Chapter 47: Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunterâs Hero Dream Chapter 47 \n47 ăŹăă«ïŒ Level 8\n
The sand golem slowly changed itâs stance, and faced our way.
Itâs imposing appearance armed with a sword and shield looked like some kind of god of death.
Apparently the sand golem phantom that was famous for being a small fry, gained considerable power when it became a boss. If the huge body only fell over I would be crushed flat. The ăSafe Ringă wasnât invincible.
âŠWhy do these things always happen to me. Before falling into despair, I first felt worn out. When I thought about it, since becoming a hunter I had only gone through bad experiences.
When I went to go view cherry blossoms, I thought I would die when a shrine suddenly appeared. Well due to some pollen I immediately fainted, and by the time I woke up everything was already over.
The golem raised itâs sword in a casual motion. The jet black sword covered the moon. And like that, it swung the sword down into the ground as if to intimidate.
Fierce wind pressure assailed me and Liz. A thunderous roar as if the whole world was collapsing was thrown against my body. I accidentally activated one ăSafe Ringă even though I wasnât hit by anything. Crap.
I should have only come here after asking a trader to charge the Night Hiker and it was finished. Because it was a simple shrine, and since Liz was also here I had gotten careless.
Liz frowned and held over her ears. She was in front of me, and even though she received the impact directly her stance was unswayed. She was grumbling.
ââŠTch. The output is high⊠I wonât be able to take any hits. A new model? It isnât a phantom⊠ăAkashaă huh. A troublesome thing as usual.â
Whatâs Akasha? Is it the name of the golem?
The huge column raised itâs arms to itâs head, and itâs legs bent. At the human like actions, I reflexively took a step back.
And all of a sudden â the sky darkened.
The giant golem made a huge jump, completely blocking out the moon. It was nimble contrary to itâs slow witted looking silhouette. While I was astonished, the golem landed at a place ten meters in front of me.
It was like a meteorite had come down. My consciousness was paralysed by the impact of a monster suddenly appearing before my eyes. I felt like patting myself on the back for still being able to remain standing.
Beneath the moonlight, itâs imposing appearance became clear. Itâs whole body was covered in what looked like metal armour. At a glance, instead of a golem it looked like a heavily armed knight. The only difference was itâs size. Large compared to a woman with a small build like Liz, it had a physique around twice the size of a man like myself.
I had seen golems several times before, but this was my first time seeing one so gigantic.
The sword was black with a sinister red design running along the edge. The face of the shield was polished into a mirror, and it was large enough to cover the majority of itâs huge body. The golem looked even stronger. Was there some kind of rule recently where phantoms had to wear armour?
The head had nothing resembling eyes. No, itâs body didnât have any organs like those of a living creature. I knew with the wolf knights that you could aim for the eyes, but this monster seemed to have no weak points.
Well, even if I knew them I couldnât do anything about it.
I have no choice but to ask for the opinion of Liz-san the expert.
Liz was really uplifted at the appearance of a monster that could never have been predicted. Whether the enemy is a human, an insect, or a golem itâs all irrelevant. She spoke to me in a voice that was a semitone higher than usual.
âHey Cry-chan. Do you really want Tee to do this?â
She was a strict teacher. Disregarding normal Treasure Hunters, that was probably asking the impossible. No, this would probably be difficult even for Liz.
The moment I started to say that, the golem standing upright leaned slightly. The high sound of metal being struck sounded, and I saw Tino land at the gap between itâs feet.
Apparently she kicked it from behind. So aggressive.\n
The golem turned as if in an annoyed gesture. Tino spoke in a weeping voice that seemed like it could fade away at any moment.
âMaster⊠itâs impossible.â
ââŠYeah, thatâs right.â
This wasnât even a challenge was itâŠ
The golem turned and mowed itâs sword down into the ground. The pressure from the sword gouged a hole in the ground, and Tino who jumped away to avoid the slash was blown away bouncing on the ground.
It wouldnât be odd if you were cut right in half if you took that strike. For an instant my breath stopped at the sight, but apparently it wasnât a fatal blow and she got back up straight away.
âHm hm, I seeâŠâ
I nodded in a dignified fashion. I did understand but⊠it looked like itâs appearance wasnât merely for show. Large, fast, and heavy. It wasnât a phantom that would appear in a Level 1 shrine. Letâs follow the rules properly.
