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106. The Unique Skill of Inheritance

「Geli will pummel him—just enough so he doesn’t die.」

「Kinda feelin’ bad I never taught you manners, sweetie. Well then, let’s do it. Time to unveil the true Emesmes style of combat for this world to see.」

From Kirmiji’s body erupted black tongues—flesh-eating appendages that gained substance as they lashed around him like dark whips or tentacles, radiating an overwhelming surge of mana. With a sharp whoosh, several of them shot toward Angelina.

「[Vajra Barrier], acti—」

「Geli is fine.」

Aimed clearly at her vitals, the strike was dangerous enough that I tried to intervene—but Angelina stopped me with her right hand and instead pressed her left palm, already resting against the wall, with force.

「[Mud Infant], activate.

Referencing, citing, standardizing… process complete.

「[Fougères the Artificer]」

Only a single golem was born. Even though dozens of golems had failed to hold off this opponent before, this one rose alone to face him. It was absurd to pit such a fragile creation against Age of Gods’ magic.

Yet that fragile earthen figure shattered the black attack with a single punch.

「Good, good!!」

「What is that…?」

It was clearly different. Koe-san covered her mouth, murmuring in awe at the golem’s unmistakable offensive and defensive power—and more than anything, its appearance.

「…Is that a female golem?」

Its shape was completely unlike the ones before.

Angelina’s golems had varied in size and capability, but all of them had smooth, porcelain-like bodies. This one, however, was a ‘woman-shaped golem,’ with a robust yet distinctly feminine build, striking down Kirmiji’s magic with her fists.

Though, that description wasn’t entirely accurate. Only after having my vision healed and seeing it with both sight and sensing could I grasp what it really was.

「That’s a human. A human made of earth and stone is fighting out there.」

Breath and metabolism producing heat.

Mana circulating through its body.

And above all, something no golem should possess: will to fight.

「Geli, since we’re at it, how about a magic duel? ‘Drear’.」

「Yes, Meister. [Guerlain of Dread]」

An elderly man appeared—more wizard than alchemist, clad in a cloak. From the tip of his short staff sparkled a sharp, condensed bolt of mana.

「Fire.」

The arrow danced in a zigzag, aiming for Kirmiji. It slipped past the black lashes meant to block it and pierced through the final, thickest whip that stood in its way—then drove straight through Kirmiji’s right knee. In an instant, the knee carbonized and crumbled, and a groan of pain escaped his throat.

「G-gh…!」

「The golem’s using magic—or no, is that a curse? That advanced…? There’s no contest in terms of technique.」

In terms of sheer power and mana reserves, Kirmiji, who could use Age of the Gods’ magic, was unmatched. But what the golem cast overwhelmed him completely with its precision and finesse.

Even the golden chain rang out in clear, delighted tones at the result.

「Alright, alright, let’s move on! Thirty-ninth generation—[Obsessive Delusion」—can you pull it off?」

「…Geli can. Referencing [Yelle of Obsession]. Ah—Skill Lenders-san, you might wanna cover your ears!」

Moments later, a piercing high-pitched song ripped through the tunnels. Even from behind, the noise was sharp enough to split our skulls open. I didn’t want to imagine what it was doing to Kirmiji up front.

「Nice, nice. She hasn’t mastered it all yet, but the talent’s shining through. My daughter’s a real genius. Now then, a quiz for you, Marge-kun. Fougères, Guerlain, Yelle. Those three—who are they?」

「The fact you’re asking means I can figure it out. I’m guessing they’re figures from the Emesmes family’s past.」

「Why’d you have to get it right…」

He sounded genuinely disappointed, but that wasn’t my fault.

