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Chapter 188 Part 2

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Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

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The Knight of the merchant guild was lurking on a rocky hill in the distance to his left while looking at him intently.
Unaware of his presence, the Grim reaper peered down from the edge of the large hole.

『Lord Reaper, this is indeed quite a promising mine』

B-class Knight who was also looking at the bottom spoke to him through an external voice system.
The two Knights accompanying the Grim reaper both belonged to the Frontier knight order. There was a tone of admiration in their voices.

『True that. The importance of Landbarn will only increase with this here』

The pilot of the other Knight also voiced his agreement from within the cockpit.
While listening to their conversation, the Grim reaper saw things from a different perspective.

(I haven’t had real combat lately. So this is just perfect)

The Knight’s face moves as if he is searching for something.

(However, clay and stone type are not enough of an opponent for me. It has to be on the class of heavy stone at least)

Then he nodded.
There’s only clay golems on the surface layer. And the lower it goes, the more stone golems there are.

(I might be able to find a heavy stone golem if I go even deeper)

A Knight with the same pointy chin as himself. At the end of it, it points to the bottom of the giant hole and indicates his intention to go down.

『Roger that』

The two pilots responded strongly.
There were countless golems in their path. Most of them were clay golems, but with this number, it could be a threat.
And they all belong to the Frontier knight order. They are not as elite as the Rose Knights.
But there was no fear in their hearts. Because the Grim reaper was with them.

『The height of the first layer is about one and a half times the height of a Knight, huh』

Following the Grim reaper, the frontier Knights descend the gentle slope.
One of them looks around and speaks up.
The cross-section of the open-pit mine has a staircase-like shape of about 30 meters in height for each level. It is the so-called bench cut.
The level of the steps is not horizontal-shaped, but more like a gentle slope.
It is a huge spiral staircase with a width of about 30 meters, the same as each level’s height. If they keep going down like this, they will eventually reach the bottom.

『The golems must have used this path to widen the hole』

Another Knight nodded in admiration.
They had been sent to investigate mineral resources. And the Margrave seemed to have chosen a knowledgeable pilot for the job.
The Grim reaper, on the other hand, showed no interest at all.
He immediately wields his weapon, the Death scythe, and beats down the clay golem that blocks his path.
With a cracking cry, the clay golem fell down the slope to the lower level.
Meanwhile the Old Lady who watches it from a slightly distant height.

「Ohh! He surely live up to his nickname」

It doesn’t matter if they attack him or not. Every clay golem in Grim reaper’s range was destroyed by the Death scythe.
Fragments of the clay golem fall from the slope to the lower levels.

「How do I say this? It’s like a big wasp that invaded a honeybee hive」

No matter how many of them there were, it was as if they were no match for him.
Each time the Death scythe is spun, a clay golem was shattered.

「As expected of a world class」

The only thing I don’t understand is the Grim reaper’s purpose.
What is he going to do down there? I can’t imagine that one of the best Knights in the empire is here to collect resources like us.

「Could it be that there’s a last boss at the bottom?」

You will be given the title of Golem King if you managed to defeat it and will be able to subdue all of the golems in the open pit mine.

「Well, I don’t think that’s the case」

Pushing my imagination aside, I returned to focus.
I watched the group of Knights as they proceeded, scattering fragments of dry clay.

『Lord Grim reaper! They’re eating it』

The frontier Knight on the side that’s being guarded shouted through the external sound system.
On the layer below, clay golems gathered around the falling fragments and carried them one by one into their mouths.
The Grim reaper didn’t reply, and when the stone golem finally appeared, he punched it sideways with the handle of his Death scythe.

「Uuuoooooooo!」

A spider web-like crack runs from the side of the stone golem that was struck.
It slipped on the edge of the slope and screamed as it fell to the lower level.
But as one would expect from a Stone-class creature. A height of less than twice its own height is not enough to kill it.
It raises its body to get up.

『Urgh』

A voice leaks out from the other frontier Knight.
It was because the surrounding clay golems rushed towards the fractured stone golem.
Like carp in a pond responding to food, they swarmed and pushed the stone golem down with the power of numbers.
Then they plunged their hands into the wounds, ripped it off piece by pieces, and began to eat them.

『This is the first time I’m seeing something like this. I think that’s how a clay golem evolves into a stone golem』

The pilot continued to watch with an academic passion.
Then a reddish stone golem appeared and began to chase the clay golems away.

『Did it came to save him?』

Not caring whether or not the Grim reaper replied, he spoke his thoughts.
A white-colored stone golem lies on its side, covered in cracks.
The reddish stone golem, which had come to its side, dropped to one knee and put a hand on its shattered shoulder.

「Oaah!」

Then, with a roar, he wrenched off its arm by force.
He chewed and chewed as if it were eating the meat of a chicken thighs.

『How merciless…』

『The white one’s still alive. Uwaa it’s howling like crazy』

The frontier Knights were all showing a strong interest.
The only one who felt indifferent was the Grim reaper.

(This is a bit difficult)

The number of stone golems has increased. And the two Knights of the Frontier Knights are not as powerful as expected.
The clay golem that had just appeared from the side hole. He left it to them to deal with it, but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

(Fumu)

He thinks about it as he wields his weapon, the Death scythe.
For me, this much is still not enough, but these two are different. It would be dangerous to descend any further.

(There’s no choice, I’ll have to send them back to the surface and dive alone)

While having such a thought, he looked down to the feasting scene one layer below. The reddish stone golem was about to finish eating the white golem’s arm.
Just as he looked at it without any particular thought, a rain of light suddenly fell on his vision.

(What’s happening!?)

After a moment of thought, he realized that it was a long-range magic attack.
Red, white, yellow, and blue, various colors of light arrows poured down without pause.

(Take cover)

He signaled to the two Knights behind him with his hand and pushed them into a shallow pit.
The frontier Knights, who had come to their senses, immediately followed the Grim reaper’s instructions.
After a downpour of light subsides, they can see the cowering stone golem below them. Both of it have been crushed, shattered, and eventually stopped moving.

(On top of high firepower, it’s also very accurate)

The magic attack that was cast earlier only hit the stone golems.
And with a single blow, they were rendered powerless.

(Just who are they?)

Although he asked himself that, he already had a guess of who it was.
A powerful long-ranged magic attack. It was the Kingdom’s secret weapon, the Ghost Knight.
But then, his eyebrows furrowed and a deep vertical crease appeared between his brows.

(So there wasn’t just one of them)

No matter how one looks at it, this is not the work of a single Knight. His expression became even more bitter as he realized his assumption.
He and the Margrave had assumed that there was only one Ghost Knight out there. But when he thinks back at it again, there is no evidence that shows there’s only one of them.

(First of all, let’s deal with the reality first)

He switched gears and confirmed the situation.
However, the vertical wrinkles between his eyebrows and the bitter expression on his face did not disappear, in fact, it became more serious.

(This is a bad place to intercept multiple Ghost Knights)

A narrow slope in a mortar shaped space. In this place with bad footing, they could get shot down from above.
The terrain was the worst he could have imagined.
He had only planned to fight the golems, so he hadn’t taken into account the fact that he would be hit by a magic attack from above.

(I have to do something about this situation)

At this point, they would not even be able to see the enemy.
Their only saving grace was that the other side didn’t seem to have noticed them here either. Their current position was close to the bottom, so it must have been a blind spot.

(How should we move from here out?)

The Frontier Knights, like himself, were hiding in a small hold that could not even be called a cave.
After confirming how they were doing, the Grim reaper turned his eyes to the top of the backlight.

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