Chapter 75: My big tank
The two mud bodies exploded into millions of Earth Element particles.
The colossal mass of mud began to spiral.
The two spiritual signatures gradually merged, following the fusion matrices calculated by the Biochip.
Then...
A new silhouette emerged.
The original humanoid Golem and the Shark Golem had ceased to exist.
In their place...
An entirely different creature was born.
I held my breath.
It worked!
Hehehehe~~
From a distance, the creature resembled a knight riding a gigantic land shark nearly three meters long.
The shark’s enormous head remained lowered, ready to charge.
Massive scales of hardened mud covered its entire body.
Above it...
A mud warrior wielded a long spear.
For a few seconds, even I believed it was simply a mounted knight.
But...
As the controller of both cores...
I could see far more.
In reality, the knight wasn’t riding the shark.
From the waist down...
His body simply disappeared into the creature’s back.
They shared the same structure.
The same mana circulation.
The same command core.
They were a single being.
A Golem.
A single artificial consciousness created by my Mental Runes.
The former humanoid Golem had become the upper torso.
The Shark King had become the lower half.
A true hybrid of war.
As I analyzed its structure, the Biochip projected countless calculations.
Since a Golem could never completely lose contact with the Earth Element without sacrificing its continuous regeneration...
The system had automatically fused nearly all the abilities of both cores.
A dense golden mist began to circulate throughout its entire structure.
Shortly afterward...
That elemental dust slowly condensed.
Armor began to form.
Scales.
Plates.
Crystalline layers.
It was different from ordinary clay.
It possessed a mineral sheen.
I spent several seconds simply admiring that masterpiece.
My chest filled with satisfaction.
This is my Giant Shark Hunter Knight...
The name simply felt right.
I slowly approached it.
Without receiving a single command...
The enormous Shark lowered itself before me.
Its long tail moved gently.
It wrapped itself around my waist.
Then...
With a delicacy completely at odds with its size...
It lifted me.
The mud plates on its back began to move.
The spikes retracted.
The scales rearranged themselves.
A few seconds later...
A kind of throne emerged on its back.
With a backrest.
Side supports.
Even footrests.
I sat down.
It was surprisingly comfortable.
I tapped the armrest twice with my hand.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
— Hahaha...
I think I just built a magical battle tank.
That description felt perfect.
It wasn’t just a Golem.
It was a mobile combat platform.
I pointed forward.
— Move.
The Hunter Knight immediately began gliding across the terrain.
Despite its tremendous weight...
Its movements were smooth.
The shark’s enormous belly practically floated over the ground.
No obstacle seemed capable of slowing it down.
As I watched it move, I organized my conclusions.
The former Shark King’s core possessed power equivalent to that of a Peak Level II Acolyte.
Combined with the tactical capabilities of the humanoid Golem...
My combat strength had increased tremendously.
For the first time...
I felt that I might actually be able to face a Level III Acolyte.
That didn’t mean I would win.
But...
Neither did it mean I was doomed to die.
Among all the Level III Acolytes I had met...
Only Magaly remained completely beyond my reach.
That woman was a monster.
As for the others...
I would only learn their true abilities when our magic finally clashed.
My smile slowly faded.
Because there was a problem.
A huge problem.
My gaze fell to my own chest.
I...
Was still the weak point.
That entire machine existed because I was controlling it.
If I died...
The summon would end.
Any intelligent opponent would ignore the Golem completely.
They would attack the summoner directly.
If I couldn’t survive the first magical bombardment...
This entire creation would become meaningless.
I slowly closed my eyes.
That was exactly why I had come here.
The first experiment had been a success.
Now...
It was time for the second.
I raised my hand.
— Giant Shark Hunter Knight...
The creature immediately turned its attention toward me.
I smiled.
— Dive.
At that very instant...
The throne began moving forward.
The humanoid torso partially turned its body.
The crystalline plates slowly opened.
An enormous quantity of Earth Element particles began circulating around me.
Before I could even take another breath...
The knight itself expanded its body.
Mud plates wrapped around my legs.
My waist.
My chest.
My arms.
There was no violence.
It felt as though I were being slowly swallowed by an extraordinarily careful creature.
A few seconds later...
My entire body disappeared into the Golem’s torso.
The next instant...
The enormous Shark let out a muffled roar.
An explosion of yellowish dust completely engulfed the field.
Then...
Everything vanished.
Not a single trace remained on the surface.
It was as though that war machine had sunk into an invisible ocean.
My breathing faltered.
Suddenly...
The weight of the entire world came crashing down on me.
A monstrous pressure squeezed my body from every direction.
My bones cracked.
My muscles stiffened.
For a brief moment...
I thought I was going to be crushed.
But then...
I felt the flow of the Earth Element particles surrounding the Golem.
They began pushing the soil away.
Opening a path.
Reducing the pressure.
Little by little...
The crushing sensation disappeared.
Then I realized something else.
I couldn’t see.
I couldn’t hear.
I couldn’t even feel the wind.
All of my senses had vanished.
