Chapter 37: The Tin Knight and The Mysterious Underground Labyrinth (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37: The Tin Knight and The Mysterious Underground Labyrinth (6)
Unbeknownst to the Tin Knight, who was simply thrilled at the appearance of a new boss, this was a fight that could have been avoided.
This was because the Wood Golem… the guardian of this underground labyrinth, had received the following orders:
「Maintain the seal so the sinner cannot awaken, and continuously drain her power.」
「If a successor who has gone through the proper procedures reaches you, help them subjugate the monster.」
「However, if one who has not followed the procedures reaches you by force, you must defeat them. They must never be allowed to make contact with the sinner.」
If the Tin Knight’s party hadn’t attempted a forced clear using the cheat key known as the ‘Key of Opium’, the Wood Golem and its minions would have become staunch allies instead of blocking their path.
However, this was also a pointless hypothetical.
Considering the personalities of both the Tin Knight and Dorothea, they were the types to brute-force their way through with some unorthodox method and fight an extra battle rather than go to the trouble of visiting the Adventurers Guild to learn the ‘proper strategy’ for this labyrinth just to avoid a single fight. Besides, one of them wasn't even human, neither in body nor in mind.
If one had to choose, Adelaide had the personality suited for the proper route, but unfortunately, she didn't have much of a say.
Therefore, the Wood Golem rampaged without hesitation.
To uphold the final command left by its master.
To crush that one tiny doll trying to face it all alone.
Thud! Thud! CRASH!
The golem took large strides, cornering the Tin Knight.
The size difference was so great that the Tin Knight's head only reached the golem's navel; one stomp would be the end of it.
It intended to stomp him thoroughly, giving him no chance to get back up.
Right foot.
The Tin Knight dodged by dashing to the left.
Left foot.
The Tin Knight dodged by dashing to the right.
A body slam using its entire weight.
The Tin Knight rolled in the opposite direction of the golem's fall, evading the attack.
Slice!
A part of the golem's body was sliced off by the Tin Knight's blade, but the golem paid it no mind.
The golem felt no pain, and the wound immediately regenerated as a blood-red sap filled it.
It was dodging quite nimbly, but that too would soon reach its limit. The golem initiated its next technique.
WHAM! RUMBLE!
The golem slammed its massive right arm into the ground with all its might, then, with its arm half-buried, swung it sideways forcefully.
The ground was torn up, and countless fragments shot into the air.
A mere graze from the arm would be a fatal blow. Even if he somehow dodged the arm, it was an attack where he was bound to take damage from the fragments.
The Tin Knight's feet moved with dazzling speed.
Somehow, it retreated backward at nearly the same speed as it charged forward, narrowly escaping the attack's range. Then, in the brief opening before the golem's right arm reached the other side, it crammed in a slash.
Slice!
The blade swung by the Tin Knight nearly severed the golem's right forearm, slicing halfway through it, but the vines wrapped around the golem's body held the wound tightly together like a bandage.
The golem felt a slight sense of displeasure, but soon dismissed it as nothing.
The difference in specs between the golem and the little knight was still overwhelming. The golem initiated its next technique.
Screech, screeeeeak.
With a creaking noise, the golem's body curled up into a ball and then began to spin violently.
It intended to move faster than its opponent, who dodged with frivolous movements, and crush him flat.
This cavern, made for the labyrinth's golem guardian, was wide and high enough to accommodate such an attack with room to spare.
The golem charged at full speed.
The Tin Knight held its shield forward.
Compared to the golem's size, the shield was infinitesimally small and frail.
Sneering at the pathetic struggle, the golem rammed its body into him.
Unable to withstand the impact, the Tin Knight was pushed far back.
And the next moment, it charged forward again and swung its sword at the golem.
Slice!
Another part of its body was sliced off, but the golem ignored it and charged again.
The Tin Knight, blocking the attack with its shield, was once again pushed far back.
And right after, as if nothing had happened, it charged again and slashed the golem.
Stung by the repeated counters, the golem stopped its charge and tried to right itself, but the Tin Knight was already behind it, swinging its sword.
Despite being sent flying several times, its body didn't have a single scratch.
Slice.
Slice.
Slice-slice-slice-slice!
The Tin Knight slashed the golem.
It dodged with nimble movements and slashed. It blocked with its shield and slashed. It continuously exploited the golem's blind spots and slashed.
Only then did the golem realize its own delusion.
The difference in size, the difference in specs.
That such things meant nothing at all.
That just as the golem had thought of the doll as a weakling it could crush at any moment, the doll also saw the golem as nothing more than a moving target—a big one that just needed to be cut a lot.
The golem… or more precisely, the fairy embedded as the ‘core’ responsible for its thought processes, recalled the emotion of fear for the first time in hundreds of years.
Its seemingly infinite regenerative ability was being depleted, unable to keep up with the repeated damage, and its once-sturdy body was now tattered like a rag, sliced up all over.
The fairy quickly scanned its surroundings.
It was to ask its kin for help.
While the fairy was fighting the doll, its kin should have been dealing with the two humans.
If they could just quickly take care of those two weak humans and help defeat this monster—
Kyaaaaaaak!
—a shrill scream echoed.
It was the voice of its kin.
Its comrades, who had been giggling moments ago, were now letting out terrible screams.
Every time the witch scattered some kind of powder, the air grew murky and the natural mana was tainted by a curse.
The fairies launched blades of wind or spewed powder that created illusions, but all of it was sucked into the staff held by the black-haired human.
The magic used by the human in black clothes wasn't powerful enough to inflict fatal wounds on the fairies, but it was enough to slow their movements.
And the golden-haired human mercilessly slaughtered the fairies that had been slowed down.
