Chapter 163

Four Chapters to Go!!

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 163

Let’s Overcome A High Wall!

Seeing that the masked thing had taken a step backwards, the golem thought that this was its chance.

The golem had never thought that a mere human would be able to make a battle against it so one-sided.

Its kind was meant to be attacked by their opponents, and then die.

They weren’t meant to be afraid of their own fate.

After all, golems were fake creatures created by the dungeons.

However, this golem had been thrown into the darkest depths of fear itself.

(SCARYSCARYSCARYSCARYSCARYSCARY!!)

The golem was terrified of that masked thing.

――Why do the feathers on his neck spread outwards?

――Why does that light blink repeatedly as if the mask itself flickered?

――Why can the masked thing manipulate plants and insects, and fly freely in the air?

――Why is the masked thing always laughing!?

Every single thing that masked thing did, the sheer eccentricity of it, would smash the golem’s spirit.

The golem no longer had a decent fighting spirit anymore.

It felt terribly discouraged to even begin to catch up with what was happening.

Right now, it just wanted to escape to a place where the masked thing couldn’t find it.

So the golem howled.

To try to distract the masked thing enough so that it could make its escape.

To howl so loudly in order to create a chance to escape was a gamble.

A gamble with terrible odds.

However, the golem had won the bet.

(I HAVE TO ESCAPE QUICKLY!!)

Seeing that the masked thing had receded, the golem quickly turned around.

I don’t want to see that masked thing again.

Glittering mask, spreading feathers, flying around in the sky, wearing plants that fire potatoes, manipulating insects, laughing, and slashing, slashing, slashing…

――I don’t want to confront such an actual monster ever again.

The golem ran away from the scene with all his might to get away from that masked monster as soon as possible.

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She could hear that voice she had been wanting to hear coming from somewhere.

The voice of someone she held dear had reached Karen’s consciousness– Haruki Karaboshi’s voice.

He was laughing.

He sounded like he was enjoying himself from the bottom of his heart.

His laughing voice permeated through Karen’s heart, which had been on edge ever since his sudden disappearance.

Even on the battlefield where his life was at stake, he would laugh like a child who enjoys playing in the mud.

His laughter had a strong power.

No matter what kind of absurd thing he would do, he could just laugh and everything would be fine…

Hearing Haruki’s voice, relief spread to Karen’s chest.

Then, with a ferocious momentum, self-loathing arose from its depths.

When did I fall asleep? What am I…

Get up.

Get back on your feet and help Haruki.

To enjoy their adventure together from the bottom of their hearts, to be there to support him…

Get up, get up!!

The landscape seemed to be spinning in circles, and her head felt loose.

As she finally lifted her body using her staff as a support, her whole body squeaked.

Karen grit her teeth and endured the feeling that she might be about to fall to the ground once again.

Karen began to pour all of her energy into her staff.

The effort was making her dizziness even worse.

However, even so, Karen kept on pouring her energy into her staff.

All while staring at Haruki’s back…

Had the staff reached its limits?

The staff was getting hotter and hotter.

(Not yet… More!!)

Karen could see that the golem was turning around.

She had already experienced first-hand during the battle against the Dark Knight that most magic wouldn’t work against such a powerful foe.

So she had to reach the utmost limit, just before she breaks…

No, if it meant that the golem could be defeated with it, even if she herself ended up broken, Karen kept on pouring energy into her staff.

(This time, I…)

Haruki’s path, his dream, his hopes…

All of that could be taken away from him by that monster.

(And this time, I’ll protect all of it–!!)

If these tiny hands of mine…

Can eliminate the enemies that interfere…

With the path of conquest of my benefactor Haruki…

(Then I’ll gladly give my life for it!!)

With that, Karen unleashed her greatest spell ever.

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“…Huuuh!?”

Haruki was confused to see the golem running away.

The golem turned its back on Haruki and scuttled away in panic.

Haruki, who never thought it would try to run away, let out a surprised shout.

But he couldn’t allow the golem to get away.

(You have the key to my strong presence!!)

Haruki poured all of his energy into his mask.

—Divine Energy.

It was an intimidation skill that Haruki could finally use against the golem.