I remained calm.
Instead, I concentrated my own mana.
The energy spread throughout the Golem’s entire body.
Then...
It expanded into the surrounding earth.
The ground responded immediately.
I began to see through magical vibrations.
Roots.
Stones.
Insects.
Everything appeared as translucent waves within my perception.
.
.
.
.
.
I was literally "swimming" beneath the earth.
Approximately three meters below the surface.
Inside the Giant Shark Hunter Knight, I no longer felt the weight of the soil as I had before.
The Earth Element particles were continuously pushed aside by the Golem’s magic, opening a narrow underground passage through which we advanced slowly.
It was an indescribable sensation.
If someone had told me a few years ago that one day I would travel through the earth the way a fish swims through a river, I would have called that person insane.
Yet there I was.
Silently gliding through the depths.
Everything was silent.
An endless expanse of earth.
At that moment...
I felt a strange sense of superiority.
Down there...
I was practically untouchable.
As long as I remained fused with the Golem, very few enemies would even know where I was.
It was almost like possessing a secret kingdom.
If I truly wanted...
All it would take was a single command.
The Giant Shark Hunter Knight could burst through the ground beneath an enemy’s feet, destroy walls, bring down buildings, or emerge unexpectedly in the middle of a battlefield.
The strategic advantage of that ability was absurd.
My heart raced.
The more I experimented with my creations...
The more I understood the true potential of magical engineering.
Unfortunately...
Not everything was perfect.
After approximately seven or eight minutes...
My chest began to burn.
My body sent a warning that was impossible to ignore.
I needed to breathe.
It wasn’t a lack of mana.
Quite the opposite.
I still had more than enough energy to keep going for a long time.
The problem was much simpler.
There was no air down there.
Even with a body strengthened through body refinement techniques, I was still human.
A mortal.
An ordinary person would lose consciousness after only a few minutes without breathing.
I had managed to endure for nearly eight.
That was already an extraordinary result.
But that was my limit.
I clenched my teeth.
— Surface.
The moment the mental command was transmitted...
The Earth Element particles surrounding the Golem began to vibrate.
The soil above us temporarily became pliable.
The earth slowly parted.
Like a gigantic beast emerging from a lake...
My Golem began to rise.
A few seconds later...
The light returned.
I drew a deep breath.
Fresh air flooded my lungs as though it were the most precious nectar in the world.
That was when I heard them.
"Kiiiieeeee!"
"Kriiiii!"
"Kyaaah!"
Dozens.
Perhaps hundreds.
Shrill cries echoed all around us.
I immediately raised my head.
My face froze.
Holy shit...
We had emerged right in the middle of the Baby Demons’ nest!
The little creatures were scattered everywhere.
Some hung from the branches.
Others hid among the bushes.
Many had literally been hurled away when the ground exploded as we surfaced.
In an instant...
A storm of curses and piercing shrieks rained down on me.
Without wasting a second, I struck the side of the throne with force.
— Forward!
The enormous Shark immediately glided ahead.
The Knight raised its spear.
Two Baby Demons tried to leap at us.
"Shuuu!"
The spear pierced both of them before they even completed their jump.
Their tiny bodies burst into black particles.
The rest of the colony froze.
Although their illusion spells were extremely troublesome against humans...
They had very little effect on a Golem.
Illusions depended on the target’s mind.
My Knight was practically a machine.
Besides...
I was protected inside it.
The illusions reached me greatly weakened.
Within seconds...
The entire swarm panicked.
The tiny creatures scattered in every direction.
Some vanished into the bushes.
Others climbed the trees.
Not one of them dared continue the attack.
I watched the scene in silence.
Then I began to chuckle quietly.
Now I understood.
I finally understood.
Magaly.
Ruby.
Kalikol.
All of them.
Before...
I had always wondered why those Level III Acolytes walked through forbidden territories with such ease.
Why they ignored so many dangers.
I had thought they were fools.
Now the answer seemed obvious.
When you possess enough strength...
Threats no longer seem threatening.
As I guided my Golem out of that nest, a quiet change took place within me.
I realized something I didn’t want to admit.
Power changes people.
Throughout my previous life...
I had always hated phrases like:
"The strong rule the weak."
"The weak exist to serve."
"Those with power make the rules."
I had found all of it repulsive.
Cruel.
But...
Now that I was slowly beginning to take the place of the strong...
I had to admit it.
It was comfortable.
It was easy.
It was dangerously satisfying.
I kept moving forward.
Shortly afterward...
The stone path leading back to the Tower appeared before me.
I brought the Golem to a stop.
I climbed down from the throne.
I extended my hand.
— Disperse.
The enormous structure immediately began to collapse.
The crystalline plates shattered.
The mud returned to the ground.
The Earth Element particles slowly dispersed until only two small cores remained lying on the earth.
I crouched down.
Picked up both of them.
Carefully placed them inside the pouch fastened to my waist.
I looked toward the Tower in the distance.
Slowly pulled my hood over my head.
And began to walk.
...
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