Seed of Titan-Chapter 60: Golems for Days

Chapter 60: Golems for Days

Christo and the others watched closely as Jian walked toward the large metal gate.

Jian’s pace was rather slow as he was being extremely vigilant, thoroughly scanning his surroundings in case he was suddenly ambushed by an enemy or a trap.

But Jian’s wariness seemed to be for naught, for he had almost reached the large panel beside the gate safely without any interruptions.

However, when Jian was a couple yards away from the panel, its red part suddenly lit up, followed by the sound of a robotic voice.

[Commencing scanning. Please don’t move.]

Following this, a ray shone from the panel, scanning Jian.

This sudden development stunned Jian. He hesitated briefly, but decided to stay still.

[Unidentified individual detected. Flagging intruder. Commencing IR-3A. Releasing SG-028.]

"Huh?!" Jian remarked surprisedly, slightly confused. He had no idea what the voice meant by those codes.

But it didn’t take long for Jian to find out, as the cave wall on the left side of the gate suddenly trembled and cracked open.

Emerging from the wall was a 7 feet1 tall stone golem. It was bulky and had green glowing eyes that were disproportionately small compared to its head.

Jian had never seen anything like it but could sense the threat that it possessed. He took a combat stance and scanned the new foe.

’It shouldn’t be too agile considering its frame. I don’t know if I can cut through its body though. If it’s too hard, I’ll aim for the joints and maybe the eyes.’

As Jian was thinking how to approach the fight, the golem’s eyes locked on him. It immediately sprinted forward and launched a punch.

Jian was caught off guard by the golem’s speed. He hastily blocked the attack with his sword.

Clang!

Jian was knocked back a few yards. He didn’t look injured, but his sword arm was slightly trembling.

’How can it move this fast?!’

Seeing that Jian was still standing, the golem dashed toward him once more.

After realizing that the golem’s speed was nothing to scoff at, Jian was now prepared.

He deftly dodged the golem’s fist, slashing its arm in the process. But as he had suspected, Jian’s attack only left a white mark on the golem’s arm.

After the golem failed to land its punch, it rotated its torso, hurling a spinning back fist at Jian.

Jian quickly ducked. The golem’s heavy fist whirred a few inches above him. Had Jian not dodged in time, it would’ve knocked his head off.

Sensing an opening, Jian immediately stabbed his sword into the golem’s armpit.

This time, his attack was slightly more effective as it knocked the golem away.

’Even the joints are tough!’ Jian exclaimed after seeing that he had failed to externally damage the golem.

After stabilizing itself, the golem suddenly rolled itself, crouching. Then, like a rocket, it launched itself toward Jian.

"Light steps!" Jian hastily shouted before leaping high into the air.

The golem flew right through the spot where Jian was previously standing before smashing through a line of trees, blasting them into pieces.

’Going by the plan, I should be luring it away from the gate. But I don’t think it’s as dangerous as Christo had thought. Let’s just try defeating it first.’

As Jian was falling in the air, he twisted his body a bit and released a slash toward his back.

"Crescent Slash!"

A blue crescent slash flew from his sword, propelling Jian forward as he dived toward the direction of the golem.

Locking on his target, Jian released his other skill.

"Fierce Thrust!"

A large blue lance shot out, zipping toward its target.

The golem seemed to notice the attack and quickly crossed its arms in front of its body.

With a loud bang, the lance smashed into the golem, slamming it onto the ground.

After Jian landed, he immediately dashed toward the golem, not wanting to waste this opening.

"Crescent Slash! Crescent Slash! Crescent Slash!"

Jian spammed his skills at the poor golem that was lying on the ground. The golem was being carved apart bit by bit—stone fragments were flying everywhere due to Jian’s spamming.

"Fierce Thrust!" Jian shouted as he finally concluded his barrage, cracking open the golem’s head.

Seeing that the golem had stopped moving, Jian dropped to the ground, panting.

"Finally! I had to spend a lot of qi, but it’s worth turning this tough fucker into rubble."

Jian then turned to his friends that were still in hiding in the distance.

"Christo!" he shouted. "How are you so weak!? This ’great danger’ was a bit too shabby! I’ve worried for nothing! Hahaha!"

Jian was laughing his ass out, feeling both relieved and annoyed that Christo had been exaggerating things, so much that Jian had even prepared himself for death.

’At least it’s better than chickening out for nothing and losing a lot of face,’ Jian amusedly thought as he stood up.

However, at this moment, the robotic voice sounded once again.

[Critical failure detected. Elimination pending. Releasing MG-014.]

A cold sweat ran down Jian’s back as he turned to look at the opening on the wall.

Seconds later, Jian watched in horror as an imposing figure slowly emerged from the wall.

