Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 76 - Sanctuary of Restful Purification: Final Battle (2)

Chapter 76: Sanctuary of Restful Purification: Final Battle (2)

 

It was true that, in the future of Golemophia, golems had come to rule the world.

However, their average level wasn’t particularly high.

Even so, the reason they managed to defeat the Level 9 Saint wasn’t quality… It was quantity.

A war of overwhelming numbers.

Which meant each unit could be treated as relatively insignificant.

At least…

Until three days had passed.

 

***

 

Bzzzt!

While frantically enduring the enemy’s attacks, I swallowed the sphere of black lightning floating above my hand.

[Because of Sin: Gluttony, your body has now taken on the same nature as the filthy lightning of Su’eje that you just consumed!]

The sensation of my entire body transforming into lightning spread through me.

Even though this was only the second time…

The pain was still difficult to grow accustomed to.

But this much… I could endure.

—Abnormal lifeform causing errors confirmed. Commencing elimination.

A golem whose hands were blades sliced clean through both my neck and waist in a single strike.

My body split neatly into three pieces.

But I didn’t die.

Because my body itself had already become lightning.

Immediately reforming… I embraced the golem.

Bzzzzzt!

Lightning exploded violently in every direction.

The artificial army’s mana cores and circuits were momentarily damaged by the electric current, causing them all to malfunction at once.

—Hostile lifeform detected.

Crushing its fallen, twitching comrades beneath its feet…

A massive humanoid golem approached.

—I will eliminate you.

Its arm stretched unnaturally long before punching straight through my abdomen.

The steel hand pierced my body.

At the same time, lightning surged backward through its arm, electrocuting the golem.

—…It is ineffective.

Was it protected by elemental nullification magic?

Despite staggering strangely, the creature caused countless spikes to erupt from the arm still impaling my body.

“…Mine doesn’t work either.”

Since my body had become lightning, I simply slipped sideways out of its grasp…

Then released lightning at maximum output, wrapping its entire body.

The overwhelming current exceeded the limits of its elemental resistance magic…

Burning the humanoid golem to ashes.

Another victory. And now… The time had come.

[Congratulations! Your soul has advanced to the next stage and reached Level 4!]

Finally.

An overwhelming surge of exhilaration flooded my chest.

[Through countless battles without regard for your own safety, your Vitality has increased by 3!]

Even without using Ghoul’s Mobility…

My Vitality had now reached an astounding 11.

This was exactly why one fought without sparing one’s body.

Now was the time to proudly examine my newfound physical changes… But I had no such luxury.

—Open fire!

—Exterminate!

Having witnessed me trigger chain malfunctions, the monster army had remained wary of me.

Now they all fired projectiles simultaneously from every uniquely designed body part they possessed.

The basic Mysticism of mage-pure mana users:

Mana Bullet.

Despite being only a First-Tier spell…

It was regarded as one of the fundamental Mysteries because of its countless applications.

Bullets of magical energy hammered relentlessly against my body.

Though my entire body had become lightning…

It was still gradually being worn away.

[Warning: If you continue simply taking the hits as before, you will die.]

I knew.

Even after reaching Level 4…

I was still a long way from becoming immortal.

I couldn’t afford to tank every attack.

Crackle…

Even as the barrage of Mana Bullets shredded my body apart…

I gathered violently surging lightning into both hands.

The moment a shot struck even my left eye, cutting my vision in half…

I hurled the writhing black lightning high into the sky.

The bundle of lightning shot upward without slowing…

Then plunged back down.

KRA-KOOOOM!!

Lightning struck an unfortunate doll, burning its body black.

The electricity then spread outward, seizing control of the surrounding area.

—All units. Eliminate that bizarre sapient immediately.

A handful of golems and dolls equipped with elemental resistance Mysticism continued firing Mana Bullets without pause.

“Ah… Ahahahaha!”

Without realizing it…

A laugh just like Lord Su’eje’s escaped my lips.

Welcome, agony.

Precious nourishment for valuable growth.

 

[Remaining HP: 70 / 100]

[Remaining MP: 60 / 100]

[Recommendation: It’s about time you withdrew!]

 

I’d like to.

If I could… I’d happily keep fighting here for all three days.

But mental energy had its limits.

Still… I couldn’t retreat alone.

The golems weren’t going to kindly wave goodbye while I left.

“My comrades will be here soon.”

Until then… I only had to endure.

I scattered powerful lightning from both arms.

Mechanical screams erupted from every direction.

—Monster! Stop already!

As I carefully managed my mental energy while fighting…

A quadrupedal golem slowly approached.

Its face had holes shaped like speakers.

More accurately…

Its upper body was human.

Its lower body was a horse.

 

[Centaur-Type Elite Combat Golem (Level 5)]

[An annoying golem capable of absorbing the energy emitted by its opponent, doubling its power, and firing it back. Smash that ridiculous body apart at once!]

 

—Your power doesn’t work on me!

“Hmm. Why do you speak so cheerfully?”

—Because the mage who designed me and my sibling units happened to have this terrible taste!

“My condolences.”

—Thanks for understanding my troubles…

“But now you have to die!

A waterfall of Lord Su’eje’s lightning poured from the cheerful golem’s face.

Lightning superior to the Third-Tier Blooming of the Black Lightning Flower.

This…

Was exactly why I’d wanted to meet an elite combat golem before retreating.

BZZZZZT!!

Lightning collided violently in midair.

The wicked natural power bestowed by the Evil God…

Clashing head-on against its imitation.

In terms of raw power… Mine was clearly inferior.

I was gradually being pushed back.

But I possessed Mysticism that controlled lightning itself.

Activating Blooming of the Black Lightning Flower…

The two bolts suddenly became evenly matched.

—No! Why is it evenly matched?!

