Chapter 32 - 30: The Golem’s Awakening
The ancient voice had barely faded when the chamber fell unnaturally silent.
Victor remained motionless on the elevated ridge, his pitch-black eyes fixed on the enormous stone gate below.
The expedition had gathered before it, battered and exhausted from their journey through the dungeon. Several corpses lay scattered across the chamber, while the surviving mercenaries struggled to catch their breath.
Then
BOOM.
The ground trembled.Kael’s expression changed.
"What was that?"Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Another tremor shook the chamber.Dust fell from the ceiling.The ancient runes carved into the walls suddenly began glowing one after another, spreading outward from the sealed gate like veins of golden light.
Victor immediately activated Fate-Shattering Perception.
The world around him transformed.Mana currents became visible.The formations surrounding the gate were overflowing with energy.But something was wrong.The energy wasn’t coming from the formations.It was moving toward them.Victor’s gaze shifted toward the floor.Something beneath them was awakening.
"Everyone," Victor said quietly.
Lyra, Elena, and Kael immediately turned toward him.
"Prepare yourselves."A deafening roar shook the chamber.
CRACK!
The stone floor split open.
A massive hand made entirely of black-gray stone erupted from beneath the ground.
The mercenaries froze.
"What the..?!"The stone hand slammed down.
BOOM!
Several mercenaries were thrown across the chamber.Victor watched calmly.The stone surrounding the impact site began moving.
One by one, enormous humanoid figures emerged from beneath the ground.
Golems.
Their bodies were composed of ancient stone reinforced with glowing golden runes. Their hollow eye sockets burned with pale light as they slowly turned toward the expedition.
The Tier 6 warrior immediately raised his spear.
"Formation!"
The surviving mercenaries desperately gathered behind him.Victor’s eyes narrowed.There were more than twenty.And every single one was moving with the same mechanical precision.
The first golem charged.
The Tier 6 warrior stepped forward.His spear flashed.
BOOM!
The weapon struck the golem directly in the chest, shattering its stone torso.Pieces of ancient rock exploded across the chamber.
The warrior didn’t stop.He spun his spear and swept it horizontally.Another golem’s head exploded.A third attempted to strike him from behind.He ducked beneath the massive fist and drove his spear upward.The entire arm shattered.Victor’s expression became slightly more serious.
He’s stronger than I expected.
The warrior’s movements were exceptionally refined.There was no wasted motion.Every attack targeted structural weaknesses.
He wasn’t simply overpowering the golems.He was reading them.The remaining mercenaries joined the battle.Spells erupted throughout the chamber.
Flames collided with stone.
Lightning tore across the floor.
The two remaining Tier 4 warriors fought beside their leader, using their combined strength to destroy the weaker golems.
But the dungeon guardians were relentless.
One golem smashed through a defensive barrier and crushed the mercenary behind it.
Another impaled a spellcaster with a jagged stone spear.A third grabbed a fleeing warrior and slammed him against the ground.
The expedition’s numbers disappeared rapidly.
Victor simply watched.
Kael tightened his grip around his sword.
"We should help them."
Victor didn’t look at him.
"No."
"But-"
"They’re doing exactly what we need them to do."
Kael’s expression darkened.
Victor continued watching the Tier 6 warrior.
The man’s spear suddenly began vibrating.Mana surged through his body.The pressure filling the chamber changed.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.What is he doing?
The Tier 6 warrior planted one foot against the ground.His aura exploded outward.
For a brief momentVictor felt something that shouldn’t have been possible.A Tier 7-level pressure.His expression finally became serious.
He’s forcing his output beyond his core’s natural limit.The warrior roared.His spear became enveloped in concentrated crimson mana.
Then he disappeared.
BOOM!
The nearest golem was pierced straight through.The attack didn’t stop.The spear continued forward, destroying another golem behind it.Then another.Then another.
Within seconds, five golems collapsed.
Victor’s mind raced.
His core hasn’t changed. He’s still Tier 6.
But that technique is temporarily pushing his attack power into the Tier 7 realm.
That was dangerous.Very dangerous.
Victor had never seen this technique in the original story.The warrior landed heavily on the ground.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
But he immediately raised his spear again.The remaining golems surrounded him.
He smiled.
"Come."
The battle continued.
One by one, the guardians fell.
But the expedition suffered catastrophic losses.
By the time the final ordinary golem collapsed, only three mercenaries remained standing.
The Tier 6 warrior.And the two Tier 4 warriors.
Everyone else was dead.
Victor’s gaze shifted toward the deeper chamber.
Something was still moving.The surviving mercenaries hadn’t noticed.But Victor had.
A massive concentration of energy was gathering beneath the floor.
His Fate-Shattering Perception expanded.
He attempted to identify the source.Nothing.
No mana core.
No elemental signature.
No recognizable flow.
Victor frowned.
What is that?
The ground suddenly exploded.
BOOOOOOM!
A gigantic figure emerged from beneath the chamber.It was at least fifteen meters tall.
