Chapter 155: Destroying the Golem, Abyss Contamination

There was no time for Albert to ponder further; driven by instinct, he snatched the crystal from the back of his own head and pressed it firmly against the nape of the warrior whose protective device had shattered.

As the mental shielding took effect, the protective formation, which had already begun to flicker with instability, was finally held steady.

A low, resonant hum echoed through the cavern—the sound of the disintegration ray ceasing—and the three mages in the squad had been waiting for this very moment.

Almost the instant the ray’s glow vanished, the spell models they had been constructing were flooded with mana and unleashed.

"Third-tier spell: Chains of Resentment." Two of the mages struck first, launching thick, heavy chains—their cores made of stone and embedded with glowing red crystals—that lashed out from their hands, coiling tightly around the Destroyer Golem’s metal arms from both sides.

"Crack!" The Destroyer noticed the binding chains and immediately strained with its immense strength to break them. The terrifying force made the two mages wince, their unfinished spells nearly slipping from their grasp.

Quickly chanting the auxiliary incantations, the mages completed the second phase of the spell in a heartbeat. The chains, emerging from invisible magic circles near their palms, were slammed into the cavern walls. Instantly, the chains fused with the stone, appearing as if they had grown directly out of the rock face to restrain the golem.

Earth elements were continuously drawn from the walls to reinforce the chains, while the mages maintained their connection, pouring in mana. The earth elements repaired the links as fast as the golem’s violent struggles could shatter them.

The Destroyer Golem, a heavy tank designed for frontline sieges, possessed staggering defense and strength; standard restraints were utterly useless against such a beast.

Yet, the mages’ spell was specifically targeted. The "Chains of Resentment" were perfectly suited for subduing entities that possessed overwhelming power but lacked intellect.

Whenever the Destroyer exerted its full strength, the chains would autonomously lengthen, allowing the massive force to be stretched out and rendered ineffective.

Once the pull subsided, the chains would tighten again, repeating the cycle; the stone-wrought bindings possessed a resilience that defied logic.

The third mage’s spell was ready after a brief delay: "Fourth-tier spell: Corrosive Flame." Ghostly green fire raced along the chains, accompanied by a pungent, acidic scent—the hallmark of the flame’s potent caustic nature.

Under the mage’s precise control, the fire did not damage the chains, using them instead as a conduit to reach the golem’s body.

Like flame meeting oil, the green fire erupted upon contact, blooming into a dazzling, emerald explosion that swallowed the Destroyer Golem whole.

"Are you alright?" Amidst the brief window provided by the erupting flames, Gilbert dragged the shield-bearer—now fitted with his own spare protective device—back to safety, checked his condition, and handed him another backup unit.

The primary effect of Corrosive Flame was to consume the target’s mana as fuel, intensifying its own heat while dissolving the enemy.

However, for a creature like the Destroyer Golem, whose defense was specialized to such an extreme, the flame’s raw destructive power was insufficient.

Thus, the mages had not intended to kill the golem with fire.

By constantly devouring the mana surrounding the golem’s body—mana it relied upon to observe the outside world through its internal alchemy—the flames acted as a blindfold. This brief sensory deprivation was exactly what the Night’s Edge squad needed.

"Ready. I’m taking us to the outer chamber," signaled the ranger, who had begun channeling his internal ability as Gilbert pulled the disoriented, pained warrior toward the rest of the group.

A circle of light radiated from the mid-rank knight-level ranger, enveloping the eleven members of the Night’s Edge squad.

After a delay of less than half a second, the space seemed to stutter and shudder violently, and the eleven operatives vanished, reappearing outside the cavern.

"Boom!" The moment they transferred, the Destroyer Golem, still engulfed in Corrosive Flame, unleashed a terrifying burst of high-energy mana from its core.

Its internal alchemy had detected the persistent, nagging damage of the flames and initiated a purge.

The mana core accelerated its cycle, forcing mana to collide and compress until it transformed into a pure, raw wave of energy. The sheer volume of this power gave the shockwave an extraordinary effect.

The pulse acted like an EMP; the complex structure of the Corrosive Flame was shattered by the violent mana surge, its green fire flickering and dying as if its oxygen had been suddenly cut off.

Deprived of mana, the Chains of Resentment also snapped under the force of the purge, and the Destroyer Golem was freed.

The golem did not immediately attack the eleven figures it loathed. During the internal mana discharge, it seemed to have discovered something new within its own frame—its body had other uses.

As its metal arms moved before its crystal face, the internal mana flow surged, driving the magi-circuits etched into its chassis to generate intense heat.

The metal arms became like white-hot branding irons, their temperature so extreme that the heat alone could melt through a soldier’s armor upon contact.

This power was not designed merely to melt steel; the heat was sufficient to cook the flesh inside the armor without even touching it.

"Careful... its attacks carry some kind of mental corruption. We must have been affected when we blocked the disintegration ray earlier," warned the warrior who had suffered the most from the initial exposure. The corruption had come from nowhere, and the protective devices had shown no readings—which was abnormal at such depths near the Abyss. The source had to be the golem itself.

"It acts too much like a human," Gilbert muttered, relaying the observation to his team. The golem’s lack of mechanical rigidity was deeply unnatural.

The sudden appearance of a war-grade Destroyer Golem was suspicious enough, but this new anomaly made the situation far more treacherous.

Regardless, as long as it was a golem, their plans to destroy it remained valid, whether it was corrupted or mimicking humanity.

Gilbert looked at the three rangers; they exchanged silent nods of readiness. The mages prepared their buffs, and the four shield-bearers moved to guard them.

Glancing at the golem with its glowing, red-hot arms, Gilbert did not hesitate. He charged.

