The Keter Malkuth I created was roughly 20 meters tall, with a bit more bulk added on top of the original early-stage version.
And the Goliath that is born on the 17th Floor of the Dungeon is somewhere around 7 to 8 meters in size.
Both of them are monstrous giants from a human perspective, but the golem I made is still about three times larger.
So what happens if something that massive leaps into the air and then comes crashing back down to the ground?
The answer is the result right in front of me.
"Cough! What the hell is this...?"
"Ahh, it hurts..."
"H-help me... somebody..."
It was a live scene of catastrophe and disaster.
Men and women, young and old, regardless of level.
Every adventurer was writhing in agony amid the collapsed ruins.
The old castle that had served as the battlefield's backdrop?
Both the outer walls and the inner fortress had already been smashed to pieces, leaving behind nothing but a miserable wreckage.
It was a calamity of my own making, but damn, it really was something else.
"Let's see. The number of survivors right now is 115."
I assessed the situation through the information relayed from the Magecraft circles I had set up across the battlefield in advance.
The total headcount of Apollo Familia, which I had already confirmed before things began.
Surprisingly, the death toll was still zero.
Even if they were lower-leveled than first-class adventurers, adventurers were still adventurers, huh.
To think they'd all somehow managed to keep their lives in that horrific disaster.
Honestly, I was a little surprised by that.
I had already done the calculations and set this up with my own judgment, of course.
Still, I had expected at least fewer than ten of them to be combat incapable.
Watching them somehow endure it with my own eyes, though...
I suppose that's what people call the greatness of humanity.
The will of life to survive really is amazing.
"Looks like the other side is carrying out the orders properly too."
Now that I could finally breathe a little.
It was about time to resume the festival's main event.
"Please keep doing your best, Children of the Sun."
Not only the spectators watching from far away.
Even I, the host, still hadn't had enough fun yet.
*
"Cough! What the hell is this...?"
"Ahh, it hurts..."
"Damn it, damn it all...!"
"H-help me... somebody..."
The catastrophe had swept past before anyone could even properly react.
In that dreadful scene, not a single member of Apollo Familia was free from groaning in pain.
It was standard to be covered in dirt and dust, with abrasions all over their bodies and blood staining them from head to toe.
Most of them had suffered severe injuries or broken bones somewhere on their bodies.
In the worst cases, a few were half-buried beneath heavy chunks of collapsed castle walls, struggling in agony and unable to get themselves out.
Among them, the only one with enough leeway to help the other endangered comrades was a single unnamed adventurer armored from head to toe.
Everyone else could barely manage their own bodies.
It was truly overwhelming damage.
- Uuuuu...
"U, uwaaaah...!"
"It's coming. It's coming again!"
And then, the giant began moving once more.
With that colossal disaster looming before them, Apollo Familia, who were already no different from defeated, had very little they could do.
All that showed in their eyes and expressions was overwhelming despair.
Struggling and resisting for their lives is only something you can do when there's still some hope left.
When the gap between you and your opponent is this huge, you don't even feel like trying anything at all.
And yet, a sliver of hope shone down on them.
[Hm? What is it, "Sage"? Contacting me all of a sudden in a situation like this?]
For some reason, the giant that had been about to move suddenly stopped.
And then came the content of the ensuing conversation.
[A promise? Ah, you mean that. I know. Of course I remember it properly. You don't need to worry at all.]
No one else knew what that promise was between the mysterious "Sage" and the mage.
But shortly after, the mage spoke in a leisurely voice, clearly saying the following:
[Relax. I will never commit "murder." This is a rare festival, after all. It would be rude to the spectators if I did something so ominous. You can trust me and rest easy. I guarantee it.]
A promise echoed through the communication from the skyborne command tower still floating overhead.
At that welcome message, Apollo Familia, who had been floundering in despair, saw a ray of hope.
"W-we're saved!"
"I don't really know what's going on, but... we're alive now, right?"
"As expected... even if we're enemies, there's no way he'd massacre over a hundred adventurers. Besides, the Guild wouldn't just sit still. It's only natural."
"Phew, I really thought I was going to die."
They could live.
Even if they lost the match and the Familia they belonged to would be ruined, they themselves could still return alive.
They didn't have to die pointlessly in a place like this.
That fact restored their will to live once more.
