Chapter 00285: I Don't Care
# I Don't Care
Chapter 285
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 285 I Don't Care
"Get back! Professor, even you can't possibly handle this many golems!"
One or two golems were no problem for Audel, but hundreds of them were another matter entirely.
There were also runes inside the room that prevented teleportation, so even if Audel wanted to use teleportation to move around, she couldn't.
She would be overwhelmed by their numerical advantage.
"Don't worry, I have the controller."
Audel immediately took out the emerald amulet she had found earlier from her magic bag.
It had been discovered in a hidden compartment in the rune room, and its discovery had been guided by the Holy Emblem.
Considering the current situation, it was highly likely to be the controller.
Normally, changing control of a golem required both the former and current masters to be present to record the new master's voice, appearance, and other information.
But for such a large group of golems, changing control via the usual method was too troublesome.
Naturally, a controller that could switch them all with a single press would have been prepared.
To put it bluntly, this thing was somewhat like the tiger tallies used in ancient times to command troops.
Just as Audel was about to press the button on the amulet to test it, her hand suddenly felt empty.
Someone had snatched the amulet from her palm.
At the same time, a whistling sound came from behind her.
She turned around only to see a gleaming axe blade.
Of course, even with a surprise attack, it was just a dream to think one could take out a high-ranking mage.
A permanent defensive spell on Audel's body automatically activated.
The axe blade was stopped by a nearly invisible force shield, not touching her at all.
However, Audel's small frame clearly couldn't withstand the powerful impact, and she was sent tumbling to the ground as if she had been kicked.
At the same time, a trigger spell on Audel was activated.
A lifelike phantom of a unicorn flew out from her robes and galloped towards the direction of the attack.
"Delge! What are you doing!"
Nimia's cry of alarm rang out.
Delge was obviously prepared; he carefully dodged the sharp horn of the unicorn's image, but was still sent flying by its charge.
"Flame Strike!"
Just as Audel was trying to get up, a conspicuous red cloud appeared over her head.
Flames poured down like a waterfall, instantly engulfing her.
"Close the door! Quick!"
The halfling priest, Perrin, his face twisted after putting down the holy emblem, almost commanded Nimia, who stood by the mechanism, to activate it.
Nimia was completely stunned.
As an adventurer who hadn't been in the profession for long, her usual jobs were things like finding cats or dealing with ooze monsters in the sewers.
She had never experienced a situation where her companions suddenly turned on her.
Seeing Nimia frozen in place, Perrin cursed under his breath and threw his mace at the mechanism.
Flame Strike was a very powerful divine art, capable of even breaking through fire immunity.
But Perrin knew very well that challenging a high-ranking mage to a duel with his abilities was courting death.
Even with a surprise attack, he wasn't confident of taking her out in one hit.
The Flame Strike could only serve to delay her at best.
He would let the densely packed golems in the room take care of Audel.
The mace crashed into the mechanism with a whoosh.
The resulting explosion of sparks made Nimia scream and duck, covering her head.
And the impact did indeed trigger the mechanism; the great door began to close rapidly.
Perrin finally breathed a sigh of relief at this sight.
Even though the seal on the door had been broken, the door itself was made of obsidian.
Blasting it open with magic was nearly impossible.
"What in the world are you two doing! The Professor is our employer!"
"Shut up!"
Delge, who had been sent flying by the unicorn's force field, returned with his axe and roared:
"Do you think we wanted to do this! This is all for our families!"
"Wh-what?"
"Before we set out, someone found us..."
Perrin took a piece of paper from his robes and unfolded it.
It was a sketch made with a copying spell, like a magical version of a black-and-white photograph.
On it were two halflings, bound.
"If we don't ensure Professor Audel dies in here, our families are done for."
"But you still can't...!"
"What do you know!"
Perrin stopped Delge.
"Don't say any more. We can't afford to offend those people."
He then said to Nimia:
"As for what happened today, as long as you don't say a word, we can report that the Professor died in an accident. Do you understand what I mean?"
No matter how naive Nimia was, she understood that if she said even a single word of refusal, these two would kill her on the spot to silence her.
"But..."
"Our families are in their hands. We have no other choice."
"This is wrong!"
Nimia's conscience wouldn't allow her to do it, but when she reached for the door-opening mechanism, the looks from the other two made her afraid to move.
They were both waiting for Nimia's answer, and they could guarantee they would handle any unstable elements before she could make a move.
The only reason they hadn't killed Nimia without a second thought was purely out of camaraderie as fellow adventurers.
They weren't doing this willingly, either.
Noises came from behind the great door.
The heavy footsteps of the golems converged, sounding like a small earthquake.
Teleportation was impossible in that room, so Audel was effectively surrounded by the golems with no way to escape.
