episode_0238

– Clank… Clank…

While I was standing there blankly after coming out of the tower.

A dull ringing began to ring in my ears.

These were golems installed on the floating island.

‘Hmm…’

I rubbed my furrowed brow as I observed the number.

The power of knowledge.

Since I received it, my head has been feeling a bit weird.

If you ask me if it’s uncomfortable… I feel more comfortable now that my messy memories have been neatly organized.

But it’s true that it feels awkward, so I think it’ll take some time to get used to it.

If you are thinking of using it proactively… the adaptation will take longer.

Of course, it is a hundred or a thousand times better than when I was granted the power of space and observation.

At that time, I almost died with my head exploding because I released all the restrictions the tower owners had put in place and performed at peak performance…

‘after…’

He shook his head.

Before we knew it, the golems had approached.

They formed up and surrounded me, and were on alert with their weapons aimed.

Originally, the golems should have treated me like a guest and guided me.

I’ve put it on alert for now as I have some separate experiments to do.

Golem blueprint and operation instructions from Ariel.

And because I was given the authority to give orders.

Soon a golem came creaking among them.

‘That’s the golem.’

A golem with thick armor on its arms, like gauntlets.

The entity that first struck me with a fist.

It seems like it always stands at the front with a shield, so it might act as a meat shield.

[Alert status in progress… Enemy, suppression order]

The golem, which seemed to be stumbling for a moment, straightened its posture at the command I gave it.

Soon a blue light rose fiercely between the helmets.

Guuung… The sensation of magic being activated pounded my skin.

[Compliance with the suppression order]

Boom! The trampled ground burst open.

The golem rushed at me with its heavy body ahead.

Feeling the air being pushed away and trembling, I held out my hand, my staff… purification in the air for a moment.

The golem rushes in, extending its fist, and I extend my hand.

It was the same posture as when I first arrived at the floating island.

Was that all you could do back then, just splitting the fist a little and making the arm bounce back?

Increased magical power.

Create a ritual and fill it with magical power.

It’s the same process as before, but now it’s easier and faster.

– Squeak…

‘Magic Strike.’

– Crunch!

The results were also different.

The slash was overlapped by the fist that was being thrown.

The fist split left and right. The unstoppable slashing continued to slice through the wrist, forearm, and upper arm.

Thud! Half of the arm fell to the ground, limply cut off like a knife cutting through tofu.

– Ki-ki-kik…

The golem’s charge stopped as it was unable to overcome the shock.

It stopped at just the right location.

The magical power that was still being pulled up was arranged.

‘Magic Strike.’

– Kwagagagagak!

Dozens of devastating blows rained down on the stopped golem from all directions.

In one fatal blow, the body is torn to pieces.

The deadly blow doesn’t end there, it returns like a boomerang and hits the golem again.

Soon, hundreds of pieces of iron, roughly ground in a blender, were scattered across the floor.

[Compliance with the suppression order]

[Compliance with the suppression order]

[Compliance with the suppression order]

The golems that had been on guard at that sight also launched an offensive.

The golems at the very front raise their shields and charge forward, while the golems behind them follow them, holding their weapons in their hands.

‘Expression.’

Earth magic.

Among them, the metalworking series.

Deukdeuk… The golem’s remains twist and compress evenly, weaving into sharp thorns.

Since the golems were already huge, each one was huge and there were dozens of them.

‘Baekrin.’

Fire magic.

Whoosh! A light yellow flame enveloped the thorns.

Manipulate the flame delicately. Push the flame into the thorn, heating it.

The flames died down and the thorns turned a bright yellow.

‘Manipulation, wind pressure explosion.’

Wind magic.

The thorns are wrapped in wind and rotated at high speed.

The thorn’s rear end compresses and bursts air and wind.

At the same time, it shoots thorns using manipulation.

After numerous processes were carried out in an instant, dozens of islands were drawn.

A lightning bolt struck the shield golem at the very front.

