Noona? #092 Defeat the Golem
Noona? It was unclear exactly how or to what degree we were supposed to defeat it. Still, given the academy’s standards, subduing the thing seemed like a reasonable expectation even if we fought poorly. If it were someone on the level of me or Mari, they might even expect total destruction. That was why my teammates planned to produce eye-catching results in a short time.
The starting point of it all was the opponent’s mistake. I pushed Mari forward. She immediately flipped the golem off in open provocation. Whether the construct understood the gesture or not didn’t matter; we could treat it as a clear “come and get me” signal.
Luckily, the stupid golem balled both fists tight. Then it kicked off the floor and charged straight at us. Its massive metal frame barreled down the corridor-like space with surprising speed.
“Everyone spread out!” I shouted. In the cramped area we plastered ourselves against the walls as best we could.
“Huh? What?” Only one person was a beat too slow. Shannon shifted sideways a moment late, and in a real fight one beat is more than enough time for someone to die.
Just as she tried to hug the wall, the golem slammed into her even faster. There wasn’t time for a scream. Shannon bounced off the construct and smashed into the door we had entered through. The golem seized her before she could even hit the ground. While the rest of us had weapons trained on it, the damn thing chose to punt her like a soccer ball. With a strangled yelp, Shannon-ball went flying. Mari didn’t even have time to react before the human projectile slammed into her. A heavy thud rang out as both women tumbled across the floor.
The golem didn’t miss the opening. It stepped forward immediately. I snapped my head around.
“Magic!”
“Got it! Stone Ball!”
Ines shook her staff. A boulder materialized in mid-air and smashed into the golem. Its charging stance collapsed; it staggered violently. I poured power into my blade at once. The moment I judged it an opening, I sharpened every sense I had. I charged with movements so fast they left afterimages in Ines’s vision. By the time the golem recovered its balance, it was already a fatal beat behind.
“You bastard!”
My sword drew a clean arc. The air didn’t simply part—it tore. Metal met metal and the golem’s armor sheared like tofu. Sparks sprayed, an ugly screech scraping across my ears. Still, I was sure the golem felt far worse about it. Riding that satisfaction, I redirected the blade. It carved all the way to the wall, leaving a deep gash.
The golem thrashed in something close to desperation. But our sense of time was completely different. I slipped the incoming fist, then opened two wide slashes across its chest. Yet the construct was expensive; my edge didn’t sink in properly. Worse, the sheer surface area of contact devoured my mana at an alarming rate.
Deciding to end it by striking a weak point, I thrust. The blade sank in as easily as a stick pushed into sand.
“Damn it!”
I yanked the sword free and retreated. What I had assumed was a vulnerability clearly wasn’t. Just then Mari and Shannon regained their feet. I ordered the two mages to prepare and once again placed Mari in front—the contingency tactic we had discussed beforehand. She stepped forward without complaint.
The golem slammed the wall twice, as if irritated. I thought it was throwing a tantrum, but that wasn’t it at all.
“Uh…?”
“The ceiling lights…”
Blink. Blink. Blink. The LED fixtures flickered unsteadily. The cycle of darkness grew faster until the blackouts outnumbered the light. A genuinely nightmarish situation had been created.
We all hurriedly reinforced our eyes with mana. Mari, used to such tricks, filtered the darkness instantly while the rest of us managed it more slowly. The one thing we all saw equally was the golem charging toward us.
It swung at Mari, the closest target. Unacceptable. In fact, it wasn’t even its turn to attack.
Thud! She caught the fist with both hands. The golem seemed startled that its punch had been stopped. It immediately tried to hammer her with the other arm.
“Shannon! Bind it!”
“Aqua Ball! Aqua Ball! Aqua Ball!”
Three orbs of water enveloped the free arm. Its movements grew sluggish, as if submerged. With both arms neutralized, only the legs remained.
“Small Swamp! I can’t hold it long!”
Even those were pinned down by Ines. The golem thrashed in place, howling in mechanical agony. I seized the chance and swung like a gale. Unlike before, I poured every drop of mana I had left into the blade. There was no retreat. It had to be decisive.
Krrrrrrrk—!!!
I sliced through the golem’s waist. Or rather, I bisected it completely. With a heavy crash its upper and lower halves separated. It had ended up exactly like the death-row inmate I had carved apart earlier. The golem flailed for a few seconds, then fell silent. Around the same time the flickering lights stabilized.
“What kind of insane test is this?”
“You can say that again.”
Sighs of relief escaped everyone. Shannon, thinking it was finally over, dropped to the floor.
