Chapter 16
Three days later, they all finally reached the deepest point.
「No, no, no, it's too big. ...... This thing is already a giant robot」
「Roboto......?」
The echoing sound came from far away, and as they approached, they suddenly found themselves in a completely white space where the concept of a ceiling had vanished.
No, to be precise, there is a ceiling. But it is so high that it is beyond recognition.
Is this a golem? A structure so huge that one would think so was standing and walking around.
The height was equivalent to a 20-story building. The size of the structure could not be perceived with the naked eye.
It appeared to be roughly 60 meters high.
Naturally, since such a huge thing can move around, this space is incomparably large, even for Mars.
「Hundred Hand Giant......!」
「Legendary monster ......or something like that?」
Lilia, astonished, whispered to Mars.
Whether the golem has hearing or not, she doesn't feel the need to whisper because its head is far above the ground.
Because of her knowledge, Lilia must have mumbled unconsciously even to herself out of fear.
「I don't think that golem has a hundred arms-nya!」
「Th-That's not what I meant. ...... It's a metaphor! There are that many of them. ...... Don't worry about the real number!」
The form of the golem--a Hundred Hand Giant--is bizarre.
The lower half of the body has six legs, which support the entire body, and the upper half of the body has countless huge arms.
It looks like a spider's lower body attached to a human's upper body.
There are so many that it is hard to tell how many there are, although there do not seem to be a hundred as Nemu said.
「This is a mythical monster!?」
「Do you know its weakness?」
Mythical monster or not, if it exists in front of you, what you do is the same.
You don't have to think too much about it until after you're done.
「If it's a golem, I'm sure it has the same weaknesses. ......」
Mars glances overhead, but if the core is near the chest as it has been, it's too far away.
Can you hit a cloud? Mars was asking himself that ridiculous question.
「――Let's use this.」
Mars took out one of the 【Forbidden Magic Books】 and read it.
The magic book's sense of magic acquisition is thin.
It is a feeling of being integrated into something natural, like walking or riding a bicycle, something you can do without even being conscious of it.
The magic he learned was 『Magic to Detect Weak Point』
It seems to be able to tell where inorganic objects are weak, and not just against monsters.
「The only weak points are the head and ...... Just the head, huh. But we can't reach it, it's that high. ......」
There was a sense of hopelessness in all of them.
The difference in size is a sense of despair.
And most of all――.
「Isn't this golem-san all Thardonix Magic Steel. ......!?」
「You said it-nyaa? Nemu didn't say that because it would have made her even more scared-nya!」
The entire body of the 60-meter golem, the Hundred-Handed Giant, shines in seven dazzling colors.
Even with a Thardonyx Magic Steel the size of a human head, the golem moves at the speed of Mars, who has used 【Body Strengthening】 two or three times.
If its entire body is made of such ore, its specifications are immeasurable.
――There is no reason to be worried. I'm going to be cheerful.
「Well, with all this, there's definitely no shortage of barriers. Besides,......, it seems we are not the only ones here.」
The sound of metal scraping was heard from the moment they entered the room.
The source of the sound is a man.
「《Jet Black》!」
Blowing black smoke from his entire body like a shimmer, 《Jet-Black》 was moving around the Hundred-Handed Giant at high speed, as if he were skating on skates.
The smoke seemed to be blocking its perception, and the Hundred-Handed Giant was unable to attack 《Jet-Black》.
「He must have come this far alone. But ...... that guy hasn't been able to fire a decisive shot either.」
Mars doesn't know how long they have been fighting, but it seemed that not only the Hundred-Handed Giant but also 《Jet Black》were unable to decide on an attack.
A huge black spear with glowing red spirals was pointed at the six legs of the Hundred-Handed Giant, and it kept repeating attacks like a beam about three meters wide.
「As expected, magic doesn't work on this Golem-san either. ......」
Hazuki shows more despair than the others.
The Hundred-Handed Giant acts as if nothing is happening and slams its many arms into the ground where the 《Jet-Black》 is.
「No ...... I don't know if everyone can see it, but some of the legs seem to work magic ......?」
Lilia says in an unsure tone of voice and points her finger.
The part of the leg that corresponds to the shin, where the 《Jet Black》 beam was slightly shaved off ―― it looked as if a magic attack was working.
「It's true! I can see the weak spot there!」
With the newly acquired 『Magic to Detect Weak Points』, Mars could tell that the shaved area on the surface was the weak point.
