manynovel Chapter 156: Rechallenging the Forgotten Vault
Chapter 156: Rechallenging the Forgotten Vault
[Obsidian Golem Warden – Lv.140]
An ancient construct forged from condensed obsidian and magma, created to guard the entrance of forgotten ruins. Its body radiates immense heat, and each movement leaves molten footprints in its wake. The runes carved into its core act as conduits for destructive magic, allowing it to unleash bursts of searing flame or devastating shockwaves. Its obsidian armor is nearly impervious to physical attacks, except for the tiny, exposed joints.
Threat Level: Very High
Previously, the threat level had been extremely high, but now, it had dropped to merely very high, which was manageable. This clearly showed that I had gotten stronger since our last encounter.
“Ha! I’ve been waiting for this day!” Boris laughed, punching his palm eagerly.
The golems reacted the moment we stepped within ten meters of them. Their molten eyes flared brighter as both lifted their massive battleaxes in unison. The ground trembled as they advanced, each step cracking stone beneath their immense weight.
“Let’s begin!”
Boris didn’t wait for further instructions. He charged straight in, activating Adamant Flesh as a metallic sheen spread across his body. One of the golems swung its axe down in a brutal overhead cleave, but Boris sidestepped effortlessly and drove his fist straight into its hand. Sparks and molten droplets sprayed outward from the impact.
“Too slow!” he roared.
At the same time, Michelle loosed an explosive arrow toward the exposed joint behind the golem’s knee. The projectile detonated on impact, blasting molten shards outward and forcing the massive construct to stagger.
“{Mana Blast}!” Lucian followed up immediately, forming a massive sphere of compressed mana and hurling it toward the second golem. The blast slammed into its torso, cracking and chipping apart layers of obsidian plating.
“Tuilë, now!” I shouted.
“On it!” She raised her hand cannon and fired at the golem’s newly exposed chest.
The construct tried to bring its arms up in defense, but Boris struck first, smashing his fist into its knee joint. The impact shattered the support, sending the massive body crashing downward just as Tuilë’s shot landed squarely on target. The combined assault tore through the weakened core, and the golem collapsed with a thunderous crash.
I didn’t waste the opening and brought out the Meteorite Spear before charging at the first golem. Channeling mana into the weapon, I activated Falling Star. The spear’s tip ignited with compressed force, a dense knot of power forming at its point. A crushing pressure warped the air around it, as though gravity itself were collapsing inward.
As I thrust, a shockwave erupted forward like a meteor crashing into the earth, tearing through the air in a straight line. It slammed into the golem’s torso, piercing cleanly through its obsidian plating and driving straight into the glowing core within. The runes carved into its core shook violently before the core shattered, and the entire construct broke apart, collapsing into lifeless fragments.
You have hunted [Obsidian Golem Warden Lv.140].
You have gained 520 EXP.
“…That’s it?” Tuilë blinked, looking amused.
I nodded. “Yep. That’s it.”
“This honestly wasn’t hard at all,” she said, grinning widely.
Perhaps it was because we had grown accustomed to facing Daleth-rank monsters, or because the tenth scenario had been especially brutal, but these golems were hardly worth mentioning anymore. Even on my own, I was confident I could have dealt with them swiftly.
We scavenged the golems’ remains and found that fragments of their obsidian armor were valuable crafting materials that we could sell or use. However, the most precious items we recovered were the core shards.
Golem Warden Core Shards
Grade: Unique
Type: Crafting Material
Fragments of an Obsidian Golem Warden’s core. It can be used to craft magic equipment and weapons or to enhance golem-related constructs. If enough fragments are gathered, they can be reassembled into a functional golem core.
“Ooh, I can use this to upgrade Bernardo!” Tuilë quickly scooped up the shards and hugged them to her chest. “The poor thing is still a bit broken from the last scenario.”
Speaking of that golem, Bernardo had been transported out of the tenth scenario along with us, even though Tuilë hadn’t returned it to her inventory beforehand. As for its condition, all I could say was that it was still in one piece… Barely.
We stepped past the shattered remains of the golems and entered the Forgotten Vault proper. The corridor ahead was dark, narrow, and steep, sloping downward in a winding path. Its stone walls narrowed and widened unpredictably, as though the structure had been carved without regard for symmetry or comfort. Glowing ancient glyphs lined the walls at irregular intervals, barely bright enough to illuminate the ground beneath our feet.
“This place makes me uncomfortable…” Michelle said quietly.
I nodded in agreement. Last time, I had entered this dungeon alone, without telling any of them. I had slipped in through a different route, bypassing the guarding golems entirely and navigating the Vault in silence while committing every detail to memory. In contrast, this was the first time any of them had set foot inside.
“Ugh. There’s so much dust,” Lucian complained while casting magic to keep the dust away from him.
Centuries of dust coated the stone, stirred into the air by the faint tremors left behind by the fallen golems. Each time we moved, our boots sank into the dust, which had accumulated to a thickness of several centimeters.
Michelle, as usual, took the lead, her gaze sweeping across the walls and the floor. “Be careful. There are many traps ahead…”
Tuilë nodded in agreement beside her. “Looks like it. Though they’re crude. Seems like it’s time for the Mecha Duck to shine.”
