Faceless Phantom

<Mining Canyon>

"Wait. Someone's here recently."

Vallas and Ylvaark stopped and turned their head to look at Nel'Thas.

"Estimated about a week ago. Two persons. One a summoned hero. And the other..."

Seeing Nel'Thas reading the surrounding mana easily, Ylvaark was amazed. He was truly a genius of magic.

Just like a plastic buried underground, mana could disperse within the environmental mana. And depending on the mana power, the dispersion would be a lot faster for a weaker one.

However, one week was a long time. Just like a real track, something could cover or erase it completely. So, it was obvious that there was still a little bit of mana left which was really thin and it was hidden well within the environmental mana.

Despite mages could tell a good amount of mana used in some area, tracking the owner of one's mana was very difficult. Even a kingdom archmage could barely detect the thin track of mana which was three days old. However, Nel'Thas could tell the exact owner of the mana easily.

'He's amazing.' Ylvaark thought.

As Nel'Thas stopped about a few minutes. Vallas grew impatient.

"Don't just stop there and ex-"

"Shut up!"

Before Vallas finished his sentence, Nel'Thas cut him and looked at them with serious face.

"I don't know who or what it was. The other mana feels pretty similar to 'him.'"

"What do you mean?"

"It means... We must chase this person!"

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, I'm totally sure. You have to prepare yourself. For some reasons, the mana feels weak. But, they might be suppressing their own mana. Once we find them, I can definitely tell their true power."

"Alright, let's fasten our pace."

"Let's go."

・・・

///////

Dalgor Guardian Golem

Type: Golem

[Stats]

HP: 10560/10560

MP: 110/110

STR 218 VIT 185

DEX 35 AGI 15

INT 10 WIS 10

///////

It was a stone golem, and their health was more than a whooping 10k points.

Slow yet very hard. I couldn't deal any damage with my current sword. Furthermore, my sword bounced back whenever I attack. It almost made me lose my sword. But, luckily, I gripped the hilt tightly so it didn't fly away.

Also, the golem slammed the ground with their big two hands whenever I got too close. I had no choice but to keep my distance.

I jumped back to dodge the ground slam. Suddenly, the golem's chest opened. Light particles were shining and swirling as if the energy was concentrated at one point on their chest. Then a beam was shot towards me.


BAZOOM!

The energy blast was massive. I dodged by sheer luck. If I was slower, parts of my body might be vanished.

'That was close...'

The low mana pool made me wonder how the golem could do such powerful attack. Perhaps, he had an ability to gather environmental mana and changed them into the beam. That was probably why they needed to charge for a few seconds before they blasted the energy.

Ground slam for melee, and energy blast for range. Even if the golem was slow, it was still powerful enough to kill me if I was careless.

'I have to be careful...'

I put my sword back and used my new mace instead. I tried to aim their joints. Sword could only cut, but with a blunt, it would be the best weapon to break things. Especially stone golem.

BAM!

Again, even my mace also bounced back. But I already anticipated that so I could immediately fix my stance. Though it was very strange. I kind of understand if sword could bounce back, but for a mace to do the same after hitting a stone. Or maybe I was wrong.

[You have inflicted 51 damage on Dalgor Guardian Golem]

Regardless, I could deal damage with my mace.

'Ah... It seems using blunt is the right choice. But the damage.'

Even with Powerful Bash, the damage didn't raise much. It also made my hand hurt and took reflect damage when I used it. That was how hard the golem was.

I kept attacking the golem for thirty minutes. However, there was no sign of it to be breaking. I left no scratch at all. Even their HP was still above 95%.

'Shit. His body is frickin hard.'

Golems were basically a tank. They could take a great amount of either physical or magical damage. Even though they were hard, they were still had a weakness. However, a powerful physical or magical damage were needed. The only thing that could destroy them was by nuking them. Alas, we didn't have any single nuke spell or even monstrous physical attack.

'Is there any other way?'

The golem chest opened again and the energy began to be concentranted around something on their chest.

'That's it!'

It was the golem's core.

'But how can I attack it? Rushing into the blasted beam is the same as suicide.'

I couldn't think any possible attack, so I just focused on dodging the beam.

After the golem blasted the beam, I saw Mirage rushed forward.

'What is she trying to do?'

Right before the chest was closed, she stood in front of the golem.

[Mirage used Scream of Devastation]

Seeing the system message, I immediately closed my ears tightly.

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

They both were frozen for a moment.

Crack! Crack crack crack...

Then I saw some parts of the golem's rock body were cracking, including their core.

[Mirage landed a critical hit!]

[Mirage has inflicted 1570 damage on Dalgor Guardian Golem]

It was a tiny crack on the core, but it was very effective.

'How!?'

