＜ Episode 44 ＞
“Cycling is no different from the outside.”
The time when the light bulbs attached to the ceiling of the underground city began to lose their light and the time outside passed at the same time, and the city that had begun to darken was immersed in darkness.
“The sound is gone.”
Everyone nodded their heads at Doyle’s words that came down quietly.
Silence reigned in the city where the daytime riots had disappeared like lies, and it seemed certain that even the slightest sound would resonate loudly outside.
“Fioren.”
“I took action.”
At Lucas’ words, Fioren shrugged.
Intricate lines were carved on the inner wall of the building where the party was located, and it was emitting a soft light.
“Twelve hours will be enough. No problem until tomorrow morning.”
“great job.”
Looking at Fioren, who took action even though he didn’t say much, it seemed that he had a lot of experience of this kind, and unlike his appearance as a research mage, he had quite a bit of experience in combat.
John, who updated another piece of information, raised his attention by holding his hands together.
“If there’s nothing special, let’s rest like this. Do you have any food?”
“I was ready.”
Everyone took out various groceries from their bosom as if they had a subspace bag, and each sat around in a comfortable position.
“What about intrusion measures? Is it okay if I don’t have a night watch?”
Doyle, who was inserting a straw into the nutrition pack, answered John’s question.
“We put motion detection sensors around the building. It’s about 10 meters away, so there shouldn’t be any problem in reacting.”
“I used my hand too. Engraved the alarm magic. You can’t avoid it with some skill, right?”
Following Lucas who shrugged, Fei-Lung continued.
“I left qi with Zhao. I don’t know about inanimate objects, but living things can never pass through it.”
Looking at Peirong’s confident words and smiling Zhao, John nodded.
“great. So let’s gather the information. Fioren.”
“The city itself was not built with pure engineering. There are traces of magic everywhere. They say that magic engineering was common during the Great War. Maybe it’s a magic for quick construction.”
“Simple magic, but high level. Mainly underlying magic is related to restoration and energy supply. And that ceiling.”
Lucas’s finger pointed to the sky.
“It’s a complexly designed magic tool. It’s actually a permanent organ because it supplies its own mana. Even if you just rip off the light sources embedded in the ceiling, it will make quite a bit of money.”
Compared to the days of the Great War, Luna’s technology is devastatingly behind.
They are trying to reproduce the technology of the time by reverse-engineering excavated objects from the dungeon, but the results have been sluggish, so companies and researchers wanted more samples, so the demand was sufficient.
In particular, the permanent engine using mana is a very popular material in Luna.
Everyone’s expressions brightened when they said that they hadn’t walked in vain.
“Good news. John, what about the video?”
At Zhao’s words, everyone’s eyes focused on John.
“Even so, I was thinking of briefing. Pay attention.”
John took out the tablet that was in the bag that the drone was in and played the video.
“Is the video good? Looks like you spent some money on a drone.”
“You shouldn’t save money on equipment.”
Zhao whistled as he watched the clear video, and Doyle nodded as he should.
But that’s for a while.
“···for a moment. Is that what I think it is?”
A multi-legged tank with a spider-like appearance appeared in the video, and Zhao opened his mouth with a puzzled expression.
Fioren and Lucas took the tablet and froze the screen, zoomed in on the shape of the multi-legged tank and stared at it.
The two wizards’ expressions were so serious that they couldn’t even say anything, and the two wizards looked at each other for a long time and met their eyes.
“It’s a golem.”
“Are you sure. It is a golem from the Great War.”
“Why is something like that here?”
Zhao mumbled, and Doyle and Feilong all made serious faces.
Even with Luna’s current technology, it is possible to create an unmanned polygonal tank, and although it is said that there are actually quite a few deployed, it is a product based on science and technology.
The unmanned weapon created during the Great War, commonly referred to as the Golem, is something that it would be embarrassing to compare it with the current one.
If you think that a golem that actively introduces magic at the design stage and moves not based on AI but based on ego created by magic is a normal machine, you will get hurt.
Although at a rudimentary level, golems use this ability.
“…It’s a mana barrier. It also activates according to the timing of the hit. I can’t even penetrate it with any kind of attack.”
In the video, the golem was fighting with men who seemed to be made up of powerful people, and it was shooting bullets in all directions, unmoving not only with magic but also with attacks containing auras.
“The gloves are special too. It won’t even scratch with a small diameter.”
Doyle’s diaphragm repeatedly rotated and zoomed out as he watched the video, and everyone’s expressions hardened grimly.
In the battle that continued for a long time, the men who could not overcome the golem retreated with smoke bombs, and the golem that followed them was seen returning to its original position shortly after.
“Can you catch that?”
“…what could be possible? After all, you just have to attack more than the output. You will have to suffer quite a bit.”
Lucas answered John’s question, and everyone nodded.
As they were all gathered with different thoughts, each of them must have at least one hidden number, and if they mobilized those things, it would not be impossible to deal with at least one golem.
‘…I guess I can too.’
After hearing the specs of the golem, John came to the same conclusion.
He was convinced that he would be able to deal with the golem somehow if he used the weapons he had piled up in the subspace and his own ability, and Lucas, who was carefully examining John’s expression, smiled strangely.
