Chapter 67 – 68

Chapter 67 – Magic was ineffective!?

The magic red lights immediately went from dots to lines.

Countless rays of red light were shooting towards us.

"We're being attacked!?"

Fule panicked, but I had Shield surrounding us, and it blocked all of the rays easily.

"Are they…Golems?"

I unleashed a volley of fire magic in their direction.

The flames caught onto our attackers, and the area was illuminated… And…

"Huh? The rocks are floating!?"

Like Fule said, there were numerous rocks floating in this empty space.

Well, they seemed quite round and spherical for being normal rocks.

They were black in color, and there was a dent in their center where the red lights leaked out of.

"There are so many… But how are they floating in the air like this?"

Dozens…nearly a hundred floating rocks… Were they also a type of Golem that protected this land?

Even as I wondered about this, my fire magic swallowed them up.

However, even while they were enveloped in fire, the rays of light were directed at us again.

"So fire doesn't work… In that case…"

I tried unleashing Freeze.

If fire didn't work, maybe ice would…

Besides, I wanted to be able to inspect them.

The white current of freezing air enveloped the rocks and froze over.

I could hear Fule cheering behind me.

However, in the blink of an eye, the ice was absorbed into the glowing dent.

Not only that, but the red lights turned blue, and they started to shoot out blue rays.

"No, could it be…"

The rays slammed into my Shield, and then turned into ice.

"…They're able to make my attacks bounce back?"

"Lord Heal! Allow me!"

Fule thrust her hands out and unleashed her thunder magic at the rocks.

However, this too was absorbed by them.

This time, their lights turned yellow, and a storm of yellow rays shot towards us.

"They're copying our magic?"

"Aye, it's settled… They are able to absorb it."

Through my magic detection skill, I was able to see that the energy was going right into them.

"Then…does that mean magic won't work at all?"

"No…maybe if I hit it with a stronger attack."

But currently, I had to fight while maintaining the Shield.

Which meant that I could not use much magic for my attacks.

Not only that, but they were absorbing my magic, which could in turn be used against us…

I had promised everyone that safety would come first. Perhaps it would be best to retreat…hmm?

My pickaxe shook.

When I looked down, I saw that Shiel was poking it.

"What is it, Shiel? What about my pickaxe?"

"I think she wants you to hit them with it?"

Fule suggested. And then Shiel nodded.

"I see. If they are made of rock, then a pickaxe might work… Alright. We'll hit them directly. Number 15, you guard the entrance."

Number 15 nodded and held its shield up.

Shield was was still protecting the entrance, but this was an extra precaution.

"Alright then, Fule, Taran…and Mappa."

Before I knew it, Mappa was standing next to me with a hammer in his hand.

And then he looked at us with an expression full of confidence, and nodded deeply.

Mappa wanted to fight too…? Well, I knew that he was quite strong.

I made sure that Shiel was on my shoulder and then I turned to the others.

"I'll keep Shield up around you all, but don't spread out too much… Now, let's go!"

"Understood!"

We raised our pickaxes and approached the rocks.

"Aaaarrrghh!!"

And so I swung down, much harder than I did when I was digging.

And then, the rocks fell apart with a loud rumbling sound.

Was it because of the Mithril or because of Cave King?

In any case…

"We can do this…!"

I quickly swung towards the next enemy.

And this one also crumbled in a single hit.

Alright, this was no different from normal digging.

"As for the others…"

I glanced at them from the corner of my eye.

"Haa!!"

Fule seemed like she was struggling a little.

It was only after her third hit that her first target went down.

Taran was swinging four pickaxes, and the floating rocks were smashed one after another.

And then in the next moment, Taran jumped forward and tore through another group of rocks.

I wasn't too worried because Shield was protecting us, but even without it, Taran was dodging the rays of light on quick feet.

…I had never seen Taran fight before.

Taran always seemed so mild-mannered. So it was like looking at a completely different person now.

Well, she wasn't a person to begin with. It was just, she actually moved like an intimidating monster now.

In fact, Taran was taking down the largest number of enemies out of all of us.

I couldn't lose… As for Mappa…huh?

Where did he go? Ah, there he is.

A short distance away, there was a place where several rocks were directing their rays.

I had told him to stay close…

I slashed at the rocks with my pickaxe as I made my way towards him.

Eventually, I was able to see him.

Mappa was looking through the rocks that he had crushed.

As I thought, he hadn't even come to fight. He just wanted to look for rocks.

It was just as I thought this, that another rock started to float towards Mappa, but he shattered it with his hammer at a speed that was too fast for my eyes to follow. Then he continued to rummage through the pile.

Were there actually any differences in the rocks?

Now that I thought of it, what were they even made out of?

They just looked like black rocks at a glance, but they also seemed a little like glass.

However, you could occasionally find things that looked like golden stones or crystals.

They were apparently buried inside of the rocks.

It was likely that they were responsible for the rays of light that were being shot out.

The gold stones… It must either be a stone that makes monsters evolve or a magic stone that stores energy.

A magic stone seemed a little more likely in this case.

So, were they a type of Golem then?

On closer inspection, I even saw that there were familiar blue stones mixed in with the black. They looked like the Heart Stones that were needed to create Golems.

