“Hah! Listen to this guy? Does he still think that he has the upper hand?”

Commented Roman to Roland's reply and everyone besides Elythaes chuckled. In their eyes, this man seemed finished. He was surrounded by three Knight Commanders who had the support of a high-level magus. While their plan with the anti-magical powder failed, they still held the upper hand.

It seemed like an easy victory for them. Even though he was at a higher level and possessed superior artifacts, it made no difference. As long as the close-range fighters contained him and provided their mage with some breathing room, Ulfine and her beasts would unleash deadly magic upon him. Eventually, his mana would dwindle and he would falter. They had no doubt in their minds that they would emerge victorious.

“Be careful, don’t underestimate him, let's go at him together.”

“If you say so~”

Roman replied to Elythaes who was seemingly taking this confrontation a lot more seriously. He had already tussled with the man known as Wayland the Enforcer and knew that he could not be taken lightly. His two brothers on the other hand felt like this was over, they had him on a silver platter. However, just as Andreas was getting ready to charge a voice resounded from behind them.

“Wait, he is doing something… this mana…”

“What is it Mage?”

“Don’t call me that, I have a name!”

“Just spit it out, what is it?”

Roman turned around towards Ulfine who told them to not engage yet. She looked maddened by the tone of the knight but then quickly continued talking.

“The mana around him, it's strange, he is trying to do something!”

“Oh, you can feel it?”

Replied Roland who was getting stared at from all directions. While Thunderclaw was the biggest tamed beast there were other feline types here with him. It seemed that Ulfine tended to recruit feline monsters. Their fur sported a variety of colors and most of them resembled panthers or tigers.

“You have gathered quite a group against me but you’re not the only one that has helpers…”

He continued talking while something started to rise out of the swamp water where he had discarded his shield. The trio looked there to see a rune-covered cube rising up into the air but it wasn’t alone. A spider golem followed suit after as it had been lying dormant within the swamp.

“Golems? Is that if? What could a few measly gol…”

Ulfine commented with a smug look plastered over her face as she watched the two magical automatons rise. Everyone here knew that Roland could use golems but they didn’t think that they would pose much of a threat, not with so many magical beasts around. In their eyes, they had the numbers as well as quality behind them. However, they did not expect that the numbers of these golemic creations would continue to increase.

“Hey… aren’t there too many golems? How did this bastard get so many of them in here, you never said anything about this…”

Roman turned his head towards the mage that was also confused by the sheer amount of metallic spiders coming out of the woodwork. Some had been hidden in the swamp waters while others lay dormant behind trees and in the bushes. The fog in the swampland hid them well and now they were becoming surrounded.

“He used a few in the academy…”

“This is more than a few, did you lie to us?”

“Why would I do that? I already lost my Doppelganger, those aren’t easy to tame, you better pay what you’re owed after this is finished!”

“Stop arguing and focus, they are just stupid golems, he might be able to control a few, but the rest should be easy to destroy, Roman!”

“Fine, I’m on it!”

“Mage, lend my brother some of those beasts, the rest of us will focus on that bastard!”

Elythaes who seemed to be the leader of the group gave Roman an order. Ulfine seemed still dejected as she wasn’t given a name but after clicking her tongue she nodded. It was common sense that even a rune mage had limits when controlling a vast quantity of golems. It wasn’t wrong to assume that he would be able to only control a small group that was around him but they did not account for Roland’s true class.

‘Well, I got them here now, but will this be enough?’

Roland had let his shield fall into the swamp on purpose and that purpose was to spread his golems through the dungeon. After he was gone, his shield was activated, and the storage space within expanded to allow a vast quantity of golems to emerge. One by one they emerged and quickly hid in various places.

When dormant and without any magic flowing through them, they were quite difficult to spot even for people with tracking classes. They were not living beings but inanimate objects that moved with the help of runes. Without mana flowing through them, not even a mage would be able to tell that they were there. Only after he arrived here and jolted them awake with his own skill, did they come to life once more.

This was made possible by his weekly research into spatial runes and by his enemies underestimating him as always. He took them on a wild goose chase through the dungeon while his army rose out of the altered shield. With the help of the Institute library, he was now able to expand the exit from his spatial runes further and could even sustain it while he wasn’t there. He even knew that in the future, it would be possible to further augment this magical technology that would allow him to call his army forth without any outside preparations.

‘Good that I stored all those golems for the trip.’

Before heading out he had stored as many golems and parts into his spatial shield. The space inside was quite large and it was previously strenuous to remove items from within. Before coming here he stashed this space to the brim with hopes of being able to expand on the removal process later. Only after further research into dimensional magic, which was very prevalent in the whole institute could this portable storage shield become a true asset.

With his golems now surrounding him Roland felt a surge of confidence. The Baskerville brothers and Ulfine, along with her tamed beasts did not outnumber him anymore. While numerous spider drones lingered around, Roland's true numerical advantage lay in the vast quantity of floating cubes comprising his golemic army. Hovering in the air, these cubes awaited the command to unleash beams of condensed magical energy upon his foes.

Sometimes, simplicity proved to be the strongest design and Roland knew that these floating squares of death would likely be the key to securing victory in the battle ahead. Soon he gave the order and they scrambled up into the air before launching bright blue rays of light at the timed beast. The battle had now started only after the Overlord had received aid from his trusted mechanical troops. As the light show took over the place, he took some time to glance at Ulfine’s status screen.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Name :

Ulfine L 201

Classes

T3 Master Beast Summoner L 51

T2 Beast Summoner L 50

T2 Summoner L 50

T1 Magic Contractor L 25

T1 Mage L 25