The three rangers followed, their footsteps glowing with the light of various buffs: Stone Blessing, Flame Ward, Vitality Guidance—a suite of spells that pushed their speed and strength to the limit.

The Destroyer Golem was a war machine specialized for frontline combat, its body forged by dwarves and its internals refined by goblins. It was the strongest of its size, making direct destruction nearly impossible.

However, due to its design, its agility was mediocre. On a battlefield, other units covered this weakness, but here, it stood alone.

"Clang!" A ranger’s sword struck the golem’s neck, sparks flying, yet it left not a single scratch. The ranger was momentarily stalled by the recoil.

A metal fist, radiating terrifying heat and crushing force, descended from above. "Boom!" The ranger dodged, and the fist slammed into the ground.

The rock shattered, cracks spider-webbing outward as the cliff floor trembled. Where the fist struck, the earth and stone melted into flowing slag.

The ranger didn't panic; one mistake meant death, but the Night’s Edge members had survived many such battles.

Realizing he couldn't pierce the golem’s defense, the ranger slid to its side and slammed his sword hilt into the ground beneath the golem’s feet.

In perfect sync, another ranger arrived and did the same.

"Crack!" The ground, pulverized by the strength of two knight-level rangers, became unstable, and the golem’s massive frame lurched.

Gilbert and the final ranger seized the moment, throwing iron chains around the golem’s neck and pulling with all their might.

Between the unstable ground and the tension of the chains, the golem’s own weight became its undoing. It toppled, crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud.

"Perfect!" Gilbert felt a surge of triumph. His internal ability, "Ghost Blade," allowed his attacks to bypass physical matter and strike protected areas.

He aimed for the golem’s alchemical core! Destroy that, and the golem would be powerless.

He channeled battle-aura into his legs, his muscles reinforced, and sprinted toward the fallen golem, his eyes locked on a glowing seam near its lower back.

Before coming, Gilbert had studied how to identify the core: it was where the mana flow was most concentrated, lacking symmetry or markings.

Guided by a ranger’s detection ability, he had locked onto the target.

The golem had not been programmed to fight while prone; its attempt to rise was the perfect opening.

Gilbert’s aura-infused blade shimmered; the intangible edge would ignore the golem’s defense and strike the core directly. He was ready to scrap this machine on the spot!

But the golem, as if sensing his intent, did not try to stand.

It realized that being on all fours was not a weakness, but a way to stabilize its immense power.

Abandoning the attempt to rise, it moved like a beast, using all four limbs to pivot its body toward the charging Gilbert.

"Look out!" The mages’ urgent warning exploded in Gilbert’s ears.

The golem had turned, and the crystal plates on its face began to glow with the light of the disintegration ray.

"Damn it!" Gilbert lunged forward, leaping over the golem’s back just as the light bloomed.

The beam of destructive energy tore through the space beneath him, carving a molten trench into the earth.

Though he had dodged the blast, Gilbert was still in the air, unable to change direction.

The golem slowly rotated its head, aiming the ray that could annihilate anything directly at the airborne Gilbert.

As the beam of light threatened to incinerate Gilbert, a captain of high-ranking knightly caliber, while he hung suspended in the air, he betrayed not a flicker of panic.

His eyes remained locked onto the alchemical core embedded in the Destroyer Golem’s back, his longsword gripped in both hands, poised for the strike.

Death’s ray was inches away, yet he felt no terror; the reason was simple: he was the captain, and he trusted his Night Blade subordinates implicitly, for they had begun weaving their spells the moment the mage sensed the surge of mana.

Third-tier: Grasp of the Earth; Fourth-tier: Fist of the Land—two earthen arms erupted from beneath the prone Destroyer Golem, dragging it forcibly toward the soil.

Though they lacked the strength to overpower the construct, they contested the ground itself; the earth shattered, forcing the Golem to sink, and the melting beam narrowly missed Gilbert.

Without a pause, a massive fist forged of solid rock surged from the earth at the Golem’s flank, driven by mana and gravity to slam with full force into the head that still hummed with the lethal beam.

Even a construct defined by its defense and power could not withstand the unyielding impact of a fourth-tier spell, its metallic neck forced to bow for a singular, precious second.

The time bought by these spells was enough; Gilbert, mid-leap, descended, his muscles bulging as he accelerated the ethereal blade downward, driving it with every ounce of his strength toward the long-identified core.

Under the effect of internal penetration, the blade ignored all defenses, piercing the dwarf-forged alloy as if it were mere parchment, rendering the Golem’s armor utterly useless.

The blade solidified upon reaching the core, and under the weight of Gilbert’s explosive force, the fragile heart of the machine was shattered instantly.

A dull implosion followed as the Golem’s internal mana source collapsed, the runaway energy triggering a violent detonation within the chassis.

The explosion, trapped by the metallic shell, intensified in lethality, instantly obliterating the intricate internal mechanisms protected by the sturdy exterior.

After a final, blinding flash from within, the Golem’s limbs went limp, collapsing to the ground as its inner glow faded into darkness.

It attempted, with a trace of confusion, to stir its body, but failed.

"Is this vessel destroyed?"

A question flickered in its consciousness; no, it demanded freedom, it would not return to that hollow void, it needed a new vessel, and oh, there was one right here...

Gilbert leaned against the hilt of the sword still embedded in the Golem, breathing heavily, his strength spent from the exertion, yet satisfied that the monstrous construct was felled.

"Wait, this is!" His gaze shifted in horror to the crystalline shards sliding down from his own neck—no! The mental protection device! In the next heartbeat, an infinite tide of chaos and madness began to ravage his consciousness.