「So you're saying that magic only works on the surface!? If that's the case, I can play an active role too!」
「But you have to break the surface, right? ――Can you do that!? Isn't it impossible!?」
「Nemu's claws are magic, they can't do anything-nya!」
「The bow also has too much range to be effective. ......」
After thinking for a moment, Mars took out a large number of weapons from the treasure room and placed them on the ground.
There were various types of weapons, but they were mainly striking weapons that Mars would never use.
They were not magical weapons, just good-quality ones.
「Onyx. If your axe breaks, you can take the weapon here with the magic of attraction. ――It's a daruma otoshi1. Lucille-chan, Onyx. The three of us will break all of its legs. Either way, if we don't break its legs, we'll never get to its core.」
「Finally, it's getting easier to understand!」
「I want Lilia to hurt the arm that's in the way that will attack us. And Hazuki-chan will crush it. Nemu-chan will assist Lucille-chan.」
The strategy for the Hundred-Handed Giant is to drop a daruma otoshi. Because in its full-size state, it's not even a fight.
If they can't reach the weak point, the head, they will eventually be killed like an insect being squashed.
「What about that 《Jet Black》?」
「He will do something about it. He may realize what we are trying to do and go along with it. There are many uncertainties, so don't count on it too much.」
Before the Hundred-Handed Giant notices Mars and the others, each of them makes preparations.
Mars felt a little sorry for 《Jet Black》, which was continuing the battle and taking on the Hundred-Handed Giant all on his own during these preparations.
「And, if we've come this far, just go all out. Don't die with all your strength left over, okay?」(?)
「Of course. It's not like I haven't been giving it my all in the past.」
「――Now, let's go!」
Mars rushes forward with his sword because he is more anxious about using a weapon he is not familiar with.
His target is the single leg that 《Jet Black》 has already attacked.
Even though the six legs are dispersed, it is as if a sixty-meter-long building is moving.
Naturally, the legs are thick enough to match their own weight.
「It's like a pillar. ......!」
One of the legs is over ten meters thick and Mars slashes ten times in an instant.
Even with the resistance of the metal, Mars' swordsmanship was no match for it.
Mars' swordsmanship is something he has continued to train in actual battle.
Only Mars himself does not know that he has improved to the point where he now feels comfortable being called a sword saint.
As soon as Mars moves to the leg where Lucille and Onyx are not, magic arrows immediately fly to the leg that has just been wounded.
The number of arrows is twelve.
They are not Hazuki's flame magic.
They were electric blasts with a blue light.
The place where the arrow hit cracked and began to collapse under its own weight.
「――Lightning bow! Granted archery 『Meteor』 modification, 『Meteor Rain』!」
In front of Lilia, a magic circle with a complicated calculation formula was deployed, and arrows passing through it were charged with the magic and flew at a higher speed.
It is like a rail gun. In a world where magic rules and science have not developed, this is a miraculous combination of the two.
It was a speed that could no longer be caught even with Mars' dynamic vision.
*crackle-crackle* Electric light surrounded Lilia, and her golden hair was fluffy.
It was Lilia's new power obtained from the 【Forbidden Magic Book】, which contained lightning attack magic.
Lilia insisted vehemently that she would definitely use the electricity magic, and so unanimously ― so forcibly that even a fistfight was not an option ― this magic became Lilia's.
She wanted to have a matching one because Mars is called 『Raimei』.
Lilia shot the arrow with a serious face, but when her eyes met Mars, she broke into a smile.
「Let's go for it!」
When she issued a proclamation, 《Jet Black》 seemed to be in sync with her.
Whatever his pride, he must have thought he couldn't handle it by himself.
Onyx threw his huge axe with all his might, cracking one of its legs with a single blow.
He then quickly retrieves it with his attraction magic.
If it were simple destructive power, Onyx's power would still be considerable, and he was showing his great performance.
Although the formation was improvised except for Mars and the others, everyone did what they could do to the best of their ability, which resulted in a good amount of success.
「Lucille-nyan, try a little harder-nya!」
「I'm trying! Anyway, it's so hard!」
The two who were struggling were Lucille and Nemu.
And Hazuki, who had come to give a decisive blow by applying magic to the leg. Lilia was assisting Mars and Hazuki was assisting Lucille and Nemu.
Nemu, who can only attack with magic by physical extension, has no other way to attack except to have Lucille destroy its outer skin.
Therefore, if Lucille cannot destroy it successfully, nothing can be done. The same is true for Hazuki.
Even Lucille, who has stronger muscles than most people, was trying to destroy a ten-meter-high rock pillar with a hammer, a feat that was out of the ordinary.
