Chapter 250
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: Rocky Wind Plains (7)
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Knight Golem.
Even the spirit energy sealed within its internal core was far from ordinary.
It was clearly at least mid-level.
'Damn it.'
He'd only recently learned this, but spirits sealed away like that weren't born in the spirit realm. They were creations of Blackout.
Which meant they lacked proper reason and had to be treated purely as monsters harboring nothing but hostility toward humans.
'Should I try suppressing it with Marionette Line? No, that's impossible. It's a mid-level spirit. Unless I land a serious blow first, no chance.'
Most elemental spells wouldn't even scratch it properly, and in this situation, any attack from it was bound to be lethal, no matter what.
"Hoo."
He'd learned ancient magic precisely for situations like this, but casting it inevitably took too long.
Kieeeing-!
But his opponent wasn't about to give him that time.
[Burning Step]
Boom!
A massive greatsword slammed down exactly where Jun had been standing moments ago.
The spot he'd dodged from was cratered so deeply that its original shape was unrecognizable.
"Fine, let's do this."
He hadn't failed to anticipate a scenario like this.
No matter how much he trusted his comrades, Blackout was an unpredictable place where you couldn't see even an inch ahead.
Situations where he'd end up playing solo like this were bound to arise.
'At least its speed isn't that fast.'
Several potions clinked out from his dimensional bracelet.
These weren't bought from outside—they were potions Jun had personally brewed from herbs he'd gathered in his spare time.
But right now, there was no opening to use them.
'No choice, then.'
Overcoming crises by sheer luck wouldn't cut it. He had to take risks of his own.
"Come on."
As if it understood his words, the Knight Golem erupted with mana light and swung its sword.
Just as its greatsword was about to come crashing down on his head once more.
This time, Jun didn't dodge. He thrust [Predator] forward instead.
Squuuueeeze-!
The small Predator latched onto the greatsword, greedily sucking in its energy.
Caught off guard by the unexpected response, perhaps, the golem tried to pull its sword back immediately.
Boom!!
But Predator spat out the absorbed energy right back, sending the golem's massive body tumbling backward.
Jun instantly cast [Fly] to lift himself into the air, targeting the precise location of its core.
[Detecting Target]
With the aid of the accuracy-boosting spell, he perfectly struck the golem's core with a potion vial.
The shattered vial's contents made contact with the core, activating immediately.
Fwaaaaa...!
Purple smoke billowed up thickly.
The potion he'd thrown contained the herb called 'Mana Devourer'—true to its name, it had properties that absorbed mana.
Using his [Herbalism] and [Potion Brewing] skills, he'd crafted it to induce ongoing mana imbalance.
"But I've inhaled this stuff plenty of times already."
Thanks to his [Demon God Body], and having deliberately exposed himself to the potion before, Jun had no issues using mana even while breathing in the smoke.
But for the spirit sealed in the golem's core, it would be different.
'It's working.'
As if it had forgotten how to move its limbs, the thing thrashed and rolled on the ground.
'Won't last long, though. The duration isn't that great.'
At best, around 10 seconds.
Totally destroying it in that window wasn't feasible.
It still had resistance to magic, after all. This was just buildup for the next phase.
Without hesitation, he pulled out and hurled the next potion.
Clang!
Another sharp shatter as the vial broke.
This potion was primarily made from the acidic venom of Corrow Bees that inhabited the Black Forest.
It had the effect of corroding everything around it...
"And done."
Jun had infused the potion liquid with mana using his [Potion Brewing] skill.
The smoke from the earlier Mana Devourer potion began absorbing the Corrow Bee's acidic venom.
Sizzle-!
The smoke, now fully saturated, started rapidly corroding the Knight Golem's exterior.
Of course, this alone wouldn't bring it down.
Its core, still housing the spirit, was intact.
But he'd gained something from it.
"That should neutralize some of its magic resistance."
A good portion of its magic-resistant armor had been eaten away.
Ten seconds passed in the meantime, and the Knight Golem shook itself off and rose.
"Summon."
Jun then pulled materials from his dimensional bracelet, summoning his own golem and layering it with various buffs.
"Hold on just a bit. I'll back you up soon. Got it? But don't let yourself get completely destroyed. Protect your body at all costs."
Woooong-!
Perhaps excited to be out after so long, the golem let out an aggressive roar.
Soon, Jun's golem clashed with the Knight Golem.
Bang! Boom!
But Jun's summoned golem was on the defensive.
It successfully blocked several attacks by raising its arms, but the Knight Golem—intent on repaying its earlier humiliation—poured on relentless strikes without mercy, giving no openings.
As a level 7 boss-grade entity by nature, Jun's golem, which hadn't fully caught up to his growth, could only get pushed back under the onslaught.
"Hoo... Good."
But it could hold.
Satisfied with that fact, Jun immediately began preparing his spell.
The magic now came as naturally as breathing: [Flare].
He reinforced it further with ancient magic runes, then infused [Soul Drain].
Weeeeeing-!
A menacing hum accompanied the crimson energy ball gathering at his fingertips. The moment it reached critical mass and fired.
Piiiing-!
It pierced the air with a deafening boom, striking the Knight Golem's core dead-on.
One.
Splat-!
It succeeded in shattering the outer armor, but only partially—the core still held its form.
"Damn, the potions weren't enough!"
And perhaps sensing mortal danger from that attack.
The golem's head snapped precisely toward Jun.
Even as Jun's golem landed a punch in that opening, it merely shook its head and stood.
It kicked Jun's golem aside and leaped straight at him in a straight line.
