Chapter 65
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Birth of Wooden
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Pernyan knew that demons were beings not even permitted to leave a corpse in the mortal realm.
He had learned this in a way he never wished to.
“……”
How much would that giant snake's carcass fetch if he could dismantle it?
The black scales were a bit ominous, but they were so tough that not even the carefully honed auras of Aint and Ruina could scratch them.
Its brilliant golden eyes and blood could likely be sold for a high price as magical ingredients that mages would go crazy for.
The sharpness of its fangs would put most famous swords to shame, and the hardness of its bones would make for excellent armor material.
And that wasn't all. The flesh, steeped in demonic energy, could be purified and sold as a potent elixir.
A snake soup made from a demon's familiar? Anyone would be desperate to get their hands on it.
But the real prize was the heart.
The immense strength and vast demonic energy the snake possessed all stemmed from its heart, which could have been a supreme elixir comparable to a Dragon Heart, or even a power source.
‘If I could have somehow purified it and enhanced Wooden's core...’
It would have been far from easy, but Wooden might have been able to evolve even further.
A carcass that could be picked clean to the very marrow.
But all those dreams, all that money, vanished in an instant.
After all that hellish effort, he had gained nothing.
“Aah…”
His legs gave out, and Pernyan sank to the ground without realizing it.
“We won! We actually won! We really did it!”
Aint's triumphant shout echoed from a distance.
“We defeated the demon!”
Ruina's excited voice rang out right in front of him.
“It's all thanks to you, Pernyan! Without your golem, it would have been impossib—?”
A sense of accomplishment, relief, excitement, elation, thrill, joy, happiness.
Her flushed face was a canvas of complex emotions.
“Were you crying?”
“I was not.”
“Are you badly hurt somewhere? I don't see any external injuries…”
“…You don't know a damn thing, Ruina.”
“What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”
Pernyan didn't bother explaining. Even if he did, there was no way Ruina would understand.
“Sunbaenim!”
A swift shadow suddenly grabbed his hand. It was Aint.
“We won! It's all thanks to you, Sunbaenim!”
“It wasn't me, it was you. You were the one who beheaded the demon.”
“No! Without your golem, we never would have been able to push the demon to the brink!”
“Yes, I get it, so let go of my hand for now.”
And stop shoving your face so uncomfortably close.
“What exactly happened to the demon?”
“It's dead. Since demons are not beings of the mortal realm, its corpse turned to dust and vanished.”
However, not all of it did.
Though others didn't see it, a part of the demon was absorbed into Aint's sword.
- It's one of the sword's inherent abilities. It absorbs a portion of a demon's power to bolster its master.
A warrior who grew stronger with every demon he felled. That was the first emperor.
- Tell no one. You never know when or where word might leak, so it's best to keep a part of your strength hidden from everyone.
Gardner had explained that it was a knight's virtue to conceal a tenth of their strength, no matter how close they were to someone.
“And the barrier is slowly dissipating.”
“A barrier?”
“Yes. The moment the demon was summoned, a barrier cut off the area from the outside world.”
No wonder. He had thought it strange that no one came despite all the commotion.
‘Was it like this in the original future, too?’
Perhaps Andromalius had cast the barrier after Aint and Ruina arrived.
“Then the real trouble starts now.”
With such chaos erupting, the academy was bound to find out about the demon.
All hell would break loose, and the five of them who were at the scene—Pernyan, Ruina, Aint, and the others—would face a barrage of investigations.
“In that case, just talk about what happened today. Don't mention that you knew about the Vile Breeds beforehand.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
Admitting they knew about the Vile Breeds wouldn't work in their favor, no matter the excuse.
They coordinated their stories on a few other points. Fortunately, both of them readily agreed with Pernyan's suggestions.
What was slightly surprising was that while he expected Ruina to trust him to some extent, he hadn't thought Aint would be so compliant.
‘It seems our bond has deepened a bit after taking down the demon.’
Not bad.
“I've been meaning to ask, but what is that?”
