Vol 1 Chapter 9 – Mechanical Golems【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

This was no time to be worrying about the Emperor’s name. The lines carved into the surrounding walls split open vertically like doors, and countless clockwork dolls poured out from within. In the blink of an eye, the square grand hall was entirely buried under a swarm of mechanical golems, and Allen and Asmodeus found themselves completely surrounded.

Looking closely, lenses were embedded into the heads of every single mechanical golem, locking onto the intruders like actual eyeballs. Furthermore, shining jewels were embedded right in the center of their chests.

“Don’t tell me… are those mana cores?”

Each of the dolls was armed — some gripped bows, while others wielded swords, spears, or simply bare hands.

“Combat Skill: 〈Adamantine Muscle〉”

The golems gripping swords and spears fell into formation and chanted in perfect unison. Instantly, the jewels in their chests glowed brightly, and the light spread throughout their entire bodies.

Just like magic, combat skills could not be used without a mana core — the organ that generates and stores mana. In other words, these clockwork soldiers had perfectly replicated one of the great mysteries of the human body. It clearly spoke of an advanced civilization far superior to the modern era. If this technology could be revived today, humanity would no longer even need to fight.

However, their actual combat power was sorely lacking against a former World Knight. Unless they could perfectly replicate a Brave Core, fighting Allen on equal footing was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Holding Asmodeus tightly under his arm, Allen continuously dodged and cleaved through the relentless attacks of the incoming golems.

“…There are simply too many. Would you like to use my power? There are no prying eyes here. I could vaporize junk like this in an instant.”

“…No, your stock is running pretty low, isn’t it?”

Asmodeus’s ability could be activated using sexual arousal as fuel. Having been activated for an extended period during the battle with the Demon King, her usage time was currently severely limited. Unless it was an absolute emergency, he wanted to conserve it.

As a side note, during his time as a World Knight, Allen had lived with an Imperial Princess in one of the Holy Empire’s strongholds — the 【Tower of Silence】. Perhaps out of gratitude for saving her, she would occasionally try to seduce him. Allen had fully intended to take her up on those offers more than a few times, but the moment he got aroused, Asmodeus absorbed it instantly. Therefore, it wasn’t that he chivalrously kept his hands to himself — he literally couldn’t do anything.

But I digress.

Having disposed of the swordsman-type golems, Allen immediately slashed at a golem equipped with gauntlets, but —

“Combat Skill: 〈Diamond Body〉”

Sparks flew violently. Allen’s strike was completely deflected by the golem’s armor. Seeing an opening, the golem threw a punch right at him, but Allen caught the metal fist flat against the side of his blade.

“…That was a brawler’s combat skill just now, wasn’t it?”

Those with a Knight Core could activate combat skills for body enhancement and weapon enhancement, cloaking their weapons in mana. On the other hand, those with a Brawler Core — like the golem right in front of him — could use combat skills for body enhancement and flesh hardening. The two were similar, but the specific techniques they could employ were strictly divided.

Surrounded on all sides, Allen forcefully deflected the blade and leapt high into the air, still carrying Asmodeus under his arm. The moment he did, the archer golems — who had been on standby for fear of friendly fire — made their move.

“Elemental Enchantment: 〈Flare Bomb〉”

Five metal arrows were fired simultaneously, and sheathing his longsword in the same motion, Allen caught every single one between the fingers of his newly freed hand. In that instant, the arrows took on a brilliant crimson glow, but —

“I don’t need these, so you can have them back.”

A split second before the arrows could explode, Allen hurled them back at the golems with blinding speed. They flew back far faster than they had been fired, and the moment they made impact, five fiery explosions chained together.

Having completely eradicated the bow-wielding golems equipped with Enchanter Cores, Allen used the heads of the massive remaining horde as stepping stones, kicking them to pieces as he moved.

“Good grief, there’s no end to them.”

“…Allen. I feel sick… urp, do not move so violently.”

“Hey, don’t be unreasonable here! One of my hands is already tied up from carrying you around, and now you want me to take on another handicap?”

“Indeed.”

“Don’t ‘Indeed’ me! How does a sword even get motion sickness in the first place?!”

Despite his complaints, Allen stopped his high-speed maneuvering, his cloak fluttering as he touched down on the ground. With a sigh, he drew his sword once more.

He channeled an excess of mana into the Black Metal longsword, cranking the output higher than before. Purplish-black mana leaked from Allen’s body, wrapping tightly around the blade.

“—Combat Skill: 〈Netherlight Moon-Slash〉”

Allen swung his sword horizontally. The crescent-shaped, purplish-black slash transformed into a shockwave that rippled outward through the chamber, and the bodies of every single golem it touched were instantly sheared in half.

“…I’m still pretty exhausted from the Demon King fight, so I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t force me to use my combat skills.”

All the hundreds of golems filling the massive chamber were reduced to nothing but smoking scrap metal. It seemed that even the soldiers of an ancient civilization were no match for the strongest hero of the modern era.