《A Nightmare on Earth》Nations Stir as the World Rots - Part Fifty-Seven

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Part Fifty-Seven

Oh, the sky's falling.

That was the first thing to cross my mind when I looked up. Chunks of dirt and rocks were plummeting towards the ground. The sight was so surreal that my mind short-circuited, and only that rather dumb thought was left.

I’d just about wrapped up testing out the white sword's new function when the alarm sounded. I’d discovered that the increase to sharpness was equal to now much mana was deposited, though a single attack was enough to use all of it. Also, the effects of Aura Skills stacked onto this, meaning I’d be able to deal a shit-ton of damage in the future.

The one thing I didn’t understand was how that function triggered before. Channeling mana into the space isn’t exactly simple, but neither is all that complex. While I doubt I’d ever have a full answer, my guess was that my inexperience with Aura was responsible for it. Most likely, some of the mana I’d intended to convert to Aura didn’t fully convert, and ended up fueling a much stronger attack. There was also a high likelihood that this had happened multiple times, but I hadn’t noticed back then.

Okay, that’s enough exposition. There’s freaking meteors heading for me. I know using Earth Magic to take advantage of gravity is a big trope in novels, but holy shit is it terrifying when it’s used against you!

Anyone who’s ever taken high school physics should know that objects accelerate at a fixed rate as they fall, regardless of mass. Higher speed of course means a greater impact. There’s a reason why that urban myth about dropping a penny from high up to kill someone exists. Though I have no idea if that’s true.

Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is that there’s a veritable slew of objects hurtling towards us. Just from what I could see as they approached, there were pieces big enough to cause some serious damage to the buildings.

Oh shit, oh shit! How the heck are we to block this? It’s like being faced with an avalanche!

Fortunately, I needn’t have worried. At about the same time as the rocks had made it halfway down, I sensed a surge of mana near the center of the fort. For me to feel it when I was so close to the walls meant that it must be quite the spell. And boy was it.

A gust of wind swept outwards from the center of the fort, nearly knocking me over with how strong it was. The wind quickly became this swirling dome that surrounded the fortress. So it’s a barrier? I know tornados and other wind storms can cause immense damage, but can they block projectiles falling from miles above?

*Tatatatatatatatatatatat*

It appeared that they could. The first wave of rocks and dirt were utterly blown apart once they made contact with the barrier. They either didn’t have enough mass or speed to punch through it, so it looked like things would be okay. And I wasn’t the only one to realize this either. Those nearby had panicked upon first seeing the debris heading for us, but were now cheering. So I guess this over?

*BOOOOOOOM*

NOPE!

Just as I started to relax, a particularly large rock struck the barrier and pierced through it. While the barrier quickly repaired itself, the rock continued on to hit the ground. The impact caused dirt and stones to fly everywhere, though the source of it all stayed intact. I also heard several other impacts elsewhere in the fort, signifying that there was more than one.

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Fortunately, no one was actually hit by the projectile, so there was only property damage, which was a lot easier to fix than a crushed person would be. Since it seemed that this had wrapped itself up nicely, I decided to head towards the walls to see if we’d need to fight the monsters responsible for this.

*Grind grind grind*

You’ve got to be kidding me. Why does this happen every fucking time!? Just as I turned around, the block started to shake and cracks, no, lines, began to form on its surface. I watched in utter disbelief as it began transforming.

Golem War-Machine

Rank: D

Description: A specially made Golem, one designed purely for large scale battles. Since its mana core was crafted, it possesses a greater range of magical attacks then normal Golems. However, it is still a Golem at heart, and thus possesses no real awareness of the world around it. Its orders are to pursue each target until it either destroys them, or is destroyed.

I had to desperately resist the urge to make a mecha joke. Especially since this Golem basically looked like some sort of primitive robot. The larger block had separated into several sections, each of which further divided to form its limbs and torso. Thin metallic tubes connected the various sections, acting as joints and tendons. Its head was a simple cube, with multiple gems set into it to likely serve as sensory organs.

“Is that a robot!? How is that even-?”

*Shwooooo, BOOOOM!*

Before the guy had even finished his sentence, the Golem fired a rocket at him, blowing him apart with a single attack. Yeah, I’m outta here. I’ve had enough battles today to sate my thirst. There’s some NPC guards on the way, so I’ll leave this to them. They’ve got a mage, so they’re better equipped to deal with a Golem then I am.

