Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Onyx Golem's Core
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Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Thud-
The Onyx Golem's fist slammed into its own abdomen.
Perhaps because of its previous flashy sweeps across the ground, a deafening roar echoed as thick clouds of dust billowed up.
The tanks who had just been watching froze in stunned disbelief.
"Seriously?"
"What the fuck..."
They had thought they could really take it down when they managed to bring the Onyx Golem to its knees.
Hadn't they exposed the Phlodium Golem's core without much trouble?
But maybe the Onyx Golem was just too much.
They never imagined Jeong-hyeon dodging that massive fist and doing something in the process.
Instant death.
Those two syllables lingered in the tanks' minds.
And then self-reproach came crashing down late.
No matter how superhuman his skills, he was just a single hunter.
An unregistered one at that.
What had they been thinking, cheering him on as he fearlessly charged the Onyx Golem without lifting a finger themselves?
The hunter who had thrown his shield in a desperate last-ditch effort at the end felt even more guilt.
"If only I'd thrown the shield a bit better..."
He'd flung it in a grasp-at-straws attempt to help somehow, but for it to miss so pathetically...
Sure, things don't magically work out in novels or movies just because you steel yourself with resolve, but he never imagined he'd feel this powerless.
"Can't be helped. We need to run while we can. Healer! Hurry up and—"
Another tank grabbed his bowed head and pulled at his arm.
It weighed on his heart, but coldly speaking, the guy had chosen his own path.
His left knee still wasn't working right, and regenerating his torso from that punch would take time, so they needed to bolt while they had the chance.
With that in mind, he gestured to the healer watching from afar, about to make a break for it.
Until he saw the healer's dazed expression.
A "what if" flickered through the tank's mind.
He whipped his head back toward the Onyx Golem and the settling dust.
From within, a figure shot up.
It was Jeong-hyeon.
"Whew, that was close!"
Who could've predicted the shield would lodge right there at the last second?
After seeing it embed in the golem's chest, Jeong-hyeon had used the recoil to leap upward.
Of course, without solid footing, he couldn't reach the shield in one go.
But the priority was escaping that reckless fist swing.
Thud-
A roar that shook his skull.
'It's an artifact, though... It shouldn't break, right?'
Even amid the chaos, Jeong-hyeon worried about Black, which he hadn't pulled out in time to secure enough rebound.
If that mad golem's fist shattered it, making anything from its byproducts would be turning cause and effect upside down.
Anyway, leaving Black's "sacrifice" behind, Jeong-hyeon landed squarely on the golem's fist.
It was a life-threatening attack mid-swing, but once stopped, it made an excellent platform.
'Okay, this is plenty.'
With both feet planted firmly, jumping back to the shield was no issue at all.
It was even easier than using the dagger as a foothold to reach its head.
He had no idea how the inanimate golem perceived him, but he needed to get as much done as possible before the dust settled and its body fully emerged.
Jeong-hyeon didn't hesitate and leaped onto the shield.
Then, he jumped even higher.
Only then did the dust clear, granting a proper view.
Jeong-hyeon had soared to just above the golem's head height.
On the ground below, hunters gawked up at him in shock.
Tap-
'Whoa, nice view!'
Either way, he'd reached the head far more cleanly than planned.
With the core presumably there, the golem wouldn't swing its fist wildly like before.
Smashing its own core would be the dumbest suicide imaginable.
Groooan-
The golem's body lurched into motion.
Its left knee still seemed damaged, but it must have figured this was the only way to shake off the pest on its head.
But Jeong-hyeon had no intention of dropping off now that he'd come this far.
"I've got the know-how!"
He could use the same trick from atop the Demi Drake's head.
Jeong-hyeon drew his dagger and jammed it near his feet.
Unless it threw a real fit, his balance wouldn't fail.
Next came the barrage of devastating blows.
'Next time, I really need to carry a pickaxe.'
Like a miner hacking at ore, Jeong-hyeon swung the mace high over the golem's head and brought it crashing down as if it were a pickaxe.
Unlike a pickaxe, the mace held mana just shy of its limit, but that would do.
Bang- Bang-
The impacts sounded more like a drilling rig than a pickaxe.
Each time the mace's iron ball struck the Onyx Golem's head, dents the size of Jeong-hyeon's skull cratered the surface.
Even if the head was larger than three grown men, it couldn't withstand that pounding.
