Chapter 82: Seed of Contaminated Stone (2)
Sa-hyeok asked Polar.
“Then where is the place where the golems are located?”
“It’s a quarry located in Iksan, North Jeolla Province.”
“A quarry……?”
“Yes. It’s a granite quarry.”
“How long have the golems been settled there?”
“The existence of the golems was first reported three days ago. However, we can’t gauge how long they’ve been there or the scale of the dungeon they’ve built beneath the quarry.”
“But seeing as there haven’t been any reports of damage to nearby cities……”
“Yes, that means their dungeon hasn’t expanded beyond the quarry yet.”
“It’s fortunate that they settled in a quarry away from the city.”
“It’s both fortunate and unfortunate.”
“What do you mean?”
“To be precise, the problem is that the seed was planted in a ‘granite’ quarry.”
“Why is granite……”
“Granite is a very hard rock. It doesn’t break easily and has very high water resistance and corrosion resistance. And the golem seed creates golems using the ground around where it’s planted. If it were planted in a sandy area, sandstone golems would be created, and if it were planted in a basalt area, basalt golems would be created.”
“Then if it’s planted in a granite quarry……”
“Granite golems will be created. Strong, hard, and heavy golems that are quite difficult to deal with will be created.”
“……Then what if it were planted in a place like an iron mine instead of a granite quarry……?”
“Iron golems would be created. From there, the difficulty of the strategy changes to a whole different dimension. No, it would be more accurate to say that a strategy still hasn’t been developed.”
“……Is there really such a place?”
“There’s an island called Tolvern Island off the west coast of France. It was an uninhabited island, but recently it was discovered to be rich in iron ore, so an iron mine was established. However, someone planted a contaminated stone golem seed there, and it was literally devastated.”
“Is it still in that state?”
“Yes. The entire island has been sealed off. Access to and entry onto Tolvern Island is prohibited for any reason. For your information, it’s been erased from Google Maps, so you won’t find it even if you search.”
“The island itself has become a dungeon. But…… you said the seed was ‘planted’.”
“Yes.”
“That means someone planted the contaminated golem seed on Tolvern Island.”
“That’s right. The seed can’t dig into the ground by itself.”
“Then the seed in the quarry we’re going to must have been planted by someone as well.”
“That’s likely the case.”
“Who is the culprit?”
“We need to find out. First, we’ll finish the dungeon in the quarry, and then we’ll begin a full-scale investigation.”
“How will the captured culprit be dealt with?”
“Crimes using prohibited artifacts are dealt with under international law. I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know the details, but…… I’ve heard that in cases of this scale, the maximum sentence can be death.”
The death penalty.
Not a bad punishment.
We’re busy killing existing monsters, so anyone who creates new monsters deserves to d*e.
“That’s good. Oh, but surely the three of us aren’t the only ones being deployed for this operation, right?”
“Of course not.”
“As expected.”
“This task needs to be completed quickly by deploying a large number of personnel. We’re dealing with granite golems, and we need to finish before the dungeon expands beneath the city.”
“So the rest of the personnel will gather at the quarry?”
“Yes. We’ve dispatched personnel not only from Kwonmu-mun, but also from Geomgye, Changhwan, Orang, and DAVO.”
“……Wait, a joint attack force from the Five Major Guilds is being deployed?!”
“Yes. That’s how urgent this is. We requested the Korean government to gather personnel. I personally recruited just one person.”
“Who is it?”
“Mr. Min.”
“Me?”
“The key to this operation is Mr. Min. Why else do you think I came to pick you up separately by helicopter?”
“Ah……?!”
“The ultimate goal of this operation is to stop the operation of the
“You said the golems have multiplied significantly, so aren’t there a lot of seeds? Do I have to stop them all?”
“No, those are just copies of the original seed. Therefore, they’re not difficult to destroy. However, the seed that was originally planted is a different story. The best course of action is to stop its operation using Sa-hyeok-ssi’s artifact manipulation ability.”
