A greatsword made from the horn of a Minotaur. The power emitted from its mass, nearly the size of my body, was truly satisfying.
“Indeed, brute force is the answer…!”
I clenched my fist as I put away the greatsword. I had been running away, hiding, and picking up scraps; it had been a tough journey.
Of course, sneaking around is more suited to my abilities, and my skillset is tailored to that…
But maybe it was because it was my first time using a greatsword, I just couldn’t forget the feeling from moments ago.
As my body trembled involuntarily, Benny glanced over at me with a tilted head.
“What’s wrong? Did you get hurt? Why are you suddenly acting weird?”
“Ha. There are things a mage like you wouldn’t understand.”
“What?!”
Benny looked incredulous. Next to her, Lydia nodded in agreement.
“That’s true. Now you understand why I use multiple weapons, right, Jonah?”
“Lydia! You’re not the type to mindlessly spend money on weapons after all!”
“…Is that what you thought of me until now?”
Lydia seemed slightly shocked, her expression stiffening. Benny, chuckling mischievously, briefly looked at her before gesturing at Shadow.
-Gruuuk.
Shadow, looking curiously in our direction, was pointed to the scattered remains of the Human Golem.
“Is it alright if I ask you for help?”
-Grrr!
Shadow gladly nodded with its appendage and began to devour the Human Golem one by one.
Before long, large mana crystals and thin metal cloth were extracted.
I watched the byproducts pile up with satisfaction and approached one still wriggling Human Golem.
I had just disturbed it enough to collapse; it wasn’t fully dead yet.
Its parts were scattered like armor decorations. As I rummaged through them, I soon caught sight of a brain wrapped in white metal cloth.
It goes without saying that a brain lacks muscles, so it didn’t move at all. Only the long hoses connected to it sparkled in various colors.
One peculiar feature was that, probably due to the Curse of Madness, the brain had morphed into a bumpy shape.
At times, it looked like there were patterns, and at other times it didn’t…
I wasn’t sure, but one thing was certain: even at this moment, it was still alive, sending some kind of signal.
It wouldn’t mean anything since the body receiving the signal was broken, though.
“Ha.”
I let out a bitter smile and sliced open the misshapen brain, pulling out a mana crystal inside.
Before long, the remains of the Human Golem turned to dust.
While all monsters succumbed to the Curse of the God of Madness, monsters on the third floor were a little different.
They were equally mad, but those on the third floor had managed to suppress that madness to some extent.
Well, it was a pretty crazy method—replacing the human body with mechanical parts—but still, it worked.
What’s important is that it’s only to some extent; it doesn’t mean they fully succeeded in controlling it.
However, that little difference creates a huge impact. Thanks to that, the monsters on the third floor are relatively free from ‘obsession.’
And the obsession of the Human Golem was undoubtedly about honor.
“That’s what they mean by being relatively sane.”
To be fair, compared to the goblins on the first floor, they were considerably cleaner foes.
At least they prioritized excluding me, the intruder, over their own obsession.
As I shook my head inwardly and stood up, Shadow, having finished its task, began to circle me.
“Well done. Want some praise?”
-Grrr.
“Just wait a moment.”
I gathered the loot scattered on the floor before giving Shadow’s appendage a good scratch.
Then I shook my head towards Lydia and Benny, who were still poking each other.
“Geez. You two, cut it out. We’re about to leave, so wrap it up.”
“…But Jonah’s the culprit!”
“It’s a bit odd being called a kid by a kid.”
As the two of them united in disgust, I chuckled and resumed my walk.
Despite walking for quite a while, I still hadn’t encountered any other Human Golems. I understood that they came all at once after hearing the explosion of magic, but…
How many times had we repeated moving forward? An unusual sight awaited us ahead.
Countless gear dolls hung like they were being executed. They extended sideways, forming a seemingly single path.
A continuous path that wasn’t hindered by anything. At the end stood a massive black fortress, looming through the fog.
That gigantic metal fortress was indeed the stronghold of the machine god, the core of the third floor.
…A place we weren’t meant to enter just yet.
In terms of other layers, it felt like the center of the map. Inside, the remains of the machine god slumbered.
