Chapter 79: The Ancient Golems, Part 3

(Idmon POV)

Sword and armor golems have now caught the group in a pincer attack.

Idmon: "(t) Focus on the sword golem first! It's the one that we can take out."

We still don't know how the Armor Golem will fight, but it's safe to assume that we don't have a way to beat it for now.

Our group needs to stick to things we can do for now and think of a way later.

Granpa: "Uh, you say that, but the Armor Golem isn't stopping!"

The Armor Golem is running, and it looks like it wants to trample us under its unstoppable charge.

Armor Golem: "Hmmmm..."

You can hear Armor Golem's hum getting closer and closer. The ground is shaking violently with each step.

Lina: "!"

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The ice wall stopped Armor Golem's charge, but it significantly damaged the wall. It's now trying to pound the wall to dust.

Even though Lina can only use weakened ice magic, she brought out a thick wall.

It must have cost her a lot of magic power because she looks drained.

Lina: "Go! Beat the Sword Golem!"

Idmon: "(t) Thank you, Lina!"

Lina smiles, even though she looks tired from magic exhaustion.

I rushed towards the sword golem with all my might.

The safest way to take it down is to wait for it to attack. However, our situation doesn't allow that.

To survive, I need to take down the sword golem without any delay.

In response to my reckless charge, the Sword Golem swung its swords wildly to cut my body into pieces.

This skill allowed me to survive attacks that would have killed me instantly countless times.

I have to rely on you one more time!

Idmon: "Please, let me get through unscathed!"

My body moved so fast that the average person couldn't see it. The skill has transcended its description and gone into overdrive.

When the swords were about to hit me, my body disappeared. No, it was still there, but it became a blur.

The attacks of the sword golem went through my afterimages and hit nothing.

It thought that I was still in front of its body, but in fact, I was already at its core.

A new skill was born out of . I called it .

Idmon: "Please, go down for me!"

I didn't waste any more time once I reached the core.

!

A dash-boosted pierce attack with my spear penetrated the core quickly, and the sword golem went down not long after.

Now, let's take down the armor golem.

Bon: "Everyone! Move away from the

What is it? Bon suddenly told us to get away, so we did in a hurry.

Idmon: "What are you planning, Bon!?"

I was shocked when I saw Bon, who was supposed to be resting, collect so much negative energy in his quarterstaff.

It didn't look like a quarterstaff now. A purple gem popped out of its end, and it looked more like a wizard's staff.

Bon: "I improvised the weapon a bit. I can't be the Head Wizard of the Undead army if I don't fight with magic."

Crack! Boom!

The Ice Wall fell, and the Armor Golem charged without pausing for rest. It didn't need to; it was a golem.

Bon: "Say hello to one of my original spells! !"

The massive amount of negative energy compressed into Bon's staff blasted, and a giant ray that destroyed both living and unliving things came out.

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Armor Golem: "GU-"

It didn't even finish its groan. The chest part of the golem was just gone. The ray left nothing behind, not even ash or dust.

Idmon: "Great job, Bon!"

Bon: "It was nothing, Lord Idmon. My undying loyalty to you pushed me to achieve even greater heights. I needed to get stronger to be of help to you against the humans."

Idmon: "(t) You definitely exceeded my expectations. Well done."

Bon: "Thank you."

Granpa: "I guess that's all of them, right?"

Everyone in my group is tired, and although I don't tire physically, getting damaged reduces my negative energy, which also counts as my health.

I did my best to avoid all attacks, but some grazed me or had to be blocked.

Idmon: "I think so. Hos! Where are you? Did we pass the test?"

There was no answer. I wonder what Hos was doing. The room didn't revert to its old form, so I was worried that the challenge was not yet over.

Footsteps of something coming towards us confirmed my fears.

There was still something left to beat.

Idmon: What in the world is that!?"

It was a humanoid golem whose size is about the same as ours. Fully equipped with powerful-looking weapons and armor, this golem gives off a dangerous feeling.

Granpa: "I feel tremendous power coming from its core. It must be a unique design that they made."

Bon: "That much power is almost the same as yours, Lord Idmon. It might kill you if you catch you off-guard."

He's right. I have that feeling that I can't mess up.

Humanoid Golem: "Target acquired!"

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(Hos POV)

Ah, shit. I messed up.

Hos: "It isn't working!"

The reset button on the challenge to clear the area and revert it to normal is not working.

Hos: "That experimental golem is interfering with the controls."

Numerous creators attempted to create the humanoid golem, but they concluded that it was too powerful to produce in large quantities.

It was also uncontrollable.

They wanted a golem to be made in the likeness of humans. That part was a success.

However, they also wanted it to be self-learning and to have its own free will.

The core that it was made of was so complex that it took them decades to finish programming it.

And in the end, it was a failure.

The core only wanted to have the best results in everything it did and did not have an interest in morals and other human traits.

It became a machine that learns from its mistakes and does everything in its power to correct them, regardless of its methods.

Hos: "This is the most dangerous golem we have in the temple."

Hos pondered what he would do.

There are golems in the temple that can take it on, but none can restrain it and put it back in its cell.

The failed golem will deal considerable damage to any golem it faces. Even if it loses, it might render the other golem inoperable.