The golden-haired human flinched and trembled with a guilty expression every time the fairies screamed, but contrary to her expression, her movements showed not a hint of hesitation.
It was as if she were a creature whose body moved before her mind could think.
The fairy controlling the golem felt a sense of urgency.
The enemy was strong, and its kin were of no help.
The fairy decided to use its trump card.
The thorny vines scattered across the ground connected to the golem's body.
Originally, it was a device meant to continuously drain the ‘sinner's’ power to prevent her from awakening, using it as the labyrinth's power source. However, using the authority of the labyrinth's guardian, it could also be used to strengthen itself.
The golem's body turned bright red.
The golem charged toward the Tin Knight.
Its movements were nearly three times faster than before.
Slice!
And the Tin Knight, using the momentum of the charge against it, split the golem's head in half.
The fairy in the same location was also split in half.
Until the moment it met its death, the fairy did not realize the cause of its defeat.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that just getting faster with the same patterns is meaningless!]
After all, the fairy couldn't hear the ‘voice’ that conveyed the Tin Knight's words—its will.
The guardian's end was incredibly anticlimactic compared to its hundreds of years of waiting.
*
“So this is what it feels like to cut a fairy. It feels like a mix between an animal and an insect. It's so gross.”
After the battle ended.
Adelaide grumbled with a tearful face.
Dorothea muttered to herself.
For someone who feels that way, you sure cut them up well, she thought.
Then again, it was probably the result of the Tin Knight bringing her rabbits, giant insects, and whatnot to practice on day in and day out.
“The fairies in books were so pretty and mysterious, with bodies made of water or emitting a soft glow.”
To a disheartened Adel, who looked as if her dreams had been shattered, Dorothea retorted bluntly.
“Fairies like that do exist.”
Adel's face brightened up instantly.
“Really?”
“A fairy's ecology tends to change depending on its habitat. These ones probably ended up like this because they adapted to this environment. Fairies living in a lake filled with pure mana or a place where spirits reside would look more ‘plausible,’ just like you said.”
‘Though their mischievous and cruel natures are mostly the same.’
Dorothea swallowed her next words.
She had no intention of coddling her, but she didn't have a hobby of deliberately crushing other people's dreams either.
Clank. Clank.
The Tin Knight approached the two as they were talking.
“Ah, good work, Sir Knight! You're amazing, as expected. I heard that golems can't be handled by ordinary soldiers, and that it takes several knights who can wield sword energy working together to defeat one. To think you overwhelmed it all by yourself without a single scratch.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims it was easier to fight than the monkeys!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses admiration for how well the two of you fought!]
Adel lowered her head, looking bashful.
While thinking what a simple girl she was, Dorothea's gaze was fixed on the Tin Knight.
It was certainly an incredible display of combat prowess.
The skill to leisurely slice down a much larger opponent and to be sent flying by body slams multiple times yet deflect the shock without injury was enough to impress even Dorothea, who was not well-versed in martial arts.
However, there was one thing.
‘Its mana ran out in the meantime.’
The Tin Knight's mana, which she had fully replenished just before the battle began, had somehow evaporated by nearly ninety percent.
Of course, it wasn't incomprehensible.
After all, to slice up a golem with such immense strength and size, the output of its sword energy would have had to be raised just as high.
In fact, as Adel said, if the price for single-handedly defeating a golem that would normally require several knights was merely mana depletion, it was a very cheap price to pay.
But Dorothea's expression did not relax.
This time, they had somehow managed to defeat the opponent before all its mana ran out, but there was no guarantee it would be the same in the future.
‘There will be other competitors besides Franka. If things go wrong, the Four Great Witches might even step in themselves. ...I need to solve the capacity issue. There must be doll workshops in the Empire. I'll have to find a way, whether it's repairs or upgrades.’
Dorothea had mana to spare.
If she could supply it remotely, instead of manually like now, the Tin Knight's combat power would increase significantly.
—Retrieve the eight treasures, finish the king's errand, and safely graduate from under her master's tutelage.
After adding ‘Solve the Tin Knight's mana problem’ below the item at the very top of her mental list of goals, Dorothea spoke.
“Alright then, let's move forward. We'll see what these things were hiding so desperately.”
The Tin Knight and Adel also nodded.
After thoroughly regrouping in preparation for any potential battles, the party moved forward.
And at last, they reached the deepest part.
The party's eyes widened for a moment at the sight that unfolded before them.
A tall pillar.
Thorny vines growing around it, encircling the pillar.
And, held by those thorny vines, hanging from the pillar, was a woman.
Blood continuously flowed from her thorn-pierced skin, and the vines drank that blood, deepening their red hue.
The party recalled the words written on the stone tablet.
「Condemn her. Punish her. Hang her on the rack and make an example of her. As soon as possible, as brutally as possible, denounce her sin.」
It wasn't a metaphor.
The sinner was trapped here, continuously being punished.
And had been, for over hundreds of years.
“How pitiful….”
Adel gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.
Her eyes were even welling up with tears.
Dorothea also narrowed her eyes.
But while Adel's face contorted with pure sympathy, Dorothea felt doubt and bewilderment.
This scene was certainly gruesome.
However, thinking about it calmly, there were more than a few strange things.
Could a person survive in a place that had been sealed for over hundreds of years?
Could a person survive after losing enough blood to dye the vines that filled an entire floor of the labyrinth red?
A living person could not.
But Dorothea also realized that the being before her was not a mere corpse.
A Necromancer, of all people, would not fail to distinguish whether a soul had left a body or not.
The woman was not a living being.
But the woman clearly possessed a soul.
Dorothea had once learned from her master about such beings.
“A vampire.”
As if in response to Dorothea's word.
The woman's eyes flashed open.