Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 195

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 195
‘Once the Domain is fully constructed, the Golem will destroy everything around it until all intruders’ life signs cease.’
I revised my strategy after confirming that Harper had escaped the Domain the Golem was constructing.
‘It’s too late to flee now.’
The Golem was expanding its Domain faster than we could run.
In that case, it would be more realistic to hold our ground until help arrived.
“Everyone, gather over here!”
I activated the Blessing of the Blue Dragon through the artifact and called everyone together.
Except for Harper, who had gone to request reinforcements, everyone had rushed toward where the horses were, so they assembled quickly.
‘The dragon supposedly cast the protective spell directly, so we should be able to endure the Golem’s attacks for a while.’
My assumption proved correct—the moment everyone remaining in the Golem’s Domain entered the shield, the Golem stopped moving.
‘I wish it would think the intruders have vanished and simply deactivate the Domain.’
But we were not granted such fortune.
The Golem began turning its head as if searching for the suddenly disappeared intruders, standing motionless in the center of its hemispherical Domain.
The ladies gathered around me began to murmur anxiously.
“What is that thing?”
“It’s a Golem. A Magical Beast.”
“A Magical Beast? Not just a monster? What do we do?”
“Is something like that really real? I’ve only ever seen them in fairy tales.”
“What if we just die here without being able to move?”
I lowered my voice and tried to comfort the frightened ladies.
“We just need to hold on until Harper brings people back.”
I spoke as calmly as I could, though I was deeply anxious myself.
The only ways to destroy a Golem were either a Sword Master’s Aura or a magic spell of 7th Circle or higher to shatter the core at its center.
I would have to endure until Ed or the Master of the Magic Tower arrived.
‘But I don’t know how long the Blessing of the Blue Dragon will last.’
I looked down anxiously at the artifact, its blue light gradually fading.
‘How much mana was it charged with?’
No matter how tightly packed we were, sheltering over forty people and over forty horses required a substantially large shield.
The artifact’s power drained rapidly to compensate.
From my first activation of it, the Blessing of the Blue Dragon seemed to be an artifact specialized in blocking sudden, powerful attacks.
An hour passed—an eternity.
By now, word should have reached the outside.
‘It’s bound to take time.’
The orthodox method of subjugating a Golem was to destroy its core from within the Domain it had constructed.
‘Since the Domain a Golem constructs is itself a type of shield.’
I watched the artifact, now with only a faint blue glow remaining, and gnawed at my lip anxiously.
‘At this rate, the shield will fail before help arrives.’
Those outside must be doing something, but those of us inside—I, we—could only grow more anxious.
‘If the shield fails, how much longer can we possibly survive?’
I recalled the information the Twins had eagerly shared about Golems.
‘Golems move sluggishly and turn slowly, so they’re not difficult to fight.’
Of course, that assessment was by the standards of Sword Masters or 7th Circle mages.
‘If the Golem takes just one or two strides with that gait, even if I sprint at full speed, it’ll catch me.’
On horseback, we could outrun the Golem’s pursuit, but horses have their limits too.
‘Still, if something attacked it, wouldn’t its attention shift there?’
Then perhaps…?
I fell into thought, trying to organize the idea that had suddenly come to me.
‘It seems like it might work.’
The finest war horses here, a sizable force of people, and Ibeta, who is a Saint.
‘And the artifacts and other items we have.’
I raised my voice to explain my plan before the shield disappeared.
“Everyone!”
The Golem didn’t seem to rely on sound to locate intruders, but at some point everyone had stopped even breathing properly.
In that anxious silence, all the ladies’ eyes turned toward me.
I began, hoping this tension didn’t show.
“The artifact won’t last much longer.”
In truth, it seemed like the mana could run out at any moment, but people needed hope to sustain their will.
“How much longer do you think it will hold?”
“Oh, my goodness.”
