Viscount Begle seemed to hesitate for a long time.

What made him make a decision was the voice of an officer shouting from atop the city wall to send up reserves. Even now, soldiers were being torn apart. He looked this way with a grim expression.

“If you take responsibility, I will instruct the soldiers to lower the drawbridge and open the city gate.”

I nodded. I didn’t hesitate.

When Viscount Begle sent a soldier next to him, the city gate slowly opened shortly after.

I quickly sent out the Golem before the skeletons could enter.

The ground vibrated and the drawbridge was destroyed, but the skeletons swarmed into the city gate, appearing from who knows where.

“Beth!”

Viscount Begle shouted until his throat was torn, unbefitting his age.

To give orders to a subordinate far away on a battlefield where spears and knives were clashing and the castle was shaking, one had to clench their teeth and yell loudly, even with a strong voice.

The knight in heavy armor, whose name was called, shouted at the soldiers again, and they began to form a formation, surrounding the city gate.

Watching them, I left my spot and climbed the stairs of the city wall. The protagonist couldn’t go out with the Golem, so he had to give orders from the city wall.

Those on the city wall were surprisingly not being pushed back much. Rather, the soldiers were quite agitated, due to the Golem rampaging outside.

The Golem was sweeping away the skeletons that had gathered to climb the city wall, flinging them with both arms. It even rolled around on the ground. The protagonist hadn’t given such commands.

If a separate command was given, the Golem would perform its role on its own.

It meant it could think for itself.

Perhaps it had learned various methods while fighting all this time.

The Golem I made initially was like that too. It was partly because a core was embedded in it, but it could turn its body around with its arms spread wide in the capital city.

This ice Golem couldn’t perform such attacks, but it moved much more agilely than the last one.

Usually, a Golem that fell once couldn’t get up easily. But the ice Golem rolled around on the ground as much as it wanted and got up in an instant. It meant it knew how to use the momentum from rolling.

After a few rolls, all the ladders on the city wall were destroyed, and all the skeletons that had gathered in front of them were crushed, leaving only piles of broken bones. It seemed to have dealt with hundreds in an instant. This was possible because the skeletons were densely packed.

Perhaps seeing what the Golem was doing, the skeletons spread out from each other.

It was a ploy to reduce damage by scattering.

That was actually what they wanted. They couldn’t stop the Golem from rampaging anyway, and if the skeletons didn’t even form a proper formation, it could rampage even more easily.

Screams were mixed with the sound of the skeletons’ bones scraping.

Those who appeared to be evil mages, and their assistants, looked pale here.

They now had to face the nightmare that was the Golem. They shouted at each other, pointing fingers at the Golem.

“Stop the Golem!”

“What are you doing?!”

“Knight! Bring the Skeleton Knights here immediately!”

The soldiers on the City Wall only came to their senses the moment those evil Mages started firing Fireballs at the Golem.

Our allies also came to their senses.

Those among them who held bows or crossbows shot arrows in the direction of the evil Mages. This was possible because the Golem had destroyed all the ladders leaning against the City Wall, creating some leeway.

The Court Mages also cast spells to keep them in check.

Just by allowing the Golem to rampage, they were getting a breather. Seeing that there were no Shield Soldiers attached to this side, they even assigned extra soldiers.

Although Mordon was by the Protagonist’s side, it would have been better to have more people.

I ordered the Golem to first deal with the Skeletons around the City Wall. I had to put out the most urgent fire.

The soldiers holding spear-knives, seeing no Skeletons climbing the City Wall, just stared blankly at the rampaging Golem.

The number of soldiers on the City Wall alone seemed to exceed a hundred.

It was a grander battle than the one in the Count’s Territory. The number of Nobles gathered here was not just one or two, so the scale of the battle was enormous. Yet, with just one Golem, the tide was turning.

At that moment, I saw someone in a Robe in the distance pointing a finger this way.

It seemed they had realized that the Protagonist was controlling the Golem. Hearing their voice confirmed it.

“There he is! He’s controlling the Golem!”

“Take him down!”

The Skeletons each picked up bows and crossbows and aimed them this way. Those in robes were all busy chanting spells. Everyone was targeting the Protagonist.

Before long, arrows and magic rained down in the direction where the Protagonist was.

Mordon shielded the Protagonist, raising his shield. Other Shield Soldiers around him also took their positions.

Soldiers around them screamed.

No matter how much they hid, when a rain of arrows poured down, some would get hit. With magic also being unleashed, even the City Wall was slightly damaged.

It felt like the enemies were determined to kill the Protagonist. Mordon spoke with a worried expression.

“Baron! We need to move positions for a moment. Standing here could lead to big trouble.”

“Ah, alright.”

My ears were ringing from the explosion of a Fireball that had flown in and detonated.