“……What were you planning to do if I wasn’t here?”
“We’d have no choice but to inflict damage indiscriminately until the seed is destroyed. Or until the golem’s regenerative ability runs out. Of course, that would also increase the damage on our side.”
“……”
“Please, Mr. Min. The success of this operation and the survival rate of the Hunters depend on you.”
While they were talking, the helicopter entered the airspace above the quarry.
The quarry looked like a giant crater that had formed on the bare ground.
This was because the ground had been dug down from the surface to extract granite.
The difference from a crater was that it was filled with water, not lava.
Therefore, it looked like a lake if you didn’t know better.
Sa-hyeok muttered as he looked down at the water collected in the quarry.
“Is it groundwater?”
“It’s rainwater that has collected.”
“Aha. Oh, there are Hunters gathered over there. And over there…… huh.”
“What’s wrong?”
Sa-hyeok didn’t have time to answer.
A rock was flying towards the helicopter.
Whoosh!
Sa-hyeok hurriedly deployed his telekinesis to stop the rock.
The rock stopped about 3 meters away from the helicopter.
“Whoa……!”
The large man let out a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, Polar and Sa-hyeok didn’t even blink.
After stopping the rock, Sa-hyeok turned his eyes towards the quarry.
A shaded point in the corner of the quarry.
The rock had flown from there.
Creak-
Something was seen moving in that shaded area.
Sa-hyeok said.
“That’s……”
“It’s a golem. It’s hard to distinguish because its body is made of granite and the surroundings are also granite, but……”
“That’s the one that threw the rock at us, right?”
“Yes. It seems to be a lookout……”
Whoosh!
Before Polar could finish speaking, Sa-hyeok returned the rock to the lookout.
The rock plummeted towards the golem like a meteor.
Crack!!
The dry, crashing sound of rock hitting rock echoed through the quarry.
The golem lookout was shattered.
Sa-hyeok said.
“One k*ll.”
“It’s not a k*ll. You have to break the seed in the golem’s chest to completely k*ll it.”
As Polar said,
Soon, the golem was restored, centered around the seed.
It disappeared into the ground through a hole in the shaded interior.
Sa-hyeok kept an eye on the point where it disappeared.
The fact that they, who were based underground, had appeared outside meant that there was an entrance nearby.
Tatatatata-
The helicopter soon landed near the quarry.
The Hunters who were already gathered at the quarry came into view.
An estimated 60 people.
It was a large number for a raid party, but a small number for a joint team from the Five Major Guilds.
“It’s not as many as I thought.”
“We focused on experienced Hunters ranked B or higher.”
Hmm.
I’m C-rank.
“Let’s equip our gear first.”
“I’ve finished equipping mine. Polar-ssi and that……”
Sa-hyeok trailed off, looking at the large man.
He didn’t know his name.
He realized they hadn’t introduced themselves.
“I’m Robert Hunds. Call me Rob.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Then the Supervisor and I will finish arming ourselves.”
They took out their weapons from the helicopter’s cargo hold.
A giant hammer with a handle length of 2 meters.
And a short, thin platinum wand.
Polar picked up the giant hammer, and Rob picked up the wand.
It was a strangely unbalanced sight: the delicate Polar holding a large hammer, and the large Rob holding a thin wand.
Sa-hyeok asked.
“But Polar-ssi, were you a combat type?”
“Yes. And Rob is a Healer.”
“Aha……”
As expected, you can’t judge by appearances.
“By the way, didn’t Mr. Min also load a piece of equipment in the cargo hold?”
“Ah, right.”
Sa-hyeok pulled out the equipment that was stuck in the corner of the cargo hold using his telekinesis.
A thick and heavy rectangular shield.
It was the junk artifact Sa-hyeok had recently purchased,
He had brought it with him right before boarding the helicopter.
Originally, he had planned to come with his usual equipment.