Bam! The shield is shattered.

The first thing that happened was that the point where the lightning struck was pierced, and the impact caused a crack to form in the shield and it shattered into pieces.

A thorn was stuck in the golem’s waist.

Boom! A belated explosion occurred.

The golem’s body was split apart with the waist as the center of impact.

The golem’s lower body rolled on the ground, and its upper body flew into the sky.

– Kwagagagagak!

Such scenes were performed on most golems.

An orbit perfectly calculated by the power of observation.

As a result of the perfect fit without missing a single one, the golems that had been kicking the ground were all shattered and rolled around on the floor.

‘Hmm… ‘

So the first wave is lightly organized.

After that, I took a moment to gather my magic power and check the condition.

– Less!

A piece of golem scattered on the floor trembled.

The tricky thing about this golem army is that you can’t just destroy them roughly.

The entire floating island is like Ariel’s workshop.

Even the scattered fragments are ultimately the same as materials, and soon several fragments will come together to form a new golem.

– Ki-ki-kik…

The fragments flinched. They trembled and then rattled, rolling around.

That’s all. There were many fragments moving around, but they couldn’t come together to form a new golem.

‘Okay.’

After seeing the situation, I nodded slightly.

Destruction technique.

A technique to neutralize magic by interfering with the spell in some way.

Those golems are ultimately powered by magic, so all we have to do is erase the magic engraved on them.

But that’s not as easy as it sounds.

We had previously tried to neutralize them by mixing in sabotage techniques, but ultimately failed.

This is magic that Ariel herself carved.

Even though they were touching me, they would laugh at any slight destruction and fight back.

And even if it gets destroyed, it’s not really meaningful.

‘No matter how much you erase it, it will be re-engraved anyway.’

The original spell engraved in one place was a consumable spell with a clear lifespan limit.

Weapons that are consumed by hitting the body hard are known to have a particularly short lifespan.

So, if you hit a golem like that too many times, its spell will be damaged and it will just turn into a lump of iron.

It is the limitation of magic tools, not artifacts.

But that golem wasn’t like that.

Strictly speaking, it was a magical tool, but its lifespan was unclear.

Because the spells are being engraved in real time.

Even if the ritual is damaged, it can be immediately repaired in the ‘workshop’ that made contact with the floor.

Since the floor itself is made of the same material, even if the body flies away, it can be supplied immediately.

As such, there were many difficulties in neutralizing the golem on this floating island.

‘success.’

So I cheated a little bit.

With my increased magical prowess, I managed to destroy a significant portion of the spell, and before it could be repaired, I injected my magical power into it.

Thus, I repelled the magical power that was trying to restore the spell, dyed it with my own color, and established my dominance.

In short, they stole the ownership.

The operation was a success.

Now it has become a lump of iron imbued with my magic.

Also, since the purity and density of the magic power is quite high, it will last for quite a while even without adding any additional magic power.

– Boom! Boom! Boom!

Through my ears, I could feel the golems rushing towards me with the power of observation.

Of course, the amount of water is still overflowing, so it would be like blocking the waves with your body…

‘Hmm… ‘

I tapped the floor with my toes.

Woohoo… The magic that had been manifested spread out in all directions.

Soon the remains of the golem floated up like corn, and like the previous process, they were all woven with thorns and floated in the air.

A sight of the sky filled with huge thorns that had grown dozens of times larger than before.

Although it looked quite threatening, the golems, who had no fear, continued to advance without paying any attention.

‘Is this… this is how it’s supposed to be written?’

I grabbed the purification that was floating right next to me.

How to use it.

I heard an explanation from Ariel, and the moment I held the artifact… it was as if I was holding the Proof of Guardianship for the first time, and the instructions for using it were naturally engraved in my head.

He stroked its cool, smooth body with a strange expression, then poked a nearby thorn with his crystal ball.

Then, the thorn that had been floating fine was sucked into the crystal ball.