Splat. Blood stained her pants. Naturally a long, hissing “Hiiiiiiik!” leaked from her mouth. She had been half-wild during the fight and had apparently brushed the golem’s arm. It shouldn’t have been a problem.
But something was wrong.
The golem stirred, then grabbed Shannon’s leg while she was still shaking her rear.
“Eek?!”
Its eyes had turned pitch black. Unstable state—rampage.
The instant I noticed, I drew my sword and rushed the struggling pair. I had almost no mana left, but I could still deliver a shock. I swung with the intent to shove it away somehow—
“Just a moment!”
A voice called from behind. I glanced back. A man carrying a toolbox had entered the room. The door the golem had come through was open; he must have used the same entrance.
The man kept bowing apologetically as he approached Shannon and the golem. He pulled a hammer from the toolbox and struck the construct’s head repeatedly. Rough clangs echoed. The result was astonishing. The golem that had seemed ready to enter an unstoppable frenzy simply powered down.
The man gave us a quick look, then bowed once more. I belatedly thought of a question, but he slipped out the door before I could speak.
What the hell was that about? I was about to curse when—
“Huff, huff! Wait!”
The man returned. This time he carried a heavy envelope instead of the toolbox.
“Clear rewards. You can take these.”
He handed the envelope to me. Inside were numerous items wrapped in packaging. They gave off a distinctly peculiar smell.
“What are these?”
“Not sure… but they do smell strange…”
“Ah, please accept this as well.”
He also passed me a plastic card the size of a credit card. Nothing was written on it, making its purpose highly suspicious.
“Excuse me, what is this?”
“That… well, you’ll find out as you continue the tests.”
He couldn’t tell me now, but it was apparently used somewhere. Since it seemed important, I slipped it into an inner pocket.
The man bowed again, looking apologetic. I wondered what he had to be so sorry about, then remembered the academy had plenty of reasons to feel guilty.
“The combat test ends here. Please follow the path onward.”
The door opened and we stepped out. Only after we were outside looking back in did something catch my eye behind the endlessly bowing man.
“……?”
The spot where a corpse should have been now held only a mannequin wearing underwear. Even the remaining blood looked subtly off—like diluted paint.
“Ah……”
Of course it was fake. Using an actual death-row prisoner would have brought human-rights protests that could shut the academy down. The only solution was an illusion to create realism.
Season 5886899678 Sign
“Just as I thought.”
“We got baited.”
So-called illusion magic. It was a spell that revealed death was nothing more than an expensive deception.
“This hamburger is melting in my mouth~”
My teammates and I strolled along, happily chewing the burgers we had received. The source of these delicious burgers was the envelope we had just been handed.
“To think they’d just give away hamburgers this good. It’s worth living a long life after all.”
“They didn’t just give them. We earned them by defeating the golem.”
“Aw, that still counts as free. It wasn’t even that hard, right?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Honestly, I was really scared when the lights went out.”
“Me too……”
It was surprising. This was the same academy that practically ran on student-hostile policies. The fact that they gave us something this tasty felt downright abnormal. The only real problem was the ridiculous quantity.
“Give me one more. The gold powder on top makes it feel amazing.”
Four people cleared the test, twelve servings of burgers—in four different flavors.
“Mmm, nom nom, mmm. For the next hour I’m willing to support the academy’s abusive ways.”
“Are you insane?”
Of course I only said it. Unless something drastic happened, I was fully prepared to support them for an hour. Naturally, if the next reward was Pepsi and chicken I would have supported them for ten. Ironically, the actual next reward turned out to be premium ice cream, making the whole thing a rather amusing coincidence.
“Om nom nom.”
Anyway, the four of us kept walking down the endless road. Walking this long in the exam only meant one thing.
“Another sign.”
The Season 5886899678 sign had appeared again. I had stopped expecting anything from them long ago.
“But who’s sitting in front of it this time?”
“Huh? You’re right.”
“What she’s holding… is that a notebook and pencil?”
“Maybe she’s calculating something?”
The only real difference was that a person was sitting there. The question of why she was alone suddenly crossed my mind.
I approached the woman in front of the sign with caution. It might be rude, but sometimes rudeness had to be tolerated. Besides, she had silver hair and pointed ears. That meant she was from the same homeland. If I was lucky I might be able to exchange useful information.
So I crept closer and stole a glance at her face.
“……?”
I froze solid.
Mari found it strange that her usually unflappable friend had suddenly stiffened. Sensing something off, she strode forward boldly. The moment the woman turned to look at her, Mari froze too. Curiously, the woman did exactly the same.
“……Huk.”
A Far North Elf with a familiar face and voice. Her identity was none other than Na Sua, who should have been busy working as a professor.
Why is Noona here?
My mind spiraled into chaos in real time.