As their conversation wound down, Ruina's finger pointed toward Pernyan's shoulder.
On his shoulder, a small, 10-centimeter-tall figure was wriggling.
“It's Wooden.”
A black knight the size of a small doll.
“Wooden?”
“What is that… that shape, don't tell me?”
“Yes, it's the giant golem you two were so grateful for.”
- Gwing?
Wooden tilted its small head and waved a hand.
“…Does it make sense for a giant golem to shrink?”
“…Y-you're not linked to it right now, are you, Sunbaenim?”
“I told you. It's an Ego Golem.”
“Ego? You mean it really has its own consciousness?”
“Of course. Wooden, shake.”
- Gwing!
Wooden extended its tiny hand. The sight left Ruina and Aint stunned once more.
“…I've never seen a golem like this.”
“Because it's a masterpiece the likes of which has never been seen before and never will be again.”
“No, really? Aren't you just linked to it without us knowing and pretending, Sunbaenim?”
“That's not it, Aint.”
The answer came from an entirely different direction.
“Give me a potion, too, Sunbaenim. I think I'm going to die.”
It was Aria, who had a small hole in her side.
“Where were you hiding? Did you just show up now that it's all over?”
“I was fighting my heart out and passed out! What do you mean, hiding?!”
Pernyan tossed her a potion.
“Aria, what do you mean that's not it? Do you know about this golem?”
“Of course. I'm the one who put the ego in it.”
“You put it in?”
“Yep.”
Aria nodded.
“It's a spirit, you see.”
***
Time rewinds to a short while ago.
Back when Aria was freed from the demonic energy by the Saint and they had checked on the corrupted World Tree together.
“Are you any good with spirit arts?”
“Is that like asking a monkey if it knows how to climb a tree?”
“Help me, and I'll introduce you to one more person.”
“Who is it?”
Aria asked, her eyes sparkling with even greater curiosity.
Pernyan took something out of his subspace.
It was a brilliant jewel, the size of a human head.
No, it was no mere jewel.
“…A core?”
The dozens, no, hundreds of engravings on its surface were so advanced that Aria couldn't fully comprehend them.
“What is this? Who made it, and what are the materials? I've never seen anything like it…! I can even feel the energy of the Mother Tree. Don't tell me, that fragment you took! You used it in this?”
“Yes.”
“My goodness, what on earth are you planning to do with this?”
As a mage herself, her curiosity for the unknown welled up.
She lacked the ability to fully understand the core, but she could glimpse a fraction of its greatness.
“It's a golem's core.”
“…A golem? You're putting this advanced core into a mere golem? What kind of crazy extravagance is that…?”
“What did you say?”
“Isn't it? Using something like this as a mere golem's core is incredibly inefficient.”
Given that golems still had many shortcomings, this was a natural perception.
But Pernyan's golem was distinctly different.
“That's why you're going to make it efficient.”
“…Me? How?”
Aria looked dumbfounded.
“A spirit.”
Beings that exist as souls.
“I plan to put a spirit in here and create an Ego Golem.”
“Are you insane?”
Aria shouted without a second's hesitation.
“Insane?”
“Is it sane to ask an elf to imprison a spirit? It even has an obedience engraving on it! The kind used to subjugate familiars!”
“Is that a bit strange?”
“Of course it is. Spirits are free beings. They are never bound to anything. That's impossible. No, wait, can it even contain a soul in the first place?”
“It can. It's made of Mithril. Mithril can contain not only mana, but souls as well.”
Gardner was living proof of that, so there was no need to doubt it.
“…Mithril? That precious material?”
As Aria mumbled in a daze, Pernyan made his offer.
“Are you still going to refuse, even if I offer to introduce you to a member of an Elector family, just as you wished?”
“…Well.”
“A direct descendant, no less, and a likely heir.”
“…I'll only act as an intermediary.”
Aria reluctantly began to draw a magic circle.
“An intermediary?”
“Yes. Persuading the spirits is your job, Sunbaenim. I will never agree to forcibly imprison a spirit that doesn't enter of its own free will.”
