Chapter 95
Because we carelessly destroyed a security Golem, the entire underground district recognized us as a threat. So a legion of security Golems came toward us... or at least, it was supposed to...
"...That's all?"
That was my honest impression. What appeared before us were sixteen Alpha-type security Golems. It was by no means a small number, but compared to the flock of Harpies that had seemed poised to fill our entire field of vision, they were more than a little underwhelming.
Apparently, everyone else felt the same way, because not a single one of them was tense or frightened. If anything, they seemed just as disappointed as I was.
'Elimination commencing.'
"Whoops. Magic Circle, deploy—Holy Shield."
Unlike the first one, the sixteen that had arrived opened fire without hesitation. That was only natural, since they had come to eliminate us monsters. Just as before, I deployed Holy Shield.
The density of bullets rose dramatically with the increased number of Golems pointing their guns at us. Sadly, however, since these were mass-produced Golems, their armaments were exactly the same. I had already confirmed that weapons of this level could not break through my defensive magic.
The six Alpha-type security Golems began firing all at once, but my Holy Shield deflected every single shot. It may sound strange coming from the one doing the defending, but I was beginning to feel sorry for them.
"Karu, charge! Everyone except Iris, use Karu as a shield and charge!"
"GROOOOAAAR!"
"Here we go!"
"All right!"
"Okay!"
"Iris, attack from behind my shield!"
"Yes!"
Everyone immediately sprang into action at my command. We were all used to this by now.
Karu leaped over my Holy Shield, while Jigoro and Genzuro charged from behind him, emerging from the left and right and using him as cover. Huh? Where was Ruby...? Wait, when did she sneakily latch onto Genzuro's shoulder? Efficient as ever.
Iris extended her tentacles from behind the Holy Shield toward the Golems. She probably could not crush and destroy them outright, but she ought to be able to restrain them and stop them from moving.
"GROOOOAAAH!"
"Take that!"
"Hngh!"
Karu, Jigoro, and Genzuro—the three meatheads—destroyed one Golem apiece with battle cries that seemed to rend the air. Karu's claws, Jigoro's fists, and Genzuro's blades sent the Golems flying without mercy. What a spectacle.
I had thought so ever since Karu casually broke the first one, but these Golems were weak precisely because they were mass-produced. To us, they were nothing more than small fry.
By monster standards, their abilities were probably around level twenty, at most. That was hardly enough combat strength to eliminate the three of us who were over level forty, was it?
"I can see you!"
Ruby, on the other hand, approached the Golem's feet without making a sound and drove her dagger into a section where the armor had peeled away. The Golem's insides were gouged, and it fell silent. Compared to the other two and the dragon, her method was very understated, but it was smart. Her assassin-like qualities had really been polished to a fine edge!
"I want to destroy them while preserving their original forms as much as possible... Magic Circle, deploy—Sand Wind."
Using Sand Wind, I generated a wind carrying sand. If the armor had been in brand-new condition, it would probably have ended with nothing more than a few scratches. But with the interior exposed, that was another story.
Gagigi...!
Bigi...!
It is common knowledge that, in precision machinery, the intrusion of tiny pieces of dirt or other foreign matter can cause breakdowns and malfunctions. Apparently, the same was true of these Golems. I had no idea what exactly went wrong, but the grains of sand that entered their interiors easily stopped three of the Golems from moving.
"All right. It worked."
Just as I had intended, I successfully disabled the Golems without causing any unnecessary damage. Heh heh heh, I had obtained some excellent samples. I would have Iris take them apart so we could analyze them. Perhaps we might even be able to create new Golems with our own hands. I was already looking forward to it!
"Ah! Behind us! Something's coming!"
As I was grinning to myself, Ruby raised her voice sharply. At the same time, the cover of a ventilation shaft in the ceiling behind me came loose with a clatter, and something resembling a circular drone emerged from within!
Wheeeeeen!
Several sharp blades were attached to the sides of the drone. By spinning at high speed, it transformed into a flying circular saw and came hurtling toward us. One, two, three... four of them.
"Tch! Flying Slash!"
"Take this! Ah! I-I missed! It dodged me!"
Iris and I hurriedly turned around and intercepted them with a great scythe and a hatchet. Unfortunately, we did not have enough attacks to spare. We managed to bring down three, but the last one slipped through our attacks and came within striking distance.
Once it got inside my guard, my means of resisting it became limited. The only weapon I had was a great scythe, which was decidedly unsuited for defense. I had become reasonably good at parrying humanoid enemies, but my success rate against foes like this was low. At this rate, I was bound to take serious damage. ...Until now.
"It's earlier than planned, but I suppose it's time for the grand unveiling!"
I flared my robes, and something I sent out from within them pierced the drone. Good, good! It seemed to be moving properly, which was a relief!
"...Huh? A-a tail?"
As Iris muttered, her tentacles frozen in shock, the new addition I had made was indeed a tail. More specifically, it was a tail ending in a skull that clutched something resembling a spearhead in its jaws. My inspirations had been Karu and the Tarasque.
The tail growing from my coccyx was about five meters long, and everything except its tip was made of bone. The reason no one had noticed its existence until now was that I had coiled it up and hidden it inside my hollow abdomen and chest, like an extension cord. I almost wanted to praise my past self for not filling the space inside my ribs when I increased the number of my bones during my previous evolution!
The tip was made from the Tarasque's spikes and shell. I fused the shell with my bones using 【Alchemy】, then reshaped it into the same form as my skull. Finally, I placed one of the Tarasque's spikes in its mouth, and it was complete.
