Kays Translations

Chapter 51: Golem

Lucius and the northern knights continued to explore the untapped areas of the labyrinth.

Crossing over a fork, another junction soon appeared just a bit further ahead.

"It's like a spider's web," someone remarked.

Even while looking at the map that Hemiya had drawn, it felt as if they were crushing the grid-like passages with their intricate layout.

Further on, a pungent odor pierced their noses. Glancing around, something lay against the wall. Its identity was immediately apparent.

"A human foot..."

Joseph and the northern knights grimaced at the sight.

"It must belong to the comrade who died yesterday."

The reason there was no body was probably that the contracted creature had eaten it.

"Should we bring it back?"

"No, it's fine. The false core will eat it."

Upon closer inspection, there were numerous stains that seemed to be traces of blood around them. Most likely, it was the aftermath of the feast.

"Understood."

As Lucius and the others moved forward, bowing slightly in respect, something whisked across their field of view.

"It's a scout golem."

Above the squad where Lucius and the others were, a bat-shaped golem flew by.

Everyone's expressions stiffened. Joseph quickly urged the knights in a low, stern voice.

"Be careful. Yesterday, we encountered an iron golem."

From a nearby side road, a sound like pounding on the ground echoed. Gradually, it drew closer.

"Three of them."

Around the bend, three golems appeared.

Their shape was the same as the one they had seen earlier. An armored upper body mounted on eight spider-like legs. The four arms were disproportionately thick.

However, they were made of different materials than the earth golems. The one in the middle was made of a reddish metal, like copper, and the two on either side had the appearance of stone.

"Are those rock golems and iron golems?"

"That's right."

Immediately, the combat units led by Joseph began to fight back, manifesting their abilities and wielding swords, spears, and magic.

"Not many knights can damage the iron golem as I thought."

Most of the knights fighting were able to combat the rock golems properly, but there were probably only three or four humans who could harm the iron golem.

"The rock golem is around third rank, and the iron golem is about second rank in strength, huh?"

Thinking of them as equal to Peluda, who Lucius faced before, it can't be helped that there are few who can fight them. It also makes sense that a knight died yesterday.

Just as Lucius was about to go help, a sudden shout rose from the rear support group.

"They're coming again!"

From the back, three more golems emerged. Joseph laughed dryly.

"Three more iron golems, really?"

The paleness that came from the knights' screams conveyed their terror. They had expressions as if they were prepared to die.

Even so, they didn't collapse their battle lines, a testament to their training as knights.

Lucius quietly stepped forward.

"I'll take care of those ones, then."

"But Lucius, by yourself..."

"It's not a problem."

Lucius concentrated his magic in the depths of his eyes and summoned about ten armored soldiers from the shadows. He also created a treasured sword with magic.

"I'll leave the two on the sides to you."

With his brief instruction, the armored soldiers faced the challenge without hesitation.

Lucius too rushed down the dimly lit corridor, closing the distance with the central golem in an instant.

The iron golem mechanically shaped a blade from its iron arm. Unlike an earth golem, its claws were like real swords.

Lucius quickly dodged the swiftly swung blade and dived into the golem's range, slashing at one of its legs without hesitation.

"It's hard."

Only the sound of metal collision echoed, leaving no wound. The iron golem, having its space invaded, lifted itself up with its eight legs as if resetting the situation.

Then, aiming its clawed feet at Lucius, it swung down.

"It's trying to crush me."

Lucius enveloped his sword in light.

He dodged the falling golem by sidestepping, slashing upwards from its belly. The sword sank into the body without almost any resistance, splitting the golem.

The thunderous sound of the iron mass falling echoed, and as Lucius glanced sideways, he could see the golem, its stomach split in two, crumbling like a clay doll.

"It's hollow."

Although he didn't understand the principle, the interior of the golem seemed to have no structure, just a mass of metal.

Lucius defeated the iron golem effortlessly and, when he looked around, he saw that the knights had thrust several spears into another golem's face.

The remaining two iron golems nearby were also being torn apart by the armored soldiers, being reduced to scraps of iron.

"Amazing..."

"A worthy top-ranking wizard."

"He took down an iron golem so easily."

Joseph approached with an expression of admiration.

"Lord Lucius, your strength truly never ceases to amaze us. With you around, we might be able to delve deeper into the labyrinth than we had initially planned."

Joseph's eyes sparkled with admiration, a sense of hope apparent in his voice. The other knights, upon hearing these words, visibly relaxed, their faith in Lucius renewed.

Lucius, however, was still deep in thought, studying the iron debris of the golems he'd defeated.

"Something's not right," he muttered, more to himself than to his company. "These golems are far more advanced than any magic creature I've encountered before... and there's something peculiar about the material they're made from."

He picked up a piece of the broken iron golem, turning it over in his hand. As he did so, he felt a strange pulse of magic emanating from the metal.

The labyrinth had just turned far more interesting - and dangerous - than he'd originally thought.

"This is! It's a healing artifact, isn't it?"

"Is it rare?"

"Well, we do find them from time to time, but they're in high demand. If it's in good condition, it can be incredibly valuable."

Indeed, looking at it, it did resemble some sort of pod.

It could just be a plain old coffin, though.

Joseph called out to Hemiya, the team's liaison.

"Hemiya, could you take care of this first?"

"Understood."

As Hemiya replied, particles shot out from her left hand.

A horse with eight legs?

"This is my little Sleipnir."

"Hemiya's spell contains a precious technique. We're counting on you."

"Yes."

Red lightning sprang from Sleipnir, gathering in front of the pod and forming a circle of electricity. Within the swirl of circular current, an empty black space emerged.

Cold sweat could be seen on Hemiya's face.

