Ch.6363. The Priest Who Concealed His Power

The rock golem took longer to activate than I expected.

We had already formed our formation, but the party’s coordination was much better than I’d anticipated.

So I was waiting with a sense of ease for the golem to move when—

“…Can’t we hit it now?”

Youngae asked.

It was a perfectly normal question. There’s no rule in the Labyrinth that says you can’t attack during transformation.

“Ah, Lady Youngae. That’s—”

Airi, who was beside Youngae, spoke up.

“If you attack before the golem is fully activated, you might actually infuse energy into its core.”

Meaning that unless we could one-shot the golem, we’d just make it stronger.

“…I didn’t know that. Sorry, Airi.”

“No, we usually only encounter golems that are already activated. It’s my fault for not telling you beforehand.”

While they exchanged pleasantries, the golem had completed its activation.

“Shiro! Get your magic ready now!”

-BOOM!

As I shouted, the golem took its first step.

An intense vibration traveled through the floor. Even the priests standing at a distance felt their legs trembling.

Despite looking like it was roughly molded from clay, its monstrous strength was worthy of its mid-tier rank 3 status.

‘The pattern isn’t difficult though.’

But if I let my guard down, I could end up with a cracked skull.

‘Instantaneous Hardening.’

I raised my shield and charged at the golem as it brought both arms down to strike the ground.

As I rolled forward—

-SCRAAAPE!

A thunderous sound echoed as my shield scraped against its arm.

‘Without the hardening, my shield would have shattered.’

Fortunately, I managed to slip into the space between the golem’s arm and body.

“Adel!”

“I’m fine!”

I heard concerned voices wondering where I’d disappeared to, but Shiro wasn’t some rookie explorer who would abandon her role in a moment of panic.

-CRACKLE!

Ice magic swirled around the rock surrounding me.

As the golem’s aggro shifted toward Shiro—

‘Now.’

I struck hard, using the hardening effect that still remained on my shield.

The damage was minimal, but stealing the aggro was the key right now.

-BOOM!

The creature moved, and I created distance between us again.

‘This is easier than I thought.’

Its pattern was simple.

Push when someone gets close, and when they’re far away, slam both arms on the ground to make rocks shoot up around it.

Normally, people would back away to avoid this, but—

‘Diving in is much better.’

Backing away could lead to accidents if coordination with the backline faltered even once.

In contrast, diving forward only required me to move well on my own.

I could also deal more damage this way, making it the best choice.

-THUD!

We repeated the same battle pattern several times, accumulating damage.

Go forward, dodge, let Shiro cast magic, steal aggro and retreat.

It was an extremely monotonous strategy.

I should have been excited about getting another Source soon, but—

‘….’

An inexplicable uneasiness lingered in my mind.

The pursuer following us.

‘Though they haven’t shown themselves for a while, I must always be vigilant.’

It was right to consider their movements at all times.

If they were after our lives, it made sense for them to appear now.

‘Better to deal with them before heading toward the griffin.’

The wind created by the Lesser Griffin had exposed their position.

Therefore—

-BOOM!

The most vulnerable moment was when the golem slammed the ground and I dove back in.

Before this battle ended.

-Whoosh.

The wind direction suddenly shifted.

The dust flow created by the golem began rapidly moving toward Shiro.

‘They’re approaching.’

I struck the golem and rushed through the rocks toward Shiro.

“Shiro! Watch the rear! They’ve appeared!”

“…!”

She quickly turned and ran toward Airi and Youngae, but—

-Whoosh.

A silent void like after a powerful explosion brushed past me.

‘Ah.’

Thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

I’m being attacked, where are they? What kind of attack is it? Even if I knew, could I block it?

…Setting those questions aside.

The hardening effect on my shield still had time left.

That meant I could block whatever attack was coming.

Even if I couldn’t block it, I had to believe I could.

‘Is it a simple strike?’

In that brief moment of thought—

-BOOOOOM!

In that split second before I could even hear the explosion—

I swung instinctively.

-CLANG!!

The sound of something colliding with my shield rang out clearly.

I had blocked the attack.

Before I could even feel relief at surviving—

‘Quickly.’

I turned my head rapidly to identify the attacker.

-Whoosh.

“!”

But only footprints remained there.

A purple hue, as if marking where they had been.

‘Disappeared in an instant.’

A situation full of questions.

There was no time to guess what ability it was.

“Shiro! Listen for sounds around you!”

As I hurried to rejoin the group—

“-!”

A purple blade of energy flew toward Shiro.

She barely managed to move her body to avoid it, and purple mana boiled where the energy blade hit the ground.

A power that could lead to fatal wounds if hit directly.

‘Where are they?’

There was no time to panic.

If they had launched an energy blade, their position must have been revealed.

I searched for traces of the attacker while scanning the surroundings.

-Whoosh.

Smoke billowing just a few meters ahead.

“Shiro! Please deploy wind magic around us!”

I shouted while forming our formation.

I stood at the front blocking the golem, with Airi and Youngae behind me, and Shiro at the very back protecting the priest line.

