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Dungeon Site and the Final Clue – Part 04

“What’s that?”

“Watch out, Jillarte, Paula! It’s a hostile!”

Hikaru’s Mana Detection alerted him to a sudden surge of magical energy inside it.

It was a spherical jointed puppet, shaped like a bowling pin. Standing upright on two legs, it closely resembled a human, about 180 centimeters tall. It had a dull golden appearance, with magic circuits engraved on its entire body, similar to those on the elevator, now glowing in blue.

Its smooth face featured three perfectly clear gems arranged in an inverted triangle, directed at Hikaru’s group in the distance.

It was a Golem. Or more precisely, an Automaton. It had sharply pointed swords as hands.

“Incoming!”

There was no initial motion. While a human would normally bend forward, this Automaton instantly sprinted forward at full speed. Its feet scraped against the floor.

“Tsk.”

Jillarte leaped left, while Hikaru scooped up Paula and dodged to the right.

“It’s after me.”

“I-I can run!” Paula said.

“Run as fast as you can!”

“Okay!”

Hikaru pushed Paula away. The Automaton locked onto him and sharply changed direction before charging.

Hikaru immediately activated Stealth and took three steps to the right.

“…”

In an instant, a chill ran down Hikaru’s spine. It felt like his Intuition was screaming at him. He didn’t even need to think to know why. The answer was right there, looming before him.

The Automaton’s face was turned towards Hikaru, despite his use of Stealth. Its neck could rotate 360 degrees.

M-My Stealth doesn’t work?

Panicking, Hikaru realized the Automaton was right in front of him.

“Guh!”

Hikaru dodged the swinging swords. It was fast. Incredibly fast. A gust of wind whipped up, a wind of death that could kill with a mere touch.

Why isn’t Stealth working?! I could lose the Golem on the 7th floor of the Great Labyrinth with Stealth. This thing’s a magic item too, isn’t it? No, maybe it’s because it is a magic item.

Hikaru pieced it together. Humans relied on vision, while Golems relied on Detection-type skills. These could be rendered ineffective by skills like Life Cloaking, Mana Cloaking, and Imperceptibility.

But Hikaru was well aware that Stealth wasn’t foolproof. For example, it wouldn’t work if he moved too far away or, like back in Japan, cameras would still capture him.

This Automaton possessed the latter type of sensor, one that could detect things physically. Infrared, ultrasonic waves, light sensors.

Leaping back, Hikaru felt an impact on his spine. His back was against the wall.

Oh, shit.

The Automaton was right there, closing in. Even if he jumped left or right, he wouldn’t make it in time. He could have used his ultra-sharp knife to slice through the Automaton’s sword, but the swift attack and his own agitation had dulled his judgment.

Even now, he could still slice off one arm with the knife. He’d have to endure the hit from the other one, but if he twisted his body, he wouldn’t die instantly. And if he didn’t die instantly, Paula’s healing magic could fix him.

But what if he did die instantly?

If he focused on evasion, he might avoid instant death, sustaining only a major injury. But with both of the Automaton’s arms still intact, Paula wouldn’t have time to use her healing magic.

What do I do?

In his hesitation, his body momentarily froze. The Automaton charged forward, indifferent to his indecision.

“Your back is wide open, you stinkin’ machine!”

Rushing like a gust of wind, Jillarte appeared behind the Automaton. The machine stopped abruptly, ignoring the laws of inertia, then rotated in a way that no living being’s joint would allow, before delivering a sweeping horizontal strike.

“Hmph.”

Jillarte parried the Automaton’s sword upward and slashed diagonally across its chest with her blade. The strike sparked against its metal surface but didn’t pierce.

The Automaton did not flinch. Boldly advancing towards Jillarte, it swung its right arm down and its left arm in a sweeping motion. Jillarte dodged perfectly with minimal movements, parried, then countered. Sparks flew from the Automaton’s body. She moved with the grace and precision of a blade dancer.

Hikaru’s eyes widened. “She’s good.”

He had warned Jillarte about her straightforward swordsmanship, but against this Automaton, it was something else. Its crude mechanical attacks were entirely ineffective against her. Even though she was overpowered, her superior skill allowed her to steadily inflict damage on the Automaton. Her dedication to honing her skills showed itself.

“Take this!”

The left arm, severed at the elbow, rolled across the ground, producing sparks. From there, victory was assured.

