Writing a battle against the Golems was trickier than I thought it'd be.
Chapter 59 – Guardians of the Chalice (Red Wolf Moon)
The giant automaton that approached the students was unlike anything they had ever seen before. In some ways, it looked a bit like a giant Fortress Knight, but with much longer arms. Its head had a vaguely humanoid face, but it was clear that the metal beast was anything but human. The Crest of Seiros was emblazoned on its chest plate.
The Golem looked at the students and, in a mechanical voice, said, "INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. IDENTIFY. IDENTIFY."
"Whoa, what the hell is that thing?" said Leonie.
"Looks like some kind of gigantic toy," said Claude.
The Golem then said, "PRESENT IDENTIFICATION IMMEDIATELY."
"Identa-what?" Raphael said in confusion.
"I… don't have the slightest idea what's going on," said Yuri, "but I know this doesn't bode well for us."
"Sounds to me like it wants us to show it something," said Anna. "But, given this thing was probably made thousands of years ago…"
"We probably don't have what it wants, right?" asked Dorothea, to which Anna nodded.
After a second, the Golem said, "IDENTIFICATION NOT VERIFIED. SUBJECTS ARE UNKNOWN. INITIATING COMBAT PROTOCOL."
"That doesn't sound good," said Hapi.
As if on cue, the Golem raised one of its spindly arms and a lance made of pure light energy began to form in its hand.
"FINAL WARNING," said the Golem. "WITHDRAW OR BE TERMINATED."
"So, this thing wants a fight, does it?" said Balthus as he readied his gauntlets. "Could be fun. It's been a while since I've met an enemy that could put up a good fight! Hey, you! Meet your master, pal! I'm gonna pummel you into my own personal shield!"
"SUBJECTS ARE HOSTILE. COMMENCING TERMINATION."
As Balthus was about to rush forward, the Golem swung its lance and threw it at the students. Dorothea was the first to react, throwing her arms forward as she channeled a ward. Her hairclip shimmered as its enchantment was added to her ward, strengthening it as the energy lance struck it. But even with the enchantment, Dorothea's ward shattered like glass as she let out a yelp. Fortunately, the energy lance dissipated upon breaking the ward.
"C-Careful, this thing packs a wallop!" said Dorothea.
"Yeah? Well let's see how it likes this!" said Hapi as she readied a Miasma Δ spell and fired it at the Golem.
The spell struck the Golem's plating and, to Hapi's shock, barely left a scorch mark.
"What the?!"
"Wow, that's some serious magical protection," said Ingrid as she readied Luin.
"Hey, Anna, any ideas?" said Yuri. "You're the Magitek expert here."
"Hey, I didn't say I was an expert!" Anna replied. Then, pondering to herself, she said "But if this thing's like a Guardian…"
The Golem readied another energy lance and threw it, forcing the students to spread out. The attack exploded upon hitting the ground as the students went into cover behind some rocks.
"Teach, what's the plan?" Claude said to Byleth.
As Byleth began formulating her plan in her head, Ashe and Ignatz stood up and fired arrows at the Golem, but the projectiles bounced harmlessly off its armor.
"Okay, that's not going to work," Ashe said as he ducked back into cover.
"Great, so magic and arrows are almost useless," said Felix.
"Only on the outside," Anna interrupted. "I think if we can get through its plating, we should be able to damage it from the inside."
"Sounds easier said than done," said Sylvain.
Byleth then finished her battle plan as she shouted, "Okay, axes, swords and lances up front. Try to concentrate your attacks on a single point in its armor. Archers will try to distract it. Mages will block its attacks. Once we get through its plating, Lysithea and Constance will finish it off."
"Alright, let's do this!" shouted Balthus as he rushed out of cover.
The students surged out of the rocks, with Bernadetta, Ignatz, Ashe and Leonie all aiming their bows at the Golem's head. Their shots broke harmlessly on the Golem's face, but this ended up getting its attention.
"TERMINATING HOSTILES."
The Golem threw another energy lance at the archers. This lance was met by a combined ward spell from the mage students, with Dorothea being the focal point of their spell. The lance hit the ward, but it failed to breach it this time. As the Golem returned to its ready stance from its attack, Edelgard, Hilda and Caspar all let out shouts as they swung their axes at the Golem, each of them striking the same spot one after another. Edelgard's hit managed to cut into the Golem's plating, leaving a deep gash and allowing one a small view of its insides.
"Balthus, Raphael, rip open that hole in its armor!" shouted Byleth.
"Heh, no problem!" Balthus replied confidently as he and Raphael rushed forward.
The two muscular grapplers wrapped their fingers into the gash in the Golem's armor and, with loud grunts, they literally pulled the metal open. The students could now see the Golem's internal mechanisms whirring and spinning within.
"ARMOR COMPROMISED," the Golem said.
"Constance, Lysithea, NOW!" Byleth shouted to the two mages.
"Got it!" Lysithea said as she readied a Seraphim spell.
"I have little hope that this will be successful," Constance said depressingly as she readied her own Sagittae spell.
Both mages unleashed their spells, each flying into the Golem's insides and exploding inside. The Golem began to jerk and spasm wildly as its internal mechanisms were wrecked.