Its body was composed of layers of ancient black stone, covered in enormous golden runes.
Unlike the other golems, however, its body contained no visible mana core.
Victor’s perception couldn’t penetrate it.
For the first time since entering the dungeon, his ability returned almost nothing.
Unknown energy source.The Golem Boss slowly raised its head.
Its eyes ignited.Then it attacked.
BOOM!
Its fist collided with the ground.
The surviving Tier 4 warriors were thrown across the chamber.One crashed into a pillar.
The other barely managed to raise a barrier before being sent flying.The Tier 6 warrior charged.His spear struck the Golem Boss’s chest.
CLANG!
The impact barely moved it.The warrior’s expression hardened.The Golem Boss swung its arm.
He barely dodged.The stone fist destroyed an entire section of the chamber wall.Victor watched carefully.It’s stronger than him.The Tier 6 warrior’s breathing became heavier.
Blood ran down his arm.Yet he continued attacking.His spear moved like lightning.
Thrust.
Slash.
Pierce.
Every attack landed with enough force to destroy ordinary Tier 6 defenses.
But the Golem Boss continued advancing.Then the warrior stopped.He lowered his spear.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Again?
The warrior’s mana began gathering.The air around him distorted.
The two surviving Tier 4 warriors immediately retreated.Victor’s expression became cold.He’s using that technique again.
The warrior’s entire body trembled under the pressure.
Crimson mana erupted around his spear.
The chamber shook.Even from a distance, Victor could feel the terrifying power gathering within the weapon.
The warrior roared.
"BREAK!"
He thrust forward.
A massive spear-shaped torrent of crimson energy erupted through the chamber.
It struck the Golem Boss directly in the chest.For several seconds, nothing happened.Then
CRACK.
A fracture appeared across the Golem’s body.
Another.Then hundreds.The entire upper torso shattered.The Golem Boss collapsed with a deafening roar.
Silence returned.The Tier 6 warrior remained standing.Barely.Blood flowed from several wounds across his body.His breathing was heavy.But his injuries weren’t severe.Victor’s expression became thoughtful.So that’s his trump card.He quickly calculated the situation.
The Tier 6 warrior had already demonstrated the ability to temporarily reach Tier 7 attack power.
The two Tier 4 warriors were still capable of fighting.
Victor looked at his own group.
Lyra.Kael.Elena.
Then back toward the survivors.
We can’t defeat all three simultaneously without unnecessary risk.His eyes narrowed.The two Tier 4s were the problem.If they fought alongside the Tier 6 warrior, their combined pressure would make the battle unnecessarily complicated.
Victor didn’t need unnecessary complications.
Nor did he need to reveal everything he was capable of.
He stepped forward.
"We’ll finish them and claim the reward."
Kael glanced toward him.
"You mean defeat them?"
Victor nodded.
"Yes. Don’t let them interfere with us."
Kael tightened his grip around his broadsword.
"Understood."
Elena remained silent for a moment before nodding as well.
Victor’s expression didn’t change.
But inside his mind, his decision had already been made.
They cannot leave.
His gaze moved across the bodies scattered throughout the chamber.
The Tier 6 warrior knows about this dungeon. The two Tier 4s know about this dungeon. They know someone hired them. They know there is an inheritance hidden here.
His eyes hardened.Even if they don’t know who I am, they are still loose ends.Victor’s gaze shifted toward the enormous stone gate.
If they return to civilization, someone will eventually investigate.A newly discovered dungeon.A mysterious inheritance.
A mercenary expedition containing a Tier 6 powerhouse.Too many questions.
Too many opportunities for someone to connect the pieces.His eyes drifted across the corpses covering the chamber floor.The dungeon has already provided the perfect explanation.Victor’s fingers tightened around his weapon.Dead men tell no tales.His expression remained perfectly calm.
The dungeon killed the expedition.
A simple conclusion.
A believable one.
And if the surviving mercenaries died here as well, there would be nobody left to contradict it.
Victor looked toward Kael.
"Kael."The young warrior immediately looked toward him.
"Take the left one."
Kael drew his broadsword.
"Got it."
"Elena, support him."
Elena nodded, though her eyes briefly flickered toward the exhausted mercenary.
"And Lyra..."
Lyra’s eyes immediately turned toward Victor.
"Yes, Victor."
Victor’s gaze settled on the remaining Tier 4 warrior.
"The other one."
A faint smile appeared on Lyra’s lips.
"Understood."
Victor’s eyes then settled on the Tier 6 warrior.
And I’ll deal with him.
None of them knew what he had already decided.
To Kael and Elena, this was simply another battle.They had no intention of executing wounded opponents unless absolutely necessary.Victor knew that.And he didn’t care.He didn’t need them to know his true objective.
He simply needed them to fight.
Across the chamber, the exhausted Tier 6 warrior slowly lifted his spear.
He had no idea that the greatest danger in the dungeon was no longer the golems.
Victor took one step forward.The dungeon had already claimed most of the expedition.
Now, Victor would make sure it claimed the rest.