Chapter 158
Lackey barely moved out of the Fondue Golem’s reach. However, the Golem succeeded in grabbing the tip of Lackey’s blade–the skeleton wasn’t successful in moving it out of the way.
Clunk–!
Lackey, along with the sword it held, dangled midair from the golem’s tremendous power. It appeared like there was far too much difference in physical strength since Lackey was still in its transformed, low-level skeleton mode.
Moreover, the Fondue Golem not only lifted Lackey but also grabbed the sword; like holding a shot put, the golem began to turn around as if he were readying for launch. In order to not fly off into the chocolate magma, Lackey held onto the sword handle, but its grip was slipping little by little. Perhaps the centrifugal force was too strong.
[Will you change your Servant Lackey’s form into ‘Skeleton Soldier’?]
“Alright.” So, I changed Lackey’s form into Skeleton Soldier. Actually, this was the first time I’ve done this since our practice session right after evolution, but I proceeded, thinking that it may be pushed around less since the skeleton would be much larger.
When I nodded my head, the small skeleton, still holding onto the sword handle, began to simultaneously produce a large amount of purple smoke. It was as if dry ice had been placed inside.
[Transformation into intermediate Skeleton Soldier completed.]
Immediately after the system guide window popped up, the purple smoke immediately enveloped Lackey. At the same time, Fondue Golem stopped its reckless spinning action.
The golem looked unnatural– shoulders twisted–as if the sword was stuck mid-rotation. However, after the thick smoke lifted, the sword blade that the Fondue Golem grasped had disappeared and turned into a sharp lance.
And, grabbing onto the lance handle with one hand, Lackey finally emerged, much larger than before. It wasn’t the baby-form that swayed helplessly in the wind, as if it would fly away at any minute; now, it had transformed into what seemed to be a child soldier.
[Clack-Clack-Clack-!]
Whenever Lackey clacked its jaw, purple smoke seeped out and hovered around its mouth before scattering. It felt as if my dog became Cerberos.
“Wow, It looks totally strong now?” Kim Sangyoon, watching the whole incident, stared back at me in admiration. For some reason, I felt proud and emotionally moved at that reaction.
Clank–!
While Lackey’s sword had been upgraded into a shiny, silver elongated lance, a shield with a pointed bottom had also formed in Lackey’s other hand.
And, as soon as Lackey found the weapon’s center of gravity, it mercilessly hit at the Golem’s wrist that held the end of the lance. The Fondue Golem couldn’t prepare for such a sudden counterattack and, shocked, released the lance tip.
Lackey immediately retreated backwards. It calmly brandished the shield forward; all parts of its body except for the tip of its head were hidden behind the shield.
[Fon—Due!!!]
Lackey’s current appearance seemed to provoke the Fondue Golem.
The Fondue Golem molded a new facial expression with its dried raspberry-embedded face and began to roar. At first, I thought it was simply blinking its round eyes, but it seemed like the golem changed its expression into a pointy angry face (exactly like an angry emoticon on any electronics). The golem started running, footsteps thumping against the ground.
Lackey must have been waiting for this exact moment; the skeleton rushed up right beneath its nose, turned straight around, and began to run back. It did as I said–bringing one golem over to our location.
I almost shed tears–I was so thrilled that Lackey had fulfilled my orders accurately for the first time without any help. Kim Sangyoon’s shout of “Let’s go!” managed to calm me down. Furthermore, in order to target the moment that Lackey would disappear from the Fondue Golem’s sight, we began to look forward, tension rising.
The Red Lotus guys in the back didn’t give much advice today–maybe they were gauging Kim Sangyoon, Lackey, and my team play.
Lackey did better than expected, so now, as its master, I should work hard too. The handle of the dagger slipped in my palm, due to the accumulated sweat from the tension.
‘Please…!’
However, I didn’t showcase any of that tension externally and listened to Lackey’s rapidly approaching footsteps.
Step Step Step–!
Lackey ran quickly towards the cracker hill, where we lay in ambush. As soon as the skeleton saw us in front, it turned around to face the chasing golem.
Before the Fondue Golem could fully bow down, I shouted out the skill Lackey got after it evolved into its intermediary form. “Undead Charging!”
As soon as the skill was activated, the delicate smoke that flowed out of the skeleton’s lance and shield began to creep up and enshroud it. Lackey dropped into a low stance, ready to bounce off at any moment.