"D-D-DAMAGE C-C-CRITICAL. S-S-S-SYSTEM F-F-FAILURE…"
The Golem's movements slowed rapidly as Balthus ran up toward it and jumped, delivering a hard punch to the Golem's head. This sent the Golem toppling backward, hitting the ground with a loud crash. The automaton stopped moving as its whirring shut down.
Shaking his arms, Balthus said, "Hehe, well, that was easy."
But then, as though on cue, the students heard more whirring sounds coming from further into the fog. They then saw the silhouettes of at least seven more Golems as they came online.
Annoyed, Hapi said, "Nice job jinxing it, B."
"H-Hey, don't blame me!"
"There's too many of them! We should run!" said Bernadetta.
"Y-Yeah, I think we're a bit outmatched here," said Annette. "Maybe this isn't even the Chasm of the Bound."
"Oh no, this is definitely the place," said Anna. "You don't have this much security unless there's something really valuable to find here."
"A valid point," said Dedue.
"What is your plan, Professor Eisner?" asked Dimitri.
"Maybe we should take them one at a time," said Ignatz.
"I don't think they're going to give us that luxury," replied Lysithea.
Byleth knew Lysithea was right. The Golems were each moving to engage them, and it would take too long to bring them down one by one. She would have just had the mages blast them all at once with a combined spell, but the Golems' magic-resistant armor would likely survive such an attack. Fortunately, the Golems were advancing quite slowly, so she had time to think.
Then, as the students continued to debate what to do, Dorothea managed to peer through the fog to see one of the Golems was different from the others. It had gold-colored armor rather than silver, with a head that looked like a fancy helmet. Curiously, hanging from the Golem's neck was a chain with a strange stone attached to it.
"Professor? Look at that one," Dorothea said to Byleth. "What's that around its neck?"
Byleth saw the unique Golem and realized it wasn't moving toward the students like the others. Instead, it positioned itself before five statues. The fog was clearing, so now the students could see the unique Golem and the statues as well.
"If I may presume to offer my opinion," said Constance, "the statues may also warrant scrutiny."
"Uh, sure," said Dorothea, still not used to Constance's submissive side.
Dorothea and Byleth looked at the statues. Each statue had a combination of four Crests upon it, with most of the Crests being easily recognized as those of the Ten Heroes. One of the statues, however, had four Crests that the students did not know of.
"That thing around its neck must be a key for something," said Linhardt. "Perhaps for a mechanism within the statues?"
"It's worth investigating," said Edelgard. "But first, we must deal with the other guardians."
"Well then, Professor Eisner?" asked Hubert. "Surely you have a plan by now."
"Dimitri, cover our left flank and try to stall some of them. Take Dedue, Marianne, Leonie, Ferdinand, Ashe, Lorenz and Hapi with you. The rest of us will try and bring some of them down on this side. Just distract them for now; don't try to bring them down."
"Understood, Professor," said Dimitri as he led the others to the left flank.
"Everybody else, follow me!"
With Byleth's command, the battle against the Golems began in earnest. The first Golem to approach the main group readied an energy lance as Ingrid rushed forward and stabbed at it with Luin, the Hero's Relic easily carving through the Golem's armor. The Golem swung its lance at Ingrid, who leapt away a second too late and got hit by a small shockwave from the energy lance's impact. She flew back right into Sylvain's arms.
"Easy, I got you, Ingrid!" said Sylvain.
"Th-Thanks, I– Hey! Watch where you're grabbing me!"
Sylvain immediately realized his error as, in his haste to catch Ingrid, he had accidentally gotten a handful of her posterior.
"Sorry! Total accident!"
"I wish I could believe that!"
"Will you two focus on the battle?!" Felix snapped as he readied his blade, slashing at the spot Ingrid had struck. His blow, enhanced by the Crest of Fraldarius, widened the breach in the Golem's armor.
Felix then jumped back to avoid the Golem's counterattack as it spun its arms around it, trying to swat him and Caspar away. Caspar weaved through the attack and smashed his axe through the armor of the Golem, bending it inwards to leave a large hole. Hubert took advantage of the opening and sent a Miasma Δ inside, while Mercedes also hit the same spot with a fireball. The spells devastated the insides of the Golem, but it still readied another energy lance in its right hand. Its attack never finished before Felix leapt up and, with a loud shout and another shimmer of the Major Crest of Fraldarius, slashed the arm in two. The Golem's internals finally failed it as it slumped forward and shut down.
At the same time, Raphael and Balthus both tried using their gauntlet weapons to pound open another Golem's armor, but Raphael's blow proved ineffective, his gauntlet weapon far less potent than Balthus'. The Golem he was attacking would have swatted him had an arrow from Ignatz not hit it in the head, drawing the Golem's attention. Several blasts of Wind also struck the Golem, but its magic-resistant armor caused the spells to barely scratch it.
"Aww, this sucks!" Annette whined.
However, this distraction gave Anna the chance to rush up behind the Golem and jump up onto its shoulder. Before the Golem could react, Anna thrust her Levin Sword into an opening in the Golem's armor, jamming the blade inside and unleashing a torrent of electricity into it. The Golem spasmed wildly as it went haywire.
