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Golden Golem

The Blacksmith didn’t attack immediately.

Instead, he wiped the blood dripping from his mouth and hid his body.

Under the massive jagged barricade that had risen from the floor due to the ironworks structural transformation.

It was similar to how he had defended with small-scale structural transformation when I had struck him with seven lightning bolts.

He had entered a short-term siege.

Why?

‘That bastard also finds it burdensome to attack us directly.’

Because the life force consumption had been so extreme.

Even that monster, after exchanging fierce hand-to-hand combat with the Orc Fighter and taking concentrated magical bombardment from Neko and me, was now on the verge of gasping for breath.

A sudden halt in combat.

It was like referee time.

It felt like two boxers who had been frantically exchanging jabs, guards, and uppercuts in one second suddenly clinched and embraced each other, with the referee intervening to separate them.

My heated head cooled down.

‘The Blacksmith wants to kill both of us.’

If he charged from this distance and swung his hammer, Neko and I would definitely be sent to the afterlife in one blow.

But the one who would die next would be the Blacksmith.

If that bastard attacked Neko, I would pour hail down on his head and unleash a Dust Explosion.

The reverse was also true.

If the Blacksmith attacked me, Neko would strike down with Telekinetic Fist and burn him with Searing Rays.

So what was the Blacksmith preparing under that barricade to capture both of us and survive?

Rattle.

A noise could be heard.

I didn’t have something like Sound Mapping, but I could still tell what it was.

“He’s searching through corpses.”

Where that bastard had fallen, there was the halfling druid’s body.

He would be looking for healing potions there.

“He’s trying to recover his life force and finish us off.”

“……Wh, what should we do?”

Now trapped inside a cylinder with a diameter of about 20 meters, what method could two wizards use to escape from here together?

The walls created by the Blacksmith’s ironworks structural transformation were too strong for any of us to break.

‘We have to kill the Blacksmith.’

That was indeed the only way.

Then the ironworks structural transformation would be undone.

But how?

I quickly looked around. To find even the smallest hint.

1.Corpses.

Over there was the halfling’s corpse, and on our side was Ingelram’s corpse.

In between were countless corpses of Brass Golems. Those corroded, plated, and shattered fragments. Nothing useful right now.

The magical equipment that Ingelram wore was also mostly useless here. Except for one thing.

2.Convergence Core.

In the mold beneath it, lava still bubbled.

But the Convergence Core was in a non-operational state. Because Yernil had removed the doll.

3.Terrain elevation.

Thanks to the ironworks structural transformation being carried out twice, the inside of the cylinder was bumpy like mountainous terrain.

In terms of ground elevation, our side was slightly higher.

[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 22 seconds]

“Orc.”

I called out to the Orc beyond the wall.

“Right now, run to the Production Control Room and tell them this.”

It would be faster to wait for the remaining cooldown of the hourglass and then give instructions to Yernil, but I’ll send the Orc Fighter to save the hourglass.

This was the final decisive move.

***

Arrows flew one after another and stuck into the Golden Golem’s chest with thud thud sounds.

However, the Golden Golem didn’t budge at all. That wasn’t all.

‘It’s coming into the lava!’

Yernil was horrified because she was seeing this scene for the first time.

The Golden Golem had jumped into the lava and was approaching while splash splash cutting through the surface.

With each step, lava splattered in all directions.

‘That monster doesn’t melt in lava?’

The Golden Golem suddenly stopped and stabbed deep into the lava with its spear.

What came up on the spear tip was a Brass Golem doll. The half-melted doll rose up in a plated state. Thoroughly soaked with a large amount of lava.

Swoooosh!

The Golden Golem hurled the doll toward Yernil, and the bright red lava flew along with it like a water bomb.

“Huk!”

Yernil leaped her body onto the opposite rock.

Toward her rolling on the floor, the Golden Golem thrust its spear down.

‘Guard Repositioning!’

Yernil, who had activated that skill just as the cooldown returned, moved to the entrance of the Production Control Room and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey! Elf!”

An unfriendly voice sharply protruded from the corridor side.

“Move!”

Backstab pushed Yernil aside and threw his dagger with all his might.

Bang!

The rogue’s thrown blade hit the Golden Golem’s forehead and knocked him down, but the golem lay down in the lava once and immediately stood up again.

“Damn, how the hell do you kill that thing.”

Backstab clicked his tongue while re-summoning his dagger.

“That cat wizard smashed it to pieces but it still didn’t die. It revived.”

“Did you destroy the core?”

Yernil asked.

“Core?”

“Caleb said golems need to have their cores destroyed.”

“……!”

Golems have red gem-like cores in their chests.

They operate when the Convergence Core injects magic into that location.

In other words, because that core was the weak point, whenever Caleb’s party fought Brass Golems while progressing from the 4th floor to here, they always destroyed the cores.

“But does that bastard also have a core?”

“Probably?”

Actually, Yernil wasn’t confident either.

Because unlike other golems, the Golden Golem’s core wasn’t visible on the outside of its body.

“But I can hear a sound.”

“What sound?”

Aimus, who arrived a beat late, asked while setting down the priest.

“A hum hum sound from its chest!”

Brass Golems also made such sounds from their cores. Like a human heartbeat.

Those with Sound Mapping ability could hear that sound.

“Then let’s try pounding its chest and digging it out.”

The Steel Monk charged head-on toward the Golden Golem walking out of the lava.

Crash!

The collision of two heavyweights caused liquid gold to spurt out in all directions, and especially Aimus was completely covered with it from the front, but his body wasn’t affected by the plating.

But there was still a problem.

“Brother Aimus is being pushed back!”

The shocking brute force overwhelmed even the Power Monk who had received the blessing of Radiance Power.

