"Does it really have no counter?" Dilba asked, eyeing the fire.
"If the target has no mana, it does nothing. But finding a magical creature or artifact without mana is almost impossible," Alistair explained.
"Still, I need to dissect this thing manually," Alistair said. "If I burn it to ash, I might destroy the artifact inside."
He hurled a ball of Azure Flame. It splashed across the golem, turning it into a 'burning man.'
"Too easy," Alistair muttered, his instincts screaming. He suddenly grabbed Rie and Dilba, leaping twenty meters away.
BOOM!
A second golem slammed into the spot where they had just been standing. The impact shattered the ground in a thirty-foot radius.
"A second one?! No... a clone?" Alistair looked back at the first one; it was already cinders.
"I didn't even sense it," Dilba said, ashamed.
"Neither did I. That was pure instinct," Alistair said. "Rie?"
"Nothing. It wasn't just a visual trick; it was completely erased from my perception," Rie said, gripping her scissors.
"Let me handle this." Alistair activated the power of his Talismans. In a blink, he was in front of the golem.
BANG!
He slammed a fist into its chest with the force of a freight train.
"Nothing?" Alistair frowned. The golem was unscathed, though it seemed momentarily stunned. He punched again, but it was like hitting an anvil. The golem moved slowly—like an old man doing Tai Chi—but its slow, light fist eventually touched Alistair's chest.
KABOOM!
An unbelievable force exploded against Alistair, sending him flying through three brick walls.
"Ugh..." Alistair peeled himself off the rubble. "That wasn't a normal punch. It was a 'Force Multiplier.' It took a slow movement and magnified the kinetic energy at the point of contact."
"Rie! Hit it again!" Dilba shouted. "Your scissors worked before!"
"It's using 'Weapon' abilities," Rie realized. "It's mimicking the powers of human exorcists."
"Using human weapons? But that's impossible without a soul connection!" Dilba cried.
"The creator is a Demigod," Alistair reminded them. "Standard logic doesn't apply."
Alistair stood up and took a deep breath. He contacted Sadako through their mental link. Sadako, release the seal.
He turned toward the war golem and spoke a single word.
"EXTINGUISH."
The world went silent. No explosion, no flash.
Thud.
The golem collapsed, its internal energy snuffed out like a candle. Simultaneously, Alistair's entire mana pool and stamina were drained to zero. Thanks to the 'Horse' and 'Goat' talismans, he didn't faint, but he wobbled for a moment.
"Damn... that one word cost me everything," Alistair muttered, walking toward the heap of flesh.
"Was that... Kotodama (Word Soul)?" Dilba asked, her jaw dropping. "You just commanded the laws of the world? And you're just 'tired'?"
"Actually," Rie said, patting Dilba's shoulder, "Alistair is here specifically to learn how to control his 'uncontrollable' mouth."