THUD! THUD! THUD!
The footsteps of the two gigantic silhouettes were incredibly heavy, sounding like the beating of war drums. With every step, the ancient floor of the passage trembled, shaking copious amounts of dust from the vaulted ceiling. When they fully stepped into the range of the Light Technique, their appearance made everyone’s pupils constrict.
Their towering, nearly three-and-a-half-meter-tall frames were composed entirely of rough, gray granite. Deep fissures marred the rock surfaces, with moss creeping through the crevices. They looked like two ancient giants clad in Heavy Armor, completely blocking the passage ahead. Their heads were ovoid boulders devoid of mouths or noses. They only had two deep eye sockets that flickered with an emotionless, yellowish-brown glow. The oppressive presence exuded by these two behemoths was absolutely staggering.
Raine’s heart involuntarily accelerated at the sight of the Stone Golems. The Sloppy Ranger had often described these classic Mechanical Guards as "moving mountains" and "tombstones for Adventurers." Looking up at these colossal creatures—which required craning his neck just to see their entirety—the lingering terror from their previous encounter with the Bear Goblins now felt entirely insignificant.
Fortunately, Kaelin’s analysis had been correct. After enduring five hundred years of time, the condition of these two Stone Golems was clearly abysmal. Not only were the rocks on their bodies riddled with cracks, but the edges were even showing signs of peeling. The yellowish-brown glow in their eye sockets was incredibly dim, like a flickering candle in the wind. More importantly, their gait was remarkably stiff and sluggish. Their joints emitted grating CREAKS of friction, making every step appear immensely difficult. All of this proved that their internal Magic Circuits and physical structures had long since decayed. Their strength was nowhere near their prime. Moreover, this time, Raine was not alone.
"Sodden, I’m leaving the one on the left to you. Hold it off and draw it away!" Raine suppressed the trepidation in his heart, his voice calm and decisive.
"Leave it to Old Sodden! Hey, big guy! Look over here!" The Dwarf understood. His stocky body broke into a sprint, instantly charging right to the feet of the Stone Golem on the left. With a furious roar, he swung the War Axe in his hand in a cold arc, viciously slashing against the Golem’s thick, rocky ankle.
CLANG! Sparks flew everywhere; the axe blade only left a distinct white mark on the rock. However, this provocative act successfully attracted the sluggish opponent’s attention. The Stone Golem slowly turned its massive head. The yellowish-brown light in its eye sockets instantly locked onto Sodden. Bringing with it a crushing gale, a giant stone fist smashed down unstoppably toward the Dwarf!
Sodden let out a low growl, abruptly thrusting his massive Shield upward at an angle.
DONG—
A heavy, muffled boom echoed through the passage. Sodden’s stocky frame sank heavily, his feet stamping shallow craters into the ground. But relying on his rock-solid stance and astonishing Power, he forcefully withstood the heavy blow that was capable of smashing a man into a bloody pulp. The violent vibrations transmitting from the Shield made him bare his teeth, yet he remained like a steel nail driven into the earth, his feet not shifting back a single inch.
"You old relic, your soft punches are even weaker than my toothless old aunt’s!" He continued to taunt it. He continuously slashed at his opponent with his hand axe, successfully luring the Golem to the other side of the passage.
While the Dwarf successfully tied down one of them, Raine leaped backward with agile grace, quickly widening the distance between himself and the other Stone Golem. As his body shifted back, the Longbow in his hands was already drawn to a full moon. An Arrow flew from the bowstring, shooting straight toward the opponent’s glowing yellow eye socket.
CLANG!
A dull sound of clashing metal rang out. Just inches away from the eye socket, the Arrow seemed to strike an invisible barrier, merely throwing up a trail of glaring sparks.
"I’ll draw its attention!" Kaelin shouted lightly, her figure darting out like a sudden gale. Her swift footsteps circled to the Golem’s flank. The Longsword brought forth a chilling glint as she viciously slashed at the joint connection behind its knee.
CLANG—SCREECH!
