I am flung backward by the punch of the steam golem, glancing beyond.
A gray steam golem about 5 meters tall stands next to a man.
The man has short gray hair and matching eyes, sporting a striking black and blue uniform.
I caught a glimpse earlier; it’s the attire of the ruling class in this city.
From the monocle on the man’s eye, I sense energy similar to that of the golem.
‘Did he use that to detect my invisibility?’
Though my power was weakened, I didn’t expect him to see through my stealth.
Even users within the top 10 ranks would struggle to grasp this kind of concealment.
“Did the Banded dare to come this far?”
The man frowns and lightly clenches his gloved hand.
Boom!
At that moment, the steam golem beside him emits a red light from its monocle and charges forward.
It’s weaker than the 20-meter golem I saw before, but still strong enough to crush a decent ranker.
Swish. A black dagger materializes in my hand.
The White Guardian suppressing the cloning ability.
“What…?”
Slash!
The black dagger shatters the mana barrier surrounding the steam golem and cleaves it into seven parts.
The golem is instantly reduced to a pile of rubble on the ground.
The man steps back, startled.
“What the… This isn’t just some random misfit.”
“…It’s tougher than I expected.”
I assessed the cleaved golem in Rika’s voice.
Even after boosting my power back to Rika’s level, the golem felt solid enough to give me a weird sensation of slicing through.
At this level, it rivaled the defense of an 80-90 level field boss.
Boom! Boom!
About thirty golems circling around draw closer to the man.
Some appear even stronger than the 5-meter golem I just cut through.
“An unofficial ranker? What brings you to the Magic Engineering Guild?”
“I heard the floating ship was impressive, so I came to take a look.”
“I won’t sell to a raider. Unless you want to pay more.”
“Pay more?”
“How much more do I need to pay?”
“Three times. That’s the least I can take from a raider without credit.”
“…….”
Three times?
That’s tens of billions, hundreds of billions times three?
“That’s pricey.”
“If it’s too expensive, then get lost. Oh, but pay up before you leave. You’ve dared to intrude on an important location of the Magic Engineering Guild, so compensation is owed.”
“I have no idea who the real raider is here.”
“Is that something you should be saying?”
Vroom!
Dozens of golems charge in unison.
While the golem’s individual defense is noteworthy, now that dozens are gathered, their mana begins to synchronize, creating an overwhelming presence.
For a moment, it feels like their power has tripled.
“…I wasn’t exactly planning to fight.”
Right now, I am Rika.
I obviously can’t use holy powers, but I’m a raider ranker specialized in physical abilities, stealth, and dagger skills.
I am a raider ranker specialized in dagger skills.
So, the techniques I use should be limited to that level, right?
Ka-Ka-Gang!
I slice through the first golem that comes running.
Sure enough, the defense seems to have sharply increased; even the sound is different.
I cut down the second golem and go for the third.
And…
“Not as solid as I thought.”
“…!”
Dozens of daggers tear into the golem’s chest.
■
One of the five elders commonly called elites in the Magic Engineering Guild and a golem creator, the user Golem Lover was feeling quite good these days.
It was a guild that barely made it to the 30s, staying low around 50.
Not common, but still not in the top tier, just one of those “moderately strong” guilds.
However, change began when the Guild Master brought back a special hidden piece not long ago.
With the Guild Master’s ability, the guild acquired the technique called “Magic Engineering,” and the power of the guild members surged dramatically.
Furthermore, through the creation of the core of magic engineering, “Floating Ship,” we could proudly announce our name among the many top-tier guilds.
Moreover, the most astonishing thing was that this floating ship would serve as a key item in the upcoming Great Cataclysm raid.
‘Countless guilds are looking up to us!’
Those once high-and-mighty guilds.
Angel, Black Moon, Red Moon, Magic Association, Chaos…
Overwhelming guilds that used to make us feel intimidated just by their names were now watching us with trepidation.
Unfortunately, the empire, to which rank 1 and 2 belong, showed no interest in the floating ship, but it was important that the ‘Angel’ guild was concerned.
‘What? If they can’t stop the raid, it’ll get difficult, so can they lower the price a bit?’
Whether a few kingdoms get submerged due to a failed raid is none of my concern!
In fact, most elders, including myself and the Guild Master, are hoping for just that to happen.
If the situation turns serious, our value will rise even more, and they’ll be forced to buy it at a higher price.
Then that so-called Michael and the noble Seven Angels will bow down and come crawling.
Golem Lover was pleasantly imagining the rankers who’d reluctantly buy the floating ship while going to inspect the production of the large ship.
Originally, that would have been the task of another elder contributing to the creation, but he had personal matters to attend to, so I stepped in.
But then came a rat daring to show up during my watch.
A filthy rat wearing the Banded item, the Cloak of Blocking.
I had heard there were a few users recently envious of us, trying to spy or cause trouble; it seemed this was one of those types.
If I catch this one, I might even be able to owe That Woman a favor.
I might be able to build one.
