Chapter 83

Chapter 83

【 Water’s Lava Golem 】

"You believed… my words? And you even paid money… because you wanted to hear my story?"

"Yes. I want to hear it."

I placed ten gold coins in Akuz’s hand.

"So please tell me the way to defeat that Lava Golem. Are this many gold coins enough?"

“…….”

Akuz said nothing for a moment, looking flustered.

Then, he suddenly burst out laughing like a madman.

"Hahaha! Hahahaha! It’s been a long time since I’ve met such an amusing young man. Hahaha!"

Akuz put the gold coins I gave him into his pocket and looked up at me.

"So you’re saying you’re willing to trust me? The words of this suspicious old man?"

"Yes."

"Then before you hear my story, promise me just one thing."

The old man suddenly wore a very serious expression.

It was as if he had become a different person in an instant.

If I had been seeing him for the first time, it might have sent chills down my spine, but this wasn’t my first time seeing him.

Well, technically, I had seen him through the game.

"After hearing my story, don’t ask for your gold back. Don’t try to force it from me, and don’t take it by strength."

"Sounds like you’ve had such experiences?"

"Plenty. Far too many. Despicable bastards. They paid to hear my story, then told me not to spout nonsense, called it ridiculous, cursed me, trampled me, and took back the very gold coins they had given me. Less than human, those bastards."

Seeing how he trembled at the memory, Akuz truly must have experienced that many times.

"Just thinking about it makes my body shake. Those bad people who laughed at my story. But… you look different. I don’t think you’ll deceive me."

"Yes. I have no intention of hurting you, Sir Akuz, so please speak comfortably."

"Then listen well. That strange Lava Golem that has been rooted here for hundreds of years… I devoted my entire life to finding the answer to how to kill that thing. And I finally found it."

Saying so, Akuz took out an old, black handkerchief from his pocket.

"This is it. If you block your mouth and nose with this handkerchief while you fight, you might unexpectedly defeat it quite easily."

"I see."

I accepted the black handkerchief from Akuz and smiled.

"Thank you. I’ll use it well."

“…‘Huh?"

Akuz looked confused at my calm reaction.

Then he grabbed me with a puzzled face.

"What? You… believe me? This easily?"

"Yes. I do. That’s why I gave you the gold coins."

"But… why…? No one has ever believed my words before…."

"Just think of me as someone a bit different from everyone else."

I looked at Akuz with a faint smile.

Honestly, I understood his reaction.

‘Because literally no one had believed him for decades.’

It wasn’t a lie that Akuz had devoted his life to finding a way to defeat that Lava Golem.

He truly researched it with a sense of mission, and this handkerchief he created was the real solution.

That Lava Golem constantly emitted a strange poisonous gas around its body, and in this world, there existed no conventional method to block that toxic gas from entering the respiratory system.

Magic, aura—none of it could block the gas. The only thing that could was this handkerchief Akuz made.

But no one believed him.

‘Honestly, it was unbelievable. For hundreds of years, countless people tried every possible method to block that gas, but then some crazy old man suddenly appeared claiming he had the solution, demanded payment, and handed over an old, worn-out handkerchief in return… yeah, even I wouldn’t believe that.’

In fact, at first, I also wondered what kind of NPC Akuz even was.

He demanded money out of nowhere, and when I paid him, he handed me a useless, old piece of cloth.

Thinking it was worthless junk, I stored the handkerchief away in the warehouse and went to fight the Lava Golem—only to die dozens of times.

Only after reading a guide later did I learn that Akuz’s handkerchief was the essential key item needed to defeat the Lava Golem.

‘Anyway, with this handkerchief, I can beat it.’

Akuz was indeed a crazy old man for demanding gold coins for this shabby handkerchief… but well, considering I’d obtain the Water Rune from it, it was worth the price.

"Then I’ll be off to defeat that Lava Golem now. I’ll make good use of this handkerchief, Sir Akuz."

"Hold on. But can you really defeat that Lava Golem? Even with the handkerchief, you must at least know how to fight…."

"Don’t worry. I’m not going in without a plan. And it’s not like I don’t know how to fight at all."

"If that’s the case… then I hope you can avenge my grudge—my grudge for the family I lost."

"Yes, well… leave it to me."

There was a reason Akuz had spent his whole life here studying the Lava Golem.

His entire family had been killed by that monster, and consumed by madness, he spent his entire life trying to kill it.

So I figured I might as well resolve his long-standing grudge while I was at it.

"Come on, Siri. Let’s go."

"Woof."

"And get ready. I’ll need your help again this time."

“…‘Woof?"

"Prepare to fight. Let’s properly awaken your hunting dog instincts this time."

"Woof?"

"You understood me, right? What you need to do is simple. Once I break its shell, you go inside and bite down on its core and bring it out."

"Woofwoof?"

“…‘What’s the core?’ Uh… when you go inside it, you’ll see a black stone and a blue stone. The blue stone is the rune, so don’t touch it—bite the black stone and bring it out. Got it?"

I explained it as simply as possible.

Whether Siri fully understood it… I wasn’t sure.

"Woof!"

"I’ll trust that you understood. Now, go hide inside the shadow. Come out when I call you."

"Woof?"