'Fast...!'
Was it because of the crisis just now? The Knight Golem's movements were on another level from before.
Moreover, the mana clump gathered at its sword tip gave Jun a near-prophetic sense of what was coming.
'Predator can't block that!'
The moment it tried, it would pierce right through Predator—and into his own body.
This wasn't mere coincidence; it was the result of Jun, with his heightened understanding from [Demon God Body], sensing the Knight Golem's mana.
Then should he redirect and evade?
But that judgment came too late. Still, rather than give up on the spot, Jun bet everything on his remaining option.
"Mont Huan!"
[Shield]
Layers of blue protective barriers sprang up right in front of him.
[Shield], perfectly mimicking Jun's own spell, demonstrated overwhelming defense concentrated at a single point.
But because casting speed was an issue, Mont Huan couldn't produce many layers.
Thud-booma-booma-boom!
The golem's blunt sword tip shattered the multiple [Shield] layers like glass panes in short order.
He tried to escape with [Burning Step] right away, but the golem's sword was faster.
"...!"
An overwhelming mana-charged strike.
But.
Just before it connected, something slammed down on the golem's sword.
"Kahk!"
The resulting shockwave sent Jun tumbling across the ground several times.
"Urgh..."
His dizzy vision barely made out what was ahead.
Wooooong-!!
There, before him, stood his golem, now wrapped in inky black mana.
Unlike before, the dark mana flowing over its entire body was even absorbing the mana packed into the Knight Golem's strike.
"Haha, ack..."
Gazing at his barely successful spell, Jun looked down at his caved-in stomach.
Apparently, he'd been hit by the mana shockwave that erupted just before the Knight Golem's strike was blocked.
Ignoring the ominous pain, he hurriedly downed a potion and used [Burning Step] to pull back.
"It worked... you goddamn rock bastard..."
Turning his gaze back to his golem, he sensed a faint spirit energy emanating from within it.
A water spirit.
A chained spell blending enchantment and spirit magic.
Using a golem core purchased from Cloi, he'd enchanted it with spirit magic, infusing persistent [Soul Drain] properties.
It wasn't a large-scale summoning like before, but he'd poured his intent into it, forming a kind of 'spirit power.'
Even this required a long time to prepare.
All that was left was for his golem to endure without being destroyed by the Knight Golem, while Jun bought time—and somehow, it had succeeded.
'But I can't issue proper commands.'
He'd tried controlling it through Tear of Teya, linked to the golem, but there was no response from the lowest-grade water spirit embedded in its core.
'Because it hasn't formed proper reason yet...'
His spirit magic was still immature.
But the spirit was burning with hostility toward the Knight Golem that was attacking its host.
Boom-!
Jun's golem no longer got pushed back by the Knight Golem's attacks. Thanks to [Soul Drain], it absorbed all the incoming shock entirely.
But... even so, it hadn't landed a single proper punch.
It couldn't close the distance inside the greatsword's range.
'Not a size difference. Pure combat experience gap.'
Yet another sign that Jun's magic was still unrefined.
'Guess I have to finish it myself after all.'
He drew up mana once more.
Mana like a flood surging through his circuits.
He imprinted that image directly into the spell.
Mana circuits glowing blue-hot.
What image did he envision?
'The sea. The great disaster that engulfs all ends. And the dawn of new life heralding fresh beginnings.'
He formed the image, granted it [Soul Drain] attributes, overlaid magical patterns, and blended them smoothly.
The flood-like mana poured through his circuits onto the patterns, manifesting his ideal into reality.
Shhhrrrrk-!!
The enchant book summoned from his dimensional bracelet unfurled aggressively, scattering papers inscribed with magic circles everywhere.
Kieeeing-!
Sensing something ominous in the swirling mana reaction around Jun, perhaps.
The Knight Golem blasted blue mana light, compressing power in all directions.
Then, surrounding objects adhered to the mana clump, forming a sword.
Four greatswords floating in midair shot straight toward Jun, who was focused on his spell.
Woooong-!!
At that, Jun's golem—lacking proper reason—reacted to the 'Tear of Teya's' imperative to protect its master and abandoned its position.
It lost one arm in the process, but it outpaced the four launched swords.
Whiiiiiish!
Thud!
Four swords honed to the limit with mana, slicing through the air like wind.
And the golem blocking their path.
And at that same moment.
Silver-white eyes bearing blue light completed the spell.
"[Deucalion (Δευκαλίων)]"
Darkness enveloped the space with two golems and one human, and it began to warp.
The roar of a raging sea—impossible in this place—first twisted reality.
Then, dark blue waves came crashing in.
The miracle of one man's imagery, mana, and theory manifesting something impossible in reality.
In the meantime, two of the four swords were blocked by the golem.
One pressed on toward the target, defying the waves.
But like a rowboat adrift in a typhoon, it lost balance and vanished into the waves.
And following that path, the last remaining sword pierced through the waves and finally grazed past the mage.
Thud.
The mage, Jun, dropped to one knee.
Kiiiiieeeeeng-!!!
Even before the disaster waves summoned by plunging its greatsword into the earth, the Knight Golem endured and bellowed mana light like a roar of triumph.
Standing before its foe as the victor, it raised both shoulders bearing the greatsword.
Jun slowly lifted his head, gazing at the Knight Golem with silver-white eyes.
"... ."
Kiiiing-
At the end of his gaze, the space-slicing greatsword descended like a guillotine blade.
Shwaaaaa...!
The sound of one final wave—thought to have ended—came right after.