Chapter 53
I kicked off the ground twice, and heavy footsteps drew closer.
“Good, it’s coming right on cue.”
I’d been making noise on purpose to lure the Mithril Golem over.
“A-Are you really sure this is okay...?”
Ruche asked anxiously.
“This spot couldn’t be any better. The only thing we have to worry about is getting tripped up by the terrain ourselves.”
The place where we were standing was one I’d picked out specifically for fighting the Mithril Golem.
The ceiling was low, the passage narrow, and to top it off, the footing was poor.
For a hulking Mithril Golem, it should be incredibly difficult to move around here.
“The Mithril Golem that appears here is 【Lv: 55】... with 【Attack: 78】 and 【Defense: 66】. On top of that, it has the Trait Skill 〈Auto-Regeneration〉, making it an absolute pain to deal with.”
“The more I hear, the scarier it sounds...”
The Mithril Golem was an absurdly tough monster thanks to its high defense and 〈Auto-Regeneration〉.
Its huge body gave it long reach, making it difficult to get within striking distance.
But its greatest strength wasn’t its toughness—it was its overwhelming destructive power.
Even I couldn’t withstand two direct hits from the Mithril Golem’s tremendous strength.
If we dragged out a fight against an opponent like this, we’d eventually be beaten to death.
That was why we needed to force a quick, decisive battle.
“There’s no point in chipping away at it. Against an enemy with high defense, we have to rely on the power of each blow, not the number of hits. So, as usual, Ruche, I want you to aim for 〈Dice Thrust〉.”
Enemies with high defense were vulnerable to critical hits.
A six on 〈Dice Thrust〉 dealt 1.3 times the damage on top of a normal critical hit.
With Ruche equipped with her 〈Blacksteel Knife〉, a six on her 〈Dice Thrust〉 could take down even a Mithril Golem in two hits if it went well.
Of course, slipping past both of the Mithril Golem’s arms to keep landing 〈Dice Thrust〉 wouldn’t be easy... That was what I was here for, and why we’d picked this terrain.
“Looks like it’s here.”
Accompanied by heavy footsteps, the Mithril Golem appeared.
A giant of mithril, glowing blue-green.
It stood a little over three meters tall.
Its body looked like a suit of rugged armor.
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Monster: Mithril Golem
Lv : 55
HP : 117/117
MP : 48/48
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Seeing its stats like this, they really were overwhelming.
The mithril giant had more than earned its reputation as a monster that crushed greedy adventurers.
“I’m going to strip that mithril off you!”
As I stepped forward, the Mithril Golem did the same.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
Seeing a mass of mithril charge at me with a roar was quite a spectacle.
I gritted my teeth, refusing to be intimidated.
“GRAAAAAAAAAH!”
Its enormous arm came swinging down to crush me.
I tried to knock it aside with 〈Parry〉, but at the last second, I pulled my sword back.
There was no way I could deflect that ridiculous strength head-on.
It might have broken my arm.
A shock ran through my body as I braced behind my shield.
I tried to soften the impact by jumping backward, but I couldn’t completely avoid taking damage.
I was sent flying about two meters backward.
I knew it already, but its pressure and presence were on a completely different level from when it was in 〈Magic World〉.
“I was hoping to land a 〈Disarm〉 here if I got lucky, but that looks a little tough.”
But I’d achieved the bare minimum.
While I drew its attention, Ruche used 〈Acrobatic Footwork〉 to run along the wall, slip past the Mithril Golem, and circle around behind it.
“All right! It worked!”
We’d now trapped the Mithril Golem between us in the narrow passage.
From here, I was supposed to keep its attention while Ruche aimed for 〈Dice Thrust〉 from behind, but...
“GRAAAAAAAAAH!”
The Mithril Golem stretched its arms out wide and swung them wildly, threatening both of us in front and behind.
Ruche had been about to thrust her 〈Blacksteel Knife〉 into the Mithril Golem, but hurriedly pulled back.
The Mithril Golem’s enormous hand grazed the tip of her nose.
“Eek! T-That scared me...”
The Mithril Golem’s hand gouged away a huge chunk of the cave wall, carving out a groove shaped like five fingers.
Its destructive power was truly on a whole other level.
“But trying to keep an eye on both front and back in this narrow passage was reckless.”
The Mithril Golem’s right arm came swinging toward me.
I swung my blade to bat the arm away.
“〈Parry〉!”
Deflected off course, its right arm slammed forcefully into the cave wall.
It looked like I wouldn’t be able to deflect a full-strength attack from the Mithril Golem with 〈Parry〉 as I was now.
But its latest blow had been meant to keep us at bay, so its aim was sloppy.
On top of that, it had been trying to attack both of us in the narrow passage, so its vision must have been compromised.
I quickly closed the distance to the Mithril Golem.
The Mithril Golem hurriedly pulled its left arm, which had been aimed at Ruche, back toward me and tried to grab me.
But I was faster!
“〈Shield Bash〉!”
I braced my shield and slammed into it with all my strength.
However, 〈Shield Bash〉 was a Skill that pitted 【Defense + Attack / 2】 against the opponent’s value. If ours was higher, it could send the target flying with force equal to the difference.
Unfortunately, not only was my Attack lower, but even the Defense it was so good at was completely outmatched by the Mithril Golem’s.
If anything, I was the one who got sent flying backward.
But that was fine.
I’d used 〈Shield Bash〉 to make it look like I was attacking, then retreat.
The Mithril Golem’s strike couldn’t catch up to me as the Skill’s momentum sent me flying far backward.
“Both hands are occupied now.”
The Mithril Golem’s right hand was embedded in the wall, and its left hand was stretched out toward me.
It was completely defenseless against Ruche.
“〈Dice Thrust〉!”
The number six appeared in the air, right on cue.
A strike from 〈Dice Thrust〉 pierced the Mithril Golem’s back.
Cracks spread across it.
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Monster: Mithril Golem
Lv : 55
HP : 56/117
MP : 48/48
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“All right! Great job, Ruche! Just one more hit!”
“ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
The Mithril Golem roared and flailed its arms wildly.
Its right hand, embedded in the wall, gouged out the cave wall as it forcibly pulled itself free.
Ruche quickly kicked off the wall with 〈Acrobatic Footwork〉 and escaped the Mithril Golem’s counterattack.
This was the decisive moment.
Before the Mithril Golem fully recovered with 〈Auto-Regeneration〉, I had to get Ruche to land one more six with 〈Dice Thrust〉.