Chapter 159

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 159

Let’s Confront the Masked Creature!

The golem was facing a weak creature.

It was such a worthless creature that it would scatter away as soon as it touched it.

It was too feeble, too vulnerable, and it was even discouraged from fighting.

And yet, the golem was obsessed with this creature.

Perhaps, if the golem had had a high intelligence, it might have wondered why.

“TRY, TRY, TRY, TRY.”

“PUT THAT CREATURE’S TRUE STRENGTH TO THE TEST!”

Although it had some primitive intelligence, the purpose of the golem’s existence was to test its opponent.

Therefore, the golem did not stop punching the creature in front of him.

Punchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunch…

The golem kept punching that creature over and over again.

It was weak.

It was too weak.

It was furnished with a strangely charming mask, and feathers on its neck. The creature, whose body was covered in scales, kept facing the golem, no matter how many times he was punched, beaten, and sent rolling on the floor.

Punchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunch…

The masked creature would stand up to face the golem every time.

(…WEIRD.)

The golem had finally noticed something strange.

The golem had hit the masked creature many times.

Though the creature had managed to parry its attacks on some occasions, it had still hit the masked creature many, many times.

(SO WHY IS THERE NO CHANGE IN ITS MOVEMENTS?)

The more a normal creature is hit, the more damage it would accumulate in its body, and the slower it would move.

That would surely happen, since the creature’s body would keep on breaking after every hit.

Pain could also slow down a creature’s movements, but even if it didn’t feel pain, its movements should be affected after receiving enough damage.

That also applied for the golem.

The golem was unable to feel pain.

So it wouldn’t be slowed down by pain.

But if any part of the golem’s body were to be destroyed, its movement would surely be affected.

(…THEN WHY?)

A strange sensation emerged inside the golem’s chest.

However, it ignored it, and kept on attacking.

He would take its opponent’s attack, and counter it.

That didn’t change.

The golem was in no rush.

No matter how many times the creature attacked it, he wasn’t able to put a single dent on the golem.

It didn’t have to be afraid of its opponent’s attacks.

All it had to do was to focus on keeping hitting it.

At some point, the creature left itself open after dodging an attack.

The golem saw an opportunity and hit the creature directly.

*–Whack!!*

“Gahahh–!!”

The golem’s fist directly hit the masked creature’s abdomen.

After flying in the air for 10 meters, it ragdolled on the floor for another 5 meters before coming to a stop.

That attack had been powerful enough to destroy the creature’s internal organs.

The golem was sure it had crushed something with its fist.

With that, it shouldn’t be able to stand up anymore.

The golem was sure of it.

At that moment…

(—!?)

The golem felt a cold chill run down its spine for the first time ever.

The golem’s body had almost no sense of touch to begin with, so perhaps to say that it “felt a cold chill” wouldn’t be completely accurate.

However, the golem did feel a shock that seemed to freeze his spine.

The creature’s internal organs had certainly been crushed.

Its abdomen was a mess and its lungs must have been damaged as well.

And yet, the masked creature got right back up almost as if nothing had happened.

(IMPOSSIBLE…)

It was impossible.

Such a living thing shouldn’t exist.

The golem started to get a bit impatient.

It started to think that it was dangerous to let this creature live.

The golem stomped on the ground and jumped.

It flew almost parallel to the ground.

With that momentum, it attacked the masked creature again.

However…

“I’ve already seen that.”

“–!?”

The masked creature evaded the golem’s attack.

It was also different from before.

This time, it had dodged the attack in a clean way, without creating any openings.

(THIS IS… NO, IT CAN’T BE.)

Suddenly something came to the golem’s mind, but it quickly ignored it.

It ignored it, and focused on its attack.

After another stomp on the ground, the golem came to a sudden halt.

Then, it started to twist its body to attack.

That attack swallowed the masked creature up…

…Or it should have, but it had actually dodged it by a hair’s breadth.

The next moment…

The masked creature twisted its body.

*–Creak!*

A small section of the golem’s body had been slightly scraped.

(–WHAT!?)

The shock caused the golem to stop moving.

It kept trying to reject reality by saying “IMPOSSIBLE” to itself over and over.

The masked creature had never been able to hurt its body before.

Even when it had tried using an Energy-based attack, the golem’s own energy was enough to repel it.

And yet, with a simple twist of its body, it had now managed to leave a scratch on the golem’s elbow.

“…HAHA! I finally gotcha!”

The hoarse voice of the masked creature resounded under the golem’s chest.

The golem quickly kicked the masked creature.

“–Gahaahh!!”

Once again the masked creature flew, and rolled on the floor.

The golem now approached the fallen masked creature.

It kicked it again, and again it flew.

It persistently kicked it over and over so that the masked creature wouldn’t be able to stand up ever again.

It trampled the masked creature underfoot.

Then, a strange light emerged from the creature’s mask.

The light made the golem’s very spirit shiver.

The golem put even more effort into trampling the masked creature underfoot.

