Chapter 114 – Cruel Earth Mage (3)
Tyrsi gave me a skillful wink.
“Nord, are you all right?”
“Yes. I lived thanks to you. I thought I was dying.”
“What. I’m here to support you guys. Oh, it’s a service. 〈 Clean〉.”
A cold wind blew up and down once, shaking off the mud. It’s a cleaning magic I’ve never seen before. It was silent, as if it had grown while Tyrsi couldn’t see it either.
“Nor!”
“Senior!”
Two party members ran towards me after I had escaped. ─Thump thump! Tirsi’s eyes widened at the grandeur of the dashing Lingling No. 3.
─Buck! Fran ran up and bowed to Tircy.
“Thanks for your help, Mr. Tyrsi!”
“Yeah. It happened to be nearby, so I was able to help. Um, so… That’s Francesca, right? She’s been promoted to the Bronze class. Congratulations.”
“Ah, yes. How have you been, Mr. Tyrsi?”
“Yeah? Well yes…”
The two adventurers exchanged blessings quite awkwardly.
Black hair and white hair. Big breasts and small breasts. Short and tall. Rogues and wizards.
The two, who were literally 100% opposite, exchanged stiff smiles like a black and white monochrome landscape painting. I felt like I was suffocating when I saw it.
“Senior senior senior senior? Senior senior senior senior senior!”
And Lalilura was always in normal operation.
“Are you not sick? Is your back okay? The acrobats of our troupe were talking about what a man’s waist is, but has it become a living corpse for you?
“Let’s do one thing, either worrying or teasing.”
─Takong! I put a chestnut on Ralilura’s forehead and checked the battle situation.
“Ki yo yo yo yo yo yo yoyo——!!!”
“Hee-hya!!”
─Wheek! Pupper puck!!
The wilderness was a mayhem where magic flew and swords danced.
Golems running after them like little ants! The number difference of more than three times was shrinking at an astonishing rate.
It was impossible to withstand because the golems rushed to the golems that even Agdak could rub against and kicked them.
Should I say fortunately out of misfortune, the gold class team gathered in one place without participating in the extermination. Even so, I can’t even get 90% proficiency if I’m absent-mindedly!
‘It’s a burning event, but I can’t just open the nogarina!’
I stowed my sword and shook my hands. Isn’t one of the 3 biggest problems in RPG games the situation where you have to play a game right before leveling up?
Do you miss this opportunity and organize a Nordor expedition to find the hobgoblin shaman? It was crazy no matter how you think about it.
Therefore, while I was doing this, I had to kill at least one more golem.
Thinking so, I asked Tyrsi.
“Tirshi. I’m sorry I helped you at most, but can I thank you again after the battle?”
“Like. We will talk later.”
Tirshi readily agreed and continued.
“But from what I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be any wizards in the party. If that’s okay, can I help you?”
“All of us are welcome. Still, we can only distribute the loot equally.”
“Don’t worry about the distribution of remuneration. Instead of receiving loot, we receive rewards separately from the guild. Helping the adventurers is also an order from the upper level.”
It was nice to hear about it. The group also expressed their positive intentions with their eyes.
So I bowed as a representative.
“Thank you for the suggestion. I look forward to. For now, let’s go finish off the golem that Tyrsi subdued.”
Even if you pull out the core later, you need to kill it to confirm. There were so many dying golems around them that they were swept away, but mana succession never happened.
It seemed that in order for me to gain proficiency, I had to defeat the enemy with my own hands.
─Puck! Puck!
I quickly dealt with the golems that lost their limbs. Tirshi made him rest under the pretext of saving mana and quickly pulled out the core.
Shuwaaaaa—!!
Mana from the golem that lost her core rose up and was absorbed by her. I took a rough look at my inner mana and was slightly taken aback.
‘Is there a lot of absorption?’
It was much larger than the last time I caught it near Haysbent.
According to my calculations, I would have to hunt three times more than I caught now, but with only 10 golems, it felt almost 95% full. This is almost twice the absorption rate.
“… Ominous.”
I stopped muttering like that because of the chilling feeling of foreboding.
This world was a fantasy world with magic and monsters, but it was far from a game. No, even in games, changes don’t happen without a reason.
But here, suddenly, the EXP submarine patch?