The sword blade scraped violently against the hard rock, emitting an ear-piercing noise like chalk scratching on a blackboard. Although this Slash failed to sever the joint, it successfully left behind a deep gorge-like cut, causing a few shards of rock to crumble and fall. Upon being attacked, the Stone Golem suddenly pivoted halfway with a speed that defied its size. Its stone arm fell like a descending Siege Hammer, carrying a suffocating wind pressure as it smashed straight down toward Kaelin’s tiny figure!
Kaelin’s pupils constricted. Her entire body tensed up as she rolled desperately toward the back and side.
BOOM!
The stone fist grazed past her shoulder armor. The heavy momentum made her stumble as the punch smashed a deep, cracked crater right beside her. Right at this moment, Winnie seized the opportunity. A fist-sized Lightning Ball rapidly materialized in front of her chest. She shoved both hands forward. With a loud CRACKLE, the Lightning Ball flew out with an ear-piercing shriek, accurately blasting into the Stone Golem’s chest.
BANG!
Electric light burst outward. Countless currents of electricity, resembling silver snakes, instantly enveloped the upper half of the Mechanical Body. Under the corrosion of the Arcane Energy, the rocks emitted erratic cracking sounds, and even its already dim eye sockets began to flicker unstably.
Raine keenly caught this sight, recognizing it as a perfect opening. The Arrow, already nocked and ready to fire, shot straight toward the Golem’s increasingly dim eye socket like a moth drawn to a flame.
THWACK!
The Arrow successfully pierced through the temporarily disabled barrier, sinking half its shaft deep into the yellowish-brown light. The massive frame of the struck Stone Golem abruptly stiffened. As if a pause button had been pressed, it began to totter unsteadily on the spot.
How could Kaelin miss this perfect opening? She channeled all her strength into the blade of her sword. The edge condensed with that familiar silvery-white brilliance as she delivered another rapid Slash to the previously attacked knee joint!
CRACK!
With a crisp snapping sound, the knee joint of the Golem’s thick right leg completely shattered. Its colossal body instantly lost its support, crashing down heavily onto one knee and causing the ground to tremble once more. Panting heavily, Kaelin cast an expectant gaze toward that tall and straight figure. The rest was up to him.
Empowered by the boost of his 7 Points of Agility, Raine sprinted forward in a few swift strides. He planted a foot on the rocky step formed by the kneeling Golem and used the momentum to vault into the air. In mid-air, he backhanded the Dwarven Short Sword from his waist and viciously plunged the Short Sword into the Golem’s other eye socket.
CRUNCH!
A dull cracking sound immediately rang out. The Short Sword sank almost completely in, its tip seemingly striking some kind of core structure inside. The yellowish-brown glow in the Golem’s eye sockets completely extinguished, like a snuffed-out candle. All movement from its massive body came to an abrupt halt. It froze in its kneeling posture for a split second before toppling straight backward amid a violent grinding of rocks.
BOOM!
The Stone Golem’s immense frame crashed heavily onto the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust. It subsequently splintered into several large chunks, turning into a pile of giant boulders utterly devoid of Energy fluctuations.
[You have defeated the Demon: Stone Golem.]
[The ’Stone Golem’ has been recorded.]
[Current number of Demons recorded: 4]
[Next stage reward for the ’Hunting Chapter’: Record 5 Demons.]
The prompts surfaced in his mind, but Raine simply had no time to examine them closely. Barely having leaped away from the Golem’s wreckage, he immediately spun toward Sodden’s direction.
Armed with their previous experience, the group’s coordination became even more seamless. Winnie disrupted it with Magic, Raine intercepted it with Arrows, and Kaelin darted around to harass it. Even though the Golem facing Sodden seemed more "irascible," under the systematic siege of the three, the second Stone Golem soon followed in its companion’s footsteps. Amid a barrage of shattering noises, it crashed to the ground and turned into another pile of useless rubble.
The passage quickly fell silent. The four of them took a brief rest. Soon after, Sodden stepped forward once more, forcefully pushing open the stone doors leading into the interior of the fortress.
RUMBLE—
As the stone doors opened, the scene that presented itself before them involuntarily made the breaths of Raine and the others hitch.