And, when the Fondue Golem turned the corner and jumped at Lackey with outstretched hands, Lackey shot out like a bullet and confronted its enemy. Its opponent was twice its size, but [Undead Charging] was the right skill to use against such a big and sluggish enemy.
Crash–!
Although Lackey had grown in size, the Fondue Golem was still 3 meters long; the golem was bound to have the upper hand in physical strength. However, Lackey accelerated a tremendous amount right before impact, and the Fondue Golem bounced off. Furthermore, since the force hit the golem from below, it fell back after receiving a huge shock to its systems.
Boom–!
Due to the nature of the Golem’s shape, it took time for it to stand up again on its own if it were knocked over. Just as Seo Dawon advised, it was usually better to try and knock the Golem over instead of trying to kill it all at once. Of course, the appropriate force applied at the correct angle was needed to tip the Golem on its back, but Lackey did much better than I expected.
“You did well!” I shouted.
“I’m going in!” Kim Sangyoon roared.
I was happy to jump up and down in place, and Kim Sangyoon jumped out from behind me with fierce momentum.
Kim Sangyoon was not as large as the golem but his size was something to be reckoned with, so his running appearance was still quite threatening. Kim Sangyoon was gaining momentum as if he were intending to jump off the cracker hill, and Fondue Golem, still struggling to stand up, had exposed its entire body.
“Buster Blade!” Kim Sangyoon’s [Berserker] carried a large amount of hitherto unseen power.
In the end, the Fondue Golem, who had fallen back and failed to defend properly, suffered critical damage to its nucleus on the front of its body. The dynamic sight of its thick caramel coating, broken almond pieces, and blood-like caramel splashing on Kim Sangyoon’s cheek caught my eye.
[Kaaaaaack!]
[Buster Blade] dug through the chocolate coating and exposed the Golem’s shining [nucleus] core. Though I didn’t separately order Lackey, it raised its lance high and drove it straight through the nucleus’s center.
Bang–!
The [nucleus], the device that allows the Golem to move, was usually carried in a strong outer shell. In short, the [nucleus] was the Golem’s achilles heel.
Lackey hit the [nucleus], located near the center of the golem’s chest, directly with its lance; immediately after, large cracks formed. The Fondue Golem became rigid before bursting, alongside a popping sound that came from its [nucleus]. We’ve properly defeated it.
[You’ve received a large amount of experience since your servant, ‘Lackey’ has defeated a Fondue Golem.]
[Your Level has increased!]
[Your Level has increased!]
[Your party member, ‘Kim Sangyoon’s,’ level has increased greatly!]
[You have received almonds for the event ‘What are the ingredients for cookie dough?’]
I don’t think Kim Sangyoon expected for the monster to be killed so quickly; he turned back to look at me with a happy expression. I waved my hands wildly at him, telling him he did well.
* * *
Afterwards, we cleared through the Fondue Golems, one by one, with the same method. Lackey or Kim Sangyoon would draw the Fondue Golem’s attention and drag it to the base of the cracker hill; then, the other would ambush and defeat yet another opponent.
In my case, even if I couldn’t be in the front lines directly, I still had to control Lackey. I cooperated by watching and barking out instructions. Sometimes, I would look across the hill and watch out for any other Golems that may approach.
“We almost defeated 8 Golems in an hour,” Kim Sangyoon remarked.
[Clack clack!]
Kim Sangyoon wiped the sweat off his forehead and admired the hard work; Lackey puffed out its chest, probably proud.
I reached over to pet Lackey–conveying it did well–but paused. A sweet smell was wafting from somewhere; Lackey and Kim Sangyoon had caramel and chocolate splattered all over their bodies… I handed a water bottle to the two of them in order to wipe all that off. “Don’t you feel sticky?”
“It’s better than when I defeated other monsters.”
“I guess…”
[Clack Clack Clack!]
Compared to the bizarre monsters in the [Tower of Command], the monsters here… Could I say they were fairytale-like? Other monsters may have sprayed blood and caused a gory scene, but these were simply full of chocolate sauce. I wasn’t as stressed at this sight.
TL: I’m still sluggish from the break and haven’t TL’d much (either for this or my other projects) but I can’t be slow forever~
Yay Lackey though~ Finally a proper skeleton soldier!
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