As the dull footsteps inside the door fixed Alex's imagination-inspired horrific visions into definite shapes, she calmed down and showed a gesture of ease—as if she didn't remember how she had been caught off guard a few minutes ago. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Just by seeing the few bits of light in the darkness and hearing the sound of lumps of metal colliding with the ground in that blurred cloud of light, Ciel and Alex could almost determine each other's identities, or more precisely, categories.

Magical golems, mechanical puppets, have very different names according to different names, but all of them point to the same essence - they are creatures of intelligent life, with neither mind nor logic, and all actions and reactions are derived from pre-designed programs. They are unconscious pieces of iron that have been randomly constructed according to the will of their makers, designed into various shapes according to their intended effects, and are driven by magical circuits implanted in their bodies.

The sound of metal clashing with the ground approached, and ten seconds later, two metal mechanical left feet stepped out of the castle's gates at the same time - and before that, their bodies were already visible in the faint light outside.

These are two humanoid puppets, and the reason why they use "frame" instead of "one" is because their metal bodies give people a thick and heavy texture. They are about 3 meters tall, and although they are not as large as Torotaro, their metal bodies are clearly superior in strength.

The golem walked up to Alex and stopped, and the two golems stood on either side of her, one on the left and one on the right, and after staring at her for a moment, they suddenly raised their right arms at the same time.

Bang -

Dirt splattered. Although even if she was really smashed, she might not necessarily be injured, Alex, who still had a sense of pain, was obviously not interested in doing this kind of experiment. The moment the two puppets' right arms were raised, she had already flashed backwards.

"Although it is wrong for us to enter without even knocking on the door, it is too strange to attack without warning, and the owner here is really suspicious."

Seeing that she was slowly pulling her right arm out of the ground and re-locking onto her puppet with her red-glittering eyes after straightening up, Alex nodded with a thoughtful look.

As mentioned earlier, magical golems are designed to take various shapes depending on their utility, and it is well known that the body structure of the humanoid race is not actually advantageous when it comes to combat. In this case, the golem that was designed to be a humanoid was usually initially used as a housekeeper. The two puppets attacking without confirmation are clearly deliberately modified traits.

Alex, who saw through this at a glance, looked back at Hill standing behind her with a certain desire to be praised.

Sensing Alex's gaze, Ciel, who didn't grasp the girl's intentions in the slightest, gave her a slight thumbs up expressionlessly.

"Alex, come on."

"It's just a posture of standing by and watching!?"

As she was complaining, a burst of wind behind her hit the back of her head, and reflexively rolled to the side in an instant, and Alex, who looked up after the loud noise, saw a deep pit half a meter in diameter appeared on the ground.

Half of the metal forearms were still exposed in the pit, and it appeared that one of the golems had shot her own fist at her.

"Hey! Wouldn't that be a little too new? Alex, who was shocked into a cold sweat, couldn't help but complain loudly to the puppet behind her: "You guy, can't you take more care of your body?" ”

The golem was unconscious, and certainly couldn't understand what she was saying, and it was Alex's left hand on the other side that responded to her.

In the face of the other party's old tricks, Alex, who is prepared, is far less embarrassed than last time. Almost as soon as the golem raised her left fist to aim at her, Alex slammed towards it, and in the face of the golem's left fist cannonball track, Alex only leaned slightly in the sprint. Although her skin could even feel the air flow of the huge metal from ten centimeters of her cheek, she still had an unnoticed confident smile on her face—the same move was useless to this genius girl—and the fact that she was still secretly thinking in her mind for a moment that she was pinching him was evidence that she was not stressed about it.

There was already a puppet in front of him that had severed its arms, but the arcing trajectory of Alex's right long sword was intercepted by a punch from the other end.

This is another puppet that somehow didn't shoot out its forearms like its companions. Wouldn't it? Alex, who parryed its left fist with a round shield, thought to herself.

The golem's metal left fist and round shield made a dull sound, but after the sound, it was the huge magic golem that lost its balance, and before it was still staggering, Alex, who seemed to be unaffected in the fight, had already jumped up, and swept her right leg over the golem's head like a whip.

The balance of the puppet that had been staggering was completely broken, and its body fell to the ground with a loud bang.

