NBAA Vol. 5 Chapter 1 Part 5
After spending the night in his childhood home for the first time in years, Reito and his friends headed out toward the ruins in the forest.
After walking for a while, they arrived at their destination.
“Is this the ruins Reito mentioned?”
“That’s right. Watch out… I haven’t been here in two years.
“What the hell is this…” Dain muttered.
“All the buildings are so big…” Kotomin added.
Ullr whimpered.
“Purupuru.”
The ruins were surrounded by marble walls. They were about 10 meters tall. There were gates in the wall on all four sides – they were left open.
Reito entered the gate and stared at the ruin.
Just as Airis said, this place used to be a town, and there were several buildings lined up. Most of them looked like ancient greek buildings, but there were also a few traditional Japanese wooden buildings amongst them.
Dain looked at the ruins before muttering, “Who would have guessed that something man-made would exist so deep in the forest? It’s a little out of shape… I bet it hasn’t been used in a couple hundred years…”
Gonzo looked at the ruins and added, “I bet giants lived here. The buildings are huge.”
“Maybe there were also mermaids,” Kotomin noticed the small stream installed in the town.
“It looks like there were a lot of people here before… Why would they build a town in such a dangerous place?” Gonzo said.
Reito had heard an explanation before from Airis, but he thought his friends would be suspicious of why he had such information, so he decided to not say anything.
Dain pointed at one of the buildings, “Look at that!! Isn’t that the seal of the empire!? Is this their hideout?”
“Maybe it’s just a building from the imperial era?” Reito added. The former Empire’s seal was the same one the former Baltros Empire used. He figured there was no reason to be nervous that an agent of the Empire was nearby.
However, it also wasn’t a safe place. Airis said there were five creatures that Reito wasn’t able to deal with in the past on location.
Reito called his friends, “Don’t let your guard down. The gates are wide open so it wouldn’t surprise me if there are monsters. Keep your eyes peeled as we enter”
“G-, Got it!” Dain said.
“Ullr, I’m relying on your sense of smell. Suramin, Hitomin, let us know if you pick up anything.”
The slimes and Ullr responded to Reito: “Woof!!”
“Purupuru.”
He let Ullr take the lead as he started moving.
The buildings were largely collapsed and evidence of human life had long since vanished.
They had advanced a while with the guard up, but they saw no sign of any monsters.
“This is weird… There are no barrier or rotten stones and yet there are no monsters,” Reito commented.
“Isn’t that a good thing for us?” Gonzo asked. Dain shook his head.
“But it’s just like Reito said, isn’t it weird that there are no monsters around the ruins? Usually, a few goblins or kobolds would be lurking somewhere.”
“I saw a fish in the river a moment ago, it’s not like there’s no food either,” Kotomin added. That detail made Reito nervous. It appeared the monsters in the forest were intentionally avoiding the ruins.
Dain trembled as he said, “Wh-, What’s going on… It’s good that there are no monsters and yet I feel so scared…”
“Yeah… We better watch out,” Kotomin affirmed.
“Don’t worry. If Reito’s here, he’ll pulverize any villain that crosses our path,” Gonzo was confident.
“Woof!!”
Reito spotted a figure in the distance far ahead of them. Reito used his “Far Sight” and “Observing Eye” skill right away.
He spotted a goblin running on the road. It looks like there were a few monsters after all.
“I see a goblin. It looks like he’s coming this way… He’s being chased by something.”
“Wow. So there are monsters after all… What is that?” Dain asked.
“…Something’s strange. How did none of us notice?”
Dain and Gonzo frowned.
The goblin running toward them was terribly afraid of what was coming up behind it. It completely ignored Reito and crew.
“What’s up with that goblin?”
“It looks like it’s running away… Oh, it fell over.”
The Goblin fell on its face. A new figure appeared behind it.
Reito used his skill again to find a human-shaped stone demon behind it. It was a Golem.
But, it was smaller than the Golems that Reito knew, and it was considerably withered down. Golems are usually giant creatures, this one appeared to be the size of an adult man.
Also, there are a few characteristics unique to thinner Golems.
First, their entire stony exterior has wrinkles like a human. Further, they are gray, unlike the usual earth-colored skin of regular Golem. Further, they have red jewels that shine from both of their palms.
