[Kill him! Don’t leave even a single strand of hair of that arrogant brat!] Lilith’s sharp voice resonated within the palace. The statues flashed their golden muscles and charged towards me. I had been keeping my eye on them from the beginning, so I could feel the giant lump of mana within them and how they were following Lilith’s commands.

Dortu proclaimed, [I am Dortu. I can make them weaker for about 0.07 seconds.]

“Then when I give you the signal, weaken them in order.”

Dortu felt upset because Lilith had stolen command over the weapons he controlled. He informed me that he could weaken the statues for a moment, and I immediately answered him as I fixed my grip on my spear.

Dortu had only been born recently, but I had kept feeding him my mana when he was still an egg, so I could communicate with him much quicker than with words. As such, 0.07 seconds was more than enough.

I first tried fighting a statue without borrowing his power. I thrusted my spear towards the statue’s stomach, but a terrifying strength pushed back against it. Right, it was the statue’s power.

Of course, a part of the statue’s power came from the mana within it, but there was something about it that went beyond my comprehension. If this mysterious force wasn’t mana, it could only be one thing.

“This isn’t gold!” I exclaimed.

Lilith sniffed. [Who would use such a frail metal?]

Dortu announced, [I am Dortu. I’ve never experienced this metal. Dortu must eat it.]

My spear handle clashed with the statue’s fist, and an eerie creaking noise rang out. At the same...