Realizing what was about to happen, Anna ripped out her sword and jumped away seconds before the Golem exploded, sending shards of metal flying all over the place. The students were quick to take cover from the blast, though Edelgard wasn't quick enough and ended with several metal fragments embedded in her armor and shield.
"Lady Edelgard!" Hubert shouted with concern.
"I'm alright!" Edelgard replied. "It didn't get through my armor."
"Watch out, here comes another one!" shouted Yuri.
Byleth rushed forward to meet this one, dodging a swing from the Golem's left arm before slashing at its metal limb. The Sword of the Creator cleaved through it as if it were paper.
"Their arms are weaker than the rest of them!" Byleth shouted to the students. "Aim for their limbs!"
"Got it, Teach!" shouted Claude as he and Ignatz readied another arrow, both taking careful aim at the Golem's right arm joint.
Seeing this, Byleth maneuvered toward the Golem's right side. As she predicted, the Golem raised its arm to ready another energy lance. Claude and Ignatz fired, both arrows hitting the Golem's exposed arm and piercing through it. The arm quickly malfunctioned and started flailing around uncontrollably and, a second later, the Golem's own lance pierced into its side.
"Ooh, nice!" Balthus said in praise.
The Golem sputtered and whirred for a moment, but the damage it had dealt itself was too severe, and it quickly powered down.
Just then, Byleth heard a cry from Leonie, and whirled around to see the Sauin girl had just been swatted into a rock by one of the Golems. Leonie fell to her knees as her right arm bent at an odd angle; she had likely dislocated it. Now the Golem was raising its left arm and another energy lance to strike her down.
Byleth was about to consider using the Divine Pulse when she saw a blur of violet hair dart up the Golem's side and realized Petra had gone to assist. Petra let out a shout as she slashed through the Golem's left arm, cleaving it in two with her blade.
But as Petra landed on the ground, the Golem moved with incredible speed and grabbed the Brigid princess in its remaining hand.
"PETRA!" Dorothea screamed as Petra was lifted from the ground, losing her blade in the process.
Petra tried to squirm free of the Golem's grip, but she couldn't get loose. Meanwhile, Dimitri and the others in the flank force were preoccupied trying to fend off another Golem. The Golem then began to clench its hand, and Petra screamed out in pain as the Golem threatened to crush her in its grip.
At that moment, the Golem's arm was suddenly struck by a massive bolt of lightning from above, one that shattered the Golem's limb and sent Petra to the ground. Unfortunately, she ended up taking part of the shock and, as she landed, her body convulsed for a moment from the shock. As Petra shook on the ground, the Golem was then hit in the neck by a javelin thrown by Dimitri. The small lance pierced through the Golem's plating, which was clearly thinner at the neck, and caused it to spasm before it toppled over and crashed to the ground.
Dorothea immediately knew what spell had been used to save Petra: Bolting, one of the most powerful lightning spells known in Fódlan. Dorothea lacked the skill to use it herself, and none of the other first-year girls could cast it. That left only one person.
The singer turned toward Constance, who had just finished the spell.
"Constance…"
Dorothea was stunned that Constance, of all people, had been the one to save Petra. She thought that, even in her depressed state, the blonde would never have stuck her neck out for the Brigid princess.
Just then, Dorothea heard Marianne say, "Petra, are you alright?"
Dorothea turned back to Petra as the Brigid girl said in pain, "I-I am hurting, but I am alive."
"You have my deepest apologies, Princess of Brigid," Constance said sadly. "No doubt my intervention caused you more harm than good."
"Don't be like that, Constance," said Mercedes. "You saved her life!"
"I do not deserve such praise, dear Mercedes. Surely, she is furious at my clumsiness, as well as at my horrible words from before. There is no chance at all that she would ever forgive me."
"Constance, I have gratitude for your help," said Petra.
Seeing this exchange, Dorothea was once again left flabbergasted by Constance's pessimistic state.
The exchange was broken up as Ferdinand and Lorenz both brought down the last of the lesser Golems.
"Magnificent!" said Lorenz.
"Splendorous!" added Ferdinand.
As the two nobles boasted over their victory, Dorothea let out a groan of exasperation.
"Only one left, Professor!" shouted Yuri.
Byleth and Dorothea turned to see the final Golem, Marcelle, as it readied itself for battle.
Immediately Byleth began giving orders again. "Mercedes, Marianne, Linhardt, tend to the wounded. Everyone else, form up! Let's finish this!"
Chapter length again. We'll finish this fight up in the next chapter.
To be honest, I didn't quite like the designs for the Golems in 3H. I guess I'm a sucker for the ones in Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Of course, none of them hold a candle to the Crystal Dragon from said game. :)
The Golems were given a kind of hi-tech dialogue because, let's face it, they're ancient Magitek like the Guardians from Breath of the Wild (I loved those pot-like laser mechs). And yes, I know regular Golems are weak to magic, but really, most fantasy media have Golems being magic-resistant. I felt that was more appropriate.
And let me tell you something else: writing sunlight Constance is TRICKY. I much prefer shady lady.