The proficiency I was absorbing was mana. In other words, double the experience means that the golem’s mana is also doubled!
The combination of the increased amount of mana and the talking golem created a strange feeling of displeasure in my five senses.
Maybe it was because he felt an indescribably gloomy feeling from the mana he absorbed.
– Sloppy.
It was the moment when the mud on the soles of my shoes grabbed my feet.
─Kwaaaaa!!
I realized the evil mana flowing through the ground.
I mean, I should have found out sooner.
“──Damn it!!! It’s a trap!!! Everyone evacuate!!!”
A gold class adventurer in charge of leading shouted!
When the adventurers who were within hearing range looked at it in amazement, a beam of light soared into the sky. ─Quaaaaa!! As if responding to the light, mana rushed and drew geometric patterns on the ground!
“It’s a magic circle!!”
Tyrsi shouted at us. If it was only that, I knew it intuitively even if I didn’t say it on purpose.
But that wasn’t the story that followed.
“This form——is a barrier!!”
─Right!!
As if a trigger had been pulled, the light spread across the sky and the magic circle on the ground were connected.
A huge barrier that completely covered the entire area! I drew my sword again in the blue film of light that felt mana on a different level from Anasis’ barrier.
The anomaly continued. The magic circle on the ground also affected the remaining golems.
─Kidduk!
As their mud-like bodies hardened, the golems transformed into devil-like shapes. Would it be easy to imagine it as a muscular gargoyle without wings?
“Pooooo──!!!!”
“Kwaaaaagh!! These bastards, suddenly got stronger!!”
They ran amok as if responding to the cataclysm of the geology.
The adventurers who easily overpowered them could not cope with the completely transformed golems and either got hit or fled.
“These damn bastards!! Jackson!! Terriers!! Back off!!”
A gold class adventurer with a sword tried to attack. Party members who appeared to be wizards and rogues followed his instructions.
─Flash!
His attack was very fierce, as if the gold class was not taken for gambling. The reinforced golem also slashed the battlefield.
Can I leave it to you with that skill? I don’t know what the purpose of this barrier was, but for a gold class team, a reinforced golem wouldn’t be a big deal.
Was it yesterday or today that wizards use shield magic and barrier magic! An expert like them would have handled it well enough.
Thinking so, I called out to the group.
“Evacuation orders have been issued, so there is nothing to argue about! Let’s bounce!”
“You two, come here!”
─Wow!
Lalilura, who moved quickly, took Tirsi and Franc with Ringling No. 3. Since they couldn’t strengthen their bodies with mana, they tried to run away quickly, even if it meant consuming their own mana.
─Tattatat!
We ignored the situation and evacuated. Because I had no loyalty to fight crazy golems at the risk of my life.
Other adventurers ran away as well, perhaps with the same idea. Even if the golem became stronger, it could not catch up with us as we retreated.
“Tirshi. Haven’t you heard anything from the upper echelons of the Federation?”
I asked while running. I also had a rough idea from Carlyle, but I couldn’t figure out the reason for this mess.
Tirshi groaned when Lingling climbed onto No. 3.
“The guild leaders who secretly scouted here yesterday discovered a magic circle that promotes the creation of golems. The gold class team came to dismantle the magic circle, but something went wrong during disassembly.”
“Disbanded?”
At those words, I noticed too.
That team was the manpower that came to dismantle the magic circle that Nefertiti and Carlisle found, as well as preparing for the eventuality!
“Fuck!”
But the reason I cursed was for a different reason.
─Thump thump thump!!
“Open this!! Let me out!!”
There were a lot of adventurers who couldn’t pass the barrier where we were running. This barrier was also a barrier that confined the person trapped inside!
‘What?’
But there was something strange. Some adventurers have already escaped outside the barrier!
There were many people who were impatient while going back and forth to the barrier to see that they had not been able to go outside the barrier from the beginning.
“Oh, what happened!! Why am I the only one who can escape!!”
“Cracy!! Cheer up!!”
Seeing their comrades unable to escape, the adventurers struggled by pulling them from the outside or pushing them from the inside.
“Kwaaaaa!!”
The adventurers trapped inside tried hard, but they couldn’t seem to break through the barrier.
─Kku-gu-gu-guk!