She must be consuming considerable magical power.

"What kind of spell is that?"

"It's a teleportation spell."

So, it's something like Mr. Yu's Gate spell?

The black circle moved and began to slowly draw the pod into it. As the circle completely engulfed it, the pod that was right before our eyes just a moment ago had vanished.

"That helps."

"Haa, haa, I'm... at my limit with magic..."

Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, licked Hamiya's head as she collapsed to the ground. She stroked its cheek.

"It's okay, just take a little break."

"Even though the spell can send anyone or anything through the circle, even to a distant place, I'm sorry to have used it for such a short distance."

"No, no, it's fine. I can't really do much besides transport people and objects anyway. Plus, it must have been challenging to carefully handle an artifact of that size."

Hemiya looked pale, but she managed to force a smile.

In response to this, Joseph and the knights expressed their gratitude.

Both the spellcaster and the knights seem to have a good relationship.

Lucius felt a slight twinge of jealousy, when something moved in the corner of the room.

"There's something there!"

Lucius instantly drew his sword.

A black... slime?

Yes, it was black, but something was off. It had a metallic sheen like silver, reminiscent of the Evil Dragon.

Rather than a semi-transparent jelly, it was more like a clump of black mercury.

However, there was no doubt that it was a black core.

A first-class fake core.

"What the hell is that?"

Joseph's bewildered voice echoed.

Reacting to the voice, the black metal slime twitched. In an instant, Lucius dashed forward, reaching out to grab it.

But it escaped out of the room, bouncing off the walls and ceiling at a speed unimaginable for a gel-like creature.

"I'll chase it!"

Leaving the armoured knights behind, Lucius alone began to run.

It's fast.

In the dim space, the fake core with its black body was hard to see.

However, he could clearly feel the enormous magical power concealed in its small body.

Desperately keeping his eyes on the direction it was bouncing, he chased it. Then, as he turned a corner chasing the black slime, a light jumped into his sight.

The end of the corridor was bright.

The first-class fake core leaped into the light.

Chasing the slime that was about to disappear into the blinding white light, he sprinted at full speed.

Lucius reached out towards the black core as if to dive into it.

I've got it.

Just as he thought that, he suddenly felt a sense of floating. The floor that should have been beneath his body was gone, and a hole extending far down was spread out beneath him.

"――A cliff!?"

It seems I've leaped off the edge of a cliff.

In an instant, I summoned an armor soldier as a substitute and kicked off his back, grabbing the edge of the cliff.

My body swung back and forth like a pendulum.

"That was close."

The place where the light was shining was a large vertical hole.

The top of the hole appeared to be on the surface, bathed in sunlight.

The closer it got to the surface, the narrower it became.

On the contrary, the bottom was dim, as if swallowing the light, and hard to see.

The surrounding area of the vertical hole was not rocky, but smooth as if made of concrete.

It might look like this if you buried an immensely large plastic bottle in the ground.

Inside, the black fake core and armored soldiers could be seen falling far below.

"――I managed to escape."

Now that I can't manifest the evil dragon, a fall from a great height would lead to death.

With my heart pounding, I have no choice but to climb up.

"Too bad, it was a first-class one."

"Lord Lucius! Where are you!?"

I can hear Joseph and the others calling from a little distance away.

"I'm here."

Relying on my voice, Joseph and his men come closer and flinch as they look down the vertical hole.

"Oh, I didn't realize there was something like this. We checked the terrain when we built this fort, but we didn't notice it at all."

"The hole gets smaller the higher up you go, so it must be in a place that doesn't stand out from the surface."

The diameter of the hole that emerges on the surface is about 2-3 meters.

On the other hand, the vertical hole just in front of Lucius's feet has a diameter of at least 15 meters.

"What happened to the fake core?"

"It managed to escape. But there was a first-class one there."

Indeed, its existence in this labyrinth has been confirmed.

A whole division is searching for it. It's only a matter of time until we catch it.

"Was the first-class one like metal? The first-class fake core I saw before seemed a bit different?"

Joseph tilts his head in disbelief.

But perhaps thinking it's pointless to ponder, he raises his voice.

"Everyone, let's go back to the surface once. With this, we should get quite a bit of appraisal."

"Appraisal?"

"Knights value ability and results. The relics obtained from labyrinth exploration directly contribute to the appraisal, which in turn contributes to the achievements and evaluation of the North. And, incidentally, rewards are also distributed."

Joseph smiles broadly.

The squad members also have the same satisfied expressions.

"――Being a knight is hard work."

Before returning to the surface, when I looked back at the vertical hole, I felt a sense of discomfort at the patterns engraved on the surface.

It's a pattern I feel like I've seen before.

'"M-Ene▓gy Depol▓r▓zat▓on an▓ Pur▓fic▓ti▓n Sys▓em"'

I hadn't seen it in a while, so there was a slight time lag until I recognized it as a string of characters.

Some parts are faded and can't be seen, but it's clearly English.

The language form of this world is similar to English, but the characters and words are completely different.

'"M-energy... depolarization... purification... system?"'

I mobilized all the knowledge of English I had learned for my exams to guess the meaning. I'm not confident, but it seems to mean some kind of purification device.

"――Why is there English... in a place like this?"

"Hey, Lord Lucius. We're heading back."

Joseph, who was walking ahead, called out to Lucius, and Lucius reluctantly turned his back on the vertical hole.

"Understood. I'm coming now."

While it's concerning, the fact that there was a first-class fake core is more important right now.

And it's fortunate that it was found on the first day.

When I looked down at my left hand, what had been a sharp crescent moon was now a bit more rounded than in the morning.

Moment by moment, the time was approaching.

"――I need to hurry."

With that, Lucius left his first labyrinth.

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