At first, he had been trying his best to keep the golem’s aggro towards his mask.

But now it was different.

“–!!”

After being showered with Haruki’s Divine Energy, the golem became stiff.

Divine Energy– A godly aura that briefly immobilizes the opponent.

The immobilized golem started to slowly turn its head, which made a grinding, squeaking sound, similar to that of rusty iron.

“Huh? It’s a bit different from what I thought…”

Since it was a “Divine” Energy, Haruki thought it would be more awe-inspiring.

Instead, the golem’s reaction was that of someone completely terrified.

And it wasn’t the kind of terror one would feel during battle.

It was more like the kind of terror one would feel after seeing a ghost.

(Huh…?)

That’s weird…

However, a chance was still a chance.

Haruki threw his doubts aside and rushed at the golem.

The golem’s entire body had been cracked countless times by previous attacks.

The light of Weakness Exploit was shining brightly through those cracks.

The light was still too weak. It wasn’t enough to completely destroy the golem.

However, if he kept on attacking it, he would eventually be able to defeat it.

Haruki was convinced of that fact.

At that moment…

“Oh–?”

A shiver on the back of his neck.

It was a feeling he had felt hundreds, thousands of times.

Haruki took a step to the side reflexively.

Away from the “line of sight” of that feeling.

The next moment…

A flicker, as if a power outage had come and gone in a second.

Then…

*Vroooom!!*

It wasn’t the sound of thunder. It was more as if something had broken the barrier of sound behind Haruki. The golem then was hit with a powerful spell.

“Whoa!?”

The golem was assaulted by a barrage of wind blades that hit him one after another.

They were so powerful that Haruki, who was at a fair distance from the golem, feared he could be blown away by the aftermath.

A piece of crystal soared high into the sky.

The one who cast that spell had been none other than Karen.

She had unleashed an extraordinary spell with tremendous force from behind Haruki.

The reason why Haruki was able to dodge that spell without any hints other than the shiver on the back of his neck was that his Detection level was high.

And also thanks to the deep connection he had with Karen.

That spell that went by Haruki’s eyes was several times more powerful than anything Karen had unleashed before.

To think that she’d manage to pull something like that off…

This is good.

This is really good!!

I’ll have to do my best as well, then.

A fire sparkled in Haruki’s heart as he rushed forward with all his might, his eyes set on the golem, who had yet to recover from the impact of Karen’s magic.

He was using Shigure’s “Shukuchi”.

He would close the distance between himself and the golem without it noticing his movements.

He already had a clear target.

A spot on the golem’s chest.

That place, which had been destroyed by Karen’s magic, was now shining brightly.

Without any preliminary movements, Haruki pushed his Magic Sword into that spot.

Did the Magic Sword notice it would be a fatal strike?

It had so much of Haruki’s energy that it wouldn’t stop shaking in joy.

The Magic Sword hadn’t been the only one to react to that.

The golem too seemed to have noticed Haruki’s murderous intent.

It lifted its left arm in an attempt to block Haruki’s thrust.

But before that…

“–Hah!”

Haruki thrust the short sword he had in his left hand into the crack in the golem’s arm.

The short sword managed to stop the golem’s arm before it could block Haruki’s second attack.

Grinning, Haruki pushed his Magic Sword, which was full to the brim with his energy, into the golem’s chest.

The Magic Sword cut through the golem’s tough armor as if it were butter.

Eventually, its tip reached the central part of the golem.

There, it came in contact with a hard object.

There was a dry sound.

The next moment…

A flicker.

An intense light covered the area in white.

<<Updating grade… Update complete>>

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Haruki hurriedly backsteps while blocking the light with his left arm.

He stopped about 10 meters away from the golem.

Approximately 10 seconds later, the light started to fade until it vanished completely.

The golem’s tattered body was the first thing that appeared from that light.

The golem was still standing on its two legs.

However, Haruki relaxed his alertness and put his Magic Sword away.

At the same time as the Magic Sword snapped into its scabbard, the golem gradually started to lean backwards, until it collapsed onto the ground.

*Zuuuuuunnn!!*

An intense tremor was followed by a furious sound.

