Chapter 91: The Real Boss Fight (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 91: The Real Boss Fight (3)
The blacksmith was soaked, electrocuted by seven bolts of lightning.
“Raaaargh!”
The Fighter Orc let out a monstrous roar and charged toward him. The blacksmith, realizing his magic acid was ineffective, charged head-on as well.
While the two warriors were locked in close-quarters combat, trading blows…
Neko, who had thrown the first Psychokinetic Fist at the Brass Golems charging from the right, immediately realized the problem.
‘The Brass Golems are recovering because of the blacksmith’s steelworks repair!’
This fight was completely different from fighting Brass Golems out in the field.
The three Brass Golems summoned now would swap positions with another golem whenever they were in danger, doing whatever it took to protect their cores.
And once they recovered, they would charge again.
“Caleb!”
“I know, Neko!”
Caleb seemed to have already anticipated the problem. Moreover, he had a solution ready.
“Follow my lead and attack what I attack!”
He had already tucked his psychokinesis wand into his belt. In its place…
“Corrosion.”
He fired a Corrosion spell.
Caleb had used that spell before to burst a steam pipe. It was one of the deadliest spells against metallic monsters.
Metallic monsters afflicted with Corrosion cannot be repaired.
“Psychokinetic Fist!”
Neko, catching on to the strategy, quickly smashed a Brass Golem with a magic fist.
“Dust Explosion!”
Caleb blew up the core as it flew into the air.
“Caleb!” Neko shouted.
A Sword-and-Shield Golem was charging at Caleb.
“Dense Fog.”
Caleb quickly enveloped the golem in fog and leaped back.
The golem, which had been chasing Caleb through the fog, suddenly froze in place. There was liquid gold on the floor.
It was from the melted Halfling druid.
“Psychokinetic Fist!”
Neko quickly smashed that golem.
A target plated by the liquid gold has its composition become identical to a Golden Golem's. Even a tough Sword-and-Shield Golem like that becomes much softer. Plus, it can't run away to recover.
“Corrosion.”
He targeted the third golem with the Corrosion spell, which was off cooldown.
“Hailstorm.”
Caleb froze and crushed the third golem with Hailstorm.
And the exposed core…
“Scorching Ray!”
Neko shouted as she incinerated it.
“A fourth golem is coming out!”
“Just hold on a little longer! Yernil will get rid of the doll!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of the elf's feet kicking off the floor echoed through the corridor.
The connecting passage from the Steelmaking Process Room to the Production Control Room was about 180 meters long. Even with Caleb's legs, it could be covered in about forty seconds.
And what about that time he sprinted to keep Ingelam's party from swapping their Memory Books after the ambush with Watcher and Raincoat?
Back then, even Caleb, with help from Aimus and Back Attack, had covered the distance in less than thirty seconds.
For the agile elf ranger Yernil, even that much time wasn't necessary.
The elf's long legs produced a deer-like stride, and lungs accustomed to running through forests filled her entire body with oxygen.
As she ran with explosive speed, she instantly noticed something unusual.
Rumble!
Something was flowing through the pipes embedded in the ceiling.
The sound was strange.
It was different from the sound of lava flowing inside the pipes.
Normally, lava would flow through those pipes and pour over the molds in the Steelmaking Process Room, but right now, something was flowing backward inside them.
Towards the Production Control Room.
‘What is it?’
Something was coming. It was coming to stop her. The blacksmith, as the manager of the steelworks, would try to put the doll back in the production box if it was removed. Hadn't Caleb said so?
So, a monster from the steelworks was trying to stop Yernil, who was on her way to get rid of that very doll.
‘It can't be the blacksmith, can it?’
It didn't seem likely that a humanoid monster like him could travel upstream through a 30-centimeter pipe filled with flowing lava.
So it was probably some kind of golem.
What should I do?
Caleb had told her to avoid fighting any monsters she encountered. Common sense dictated that since the Brass Golems were created in the Steelmaking Process Room, she shouldn't run into any monsters in the Production Control Room.
So why did Caleb say that?
He must have anticipated the possibility of something chasing Yernil. That must be why he gave her that warning. In that case…
‘I should play it safe for now.’
