Chapter 31 – The Blood Citadel (Part 2)

 

The scheme of the Corpse Golem's actions was simple.

Bombarding distant enemies with [Corpse Bombs], capturing nearby enemies and devouring them, all with hundreds of arms that sprouted all over his body like tentacles.

"Bjorn!"

Hearing Einar's anxious cry, I kept my distance.

If I got close enough, I wouldn't be a target for the [Corpse Bombs], but...

Then the mage will become the target.

*Slap!*

I needed to somehow stall for time, at least until the mage came to his senses.

I had to pull the aggro to myself.

*Slap!*

Every time a [Corpse Bomb] was thrown at me, I would roll to the side to increase the distance, and then crouch behind the shield to protect myself from the acidic bodily fluids.

And having done this about three times,

- [Iherno Haindar]

[Baptism of the Flame] appeared. Fortunately, the mage seemed to have come to his senses. I didn't need to look back to be convinced of this, and I focused my attention only on the Corpse Golem. With the screams of hundreds of people, the Corpse Golem's body caught fire and its shell began to peel off.

My original plan—to play tug-of-war with him, closing the distance, and then stepping back to burn the monster's body with a torch—was completed with a single magic spell.

[The outer skin of the Corpse Golem has been destroyed].

But the smell of burning rotten corpses was too strong for her.

*Vomit!!! *

I heard another portion of vomit behind me.

Please, get ready already...

No matter. I didn't need the mage anymore.

"Ainar!" Now everything is in order. Come to me!

I immediately called Einhar.

The Corpse Golem was a rank 7 monster, but if the skin was flayed, it could be overpowered by two barbarians.

"Whooshhhh!!

Its huge shape had shrunk greatly and was now only about 10 feet in diameter. When all the piles of revived dead bodies were burned and melted, only his skeleton remained, which looked like iron rods. It moved with a creak.

He entered Bone Golem Mode.

"Kya!"

Due to the decrease in weight, his movements became much more agile. I shouted, using my shield to block the Golem's arm, which was swinging furiously.

"Porter!" You help too!

"I must protect Lady Raven.

Damn it, I thought.

I thought you would say so. Just wait, I'll see to it that I'm paid for my labors.

*Smack!*

I jumped high and hit the monster's upper body with my mace.

There was a crack, but nothing more. The ribs were so hard that only a small piece of bone broke off from them. But now I could only repeat it.

"Ainar!" Aim for the chest!

"Good!"

Einhar and I attacked the Corpse Golem's ribs, sending and receiving aggro back and forth.

After forty strokes, the hard ribs that were like walnut shells shattered, exposing the "nut" inside. It was the essence of mana, the vital point of the Golems.

*Crunch!*

After destroying the essence with the mace, the Corpse Golem stopped moving and disappeared in the particles of light.

[You killed a Corpse Golem. Experience +3].

The reward was one fist-sized mana stone, suitable for a rank 7 monster.

"Oh!" How many loaves of bread are these...

Ainhar, delighted by the size of the mana stone, suddenly froze. This was because the reward was not limited to one stone.

*Ears!*

A halo of black light shone softly in the air.

"Bjorn, is this...?"

I nodded my head slightly.

It was essence.

***

The rift was no different from the treasury.

Elite monsters that didn't spawn on the regular field were precious opportunities for explorers, who were not allowed to gain more experience points, let alone loot from the Guardian.

The main thing is that the frequency of dropping essences here increased exponentially.

Actually, in terms of probability, it's strange that the essence has only appeared now...

"What are you going to do?"

I organized my thoughts on Einar's question.

The essence was rightfully ours. We almost defeated the monster together, and this was promised from the very beginning.

However...

Initially, I needed two candidates.

The regenerative power of the Death Fiend and the power of the Chimera Wolf.

Both were rank 8 monster essences.

However, in the midst of this goal, the essence of the Corpse Golem appeared, which could only be obtained from a rank 7 elite monster in the Blood Citadel.

The difficulty of obtaining this rare essence couldn't be compared to the other candidates...

But it was too early to rejoice. The penalty for this item was as severe as its unique effect.

***

[Corpse Golem]

Pain Resistance +70

Bone Durability +55

Poison Resistance +12

Strength +15

Perception -5

Appetite +9

Weight +21

***

First of all, the basic indicators were suitable for tanks.