I was planning to crush them using my specialty, the golems…
“…Crazy.”
Dozens of golems headbutt the ground, their chests completely hollowed out.
The magical stone was neatly gouged out along with part of the chest, and the golems were spewing only steam and crawling on the floor.
Golem Lover was freaking out and backing away even more.
No, they definitely weren’t this strong earlier.
When I looked through my ‘glasses,’ they seemed much weaker…
Clang.
The raider casually picks up the magical stone that fell from the golem with a hollow chest.
Whoosh!
The magical stone shines brightly in response to the raider’s magical power.
Soon, the magical stone gradually lost its light and became a gray stone, rolling back to the floor.
“If you just remove the power source, they’re nothing special. The stats are good though.”
“……”
The core power of the golem is the magical stone embedded in its chest.
If you remove the stone, the golem transforms from a high-tech weapon into mere scrap metal.
But.
“If that were easy, would I have shown it off like this?”
This steam golem is designed with hundreds of circuits, dozens of layers of magical formulas, and special defensive capabilities centered around the magical stone.
It’s a flawless weapon, merging my profession as a ‘Golem Maker’ with the guild master’s magic engineering skills.
It’s nearly impossible to cut the circuit of the magical stone even if you cut off the arms and legs.
“Are you… part of the Underworld?”
Rank 1 raider, the Grim Reaper, belongs to the Raider Guild known as ‘Underworld.’
The Grim Reaper holds power comparable to those within the top 10 rankers and has notably overthrown a kingdom and claimed the throne recently.
If this is one of the Underworld’s secondary figures, it’s not impossible for them to have this level of power.
“Underworld?”
“Yeah, Underworld. Did the Grim Reaper send you? Or is it really him… no, no way.”
Something feels off.
‘The Kingdom of Jurodis is pretty far from here…?’
The Kingdom of Jurodis is to the southwest.
It’s somewhat distant from the Magic Engineering Guild’s kingdom in the east.
I doubt those guys, busy waging war with the large guilds until recently, would come all the way here.
So, could they be a rising force?
Now that I think about it, I did hear that a few raider guilds were getting big amidst the recent chaotic political climate.
Probably one of them…
‘……’
I’m confused.
Who on earth is that woman in a black robe?
“It’s not Underworld.”
“……I don’t know what you want, but you shouldn’t think the golem is all there is. There are even more amazing things, and other elders are pretty strong too.”
“I see.”
“Y-yeah. And the guild master may rank lower, but he actually has power in the top 10. Do you think a large ship could survive an attack at the headquarters of your Raider Guild?”
The raider nods while spinning a dagger.
The raider turns.
I’m trembling.
But I can’t back down.
Calling a ‘Titan’ level Golem would leave us vulnerable, and above all, I need the Guild Master’s permission.
“There are two ‘Gigant’ class ships and ten ‘Titan’ class ships on board… can we catch it with that?”
Users ranked within the top ten are all monsters.
They are all unbeatable beings that transcend regular users.
While my opponent might not be as strong as the celestial Leo or the Sword Saint, the problem is that if those Golems clash, the ship won’t survive unscathed.
That means it won’t be completed in time, and I’ll get severely scolded by the Guild Master…
“If you give me one, I’ll leave.”
“…What?”
“That.”
The raider’s hand points to the sky.
Hooow~
A small spacecraft flies around in the ‘Manufacturing Space.’
For the Magic Engineering Guild, it isn’t expensive, but for other guilds, it’s a very pricey ship worth hundreds of millions.
“That must be worth at least 500 million, and you’re asking for it?”
“500 million? I don’t think it’s even worth 50 million.”
The raider smiles and grips a dagger.
The raider’s murderous intent sharpens and spreads.
Before I know it, blood particles flow from my cheek.
W-What just passed by?
“I’ve made mistakes too. If you just give me that one, I’ll let it slide.”
“Don’t talk nonsense…”
“Should I cause a fall?”
“…Can you handle that?”
“That’s my job. So, what’s your choice?”
“……”
Damn it.
■
“Not as impressive as I thought.”
After receiving the small ship, I examined it and came to a conclusion.
This thing isn’t worth even a million, let alone five million.
It can fly and has some elemental defense, but that’s about it.
Maybe it’s because it’s a small ship, but it isn’t particularly durable, and if the mana connection is even slightly severed, it’ll crash immediately, the circuits themselves are unstable.
Compared to the large ship I saw earlier, it’s a shoddy mass-produced model.
The only advantage is that if a passenger infuses mana into the magical stone, the performance increases…
“That just means it’s not the ship that’s good; it’s the passenger’s ability that’s good.”
I guess that’s why they sell for a high price to rankers.
Since rankers are already strong, just them riding it makes the ship seem ridiculously impressive.
At least if someone of the Guild Master’s caliber isn’t on board, its performance will definitely drop by several times.
After finishing up with the ship, I docked it in a corner of the shipyard and removed my disguise.
Now, let’s go negotiate for real.
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