Chapter 89: The Real Boss Fight
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 89: The Real Boss Fight
As I thought, in my labyrinth delves, Ingelam was nothing more than a side character like Sally. The greatest crises I face always come from the labyrinth itself.
From special bosses just like this one.
The moment I poked my head over the debris and my eyes met the Blacksmith's, the situation became more than a little desperate.
For a wizard, coming face-to-face with a monster like that is the worst possible way to start a battle.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
My feet ached as I pounded the floor with all my might. My thighs and heart felt like they were about to explode.
As expected, the running speed of a squishy wizard who’d invested all his points into Intelligence was painfully slow.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The footsteps of the pursuing Blacksmith sounded like a prelude to death.
I felt like its powerful grip would snatch my hair at any second. Its hammer was poised to smash into the back of my head.
“Boss!”
Back Attack, who had been searching Ingelam’s corpse, popped out of nowhere, throwing a dagger my way.
Swish!
I felt a cool breeze by my earlobe as the dagger flew past. But the sound from behind me was the disappointing kind.
Clang!
That metallic sound must have been the Blacksmith knocking the dagger away with its hammer.
“Psychokinetic Fist!”
Neko was quick to cast her spell.
Back Attack, who was running toward me, reached out his hand.
At the same time, the Blacksmith also reached for me. How did I know, when it was behind me? Because I felt its hand touch the back of my head.
Without exaggeration, I was a hair's breadth from being killed.
“Grab on!”
I barely managed to grasp the lifeline. Back Attack grabbed my hand and cast Shadow Leap.
The Blacksmith’s hand grasped at empty air, and where I had just been, a giant, translucent, light-green psychokinetic fist slammed down like a club.
BOOM!
The floor shook with a deafening roar.
Dust billowed up. But seeing the scene unfold beyond it, Neko screamed.
“He’s… he’s holding it back!”
The Blacksmith was holding up the Psychokinetic Fist with both hands.
It was trembling, but it hadn’t collapsed.
“The Golden Golem fell to its knees!”
Of course it did.
Each special boss has different strengths and weaknesses.
The Golden Golem, possessing the properties of gold, is highly malleable and ductile. Isn't it said that pure gold will show a tooth mark if you bite it? Just like that, it’s easily deformed and broken by physical blows.
But the Blacksmith is different.
Instead…
“Lightning Shock.”
The Golden Golem has lightning resistance, but the Blacksmith does not.
CRACK!
The lightning that erupted from the tip of my wand caused the Cumulonimbus and Hailstorm to react.
My desperate run had just barely managed to lure the Blacksmith into the clouds’ range.
Because the monster had attacked early, my Hourglass was still on cooldown, but in exchange, my summoned clouds were still active.
Boom! Kaboom!
Four bolts of lightning struck in succession.
The concentrated barrage of lightning made even the Blacksmith stagger.
But it didn't fall.
Just what you'd expect from a boss mob with that much grit.
“It’s Magic Acid!”
Back Attack shouted. The Blacksmith was indeed pulling a vial from its clothes.
“Dust Explosion.”
I quickly aimed my wand and chanted the spell, but I couldn't destroy the vial.
The distance was too great.
The spark exploded not on the vial of Magic Acid, but on the Blacksmith’s forearm.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
The Blacksmith chugged the Magic Acid.
“Dammit.”
I need a front-liner.
I desperately need Aimus. Someone to trade blows with that monster up front, to buy me the time and space I need to dish out burst damage from the back.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The Blacksmith charged toward us again with reckless abandon.
“Tch!”
Growing impatient, Back Attack leaped forward.
“Get behind me, Boss!”
“No! Back Attack!”
Aimus of the Steel Veins might last, but Back Attack wouldn't survive for more than a few seconds.
“You can’t fight it head-on!”
“Still, I’m better than a wizard at this!”
Back Attack yanked my clothes, pulling me behind him.
“Whirlwind!”
Neko’s desperate spell to stop the Blacksmith missed its target.
The monster jumped, maintaining its charging speed.