‘oh.’

He let out a small exclamation of admiration and sent his pure white magic power into the purification.

– Huh!? Woof, woof…!

At the same time, the cane clanged several times.

There was a moment of concern when I wondered if I had done something wrong due to the rather strong reaction.

– Jiiing!

‘Oh.’

As if to put an end to my worries, a blade popped out of the crystal ball.

I took a quick look at the material and it matched the thorn I had just absorbed.

At the same time, two beams of light emerged from the top of the bar near the crystal ball.

It was held in a shape that seemed to surround the crystal ball from left to right, like ribs surrounding the heart.

The staff turned into a spear thanks to the blades sprouting from the crystal ball.

Of course, the shape was a bit odd because the blade was stuck to the crystal ball.

Just looking at its appearance, it looks like it would be used like a spear and the crystal ball would be completely shattered.

But I know that it can’t be like that, since it’s supposedly a top-tier artifact.

With that thought in mind, I swung my purification spell at the flame magic that had just flown in.

Crunch! The flames that had been encroaching split apart on the blade.

Immediately afterwards, the flame split into two and was absorbed into the crystal ball through the blade.

‘and!’

I lit up my eyes at him.

The absorption process was observed in detail.

The moment when the blade and crystal ball cut through the magic.

It absorbed all the magical power that made up the magic, as well as the technique itself.

It was observed that what was absorbed in this way was stored in the crystal ball.

‘If I take out what’s stored here…’

– Hururuk!

Flames engulfed the blade.

It was part of the magic I had just absorbed.

He dodged the hammer swung by the golem that had just come at him, quickly approached his arms, and poured purification into the north.

The spear tip pierced through the armor and lodged itself in the body.

Released immediately after.

– Kwarrrr!

A torrent of flame poured out from the tip of the spear’s blade.

Flames burst out from between the seams of the armor.

Kkwaddeukduk! The blade itself exploded again, tearing the insides apart mercilessly.

– Kwaaang!

The golem’s body, melted by the explosion, falls down helplessly.

‘Oh.’

I jumped up and opened up some distance, and swung the sword with its blade gone, exclaiming in admiration once again.

Absorption and emission.

What is absorbed is stored in a crystal ball, and then formed into a spear or released.

It may seem like a simple function, but artifacts that make it that simple are rare.

This crystal ball has a huge capacity for rough observation.

You can also stockpile up magic or special materials separately and quickly extract them whenever you need them.

If you’re in a hurry, you can swing it like this to swallow the enemy’s attacks and spit them out.

Of course, how much I absorb and release will depend on my skill… but I was confident that I could handle it well.

‘It’s a good artifact.’

There are many other features as well.

Apart from that, this absorption and emission alone is enough to make it a top-tier value.

Indeed, this is the artifact that Ariel was using.

I kept exclaiming in admiration, and stroked the purification with my left hand.

– Woof woof…!

– Woohoo…

Then, as if the purification that was being stroked and the proof of the guardian who stroked the purification resonated, it rang out.

‘…?’

As I heard that sound, I suddenly tilted my head.

One of them seemed to be squealing.

The other one seemed to be full of dust.

‘Is it because of my mood?’

He had a puzzled expression on his face because he couldn’t understand English.

* * *

“Wow… the sky is clear.”

After finishing the lecture and coming out of the building, Elia suddenly tilted her head back.

It felt like there were tiny clouds floating around, and otherwise, the open sky filled my field of vision.

“Oh my.”

Elia looked up at the refreshing sky that made her heart feel as if it was opening up, and let out a deep sigh in response.

“Why doesn’t Ha-yul fall from the sky? ”

“If a person falls from the sky, they usually die, Elia.”

“The rate is okay because there are magic, spirits, and artifacts.”

“Ooh… I’ll definitely buy that.”

“Right?”

Elia giggled at the female cadet following her and looked up at the sky again.

For some reason, I’ve been looking up at the sky a lot lately.