Chapter 102
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Golem and Earth Mage (2)
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After the five survivors had been selected.
I immediately began the interrogation.
And it wasn't long before I learned that the barbarians here had killed all the villagers.
The reason was simple.
Plunder.
Taking advantage of the chaos in the north, they had come down and looted the imperial folk for profit.
'So that's why there were so few of them.'
I'd wondered why their numbers were so low—it turned out the entire tribe hadn't come down.
A faction within the tribe had acted independently.
Young warriors who overestimated their prowess ran into us and got thoroughly trounced.
That was the whole story.
"What's the situation like at the empire's northernmost frontier?"
Now that I knew why the village was empty, it was time to ask what was happening in the barbarians' northern domain.
Of course, the questions went through Pergal.
I didn't speak their language.
"Uh..."
The barbarians started glancing at one another.
They seemed reluctant to talk about their kin.
But soon enough, one of them spoke up.
"A plague is spreading, so things are bad. And some tribes are taking advantage of it, allying with outsiders to attack the others."
This was all translated by Pergal.
"Do you know who these outsiders are?"
"All we know is that they're shamans. These shamans command an undying army to aid the warriors of their allied tribes, and they protect them from the plague too."
Both Pergal and this barbarian.
Neither knew the exact identity of the outsiders allied with the barbarian tribes.
But from the circumstances, they had to be Eremus's black mages.
Who else could command undead and meddle with curses like that?
"Why are these allied tribes attacking the others?"
"To grow their own tribes."
"Then why aren't you defending your tribe? Why act on your own like this?"
"Our leader, Katar-Sah, preferred wandering and plundering over guarding the tribe. We just followed him."
Pergal turned to me as he conversed with the barbarians.
Asking if there was more I wanted to know, no doubt.
I shook my head.
I'd heard everything I needed.
Crack!
Confirming my response, Pergal drew the hand axe from his belt and buried it in the skull of the barbarian before him.
A weapon taken from the barbarians who ambushed us.
Now returned to its original owner.
"Gah!"
The barbarian toppled with the axe lodged in his crown.
The other four stared in shock.
But they soon lost their lives too.
The undead knights swung their swords, severing their necks.
The moment Pergal killed one, the knights waiting behind the barbarians struck down the rest.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Four heads hit the ground almost simultaneously.
And with that, it was over.
'Dawn will break soon.'
I looked up at the sky.
The first light of dawn tinged the horizon.
Daylight wasn't far off.
We could move out now.
'Time to fetch that grimoire.'
The place where I'd sensed the grimoire.
I decided to head straight there.
About ten minutes from the village.
A massive boulder stood alone in the center of a hilltop plain.
It was roughly the same height as the monster the burly trio and I had faced before.
"Take. The Grimoire. Out. From here."
Standing before the boulder, I listened to the grimoire's voice.
Its demand hadn't changed.
So where was the grimoire?
'Right in the center of the boulder.'
The grimoire was inside the rock.
Getting it out would be no easy task.
How to go about this?
I pondered for a moment.
Only one method came to mind.
Smash the stone.
'Gilbert.'
I called for Gilbert.
He fetched a two-handed hammer from the cart of spoils and positioned himself before the boulder.
Then swung it with all his might.
Clang-!
A sharp ring echoed out.
The spot Gilbert struck caved in slightly.
'A few dozen more hits like that should do it.'
That's what I thought.
Then the mana from the grimoire surged dramatically, spreading throughout the entire boulder.
Something ominous was happening.
"Everyone, fall back!"
I pulled away from the boulder with the others.
I called Gilbert over too.
From a distance, we watched.
And then the incredible happened.
Rumble!
The boulder shuddered violently.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its smooth surface.
Stone split along the fissures.
A head and limbs emerged.
Having completed its transformation, the rock golem moved its legs toward me.
'A golem?'
Different in form from Master's summoned golem.
But it was unmistakably a golem.
This had to be the miracle manifested by the grimoire.
"Knights stay! Everyone else, get distance!"
The golem before us looked incredibly sturdy.
Regular attacks wouldn't work.
So I kept the physically superior burly trio and undead knights, sending the rest to safety.
Clank.
While I sorted the group.
