“So those golems will obey your command?” Nola asked. However, before I could even answer that question she continued in an unsure voice: “Exactly what happened down there?”
“Quite a bit actually, I’m sure you’ll definitely be interested.” Truly, I had to admit, my luck had been on the upswing recently. Not only was I blessed with a feather from Lucifer himself not too long ago, I even managed to snag a thousand golems for myself. Of those thousand, there were at least a hundred winged golems too. As long as I flashed this army of mine, sweeping over Sable Radiance should be easy…ahem, assuming the Overlords didn’t try and interfere.
Hearing the commotion I caused, Sinmosa and her family came trotting over soon after.
“All these golems…they’re yours?” Upon noticing the giant army of golems behind me, Sinmosa reacted in the exact same way as Nola did: with shock and disbelief. “Exactly what’s going on here?”
“Cinderel, come over here, quick.” Seeing her playmate, Mo Na hurriedly beckoned for the little black puppy who seemed to be just as excited as well. As she galloped towards Mo Na, tongue hanging in the air and tail wagging, she paid no attention whatsoever to her father’s three frowning faces.
“I know we’ve only been away for a short while but we’ve really picked up quite a few stuff while we were gone.” My voice lightened up somewhat thanks to the heartwarming scene of Mo Na frolicking around with Cinderel.
Since everyone was present, I took the opportunity to briefly go through our spoils from the weapon factory. However, before I could even finish, I was interrupted by Nola’s disbelieving gasp: “A thousand golems?! And those winged ones…they’re Seven-stars aren’t they?!”
“That’s right, I took some time to count them just now. There were a total of 1077 Abyssal Golems with 107 of them being winged. According to the black leather book, they are the squad leaders.” I nodded my head in excitement. “Because there were just too many of them down there, I only brought up a fraction of them. The rest are still awaiting orders in the weapons factory.”
“A thousand golems…” Sinmosa was just as dumbstruck by what she heard. “Unbelievable, to think there was actually such a frightening treasure trove beneath our feet…no wonder this entire region is so heavily guarded.”
With a thousand golems at my beck and call, I was no longer that nameless Devil, easily snuffed out by simple pinch. As long as the Overlords didn’t interfere, I was basically invincible.
Furthermore, lest one forgot, those Seven-stars Golems weren’t my only trump card, I still had that Eight-stars Fallen Angel statue…I just didn’t know how to activate it, that’s all…
“Little Brother, do you wish to find out how to activate that statue?” Just as I mulling over that issue, Ferti’nier’s bewitching voice came floating through my head, helpful as always and ready to throw me into another pit of her own making. Instantly, my mind went on high alert.
[You…what are you up to this time? Is there even anything left on my body worth taking away?]
“Hohoho, why is Little Brother acting so wary of this one?”
[Let’s be clear here, don’t try and scam me into another agreement, I’ve seen through you already. You’re just a giant trap.]
“How is this one a trap?”
[You dare deny that?! What about that whole incident with the back cover of the book? You could’ve just said so, instead you chose to start some nonsense about terms and conditions…I can’t take it anymore, I tell you…just spare me…]
“Hmph, how is it this one’s fault if you’re blind as a bat?” She harrumphed with dissatisfaction. A moment later however, her usual levity returned: “This one isn’t trying to scam you at all, it was Little Brother who chose to jump into that trap himself.”
‘I…I have nothing more to say…this discussion is done.’
Noticing my exasperation as well, she finally stopped rubbing salt into my wounds and instead said so: “Little Brother, all you have to do is walk up to that statue and give it a tap with the Gem of Authority.”
[That simple?]
“Mhm, just that simple.”
Truth be told, I simply couldn’t bring myself to believe her. Why was she acting so helpful all of a sudden? No matter what she said, it all just seemed like a trap to me then, but what was the point of scamming me any further?
‘Bah, forget it, I’ll just follow what she says for now. Not like there’s a better option right now.’
I inhaled deeply and walked up to the statue, still covered in dense vegetation with only its feet sticking out of what looked like a twenty meter tall misshapen shrub. With merely a meter between me and the statue, I gave the statue a tap on its foot and then…it vanished?
‘It’s…gone?!’
‘@#$@, I thought you said this isn’t a trap?! You lying potato, how is this not a trap?!’
‘I dare you to come out and face me, Ferti’nier, I swear I’ll only slap you around 9980 times!’
‘You promised me a Eight-stars golems, why is it gone now…ahhh, I don’t even have anymore tears to shed at this point, what’s going on here?! There was clearly a twenty meter tall statue over there so why is it gone?’
“Mama, what happened to that statue?” Arms wrapped that black leather book, Mo Na came flying over as she called out in surprise. She made a tiny turn around to my side before saying: “Mama, did you hide that big fellow somewhere?”
Other than her, my other companions were just as shocked by what had just transpired.
For something that was almost as huge as a tiny hill to disappear like that was truly quite ludicrous. However, it was an undeniable fact that the statue was gone, with no trace left behind at all. It was as if it had never existed in the first place.
“Huuu…” I gripped down on the Gem of Authority with one hand while my other shot up to my forehead to massage it gently. Ignoring Mo Na’s question for now, I turned my attention instead to that lurking soul in my head.
[Hey, you 10 000 year old hag, get out here right this instant! Spill it, where did that statue go?]
“Little Brother, have you gone senile or something? This one just said that she wasn’t even 10 000 years old.”
[Like hell I care if you’re 100 or 10 000 years old, where did my statue go? Don’t tell me you’re still trying to scam me?!]
“This one already said this time is a freebie, why are you yelling at this one over the statue disappearing, this one never even touched the thing.” She then proceeded to say as such in a nonchalant tone: “Just think about it for a second, what was the last thing you did before it disappeared?”
‘Before it disappeared? Didn’t I just tap it with the gem, what else was there? Don’t tell me it’s one of those museum pieces where you can’t even take a photo or it will crumble? Hmm…tap…’
‘I get it now…if I’m not wrong, it entered the gem…’
I grasped the gem with both of my hands and placed it against my forehead where I connected to it with my senses. There, I was able to sense that it had gained something, albeit faintly…