While Lord Emesmes muttered complaints, Angelina continued to channel power into her hand. But it wasn’t just the mana for creating golems via [Mud Infant]—something else was activating alongside it. Angelina was only supposed to have [Leap] besides that skill…

「Even if I know what the golem is, I don’t understand how. What exactly is that thing?」

「It’s an Emesmes family secret, but I’ll explain what I can. Remember what I said? The Emesmes family has been preparing for generations to conquer the dungeon ‘Golden Land of Crimson Luxury’.」

「Yeah. And Angelina was raised for that very purpose.」

「The key to it all… is golems.」

According to Lord Emesmes:

The Emesmes family kept passing down their knowledge for 1100 years. They researched, trained, and built up wisdom, strength, and skill to conquer the dungeon. But they also realized that knowledge alone wasn’t enough.

Here was the question:

Each head of the family had their own area of expertise. But even if you passed down that knowledge, could their descendants reproduce it?

That answer, I knew myself.

「No chance.」

「Exactly. Even though we are all users of alchemy, there are personal differences; some have brains that are suited for warding techniques, others for curses, or bodily enhancement, or pharmacology, or transmutation… Everyone is different, and their bodies are suited for different things. Sure, with a healthy body and mind, you can do a bit of everything—but ‘a bit’ isn’t mastery.」

So they made bodies instead.

They preserved the knowledge and technique in full and brought their ancestors back to the battlefield as golems. That was the Emesmes family’s “strategy.”

The final family head to conquer the dungeon was always fated to be a golem master, Lord Emesmes said, with no small amount of pride.

「The future 50th head, Angelina, isn’t just ‘learning’ skills. She’s not ‘inheriting’ knowledge either. She’s referencing it. The Emesmes family’s prized Unique Skill—[Radiant Millennium Tree]. Every one of us possessed it, living with the records of 1100 years crammed into our minds.」

「So Angelina-san has a Unique Skill after all…」

「Yeah. Outside the family, only the head of the Adventurers Guild knows—y’know, the master of all the guilds.」

「…So that rumor was true.」

Hearing that jogged a memory—a famous story. An ultra-prestigious guild master once visited an eight-year-old girl, fell in love with her Unique Skill, and wrote up a contract on a napkin right then and there. She turned him down, supposedly.

Turns out, truth likes to hide in plain sight.

「So why hasn’t she used this before? No… she couldn’t, huh.」

A natural question. Lord Emesmes twirled his chain in delight. 「Bingo☆」

「Unique Skills tend to awaken around age eight, right? Imagine forcing a small child to absorb 1100 years’ worth of lives. What do you think happens?」

My eyes drifted toward the writhing Kirmiji.

「That. That’s what happens.」

「Yup. Their mind goes boom. So the current head locks the skill away until their child grows up enough. The lock opens either when the child is deemed ready—or if the head dies.」

「And the one who unlocked it… is the current Angelina. But what if the head dies while the child’s still small?」

「An alchemist keeps their secrets.」

If there’s no way to reach the right answer, erase everything—that’s how it goes, Lord Emesmes said nonchalantly.

Makes sense. Leave only knowledge behind, and it might fall into evil hands. Or the child might grow into a mediocre misfit and stray from the path. If that’s the risk, better to destroy the successor altogether.

That’s the ruthless logic they walked—and yet, both he and Angelina stood here today.

「Oh, I agonized over it. Fran and I had endless nightly talks.」

The golden chain swayed as if reminiscing fondly.

「The dungeon got uncovered earlier than expected. We couldn’t wait for Geli to fully mature as an alchemist. We were forced to decide between two bad choices: gamble on unlocking the skill inside the still-unready Geli, or go in ourselves.」

「…So instead of letting Angelina shoulder the risk, you chose to go in yourselves. But in the end, Angelina ended up unlocking the skill on her own.」

「Yup, yup. Kids grow up faster than parents think. She’s still far from mastering her power, of course… but it’s okay. All her hard work is what raised her to this height.」

Angelina had stayed disciplined, training relentlessly in hopes of finding her parents. That’s what led her to this moment.

And the girl whose efforts had finally borne fruit… was now puffing out her cheeks at her father’s words.

「It sounds like Geli uses golems because she had no choice, which is so not okay. Geli uses golems because golems are the best. That’s important. Really important, okay?」