“Gororoh…”
“He, heeee…!?” The Golem raised its hand at the fallen goblin. The hand took the shape of a boxing glove.
The Golem gave a solid punch to the goblin.
“Goroh!!”
“Hyaahh!?” The goblin appeared to be begging for its life, but the Golem punched it in the face again merciselessly. Reito glared at the Golem.
“You’re really ruthless, huh? What are we gonna do if it comes after us.”
“What? Are you? What’s going on? I can’t see anything.”
Gonzo and Reito had the same Far Sight skill and could see a little of what was going on. But, for Dain, he had no idea. Reito discerned it wasn’t a trivial matter and got his magic ready.
“He looks very different from the Golem I know. And he seems really strong,” Gonzo commented. It appeared even he didn’t understand the deal with that Golem.
“I agree. It looks more dangerous than the gargoyle-looking chumps we fought with.”
Kotomin tugged on Reito’s sleeve.
“I can fight too if we are near a river!”
“Right, you’re a mermaid.”
Kotomin headed for a nearby river.
The Golem noticed Reito. It enlarged its fist and punched the earth threateningly.
“Gorororoh!!”
“Shit! It looks like it wants a fight!!”
The Golem ran toward Reito. It looked ready to tackle. The shoulder of the Golem was swollen. Reito realized it could change its exterior as it pleased.
Gonzo stepped in front of everyone to take the blow.
“You want a battle of strengths? Bring it on!”
“Gorororoh!!”
Gonzo stopped the charging Golem head-on. Gonzo had a better constitution, but when the two collided, he was sent three meters back.
“Ngh…!?”
“Gororoh!!”
“Gonzo got pushed back!?”
“Fight, Gon-chan!!”
“Woof!!”
“Nghhhghgh!!”
Gonzo mustered his strength on account of his friends’ support and managed to grab the Golem with both arms.
The Golem, who had been restrained by Gonzo, held its enlarged fists above its head and then punched Gonzo with all its might.
“Goroh!!”
Gonzo immediately let go of the Golem after the fierce blow.
“Gororoh!!”
“Nghaaa!?”
“Gonzo!? Shit. Shadow Bind!!” Dain shouted.
Dain scrambled to use his shadow magic, but the Golem leaped back before the shadow could grab his ankles. It leaped back more and more, distancing itself. It was unbelievably light on its feet for a Golem. Everyone was stunned, but Reito immediately stuck out his palms.
“Water Bullets!!”
“Goroh…!!”
Reito generated a large water blade in mid-air and fired it at the Golem. The water blade featured “Supervibration” and would be capable of slicing a normal Golem in half.
“This guy is really strong…”
“Is it really a Golem!? It’s totally different than the Golem’s I know. It’s so fast.”
“Damn… It’s so strong too.”
“It looks like I have no choice… Suramin, Hitomin!”
“Pururu!!”
Kotomin held both slimes in her hand and aimed them at the Golem. The slimes released a large quantity of water from their mouths. But, the golem ran away before the water could hit it. They understood that the Golem is smart.
“Oh man, it’s hiding in the building! Wait, it’s back.”
“Ngh… I’m out of water!”
“Purupuru…”
The Golem reappeared once the water stopped. Suramin and Hitomin were considerably shrunken after losing so much water.
Kotomin tucked the two away in her chest. The Golem began to move again.
“It’s coming this way!?”
“It looks like it’s not giving up anytime soon. I’m gonna…” Reito said and drew his extermination balde. It didn’t seem like a good opponent for blade attacks, but there wasn’t time to think about that.
Reito’s eyes glowed red as the Golem with dual enlarged fists charged at him.
“HAAAAA!!”
“Gororoh!?”
The Golem caught Reito’s side swipe with both hands, but it wasn’t able to withstand the surprising force of the swipe and was blown away. A crack ran through its left arm, and the hand that had been hit first was pulverized.
Dain cheered in joy!
“Hooray!! You did it!!”
“Good job Reito” Kotomin mumbled.
“Don’t jinx it,” Reito joked.
On the other hand, Gonzo was still concerned.
“We’re not finished yet.”
Just as Gonzo said, the Golem got up immediately after sustaining injury to its right arm. The lost right arm extended itself to a marble column.
The marble column merged with the right arm.
“Is it planning to use the column to revive itself?”
“Something’s off… I think it’s doing more than just that.”