The entire forest was shaken to its core.

The Bloody Owls could be heard making a racket all over the forest as well.

The incredibly hard thing that the tip of the Magic Sword touched during the attack must have been the golem’s core.

With its core damaged, the golem ceased functioning entirely.

Haruki looked at Van and Karen as he pulled out his short sword from the golem’s arm.

First of all, Karen was lying on the ground while still holding her staff, probably as a side-effect of her using such a terrifyingly powerful spell.

There were almost no external wounds on her body, but it looked like she was going to be out for some time, since her energy had been significantly depleted.

Van had received quite a lot of serious injuries, but most of his visible wounds had already disappeared.

All that remained was the damage to his body, but Haruki had used a High Potion on him. It was safe to assume that any deadly injuries he had must have sustained had already been cured by it.

Maat was still visibly tired, but was now resting on top of Karen’s head and watching the surroundings.

“Ah, what about Chep…?”

The moment he mentioned Chep’s name…

Haruki felt a strong gaze coming from inside Karen’s pocket.

“…Right.”

It was pointless to worry about that fish.

Haruki looked away as if to ignore her gaze.

It had been quite a dangerous battle.

Still, Haruki and everyone else had managed to survive.

“Phew… Gah!?”

The moment Haruki relaxed himself, he felt the rush of a strong Level-Up Sickness deep inside.

Unable to endure the severe pain, Haruki dropped to his knees.

Haruki wasn’t the only one that felt a Level-Up sickness.

Both Karen, who had fainted after unleashing her spell, and Van, who had lost consciousness due to severe pain, were groaning and distorting their faces.

Furthermore, Esta, who had been latched onto Haruki’s abdomen, fell to the ground with convulsions in his tiny feet.

Rhea was sprawled all over Haruki’s back.

Maat was shivering while still on top of Karen’s head.

And also…

“Gyoeeeeehhh!!”

A terrible scream came out of Karen’s pocket.

Even with Chep’s distribution of experience points, everyone suffered from severe Level-Up sickness.

What’s more, even Van, a senior adventurer who was well ahead of Haruki and the others, was suffering from it as well.

The golem must have yielded a tremendous amount of experience points.

(Kuh… I can’t lose consciousness here…)

They were still inside the dungeon.

This wasn’t like that time on “Kamuikotan”. Monsters were still lurking in the area.

If everyone were to faint at the same time, they would be easily slaughtered by the Bloody Owls.

They had just managed to survive a harsh battle.

He couldn’t just let himself faint and ruin everything they had worked so far for.

Haruki bit his lips hard enough to make himself bleed, urging himself to stay conscious.

It looked as if they had instinctively detected that Haruki and the others were in a weakened state…

Haruki’s Detection caught the signs of several Bloody Owls approaching one after another.

At this rate, they would be completely surrounded.

Worst-case scenario, there would be so many of them that it would turn into a Monster Parade.

Haruki filled his mask with energy without delay.

There was a chance that he would be able to intimidate the Bloody Owls with his newly-acquired Divine Energy, just like he had done with the golem.

He pushed more and more energy into his mask.

Then, he released his Divine Energy.

Soon after…

“”””Byaaaaahhh!!””””

Several voices that sounded like cats being run over by a truck echoed throughout the forest.

They unmistakably were the shrieks of the Bloody Owls.

The Bloody Owls let out a shriek, quickly and simultaneously moving away from Haruki’s Detection range.

It didn’t take long for all of the signs of Bloody Owls to disappear from Haruki’s surroundings.

“…Huh?”

While enduring the intense pain, Haruki tilted his head to the side.

Haruki had used his Divine Energy with the intention of keeping the monsters away.

The result was that the Bloody Owls were successfully driven away from Haruki and the others.

However, the effect itself had been far beyond his expectations.

Why did they escape all at once, and why so incredibly fast?

Even the sound of trees sounded distant, as if the forest itself was afraid.

“…Oh well.”

After thinking about it for a while and realizing that he wouldn’t find an answer to his question any time soon, he decided to forget about it.

As Haruki continued to endure the pain caused by his Level-Up sickness, he noticed that the golem’s body had started to squirm.