They reached the courtyard the golem rose in, its fist striking the Void Tower once more. Tabitha couldn't see whoever was controlling it, but that didn't matter. If the mage wasn't nearby, defeating the golem itself was an option.
"Wow." Aselith slowed as he looked up at it. "A triangle-class spell, huh? This is quite different from the demonstrations you gave in class." He then let out a chuckle. "What a difference between triangle mages."
She knew he wasn't referring to her, but to Mott. His retelling of the fight would have led her to think Mott was actually a sloppy line mage, given he used ice, a combination of wind and water.
This was hardly the time for such comments, especially with Kirche next to them, and…
"Louise." Tabitha spotted the girl as she ran up next to them, Saito right behind her.
"Hm?" Aselith looked back. "Ah, Saito. Did you want the first strike?"
"No way!" Saito instantly refused.
Louise, ignoring the two of them, chanted out a spell. "Fireball!"
She pointed her wand up at the golem. Predictably, her spell ended in an explosion, hardly damaging the golem at all.
"Aselith." Tabitha turned back to her familiar.
"On it." He raised his hand. A large gout of flames spewed from his palm and engulfed the golem.
"Well, I'd hate to be outdone~." Kirche chanted her own spell. "Fireball!"
Aselith's fire continued to spray as Kirche added her own, the latter ending after a few seconds. The golem's arm started to break away, the heat beginning to crumble and crack the earth making it up.
"Hm." Aselith continued his attack as the golem turned to face them. "I might need to get closer."
"Dangerous." Tabitha told him, preparing her staff.
"Hardly." Aselith smirked and cut off his magic. He ran forward, wings sprouting from his back.
"He can fly!?" Kirche called out as Aselith took to the air.
Tabitha paid her friend no mind, focusing on her own spell. As Aselith flapped his wings and gained altitude, Tabitha was preparing to keep the golem in place.
Aselith, less than a dozen feet from the golems head, unleashed fire from both his palms. The flames were concentrated in a smaller area, dealing much more damage than before.
The golem waved its arms about, trying to swat Aselith out of the air. He was able to bob and weave around the huge arms, continuing his attack all the while.
Tabitha extended her staff. "Glacier." Ice protruded from the ground, encasing the golem's feet in thick ice.
The golem wobbled and nearly fell back, barely keeping itself somewhat upright by bracing an arm against the Void Tower.
Aselith took the opportunity to fly to the golem's head once more, landing on it.
"What's he…" Kirche began to ask, only for her question to be answered.
Aselith reeled back, as if taking in a deep breath, and a stream of white fire spewed from his mouth onto the golem's head. The earth that made it up cracked, red lines appearing over its torso from the heat.
The golem was able to right itself and swiftly reached up and grabbed Aselith. The fire stopped. With a heave, it threw Aselith toward the group, plowing him into the ground.
"Aselith!" Saito yelled, dashing forward to look into the small crater.
"Ow." Was all Aselith said, body embedded in the ground.
"Okay?" Tabitha asked as he slowly pulled himself out of his confinement.
As he stood and lightly brushed himself off, the golem broke free one of its legs and started on the other. With that level of reasoning, the mage controlling it must be nearby to give it directions. Otherwise, the golem would either need to be a spell specialized by the mage, or the mage was square class.
"Well, I felt that." Aselith commented. "More when it crushed me than the impact. Magical energy runs freely through it. I thought it would be more contained, but this is more of a sustained spell than one simply cast and let loose."
"Why are you acting like this isn't a problem!?" Louise yelled.
"Because it isn't." Aselith shrugged. "When we arrived, it was fighting the tower, and losing."
"Enchanted." Tabitha supplied. "Vault."
"Then this is a poor attempt at theft." Aselith stated. "Anyway, Saito, time to fight."
"What!?" Saito looked between Aselith and the golem. "You want me to fight that!?"
"Not alone, if that's what you're thinking." He replied, holding out his fist. "Us familiars can handle this."
"Saito can't fight something like that!" Louise yelled.
Aselith arched an eyebrow, smirking. "Why don't you show her what you can and can't do, Saito?"
Saito once more looked between Aselith and the golem. His expression changed. He still looked afraid, but there was resolve there. With a nod, he punched Aselith's fist with his own and drew his sword from his hip.
"Saito, stop!" Louise called as Saito ran for the golem. "Saito!"
Despite the golem proving itself resistant to their magic, Tabitha wasn't worried. She highly doubted Aselith would let anything happen to any of them, let alone Saito.
It occurred to her that perhaps he was waiting for some opportunity for Saito to properly demonstrate his power. Maybe this would make Louise realize just how strong her familiar was.
Saito ran with frightening speed at the golem, now completely free of Tabitha's spell. In a movement Tabitha could barely see, Saito slashed the golem's leg, cutting off its foot. It stumbled back, the earth at its wound beginning to collect dirt and rock around it to reform.
Aselith flew up again, blasting it with more fire from his mouth. The golem was forced to block the flames with its arm, seeing as it wasn't fast enough to strike Aselith. The flames were slowly breaking the limb apart.
On the ground, Saito cut into the other leg, breaking apart the dirt that held it together and sending the golem to the ground. The earth shook with the impact, forcing the three girls to steady themselves.
Saito leaped onto the golem's body and ran toward its chest. Its arms reached over to grab him. Aselith dropped from the air and interposed himself between one hand and Saito. With his arms up, he grabbed the earthen hand, sliding back only a few feet before stopping it entirely.
With his back covered, Saito thrust his sword through the golem's other hand and swung heavily, cutting it down past the wrist and breaking it apart. While it reformed, he stood on the golem's chest, sword angled down.
"Hah!" With a yell, he plunged his sword deep into the golem's chest. It flailed as best it could on the ground, its movements slowing down immediately. Within a few seconds, it stopped completely.
The two of them shifted position as the golem broke apart, the arm crumbling away and the torso caving in. Aselith grabbed Saito and jumped back, his wings beating a few times to slow their descent to stable ground.
They stared at the defeated golem, the only movement from its remains shifting and falling apart.
"Did I…did we do that?" Saito asked, staring at the remains of the golem as he stood next to Aselith.
"You did most of the work." Aselith replied, placing a hand on Saito's shoulder. "Be proud of what you've done."
"I…yeah." Saito gave a nod. It was hard to see from this angle, but Tabitha could see a pleased smile on Saito's lips.
"Saito…" Next to Tabitha, Louise looked dumbfounded. She probably couldn't believe her 'worthless' familiar was capable of that.
Meanwhile, Tabitha could only speculate about her own familiar. She wouldn't say Aselith held back, but he had the physical strength to resist the golem's arm, if only when it was in a compromised position. That was a bit more than what he told her before, but it wasn't as if she ever got a comprehensive list of all his abilities.
That could be for later. For now, the short attack on the academy from an unknown mage was partially thwarted. Now was the time to search for the mage.
Author's Notes:
A short battle, and it went differently than the anime. It was already going to be different than the novel, since Fouquet actually attacked at night in that and there was no exhibit.