After all, Yernil's objective was to get rid of the doll and prevent more monsters from being produced.
Fighting came after completing the objective.
To do that, she had to reach the Production Control Room faster than the monster in the pipes.
Fortunately, the monster had to move against the flow of lava, so the resistance was slowing it down considerably.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Yernil pushed off harder with the soles of her feet.
Barely ten seconds after leaving the Steelmaking Process Room…
CRASH!
Yernil, running like the wind, kicked the door to the Production Control Room wide open, and a scene of chaos unfolded before her eyes.
It was the same scene where Ingelam had wrecked the room with a ground collapse.
“It's hot!”
The entire Production Control Room had become a sauna due to the hot lava and steam.
Lava bubbled on the floor, and between the pools, slabs of rock floated like rafts, providing footholds.
Yernil's team had hopped across them like stepping stones to get out of here earlier.
Now it was her turn to hop across in the opposite direction.
Before, the priest had slowed them down, but alone, Yernil would be across in an instant.
Tap-tap-tap!
Like a gazelle, she leaped from rock to rock and landed in front of the production settings machine.
Even in this mess, the control panel, screens, and the production settings box were undamaged.
Hundreds of buttons filled the control panel. Above it were seven large screens, similar to the images that appeared in a glass bottle when using a wizard's eye.
The screens showed various parts of the steelworks, including the Steelmaking Process Room.
‘Caleb!’
On the screen for the Steelmaking Process Room, Caleb, Neko, and the Fighter Orc were battling the blacksmith and the Brass Golems.
There were no Golden Golems there.
And…
‘Aimus, Back Attack, and the priest?’
The three of them were running down the corridor. Towards where Yernil was now.
It felt like they were coming to back her up.
In that case…
‘Is the thing coming through the pipes a Golden Golem?’
A loud rumbling echoed from the pipe.
She might have to fight a Golden Golem here.
Yernil quickly climbed onto the wall of the production settings box.
Inside the box, which was the size of a 10-person elevator, was a giant doll. It looked exactly like a Brass Golem.
“Hnngh!”
She pulled on the doll with all her might, but it didn't budge.
Aimus had pulled it out like a radish before, but Yernil's strength wasn't enough.
But there was a way around this, too.
She didn't need to pull it completely out of the box. She just had to lift its feet off the bottom slightly. Then, the item would be considered 'held' by Yernil.
‘Sentry Relocation!’
It would become a personal belonging, like her armor or bow.
Swoooosh!
Before she could even savor her success, a despairing sound came from the pipe's nozzle.
A large amount of liquid gold was pouring out at the entrance of the Production Control Room.
“Hah!”
Yernil dragged the Brass Golem doll across the floor and rolled it into the lava. Seeing it bubble and melt away gave her a small sense of relief.
Now, no matter what happened here, there was no danger of Brass Golems being reproduced and putting Caleb's group in jeopardy.
“Hoo…”
Yernil calmly drew her bowstring. At the entrance to the Production Control Room, a giant Golden Golem stood tall, holding a spear.
On the control panel, she could see Aimus's team, almost at the Production Control Room. Back Attack, frustrated with their pace, was sprinting ahead.
About fifteen seconds after Yernil set off…
‘The Brass Golem production has stopped.’
“It worked!”
Neko's face brightened as she confirmed the light in the assembly core had gone out.
I was happy about it too.
Well done, Yernil.
But the situation wasn't entirely rosy.
Yernil's team would be fine. In my experience, a party with their level of combat power could easily take down a Golden Golem.
The problem was on our end.
There were still two major problems.
First, the Fighter Orc's combat power was cut in half.
‘Because he has no shield.’
Hadn't it been shattered by the magic acid hammer when we first fought here?
Thanks to that, the fight against the blacksmith was going poorly. The Static Coat could block the magic acid, but not physical damage.
The Fighter Orc was getting helplessly beaten by the blacksmith, who had switched his strategy to a manly hammer brawl.
The reasons he hadn't been defeated yet were, first, his grit, and second, his incredible swordsmanship.
Clang!
He was somehow managing to block the hammer with just that one sword.
Though with the damage accumulating on the blade, it wouldn't be surprising if it shattered at any moment.
