The Neighborhood High School Girl, Miss Isezaki, Is the Great Saintess Returned from Another World~ And I, Suddenly Awakened as Her Exclusive Mana Supply Uncle, Travel Between Earth and Another World with Time-Space Magic~ - 200. The Black Golems

200. 200. 200. 200. The Black Golems

“Why is it coming this wayyyy!?”

Maristel screamed, her face contorted with fear. But of course, the monster didn’t care about her protests. The Scarlet Bird shrank its body tightly. It thrusted its beak forward like a spear and launched itself at Maristel. However—

“Wah! Wawawa, [Leap Warp]!”

The moment Maristel shouted, she suddenly vanished.

Losing sight of its prey, the Scarlet Bird pierced through the empty space where Maristel had been. It skimmed the ground before soaring back up into the sky with a gravity-defying L-shaped climb. Maristel was now standing some distance away. She was frozen in place with her face pale.

“Huff, huff… I really thought I was going to die… Without my little doll, I’m just a demoness who’s beautiful, intelligent, loving, and has a great smile…”

Maristel muttered tearfully, her words a confusing mix of humility and self-praise. But it seemed the Scarlet Bird hadn’t given up yet. As soon as the monstrous bird spotted her again, it started another steep dive, heading straight for her.

“Kuuu~! It’s completely locked onto me! …Fine, fine! I’ll keep it distracted, okay!?”

“Yes. Do your best for my husband’s sake.”

“Aah, Isezaki! You’ll pay for this later!”

Maristel glared at the smiling Isezaki with tearful eyes, then took off running away from us. This time, her necklace wasn’t activating. It seemed she really intended to be the decoy.

The Scarlet Bird attacked Maristel’s back as she sprinted at full speed, but she skillfully dodged with a well-timed [Leap Warp]. The bird and the demoness gradually moved further away from us.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Maristel, but she should be okay with her [Leap Warp] ability, right? At least, thanks to her, we no longer had to worry about being attacked from both above and below at the same time.

…Yeah, maybe we can handle this now. I steeled myself and looked ahead.

From the ground, more slender, black golems were still emerging. The first wave was steadily advancing toward us. Their eerie appearance was unsettling, not matching my image of golems. I wanted to gather some information before fighting them, but—

“…Isezaki-san. If you know anything about these golems, could you tell me?”

“Yes. The golems in this world can be customized in various ways by their creator. Therefore, their strength, speed, durability, and intelligence can all be enhanced depending on the creator’s preferences. Moreover, the soil here is rich in magic essence, so the creator might have included some unexpected tricks. In other words—”

“In other words…?”

“You won’t know what kind of golem it is until you fight it!”

“Oh, I see.”

“But don’t worry, okay? After all, you’re my husband. There’s no way you could lose to some junk like a golem.”

“Uh, yeah. Right. I’ll do my best…”

“Yes! I’ll be cheering you on!”

I didn’t fully understand what she meant. But I couldn’t say anything more seeing Isezaki-san’s innocent, sparkling eyes.

After confirming that Isezaki-san had moved to a safe distance, I turned to face the approaching army of black golems.

In the end, I hadn’t learned anything useful. There was no other choice. Still, when you don’t know something, there’s a way to deal with it.

In situations like this—striking first is key.

“[Dimensional Net].”

Unlike during the Treant battle, there was nothing here in the grasslands to obstruct me. I deployed the [Dimensional Net] and pushed it toward the golem army. But—

“What? No way!”

The golems were fast. The slender black golems deftly dodged the [Dimensional Net], splitting left and right to escape its reach.

The [Dimensional Net] didn’t move very quickly. If they knew it was coming, it was a speed they could avoid. It seemed these black golems possessed enough intelligence to sense danger and a swiftness uncharacteristic of typical golems.

However, not all of them escaped. Three of the golems in the center were too slow and got caught in the [Dimensional Net]. I twisted the net like a sushi roll, tightening it until the golems were crushed.

With a crunching sound that didn’t seem like it came from soil, the three golems were reduced to scrap and then crumbled back into ordinary dirt.

But now, the golems that had split to the left and right had finally reached me.

“[Accelerate Haste]!”

I cast [Accelerate Haste]. I then placed my hand on the chest of the leading golem, and unleashed [Eject].

—Bang!

A hole opened in the golem’s chest with a sound more like metal than soil. Without stopping, I moved to the next one, and then the one behind it—

I continued to counter the golems with smooth precision.

It was going so well that I felt silly for being scared earlier.

But it’s when things are going smoothly that you need to be most careful. If I got careless and injured myself, that’d be one thing, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to Isezaki-san.

It was just as I heightened my focus that it happened.

The golem in front of me suddenly grabbed its own wrist and aimed the palm of its hand at me. Something was coming—

Bang!

The golem’s wrist exploded, and a barrage of fragments shot toward me.

It was like a shotgun blast that could only be used once. The speed and spread of the fragments were too fast and wide. Even with [Accelerate Haste], I didn’t think I could dodge this close-range attack.

If I got hit, I’d be riddled with holes— 

But that didn’t happen.

My caution against every move the golem made paid off.

“[Leap Warp]!”

If I couldn’t dodge, I’d escape. That’s what Maristel would do, and it’s what I did too.

I immediately [Leap Warp] outside the blast range—actually, I appeared right behind the golem that had aimed at me and hit it with [Eject] on its back.

The golem made a metallic sound as it tumbled across the ground, eventually returning to soil.

I managed to avoid disaster, but the golems were steadily gathering around me. It seemed like the ones emerging from the ground had stopped. But after seeing that explosion, close combat still seemed dangerous.

“Do your best, my husband~!”

Just as I was considering retreating, I heard Isezaki-san’s voice of encouragement in the slowed-down world of [Accelerate Haste].

Come to think of it… Isezaki-san had called the golems “junk,” but were golems just lifeless constructs? Or were they actually alive?

If they were lifeless—

No, I should test it out rather than overthink it.

As the golems swarmed toward me, I decided to cast *that* spell.

Original Author’s Comment:

—Afterword—

Finally, this chapter marks the 200th episode of “Isezaki-san”! It’s all thanks to you, the readers, that I’ve been able to keep going this long. If you’ve enjoyed the series, please take a moment to hit the [☆☆☆] below and support “My Neighborhood JK Isezaki-san is a Great Saintess Returned from Another World”! Thank you!

(Note: Here’s the link if you want to support the author 

<a href=”https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330650440318002″>https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330650440318002</a>)