The golem didnât seem to show much interest in Tino, and it turned in order to pursue us. Liz didnât take the golem out of her sight, and spoke shortly.
âShould I do it? Or does Cry-chan want to?â
Whatâs with those hellish options? Well no, I wanted to do it but I was worried about Tino! There was no helping it.
âIâll take Tino and escape, so you do it.â
The movement of the golem was definitely fast, but such a large thing could never keep up with Liz. If it was just Liz on her own, she could escape easily. At my shameful words, Liz gave a small smile. Seeing it after a long time, it was an expression she often had when we explored shrines together.
And without hesitation, Liz flung herself at the monster much larger than herself.
§
The golem with a giant shield at the ready stepped back as if overwhelmed. Without actually seeing it, it was hard to believe a girl less than half itâs height could accomplish it.
Successive sounds resounded in the night sky as if a jack hammer was being used. The true origin of the sound were kicks. A shield that covered the whole body of the huge golem. Lizâs kicks continuously drilled into it. No voice was let out, but itâs feelings were transmitted from the way it was standing.
Sounds so fierce they made me worry about activating a Safe Ring. Each blow was so powerful that they didnât seem like kicks. It was simply monstrous. But the sand golem that could receive the strikes of a hunter that could capture a level 8 shrine was just as monstrous.
I mean looking closely, itâs like metal. Since it wasnât sand anymore it couldnât really be called a sand golemâŠ
The broad, slightly curved shield had incredible hardness.
It was only natural something made of metal couldnât be broken by kicks, but the limits of Lizâs physical strength were no longer in that realm. It wouldnât be odd for a regular shield to be destroyed by now, so it wasnât strange for itâs defences to struggle.
However, the movements of the sand golem didnât stop. Perhaps experienced in receiving blows, while being kicked it swung down the sword in itâs right hand. The blade that had the power to make the ground tremble fell right over Lizâs position, and shook the sky.
The sword bored deep into the earth, and the ground quaked. An angry shout came from behind the sand golem.
âHey, Tee. Get out of here! Donât keep Cry-chan waiting!â
âY-Yes. Onee-sama!â
When did she get behind it? I didnât even notice watching from a distance, so from the sand golemâs perspective it would have been as if itâs target jusy vanished. As expected, Lizâs speed was overwhelming. With this, sheâd manage somehow right?\nTino ran across the ground. The sand golem didnât pay her any attention. It remained with itâs back to Liz without turning.
Itâs head was turned towards me, the one person who wasnât doing anything.
A momentary flash of light was emitted by itâs feet. For an instant, my vision was dyed white.
Terrific heat was slammed against my body.
With my vision white, I heard Tino shriek.
I only noticed I was attacked after my vision returned to black. The golem had moved back as if shaken. I could see the area around my feet glowing red.
Apparently I had suddenly been directly hit by heat rays or something. And my safe ring defended me. Sand golems were crazy these days⊠they also had long range attacks. Wasnât it supposed to be a small fry? Before and even now, if I made one mistake I would be dead.
For some reason the golem didnât fire a second attack. It had just gone rigid. Like it was surprised I was safe after receiving the heat rays defencelessly. Of course a phantom golem shouldnât have any emotions so it was all my imagination.
A dull sound echoed, and the golem knelt. Liz had kicked it from behind.
âThereâs no way something like heat rays are going to work on Cry-chan! This shitty small fry! He surpassed attacks by magic long ago!â
Is that right? I surpassed attacks by magic? âŠIt was the first I was hearing of it.
With loud metallic sounds, the body of the golem clattered as it twitched. It had put itâs hands on the ground to get itself back up, but it couldnât rise. Lizâs kicks wouldnât allow it.
There was more force used than when she had been kicking the shield. I guess she couldnât restrain her anger after seeing I had been attacked. If she could, I wish she would do so before I was attacked, but there was no such luxuries.
I mean, wasnât this a little bad? That golem wasnât damaged at all. A sturdy phantom was Lizâs natural enemy.
Her way of fighting â or rather, the thieves style was to lead enemies by the nose with quick attacks and agile movement, striking at vital areas. Liz was absurdly strong, but this opponent was without vital points so her affinity with it was bad.