It was a 13 feet1 tall stone golem that looked exactly the same as the previous one, only bigger.

Although it was only around double the height of the previous golem, its volume was four times greater, leaving a dreadful impression on the palpitating Jian.

Jian immediately turned around and ran away, heading to the opposite direction from Christo’s group.

’This fucking mouth! Why did you have to jinx me, huh!? There’s no way I’m beating that thick fucker! I barely have any qi left!’

Sensing that its target was fleeing, the golem loudly hummed and turned its bulky frame. It then ran toward Jian’s direction, creating small craters and earthshakes with every step.

Although this new golem wasn’t as agile as the smaller version, its wider gait seemed to compensate for the speed difference.

Meanwhile, Christo and the others were watching Jian’s getaway from their hiding place.

"Should we go now?" Natalia asked Christo.

"I’m not sure..." Christo replied.

"Why? Isn’t the way clear now?" Flo also asked.

"It is. But didn’t you see how it summoned another golem after the first one was defeated? There’s a high chance that there are even more golems stored behind that wall," Christo explained.

"But what do we even do if we’re not going through the gate? Jian already risked himself for this chance," Flo asked again.

"How about I be the bait if there’s really another golem?" Natalia suggested.

"What?!" Flo exclaimed.

"It’s better than doing nothing. We don’t know if Jian will be able to return here to check the gate again. And if you haven’t noticed yet, Auri’s condition is getting worse," Natalia said, gesturing at Auri who was now rested on the ground.

Flo fell silent. Once again, the party was in a dilemma. She gazed toward the jungle, thinking that things wouldn’t have been so complicated had Drai been here with them.

"If you’re resolved to take the risk, I’m up for it," Christo suddenly said.

"What are you saying, Christo?! How are we supposed to escape with only both of us and Auri?!" Flo frantically asked.

"Honestly, I’m out of ideas. Although I can navigate the dangers, I lack the strength to confront them. In retrospect, perhaps choosing not to chase after Drai was my biggest mistake," Christo said, looking slightly dejected.

Seeing Christo’s expression, Flo felt rather guilty for questioning him. The man had been leading them safely through this strange place and even found a possible exit, but now he was at the end of his ropes.

"I’m sorry, Christo..." Flo quietly apologized.

Christo merely raised his hand, signaling her not to worry about it.

"Since there’s no other way, I’ll do it," Natalia said.

Christo and Flo looked at Natalia and saw that her eyes were looking sharp and her face showed no hesitation.

"Okay. But be careful, Nat..." Flo said as she rushed to hug her.

"I will. Take care of Auri, okay," Natalia assured, patting Flo’s head. She then turned to Christo.

"I’ll lure away the golem if it’s not the smaller version. I’ll try bypassing the panel too since the security system was triggered after Jian approached it. I don’t know if it will work though."

Christo silently nodded.

"Then I’ll get going," Natalia said, releasing herself from Flo’s hug. She then turned around and walked forward.

Christo and Flo watched closely as Natalia made her way to the gate.

Unlike Jian, she didn’t head to the panel but opted to take a roundabout path from the left side of the gate.

Upon reaching the leftmost part of the large metal gates, Natalia felt relieved because the panel had not reacted to her presence.

’Let’s see if I can push it open...’

Natalia proceeded to push the gate with both hands. The gate didn’t seem to budge, so she gathered all her strength and pushed again.

Yet the gate remained firmly shut, unaffected by Natalia’s wholehearted effort.

’Still no use, huh? I’ll try using a skill this time.’

Natalia took one step back and readied her stance. She tucked her right arm into her waist, clenching her fist tight while her other hand wrapped around it.

Immediately, an ancient power gushed into Natalia’s fist, swirling the air around it like a typhoon.

Natalia was preparing to unleash Empyrean Cross, one of the few draconic arts that she currently possessed.

Because this skill required charging, Natalia wasn’t too fond of using it in combat as it was far from practical, especially for one-on-one fights. But in terms of sheer force, it was by far Natalia’s strongest skill in her current arsenal.

Seconds later, Natalia had finished charging her fist.

She punched forward, and an azure torrent surged from her fist, crashing into the gate with a thunderous bang.

"So powerful!" Flo exclaimed from her hiding place. Even from a distance, the tremendous force of Natalia’s attack could still be felt.

Natalia let out a heavy breath and lowered her fist, feeling a bit tired. She then stepped closer to the gate, wanting to see the results of her attack.

After getting a closer look, Natalia saw that the gate was quite dented, creating a small opening in the middle.

’We definitely can’t fit through that. Maybe one or two more attacks will widen it enough.’

Natalia then stepped back, ready to charge Empyrean Cross once more. But before she could get into stance, a robotic voice sounded from the side.

[Forced entry detected. Commencing GD-1B. Releasing BG-003.]

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