In mid-air, its hammer angled menacingly toward Back Attack.
“Frost Ray!”
I cast my own spell, but the high-level Blacksmith resisted the freeze.
It couldn't be electrocuted, and it couldn't be frozen.
Superconduction was out of range, and Dust Explosion was on cooldown.
Summoning the clouds now would be useless.
[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 37 seconds]
This cooldown is ridiculously long.
Even though I hadn't used the Hourglass, the moment the Blacksmith's strike fell felt like it was playing in slow motion.
But my body wouldn't move.
Is this my life flashing before my eyes?
Truthfully, at this rate, the one who would die wasn't me, but Back Attack.
Normally, he could have dodged it. He could have used Leaping Ambush to get behind the Blacksmith.
But Back Attack didn't move.
Because if he moved, I would take a direct hit from the hammer.
“Static Coat!”
I won't let Back Attack die either. I had to make him withstand that first Magic Acid-enhanced hammer blow somehow.
BOOM!
But the hammer never struck Back Attack.
“What the!”
Something had shot like a missile from the direction of Lilweed’s body and slammed into the Blacksmith’s back.
The Blacksmith lost its balance before it could bring its hammer down and crashed to the floor.
Embedded in its back was a single, well-honed longsword.
‘The Orc Fighter from Neko’s party.’
The constable rushed toward us, shouting.
“Finally found you!”
“Help Caleb!”
Neko shouted at the same time.
“Now! Back Attack! Run!”
The Blacksmith struggled to pull the longsword from its back, and I ran with Back Attack toward the orc.
We had to re-establish a stable formation, quickly.
“Get to Top Student Neko!”
The orc ran past me and Back Attack, delivering a dropkick straight to the Blacksmith to retrieve the fallen longsword.
“Scorching Ray!”
Simultaneously, Neko fired a magic laser, grazing the Blacksmith.
The Blacksmith had some fire resistance and hadn't flinched from the boiling steam in the pipes, but the Scorching Ray left a long burn mark.
The seared flesh left a gruesome diagonal wound from the monster’s chest to its side.
This was my chance.
“Lightning Shock!”
I fired another spell.
To make the lightning rain down again.
CRASH!
But the Blacksmith wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Right after the Scorching Ray hit, it slammed its hammer into the floor.
A small-scale structural transformation.
Volcanic rock, similar to an earth rampart, shot up from the floor, instantly forming an arch-like dome over the Blacksmith.
The Lightning Shock discharged harmlessly.
Now, the clouds began to slowly dissipate. The Cumulonimbus, already weakened by the Absorption Sphere, vanished.
“Get in formation!”
Running to Neko’s side with Back Attack, I called out to the Orc Fighter.
“Yes, Caleb! Neko!”
The Orc Fighter quickly ran back to our side.
“Thank goodness I wasn’t too late.”
No.
To be honest, he was.
It wasn't the Orc Fighter who was late, but the Golden Golem.
“Boss, look at that!”
The puddle of liquid gold on the floor that Back Attack was pointing to began to gather, reconstructing the special boss.
Its massive frame and gleaming torso.
And a single golden spear.
The Golden Golem was resurrected.
‘This is seriously fucked.’
Did I give the Golden Golem too much time?
No, that wasn't it. It should normally take much longer for the Golden Golem to resurrect from liquid gold.
Which means the cause of this was, once again, the Blacksmith.
As the manager of the foundry, the Blacksmith repairs all sorts of broken equipment and golems.
A skill called ‘Foundry Repair’ was constantly active as an area-of-effect passive.
This was the first time I’d seen the Golden Golem and the Blacksmith appear at the same time, and it seemed that skill applied to the Golden Golem as well.
‘This is the worst.’
The situation had become truly dire.
The Orc Fighter originally used a sword and shield, but his shield had been destroyed by Magic Acid during his first fight with the Blacksmith.
With only a sword, he couldn't properly serve as a front-liner.
On the other side were two special bosses.
Even if this orc fought with his life on the line, how much time could he buy us?
“My Psychokinetic Fist is on cooldown…”
Neko said, falling into despair.