It was no easy task.
「Watch out-nya!」
The Hundred-Handed Giant noticed the attack and moved to kick Lucille, Nemu, and Hazuki as if it were sweeping.
The wind pressure knocked the three out of their positions.
Immediately afterward, there was a "kiiin" sound. Lucille and the others were in front of the Hundred-Handed Giant, and the spear was sliding across the ground, piercing its leg.
The cracks appeared at the point of impact, and 《Jet Black》 released a beam of light.
「D-Did he protects us.....!?」
「I-I don't know, but it saved my life! Thank you!」
「…………」
Silently, 《Jet Black》 left Lucille and the others' side and began another attack on the Hundred-Handed Giant in the same manner.
As cracks began to appear on all the legs, the battle situation changed.
Unable to bear its own weight, the Hundred-Handed Giant's legs snapped off and it fell forward to the ground.
Its head slammed into the ground and came to a halt with a gigantic bang and a cloud of dust.
Standing in front of the top of the head, Mars taps the giant's head several times with his sword, which has completely stopped moving.
There was no response.
「Did we.....do it?」
Suddenly, Mars realized that he had made a death-flag comment.
――No, we haven't broken its core yet, so it should move!
Even though its head is its weak point, it shouldn't stop just because you hit it!
Before Mars can even remind himself of his carelessness, the Hundred-Handed Giant begins to move again.
Mars's eyes, which were in front of the Hundred-Handed Giant, which abruptly lifted its head, meet those of the Hundred-Handed Giant.
On the seven-colored ore, the head was a pair of huge eyes, three in a row vertically.
Six biological, bloodshot eyes were staring at Mars.
Each eye was much larger than Mars'.
The eeriness seemed to be heightened by the presence of something animate in an inorganic object, and his entire body instantly broke out in goosebumps.
――The core is in its head.
It's not logic, it's intuition. Something demonic is moving the Hundred-Handed Giant.
The six eyes looked around independently, and after a short pause, the Hundred-Handed Giant rebooted.
「――!」
Dododonn! and all arms touch the ground.
And this time, it began to crawl like a centipede.
Perhaps because of its reduced mass, or perhaps because it no longer had only six legs on the ground, it moved much faster than before.
It looked as if a hand had grown out of the building, and was now lying on its side and moving around, its intimidating and unintelligible appearance was tremendous.
「I-It's disgusting!」
「It's like a bug under a rock-nyaa!?」
「How can we defeat such a huge and agile thing ......!?」
With creepy-crawly movements, the Hundred-Handed Giant thrust its fingers into the wall and headed toward the ceiling like a centipede.
As soon as it arrives directly above them, its movement suddenly stops.
Debris falls from above, and Mars and the others continue to look upward as they brush them off.
The room is bright, but they do not know why it is bright. However, the entire room became dark after the Hundred-Handed Giant took up residence on the ceiling.
In the dimness, the seven-colored body looks beautiful even under such circumstances.
It looked like the Milky Way, if he may use an analogy.
「No...... that's going to fall on us, isn't it?」
「If its falls on us ...... it's instant death for us, isn't it?」
It's not a matter of ducking or dodging.
The pieces of the fallen and shattered Hundred-Handed Giant will become car-sized bullets that will strike Mars and the others, no matter how far away they are.
Even the footholds were not safe.
If several hundred-ton chunks of rock fell from above their heads at an unimaginable height, it would have the same impact as a meteorite in a limited space.
「Hey, Onyx. Are you prepared to die?」
「No, not at all. I won't die until I die!」
「Tell me you're lying there. ――Does your magic of attraction work on those pieces of debris?」
「Hmm? Let's give it a try. ....... I think I can do it. Here I go.」
Onyx palm-size―He pops a piece of the rock the size of Mars' two hands and throws it.
It's a piece that feels much heavier than it is in volume.
「Hazuki-chan, can you please do some magic power-enhancing magic for me and Onyx?」
「O-Okay, ...... what are you going to do?」
「When its falls, let its head hit the ground. If it's going to jump, it can't be safe at that altitude either. Besides.....I think its head is the only thing that's some kind of creature. I mean, our eyes met, and it belonged to the creature. And don't you think that's weird? It's a golem, and that thing just stopped moving, like it just hit its head and fainted.」
「Now that you mention it,...... the golem we defeated was still moving right after the potentially fatal attack on its core. Yet that Hundred-Handed Giant was different. If some kind of monster is controlling it,......」
Something parasitic on the golem called the Hundred-Handed Giant.
Mars remembered such an impression from those eyes.
