Divine Iron Armored Golem (1)

The other side of the door was a vast, bleak room. There was not even a pillar, let alone any furniture, so it would be difficult to use the surroundings for our tactics. We would probably be forced into a straightforward battle.

It was spacious both vertically and horizontally, so large power types as well as small and medium high-mobility types should be able to fight to their hearts' content. The room's shape gave us absolutely no clue what kind of boss to expect.

――――――――――

You have entered the boss area.

Conditions met. Starting 'Special Boss: Divine Iron Armored Golem'.

――――――――――

"What did you say?"

"Huh?"

"Oh?"

"Huh?"

"What is this...?"

Not only Jigoro and I, but also Usuba and Akane, who should have cleared this place once before, seemed confused. Even Sebastian, who was always calm and collected, appeared bewildered. Something unexpected had clearly happened—something even those who had participated in the event from its first day did not know about.

While we stood there in confusion, a magic circle appeared in the center of the room, and three shadows emerged from it. They looked like knights clad in silver-white armor, and every one of them was armed with a kite shield and a bastard sword. At first glance, they looked exactly like knights.

However, embedded in each one's chest armor was the same core as the Golems we had fought so far. The cores were different colors, arranged from left to right as red, blue, and green, and there seemed to be some individual differences despite their identical equipment.

We had fought Golems countless times on the way here, but the presence radiating from these bosses was on an entirely different level. That had happened before, too, but when I actually faced a powerful enemy, I sometimes felt something that could only be described as pressure. I was feeling that pressure intensely this time as well, so these things were surely formidable opponents—strong enough that we would have to give it our all to win.

Since the name made it obvious that it was a Golem, 【Appraisal】 only revealed information about it as an item. Even so, I could not resist using 【Appraisal】 in order to gather whatever information I could.

――――――――――

Divine Iron Armored Golem Quality: Divine Rarity: G (Divine Grade)

A type of Golem created for the event by Pisha, the 'Goddess of Production and Technology.'

It appears before a mixed party of Humans and monsters that includes at least two people who have completed one or more divine trials.

It is weaker than the Golems used to maintain order in cities, but possesses strength worthy of a hidden boss.

――――――――――

As expected, it was treated as an item, but we had learned its name and the conditions for its appearance. A god—and a god of production, at that—had created these Golems specifically for the event. I was impressed.

Even so, the conditions for their appearance were far too strict. The divine trial generally known to everyone was probably the Trial of the Azure Moon. It would not be strange if there were others who had completed different trials and kept them hidden, but regardless, the difficulty had to be incredibly high.

They would only appear before a mixed party of Humans and monsters that included at least two people who had cleared such a trial... Weren't we the only party that could currently meet those conditions?

However, what concerned me more than these Golems was the fact that the Golems used to maintain order in cities were explicitly stated to be stronger. They were used solely for maintaining public order and had not participated in defending cities, so players called them the 'Strongest Useless Machine.' But their strength was extraordinary; I had heard that a high-level player party that picked a fight with one had been annihilated in seconds. Their capabilities made it impossible to tell whether they were useful or useless.

The comparison was with something far too strong to be helpful, but since a god had made these for the event, they should have been tuned to a strength we could defeat. However, they were intended for people who had cleared divine trials, so they were probably absurdly powerful. This was no time to hold back. If necessary, I would have to use all my Skills.

"The Divine Iron Armored Golem... It seems to be an incredibly powerful Golem."

"Ha-ha! Nice! I'll take one!"

"I'll take one too."

No sooner had I conveyed that information—which was barely information at all—than Jigoro and Usuba charged toward the Divine Iron Armored Golems on the left and right. Apparently, they intended to fight one-on-one. They were not merely planning to hold them off; they genuinely intended to defeat one by themselves.

The Divine Iron Armored Golems intercepted the two attackers. After catching Jigoro's fist and Usuba's straight attack on their shields, they counterattacked with their swords, but the two nimbly twisted away and dodged.

Two Divine Iron Armored Golems had been engaged by the pair, but one remained. Rather than charging at either of them, that one advanced straight toward the three of us.

I flew backward, Akane leaped aside, and Sebastian blocked the Divine Iron Armored Golem's sword with his greatshield. Ideally, these three of us would fight one of them together.

"Boss, you're hogging one."

"You may want to fight one-on-one as well, but let the remaining three of us handle this one. I don't think I can whittle it down by myself."

"Hmm, okay."

"I'll handle the front line."

However, as might have been expected, Akane also wanted to fight one-on-one. She complained to Usuba and was about to dash toward him, so I hurriedly held her back. She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed to fight with us.

In any case, the three of us would be fighting this one. I did not think it was possible to win while leaving its core intact. We had no room for that sort of luxury. We would have to target the core, its weak point, and destroy it.

I fired random spells in succession at its weak point to keep it at bay, while Sebastian pushed it back with his shield in tandem. The Divine Iron Armored Golem yielded to the force, leaped away, and put some distance between us.

"Akane, are you good at coordinating with others?"

"Not good. I always launch raids alone."

"I will follow Izamu-sama's instructions."

"...Understood. Sebastian, defend from the front. Akane, attack whenever you see an opening."

"Understood."

"Okay."