In response, the executives of Apollo Familia quickly moved to rescue the most urgent casualties first.
No, just as they were about to give orders to the lower-ranked members to do so.
Thud!
- Guuuuu...
The stopped giant began moving again.
At that, not only the members of Apollo Familia on the battlefield.
Even the other spectators in the city, watching the battlefield through the "Mirror of Clairvoyance," could not hide their confusion.
"What is it?"
"Wasn't the match already decided?"
"Then why is it moving again?"
Just as everyone was tilting their heads in confusion.
"Hey, mage of Hestia Familia!"
One adventurer from Apollo Familia stepped forward and called out to the mage.
She was Daphne Lauros, the only woman among their executives.
Though it was sudden, the mage answered her call faithfully.
[What is it, Lauros Huga, the runaway of the laurel? And I'm a mage, not a magician. It's kind of important, so I'd appreciate it if you called me properly from now on.]
"If you want, I can do that. More importantly, was what you said earlier really true?"
[What I said earlier? Ah, you mean just now.]
At her question, the mage did not hesitate for even a moment.
With a refreshingly light tone, he affirmed her words.
[Yes, of course. That was the terms of the deal for this whole affair in the first place. You can trust me and rest easy as well. I will never commit "murder" in this War Game.]
"I see. A blessing in disguise, then."
With that, Daphne let out a sigh of relief.
Then, as if she had made some grave decision, she spoke with a solemn expression and desperate sincerity.
"Then... would you help us?"
She bowed her head to the mage and pleaded earnestly.
It was, in effect, a declaration of surrender.
At this point, they were already as good as defeated anyway.
"We're fully aware that we have no shame left to speak of. But clearing away those ruins and rescuing the people buried underneath with only our own strength is impossible. If this goes on, people will die against your wishes. So if possible, could we borrow the power of that golem for rescue work? Is that not possible?"
No reply came back right away.
But Daphne kept talking, and the mage kept listening.
As if saying, go on, let's hear the rest.
"I'll sincerely apologize for what we did to your Familia. We'll formally turn ourselves in to the Guild and pay for our crimes. Of course, I know that alone isn't enough. I understand perfectly if you want to take out your anger on us. If you want to get revenge later, we won't resist or complain. But at least for now... just here, right now, could you help us?"
And then came a brief silence.
About three minutes passed like that.
- Uuuuu...
The giant looking down at Apollo Familia turned its body toward another direction.
At that, everyone beneath the giant let out cheers of relief.
Thinking that they were truly saved now.
"Thank you. This mercy will surely be repaid later..."
Crash!
The moment they tried to rejoice.
Rumble!
"Aaaah!"
"I-it's collapsing!"
The giant's massive hand slammed into the nearby pile of collapsed ruins.
As expected, the stacked rubble caved in and most of it rolled violently downward.
And the aftermath went straight to Apollo Familia nearby.
The damage only grew larger.
"W-what in the world...?"
Daphne stared blankly at the horrific scene.
Then, with a startled and flustered expression, she hurriedly called out to the mage.
"Hey, mage! What are you doing?! That's completely different from what you said earlier!"
To her, the mage replied.
[Oh dear, how unfortunate.]
Simply indifferently.
As if he were reading from a textbook.
[Ah, truly unfortunate. Such a regrettable thing. To think an unfortunate "accidental death" would occur during such a rare and enjoyable festival.]
He calmly revealed his true feelings to her beneath his feet.
"What? Accidental death...?"
[Yes. Accidental death.]
At that, Daphne was genuinely dumbfounded.
But the mage still explained the current situation in the same indifferent tone.
With a certain amount of kindness, even.
[It's a golem of this size. Naturally, the aftereffects of its movements are bound to be huge. Even taking one step forward is something that has to be handled with extreme caution. I'm sure everyone can understand that much.]
Thud!
Rumble!
"Aaaahhh!"
As he said that, he moved the giant's foot again and shook the ground.
With that fierce tremor, Apollo Familia's screams were swallowed beneath the rubble.
[And in the process, it's only natural that the golem's hands or feet would strike the collapsed castle ruins. Then, inevitably, the debris would "accidentally" roll down, and "unfortunately" the person beneath it would be crushed to death. How about it? No matter how you look at it, that's clearly an "accidental death," isn't it?]