Lucy, among them accustomed to extreme situations, asked calmly, while the youngest ladies began to whimper.
I answered while carefully hiding my left hand so people’s eyes wouldn’t land on the Blessing of the Blue Dragon, which had nearly lost its blue glow entirely.
“Not very long. Once the shield fails, the Golem will find us. Once it detects its targets—us—it will likely attack immediately. However.”
I explained my plan before despair could settle among us.
“Golems move in simple patterns and turn slowly. And if there’s a living creature within its Domain that has attacked it, the Golem will try to deal with that creature first.”
I picked up a twig from the ground and drew a diagram on the dirt.
“Each group will position itself on opposite sides of a circle like this.”
With the Golem in the center.
“When someone approaches the Golem and shoots an arrow, the Golem will chase that one person, right? While they flee on horseback as far as possible, someone on the opposite side of the circle approaches from behind the Golem and shoots. Then the Golem will chase the person who attacked it more recently instead of the first attacker.”
By repeating this, the Golem would chase back and forth, and we could stretch out the time far longer than if we simply fled in panic.
We had enough people and horses for this, and we had a Saint to restore our stamina.
“We have sufficient numbers of both people and horses. And we have a Saint here to restore our strength.”
At these words meant to build confidence, people who had been weighing feasibility began nodding in agreement.
“It does seem like the best approach given the circumstances.”
“We’ll need one person from each group, so let’s divide into two sides using our existing groups.”
“That works well.”
Everyone, as though they hadn’t been terrified just moments before, brightened their eyes despite their pallid faces and began fleshing out the plan.
The moment after the discussion ended was the most dangerous.
We needed two people to hold the line while the shield was deactivated and the others took their positions.
Without hesitation, Lucy and I stepped forward.
“Lucy, didn’t you say your arm was still throbbing?”
“It’s not too bad today. But Lina, will you be alright?”
Lucy deflected casually while turning the worry back on me.
‘I know why she’s concerned, but…’
This time I would use my bow paired with custom-made arrows.
‘One hundred percent accuracy guaranteed!’
When I explained the arrows’ secret, the young ladies who had been among the top riders in the equestrian competition suggested they borrow the bow and arrows instead.
But I had my own reasoning.
“Is Lucy’s horse a War Horse?”
“Yes, it is.”
“War Horses are trained to overcome fear, but riding horses will panic when approaching the Golem and won’t obey their riders.”
The only horses here trained to overcome such fear were probably Nelda, my mount, and Lucy’s War Horse.
‘Besides, Nelda throws off riders she doesn’t like anyway.’
Since I had arrows that could compensate for accuracy issues, it was most logical for me to attempt this on Nelda.
Fortunately, everyone seemed to understand.
There was no disagreement that this was the most efficient choice, though they seemed apologetic about placing the burden on Lucy and me.
I deliberately clapped loudly to draw attention, then spoke with energy.
“Why don’t we all take out what we brought? I’m not the only one who borrowed artifacts and a horse from my betrothed, right?”
At my suggestion to reveal any items that might prove useful, everyone looked momentarily startled.
It was an open secret that our wager had become an item competition, but showing off their tricks so openly made them blush slightly.
“Here’s mine.”
One young lady bravely produced an artifact that increased her horse’s speed, and after that, everyone quickly began revealing their items.
We distributed the items carefully according to our roles, then moved to our positions.
In that tense moment, the Twins’ voices echoed in my head.
“Emit, if a thousand 1st Circle mages fired Lightning Bolts about two thousand times, wouldn’t that break the Golem’s core too?”
“It wouldn’t work! The Golem’s core only breaks with 7th Circle magic or a Sword Master’s Aura—it says so right here!”
“I can read the Empire language too! They only fought Golems twice, so maybe that’s the conclusion they drew. No one’s actually tested it!”
“The core is incredibly hard—how would 1st Circle magic shatter it?”
“If we just kept hammering it, it would break eventually?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————