Alex didn't chase after her, she looked back at the puppet that had shot out her arms earlier. The golem had circled behind her as they fought, towards the pit she had shot out earlier.

It crouched down and reached out for its left fist, and when it stood up and was about to turn its head towards another pit, Hill was already standing there with both hands on its right forearm.

Hill looked up at the golem, blinked and slowly held the piece of metal to it, and the golem took it and pressed it smoothly on his right arm.

"Who the hell are you from!?" Alex couldn't help but complain loudly.

In front of me is a warm scene of a teenager and a huge metal golem who have no consciousness giving each other thumbs up in recognition, and if it has nothing to do with him, he will probably smile knowing when he sees this scene, but Alex, who was suddenly betrayed, can't smile at all now.

Hearing Alex's excited questioning, Ciel turned his head to look at her.

"Alex, why do you ask this kind of question? Of course I am your companion. Hill's expressionless face matched his unheaving tone, as if he were recounting unquestionable facts.

"This is the most false thing I've heard this year! What you said doesn't even match what you did just now! ”

Whoosh -

While she was complaining violently, the familiar sound of breaking the air sounded behind Alex. Cut, sure enough, this one will too? While thinking, she turned around and swung the round shield vigorously, and the "cannonball" changed direction after a loud "bang".

"Kintaro, now."

The moment Hill's voice sounded, the sound of breaking the air sounded again in the direction behind him, and Alex, who had just hit a home run, hurriedly rolled to the side, dodging the attack from behind.

"Qi."

"You guy!" Alex glared at Ciel, "Just said 'Qi', right!?" ”

Stared at by an angry gaze, Ciel blinked slightly.

"No, that kind of thing."

"Less deception!" Alex's face flushed, "Didn't you say anything before, 'Kintaro, take advantage of now!'?" What the hell is Kintaro! When did your relationship with it get good enough to be named!? ”

"No, that's right." Ciel shook his head slightly, "Kintaro, it's my nickname for Alex. ”

"It's the first time I've heard of this kind of nickname that has nothing to do with my real name!"

"Because, I just thought of it."

"That's a coincidence!" Alex gritted her teeth and said, "It's like seizing the moment when my body stiffens after exerting my strength, and the inspiration that was born at that wonderful moment." ”

"It's an accident."

"Don't give me any!" Alex stretched out her index finger in the face of a detective who saw through the truth: "Anyway, it's the naming idea of 'metal puppet'→ 'metal taro'→ 'kintaro'!" I always feel that I understand you more and more! ”

"Surprised!"

"What, your 'why was you discovered' expression is more surprising that you have the idea that you can not be discovered!"

While the two were arguing, the two puppets had already walked up to Alex's side again. Alex sighed as if she was tired of the straight punches that were fired from front and back at the same time.

※

Five minutes later, the two puppets froze motionless, symbolizing that the activated red light had dimmed, like two statues cast of iron.

"Hmph, it's a breeze."

Alex, who was standing in front of the "statue", wiped the non-existent sweat on her forehead and said proudly.

When Hill handed over both puppets to her to deal with before, Alex was actually quite happy in her heart, because this was a rare opportunity for her to perform.

As for Alex, who can only knock out enemies for 1 HP at a time due to a deviation in the ritual, the only solace she has is the mechanical enemies that can be defeated without too much attack power. In the battle just now, Alex used her dexterous body and the round shield in her left hand to dodge and defend against the puppet's attacks, while using the long sword in her right hand to accurately destroy the magic energy circuits distributed by the puppet. When all the necessary circuits to ensure the puppet's actions are cut off, the humanoid golem that has lost its magical energy supply immediately turns into an ordinary mass of iron.

After solving these two troubles, Alex's momentum reached its peak.

"Ciel, keep up."

She snapped her fingers handsomely with her right hand (but unfortunately it didn't) and motioned for Hill to follow her into the castle.

Hill glanced at Alex's back in front of him and whispered goodbye to the statue standing aside.

"Kintaro, goodbye."

The castle was still covered in black shadows, but Eric didn't care to step into it, and Ciel slowly followed behind.

Surrounded by darkness without a glimmer of light, Alex and Ciel cautiously groped their way forward.

Bang -

They had barely taken two steps forward when the gate of the castle behind them suddenly closed.