「That means ...... you want me to do something about it, right? Aniki is a bad person too! You tell your henchmen to die so easily!」
「The inorganic part can at least be attracted. I thought after I did it earlier, it's not like we can physically destroy it with our power alone. Well, we could just stay in the treasure room and destroy it over a period of days. But that would be dangerous every time we went in and out, so we didn't go for it.」
Nodding to Onyx, Mars opened the 【Treasure House of Dreams】.
「Lilia and the others went into my treasury. And you, too, Lucille-chan. Only me, Onyx ......, and 《Jet Black》remain here.」
「I-I don't want to! We'll fight too!」
「No, it's dangerous. And the fewer people we have as targets, the better. It can predict our movements. We are chosen in order of physical ability.」
「Then, why can't Nemu stay too-nya?」
Shaking his head without saying anything this time, Mars pushes the women, including Nemu, into the treasury.
「Don't worry. We can handle it. Lilia and the others, well, ...... take a bath and get some food ready.」
「B-but ...... with you, Master!」
「If I go in too, it'll be hard to come out this time, right? I don't know what's going on out there.」
「Lilia. Let's trust him. We're the ones who are slowing him down. Besides ...... Is your man a man who says things he can't do?」
Lucille grabs Lilia's resisting shoulder and pulls her into the treasury.
Lilia looks from side to side, and after a great deal of thought, she says a few words.
「――Good luck」
and disappears into the treasure room.
She looked as if she was about to cry out loud at any moment.
――I won't die, leaving Lilia and the others behind.
Even though I thought it, I couldn't say it out loud. I was not confident.
The only ones left were Mars, Onyx, and 《Jet Black》.
「Now, let's talk about my plan again. I'm not going to wait for it to fall. It might be trying to regain its strength or something. ――So we're going to drop it. Right where I want it.」
「I don't have the means to attack such a high place, you know?」
「That's between me and 《Jet Black》. I want Onyx to hit that guy's head in the middle of the room. Vertically.」
With a "fwish, fwish," Jet-Black approaches with his spear.
If you look closely, you can see that his black armor is bent in some places, and there are signs that it was damaged before Mars and the others arrived.
「That black spear, I want you to attack with me with that beam of light.」
「――Don't tell me what to do.」
「Ohh, I thought you would be silent to the end, but you can speak well!」
Returning with a muffled voice, 《Jet Black》 turned hostile toward Mars.
The black spear with red spirals turns on Mars, not the Hundred-Handed Giant.
「Hey, don't you think now is not the time for fighting!?」
Onyx grabs the heads of Mars and 《Jet Black》 and shakes them.
Mars was impressed that a big man can control a situation at a time like this.
「――I'll go along with your plan, but don't tell me what to do.」
「Yeah. I'm counting on you. Perhaps, but I think that guy has intelligence. Maybe it's being observed right now. So I don't think it's going to fall off easily if we try to drop it. I think it's going to resist by grabbing onto the wall or something.」
「Float it completely in the air so that it can't grab anywhere, and use that guy's dwarven magic to knock it to the ground. So that's what you're saying.」
「Exactly. I want you to attack it with the spear when it grabs onto the wall or something.」
「So how do you get that guy down? This spear won't reach that far.」
Again, Mars pulls the sword out of the treasure room and starts stretching.
「I'll do it. First the arms, then the head. We'll have to wait and see, but I don't think it'll fall until I attack its head.」
「How? How can the sword reach it? Even this spear can't reach it.」
「Throw it. Shall I throw that spear too?」
Mars activates 【Body Strengthening】 to the maximum that he can adapt to.
In addition, he also uses 【Pain Dulling】 and other methods in combination.
Lilia and the others would have accepted this as a normal tactic, but a swordsman throwing a sword is not something they would have thought of. Both 《Jet Black》 and Onyx seemed to have little understanding of this.
「Then let's go. Onyx control it as best you can and drop it in the center. Hazuki-chan's magic power is to boost your magic, so I think you can handle it. Once you pull it in and the trajectory is perfectly set, I'll retrieve Onyx. ...... Can you run by yourself? I'm not confident I can hold you.」
「I'm a fast runner, too, so I think I can handle it!」
Concentrating every muscle in his body on throwing the sword, Mars throws the first throw at the hand of the Hundred-Handed Giant above his head.
Hearing the cracking sound of air, he watched the point of impact.
The sword pierced right on target, pinning one of its arms to the ceiling.