But he thought it would be a waste to just keep the artifact he had finally obtained tucked away, and he thought a shield-type artifact would be helpful in team play, so he brought it along.
After finishing their preparations, the three joined the Hunters who were already there.
But there was one person among them who stood out.
“Master Han Do-sik?!”
The Master of the Geomgye Guild, Han Do-sik, was there.
The undisputed strongest swordsman in South Korea, the master of Geomgye’s unique martial art ‘Sama Sword Technique,’ an A-rank infinitely close to S-rank. And the successor of the title ‘Sword Demon.’
The very fact that such a person was here was proof that the situation was quite serious.
“It’s been a while, Hunter Min Sa-hyeok.”
“Have you been well? But the fact that you’re here means……”
“I’ve decided to take overall command. Polar-ssi will be the chief of staff. Nice to meet you, Polar-ssi.”
“Likewise, Mr. Han.”
After shaking hands with Polar, Do-sik immediately began the operation briefing.
“To get straight to the point, if our operation fails today, a city near here will be destroyed.”
“……!”
“We’ve found the passage the golems are using. Hunter Min Sa-hyeok marked the location by dropping a rock from the sky earlier.”
……Haha.
“But we’re not going to use that passage.”
Thump.
Do-sik continued, lightly tapping the ground with his foot.
“We’re going to enter through here.”
“……?!”
“After Geomgye’s Earth Sorcerers scanned this area, they found that the ground here was the weakest. The Earth Sorcerers will create a sinkhole here, and we’ll enter through that hole.”
“Then what about the passage the golems are using?”
“The 10 people I’m about to call will guard the entrance to that passage and k*ll any golems that try to escape through there.”
Sa-hyeok, Polar, and Rob were not included among the 10 people Do-sik called.
“The rest will enter here with me and carry out the main operation.”
“What if the distance to the bottom is too far when we enter? Martial artists might be fine, but mages won’t be able to land properly.”
“Water Stream Sorcerers, those who can control wind, not water, step forward.”
Four people stepped forward.
“When the Earth Sorcerers create the sinkhole, you will create an updraft inside the sinkhole. So that when we jump in, we can land slowly.”
“Yes, sir!”
“The same goes for the Lamplighters. As soon as the sinkhole is created, push the light orbs into the hole to illuminate the interior.”
“The probability of finding luminous stones or luminous plants inside is……”
“Zero. Supervisor Polar has confirmed that. Now then, Polar-ssi.”
Do-sik passed the baton to Polar.
“Please explain the dungeon structure and the monsters.”
“Yes.”
Polar stepped forward and said.
“Combat Supervisor of the Quarantine Organization, Polar Greyney. First of all, I don’t know the internal structure of the dungeon. We don’t have the luxury of sending in a reconnaissance team first. Therefore, I’ll only explain about the monsters here, the golems.”
Polar picked up a piece of granite from the ground and said.
“The opponents are golems made of this granite. Their high physical defense is their characteristic. Therefore, it will not be easy for mages to inflict damage. So……”
Thud!
Polar slammed the giant hammer she was holding onto the ground and said.
“After martial artists like me attack first and create cracks on the golem’s surface, the mages’ attacks will be effective. Martial arts first, then magic, keep this in mind during the battle. And the most important thing is……”
Polar pointed to her chest and said.
“There’s a cube-shaped ‘seed’ in the center of their bodies. If you don’t destroy it, they will keep regenerating. You have to destroy that seed to completely k*ll them.”
“Is there a boss?”
“Yes. The golem that possesses the seed that was originally planted here, that’s the boss. Unlike the other lower-level golems, it can produce an unlimited number of seeds, so if we don’t destroy it, we can’t clear this dungeon. Destroying the boss golem’s seed is the ultimate goal of this operation. Now then.”
Polar glanced at Do-sik.
Do-sik shouted.
“We’re commencing the golem dungeon demolition operation. Everyone, to your positions!”
