The Ogre-Armed Golem and Endless Hero Beatings

*Click.* "There... all done."

Rumble!

After hours of grueling struggle, I finally succeeded in attaching the ogre's arm that had been rolling around in the warehouse. Unlike the rigid golem, this was a thick, greenish left arm made of flesh. The golem glowed blue and began using the ogre's arm like it was its own.

"Lucky it's the left arm. If it'd been the other one, I couldn't have attached it. At least with the left, I managed somehow." I picked up the golem and headed to the nest clearing.

The clearing still had half the heroes running around and the other half collapsed in exhaustion, while Yongba was firing arrows thwack-thwack.

People have dwindled already.

"Wha? Why only ten now?"

"Some bailed 'cause they couldn't hack it."

"Oh?"

I sat on the ground, nodded casually at the guy munching on something, then rounded up the heroes again and showed off the golem. It was pretty big compared to me in polymorph form, but even against the heroes, it was surprisingly huge. At least 3 meters tall, no doubt.

The weary heroes eyed it curiously at first.

"See this?"

"...A golem?"

"What's... that?"

"I didn't make it... I got it. Anyway, it's a golem. Land a meaningful hit on it, and I'll take you as my disciple."

"! For real?!"

"Seriously?!"

"Yup."

Thud-thud. I tapped the golem and chuckled softly. I was a bit worried it might shatter like before, but a light tap should be fine.

The heroes' faces, which had been limp like soggy seaweed, suddenly lit up.

Yongba raised his hand. "What do already-disciples get?"

"Hm... Oh, yeah. You get one of those too."

"Like what?"

"Gasp."

Some heroes with a sketchy vibe whispered in the corner, but I ignored them.

"Haring's doing me a favor. You'll get the same reward."

"What is i—?!"

Yongba gawked at the empty air. Soon the other heroes did too, whispering in shock. Probably seeing something goddess-related.

Yongba swallowed hard, then asked seriously, "Little Flame Dragon."

"Yeah?"

"Forget that reward... can I just get one ride?"

"Nope."

"Aw."

He keeps asking for rides. I'll say it clearly: I'm not a mount.

*

All the training heroes jumped at the golem challenge. Guess they figured landing a solid hit was easier than running laps around the nest getting beaned on the head thousands of times. Purely in terms of time and effort, they weren't wrong. One lucky or skilled hit skips all the grind.

But.

Crash-bang!

"Gah... this fucking thing..."

"Pile on! Get someone to land a hit!"

"I'll tie its legs!"

"Someone tank aggro!"

"Isn't this stronger than a raid boss?"

"Pathetic as expected."

Mass-produced heroes are mass-produced, huh? Not one, but ten of them struggling against a single golem—one operating at maybe 10% of its original specs, no less. Sure, it's a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠golem designed by a former mage tower lord... but still.

It's a 70-year-old relic covered in rust.

I watched the mass-produced heroes flail while controlling the golem like a video game character. I'd planned to let it run on auto, but with nothing else to do and no sleepiness, I took the reins.

"Push!"

"Hold that spot! Right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flank's open!"

"Got it!"

"Move faster, everyone!"

"Oho."

About two hours in, after a couple got knocked out, they started coordinating better—some kinda teamwork kicking in. The golem was getting backed into their planned corners.

They're herding it to the edge again...

"Hya."

*Click.*

Whoosh!!!

"What."

"Huh?"

"No way—the golem's using air-step?!"

Not air-step. Just temporary levitation magic from the magic stone under its foot.

Cornered by the heroes, the golem suddenly floated up, dodged, then smashed the rearguard heroes.

Smack! Smack!

Two heroes flew off—one from the golem's arm, one from the ogre arm. The smart guy who'd told me about heroes and the brown-haired staff girl.

With those two plus the earlier pair, four heroes down and out. The rest paled.

"Heh heh."

"Dragon lady..."

"Do better. I'm not even using anything fancy."

"It's too hard..."

"Fine. No more magic then."

I sealed magic use at the apprentice heroes' protests. I'd only used levitation and reinforcement briefly anyway.

Even without magic, most couldn't land so much as a scratch.

Clang!

"No damage at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all?!"

"Aim better! You're our best shot!"

"I'm telling you, it ain't sticking!"

Yongba was the only one even hitting, but barely—didn't even scratch the chassis. And that needed the others drawing eyes.

If it had a shield up, they'd miss entirely.

After a fun day of golem-piloting, the repetitive loop bored me, so I switched to auto. Still no winners.

As I watched them get pummeled for three days and started getting bored myself...

"Little Flame Dra~gon~~"

Haring was back.

*

"Phew! Made it!"

Haring finally returned to the nest after an 18-day odyssey. The quest's endgame had been a nightmare, but she'd delivered the letter. Handed it to the knight captain who could meet the emperor—definite clear.

"Whoa, without Nest Return, it'd have taken two more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weeks."

No instant nest-teleport skill? Disaster. Haring sighed in relief and opened the gallery.

Shed come straight back, but shed already caught the rumor mill from the app.

"It's blowing up."

"Everyone's having fun, huh."

Shed been gone, but they'd been up to something amusing. Sure, they were whining about the pain, but the rewards were huge, so they gritted through.

"I'm already on my way, no need to tell me."

Haring sighed deeply, nest in sight. Now shed join the golem beatings like the rest... but she had an ace.

Treasure Vault One-Time Pass!

Snag a legendary weapon from the dragon's vault, then hit the golem meaningfully?

Two treasures?

Posts said disciples got letter-delivery rewards. Clearing the golem quest meant another vault run.

"Can't pass this up."

A sweet event for first-discoverer Haring only—or so she thought. She entered the nest, told the golem-riding Little Flame Dragon about the quest success, and...

"You delivered it properly, right?"

"Huh?"

"No reply letter yet."

Quest not cleared.