「It's like this. I'm going to repeat this.」
「That's my Aniki! What was that just now!?」
「It's an enhanced version of elementary magic. I think I'm the only one who has mastered it so far. It's the kind of magic that anyone would use, but I know that this magic is the most powerful. That's why I've been training ever since I was little. I trained for more than ten years.」
「――That's the secret of your strength, huh」
《Jet Black》 says as if he is convinced of something, and looks back at the Hundred-Handed Giant on the ceiling.
Staring at it, Mars throws his sword at it.
Every time he hits it, the Thardonix Magic Steel falls from above his head, shattering like falling rocks.
It was obvious that it was working.
The Hundred-Handed Giant, whose hands are being destroyed little by little, soon began to wobble as if it could no longer support its own weight.
「I think it's about time ...... I'll throw my sword on its head. Onyx takes off at full force against the wall before it hits the ground.」
「Roger! I shudder at the thought that I might die if I fail!」
「If you can't make it, I'll run to the treasure room. ――I'll take you with me, so don't worry」
There is also the option of entering the treasure room immediately after dropping it, but Mars doesn't think that's a good option, partly because it is quite dangerous to come out of the treasury if the Hundred-Handed giant evades it by sticking to the wall or if you are unable to finish it off.
It is better to let it fall the way you want it to, observe it land, and if it is still alive, stab it while it is stopped.
The identity of the mysterious monster lurking in its head is unknown, but at least it can faint on impact. If so, Mars wants to defeat it while it is stunned.
「Let's go in a row. Are you ready?」
After confirming that everyone is nodding, Mars holds a sword in each hand and throws it at the head of the Hundred-Handed Giant.
The sword pierces the head in rapid succession, and the ore on the exterior starts to peel off.
Unlike when its hands were destroyed, the head-attacked Hundred-Handed Giant begins to thrash about with biological movements.
Then it falls from its back.
As expected, it resists, and the Hundred-Handed Giant extends its arms to the wall. With a full-body recoil, it seems to reach the wall.
The time to fall may or may not be a few seconds.
A momentary lapse in judgment could mean the difference between life and death for everyone.
「Munhhhh!」
Onyx turns its arm and pulls it toward him.
The massive Hundred-Handed Giant slowly begins to change its trajectory toward Onyx, becoming vertical.
Just as he moves it to the center, Onyx shouts loudly, "What the hell is that face?
「What the hell is that face!? It's creepy!」
While in mid-air, the Hundred-Handed Giants watched its surroundings with its own eyes.
It didn't make a sound, which made it even eerier.
The Hundred-Handed Giant was trying to slow down by spreading all of its arms like skydiving, creating air resistance.
「I won't let you do it!」
Mars throws his sword at its face.
But the Hundred-Handed Giant hides its face like a net with its multiple hands.
Even if its hands are cracked, his sword can't reach its face.
「Fall quietly and be crushed」
《Jet Black》, who had somehow arrived nearby, shoots an oversized beam of unprecedented power from his spear.
The red spiral of the spear faded and soon disappeared. It was assumed that the built-in magic power had run out.
The beam's range and power are so great that multiple arms are shattered from cracks caused by the sword that Mars has thrown.
However, while the momentum of the fall did not cease, the damage did not seem to have reached the head.
Its eyes were red and bloodshot as if they were filled with anger.
Suddenly, the Hundred-Handed Giant rips off a part of its own body and throws it at 《Jet Black》.
It does not care about its broken arm.
There was only one arm left intact, and it had been like a caterpillar ever since it was reduced to a caterpillar.
There was only one arm left intact, and it had not been able to get rid of it since it became as good as a caterpillar.
Massive ore pours down at a speed that surpasses that of Mars' 【Body Strengthening】.
The seven-colored rain, which blocked the view, was fantastic, but it had the power to easily kill a person.
「I see, in this situation where it has no choice but to fall, if it's lighter, the impact of the fall will be lessened and we can attack them all together ......! I knew that guy was thinking!」
Moving like skates on the ground, 《Jet Black》 avoids the falling ore.
Onyx crushed it with force, and Mars ran around to avoid it.
「Onyx! Are you guiding it properly!?」
「Of course! Right in the middle!」
「Then everyone gets out of the way! Move to the edge!」
The path is narrowed due to the pouring ore.
Barely dodging, Mars continued to look upward.
Then, with a roar, the Hundred-Handed Giant fell to the ground.
1. Daruma otoshi, a toy consisting of vertically stacked wooden blocks that must be knocked away without letting the daruma doll on top fall to the ground]
Previous Chapter --- TOC --- Next Chapter
Comments
Post a Comment