In a gesture reminiscent of a pantomime, they were blocked by the blue barrier wall. Even though there is a colleague half-passing through the barrier right in front of her nose!
─Chiik!
Our party also reached the end of the barrier. First of all, I swung my sword into the barrier.
─Booooong! It passed through the black barrier that separated the wind like a hologram image. I checked the blade, but nothing was damaged or broken.
“… Damn it.”
But that was all. As soon as my hand touched the blue film of the barrier, it didn’t budge as if I was pushing against a solid castle wall.
“Can you guess what kind of magic it is?”
Tyrsi approached and asked. I was a little embarrassed that she, a wizard, asked me about magic. It seems that the mystery show imitation I showed you was quite impressive.
“I don’t see it as a dangerous barrier. There are also people who keep coming and going through there.”
I refer to an adventurer who travels in and out of the barrier.
Not only were those people fine, but unlike the evil mana felt on the ground, I could feel the sanctity in the barrier.
Perhaps this could be said to be a physical barrier similar to a wide range of shield magic.
The purpose must be to prevent people from escaping with this barrier and to beat them to death with a golem.
“I’ll touch you too.”
Fran said as Lingling jumped from Number 3. I nodded.
“Please. Just in case, be careful.”
“Whoops. Because I have a lot of worries.”
Fran, hiding her tension with a smile, touched the barrier. Passing——wasn’t possible.
I put up with almost clicking her tongue and looked at the other party. Tirsi, who was closer to the barrier, stretched out her hand without hesitation.
─Wheek!
“Oh, oh!”
Feeling no resistance, Tyrsi stumbled and slipped out of the barrier. He stretched out his hand again with a puzzled look, but this time it passed easily.
“It is my turn.”
Ralilura advanced Lingling 3. Pass Next, Lari Lula herself tried, and she passed as easily as a lie.
“Only Norr and I are left.”
As Fran muttered, Lari Lula was troubled, and then she entered the barrier again.
“No, you are not. Why come back?”
“Whoops. I don’t have a taste for saying goodbye here! If you take care of all those golems and erase the magic circle or something, the escape will be a great success, right?”
“Did you say Mr. Ralilura? That’s a good idea.”
─Such. Tyr Shido stepped her foot into the barrier. Being loyal is good, but isn’t it reckless?
─Thump! Thud!
Thinking so, I realized that the golems were approaching and prepared for battle. Fully operating the Daegaltong, he shouted to the adventurers next to him.
“Those who couldn’t get out of there!! Come here!!”
“What, what?”
“We can’t get out anyway, so let’s get rid of them!! Come if you have no other sharp means! Stay away and you will die!”
In the back, a team of gold class adventurers could be seen handling the golems. We just had to hold on until they solved it.
“T-sail! You go inform Sargadis!”
“Hey, look! You guys, come inside and fight together—- Fuck you!! Don’t run away, bastards!!”
The adventurers each went through the process of confirming trust with the party members and gathered at our location.
People who came to fight together, people who were abandoned by colleagues, and people who sent colleagues.
There were several types, but the number of people increased by 10 people, excluding our party.
And I was rolling my head in succession as I watched the golems running about 100 meters outside.
‘Is this a trap? If it’s a trap, what’s the purpose? Is there anyone among us?’
No, I had a feeling it wasn’t.
Most of the people gathered here are adventurers. If it was only intended to target a few people, there would be plenty of other ways.
Would he have laid such a grandiose trap to catch adventurers who were only gold class or lower? It was a waste of time and manpower.
What then?
‘What was the purpose of setting this trap?’
That was the moment when I put more effort into solving the question rather than being wary of the influx of reinforced golems.
──Koo-gu-gu-gu-gu-goo!!!
At the very center of the barrier, ‘a pile of dirt has risen’.
It seemed so, and so it was.
──Kuuuuu!! Wooooo!! Wooooo!!!
The pile of dirt came out slowly, as if coming out of some kind of narrow hole in the pit where the golems came out.
To my eyes, it looked like a giant golem over 30 meters in height.
“Ah. How are you doing? Foolish humans.”
The robed man on the golem’s shoulder said. It was a loud voice that sounded like it came from a barrier.
“I am Avidus-Nubi. It is a black magician.”