"Yeah, hide for now. I can cover my mouth and nose with this handkerchief, but you can’t. Even if you’re a Hellhound, if you breathe that poisonous gas you’ll be in a lot of pain."

"Woof."

With that response, Siri slipped into my shadow.

After confirming she had disappeared, I stood up.

"Alright, let’s do this."

Rivers of lava and a forest of black trees.

I kept walking past them.

After several minutes, I reached my destination.

A massive lake made entirely of lava.

"The air suddenly got really bad."

Even breathing lightly caused sharp pain in my lungs.

I immediately took out the handkerchief I got from Akuz and covered my mouth and nose.

And then he tied that very handkerchief over my face to secure it.

“…Much better.”

Akuz looked like a crazed old man, but his skill was undeniable.

He had found a solution that the people of Muktaba had failed to discover for hundreds of years.

The greatest reason they couldn’t defeat this Lava Golem for so long was the toxic gas.

It was the most distinctive trait of this particular Lava Golem that had gained the power of the Water Rune.

‘A special gas created when lava and the Water Rune met… that was the setting.’

It was a very special gas infused with the power of the Water Rune.

Just a single breath properly inhaled caused the strength in one’s body to drain, and about one minute of inhalation meant death.

Normally, the countermeasure for such gas was to bring someone who handled wind, but as stated earlier, this gas was special.

Whatever power the Water Rune had bestowed, the gas wasn’t easily pushed away by wind.

Rather, the gas pushed the wind back.

‘Meaning, the power of Peregrie that allowed me to handle wind wasn’t all that useful. But at the same time… I judged that I could fight precisely because I had gained Peregrie’s power.’

Peregrie’s power wasn’t merely the ability to control wind.

Peregrie’s power was the power to raise a storm.

“…You’re here.”

As I approached the lava lake, the ground began to rumble.

And soon after, a massive creature burst out of the lake.

Tskaaaaa―!

“Nice to meet you, Bukar.”

A normal Lava Golem’s body was composed of lava.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say there was almost nothing in its body besides lava.

But the Lava Golem before my eyes—Bukar—was different.

Black stone covered its entire body.

Stone created when lava and water met.

Kraaaak―!

“You look like you’re in a lot of pain, so I’ll end that suffering quickly.”

In the setting, Bukar had accidentally obtained the Water Rune.

For hundreds of years, his body was trapped in stone, suffering, unable to die.

But despite my considerate declaration, Bukar continued to roar threateningly at me.

“…Ugh, it really is nasty.”

A moment after emerging from the lava lake—

Greenish-gray smoke began billowing from Bukar’s mouth.

Thanks to the handkerchief Akuz had given me, I wasn’t affected by the gas, but even the mere touch of it on my skin brought overwhelming pressure.

“Hooo.”

After exhaling deeply, I focused on the blue tattoo engraved on the back of my left hand.

Then the blue falcon began to glow, and soon power spread throughout my body.

‘Good. Let’s go.’

As I drew out the power flowing within me, wind began to blow around me.

Just in case, I tried to use that wind to push away the gas coming toward me…

“…As expected, it’s useless.”

The gas did not get pushed back.

Rather, it pushed my wind away.

The Water Rune was indeed a rune—bestowing Bukar multiple absurd advantages.

‘Well, I knew wind wouldn’t work anyway. Time to proceed with the original plan.’

With my sword drawn, I focused even more deeply on the power inside me.

As I had said, Peregrie’s power wasn’t simply about creating rain and wind.

Kukukung―

It was the power to raise a storm.

And a storm naturally came with lightning.

“You lost him?”

“Yes, the report came in from the soldiers just now.”

“How did you let him get away?”

“They say he hid his body within the steam and vanished in an instant.”

“Hm.”

Dilug organized his thoughts for a moment at his butler Oslo’s report.

“So he noticed the tail. Looks like we underestimated him just because he’s a student. We shouldn’t have sent just anyone.”

“I will order them to find him again and resume pursuit.”

“And do you think they can find him? Muktaba is an extremely vast region. Searching blindly will only waste manpower and time.”

Dilug rose from his seat and went to the window.

He looked out over his wide territory, lost in thought.

‘Why did he come here? Did he have a specific purpose for visiting my domain?’

Dilug tried to gauge Gideon’s intent, but he didn’t know much about the person named Gideon.

Because of that, understanding his motives was impossible.

“Oslo. Do you think there is any place in our territory where an outsider might secretly go?”

“I’m not sure. In the first place, Muktaba is absolutely not a region one should travel alone…”

Kukwakwak―!

As the two spoke, thunder suddenly boomed.

At the sound, Oslo wore a startled expression, while Dilug tilted his head.

“Oslo. Was that… thunder just now?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Has thunder ever struck in Muktaba?”

“This is a place where even rain hardly comes once a year.”

“That’s right. Then why did it just now…?”

Kukwaquaang―!

Another explosion of sound.

Looking outside, Dilug checked where the lightning had struck.

“The southeast… Bukar’s Lake… Kyrgram definitely has Peregrie’s power…”

Dilug soon nodded and looked at Oslo.

“Gather the soldiers. We depart in 15 minutes.”

“Where are we going?”

“Bukar’s Lake. It seems Kyrgram, that student, is doing something there.”