A decrease in perception would affect visual acuity and speed of judgment, and the body would become more sluggish in general.

But, in turn, other indicators increased significantly.

"Bone Strength", which affected defense in the same way as Physical Resistance, was +55, and "Weight", which affected damage from hits and blunt objects in the game, was +21.

"Pain Resistance" would also be very useful in reality, and "Appetite" is a statistic that would be 100% useful along with "Strength" and "Poison Resistance".

But...

[Special Abilities:]

(P) Acidic fluid – the blood becomes acidic.

(A) A Flesh Explosion is a powerful explosion of a body part.

Active skill was the only drawback.

[Flesh Blast] boasted high damage, but it used the character's HP as a cost.

Can you just use passive skills?

Sealing one skill in the first place was not only a huge loss...

But by consuming this essence, every time you get injured, the durability of your equipment decreases drastically as your acidic blood gets on the equipment.

"*Phew*...

From the outrageous cost of the potion to the cost of equipment, this essence was both useless and not.

Usually, when such an essence appeared, I would feed it to the NPC that I took with me to throw. It was useless to throw it away, and it was too doubtful to feed it to the main character.

The essence you consume in the beginning must be reset someday, so taking it now would not be a bad idea...

"Let's save it for now and heal the dwarf first.

Even if the host was gone, the essence would last for 30 minutes, so there was no need to make a hasty decision. I might even be able to make a deal with him.

Having made this decision, I turned back and saw a scene that was nothing short of a mess.

Had the porter given him the potion?

The dwarf was writhing in pain caused by the potion, and the mage seemed half dead for some reason.

"Don't come any closer.

His name was... Tarzin? That rude bastard escort got in our way, even though he hadn't done anything the whole time.

Damn, what did we do?

"Why is she like this?"

When I asked from afar, the porter answered:

"She suffers from recoil after using too much magic.

Return, ha...

He seemed to be referring to "breaking the chain," a condition that sometimes occurs when a spell fails. On closer inspection, it turned out that she was literally vomiting blood, and not just her dinner.

*Vomit!!! *

Is it from using magic in the midst of vomiting because of the smell?

From my point of view, it was funny, but in Dungeon & Stone it was quite plausible.

Unlike other games where cause and effect were very clear, in this game, a seemingly minor "cause" could be life-threatening.

"Are you going to continue standing there?" It is better to move it outside first.

— ... Please take care of the dwarf here.

After escorting Raven and the dwarf to the underground prison and waiting for a while, her condition began to improve.

The dwarf was the first to wake up.

"How embarrassing... Thank you. We'd be in trouble if it weren't for the two of you.

"I'm glad you know that.

I had no reason to be modest. Modesty will not give me anything.

It is true that we have made a great contribution, and taking advantage of this, I plan to increase our salary. To do this, it would be better to inflate your importance.

"If it weren't for Einar, you'd be dead by now.

"I know. I'm embarrassed to admit, but as soon as I saw the monster, my body froze. I thought I had seen everything that could be seen in this world up to this point...

And again I realized that this place is real. If this were a game, we would have more than enough strength to kill this monster, but for psychological reasons, these people were almost killed by an intermediate boss who wasn't even a Guardian.

"But what happened to this lady?"

- Apparently, this is a recoil. She took the potion, so she will feel better soon.

After taking the potion, the Magus, whose vomiting turned into crying, came to her senses only after 10 minutes.

"I've caused inconvenience.

She opened her mouth, pretending that everything was fine, but there was no aristocratic aura around her anymore. The corners of her lips and neck were smeared with vomit and blood, and even her beautiful blonde hair was loose and stained. Her shiny robe was also a mess from rolling to the ground.

"We've taken care of the Corpse Golem.

— Yes. I know. It's a good thing I cast this spell, even though it took effort.

Is this a habit of all bastard researchers? Mention your achievements without words of gratitude?

If I didn't say anything, I knew that a salary increase was out of the question. I needed to get confirmation.

"We saved both of you. We can say that this is more than the share of responsibility of one person. Do you agree, mage?

— ... I agree.

Raven nodded, as if she didn't want to admit it. It seemed very embarrassing that the two barbarians she had ignored in her heart had accomplished such a great feat. To be honest, it was really very nice, but leaving a little space for the moment will help in the negotiations.