She quickly took out the familiar small, round, duck-shaped mechanical golem made of bronze and steel from her inventory and sent it forward. The robot duck waddled ahead, zapping traps with bursts of high-intensity electricity to neutralize them one by one. Meanwhile, we remained at a safe distance as it carried out its work.
Naturally, some traps were still triggered in the process. A falling rock left a slight dent along the duck’s metal casing, but otherwise it emerged completely unharmed. In fact, each time it was flung back, it would waddle back as if nothing had happened. Compared to that, the clones I had previously summoned through Echo Construct during my solo exploration had almost always ended up grotesquely mangled whenever they set off a trap.
As we went deeper, faded murals emerged along the walls, partially buried beneath layers of dust and erosion. They depicted kneeling figures—demi-humans, perhaps—bowing before a towering serpentine being with the upper body of a man and the lower half of a serpent. Just like before, the face had been deliberately scratched out in every carving.
Lucian slowed, studying the images. “Someone really didn’t want this thing remembered… or recognized.”
The corridor curved again, narrowing until we were forced into a single file. This route differed from the one I had taken before, but the destination it led to had not changed. After navigating through the labyrinth of traps, we finally passed beneath the last archway.
What awaited us in the heart of the Forgotten Vault was exactly what I remembered. Gold, gemstones, weapons, armor, magic tools, skill books, magic tomes, potions, elixirs, and countless other valuables lay neatly arranged atop stone pedestals, as though waiting patiently to be claimed. There were enough treasures here that even if they were divided among the five of us, it would be enough for us to take the top five spots of the richest divine warriors in Fantasia.
“Whoa… that’s a lot of treasure!” Michelle exclaimed in awe.
“Magic tools, magic tomes, potions, elixirs… This is insane!” Even the usually prideful Lucian couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“Hush,” I said quietly, raising a finger before my lips. “Lower your voices unless you want to draw their attention.” I gestured toward the chamber’s perimeter.
Dozens of Daleth-rank ancient guardian golems stood motionless like statues, while hundreds of Gimmel-rank golems and sentinels were positioned in layered formations around the hoard, forming an interlocking defensive grid that left no blind spots.
[Ancient Guardian Golem – Lv.130]
A massive construct forged from reinforced stone and unknown ancient alloys, designed to serve as the primary bulwark of the Forgotten Vault’s inner defenses. It can convert ambient mana into overwhelming physical force through its core, making each strike extremely deadly and turning its armor highly resistant to elemental and physical damage alike.
Threat Level: High
[Ancient Golem – Lv.110]
A standard combat construct created to suppress intruders through relentless offense. Though less durable than Guardian-class golems, it compensates with faster movement and coordinated attack patterns. Its body houses simple mana conduits that enhance strength and durability, making it highly effective in numbers.
[Ancient Sentinel – Lv.115]
A long-range defensive construct equipped with integrated mana-focusing mechanisms, capable of firing sustained mana beams, deploying suppression fields, and relaying targeting data to nearby constructs. They ensure any intruders are overwhelmed before reaching critical zones.
Compared to the golems outside—or any I had faced in previous scenarios—these constructs were different. The weaker ones in particular had slender frames, their limbs ending in sharp, bladed arms designed purely for offense rather than durability. In contrast, the sentinels were half-machine and half-stone, built like towers anchored to the floor, each capable of unleashing concentrated mana beams the instant an intruder crossed an invisible boundary.
“We start with the closest ones,” I instructed quietly. “Ignore the treasures. Solely focus on taking them down fast.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, and we moved at once. Michelle’s arrow flew first, punching cleanly through the neck joint of the nearest bladed golem. The construct froze for a fraction of a second before collapsing soundlessly. Almost simultaneously, Lucian severed the mana conduit of another with a precise spell, causing its body to crumple inward as its core destabilized.
Boris followed through with brute efficiency, crushing a third golem before it could even raise its arm. The bodies fell in quick succession, their metal limbs clattering against the stone floor.
For a moment, it seemed our strategy had worked. But then, several sentinels rotated in place, their cores glowing brighter as targeting mechanisms locked onto us.
“Looks like subtlety isn’t an option,” Tuilë muttered, raising her hand cannon.
A moment later, the nearest sentinel fired. A beam of compressed mana tore across the chamber, scorching the floor where we had been standing just moments earlier. At the same time, dozens of bladed golems snapped into motion, their heads turning in perfect synchronization before charging as one.
“They’re incoming!” Michelle shouted.
“Hold formation!” I ordered, gripping my spear as I cleaved through the golem nearest to me.
You have hunted [Ancient Golem Lv.110].
You have gained 170 EXP.
When the stronger golems charged at us, Boris met them head-on, activating Adamant Flesh and planting his feet as the first wave crashed into him. Metal screeched against metal as he intercepted their strikes with his own bladed steel arms.
Meanwhile, Lucian cast {Mana Shield} to intercept the incoming beams, while Michelle repositioned fluidly, firing rapid shots to thin the advancing mass. Tuilë, fully abandoning any pretense of restraint, unleashed her magic cannon, detonating several sentinels with several thunderous blasts.