The golden spear pushed away Aimus’s iron rod. And it began to press down on Aimus, whose center of gravity had tilted.

“Urgh……!”

The Golden Golem intended to knock down Aimus like this and stab him to death with the spear.

However.

“Stand and be martyred!”

The priest quickly cast a second blessing.

The incantation was somewhat brutal, but that magic was a blessing that prevented the target from falling down.

Thanks to the priest, the blessing from the god of fair contracts and transactions firmly settled in the monk’s legs. It felt like both legs were driven into the ground like stakes. The priest’s faith seemed to support Aimus’s back.

But they were still only maintaining a standoff.

“We have to knock this guy down!”

Aimus shouted.

Maintaining the status quo wasn’t enough. They had to somehow make this golem fall.

Only then could Smashing Gaia strike down that monster’s chest.

“Do something!”

Even without Caleb there to take command, that party was already skilled.

‘Mysterious Toppling.’

Yernil took out the scroll she had tried to use on the Barbarian here before. The magic catalyst attached to the scroll flew toward the target.

From her position, it was difficult to snipe directly because Aimus and the golem were in a straight line, but she fired in an arc over Aimus’s head.

That Elf’s arrows never missed.

Thang!

Mysterious Toppling.

That magic cast directly by the god of wisdom loosens the target’s legs and causes loss of balance.

A single slip during combat with deadly exchanges was fatal.

However…….

“It resisted!”

The priest shouted. Magic scrolls had a certain casting ability regardless of the user’s wisdom value, but the level difference couldn’t be helped.

It failed because the level difference between Yernil and the Golden Golem was too great.

‘Arrow Retrieval!’

At that moment, Yernil’s activation of the newly learned skill was almost instinctive.

Because that way she wouldn’t need to wait for the magic catalyst’s cooldown again.

Because she believed that if she shot again, it would succeed.

[Mysterious Toppling]

Originally, when the magic catalyst hit its target, both the scroll and arrow should disappear, but the arrow that failed to cast returned to Yernil’s grasp as if time had reversed.

Thang!

The newly fired arrow didn’t fail.

The Golden Golem fell.

In a manner as if slipping on an icy road.

And toward the chest of that monster lying on the floor.

‘Smashing Gaia!’

The monk’s tremendous iron rod struck down like a mace.

Crash!

A large amount of liquid gold spurted up in all directions.

But it still wasn’t over.

Though its chest was half-destroyed, that golem’s eyes still glittered.

Aimus could also see it. Deep inside, a golden core was spinning wildly.

It wasn’t red like those of Brass Golems.

The core was also plated.

And Yernil sharply caught the hum hum sound coming from there.

“Aimus!”

She stepped on Aimus’s back and jumped. While spinning in the air, she aimed vertically down at the Golden Golem lying on the ground.

Because there was no time for an arcing shot.

Liquid gold was already filling the Golden Golem’s chest again. The core was visible beneath it.

Very small and difficult to distinguish.

That’s why Neko and Backstab had missed it once before.

At that time, they were distracted by the Zoin tribe and druid, so they didn’t have the leisure to observe carefully.

But now Yernil had accurately captured it.

Thang! Thang thang!

Triple Shot struck the Golden Golem’s chest in succession.

“Too shallow!”

However, surprisingly, the golem gathered gold from all sides of its body and somehow protected its chest core.

Yernil’s arrows couldn’t destroy that core.

Crash!

The Golden Golem’s kick exploded into the monk’s chest.

Aimus tumbled backward from that force, and the Golden Golem tried to steady itself and get up.

‘No!’

We can’t miss this opportunity.

Liquid gold was already gathering toward the monster’s chest, about to fill it up.

If we don’t finish it now, it will drag on for a long time again…….

Bang!

Suddenly, a dagger plunged down in reverse and destroyed the core.

Leap Ambush.

“Backstab!”

Aimus screamed.

Unlike Aimus, who was protected by the Static Coat, Backstab wasn’t.

“It’s really nothing much……”

Backstab’s body turned to gold and hardened.

“……Damn.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Yernil jumped up.

“Everyone get away!”

The priest came running quickly. While restraining Yernil who was rushing toward Backstab.

“Even though the Golden Golem is dead, the liquid gold is still active, so be careful not to step on it!”

The priest dragged out Backstab, who had become a gold statue.

“I’ll start removing the plating and treating him now. You two don’t worry about it and go help Caleb and Security Officer Neko!”

“……Kuk.

Aimus gritted his teeth and moved.

“Understood. Let’s go, Yernil!”

“……”

“Yernil?”

Yernil was distracted by something else.

She had reflexively looked when Caleb was mentioned.

At the instrument panel screen of the Production Control Room.

“What the……”

It looked like a circular arena with all sides blocked.

In that place with no gaps to escape, Caleb and Neko remained.

With no front-line fighters.

Together with the Blacksmith.

“What the……Why……?”

She hadn’t noticed at all while fighting the Golden Golem. Since when had they been in such a situation?

Suddenly, a tremendous sense of foreboding seemed to weigh down her entire body.

Yernil had already seen much of the Blacksmith’s power.

No matter how skilled Caleb was, there was no way two wizards could take down that thing.

“Why are they doing that?”

She couldn’t understand the situation itself.

“Everyone!”

Someone shouted from the corridor side with breath rising to their chin.

It was the Orc Fighter who had stayed on Caleb’s side to fight.

The message he brought was filled with madness.

“Push the production settings box into the lava!”

What kind of talk was this now?

Aimus, Yernil, the priest—everyone’s eyes widened at the lightning-bolt instruction.

“So lava pours through the Convergence Core piping!”

That wizard was planning to fill that cylinder with lava.

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