And the third reason.
Fzzt!
Was the discharge from his Static Coat.
The magic coat, which enveloped his body along its silhouette, would discharge when hit by a direct melee attack.
Just like how a Golden Golem would trigger a plating reflection when it took melee damage.
It would consume one lightning charge, though.
Krrr-rumble!
But it didn't matter, because the Cumulonimbus cluster would immediately recharge it.
Soaked by the rain, the blacksmith staggered as he was electrocuted by the discharge.
“Kuh…”
“Hngh…”
That was why the blacksmith still hadn't managed to kill the Fighter Orc.
Just when he thought he had the upper hand, the discharge would make his own legs give out.
The zombie-like fight continued—the blacksmith unable to land a finishing blow, and the shieldless Fighter Orc.
“Fighter Orc!”
There was one way to help him in that fight. To get him a shield.
“Catch this!”
I threw the shield from the Sword-and-Shield Golem we had just defeated with all my might. It started to fall after only a few meters, but the Fighter Orc quickly caught it.
“Smaged's Shield!”
He activated a shield skill. Now he could resist the physical blows to some extent.
“We have to press the attack now!”
I yelled. It was true; I was running out of time. The clock was ticking.
The second reason our battle was at a disadvantage. In fact, it was the biggest reason.
‘The duration on the Cumulonimbus is almost up.’
[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 39 seconds]
A 39-second cooldown on the hourglass meant that 21 seconds had passed since I summoned the seven Cumulonimbus clouds.
The duration of Cumulonimbus is 30 seconds.
Which meant there were only 9 seconds left before they disappeared.
“Scorching Ray!”
Over the past 23 seconds, I had summoned one Cumulonimbus and one Hailstorm as their cooldowns came up, but that wasn't enough to be effective.
Therefore, we had to take him down within the remaining 9 seconds.
“Lightning Shock!”
I slammed a volley of lightning bolts into the blacksmith.
[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 37 seconds]
7 seconds left.
“Dust Explosion!”
“Whirlwind!”
“Gah!”
The attacks of the two mages, no longer needing to worry about Brass Golems, were focused on the blacksmith.
5 seconds left.
The blacksmith was now on the verge of death.
Just one last hit.
Clang!
The Fighter Orc's sword cut through the air and hit the floor.
The blacksmith had backed away.
“He's running away!”
“Psychokinetic Fist!”
Neko slammed a Psychokinetic Fist down on the blacksmith's head.
KABOOM!
The blacksmith was nowhere to be seen, presumably crushed into the floor. The Fighter Orc charged after him to make sure he was finished.
And I…
“Don't chase him!”
A chill ran down my spine, and I screamed.
‘It's a trap.’
“What?”
The Fighter Orc, leaping toward the Psychokinetic Fist, had no time to look back. He brought his sword down on the blacksmith, but the spot was empty.
The Psychokinetic Fist hadn't landed properly either.
The blacksmith wasn't there.
“Static Coat!”
I quickly cast the spell on Neko.
1 second left.
Just before the Cumulonimbus clouds disappeared.
“Superconductivity.”
I charged Neko's coat.
A vibration ran through the floor.
The ground was turning over. The floor began to rise.
‘Steelworks Structure Transformation.’
The blacksmith had bored a hole in the ground as he fled. It was a pattern that appeared in the game at higher difficulties.
The blacksmith slid through the passage he had created beneath the floor.
Behind us.
BOOM!
Magic acid exploded behind Neko's back.
I was almost hit, too.
“Caleb! Neko!”
The Fighter Orc tried to turn back to save us, but…
KRA-KA-KOOM!
A magical barrier reminiscent of Ingelam's earth ramparts shot up from the steelworks floor. All the way to the ceiling.
Inside the perfectly sealed space.
Me, Neko, and the blacksmith.
Two mages with no frontline, served up like a feast before that monster.
The seven Cumulonimbus clouds I had summoned earlier disappeared.
“The… the underground passage is blocked! Neko!”
From beyond the wall, I could hear the Fighter Orc pounding on it with his fists.
“…Heh heh.”
Covered in blood, the staggering blacksmith laughed like the grim reaper.