In the worst case, it is unrepairable. Hos can't risk losing the temple's strongest golems in a fight against failure.

All of this was because Hos mistakenly pushed the forbidden button.

Hos: "Why is this button even here when it wasn't supposed to be pushed?"

Hos cursed his fellow creator, who made the controls.

Hos: "I guess I would have to rely on the challengers to defeat it. I'll just tell them that this is the final challenge."

Wait a minute. Haven't we been looking for ways to dispose of the failed golem?

Since we can't release it to the world and hope someone defeats it, we can rely on these challengers to fix the mistake (by destroying the golem)!

Yes, yes. That could work! And it will be understandable when I tell the other creators that I disposed of the failed golem.

Hos: "Now, let's raise the anti-magic field to make the battle fair."

Hos pressed the button. An error occurred.

System: "Please repair the anti-magic stand."

Hos: "That damned failure! It even destroyed the anti-magic apparatus so it could assure its victory."

Ah, this has become a disaster.

The Failed Golem was trained in thousands of battle simulations and perfected its response to every kind of attack in our records.

The warmongering creator, Leo, trained it.

Only a legendary warrior or monster can defeat that golem in an anti-magic field.

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(Idmon POV)

What's with this enemy?

Idmon: "Stay still!"

I kept attacking with my spear skills, but I couldn't seem to hit it.

! ! !

No matter how I try to attack him, I can't make my attacks connect.

It has an armguard to protect itself and a sword to attack.

Granpa: "Idmon! We'll help you!"

Idmon: "(t) No! Stay back and rest!"

When Granpa tried to help me, the Humanoid Golem blasted him with a similar to the Magic Golems.

Boom!

Granpa got blasted away, and it doesn't look like he'll be back in action soon.

I attacked the humanoid golem while it used its < magic blast, but its response was still flawless.

Dodge. Dodge. Dodge. Then counterattack.

It gracefully dodges all my attacks from all angles, then lines up a powerful counter that uses my strength against me.

Oof!

I blocked the counterattack, but the force was strong enough to knock me down.

Even when I'm down on the ground, it keeps attacking me, and it tries to finish me off.

Idmon: "(t) How about this?"

I used to dodge his attack and land a powerful hit on his chest.

Humanoid Golem: "New attack learned."

What?

My spear did not pierce its armor, but I thought it would slow him down.

Humanoid Golem: "Creating a strategy to counter."

It kept saying weird phrases to itself as if it were announcing my attack would not work a second time.

However, I have no other way to damage him.

I used again, and this time:

Idmon: "(t) What!?"

The humanoid golem didn't attack my afterimage. Instead, he waited for me to get close, then punched me.

Ugh!

I lost a considerable amount of my negative energy after that attack. I can't keep taking these attacks.

So, I tried a new tactic.

Idmon: "(t) How about this?"

I used multiple times to create three afterimages before I attacked.

Humanoid Golem: "???"

It looked confused as it attacked the second afterimage, thinking it was me.

I got him now!

Not wasting my chance, I used on its chest to end the fight.

Humanoid Golem: "Defeat is not an option."

The humanoid Golem moved fast to intercept my attack. It used an armguard to block my skill, but it went through.

While holding my spear to keep me in place, he blasted me away to get some distance.

His quick reaction stopped my attack from piercing its chest, but I damaged its armor.

The next attack will indeed pierce its core.

Unfortunately, that blast damaged me a lot, and now there are cracks in my body.

The bones are beginning to crumble. It's already hard to keep my vessel together with the anti-magic gem's suppression, but it's even harder now that I am damaged.

Damn, if I get hit one more time, it's over.

Lina: "Lord Idmon! Pull back; for now, let me take over!"

Lina says this, but it was clear she could not fight. She can't even stand up.

Bon: "Lord Idmon."

Even Bon, who tried to channel his negative energy to cast a spell, cannot help.

They have used so much energy fighting the golems.

I need to save them all with my power.

Idmon: "It's fine. I can defeat it."

I'm sure I can approach it if I use multiple times. Next time, I will use five afterimages so it can't predict my attack.

Here we go! !

Using the skill puts some severe strain on my bones, so pushing this far can make my bones shatter.

However, I won't give up!

Humanoid Golem: "You will go down in the next attack. This, I can confirm."

The weird golem didn't even hesitate as it said this.

Idmon: "(t) We'll see about that!"

I created my five afterimages, and the Humanoid Golem attacked the fourth and fifth afterimages.

As expected, this means I will succeed!

I appeared from behind him after it attacked my fifth afterimage, so there will be no counterattacks.

Idmon: "(t) It's over!"

!

!

!

!

I used my skills again and again to make sure that my attacks destroyed its core.

Idmon: "(t) Did I do it?"

The humanoid golem wasn't moving, but after a few seconds, it talked.

Humanoid Golem: "Prediction Confirmed. You will die now."

What!? It's still alive!?

Does this mean its core is not in its chest?

While my mind raced in, thinking where I would find the core, I noticed its eyes shining brightly. It has the same light as the core of the other golems.

Humanoid Golem: "."

Wait!

In the following moments after the , something went down.