Chapter 92: A Half-Naked Man and His Merry Friends in Golem Paradise

It is the past, a grave marker, a scar, and a residue. The existence of a civilization in the Divine Age long ago is proven by the ruins discovered and the items excavated.

Among them, the place most famous for excavating Divine Age items is, without a doubt, here: "Ruins of Past Glory."

What happened to the civilization of the Divine Age? Why was most of the Divine Age civilization lost, scattered, and destroyed? The answer is still unknown, but a hint can be understood whether you like it or not the moment you step into this area.

"Haa... What a Fantasy (unrealistic) sight..."

Looking up, covering the entire area like a dome ceiling, are artificial spine and ribs so gigantic that even the word "huge" feels inadequate. I unintentionally sigh in admiration.

They are likely not biological. Although dim, this game doesn't prioritize realism above all else, so with reasonable brightness, I can see clearly that the spine and ribs—large enough to easily contain a medium-sized city with room to spare—are not of biological origin... but tools made by combining metal.

The fact that it was necessary to create such a thing, and the fact that "Legacy Weapons" are excavated from this area, albeit completely broken... Why the Divine Age civilization perished remains a mystery, but one thing is clear: they were "fighting something."

Is it a Unique Monster, or the final boss of this game? Personally, I'd be troubled if it were a Unique Monster. I don't feel like I can defeat an opponent that required creating such a gigantic "something."

"The suspicious one is 'Bahamut'... No, that's not something to speculate on right now."

My thoughts getting derailed is a bad habit. Well, it just means there's a lot to think about, which isn't unpleasant.

However, area speculation itself is important. Most likely, this place was originally a factory or something.

After all, the arm of the golem noticing us and approaching is what appears to be an industrial burner.

"Deluxe King Medjed, Disengage!"

Changing my head equipment to the Gazing Bird Mask, simultaneously Emul clinging to my head, Bilac clinging to my back, and Aramis held in my arms separate from me.

The golem swings the burner like a sword of fire, but its movements are dead in speed and precision as the price for high power—the fate of giant-type monsters.

"If I had to say, its hitbox is longer than I thought..."

Otherwise, it's probably a monster designed to be sturdy and tough, just as it looks. Now, let's see how much my current firepower gets through... The moment I readied the Marsh Daggers [Mod. II], an unnaturally sharp wind brushed my cheek.

"? Wha..."

"Hahahaha! Wandering Iron Giant of the Divine Age! I, Aramis, shall draw the curtain on your long wandering!"

Eh, wait, wai—

"[Servant Blade Arts (Sauvant) 'Solo' - Primal Slash]!"

A slash effect flies right next to me in a trajectory that would have been a direct hit if I had shifted one step to the side.

Although the Culprit (Aramis) was visibly five meters away from the Burner Golem, the flow from the terrifyingly fast startup to impact demonstrates its power with the result of the Burner Golem exploding.

"Fufufu... Maiden, and you all, rest assured! As long as I, the 'Wild Wind' Aramis am here, no enemy can be an obstac—back of my headdd!?"

"Are ya stupid! Are ya stupid, ya fool! Don't use an anti-dragon scale technique to defeat a single work golem! This... idiot!"

Anti-dragon scale, she says, ma'am. If things went poorly, my left half would have been blown away.

Naturally, there are no drop items from the golem blown to smithereens. Or rather, even if drop items had fallen, they seem to have been lost in that strike just now.

"Ah... right... Aramis, sorry, but please refrain from spamming big moves."

"A-As expected, the hammer is bad... afun... R-Roger..."

Aramis, having had a sledgehammer dropped on his brain instead of a fist, writhed holding his head but accepted my words.

"I intended to come here sooner or later, so I looked into various things about this place."

"I see."

"For example, in this place, golems spawn like idiots anyway. And two types at that."

"Hohou."

"First are the golems from the Divine Age. Those guys are generally clumsy but sturdy in exchange. Ain't for show that they've been movin' since the Divine Age."

"I see, I see (Naruheso)."

"And second, golems born from the materials of this place. These guys are fragile, but ya never know what they'll do."

"You researched well. But..."

Glancing sideways at Emul firing Magic Edges with tears in her eyes and Aramis laughing loudly while swinging his sword after being released from the big move restriction early on, I kick away a monster that looks like a watermelon-sized potato with legs—let's call it a "Ball Golem"—and shout.

