Chapter 152
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: The True Strength of Wooden
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What is Wooden's greatest strength?
The keen senses inherited from the Branch of the World Tree?
His tireless stamina?
His body, forged from various alloys including adamant and mithril, the toughest in the world?
None of them.
While those are undeniably important components that enhance Wooden's value as a golem, Pernyan saw his main advantage as something else entirely.
His overwhelming size—ten meters, no, closer to eleven after consuming the roots of Itarium.
And the ability to control that size and weight at will.
Wooden's frame, once a mere two meters, swelled to nearly five. The weight of his now-massive greatsword bore down on Rahnas.
- Gruuuh!
But that wasn't Wooden's only weapon.
Before, he might have simply laughed and waited for his opponent's next move, but not now, not after learning the swordsmanship of Altriark.
Wooden now understood that he must not relinquish an advantage once seized.
—!
——!
Wooden brought his sword down again and again.
It was less 'slashing' and more 'smashing'.
Yet, for all that brutish violence, the results were less than satisfying.
Grrr-
The armor shattered and the demonic energy crumbled, but the axe—and Rahnas—remained unharmed.
The creature's eyes burned redder with madness, its muscles and veins bulging even more prominently.
Snorting raggedly, it slammed its axe against his.
Craaaash!
An incomparable shockwave rocked the cave. Stalactites broke from the ceiling and fell.
- Groan...?
And Wooden was bewildered.
He had never before met an opponent who could match him in a contest of pure strength.
Especially since he was five meters tall, and Rahnas, at best, was three.
Wooden tilted his head in confusion. But soon, a wide grin spread across his face.
- Guh!
It was the first time. The first time he had fought a being of equal strength.
There had been Andromalius, but back then, he hadn't fully adapted to his body, nor had he learned any proper swordsmanship.
But now was different. His true self had completely assimilated with the golem's body, and he had even learned the swordsmanship of Altriark.
An adversary had been thrown before him, just when he was itching to test out all his new skills.
- Guh!
He couldn't help but be thrilled.
Wooden raised his greatsword. He thrust it toward the charging Rahnas.
——!
“This is impossible…! It can't be!”
The Vile Breed clutched the book tightly and hid behind a rock.
“I've never heard of a golem like that! No one ever told me!”
“Because I kept it hidden.”
“Pernyan Fallenberg!”
Shattered demonic energy, scattered aura, shockwaves, and stone fragments churned through the cave.
The continuous roar was deafening, yet Pernyan and the Vile Breed stared at each other, hearing one another's voices as if there were no impediment.
“When in the world did you make something like that? No, how did you make it? A mere golem moving on its own and fighting on equal footing with Rahnas! This makes no sense!”
“It does make sense. It's happening right before your eyes.”
“Well, of course I can see it. But that's not what I mean!”
The Vile Breed flipped a page in the book.
A mass of black flame tore across the battlefield.
—!
But it failed to reach its target. Rahnas, sent flying by Wooden's sword, inadvertently blocked the flames.
And the explosion of demonic energy did little damage to Rahnas.
“What are you doing! Get out of the way!”
As the Vile Breed roared, the first-class demonic beast charged at Wooden once more.
But in that brief moment, Pernyan noticed the light from the magic book intensify ever so slightly.
The surrounding darkness made the small change all the more apparent.
“I don't know how you made a golem that moves on its own, but a golem is finished once its master dies, right?”
Dieeeee!
A pillar of black flame erupted in a straight line.
———!
A greatsword shot out and split it in two.
Rahnas roared and attacked Wooden from behind, and sword and axe clashed once more.
“This damn golem!”
“That book.”
Pernyan extended a hand, pointing at the book. It was still glowing faintly.
But that wasn't the only thing Pernyan had noticed. When the magic was cast just now, the light had grown a little stronger.
“A magic book, I see.”
“Are you proud of figuring that out just now? Are you an idiot?”
“And it's continuously casting magic.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“The light grows stronger when you cast a spell. And it grows stronger when you give orders to Rahnas.”
And even now, it was emitting a faint glow.
At a glance, that might seem to be its default state, but not to Pernyan. Even at this very moment, demonic energy was seeping from it.
“You... without that book, you can't properly control Rahnas, can you?”
There were records stating that Rahnas was a demonic beast that even demons couldn't handle carelessly.
Considering his words about 'not having received grace for long' and 'summoning such a powerful demonic beast is no easy task'...
The answer was clear.
———!
Rahnas crashed into the wall.
Crash! Wooden followed up instantly, thrusting his sword. Rahnas blocked it with the flat of his axe.
But the immense force drove his body straight through the wall.
Grrrraaaaaaaah!
Rahnas roared, trembling.
- Grooooooan!
Wooden roared back, not to be outdone.
“Isn't that right?”
Amid the noise, Pernyan's low voice reached the Vile Breed with perfect clarity.
“…No.”
As if a nerve had been struck, the Vile Breed's lips quivered.
“Then this is simple. I'll burn that book.”
“I said no!”
The Vile Breed flipped a page, and a streak of black light erupted.
The existence of black light, clearly visible in the darkness, was almost a contradiction, but the demonic beasts reacted to it.