“Is it okay to expect loot from this?”
Dungeon is a risk-to-reward ratio.
It would be all the more so since it was a dungeon where the golem, which was hard to see, was still operating.
but.
“Well?”
Everyone was taken aback by John’s plaintive words, and John manipulated the video that appeared on the tablet with calm gestures.
“… Damn it.”
“…what the hell is this all about?”
It was because the images of golems with different shapes appearing to fight or settle down came to mind.
***
“…it’s not a normal type of dungeon.”
Fioren’s words made everyone look serious.
It’s a strange place when you think about it.
It is a place that companies do not pay attention to because the energy observed from the outside is not very high, but the inside is surprisingly spacious.
The city has been built, but its completeness is crude, and it has barely been shaped, and there are several golems that are hard to see even one of them wandering around.
In addition, since different types of golems coexist, rather than a unified form, it is impossible to know their identity at all.
The party had the ability to handle at least one golem, but in this case, it was difficult to guarantee a win.
If two different types of golems unite, it is unknown what kind of synergy will occur, and it will directly lead to a threat to life.
A strange look came to John’s eyes as he looked at the group, each of whom had a confused look on their faces.
‘···Your expression is awkward. Then that guy guessed what this place is like.’
John, who was checking the group in his head, lightly clapped his hands to get their attention.
“I will tell you my conclusion.”
“…do you have any guesses?”
“…really good at bringing you.”
Lucas opened his arms in an exaggerated gesture, and John opened his mouth.
“The form of an urban area. Golems in different shapes. The golem’s reaction to that seems to be base defense. Then we can come to a rough conclusion.”
John took a deep breath and concluded.
“This will be a training ground and test site for new weapons.”
John’s hand manipulated the tablet, and the screen switched to reflect a panoramic view of the city.
“The maze-like shape reminds me of a typical city. The outside is complicated, but there are more vacant lots going inside. Perhaps the outskirts are for training individual soldiers in urban combat, and the interior is a testing ground for golem-like weapons.”
John’s gaze turned to the interior walls of the building, which were emitting a soft light.
“Then these buildings also explain. The sensors hidden in the walls will be used to check trainees, and the densely built buildings will be used for training to deal with various situations.”
“···indeed.”
“…surely persuasive.”
John’s hand manipulated the tablet again, zooming in on one side of the city.
“Our goal will be here.”
The large building located at the innermost part of the city was enlarged, and the eyes of the party who checked the shape of the building shone.
“It looks different.”
At Fioren’s words, John nodded.
“that’s right. It will most likely be the control center. And usually, important facilities are crammed next to the control center.”
John’s finger pointed at the rugged sheds that lined either side of the building.
“It looks like an armory. If you’re lucky, it’ll be filled with weapons from the Great War era.”
The appearance of the warehouse, which seemed to be tightly sealed, added credibility to John’s words.
“···Good?”
Deep greed appeared on Zhao’s face, and the other party members were no different.
“What. It’s just speculation, though.”
“no. You are probably right. The circumstances are right.”
Doyle said with a sullen face, and everyone nodded in agreement.
“Certainly, experts are different. good! zone. So what should we do now?”
Lucas, who had a bright smile on his face, said, and everyone didn’t find it awkward to entrust John with the reading.
John said with a wry smile as he looked at the expectant faces of the party.
“Ask me one thing before that. What will the golems do?”
“Hmm.”
At John’s question, Fioren and Lucas narrowed their eyes and pondered.
A golem with lots of lost magic is an object that would make a wizard’s eyes roll.
If you can get the backbone of a golem, there is a possibility that your magical knowledge will increase just by analyzing it, and if you succeed in analyzing it because you are lucky, there is a possibility of creating your own golem.
In fact, among Luna’s superhumans, there were wizards who used such golems.
“I’ll think about that part later.”
Looking at the two troubled wizards, Pei-Lung spoke with heavy momentum, and the two wizards, whose hearts were filled with rising greed, shook their shoulders.
“I know you like it. We have a bigger destination than that now. I’d like to focus on that for now.”
The faces of Fioren and Lucas were distorted at the sight of Peirung and Zhao, who began to show heavy momentum.
Between the warriors and wizards who started to confront each other, Doyle took a step back, and John wanted to do the same, but the timing was bad now.
“ruler.”
match!
Everyone’s eyes were drawn to John at the sound of light applause, and the momentum that instantly shook his body and mind was focused, but John was also protecting his body and mind with this ability, so the impact was not so great.
“… internal conflict within the operational area is not a very good option. Well, I won’t stop you if you have to fight, but for now, be patient.”
Everyone made strange faces at John’s words, which contained heavy momentum, and Lucas asked while making eye contact with John.
“…Hold on now? What else is there?”
Lucas’ eyes glistening with madness had the power to shake his heart just by looking at him, but John’s expression did not change.
“yes.”
John put the tablet in his bag and stood up, lightly warming up.
“I don’t think I would miss night training if I were the head of this facility.”
Everyone’s expressions changed at John’s low words.
bang!
Because of the silence of the night, an unusually loud explosion was heard. Everyone could tell that the sound was coming from a location not too far away.
＜ Episode 44 ＞ End