“Of course.”
And one more thing. Aria added a condition.
“None of the five major elements belonging to the spirit realm. Their kings won't stand for it.”
“Then what?”
“Let's go with a spirit from the mortal realm. They aren't bound to any kings, so it'll actually be better for you. Assuming this even works, that is.”
“Are other spirits bound to kings?”
“You can think of them as the kings' vassals.”
In that case, Aria was certainly right.
Pernyan wanted a golem that would obey him completely, not some piece of trash whose control could be wrested away at a moment's notice.
“And luckily, there are suitable spirits available. Normally, it would be impossible with your level of spirit affinity, but thanks to you mixing in a branch of the Mother Tree.”
The World Tree was the mother of all trees. And that meant…
- Gwing?
…that forest spirits would go wild for it.
A small, verdant spirit appeared. Its sparkling eyes were full of curiosity.
“Alright, the rest is up to you, Sunbaenim.”
“Fine.”
Pernyan didn't waste words. Instead, he immediately opened his subspace.
“…That's the golem?”
Aria's jaw dropped at the magnificent sight of the golem that had suddenly appeared in the forest.
It wasn't just Aria. The forest spirit, seeing the giant for the first time, flew circles around the golem.
“If you enter this, that golem's body can be yours.”
- Gwing?
The curious forest spirit slowly approached and met his eyes.
“As a spiritual being, you've likely never had a proper physical body. But if you make a contract with me, you can.”
“You think it's going to agree to that? With an obedience engraving and everything.”
“Be quiet. O, spirit of the forest, just think. Imagine that massive body becoming yours, to move as you please.”
- Gwing! Gwung…
“It says just imagining it is overwhelming. But it hates feeling constrained and dislikes being someone's subordinate even more. I knew it.”
He had anticipated as much. Pernyan paid it no mind.
“Think about it, spirit. Of course, this has an obedience engraving. But that is, at most, a fleeting moment.”
- Gwung?
“How long can a human live, at most? A hundred years, if they're lucky. Even if they slow their aging with mana, two hundred. Compared to the eternal life of a spirit, that's but a blink of an eye.”
Endure that short moment, and…
“When I die, you will be free. You can possess that body entirely as your own, without having to listen to anyone's commands.”
- Gweeeeing?!
The spirit's eyes widened.
“What's more, its size is adjustable. That means you can stay in a small form whenever you want.”
That sealed the deal.
The forest spirit immediately threw itself at the golem's core. But it couldn't get in.
“Aria!”
“…No, why is this…”
“Arrange the contract with me.”
“…No, think again. This is a prison!”
- Gwing!
“Two hundred years is nothing, you say? No, but still…”
“Do not interfere with a legitimate transaction, Aria.”
“Haaah, fine.”
With Aria's help, Pernyan formed a contract with the forest spirit. Soon after, the spirit entered the golem's core.
Pernyan opened the golem's chest plate and installed the core.
Wooooong—
Red pupils flashed in its face.
Kugugugu—
The giant golem rose, moving with a will of its own.
Once, twice. The golem clenched and unclenched its fists, then began to move different parts of its body.
“Congratulations on obtaining a real body. Wooden.”
- Gwing?
Perhaps because of the contract, a translator was no longer needed.
“What's a Wooden? That's your name, starting today.”
There was no special meaning behind it. He just named it that because it was a forest spirit.
And thus, the giant Ego Golem, Wooden, was born.
***
“…So you're saying a forest spirit is inside there.”
“So, Aria, you were so crazy for connections that you sold out a spirit?”
- So that's how it is.
- This is what a knife-ear is like?
Aint wore a look of disgust.
“…Are you even an elf?”
“I only acted as an intermediary! That was clearly the spirit's will!”
Aria pleaded her innocence, but no one believed her.
After that brief commotion, as things settled into a lull.
“By the way, where's Verian?”
A moment later, they found Verian unconscious in a corner of the battlefield.
And not long after, the barrier completely disappeared.