"Tell me that kind of information first!"

"Even if I told ya, the result wouldn't have changed!"

"It's a matter of mental preparation!"

"Pyaaaaa reinforcements desu waaaa!?"

The Ball Golem I just kicked collided with another individual at the landing point... and detonated. Furthermore, the explosion chained to the surroundings.

"Eight combo, maybe."

"Sad news. Nine added."

"Net positive, that bastard!"

Ahead of my gaze, I involuntarily curse at the figure of a golem—which looks like a face with a wide-open mouth depending on how you look at it—mass-producing Ball Golems without any sign of running out of ammo.

Damn, despite having a face like a poorly made clay figure, its AI is quite smart.

Glancing at the Highest Level (Aramis) and the Ranged Attacker (Emul) being pinned down by Ball Golems numbering more than those coming at me, I look around at the swarm of Ball Golems approaching us.

"...Alright, I see a route! Bilac, hold on!"

"Alrighty!"

Using Bilac jumping onto my back as the starting signal, I leap forward.

It is a fact that the mass of Ball Golems is a threat, but they cannot completely suppress all four of us enemies.

Unlike Emul and Aramis, who are facing a literal carpet bombing covering the ground, the mass of Ball Golems coming this way has "holes" where the ground is visible here and there.

"What was that clay stuff called... right, C4. Detonating with magic instead of a fuse?"

Clay-like explosives that appear in almost all military games. It's not strictly decided to be that, but the nature of those Ball Golems is likely close to it.

Self-destruct monsters—extremely annoying monsters in both a combat and item-gathering sense—gaining mass numbers and high-performance AI.

I think it's a terrible monster indeed, but frustratingly, because its performance is high, the countermeasures are also highlighted.

"Aside from the highest-level guy, the moment you sealed the ranged attacker, it's like reading out your weakness...!"

Six-Boat Leap activated. The C4 Golem, possessing high judgment but not using "traps," prioritized suppressing Aramis, the greatest threat, and Emul, who had the potential to slaughter it from a distance. Consequently, it neglected dealing with me and Bilac, who only have close-range weapons.

I leap with Bilac on my back, jumping through the sea of bombs using the gaps between the approaching Ball Golems as floating islands.

"Counting on you, Striker!"

"Golem weaknesses are... always the core! Material Destroy!!"

I could have attacked, but Bilac, who has a skill granting a correction to anti-object attacks, can slaughter the golem in one hit, so I devote myself to being the Carrier.

I hear that whether it's a Reactor made in the Divine Age or a Core made in the modern age, most golem cores are located in the center of the body.

Therefore, just like with the Humming Lich, Bilac's uppercut swing from directly below smashes the sledgehammer into the roof of the Ball-Spitting Golem's wide-open mouth.

"Critical!!"

"...? Crap, everyone evacuate!!"

"Oryowa!"

The Ball-Spitting Golem, shattered as if its head had erupted, twitches.

Harboring a bad feeling from the behavior of unnaturally stopping and then starting to rattle, I grab Bilac by the scruff of her neck, lift her up, and leave the spot while kicking away the unnaturally stopped Ball Golems.

Just as Emul and Aramis also gained distance, a roar.

"Well, if the golems it spits out are self-destruct types, naturally the main body is a self-destruct type too..."

"Somethin' fallin' down."

"Whoops."

From within the smoke of the explosion which began to clear in a few seconds, something falls toward us, perhaps blown by the blast. Catching it, it seems to be an item.

A clay figure shaped like a human simplified to the limit...

"A Haniwa, huh."

"What's this stupid face?"

"But it's kinda cute desu wa?"

Put it in inventory and check item description...

Clay Idol of Explosive Earth
A small-scale clone of itself rarely generated by naturally occurring golems.
Idols generated by Cannonball Golems cause a small-scale explosion upon receiving a strong impact.
When the dance of the Clay Idol of Explosive Earth reaches its climax, fire is born from within the earth.

"It's a hand grenade..."

If I had missed the catch, I would have died. Scary.

Author's Afterword
Useless Trivia: Very rarely, an idol shaped like a beautiful girl figure is discovered and traded at high prices among players. Incidentally, the highest bid in history was for a "Heavenly Wish Idol" that looked exactly like the popular NPC Saint-chan, which sold for 300 million Mani.