The Tarasque's spikes were extremely large, and using one as-is would have made the balance terrible. But there was no need to worry. In fact, Tarasque spikes consist of layer upon layer, like an onion. I used the hardest part that was exposed only after every layer had been peeled away. This was the result when I used 【Appraisal】 on it.
――――――――――
Tarasque Spike Core Quality: Excellent Rarity: T (Treasure-class)
The core of the spikes generated by a Tarasque. It is extremely hard and also possesses regenerative abilities. As long as this exists, the Tarasque can generate spikes as many times as it likes.
Infusing it with mana causes it to release deadly poison and flames. It can also generate layers of the spike.
It is famous as an exceptionally fine spearhead, but very few are in circulation.
――――――――――
Genzuro had already had Iris process this Spike Core into a spear, and that was how I learned of its existence and decided to use it for my tail. The layers had to be peeled away one by one with care, but I was able to remove most of the unnecessary parts with 【Alchemy】, so the work was surprisingly easy.
In any case, I had created a tail that possessed deadly poison and flames and could extend the spike itself. I could move it even with all my arms occupied, and by hiding it as I had just done, I could also use it for surprise attacks!
What? You think the skull part is unnecessary? Obviously, it is there for the cool factor. Incidentally, when I embedded fire-attribute magic stones in the eye sockets, I was able to make them glow red. It had no actual effect, though.
I only learned this afterward, but apparently my eye sockets also glow red when I use 【Death and Chaos Demon Eye】. By a strange coincidence, the colors ended up matching.
"Hmm. I can vaguely tell how to move it thanks to 【Tail Strike】. I'm glad I kept it."
The Skill that allowed me to make use of this tail was 【Tail Strike】, which I had acquired by spending 4 SP. Thanks to it, I was able to benefit from the system's assistance. Without it, there would have been no way to hit a moving target with an attack on my first attempt.
"Brother's getting more and more of a weirdo..."
"I thought you'd increase your arms next if you were going to add something..."
"It, it's not cute at all... Even though it's a tail... and it's not fluffy..."
"I-it's cool! It looks like a scorpion's tail!"
The others, having finished disabling the remaining Golems, freely said whatever they wanted about my new weapon. As usual, Iris was the only one who praised me. Still, that was an excellent comparison—calling it a scorpion's tail!
"Grrrr♪"
Karu returned with a Golem clamped in his jaws and happily wrapped his tail around mine. He was the only one who had been present for my evolution, so he already knew about my tail. Naturally, he wanted to play with it.
"W-wait, what!? It's going to break! It's going to break, Karu!"
However, there was a huge difference in the size and thickness of our tails. Furthermore, although I had used dragon bones in the tail, they were ultimately just bones, and their strength and durability were nothing compared to an actual dragon's. As a result of Karu's powerful tail playing with mine, my tail began to creak ominously.
"Grrrr..."
Karu sadly loosened his tail. I felt bad for him, but it would have been heartbreaking to have my brand-new organ destroyed so soon.
"Adding something new means you evolved, right, brother?"
"Yeah. I've become 'Chaos Abyss Dragonbone High Lich.'"
"Chaos...? Where are you even headed, Izam?"
"Who knows? I don't know myself. Also, my Job is a cleric-type Job called 'Apostle of Death and Chaos.' That means I can now use healing magic. From now on, leave the healing to me."
The moment they heard about my new Job, everyone drew a startled breath. Yes, yes, I understood. It was quite a shocking Job name.
"C-cleric-type...!?"
"Even though you're a Skeleton!?"
"It doesn't suit you at all..."
That was the part they focused on!? ...Though, now that they mentioned it, a cleric in the form of a Skeleton did not suit me. It also seemed like the sort of thing that would have words like 'Fallen' or 'Undead' attached to the front!
"Huh? You all didn't know? The holy symbol of Iifa-sama, the Goddess of Death and Chaos, is 'a skull and a spiral,' so there's nothing strange about it."
"Huh?"
"Grr?"
Iris said it as though it were obvious, but this was the first I had ever heard of it. The other three apparently had the same reaction, because they responded just as I did. Ah, Karu simply had no idea what we were talking about.
"Leaving aside the three of them, even you, Izam, didn't know?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I was unaware. Could you explain it to me?"
"Of course. You see..."
According to Iris's explanation, the twelve goddesses of FSW each had a holy symbol of their own. The holy symbol of Iifa-sama, the Goddess of Death and Chaos, who had granted me her blessing, was 'a skull and a spiral.' Apparently, there was nothing strange about a Skeleton like me becoming a messenger of the goddess.
"I thought I had browsed through the forums quite a lot, but I don't remember ever seeing that information."
"It's in the world-setting explanation on the official website, you know?"
"I overlooked it...!"
I had done little more than read the list of monsters available for initial selection and skim the rest of the official website. It was especially foolish of me to miss that when I normally read manuals from cover to cover.
In any case, now that I had a means of healing besides potions, we could have more reliable adventures.
"Oh, that's great!"
"But was it really all right? Choosing a non-mage Job went against your principles, didn't it?"
Genzuro's point was entirely fair. I had actually hesitated over that very matter, if only for a moment. But I had no regrets whatsoever about making this choice.
"I've thought for a long time that we needed someone who could use healing magic, so this worked out perfectly. Besides, sooner or later, I would have taken a cleric-type Job to gain access to healing magic anyway. This merely brought that time forward."
That's right. There was no doubt that, sooner or later, I would have taken a cleric-type Job to use healing magic. This had only happened a little sooner than expected. There was truly no need to worry about it.
"...You really do mean it. In that case, that's fine."
"More importantly! What is healing magic like? I'm curious!"
"Well, the one I acquired is called 【Soul Arts】..."
And so, urged on by Ruby, I explained 【Soul Arts】 to everyone while we took a break.