In that case, this was a blessing in disguise.

Now I could create new Golems. Not just that, but I could create a hundred of them, and they would be able to use magic.

As for the crystals…I wasn't sure what they were for.

I would have to study them later.

When I looked around, I saw that while there had been nearly a hundred of them, most of them were destroyed now.

There were only about ten left.

This was because Taran had kept moving forward and destroyed all of them.

And so I attacked the last one that was nearby.

Fule had also cleared the area she was in.

As for Mappa, he was juggling about ten crystals for some reason.

"Alright, we're done here. And Taran…is also finished."

Taran had just taken down the last remaining one in the back.

Then she waved the four pickaxes at me.

"Taran, that was amazing!"

Fule said as she waved back.

I also raised my pickaxe in salute.

However, that's when it happened.

The ceiling behind Taran opened, and a giant floating boulder appeared.

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Chapter 68 – It was very strong!!

"What is that…"

The black rocks we had just destroyed.

This thing that had appeared was about ten times larger than them.

"It-it's huge… Is it their boss?"

Fule asked with wide eyes. However, Taran jumped on it immediately.

And at a speed that my eyes could barely follow, Taran slammed the four pickaxes into the enemy.

However, it did nothing at all.

Instead of breaking, the eye in the center of the boulder brightened in intensity.

I could sense the expansion of an immense amount of magic.

"Taran! Fall back!!"

I shouted. And Taran quickly moved away from the boulder.

At the same time, the white light enveloped the entire boulder and…

There was a thunderous roar as an explosion of wind spread out around it.

"Fule! Taran! Over here!"

"Ye-yes!"

Mappa and Fule came close to me right away.

We huddled together to strengthen Taran's Shield as much as possible.

Because of this, my Shield was able to stop the blast.

However, the wind pressure was so strong that it threatened to push us back, and I tried to fight it by sending more magic energy into the Shield.

But Taran could not withstand it, and while the Shield enveloped her, she came rolling towards us like a ball.

"Taran. Are you alright!?"

I shouted. Taran quickly got back to her feet and shook her body vertically.

What a relief… She wasn't injured. As for everyone by the entrance…

I looked behind me. Number 15 was still there, and everything seemed to be fine.

"Still, what incredible power…"

It was about as strong as I was recently.

But though there was an explosion, nothing had caught on fire. Was it holy magic?

Fule nodded.

"But that was unleashed in a wide area… If it narrowed it down to a single target…"

Yes, if it was a single ray like the attacks from the other rocks, it would be very dangerous…

Furthermore, Taran's attacks had done nothing to it.

"Taran. Was it that hard?"

Taran nodded with a somber and troubled expression.

"I see…"

Just like mine, Taran's pickaxes were made of Mithril.

Not only that, but Taran had superior arm strength and speed compared to me. And yet the attacks had done nothing.

It was true that I probably had superior technique… But regardless, it was clear that breaking this boulder was no easy feat.

"If there is one place that would be weak to attacks, it would be the light in the center… But we can't get close to it."

All it would take is another similar attack, and we would get blown away, even with Shield up.

"Still, it doesn't attack very often. Ah, it's glowing again."

It would likely unleash its ray this time.

"Fule, Mappa. Get behind Number 15! I'll cast Shield around you, but I want you to cast it too, Fule!"

"Understood!"

Fule and Mappa quickly ran towards Number 15.

On the other hand, Taran and I looked at each other and nodded.

Taran put all of her pickaxes on the ground and came close to me.

Then I got on top of her back, and we shot towards the boulder, faster than any horse could run.

She was so fast… As Taran wasn't holding any pickaxes, she could use more of her legs, which allowed for quicker movement.

At the same time, the boulder unleashed its ray of light.

The giant ray shot towards us from behind… It was faster in targeting us.

However, just as it was about to hit us, Taran jumped high into the air.

Then she landed far away from it.

But it quickly moved in our direction again.

After that, Taran's movements were incredible.

To the right, to the left, on the walls and ceilings…she jumped back and forth.

That was a spider for you. It was as if Taran was mocking the boulder.

On the other hand, I was grabbing onto Taran's back for dear life, and desperately fighting the urge to vomit…

This continued for a while, until the boulder finally stopped chasing us with its ray.

"Now! Let's go, Taran!"

I shouted. And Taran shot toward the boulder.

And just when we were right in front of the shining eye, she jumped high into the air.

"AAARRRGGGH!!"

I swung the pickaxe up, and then slammed it right into the glowing eye.

There was a sound of glass shattering into countless pieces, and the giant boulder began to crumble in front of me.

It was like watching a stone building fall. The sound was deafening.

As the rocks fell to the ground, Taran landed on the ground while still carrying me.

"We did it! Taran! That was amazing!"

I got off of Taran and we hit our palms together.

"That enemy was so strong… I wouldn't have been able to get close enough without you, Taran."

As I praised Taran for an excellent fight, Taran slapped her arms together as if clapping.

At the same time, a voice rang in my head.

<<As your proficiency in each level has been raised, the 'Cave King' crest has gone up to Rank 4>>

It had been a while since I last ranked up.