It felt that otherwise, something dangerous would happen.

Something absolute, something governed by an evil god…

*–Thwomp!!*

The golem’s stomp shook the floor of the dungeon.

Its attack had been incredibly strong.

After taking in such a powerful stomp, the masked creature would never stand up again.

And yet…

“That was close…”

“–!?”

Just ahead of the spot where the golem had stomped, there was the masked creature.

The inside of its mask’s eyes was shining with a flickering light as it stood there, watching the golem’s foot.

(HOW… WHEN!?)

It was sure it had definitely crushed that masked creature.

And yet, it had failed to do so.

The reason was that flickering light.

The golem had been overwhelmed by the mask’s suspicious light.

While the golem was preparing his stomp, a build up of not even a second had taken place.

And during that time, the masked creature had managed to scurry away to safety.

(WHAT IN THE WORLD…)

The golem couldn’t finish saying that.

Even his thoughts had come to a halt.

The golem had  been attacking and weakening the masked creature.

Even if it had taken less than one second to prepare its stomp, the creature should still have been completely cornered.

Even then, the masked creature had managed to avoid the attack.

It was as if the golem’s attacks were no longer effective against it.

Could it be that the masked creature was invincible?

The golem couldn’t feel the resistance it would feel when taking a life.

It was as if it had been throwing punches at the “air”.

Before the golem, the masked creature nimbly got back on its feet.

The golem’s spine shivered.

(I’VE HIT IT SO MANY TIMES, WHY CAN IT STILL MOVE!?)

The golem’s train of thought was almost off the rails.

It was almost as if the golem was no longer in the battle.

“HAHA… Come on, give it to me.”

The creature took a step forward as its mask continued to shine in that eerie light.

As a result, the golem unconsciously took a step back.

“Give me… a strong presence!!”

The light focused on the mask’s eyes.

The golem immediately took another step back.

At that moment…

*–Creak!!*

The golem’s arm made a sound.

The golem couldn’t immediately understand what had just happened.

It had reflexively withdrawn as soon as it saw the mask’s light, but the masked creature didn’t seem to move.

And still, the masked creature’s current posture indicated that it had slashed with the short sword that it had in its left hand.

Not in its right hand.

The short sword the masked creature had in its right hand… That one had definitely been destroyed earlier.

(A SPARE WEAPON…?)

It seemed similar to the one it had before, but the blade was slightly wider.

(IT ATTACKED WITH THAT? BUT…)

It wasn’t as sharp as his other weapon.

That short sword didn’t seem to be a threat to the golem’s hard body.

And yet, the golem was more alert of the masked creature’s attacks than ever.

Something about its attacks was different from before.

That alertness eventually ended up saving the golem.

*–Swisshh!*

A dry sound echoed in the cave.

The creature’s mask seemed to be smiling in response to it.

The source of that sound was its arm.

There was a small crack on the arm that the masked creature had attacked earlier.

(NO WAY!!)

The shock confused the golem even more.

An attack with a dull short sword had actually broken past the golem’s hard armor.

It hadn’t been damaged too badly.

However, the shock of what had just happened left the golem in a state of confusion.

Its confusion turned into panic.

It quickly started to eat away at the golem.

(UH, OH… OOOOHHH!!)

The creature’s mask shone strongly and violently with an intimidating and awe-inspiring light.

It was dangerous.

That masked creature was dangerous.

The golem quickly launched a desperate attack.

The golem had to destroy the masked creature as soon as possible.

Pressed by its own impatience, the golem unleashed a barrage of attacks.

However, unlike before, the golem couldn’t land a single direct hit on the masked creature.

(WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY!?)

The golem’s fist, which had been able to hit the masked creature directly so far, was kicked, sending a shock through the golem’s entire body.

Still, the masked creature felt the shock as well.

The golem’s attack, which was powered by its huge bulk, caused blood to spurt out of the creature’s entire body.

But even then, the masked creature got back on its feet.

Its shoulders were shaking.

Kuhuhuhuhuh.

The masked creature’s stifled laugh echoed throughout the cave.

The mask’s light started to converge in one spot.

Suddenly, a powerful, almost god-like, feeling of intimidation seemed to dwell in the mask’s light.

The golem’s spirit finally succumbed to that clear light, which seemed to absorb and keep every single color to itself.

(AH… AAH…)

No matter how many times the golem hit it, it wouldn’t die, let alone even take damage.

The golem started to wonder if it had accidentally awakened a terrible beast…

“Take a good look at the power of my presence!!”

The mask’s light was shining extremely strongly.

As it looked at that godly (or ungodly) mask, somewhere in the golem, something burst into tears.

(AAAAAAHHHHHH!!)

At that moment, the golem ran away.

It ran away from that dreadful mask.

It ran away from the terrifying creature that wore that mask,

Was it a demon? Was it an evil god?

The golem didn’t know, and didn’t want to know.

The golem ran away with all its might.

It escaped to the wall that connected that hidden room to the normal floor…