The screaming soldiers also contributed. If I hadn’t had much experience fighting such battles, I might have lost my composure.

Even amidst that, I followed Mordon and moved positions. Even though we had moved quite far, beyond the City Wall, arrows were still being showered on the spot where the Protagonist had been.

As I walked to the opposite side, I met the Count halfway. He shouted as soon as he saw me.

“Are you alright!”

“Fortunately, I’m not hurt anywhere.”

“That’s a relief. The Golem you control did very well! Thanks to it going beyond the City Wall and clearing the ladders, the enemies can’t climb onto the City Wall.”

He made a fuss, saying that thanks to the Protagonist, they could breathe a little easier.

Seeing his expression, I felt a little energized.

Behind him were Nobles, and they also had somewhat friendly expressions. It couldn’t be helped, as they were all in the same boat.

“Can we hold out like this?”

“They’re raising Corpses, so the number of soldiers is endless. As long as the Mage controlling the Skeletons doesn’t get tired, they’ll keep sending Skeletons to the City Wall.”

I gripped my staff.

Ultimately, it meant that the Dark Mage sending the Skeletons had to be killed.

Fortunately, the Court Mages were doing well. This was because the opponents were only focused on the Protagonist and the Golem.

This time, I infused mana into the Ring. Then, stones appeared and transformed into hard metal, sticking to my entire body.

The moment I put on the stone armor, I felt mana draining rapidly.

Soon, my mana would run out. In the past, it was difficult to last a few minutes, but now I felt like I could last thirty minutes.

In this state, even if an arrow unluckily flew in and struck, I could withstand it. With a stable mind, I continued to chant spells.

The evil Mages retreated far away and sent Skeletons.

They spread out their front line widely, allowing ladders to be raised. No matter how powerful the Golem was, it couldn’t block the entire long City Wall alone.

If the opponents were humans, their morale would drop and they would retreat, but they were already dead skeletons. The enemy mage’s face was filled with composure, as if they had an endless supply of skeletons to send.

They had to prevent the skeletons from approaching the city wall.

The court mages were casting fireballs, but it was difficult. The skeletons didn’t die when burned.

But the protagonist was different.

When he created and shot ice arrows, the skeletons froze and couldn’t move. Furthermore, he froze the ground, trapping the feet of the skeletons that stepped on the frozen parts.

However, the city wall was wide, and even if he shot a few arrows, it would only freeze an area the size of a small puddle.

He had no idea how many times he would have to cast spells to freeze the entire area around the city wall. This was even with the flow of mana sped up by borrowing the power of the magic ring.

‘Wait a minute.’

A thought came to him while he was casting a spell.

He remembered what the thirty-year-old protagonist had said.

He had said that a high-ranking mage was someone who could control not only the mana within their body but also the mana outside.

He also said that creating a ring was essential to do such a thing. That was the difference between a high-ranking mage and one who wasn’t.

But he wondered if it was absolutely necessary to create a ring to control external mana.

It seemed possible to imitate it even now. He decided to try it.

The protagonist already knew the process itself. This was because the thirty-year-old protagonist had shown him the process of moving mana in great detail.

He spread the flow of mana throughout his entire body and made its circulation even faster.

It was more efficient to gather it in his heart, and he didn’t have to focus on controlling the mana himself, but since the protagonist hadn’t made a ring yet, it was an unavoidable choice.

If he couldn’t control this flow of mana properly, he might die from a mana reversal.

However, the protagonist had heard that he could currently attack the castle. He lowered his mind to the bottom, exhaled, and raised his head.

“…Huh?”

Fifty ice arrows had appeared in the distant, unreachable air. What would have taken ten consecutive spells was done in one go.

Even creating five or six ice arrows at once was something an ordinary intermediate mage could only dream of.

Perhaps it was something even most high-ranking mages couldn’t do.

Just as the golem magic the protagonist learned in his dream was lost in practice, there was a possibility that no one currently knew how to create a ring itself.

Thinking that, he realized how incredible the protagonist’s achievement was.

Suddenly, goosebumps ran all over his body, and his head tingled. Although the protagonist was merely imitating, he was doing something only a high-ranking mage could do.

He opened his mouth. But there was someone even more surprised. A middle-aged court mage nearby was staring with his mouth open wider than the protagonist’s.

To him, it must have been an unbelievable sight.

He had witnessed the creation of over fifty ice arrows in an instant. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had mistaken it for a dragon.

Even if the current protagonist was still far inferior compared to Maybell, his skill was far beyond the common sense of mages at the moment.

He continued to cast spells in quick succession.

Unlike dealing with existing mana, dealing with external mana was easy once you got the hang of it. The spells themselves were incredibly fast. External Mana Control, no need for separate interference.