mouth.

The following scene was a truly gruesome one.

Suffice to say, Mumei ate her. No, it was more than that. The little slime melted her body from the inside out and absorbed all of her liquified remains. It did not even leave a single drop of blood behind!

A long silence filled the air. Eventually, Ellis finally reacted, “You… you wretched thing! We were having a discussion, what the hell!?”

He was truly stunned by the audaciousness of this little fellow.

After Mumei’s unexpected outburst, Ellis hurriedly ran to the Golem. He leaned over and thoroughly investigated the insides of the now empty shell. Not at all to his surprise, there was absolutely nothing there.

He breathed out an exasperated sigh.

“Damn, you really went and killed her…” For some reason, a strange feeling of disappointment welled up within his heart.

Mumei said nothing in response. Instead, it crawled up his leg before it somehow wormed its way back onto the crown of his head.

Grisella suddenly shook her head. “No, that girl, she would have died either way.”

Ellis glanced over at her.

“You saw it too, right? The way she was aging.” She paused for a moment. “This is just a guess of mine, but… the golem and her, they might have been symbiotic. They kept each other sustained, alive. Without one or the other, neither would have worked.

“I think the moment you pried open its chest; the girl was already destined to die.”

“Not when I stabbed her in the heart?”

“No… I think, I think she could have probably recovered from that.” Grisella furrowed her brow. Even she wasn’t quite sure about her own theory. “There was something about the way the armor sealed the girl inside, I could not discern any sort of rune or magical inscription, but… the Golem, it was special.”

“I see…” Elis did not really quite get it.

The only thing that came to his mind was an image of a brain in a jar. In science fiction novels, a brain in a jar was seen as a primitive (relatively) method of sustaining a person after their intended lifespan had come to pass. Usually, a brain in a jar died the moment you took the brain out of the jar.

Was it a similar concept?

Grisella ignored Ellis’s confused expression. Instead, she bent down and briefly inspected the Golem. After a while, she stood back up and incredulously shook her head.

“It’s, it’s unbelievable, but that girl, what she said was true. I checked the wood. It’s… it’s old, far older than what I can identify. All that stuff about being one million years old… there’s a big possibility that all that was true!”

“…”

Ellis did not say anything. One million years… that was a frightening concept! Were the Gods still alive one million years ago? What about Alma? Ellis wasn’t really certain, but there was a small possibility that Alma had still been alive back then. Heck, he might have even still been a god!

“…”

No, more importantly, how did that girl live for so long?

There was a possibility that she might have been a member of a long-lived race, like the elves of legend, but for some reason, Ellis did not really think that was the case.

Appearance wise, aside from her pale complexion and flashy hair color, the girl had resembled the squirrels from Ilpin village. Was she connected to them somehow?

Grisella reached a similar conclusion.

“If I’m not wrong, then the wood armor originated from the holy city, and that girl, she… she’s probably a predecessor of the squirrels!”

“A predecessor, is it?” Ellis muttered to himself. That he had an easier time accepting. Still, there was a matter of her age that had yet to be settled.

The guardian of the Holy city… so, did she really stand watch over this place for so long? What was she protecting? Could there be other people inside the city…

After a few seconds, he shook his head. No, that shouldn’t be the case. After all, we made quite the ruckus out here. If there were still people there, then they would have surely reacted by now…

The more he delved into his thoughts, the more questions arose. Eventually, a trace of pity flashed in his heart. That girl, how many years had she spent in such a state? Standing guard here, all alone… wait. That’s not right, she wasn’t alone…

Ellis almost jumped to his feet. He suddenly remembered. He swiveled his head and immediately ran. He headed straight for the ‘object’ that he had previously thrown on the ground.

The group quickly followed after him. When they arrived, what they saw shocked them.

The first girl, the one that Ellis had mistaken for a core, she was no longer alive. In her place was a withered corpse with papery brown skin.

“…” Ellis’s expression turned gloomy.

… the moment she was separated from her armor… Ellis recalled back to what Grisella had previously said. Did the armor really possess some sort of ability that can elongate a person’s life?

Off to the side, a certain solitary witch also sported a similarly somber face.

It’s like she rapidly aged within the span of a few minutes… no, it’s more like time finally caught up with her. If that’s the case, then how was she able to retain her youth up until now?

How had she lived to such an age?

Was the girl a power source for the Golem or was the Golem the thing that kept her alive until now?

Or… or maybe, it’s just like my original conjecture. Both the girl and the armor, they helped to sustain one another.

All sorts of thoughts filled Grisella’s head. Still, one thing was clear. After seeing the decrepit state of the corpse, she was more and more certain that the girl had truly been over a million years old.

“…”

Ellis wordlessly stared at the withered corpse. Again, he felt a bit of disappointment. After all, a beautiful rose had just withered right in front of his eyes. Anybody would feel anguished after witnessing such a scene.

After a long bought of silence, he suddenly grabbed onto Mumei. He pointed the slime towards the corpse. “Go, eat that thing. You already at the other one, might as well finish both.”

To his surprise, Mumei shook its head (or at least, it’s upper body). It was a clear indication of refusal.

“You really don’t want it?”

“Ah, it probably sees no value in eating that corpse.” Grisella suddenly chimed in. “The corpse has literally zero vitality in it. Right now, it is no different from a roadside pebble.” She paused for a moment. “It’s probably why Mumei pre-emptively ate the first girl. It wanted to devour her before all of her vitality faded away.”

“I see… as expected, this fellow truly is a greedy one.” He patted the top of Mumei’s head and breathed out a sigh. He could only shake his head in dismay.

Well, in the end, it did not really matter.

“…”

“…”

The group remained silent for a long time as they stared fixedly at the withered corpse.

Should we… should we bury the corpse?

Ellis did not really know how to feel about the events that had transpired. A near-indestructible Golem, a beautiful girl as its pilot, and now a mummified corpse… it was certainly a rather unique introduction to the dead god’s holy city.

After the initial intensity of battle had faded, Ellis decided to pocket the two empty wooden Golem armors. After all, he was a man of passion. He hoped to one day ride in a mech-like robot, even if said robot was made of wood. Hopefully, he can find a way to reverse engineer the Golem Armor.

Of course, that was all for the distant future. For now, the Golems simply acted as nifty little souvenirs of his courageous battle.

With all the accounts settled for the time being, Ellis breathed out a heavy sigh and plopped onto the ground. His body ached and his mind felt strained, but for the first time in a long time, his heart was at peace.

Ellis Murrin drifted off into a dreamless sleep.