Grrr-
Dozens of demonic beasts, fourth-class and higher, charged toward Pernyan all at once.
“You won't die a peaceful death…! You've dug your own grave! You foolish Pernyan Fallenberg!”
And it was the wisest decision the dim-witted Vile Breed had made thus far.
- Guh!
Among Wooden's orders, protecting Pernyan was the highest priority.
Even in the middle of a fight with Rahnas, he had to instinctively rush to Pernyan's side if he was in danger.
This time was no different, resulting in dozens of demonic beasts, including Rahnas, converging on Wooden.
“How dare that piece of scrap metal! Destroy him first!”
“Do I look like a decoration?”
The demonic beasts charged. Pernyan cast his magic.
The earth split open, causing some of the beasts to stumble, and Wooden's sword fell upon them.
—!
The demonic beasts screamed.
Yet, they didn't falter, spewing demonic energy.
Wooden's body staggered, and Rahnas seized the opening.
Craaash!
Wooden chose the practical route. He took the full brunt of every other assault with his body to block Rahnas's battle-axe.
The resulting shockwave forced the demonic beasts back a few steps. Sand surged over them.
Crack, crunch-
It enveloped the beasts' arms and legs, crushing their bones with immense pressure.
“Wooden, trust your body! To your left!”
Wooden's gaze shifted left. In the next instant, his sword lopped off the head of a collapsed demonic beast.
Immediately after, the battle-axe struck Wooden's shoulder, but.
Clang!
aside from a minor scratch, it left no wound.
- Gweeeeh?
Wooden grinned, surprised by how sturdy his own body was.
From that point on, he changed his strategy.
From ignoring the attacks of the other demonic beasts to ignoring Rahnas's attacks.
Crunch-
The massive greatsword crushed a beast's head. Rahnas's axe scratched Wooden's back.
A blast of aura shot out, piercing a beast's heart. The axe scraped Wooden's leg.
The golem's body, sent flying like an arrow, was a weapon in itself. Two demonic beasts were simultaneously crushed into pulp.
——!
Enraged, Rahnas finally managed to inflict what could be called a wound on Wooden's side.
But that single attack left Rahnas's demonic energy significantly weakened.
How many more demonic beasts could he kill before Rahnas could muster another attack of that magnitude?
Confident in his victory, Wooden mentally praised himself for his cleverness.
Just then.
“Don't make me laugh.”
The Vile Breed's eyes flew open.
Fwip-fwip-fwip-
The pages of the open book flipped one after another.
The surging demonic energy was incomparably heavy and sinister.
“Let's see if you can survive this.”
That's dangerous. Pernyan swallowed a groan, his skin crawling.
But the flash of condensed demonic lightning was faster than any shouted warning, faster than Wooden could shake off Rahnas.
————!
Rahnas's left arm, which had been holding Wooden, was blown away first. In exchange, Wooden's body was sent flying through the air like a puppet with its strings cut.
His sword clattered unceremoniously to the ground.
Both of Wooden's arms were gone, and his torso was completely crushed.
- Gweeeeh….
“Phuhuhu, serves you right. Serves you right…!”
In return, dozens of pages in the book burst into flames and vanished. But the Vile Breed wore a pleased smile.
“What are you going to do now? Said you'd kill me? How, exactly?”
His eyes curved into crescents. He cackled, mocking Pernyan.
“I'm asking you! How the hell are you going to kill me!”
“That book. What is it?”
“This? This is….”
The creature's eyes widened as it shouted.
“Like I'd tell you, you idiot!”
Rahnas!
Rahnas responded to his call. The book, with only a few pages left, glowed once more.
“Finish off that golem completely and kill Pernyan Fallenberg… huh… eh?”
The Vile Breed's eyes, pointed at the golem, widened. His mouth hung open.
“…What is that, what is that, what the hell is that!”
“A golem.”
“That's not what I'm asking!”
“A special golem, the likes of which has never existed before and never will again.”
- Gwing!
Wooden nodded, smiling brightly as if to affirm Pernyan's words.
Pernyan sneered at the Vile Breed and slowly approached Wooden's side.
Wooden didn't look like his usual self. Something was covering his entire body.
It was.
Roots. And branches, and leaves.
Roots, branches, and leaves slithered out from all over Wooden's body and took hold.
They absorbed the surrounding mana.
Filling his empty core.
The extending stems gathered the broken fragments and began weaving them back together.
The forcefully reattached pieces, guided by a power akin to an authority, naturally returned to their original, unified form.
Regeneration—no, it was a power closer to self-repair.
It was a miraculous authority that had blossomed when the roots of Itarium and the Branch of the World Tree met a forest spirit and combined with mithril and adamant.
“I really did give you the perfect name. If this isn't Wooden, what is?”
Having finished its recovery, Wooden stood up again. The roots remained, not disappearing.
“This is cheating! You coward!”
“Pathetic. The Vile Breed who lured me here alone to kill me is calling someone a coward?”
The corner of Pernyan's mouth twisted.
“I told you. You will die.”
I don't usually keep promises that aren't backed by a contract.
“But I'll make a special exception this time. Wooden, you may use all your strength. Bring him to me.”
- Gwing!
Wooden began to move again.