"You... you...!"
[Oh my, suddenly you're stammering so badly. Are you feeling unwell? Your complexion looks terrible, Daphne-chan.]
"From the very beginning, this was your plan...!"
[My, my, why are you so shocked?]
"You think the Guild will tolerate this kind of tyranny...!"
Her final, desperate struggle was the last thing she could think of.
And the mage trampled it mercilessly with a dry laugh.
[That result is exactly what I promised the Guild.]
"What?!"
[Still don't get it? Or are you pretending not to know? From the very beginning, you were nothing more than sacrificial offerings for the festival's entertainment.]
At the mage's confession, spoken in a calm tone, Daphne and everyone in Apollo Familia twisted their expressions.
[Well, the Guild probably knew all the circumstances and set those conditions to avoid needless casualties. But so what? As long as I don't directly commit "murder," that's all that matters. Anything beyond that is none of my concern.]
"That's... absurd..."
[It makes perfect sense. It's a contract that was barely and officially approved after all the trouble of writing a so-called "Self-Geas Scroll." The quality of the item was even directly verified by the "Sage"... no, the "fool." So I'm not wrong at all.]
"Ah... ah..."
Faced with that hopeless reality, Daphne finally sank to her knees.
Looking at her, the mage burst into laughter in a voice completely different from before, one filled with pure delight.
He laughed with a grotesque cackle that anyone hearing it would surely call evil.
[Nice. That expression. It feels like all the stress I'd built up from those insect-like things has been washed away in one go. Very nice.]
"Why... why are you going this far...?"
Was it because of Bell Cranel?
Or because he had destroyed that shabby Familia home?
Or if not that, then why in the world...
[Yes. Come to think of it, it would be a shame to end this without telling you why I'm going to so much trouble.]
So I'll tell you specially.
The mage's confession was as follows.
[Truthfully, Bell boy doesn't really matter. We're not strangers, but we're not that close yet either. And as for my shop, most of the important things were in the basement, and thankfully that part was unharmed in the last raid.
The goods on the surface that got destroyed... are certainly a pity, but if I put in a little more time and effort, I can restore them however much I want. So unlike what you might think, that isn't really an important reason either. I'm not the kind of person who'd start this whole mess over something that small.]
"Then why?! What in the world are you trying to do to us!?"
Daphne's despair had now curdled into anger.
Of course, they had been the ones who committed the first wrong, but even so, wasn't this too cruel, to toy with people like this?
To her fury, the mage said with something close to mockery that it was all their own karma.
[So I hear you people blew up the ruined church that was being used as our goddess's Familia home with a cursed sword, did you?]
"Eh...?"
[And on top of that, you teamed up with Soma's trash and laid a hand on my disciple too.]
This was the real reason.
This was the reason he was tormenting Apollo Familia and driving them into despair like this.
This was nothing more than part of that revenge.
[A mage had his territory violated and his own people messed with. If I just let that slide after seeing it, I might as well quit being a mage.]
"W-we didn't know anything about that..."
[What does ignorance have to do with the crimes you committed? If you didn't know, then you should've taken the hit while not knowing.]
As he said.
That alone was nowhere near enough to smother the mage's anger.
He still had far too much resentment left to settle for ending things here.
The end of all this would be nothing but one thing.
[Great suffering for those who have sinned. Ah, yes, I really do love that phrase. Mm, it's truly a famous line no matter when you hear it. Yes, this is why I waste calories on pointless revenge.]
Nothing but Apollo Familia's utter ruin.
[So everyone should do their best to avoid it on their own. I'm only moving the golem toward places where there aren't people. I'm absolutely not directly committing "murder" or anything like that. Whatever happens after that is the fault of the idiots who didn't dodge.
You know, if someone dies in the Dungeon because an abnormal event occurs, then it's the fault of the ones who didn't avoid it beforehand, right? This is exactly the same thing. Just some unfortunate accident.]
"You crazy bastard! No matter that we're enemies, what the hell is this...!"
[Kahaha, hahahahahaha! What's got such a pretty young lady so angry? It's a rare festival, after all. Come now, come on. Smile. Let's all just enjoy ourselves together.]
Why so serious?
The mage's laughter, filled with madness, echoed from the sky.
The sweet despair called revenge had only just begun.
The festival was still far, far from over.