I was still on cooldown too.
[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 12 seconds]
The Hourglass, that is.
But.
“Caleb!”
From the hallway leading to the production control room, a second front-liner appeared.
“Aimus!”
I never thought I’d be this happy to see that bald guy.
“Caleb!”
A very pleased Yernil appeared from behind Aimus, along with the priest.
“Top Student Neko!”
It seemed the three of them had been together all this time.
“Ingelam is already dead?”
Yernil’s eyes widened at the sight of the wizard’s corpse sprawled on the floor.
The body, tattered from frost and electricity, was clearly my handiwork.
“You must have used a major spell on Ingelam, which is why this battle is so difficult now!” the priest shouted.
He was right, in a way. Thanks to that, my Hourglass was on cooldown.
“I’m sorry! We lost him earlier.”
Yernil suddenly apologized, though no one had blamed her.
“Ingelam suddenly teleported with the Barbarian.”
It must have been the Tier 3 defensive magic, ‘Ethereal Departure.’
When cast with a party member, it allows for movement up to 30 meters. When cast alone, it allows the caster to pass through obstacles within that range.
How did I know?
Lilweed told me. He said there was a magic item like that among the equipment Ingelam had plundered from him.
It must have been on cooldown when he was hit by my hailstorm.
Anyway, another problem had just cropped up.
Whirrrrr!
Suddenly, the Condensing Core began to operate. The pump churned. From the pipes, bright red lava began to pour down the hoses like a waterfall.
“Fuck. What’s with that thing now?”
Back Attack gritted his teeth, his expression anxious.
In an instant, the mold was filled with lava. The Condensing Core glittered as it infused magic into it.
“It’s making golems!”
I remembered the first time I faced the Golden Golem. Back then, too, the Condensing Core, which shouldn't have been working, had activated and produced it.
But since that special boss was still alive, it wouldn't be created again. Instead…
“Sword-and-Shield Golems!”
These were field monsters.
The three types of Brass Golems—armed with sword and shield, longspear, or crossbow—patrolled in squads and fought adventurers.
Even now, they were holding back, warily waiting to form a full squad before charging us. They stood guard in front of the Golden Golem.
For better or worse, the Golden Golem was also holding its position while mustering its army.
Even the Blacksmith was waiting.
“They’re trying to build up their forces to wipe us out all at once…”
The Orc Fighter trembled with fear.
This foundry was the very place where the three types of Brass Golems were produced, right under that Condensing Core.
That’s why, to prevent any disruptions during this crucial battle, we had already removed the golem dolls from the Production Box in the Production Control Room.
“But how are the Brass Golems being made?” Neko asked.
“The Blacksmith fixed it and came back.”
In the game, the Blacksmith would occasionally go to the Production Box and put the dolls back in.
“B-But when we left the control room, the Production Box was still empty,” Aimus said.
“The Blacksmith must have tampered with the box after you three left.”
I could guess the reason, too.
Ingelam had used Ground Collapse in there and wrecked everything. The Blacksmith, obsessed with repairing the foundry, would have had its aggro drawn there.
Around the time Yernil’s team left, the Blacksmith must have gone to investigate and thought, ‘Huh? The dolls are missing from the production box. I should put them back! Hehe!’
And then it came back here.
“And since the Blacksmith can alter the foundry’s structure, it got here before the three of you.”
“No…!”
“If only we’d run into it then, we could have stopped it. What rotten luck,” Back Attack lamented.
I thought it was actually good luck.
If Aimus, Yernil, and the priest had run into the Blacksmith while fighting Ingelam and the Barbarian, it wouldn't have been strange if one of them had died.
A second Brass Golem was already being created.
[Turn-Based Hourglass]
The cooldown was over.
But before we start the fight.
“Yernil!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Yernil snapped to attention, her head held high.
“Run to the Production Control Room right now and get rid of those dolls.”
“...!”
“I’m asking you because you’re the fastest one here.”
“Yes!”
Go, Yernil!
“The rest of us will end this here.”