“Ah. This is something called Mysteries. A golem like you can only use whatever abilities a mage installed. So you’ll just have to envy me.”

The centaur golem’s waterfall of lightning was steadily pushed backward.

Pouring every ounce of concentration into controlling it…

The black lightning finally pierced straight through its head.

—Aaaaah… huh?

Then… It was completely absorbed into the speaker-like opening on its face.

—Ah!

“Come to think of it, I completely forgot I could absorb it! No need to panic after all! You didn’t know? I thought you were only pretending to take the hit so you could mock me.”

—Haha!

“Now die!”

The cheerful golem was just about to unleash another blast of lightning…

When the words I’d been waiting for finally appeared.

 

[Congratulations: Your growth-type Mysticism, Black Lightning Blossom, has advanced to the Fourth Tier.]

 

I immediately activated the newly evolved Fourth-Tier version.

—Huh?

The violent lightning gathering around the golem’s speaker-like face…

Suddenly reversed direction.

It plunged back into its own head… Where it rampaged violently inside its body.

Once Blooming of the Black Lightning Flower reached the Fourth Tier…

It could manipulate lightning even from great distances.

“It’s over.”

—Impossible!!

BOOOOOOM!!

Flailing wildly…

The centaur golem exploded apart.

“Your way of speaking was strange. But you were a worthy rival. Farewell.”

—I’m still alive!

Looking closer…

The golem’s head, now separated from its body, was rolling across the ground.

Perhaps its mana core had been located near its brain, protecting it.

For the time being, I stored it inside subspace as loot…

Then drank a little of my own blood to restore my body.

—Enemy causing critical system errors confirmed.

—Commencing annihilation.

Then…

The enemies, two entire tiers stronger than the cheerful golem, appeared.

Level 7 artificial monsters.

I turned around and ran immediately.

They weren’t even slightly confused by my sudden retreat.

They instantly gave chase. With my frail legs that possessed only 1 Agility…

There was no escaping them.

—Target captured.

In the end…

I was seized by a doll with three heads and six arms.

—I will exterminate you.

For a brief moment…

The horrifying memory of being force-fed books by the giant grimoire resurfaced.

But unlike then…

I wasn’t alone.

“Made it just in time!”

Just before an ogre-type golem could flatten me with its hammer…

Bartimir rushed in and smashed both feet directly into its ugly face.

A devastating strike from a demon who had stuffed himself full of negative concepts.

—…Damn!

While the massive golem staggered…

Bartimir swiftly threw me onto his back.

“May the stars shine!”

Astrimia’s wave of Aura swept through the surrounding golems.

‘Ding.’

Lucius’s holy healing Mysticism enveloped my body.

The pain disappeared.

My vitality returned.

“Asmi!”

Grinning broadly…

Pendrick unleashed three consecutive waves of Aura, momentarily halting the golems’ advance.

While the genius swordsman bought us time…

Lucius, who had been quietly chanting beside him, thrust one hand forward and shouted,

“O Artein!”

Crack!

A translucent white barrier materialized before the enemies.

A Mystery specialized in defense.

It could block several attacks.

“Let’s go!”

Knowing the meta was an essential quality for adventurers…

The Moonlight Expedition knew its own limits extremely well.

Rather than continuing the fight… Everyone immediately retreated.

CRASH!

The Level 7 golems shattered the barrier almost instantly and resumed their pursuit.

The rest of the artificial army also charged aggressively now that I was no longer releasing lightning.

After cutting down several bird-type golems diving from the sky…

Pendrick assumed his stance.

“Asmi! Light the third star!”

“Okay!”

One by one…

Stars of different colors appeared along Astrimia’s beautiful blade.

The First Star… Dubhe.

The Second Star… Merak.

And then… The Third Star.

Whoooooosh

A brilliant blue radiance enveloped every member of our expedition…

As well as Lucius.

Phecda.

The star that created a protective barrier around one’s skin.

Thud!

Sharp enemy fingers stabbed into my face.

A mana blade pierced Pendrick’s heart.

Massive jaws bit down on Lucius’s shoulder.

None of them worked.

Because the barrier could block at least one fatal attack.

“Well done!”

Bartimir kicked golems and dolls aside with his petrified legs, forcing open a path.

Crackle!

By now, my body had recovered enough.

I released lightning once more, sweeping away every nearby artificial monster.

With the enemies all collapsing…

The others were able to retreat much more easily.

“Want me to jump again?”

“Please.”

“Here we go!”

Every time Bartimir leaped high into the air…

I repeatedly called down lightning directly onto the enemies’ heads and cores.

Thanks to Lucius constantly using Mysticism, which restored my mental energy…

I could unleash Blooming of the Black Lightning Flower without holding back.

How long had we been running?

“You’ve come far enough.”

A welcome voice reached us.

Immediately afterward…

A pure white buckler flew toward us.

It ricocheted off the bodies of the two Level 7 monsters still chasing us…

Then returned to its owner.

The one responsible for that spectacular shield technique worthy of the “Captain America” himself…

Saint Seraphina charged forward before smashing apart the three-headed doll with the shaft of her spear.

“Is everyone alright?”

“Thank you, Saint.”

“We almost weren’t.”

Turning to look behind me…

I saw what appeared to be a long road carved straight through the middle of the monster army…

The path Seraphina herself had taken.

“You almost joined Lady Artein.”

“I came this far because I knew you’d save us.”

“So everything had been planned.”

Calmly conversing even as she effortlessly destroyed an ogre-type golem…

Seraphina pointed toward the rear.

We immediately fled back toward the sanctuary through the path she’d opened.

Still riding on Bartimir’s back…

I continued scattering lightning everywhere before stretching comfortably.

“Ah… I feel refreshed.”

Warm-up complete.