It was strange, indeed. Golem had no ears, so it was obvious they had Sound Nullification. However, Mirage could land a damage on them. It was also a critical one.

'Ah thats right!'

Then I remembered that sound could break object. It was the same as the after effect of bomb or sonic boom. With just the sound wave, it could break glass and shake buildings.

I was amazed. Even against an opponent with Sound Nullification, that skill could still deal damage. Perhaps, it would be ineffective against a living being without ears. But golem was a living object. Furthermore, it was a rock one.

'Alright...'

[You used Water Blessing]

[Water Blessing's effect can be felt]

My mace was covered by water and emitted blue aura. It felt cold yet very calming.

[You used Wind Blessing]

[Wind Blessing's effect can be felt]

Wind began to swirl around my body. It made my body felt light and easy to move.

[You used Wind Blessing on Mirage]

"Alright, I'll try to get their attention away from you. You aim for the core whenever you're ready."

"Understood!" Mirage nodded. "Be careful!"

"You too." I nodded back. "Good luck."

I rushed forward and swung my mace onto the golem.

[You used Powerful Bash]

Swoosh BAM!

[You have inflicted 465 damage on Dalgor Guardian Golem]

[You have received 138 damage from Dalgor Guardian Golem]

'Nice! Let's do this!'

・・・

<Dalgor Mining Site>

"Wow this is a maze." Ylvaark amazed as he was looking around the area.

"Do you know where they went?" Vallas asked Nel'Thas.

"There's too many tracks. I can't tell which way they went." Nel'Thas knitted his eyebrows while his gaze was wandering about. "It seems like they did this on purpose."

"So they knew someone might chase after them." Ylvaark responded. "How deep is this mine anyway?"

"I'm not sure. Dwarfs greediness toward minerals has no end. We could spend weeks to fully explore dwarven mine." (Nel'Thas)

"They could be anywhere." (Ylvaark)

"Yeah. They were here a week ago. They're probably already out of this place. This is useless." (Vallas)

"If only we have a map of this place, it would be easier." (Nel'Thas)

"We can't be here forever, though. We need to choose between chasing someone who might have a connection with him, or chasing the real one." Vallas gave two options about the situation. "We've wasted a lot of time already."

"..." Nel'Thas just silent.

What Vallas just said was true. If they wanted to chase a person, they had to be fast and make a quick decision. If not, their prey would get away.

After thinking for a few minutes. Nel'Thas finally opened his mouth.

"You're right." Nel'Thas sighed and agreed. "Similar doesn't mean it's the same. Better grasp the possibility of 100% chance instead of chasing an uncertainty."

"Right. Let's go to Karmia for now. Lead the way."

Nel'Thas nodded and led them through multiple passages. Eventually, they stopped in front of a dead end.

"Umm... Did you forget the way? Because this is a dead end." Ylvaark asked with confused tone.

"No... Just wait a moment." Nel'Thas answered as he was looking up.

It was then Ylvaark noticed there was a stone plate on the wall below the ceiling. Some strange words were engraved on it.

And then Nel'Thas chanted an unknown language.

"Palun ga ranush, alun malla"

(Open the way, my friend)

"What language is that?" Ylvaark was curious.

Nel'Thas just silent while watching the wall was sliding open.

"It's Dhunmal, or you can say it's dwarvish." Vallas answered Ylvaark's question instead.

'Dwarven Language!?'

While Ylvaark was still surprised. The other two were already stepped inside the secret passage. Then Ylvaark followed them with an amazed smile on his face.

・・・

Dalgor Guardian Golem HP: 30%

We eventually cut the golem's HP down to the final phase.

The golem stood still as the crack on their body was spreading. Chunk by chunk, their rock body was peeled and fell.

Crack... Crack crack crack...

Rattle rattle rattle

Slowly it revealed something behind their rock body.

'It's not a stone golem...!'

The rock was sediment. Their real body was steel. On their back, steam could be seen coming out from several pipes.

It was a mechanic golem!

'That explains why my weapons are bounced back...'

[Dalgor Guardian Golem is enraged]

Suddenly, its movement becoming more faster. They leaped towards me and raised both of their hands. Surprised, I jumped backwards multiple times.

BOOM!

The ground left a crater in an instant. Then I noticed their glowing eyes spotted me once more. They leaped towards me again.

A few leaps later, the area was filled with craters. The last time I saw this kind of scenery was when I fought against Uruzak.

'I can't attack him at this point.'

Their glowing red eyes were still gazing towards me. Then their chest immediately opened.

'Ah shit.'

The golem's aim locked onto me and soon the beam was shot.

BAZOOM!

I dodged to the right, but then the beam moved towards me. I ran as the beam followed right behind me.

Zaaaaaash...

'What the... Why is it not stopped?'

