Chapter 52

Our group assembled at the threshold of the boss room.

The building tucked away in this side street was unlike any we'd encountered before; an imposing edifice of stone that, judging by its size, might have once served as a warehouse.

Like the decrepit structures we'd passed earlier, this stone building's entrance was blocked by a hefty iron plate. Or rather, it had been.

"Something... appears to have broken the seal and burst out," Lucas carefully examined the gaping breach in the iron plate.

Quite literally, the iron plate sealing the entrance had been blown open from the inside.

Clearly, the seal hadn't been particularly effective.

I gestured towards the building's gloomy interior.

"This appears to be our path. We need to venture inside."

Immediately, the faces of our party members whitened. Specifically, Damien and Evangeline appeared none too pleased with this plan.

"Do... do we have to?"

"Let's... perhaps retreat..."

"Silence, youngsters. We can't come this far and not even catch a glimpse of the boss monster."

I gave Lucas a reassuring pat on the back.

"Onward!"

"Alright."

Lucas, swallowing hard, moved towards the entrance of the stone building and pushed against the door.

Screeeech-

The rusted hinges creaked unpleasantly. The broken, half-hanging door reluctantly gave way.

We maintained formation as we ventured inside.

Contrary to the foreboding atmosphere outside, the interior was surprisingly unspoiled. Of course, 'unspoiled' was relative; it was still a disaster.

'It's expansive and towering.'

Inside was a vast, warehouse-like space. The breadth was striking, and the ceiling reached astonishing heights.

It appeared to be roughly the height of a three-story building.

Yet there were no goods in sight that one would expect to find in a warehouse.

The wooden shelves that likely once housed stored goods had mostly rotted away, with only a few standing defiantly intact.

Lucas, examining a grotesquely warped shelf on the ground, narrowed his eyes.

"The floor, walls, and furniture show evidence of water damage. It appears this place was submerged for some time. After that, it was abandoned... Was there a flood?"

"Well, we're beneath a lake. It's hardly a surprise it's waterlogged."

I responded dismissively, shedding light on our surroundings with the lantern in my grasp.

"But more importantly, we're already in the boss room. Don't delay inspecting the area."

"Prince, over there."

Damien clutched at my sleeve. I glanced down at him, perplexed.

"What is it, Damien?"

"Over there... it's there."

"What is?"

"..."

With a trembling hand, Damien pointed into the warehouse depths. Seeing what he indicated, I held my breath.

There it was.

A colossal golem, vastly superior to any we'd encountered so far.

In an all too human pose... it lay sprawled on the warehouse floor.

Ding!

Moments later, a system message popped into my field of view.

[Hidden Alley - Boss Room]

- Defeat the boss!

- Lv.20 Giant Steam Golem

- The boss provides rewards for partial destruction.

Our opponent, the Zone 2 boss monster, was the colossal Steam Golem, Bayan Bullock.

'Why is there a human name tacked on?'

Similar to the Sewer Manager Paleug, the boss monster from Zone 1, this one also bore a human name. Was there a reason?

There was no time for such thoughts. An ominous mechanical noise began to emanate from the prone form of the golem.

Groooong...!

Like a beast rousing from slumber, the golem lying on the floor slowly raised itself.

"Oh dear, I seem to have dozed off again."

The golem emitted a synthetic voice. My party members and I instantly readied our weapons for the impending battle.

Thud, groooong...!

Once standing, the golem adopted an unusual posture, its waist oddly twisted.

Yet its size was astounding. Its head almost grazed the ceiling.

It was roughly twice as tall and three times as wide as the previous steam golem we'd confronted. What's with this ridiculous size?

Evangeline, staring up at the golem with her mouth ajar, murmured.

"Hey, mind sharing some of that height, please?"

Seriously? Was that the appropriate remark for this situation?

Grooooooong-!

Now fully erect, the golem slowly extended its arms.

"Well, let's begin cleaning then."

In the following instant, the golem's outstretched hands gathered a surge of red magical energy,

Ziing-!

And released it.

A beam of red light.

The beam shot forth at a startling speed, but Lucas and Evangeline were ready.

Evangeline dashed forward, raising her shield to intercept one beam, while Lucas deflected the other with his sword.

Ping! Pew-vroom!

Kwa-ang-ang...!

The redirected beams of light careened haphazardly around the warehouse interior, causing further destruction as they ricocheted off the sword and shield, sending furniture flying and raising a cloud of dust.

"It's light magic. That's a rarity these days."

Jupiter, unfazed by the boss monster's scale, appeared tense at the sight of the magic.

"Your Highness, could you... would you provide us with instructions?"

"Absolutely."

I was well-versed in tactics for handling the giant steam golem.

'Is there any monster in this game that I don't know how to defeat?'

I'd battled this monster so frequently it was becoming a bore. There was no reason to lose our cool!

"The golem in front of us may be gigantic, but the key to defeating it remains the same as with others. We must destroy its magic core!"

Naturally, it wasn't quite that simple.

I raised my voice so everyone could hear.

"But this behemoth has multiple magic cores spread throughout its body due to its immense size. Both hands, both arms, both feet, both legs, chest, and head. It houses a total of 10 magic cores."

"10 cores?!"

"So, we just keep dodging like this until we destroy all 10?"

Evangeline and Lucas, barely able to deflect the continuous barrage of light beams, were taken aback. I smirked.

"To bring it down completely, we must do this. However!"

I gestured towards the glowing Magic Power Core nestled in the golem's palm.

"When you shatter a Magic Power Core, that part of it becomes paralyzed."

"Aha...!"

"First, we should target the hands casting the magic!"

Rumble!

Even before I finished my sentence, Jupiter had summoned a thunderbolt.

"Understood! Then this old man will make the first move!"