“W-what’s happening? An ambush?”

Youngae asked in confusion.

“It’s someone who’s been following us! They have stealth abilities, and we estimate they’re at least 8th floor level!”

In terms of pure hunting ability, we might have the advantage, but they were specialized in PVP.

The fact that they were pursuing us meant they were confident in their skills.

It was right to consider them at least 8th floor level, possibly 9th.

-THUD! BOOM!

“…”

My body trembled as I watched the approaching golem.

‘It’s too late to run.’

Should we have fled the moment we encountered the golem?

No, if we had fled immediately, they would have found us suspicious.

Because the reason…

The reason is.

‘Because they think we’re low on health.’

That’s likely what they would have thought.

Because even Airi and Youngae truly believed that.

This was simply my oversight.

‘…I need to think.’

Unfortunately, there was no time for self-reproach.

How to break through this situation?

Even if Shiro used wind magic to locate them, blindly running would only make us targets.

But if we moved while conscious of the attacker, it would be impossible to shake off the golem.

What should we do…

“…Sir Adel!”

At that moment, Airi called out to me.

“Yes, Airi!”

“Please block the golem’s attack with your shield, even if just for a moment! I’ll help with the rest! Trust me!”

Even with Instantaneous Hardening, taking an attack head-on would surely crush my shield.

However, her voice carried conviction.

“Haah…”

Logically speaking, it was an absurd gamble.

But there was no other way out of this situation.

-WHOOSH!

As time dragged on, Shiro finally used her magic.

What she used wasn’t offensive magic, but rather the type that imbued an area with an elemental property.

“When the wind blows, the smoke will scatter! Those traces over there are where they moved!”

It was the perfect magic for this situation where we needed to reveal the attacker’s position.

-BOOM!

The golem raised its arms.

“Here it comes!”

Aware of the golem’s attack, the attacker was fortunately keeping their distance.

‘Now there’s only one thing to do.’

This was an attack difficult to block even with Instantaneous Hardening, and now I couldn’t even use it due to cooldown.

But I had to do it anyway.

I extended my shield toward the golem’s attack that would normally turn us into mincemeat.

-BOOOOOM!

An intense impact traveled through my shield.

In that fraction of a second, not even 0.1 seconds—

‘It’s going to be crushed—’

Just as I thought I was meeting my end—

-CRACK!

Something other than my shield cracked.

“Sir Adel! Attack the golem!”

“…!”

Airi had spread a golden barrier above me.

“Hup-!”

I swung my sword, accumulating damage on the golem.

Normally I would have despaired at such a hopeless attack, but now my mind was filled with other thoughts.

‘How?’

Projecting a barrier at a distance was a technique even upper-level priests couldn’t use.

Yet she deployed such an advanced technique, and at a level that could even block a golem’s attack.

“…Let’s move for now! We need to form our formation and descend as quickly as possible!”

There was no time for distractions.

Staying here would only result in combined attacks from the stealthed enemy and the golem.

Our priority was to escape the golem’s territory.

So we moved while watching in all directions.

-Whoosh.

A small wisp of smoke fluttered.

“Shiro! Please handle the left side!”

The golem was about to attack again.

The attacker seemed to be trying to strike when I couldn’t react, with off-beat timing.

‘I hope Shiro can block it well.’

I felt sorry for entrusting her with such a heavy responsibility, but I was powerless right now.

‘Instantaneous Hardening.’

I hardened my shield and blocked the golem’s arm.

-BOOOOOM!

A heavy sound accompanied an intense impact.

Thanks to Airi’s barrier, I blocked it easily, and then—

‘What about Shiro?’

I immediately turned my gaze toward her.

“Ugh…”

She was clutching her right shoulder, which was bleeding.

“Shiro! Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine. It just grazed me.”

Having failed to block the energy blade, purple mana was boiling around her shoulder wound.

“Airi! Please heal her quickly!”

The energy seemed to be penetrating the wound area, causing continuous damage.

Even with quick healing, it looked like it would continue to hinder her in battle.

“Almighty heavens.”

Airi began to mutter something.

With her hands clasped together and eyes closed in concentration, she looked like a high-level priest reciting a prayer.

“—Let there be light.”

As she uttered the final words, a bright light enveloped Shiro’s body.

-WHOOSH!

The attacker moved, perhaps sensing something ominous.

“Hup-!”

I immediately moved to protect Shiro, but—

“…Adel.”

Shiro stepped in front of me.

“Shiro! Get behind me!”

“…I’m fine now.”

-Whoosh.

As Shiro moved her arm, the wind blew, and—

“Surge.”

Her body shot forward.

-CRASH!

There was a divine aura in her back as she advanced without hesitation.

“Sir Adel.”

Airi called to me with a faint smile.

-BOOOOOM!

Airi extended one hand to the side, deploying a barrier that was blocking the golem’s attack.

“…How is this possible?”

“Rather than that, please attack the golem quickly. The blessing I bestowed on Shiro uses a lot of divine power, so it won’t last long.”

She gave me a relaxed smile.