Groooar-
In a final spasm, the golem swung both arms overhead.
Likely aiming to intimidate without hitting its own head, but Jeong-hyeon just bent at the waist each time an arm rose.
As he dug deeper into the head, his body sank further in, making dodges easy.
'This is fun!'
Nothing thrilled like turning a near-death monster's fatal weakness against it helplessly.
How many swings of the "pickaxe"—no, mace—had he landed?
As his lower body sank in up to his waist, Jeong-hyeon's eyebrows twitched.
"Is this it?"
It looked like the rest—black and glossy—but his eyes caught a distinct sphere.
What was it? Far more refined and profound.
His senses confirmed it: the golem's core.
'First, dig around it a bit more...'
It was finally time to end this tiresome fight with the Onyx Golem.
Jeong-hyeon began chipping away at the core's surroundings with the mace.
Of course, he carefully modulated the mana to avoid damaging the core itself, only striking far from it.
Soon, the core's full shape emerged.
About the size of two fists combined.
Impressively large, yet tiny compared to the golem's bulk—amazing it moved such a massive frame.
"Anyway, now I just cut it out."
Jeong-hyeon grinned and drew a dagger from his inventory.
With connections to the core severed, the Onyx Golem barely twitched anymore.
Made the job even easier.
He swung the neutral-element enchanted dagger hard, severing the last root-like link in one stroke.
Grooo-
The golem slumped like an electronic device unplugged.
"Whoops."
No way was he riding it down to the ground, so Jeong-hyeon grabbed the core and leaped from the head.
[Sudden Coin Quest 'Think You're Hot Stuff?' cleared.]
[Reward granted.]
[Acquired 1 coin.]
'At least this upper-tier golem doesn't pull that cheap stunt like the Demi Drake.'
The tiny quest clear and coin notifications in the corner of his vision gladdened Jeong-hyeon, who vividly remembered the Demi Drake's dying "madness" withholding his coin.
"He's out!"
Meanwhile, below, they couldn't have seen Jeong-hyeon burrowing into the golem's head clearly.
Spotting him emerge, the tense hunters hugged in joy.
'When did these big dark dudes get so close?'
Grateful for their celebration of his survival, Jeong-hyeon still chuckled at the burly men embracing.
Even seeing him alive and standing before them, they poked and prodded in disbelief, making a fuss.
"My God... I still have no idea what we just saw."
"Me neither. He got lucky."
Under normal circumstances, it'd be modest deflection, but this time, it was pure luck.
When Black failed to stick where intended, he'd thought the raid was doomed.
Who knew a botched shield toss would become his lifeline?
"Oh, Black!"
Finally recalling it, Jeong-hyeon spun and dashed to the fallen Onyx Golem.
If it'd landed face-down, retrieving Black would've been tough, but luckily, it lay propped on one arm at an angle.
"Whoa, dangerous!"
'Danger's not the issue right now, buddy.'
Still, he had to crouch under the precarious corpse.
No light penetrated, but invisible from outside anyway, he lit a small fire spell while searching.
"Found it!"
Black's handle protruded by a fingernail's width.
After that house-sized fist, it couldn't stay lodged perfectly.
It took effort to pry the handle free, but with a gentle water-element tug, Black slid out easily.
"You... you're alive!"
No visible damage to the blade or handle.
If even a speck was harmed, he wouldn't have let the Onyx Golem die peacefully.
He'd have tracked its remains to the workshop via the Association and disassembled it personally for revenge.
An artifact won through tearful drama couldn't go like this.
'You got lucky, seriously.'
Since it spared Black, Jeong-hyeon took just enough remnants for his needs and let the rest go.
Finishing the Black rescue, he emerged to find the outside abuzz.
The mages who'd fled had returned.
Time dragged longer than expected, and the golem hadn't pursued, so they'd come to check.
"So, Jeong-hyeon popped up from inside like whoosh! and killed the golem like bam?!"
"Yeah, but how the hell... Hunter Jeong-hyeon!"
The tank—stunned or just inarticulate—frustrated his party leader and mages, who rushed over upon spotting Jeong-hyeon.
They bombarded him with questions, but it boiled down to one.
So, how'd you take it down?
Jeong-hyeon's answer was simple.
"Just... climbed on its head and smashed the core, and it died."
From that day, Hunter Net added one more tidbit on Onyx Golems.
Smash the core, and it dies.