The Ice Castle (2)
The malice I felt when I first entered the Labyrinth. I had always wondered where that malice came from and why it had been created. Now I couldn’t help but think that perhaps this small clue had revealed the answer to me by chance. When I considered how that person kept showing interest in everything I did, it felt like a natural conclusion.
‘What should I even aim for?’
At first, it was to cure Princess Canaby. Then it was to improve my own skills. But now, I might have to come here according to the will of the gods.
‘Whatever the case, the fact that I have to enter the Labyrinth hasn’t changed.’
And neither had the situation of needing to kill the massive ice golem standing right in front of me.
—Gulp!
“It looks even bigger up close. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to kill something like that…”
“You’ll understand once you see what the mages can do. No being can match a mage when it comes to raw firepower.”
Mages—the so-called flowers of war. But having lived a life far removed from battlefields, everything I knew about their abilities came from secondhand stories.
“We’re ready.”
It had been thirty minutes since the two mages stepped aside to discuss how to eliminate the golem. Finally, they reappeared, announcing they were prepared.
“I’m finally going to see real magic.”
“This is your first time, right?”
“Yes. Honestly, I’m incredibly excited.”
Since these were nobles brought by Princess Reciel, I doubted they would lack skill. I waited eagerly to see just how spectacular their attack would be. They themselves seemed quite confident.
First, we had to wake the ice golems.
“Waking them now!”
The team, already in battle formation, slowly advanced forward.
—Grrrrrrrrrind!
As they drew near the castle entrance, the ice golems began to move, just as expected.
“Hold your positions! Maintain formation!”
The moment the ice golems stirred, everyone was overwhelmed and began stepping back. At their leader’s sharp shout, the team members snapped back to their senses and returned to position. The two golems swung their enormous arms.
“Whoa!”
Kuuuung!!!
One slammed its fist into the ground while the other charged straight toward us.
Thud thud thud thud!
“Not a chance!”
A fierce wind swirled around the two mages. I felt a sudden surge of intense heat, and in an instant, a massive missile flew toward the ice golem. Or rather, what I had mistaken for a missile. What actually struck the golem was a blazing orb of fire.
‘Fireball is usually just a basic skill in games…’
Watching this, I realized one thing clearly: I couldn’t judge mages by the common sense I already knew.
“That’s incredible.”
“That’s why they’re mages.”
Another enormous fireball shot toward the golem.
Kwaaaaang!!!!!!!!!!!
The ice golem hit by the fireball toppled over.
Thud!
Two fireballs, each striking one golem, had achieved exactly what the mages intended.
“Attack!!!”
The long-range combat team fired first. The moment their attacks struck the golems, the close-combat team charged in. Everyone wielded heavy weapons capable of smashing stone rather than ordinary swords, hammering away at the creatures.
Clang—Clang!!!
“Target the spots hit by the fireballs! Those are their weak points!”
They were ice golems to begin with. After taking direct hits from massive fireballs, those areas had no choice but to become vulnerabilities.
Crack—!
“It’s cracking!”
While they relentlessly attacked the weak points the leader had pointed out, the ice golem that had fallen from the impact of the fireball regained its senses. It swung its arm at the people clinging to its body.
“Aaaargh!”
“Don’t get greedy! Fall back!”
“It was almost broken! Aaaargh!”
Knowing it would be much harder to defeat once it stood up, they tried to hold on until the end. But they were struck by the golem’s arm and sent flying.
“That man!”
I urgently asked the waiting support team to rescue the person who appeared to be badly injured. How convenient it would have been if I could heal from a distance like in games? Then I wouldn’t need to have them carried over. But I doubted anyone possessed such a technique.
‘If it existed, I would have learned it no matter what.’
The patient, bleeding heavily, was brought to me. I immediately began treating him. Seeing the blood flowing from his head, his luck had clearly been terrible.
‘Of all places, he had to land on his head. Should I consider it fortunate he didn’t die instantly?’
It was hard to tell whether this man’s luck was good or bad. Falling on his head suggested terrible luck, yet having me here to heal even a head injury right away could be considered good fortune.
“Ugh… my head…”
“Are you coming back to your senses? Is the headache still severe?”
Perhaps because divine power had entered his body, the man quickly regained consciousness. I asked where it hurt.
“My head… feels dizzy… here… ugh…”
“Could you tell me your name?”
“Uh… Epad… I’m forty-one years old… My late-born child was born last year… Uh… my arm hurts, Father.”
As he spoke, his mind seemed to clear. His initially slurred speech gradually returned to normal.
“You’re doing well. Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?”
While healing his injured arm, I kept him using his head to help him stay alert.
“The golem… I kept striking its body with my weapon, trying to kill it. Cracks started forming on its translucent body.”
Confirming there was no problem with his memory, it seemed my swift treatment had been effective.