Flash-!

The cascading yellow lightning blasted the golem's right hand.

The entire right hand was charred, and the Magic Power Core in the right hand, which was exposed while casting magic, instantly disintegrated into fragments.

Bang-!

Following that, it was Damien's turn to snipe. Without needing directions, he aimed at the Magic Power Core in the left hand.

The bullet accurately hit the Magic Power Core in the left hand, and with its remaining momentum, it burrowed through the palm.

The right hand was charred, and the left hand bore a large hole.

With its hands in tatters, the golem was no longer capable of casting magic.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Next, the golem began to lumber towards us. Its pace was sluggish, but its stride was long, and it would reach us shortly.

We needed to disable it before then.

"Next, we target the feet. We strip it of its mobility. Lucas! Evangeline!"

"Yes!"

"Roger that!"

Once the magical assault had ceased, Evangeline, who had lowered her shield, was the first to charge forward, with Lucas trailing closely behind.

The golem sluggishly swung its lengthy arms at the two approaching knights.

Crash!

Despite the clumsy posture, the strength was formidable.

The warehouse floor, grazed by the sweep of its arm, caved in, and the entire warehouse shook from the resultant air pressure.

'Its strength is formidable, but its movements are too wide!'

Lucas and Evangeline nimbly dodged that attack and made it to the golem's feet.

"Lately, my back has been giving me troubles. Is it because I've spent a lifetime sweeping?"

"What are you blabbering about, you pile of junk...!"

Upon reaching the right foot, Evangeline vaulted up and drove her spear towards the Magic Power Core lodged in the top of the golem's foot.

Crack-!

Her spear, which had pierced the foot in one go, radiated a white glow and ignited an explosion inside the foot. This was the [Damage Payback].

"I can't be left behind...!"

Lucas' sword, which had reached the other foot, amassed a ball of light and flashed. It was the [Soul Strike].

Chop!

Lucas' powerful sword swing fractured the armor on the golem's foot, and the following strike obliterated the Magic Power Core.

Thud, thud.....

The golem's two feet froze.

Then, the golem slowly fell to the ground.

Although it couldn't use its hands and feet, it could still move its arms and legs to attack by crawling.

"I've always wanted to enter the palace to learn magic. I'm fed up with sweeping and cleaning here like a machine."

While continuing to mutter these incoherent words, the golem, now lying on the ground, began to inch slowly towards us.

Once within the reach of its elongated arms, it was likely to unleash a physical attack.

However, I was familiar with this sequence and had already directed my party members to counter it preemptively.

"Evangeline, fall back and defend! Lucas, hold your ground and disable the golem's leg Magic Power Core. It should be lodged within the joint!"

At my command, Evangeline scampered backward like a startled rabbit.

Lucas, in response, nodded from his position and clutched his sword tightly.

"Jupiter, Damien! Focus your attacks on one of the encroaching arms first! There's a Magic Power Core nestled within its joint too!"

Scarcely had I issued the command than the golem unfurled its arm. Its enormous size immediately put us within its striking distance.

Without wasting a single moment, Jupiter and Damien launched their magic and missiles.

Jupiter's lightning charred the golem's gauntlet, while Damien's sniper shot punctured the exposed Magic Power Core.

Boom! Bang!

Even after the explosion and disintegration, the golem's massive arm managed to tumble overhead.

Evangeline's shield took the brunt of the attack.

Bang-!

"Ewack!"

Evangeline teetered, letting out a peculiar yell.

Gazing at the fiercely glowing shield, it appeared the assault was too potent to be wholly absorbed by the Damage Save.

"Are you alright, Evangeline?"

"Yeah, I'm good! Totally fine, you know?!"

With a robust cry of 'Eiitshaaaat!', Evangeline heaved the golem's arm she had trapped and flung it aside.

Thud...!

Devoid of its power, the golem's arm crashed into the ground, stirring up a dust cloud.

Evangeline swiveled towards me, her face beaming triumphantly.

"How's that!"

"Damn impressive."

I silently offered her a thumbs-up. Evangeline, who had sought praise, scratched the back of her head awkwardly, apparently feeling a tad shy.

A trickle of blood was seeping from her small nose, but let's ignore that for now....

Thud! Thud!

The golem attempted another assault with its remaining arm, but it could no longer maintain its balance.

In the meantime, Lucas had demolished the Magic Power Cores in both of the golem's legs.

With only its arm still functioning, it was unable to manoeuver efficiently enough to launch an attack.

"Someday, I will... develop cleaning magic... and make it easier for my fellow cleaners..."

Nonetheless, the golem still strived to swivel its arm to strike us, but Evangeline's spear punctured the joint of that arm.

Crash!

She retaliated with the damage she had saved earlier in full. The golem's last arm was obliterated.

Lucas then dismantled the Magic Power Core in the now immobile golem's chest.

He pried open the backplate and casually drove his sword into it, rendering the chest's Magic Power Core useless.

But even in this condition, the golem refused to surrender.

Grumble!

The golem swung its barely operational head, attempting to crush us.

As its massive head scraped the ground and hurtled towards us, I could hear Jupiter and Damien swallowing hard.

I, who was prepared to evade, could easily sidestep it, but Jupiter and Damien, who were relatively slower, risked being swept away.

"But damn it! I just wanted to give commands from the back!"

Clasping my Lucky Strikes tightly in both hands, I stepped forward.

Lucas and Evangeline were too far away, and like it or not, I had to step in.

"I want to sit back, enjoy a good beating, and let you guys carry me!"

With my true feelings shouted aloud, I swung my fist forward.

The moment my fist met the golem's head,

Ding! Ding! Ding!

On one side of my vision, the damage slot started to spin rapidly.

Just how much is it this time?!