Before entering the boss area, I had already strengthened everyone with 【Enchantment】 and used 【Soul Arts】 to give them gradual healing. We did not need any further preparation, so we could stay calm and hold our ground.

After fighting for a while, I learned that the Divine Iron Armored Golem basically fought in a straightforward, no-frills manner. It wielded sword slashes and an ironclad shield defense at a high level. It had the air of a warrior renowned for orthodox strength.

"Hah...!"

"Astral Magic Circle activated, Black Thread."

"Hiyah, hiyah!"

However, with three people who had cleared divine trials working together, it was not impossible to defeat it. Sebastian blocked everything reliably, I stopped attacking, and Akane took advantage of the openings to drive her sword into the core. It naturally tried to dodge, so she could not land a direct hit, but Akane's speed and skill steadily carved scratches into the core's surface.

We could probably defeat it if we maintained this pace, but it would not be that simple. I could not imagine a goddess creating such a cheap opponent. It was probably about time for it to use its next trump card.

"Whoa! That was close!"

"It's gotten even faster, hasn't it?"

Jigoro and Usuba seemed to have moved on to the next stage almost simultaneously, a step ahead of us. Their armor unfolded with a clank and emitted smoke as if venting heat, and then a change came over them. The Divine Iron Armored Golems became faster while retaining their precision and power. Their pure combat ability had risen by another level.

Moreover, the Golem Jigoro was fighting emitted flames through the gaps in its armor, while the one Usuba was fighting fired Wind Blade. That meant the one we were fighting would probably emit something through its armor as well. We would have to remain vigilant.

"...It's cold."

"We've got ice... Water element!"

The one we were fighting also unfolded its armor with a clank and released such freezing vapor that Akane let out an unhappy cry. Then it began scattering ice shards.

We now knew that the second stage of the Divine Iron Armored Golems turned them into first-rate warriors who fought while using magic. However, their spells activated so quickly that responding to them was difficult. They were not completely without warning, since the Golems' heads lit up before they used magic.

"Glow confirmed. Water-Repelling Shield. Shield-Shattering Strike."

"Nice... Astral Magic Circle, Spell Adjustment, Wind Blade."

"There. That looks cold."

If he knew when the magic was about to fire, Sebastian could apparently react to it. He completely blocked the ice shards with a martial technique that shut out water-element attacks, then struck the Divine Iron Armored Golem with his shield. As it lost its balance, Akane and I targeted its core with magic and swordplay.

If it blocked the magic, the sword struck; if it blocked the sword, the magic struck. Sebastian quietly but surely maintained his defense, while my various spells and Akane's swordsmanship meshed together perfectly. For a party assembled on the spot, we were functioning ideally.

"Ooooh, raaaah!"

"Heh heh heh... heh heh heh heh!"

Unlike us, who were targeting the core, Jigoro and Usuba were, as expected, aiming to destroy the torso. Jigoro's fists warped the armor into a battered mess, while Usuba's sword sliced through the plating and carved deep wounds into it. Both men wore such delighted smiles that their enthusiasm was reassuring and frightening at the same time.

Even after the Golems had powered up once and gained the ability to use magic, Jigoro and Usuba still seemed to have plenty of room to spare. They had taken some damage, of course, but those wounds were immediately healed by the 【Soul Arts】 I had used beforehand.

"Hah! I'll snap it in two!"

"Matchups are scary, aren't they...?"

Jigoro in particular was resistant to fire, so the flames the Golem spewed did not make it any stronger against him. As a result, Jigoro was dealing the most damage to the Divine Iron Armored Golem.

He leaned his upper body backward to dodge the Divine Iron Armored Golem's thrust, then sprang upward using only the strength in his lower body and applied a joint lock to its arm. That was a technique Jigoro had taught me... What was it called again? A flying armbar, I think. The fact that he could use it on the spur of the moment was simply incredible.

Jigoro also had no hesitation about breaking things. He dislocated the elbow and forced it to point in a direction it should not, and the sound of something breaking reached us even from there.

"Gwaaah!"

"D-did it explode?!"

The instant Jigoro destroyed the arm, the broken arm exploded! It lost everything below the elbow, but when the core began to glow, a new arm grew from the hollow elbow.

It could regenerate damaged parts and detach them to use as bombs? What a terrifying function. Still, I could not imagine it repeating self-destruction and regeneration forever. No, just because it was a boss did not mean I wanted it to be able to repeat the process infinitely.

"Graaah! What a pain! I'll smash it to pieces as many times as I have to!"

"Oh... It seems the explosion matches its element."

Jigoro was blown away by the blast, but he quickly regained his footing, clenched his fist again, and charged back in. During that time, Usuba cut off the Golem's wrist. The hand exploded as expected, but unlike Jigoro's, it scattered countless blades of wind.

As Usuba said, the explosions seemed to depend on the element possessed by the Divine Iron Armored Golem. In other words, if we destroyed a part of the one the three of us were fighting, an ice explosion would probably occur. We would have to attack with the utmost caution.

It was troublesome that such a powerful enemy retaliated whenever we aimed for its parts. However, if we knew it was coming, we could adjust our tactics accordingly. Taking the counterattacks into account, we would continue the battle!