Naturally, the monsters within were among the most powerful in the third floor.
For that reason, I briefly glanced at the intricate mechanisms of the clock tower in the center of the black fortress before turning my gaze away.
Not a path created by the hung dolls, but a neglected path that no one informed me of.
Or, to call it a path seems a bit of a stretch. After all, I was intending to go to the bottom of the moat carved around the fortress.
“Let’s go down there. But rather than taking the long route, I’ll just jump down. Is that okay, Lydia?”
Thanks to the Brooch of Aerial Leap, I could jump from great heights at any time, and Benny, being a highly skilled mage, needed no further explanation.
Lydia was a different case. Sure, she carried various equipment, but she wouldn’t be lugging around anything related to falling.
So she’d need to rely on either my or Benny’s strength to help her land…
“Yeah. Shadows are perfect for this.”
With a satisfied smile, Lydia reached out her hand towards Shadow.
Unlike me and Benny, Shadow, who seemed a bit uneasy around Lydia, started to mold its body as if it were accustomed to it.
What was completed was some kind of large, thin cloth.
When I touched it, it trembled slightly even if it was as thin as a thousandth of an inch.
I wondered what such a thin Shadow would be used for when suddenly…
“Hehe. Hehehe.”
While humming to herself, Lydia firmly tied the ends of Shadow together. Only then did I realize.
“This is Shadow’s parachute…”
Wow. I never thought I’d see Shadow utilized like this.
As I stared at Shadow, now a parachute, its drastically thinned body suddenly sprouted eyes, gazing at me.
Each time those eyes popped out, they had a terrifying appearance, as if they would haunt my dreams…
But now, being used to Shadow, I understood.
It was just asking about its new form.
“Impressive. Can I ask you to do that for me next time?”
-Grrr.
Seemingly pleased, Shadow made a delightful sound.
Thinking about it, this made sense. Though currently supporting me, Lydia and Benny were part of a frontline party that had been working together for a long time.
They must be prepared for all sorts of unexpected situations.
Chuckling to myself, I stood before the withered moat alongside Lydia and Benny.
The bottom was obscured by a thick mist, but…
It was assured that there was a path we needed to take.
The map of the unfinished third floor marked the way leading down to the bottom of the moat, something often mentioned to adventurers by the guild.
This was just my guess, but… maybe it’s because there have been too many cases where people went straight for the visible fortress only to be ambushed by suddenly powerful monsters?
With everything prepared, we threw ourselves into the deep fog below.
Benny, floating gently with levitation magic and falling slowly, while Lydia spread out like a parachute, also descended slowly.
…But I was different; I activated the Brooch of Aerial Leap at the right moment to reduce the falling energy.
“Haaah!”
Almost falling freely. Suddenly, waves of regret washed over me.
Though I thought dropping from here would save time on the map, maybe I should’ve taken a longer route instead.
Or perhaps riding on Lydia’s back while using Shadow’s parachute would have been fine too.
Of course, Benny had cast a falling control spell on me as a safety measure.
It would activate by itself if I messed up or found myself in a truly dangerous moment…
Yet even knowing this, falling still felt somewhat scary. It was like a primal instinct resisting.
Moreover, the moat seemed excessively deep, and the fall felt prolonged.
Downwards, further down I fell, until the fog cleared and the ground came into view.
Right then, I infused the Brooch with mana and lightly stomped in the air.
Thud.
My rapidly falling body slowed significantly with the first leap, and with the second leap, I even rose a bit.
Then came a gentle landing.
“Phew.”
I wanted to check if this could be used when falling from great heights, and I intentionally pushed my limits to get used to the Brooch…
But if I ever find myself falling again, I’ll make sure to stick with Lydia and Benny.
As I silently vowed that, I glanced around before Lydia and Benny landed.
The ground felt muddy as if it had rained, a heavy fog hung low, a pungent smell of rot filled the air, and broken gear dolls crawled on the floor.
It was exactly as I imagined… no, even more vividly than that, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“This is it.”
As I muttered to myself, a sharp scream echoed from a distance.
“Ahhhh! Help me! Is anyone here?!”
A woman’s voice chased by a giant Gear Golem.
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