"Of course, your magic was excellent. For such a strong flame, you overworked for the team.

"Yes, but... So what do you mean?

I said bluntly:

"We'll take the Riftstone.

Essence, Numbered Item, Riftstone.

One of the three items dropped by the Guardian. When I first asked for it, they gave us sharp looks, called us greedy, and said they didn't want two barbarians anyway.

But now everything was different...

There was an awkward silence.

I waited patiently, calling for nothing.

The basis of negotiations is waiting.

"I agree. If it hadn't been for this barbarian woman, I would have been dead.

So will he repay the favor?

The dwarf was the first to agree.

However...

"I don't agree.

Raven will not agree so easily. However, this does not mean that there was no concession at all.

"But if the Riftstone does appear, at least I can give you an equal chance.

Simply put, this meant that it would give us a chance to bid.

It was a bit disappointing, but her role in this mission was vital. I knew I had to be happy with that, especially since there wasn't much time left.

Then, the next point of the debate.

"Ah, and there was an essence.

"Essence?" Could it be that the Corpse Golem had dropped essence?

— Exactly.

Dwarf and Raven dropped their jaws, not expecting something so inaccessible to appear.

"Amazing. It looks like you haven't had an essence yet, but to think you'd be the first to get one.

"I've heard that the essence of the Corpse Golem is so rare that even the Explorers Guild hasn't been able to study its abilities.

Raven reported that the essence of the Corpse Golem was higher in rarity than the essence of the Guardian.

The thirst for exploration in her eyes was a bonus. Finally, I took out the offer, which I had kept strictly secret all this time.

"You can exchange it for the Guardian Essence if you want.

"Excuse me?" But I'm not sure if the Guardian will even drop essence...

Raven broke off with a strange look. Apparently, she liked my offer.

"I'll take that risk.

"Okay, then, I don't mind. I don't know about other researchers, but I'm more interested in the Corpse Golem. I didn't know it would come up...

The negotiations were completed.

"Miss Raven, I've heard that Magi can't absorb essence. Will you feed it to your porter?

"No, the essence alone is worth studying.

Raven took a test tube from the bag on the porter's back. This was one of the reasons why magicians were cheaters.

Even if they didn't absorb it directly into their body, they could take the essence outside the labyrinth.

However, there was one thing they needed to prepare.

"Oh! Did you bring a test tube? I heard that this is an exorbitantly expensive item?

— ... I also have only one.

In fact, essences of rank 6 and below were almost impossible to find in a test tube, since due to the high cost of the latter, no one would waste it on such essences. However, Raven seemed to appreciate the essence of the Corpse Golem more.

*Ears!*

When Raven cast the spell, the essence was sucked into a test tube.

She carefully wrapped it in a double package and put it in her backpack.

"Then let's get out of this horrible place.

"I was waiting for you to say that!"

We climbed a flimsy ladder and moved quickly along the water pipe. The only monsters that appeared were Skull Rats and Dead Men. There was an unpleasant smell here, but it was nothing compared to where the Corpse Golem was.

After walking for about 30 minutes, we reached our destination.

"I'll go up first."

Behind the rusty iron fence, which we knocked down with one kick, there was a ladder. When I climbed it, a spacious stone cell opened up in front of me.

After breathing in as much fresh air as possible, I surveyed my surroundings.

"It doesn't look like the Gargoyle Statue, what is it?"

"Since I don't feel any mana, it must be just a sculpture.

Frightening demonic sculptures were everywhere.

And the floor was filled with human skulls...

"The lord's castle must have been right on this spot. If it hadn't collapsed, I would have been able to explore it inside...

As if she didn't feel the horror of this place, Raven licked her lips as if she was sorry.

"As I heard. This is a typical example of a religious institution. However, the fact that it was hidden underground means that this belief did not correspond to the public mood of the time. For example, an evil god.

"I see.

The dwarf was frightened by Raven's unnecessary explanations. Before the speech became too long, I spoke briefly and returned their vigilance:

"Why don't we stop chatting and get together?"

In fact, I told myself that.

Because the last chapter of the Chasm, the Demon Worship Hall, was not a place to be taken lightly...

"Bjorn, I have a bad feeling.

... Especially for an unlucky bastard like me.