Whatever Nimia decided to do, she had to do it immediately.
"I still can't accept this!"
Nimia had become an adventurer instead of a common thief because she wanted to live an upright life.
She didn't want people to look at her with disgust just because she was a tiefling.
Betraying an employer was a clear violation of the adventurer's code of conduct.
She reached for the mechanism to open the door, and at almost the same instant, Delge raised his axe.
Just then, the sealed obsidian door resounded with a loud 'BOOM'.
The heavy, meter-thick obsidian door was forcefully smashed out of its frame.
Delge and Perrin's hearts lurched, and they quickly retreated a few steps.
Amid the smoke, a three-meter-tall humanoid figure emerged from the doorway.
"I felt Perrin wasn't quite right from the start, but I never expected it from you too, Delge."
The two stared with wide, unbelieving eyes.
They saw Audel sitting on a golem's left shoulder, leisurely swinging her legs.
The golem not only showed no hostility towards her, it was even following her orders.
Delge hurriedly took out the amulet he'd snatched from Audel:
"Kill her! Kill her! Why aren't you listening to my command!"
The golem didn't move.
Audel deliberately lifted her leg a little, allowing them to see the gilded holy emblem on the golem's shoulder.
It had changed from the pattern of a pentagram to the shape of a slightly open hand.
"How could the Lord's golems harm His follower? You miscalculated from the very beginning."
Another golem emerged from behind Audel.
The moment it saw Delge and Perrin, it immediately accelerated and charged at them.
Its speed was completely unlike what a clumsy golem should possess.
The two men felt a fierce wind rush toward them and immediately rolled out of the way.
With a loud crash, the golem's blade-shaped right arm smashed heavily into the floor.
The flying stone fragments clattered against Delge's and Perrin's armor.
Delge, who had just managed to dodge the attack with an ugly roll, was about to get up when Audel, still sitting on the golem, spread her five fingers towards him:
"Bigby's Grasping Hand!"
The nearly translucent force-hand was incredibly fast.
Delge had just tried to kip-up when it slammed him firmly to the ground.
The golem had already taken a step toward Delge, its giant metal foot rapidly enlarging in his field of view:
"Wait! I have a family, I have a fam—!"
Faced with Delge's pleas, Audel simply replied coldly:
"I don't care."
--Splat.
Like a popped balloon, the golem precisely avoided the Bigby's Grasping Hand and stomped directly on Delge's head.
Blood and brain matter were instantly squeezed out, splattering against the wall.
The golem then turned toward Perrin, who had just scrambled to his feet.
The glowing red eye on its head made his heart race with panic.
"Blade Barrier!"
A glowing barrier composed of countless blades materialized between him and the golem.
This divine art not only damaged enemies but also blocked their approach.
Even a golem would be pushed back by the Blade Barrier.
Perrin immediately turned to flee, but quickly discovered that the door behind him was already closed and couldn't be opened.
"Don't waste your strength. I cast a sealing spell on that door."
When they had entered, Audel had deliberately stayed at the back, precisely to guard against Perrin doing something desperate.
"Shield of Faith!"
"Divine Power!"
"Righteous Might!"
Since escape was impossible, Perrin could only cast buffs on himself and prepare for a final, desperate struggle.
Audel had also raised her staff, as if preparing to cast a spell, but she quickly lowered it again.
This action made Perrin pause in confusion.
"You're a follower of the Maiden of Pain, aren't you? Disguising yourself as a follower of the Lord of Dawn was your mistake."
The wooden holy emblem in Perrin's hand cracked from the use of such a powerful divine art, revealing a metal, skull-shaped holy emblem beneath.
Disguising himself as a follower of the Lord of Dawn made it easier to join the party.
Most people let their guard down around followers of that benevolent deity.
Besides, priests of different gods used many of the same divine arts, so as long as he kept his holy emblem concealed, he was unlikely to be exposed.
But for Audel to suddenly mention this, Perrin couldn't figure out her intentions.
But regardless of her intentions, Perrin had no way out.
He raised his holy emblem without hesitation:
"Plague Storm!"
The holy emblem glowed with a terrifying magical radiance, but it immediately dimmed.
The divine art hadn't activated.
"Plague Storm!"
"Plague Storm!"
The holy emblem in his hand, which should have been a link to the Maiden of Pain, felt like nothing more than a simple piece of iron.
"Your god cannot answer you, but my God has answered me."
Perrin looked up in astonishment.
A swirling black hole had opened on the ceiling, and a massive, wall-like metal plate was crashing down from it.
The buffs on Perrin were completely ineffective.
He only had time to let out a short, miserable scream before he was flattened beneath it.
From Audel's perspective, however, what fell from above was actually a soda can.
It even had the words 'Red Bull' on the front...