Being able to kick it into the ground was incredible, but the situation was poor. Golems didnât appear to feel pain or fatigue, so defeating it without taking damage didnât seem possible.
While being attacked from behind, it raised the sword in itâs right hand high. And then swung it down towards me.
The distance between me and the golem was about ten meters. No matter how I thought about it, there was no way it could reach. As I was being careless, the tip of the sword struck beyond itâs original reach.
That guy threw itâs sword. The moment I understood that, my ăSafe Ringă deflected the huge sword away. Wasnât itâs accuracy way too good?
My eyes were submerged in almost total darkness. Now as I was prepared for death, my heart beat like an alarm. Even if I knew I was protected, there was no way to get used to the verge of death.
Now I had ădiedă twice.
The deflected sword rolled several times on the ground raising a cloud of dust. Concealing my shaking arms and legs, I folded my arms and gave a nihilistic smile imitating Liz.
âThereâs no way this kind of physical attack is going to work. Iâm level eight you know? Itâs not even worth avoiding.â
Well, I canât do anything either though⊠Was that hard boiled?
The movement of the golem stopped a second time. No way, was it at a level where it could feel nervous? I feel like golems had really progressed lately.
The number of remaining safe rings was four. I needed to escape without receiving any further attacks. âŠMy legs wouldnât move.\n\nFor thieves that moved faster it could fire magic rays, and it had a function that could use itâs internal mana to form a temporary barrier. It was crammed full of features to the point it was excessive. It was to the degree that even the ăTower of Akashaă that valued knowledge and research admonished them.
There was absolutely no way they could lose. It was the system created as the last defence in an emergency. Even if it was a hunter certified at level eight they still wouldnât lose.
But that self confidence had been smashed to pieces in a few minutes. Notoâs disciples that had absolute confidence just a short while ago had pale faces.
ăSevered Shadowă that opposed Akasha without receiving a single hit was also astounding, but above all â
âImpossible⊠Both physical and magic attacks show no effect!â
If they were evaded they could understand. If he defended himself then it could also be acknowledged. However, Infinite Variety received the attacks defenceless. And in spite of that â he was unharmed.
The heat rays were simple but difficult to avoid, holding the same power as advanced attack magic. Even a high level hunter couldnât take a direct hit without resistance. The thrown ăSword of Truthă was the same. Simple but difficult to defend against.
âI-Is it some kind of Relic!? No human can survive the attacks of Akasha unhurt!â
âBut, he did it twice. It might be possible to block one using a Safe Ring, but is there a Relic that can defend against the attacks of Akasha multiple times!?â
âThere is no chance it was a mana barrier right?â
âHe didnât use any magic arts. Damn, what kind of trick is it?â
Watching his disciples in fear and disorder seeing the mysterious person, Noto sighed at the unsightly state of affairs. Before the unknown he felt curiosity more than fear. Rather than curiosity, it was an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
This time his second and third most reliable disciples were staying in the lab to operate the golem, his best disciple wasnât here.
Most of all, the observing familiars that should never have been able to be noticed had been seen through. Not only the sand rabbits that were used to watch the vicinity, but also the saimos that were used to monitor the outer area to a certain extent.
Akasha was their mental support.
One of the disciples spoke with a quavering voice in terror. It was a disciple that was particularly passionate in creating Akasha. An expert in golem creation. It was because of that he had confidence, and also precisely why why he couldnât endure the current situation.
âLook at his expression. Look how much leeway he has. The way heâs so defenceless is like heâs begging us to attack! I-Itâs really like⊠he thinks weâre not worth anything. Like weâre insignificant.â
âItâs just a coincidence. Forget it. Akasha⊠still hasnât been defeated yet! Itâs the realisation of our research. Right now theyâre retreating from the golem, okay?â
He rebuked his shaken up disciple sharply. But, he understood that his words werenât very persuasive. To sum up the current state of things with the word âcoincidenceâ was too much.
His disciples regained composure from his strong words. They probably understood that arguing about it was futile.
âB-But, Infinite Variety â he said the rabbit owner was inside the burrow, itâs â too late, he knows that â â
ââŠThere are a lot of sand rabbit burrows around here.â
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Translator Notes
I feel like a modern equivalent to hard boiled would be âice coldâ or something. But saying hard boiled lends it a cringish âpretendâ feel that Iâm not sure was intentional.