The beam seemed not going to stop anytime soon, and it was also way more powerful and wider than before. It even left a line of small valley on the ground.

While I was circling the golem, I saw Mirage kept staying in the golem's blind spot. She was ready to attack whenever the beam was stopped.

She looked at me with concerned face, but she believed in me.

She filled me with determination. And so I tried to fasten my speed. Alas, I suddenly felt my body was falling.

'Crap. Did I trip?'

It felt like everything was in slow motion. I looked down and saw the reason why I fell. I didn't see the shallow crater in front of me. It was a dumb mistake.

I turned my head and saw the beam getting closer.

'Is this the end...?'

I fell onto the ground, and the beam was right in front of me.

Zaaaaaassshhh...

Then it vanished.

My eyes were wide open. My heart was beating in marathon. I slowly turned my head toward the golem.

The light from the energy around their chest was dim. No more light particles swirling around their core.

It was then Mirage moved forward, and she began to scream right in front of the golem.

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!

An intuitive was coming into my mind. I immediately stood and gulped a vial of health potion. Then I ran towards them.

Despite the unbearable voice, I kept running forward while squinting my eyes and gritting my teeth.

[Mirage landed a critical hit!]

[Mirage has inflicted 1960 damage on Dalgor Guardian Golem]

Once Mirage stopped screaming, I leaped whilst lifting my mace overhead. I poured all my strength into the swing.

[You used Powerful Bash]

Swoosh BAM!

[You landed a critical hit!]

[You have inflicted 2875 damage on Dalgor Guardian Golem]

It was overhit.

Once the HP hit zero, the core was shining. As if a machine was getting hit by water, the golem was having a seizure.

Bzzt!  Bzzt!  Bzzt!

Eventually, the golem's stopped and the light on the core was faded. And then the golem fell on the ground.

Thud!

///////

Congratulations!

You have defeated Dalgor Guardian Golem.

All your stats increased by 10!

///////

[Blunt Mastery has leveled up!]

[Blunt Mastery has leveled up!]

[Blunt Mastery has leveled up!]

[Blunt Mastery has leveled up!]

Mirage fell on her knees and breathing heavily.

I looked at her and smiled.

"Good work!"

"Thanks!" She smiled back at me.

I walked toward the broken golem to see if there was something I could loot. However, before I got close, something was coming out from the core.

A light silhouette which formed a short humanoid figure, and it was slowly becoming vivid.

The silhouette was wearing a thick metal armor and a helmet with wide T opening. The most eye-catching part was their beard. It was braided chest-long beard.

"Maldum Hazor, bohum daran nilondung alun galunga!?"

(Great gods, who dare disturbing my slumber!?)

It was a dwarf!

"Oh... Aphu? Do you understand my language now?"

"Y-yes... Who are you?" I asked nervously.

"Barahumhahahaha..." He laughed. "I am a Dwarf Hero. Hagwim Proudsteel. And I've been alive for almost two thousand years now."

'A Dwarf Hero? Former one?'

"Anyway, where am I?" He asked as he was looking around. "Why am I here outside the wall?"

"Well, you're...uh... I think you're already dead."

"Maldum Hazor... What?" He was shocked and immediately looked at his astral body with his eyes wide open.

"We just defeated Dalgor Guardian Golem. It went on a rampage when we found her. I-it was a tough battle. And after that, you came out from its core." I said as I pointed at the broken golem.

"By Durofar... That was my golem! Burhahahaha... I see. I'm already dead, huh?" He said as he was stroking his beard. "Tell me, laddies. What is your name?"

"I'm Zeroth." I answered. And then I helped Mirage up. "And this is Mirage"

"Ah, Zeroth and Mirage. Nice to meet you two. And thank you. You freed me from the golem's core. I'm in your debt."

"No problem. Anyway, umm... Do you remember why were you inside the golem's core?"

He folded his arms and thinking.

"Hmmm... I think not." He shook his head and sighing. "The only thing I remember is I was imprisoned in this town."

"You were imprisoned?"

"Yeah. I was framed and betrayed. They abandoned this town and I was left alone in the jail. Perhaps, my body is still there."

"W-well. We want to look around the town. We might as well going to check if your body is still there."

"Alright then, laddie. I will be your tour guide. In exchange, why don't you tell me about you two along the way?"

"S-sure..."

"Great." Hagwim smiled widely. "Follow me."

As we walked toward the town, I suddenly got curious about something.

"Ummm... Sir Hagwim. You said earlier that you've been alive for thousands of years, right?"

"Yes. Is there something on your mind, laddie?"

"H-have you ever heard about Beleth and Uruzak?"

Hagwim stopped and slowly turned around. His eyes were wide open, gazing straight toward me. He immediately floated closer and put his hands on my shoulders. As his face was right in front of me, he asked...

"How did you know about them!?"