Even with two swords, the enemy had posed no real threat. With just one, Jillarte’s attacks doubled, even tripled. A thrust in the Automaton’s face shattered the gems embedded within it. It then staggered aimlessly before finally crashing into the wall, its body crumbling into pieces, ending the battle.

“Phew.”

The way she maintained caution until the end, ensuring it wasn’t moving anymore, left nothing to be desired.

Hikaru approached her as she was sheathing her sword. “That was incredible.”

“R-Really?!” Jillarte squeaked, surprised. “I still have a long way to go. You just let me have the spotlight, didn’t you?”

“Of course not. I also feel like I have a long way to go.”

“Oh, come on now.”

Jillarte firmly believed that Hikaru was easily capable of dealing with the Automaton but decided to step aside to let her gain experience.

I get it. Jillarte must have worked hard to incorporate the moveset that her newly acquired skill taught her so she could quickly adapt to her enhanced stats. Hence the direct and straightforward strikes. She’s exceedingly good against enemies that don’t use tactics, like the Automaton.

On the other hand, when facing humans, she struggled due to the need for strategic thinking and dealing with unexpected moves.

There are good and bad sides to it. This has been a learning experience, Hikaru reflected. And I still have a long way to go. I never expected my Stealth to be rendered useless like this. It might happen again in the future. I need to make sure I don’t get rattled when it does.

The Automaton’s power came from mana, but its movements were entirely mechanical, following physical laws. If they were to face Soaarunay Saak, they had to be prepared to encounter more enemies like it.

Hikaru refocused his mind. Only a short time had passed, but he was drenched in sweat. After removing their coats and cloak and wiping away the sweat, the group ventured deeper inside.

The passage’s floor was damp, with water droplets clinging to the walls. Despite this, there was no moss or bacterial growth, likely because of proper air circulation when the dungeon was still here. Now that function was gone.

The corridor extended for about 100 meters, but then abruptly ended, buried under earth and sand.

“Tsk.”

Using Life Detection and Mana Detection to scan ahead revealed nothing. Either the passage had been sealed off when the dungeon took to the skies, or this was the bottom.

“Th-There’s nothing here,” Jillarte said.

“Maybe this was all that was left,” Paula wondered.

“…”

“Lord Silver Face?”

Hikaru couldn’t believe it, yet at the same time, he also saw it coming.

Since the dungeon had already surfaced, all the components needed to construct it should be in the sky above. However, since the secret passage remained, he thought there might be remnants of the dungeon left behind, something that would provide a vital clue that could lead them to the sky above.

A warp gate or something similar would’ve been great. Perhaps the existence of the Black Wedge Gate, a super advanced tech, had given him false hopes. He should’ve known that this world was far from forgiving.

All they found was sand and soil.

“I guess we’re out of options.”

There was no path leading upward, and no hints to bring the dungeon back down to the ground. Perhaps he should’ve seen this coming. The creator of the Great Labyrinth, Runay-aas O Saak, a powerful sorcerer known as the Sage of the Abyss, would not have been so careless as to leave a means of access from the ground once the dungeon took to the skies.

“Let’s head back,” Hikaru said.

“Are you sure?” Paula asked.

“Yeah. We need to think of another way.” He turned to leave.

“Wait a minute,” Jillarte said. “Do you feel that? There’s air flowing.”

“I don’t think there’s anything weird about—” Hikaru stopped himself and turned to look down the path. “You’re right. It’s faint, but there’s a current. If this passage is buried, there shouldn’t be any air flowing.”

“Should we check where the air is going?”

Hikaru instantly agreed to Jillarte’s suggestion and returned to the space they were in moments ago.

There was an elevator installed on the wall, still emitting light. Hikaru walked along the wall, but picked up no signs of magic.

“In that case, up.”

Hikaru raised his magic lamp, but its light didn’t reach. It was too dark to see due to the wall’s dark color.

“Should I use magic for light?” Paula suggested.

“What?”

“Actually, Sophie taught me a holy spell that casts light to purify evil.”

“Oh. I don’t know what it is, but go ahead.”

“Okay!” Paula moved to the center of the space and rolled her shoulders. “Here I go!”

“‘O God who art in heaven, bestow upon this hand thy blessed and esteemed guidance. Grant peace to the wandering souls, repentance to the transgressors, and divine punishment to the wicked.'”

Paula’s soothing voice filled the sultry air. What Hikaru and Jillarte saw made them freeze in place.

After a faint glow emanated from Paula, golden specks of light rose around her, exuding a sense of purity as they drifted like sparks around a pillar of flame.

I have a bad feeling about this.