‘Are his head and arm the only injuries?’
If his clothes had been thin, I would have removed them to check. But that wasn’t possible now, so I had no choice but to ask directly about any painful areas.
“Can you try moving once?”
“Yessir. Whew, I feel so much better. When I was flying through the air, I thought I was going to die… ugh…”
For someone claiming he was fine, his breathing was awfully rough.
“Hmm… your breathing sounds a bit off. I’ll press here gently.”
“Ugh!”
When I placed my hand on his chest and pressed down slightly, he screamed as if in pain.
“As I thought, your ribs are broken. I’ll fix them right away.”
It seemed the greater pain had masked it. Only after hearing me did he realize his ribs hurt.
“Just like you said, Father, it looks like my ribs are injured too. I can’t move my body properly.”
Seeing how much pain he was in, I decided there was no time to waste. I immediately used divine power. As the treatment progressed, the man’s expression gradually relaxed.
“How do you feel? Can you take a deep breath?”
“Huu… huu… It feels comfortable. I don’t think anything hurts now. Can I get up?”
“Yes. You may stand.”
Apparently tired of lying down, he quickly pushed himself up at my words.
“Oh~ I thought I was badly hurt, but you fixed me in an instant. Amazing!”
I already knew my healing skills were excellent, but praise always felt good no matter when I heard it. After completing one final check, I gave him permission to rest.
“Lie down and rest a little longer. Since you injured your head, it’s not good to move too vigorously.”
“Didn’t you heal everything?”
“I did heal everything, but your body must have lost a lot of strength.”
“Aw~ I’m perfectly fine. Watch this!”
The man picked up his heavy weapon from the ground and swung it through the air with ease. Seeing him wield that massive thing with one arm told me his muscular build wasn’t just for show.
“Um… you certainly have a lot of strength.”
The weapon he swung created gusts of wind that ruffled my hair.
“With this much strength, you should be able to fight, right?”
“Try to keep your head from shaking as much as possible while fighting. If you feel dizzy during battle, you must stop immediately.”
With that monstrous strength, he wouldn’t be able to avoid taking impacts while fighting monsters. Still, it seemed best to give him a warning.
“Aw~ Thanks to your clean healing, Father, I don’t feel dizzy at all. Anyway, if something feels off, I’ll pull back.”
“Good. Before you go, I’ll refresh your buffs.”
“Oh! Please do.”
After applying fresh buffs to the man and watching him head back toward the ongoing battle, I heard urgent voices calling me.
“Father!”
There were people desperately calling for me. Of course there wouldn’t be only one person getting hurt while fighting ice golems. A whole crowd of people with broken bones from being beaten by the creatures were being carried in.
“I’m coming! Put them down over there!”
There were many patients who needed me.
Crack!
“It’s breaking!”
“Find the core! The core!”
Finally, the ice golem’s body had shattered. The important thing was that breaking its body didn’t mean the creature was dead. They had to find its core. And that core was incredibly valuable.
“Nothing on the left!”
“What about the right?”
“I’ll try breaking open the leg area!”
“Wait! Everyone fall back! I’m going to launch another spell!”
It seemed they had decided to hit the golem, now covered in cracks, with one more attack. The team hurriedly retreated to avoid getting caught in the aftermath of the fireball. The only one who remained was the leader, who was holding the ice golem’s aggro.
Fwoooosh—! Kwaaaaaang!!!
Once again, intense heat surged forth.
“Yaaaaa~!”
“Whoa~ That’s refreshing!”
In the blink of an eye, the massive fireball struck the golem directly. The team members clapped and cheered for the fireball that had accurately smashed the ice golem. The creature, already riddled with cracks, couldn’t withstand the power of the second fireball.
“It’s splitting apart!”
“It’s falling! Watch out!”
—Kuuuuuuu!! Uuuuung!
With a heavy roar, the fireball-struck golem collided with the one behind it, and both toppled over. And then—
Hssssss—!
From the bodies of the golems rapidly melting after being hit by the fireball, the cores finally became visible.
“There’s the core!”
“Wow~ That one was in its foot?”
“One’s in the right shoulder!”
The team rushed toward the fallen golems.
“Pull it out! Put your back into it!!”
“Cut off that one’s ankle!”
Kwaang! Kwaaaang!! Kwang!!!!
In fierce battles, loud noises were inevitable. Especially when trying to kill a golem, smashing its body produced tremendous sounds that couldn’t be helped.
‘They really fight well.’
There were a few moments of hesitation, but the fact that they handled two ice golems without any major crises was impressive in itself.
“Got it!”
—Waaaa!!
Once they located the cores, extracting them was quick. After removing the ice golem’s critical weakness—the core—the creatures stopped moving entirely. The battle was over.
For the others, it was time to rest. But from now on, it would be my turn to move around busily.