The burly trio and undead knights headed to the cart of spoils and swapped weapons.
For hammers and two-handers—blunt weapons.
Swords wouldn't deliver proper blows, hence the switch.
'Engulfing Earth.'
To buy time for the others to flee, I cast a spell.
The ground beneath the golem turned to mush, swallowing its right leg.
The golem strained to escape.
But its immense weight kept it trapped in the quagmire.
'Easy.'
That instant.
A crack sounded, and the buried leg snapped clean off.
The golem escaped the mire on its shortened limb.
Then?
It pulled out the severed leg and pressed the stump against the break.
The limb reattached seamlessly.
It had escaped my Engulfing Earth in a way I never anticipated.
'How about this?'
This time, Ground Leveler.
Invisible force crashed down on the golem's head.
But it stood firm.
A few stone chips fell from its head—no other damage.
Its defense was truly exceptional.
'Hmm...'
What spell could damage this golem?
As I mulled it over.
The nine knights, led by the burly trio, charged it.
And began hammering away with their blunt weapons.
Clang!
Full-force strikes dented it slightly.
But that was it.
Destroying it this way would take ages.
To end this stalemate quickly, I'd have to drop it with magic.
'Let's think.'
I recalled my available spells.
Engulfing Earth and Ground Leveler were out—already proven useless.
The golem was all stone, so lightning or fire magic wouldn't faze it either.
Those were eliminated too.
'Hmm...'
Systematically ruling out spells with good reasons, soon only one viable option remained.
Stone Spike.
If even that failed?
I'd have the familiars dig out the grimoire from inside.
Beating on it all day, they'd manage.
Being undead made it feasible.
'Stone Spike.'
The golem, defenseless against the knights' onslaught.
I fired a Stone Spike at its head.
Targeting the body risked hitting allies.
Thunk!
Incredibly, the Stone Spike pierced its head.
It didn't blow it off, but the damage was visibly significant.
Of course, as a magic-driven construct, losing its head wouldn't kill it like a human.
I hadn't expected that anyway.
I just wanted to test if Stone Spike worked.
'Perfect.'
Stone Spike was effective.
Knowing that meant the fight was as good as won.
"Everyone, clear out!"
I shouted to the nine knights.
They scattered.
Then I unleashed Stone Spike on the golem—specifically its abdomen.
The grimoire was there.
Grimoires couldn't be destroyed conventionally, so no hesitation.
Bam!
Stone Spike erupted from the ground, striking the golem's belly.
Unable to withstand the force, it staggered back.
But that wasn't the end.
Boom!
Another hit, targeting the same spot.
'I can fire over twenty more.'
Calculating my remaining mana, I strode toward the golem.
Each Stone Spike pushed it farther from me.
To maximize power and precision, closing the gap was necessary.
Thud.
How many Stone Spikes had I cast?
Suddenly, a dull sound rang out.
Not the previous clash of stone.
Something had changed.
I halted the spell to observe.
And saw it.
A book tumbling from the deep crater in its abdomen.
Unmistakably the grimoire.
Drop.
The moment the grimoire hit the ground.
The golem's body crumbled rapidly.
Cut off from its mana supply, it reverted to ordinary rock.
Head, arms, torso, legs.
All collapsed into separate boulders.
Thud!
A thunderous boom as they struck the earth.
Dust billowed up.
I cast Windbreak to shield myself and the others, waiting for it to settle.
Once the dust cleared enough, I dispelled the spell and approached.
The grimoire lay there.
'The cover looks like stone too.'
The gray cover was rough and rocky.
And its name tied to earth.
Great High Mountain.
That was the grimoire.
'Let's read it right away.'
The Great High Mountain Grimoire's demand had been to extract it from the boulder.
I'd fulfilled that.
Which meant?
I could read it now.
No reason to delay.
'This is exciting.'
The miracle from the Great High Mountain Grimoire was a golem.
From my experience, a grimoire's miracle related to the magic it contained.
So there was a high chance it held golem-creation techniques.
Wanting to emulate my master, how could I not be thrilled?
'Here we go!'
Reaching the Great High Mountain Grimoire.
I picked it up immediately.
Its cover sprang open wide.