I slipped back into the alley I’d originally been in, fully intending to get the hell away from there. I checked behind me one last time, just to make sure it wasn’t following me, and I saw something ludicrous. There was a guy running straight at it unarmed. Seriously, he wasn’t carrying a weapon. He didn’t even have armor, just a pair of gauntlets.

Is he suicidal!? Ah damn it. Fuck my luck. Oh hey, I made a rhyme.

*Shwoooo BOOOOM!*

“Huh wha!? When did you get here?”

“Are you an idiot? Why the hell would you try and fight a monster unarmed? That’s just asking to get killed.”

I’d rushed in and grabbed the guy before he could get blown to pieces. For his part, he’d actually been able to react to the rocket, he just hadn’t been able to stop his charge in time to avoid it.

“Why would I use a weapon? They’re just crutches people need to support themselves. I am my own weapon. That’s how fights are meant to be experienced. Though I will say thanks for the rescue. Didn’t know it had weapons of its own.”

“Dude, that thing is a weapon. It’s basically the same as someone driving a tank. And its probably got more then a few tricks up its sleeves. Not that it has sleeves.”

I can’t believe it. Battle junkies are real. Alicia loved to make jokes about me being one, but the real thing was far stranger. This guy just said he wanted to fight monsters hand-to-hand with a straight face. I’m not exactly one to talk, but I had to question his judgment here. Even I’m not that reckless.

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I finally got a good look at the guy after putting him down. He had a rugged face, like you’d expect from sea-weathered fishermen, and his nose had obviously been broken and had healed wrong. He looked pretty normal, aside from the ecstatic grin he had at the thought of fighting an actual killing-machine.

“Well, this might be a bit disappointing, but I’ll make the most of it anyway. You coming kid?”

He still wants to fight!? And he called me kid!?

Before I could even decide on an answer, he was already heading back to fight the Golem. The NPCs I’d previously noted were currently occupying its attention, so he wasn’t in immediate danger. It was purely his decision, so I could leave with a clean conscience. But perhaps it was the way he phrased his question, but I felt like he was provoking me to join the fight.

Haaah, at least I’m consistent in the bad choices I make. That’s gotta count for something, right?

The Golem's head turned to face me for a moment once I left the alley. Considering that this was an artificial creature, there was really no way to guess what was going on in its head, assuming it even had the ability to think in the first place. From what Alicia and Cameron had told me, the golems they’d fought had simply acted out whatever orders they were given.

“Haha, decided to join the party after all?”

“Do you at least have a plan?”

“Hit it until it dies!”

I’m sorry to everyone I’ve ever called a musclehead. I now know the error of my ways, mostly since I’ve actually met one. Looks like it’s up to me to come up with the plan. This guy's clearly inorganic, so Grudge Magic is out. Hrm, I should be able to use the white sword’s function to sever its limbs, but how to get past those rockets?

Now that I was getting a closer look at it, it wasn’t actually firing rockets, but spells that merely had the destructive power of one. Though I don’t know if it makes a difference if I’ll die if hit by either. And since it had something like that, there was a high likelihood that it had more spells at its disposal.

The NPCs were using large shields to protect the mages while they cast a spell. Whatever they were up to must’ve been big, since it had taken them several minutes already, and they still weren’t done. Figuring that waiting for them was our best chance, I turned to tell the knucklehead beside me, only to discover that he was in front of the Golem.

“Haha!”

*Boom*

I watched in shock as he jabbed at the Golem's torso, sending it stumbling back a few steps, and with a new dent where he’d struck. There were even the beginnings of cracks forming on its body. There was no way in hell that a human’s punch could do that to stone. He had to be doing something.

“Haha, what do ya think of that? Pretty awesome, right? This is what we humans are capable of when we put the crutches away.”

“Suuurre. Well, if you want to play like that, then I’m game.”

I took off before he could answer, just like he’d done earlier. Petty I know, but what was I to do? He’d managed to push all of my buttons that would make me overly competitive. It’s not easy to do that, so I should give him his money’s worth, right?

Alright, if I’m doing this, I’m doing it right. Let’s show him what a “crutch" can do. If I aim for the tubing acting as joints, I should be able to cut through without being caught.

**Shwoooo BOOOOM**

Two rockets blew past me on either side, but I paid them no mind. The slightest slip in focus would see me flattened beneath the Golem’s massive fist, which was easily the size of my head. As I closed in, the Golem stomped the ground, causing spikes to burst out of the dirt in front of it. I’d suspected it might do something like this, so I managed to dive to the side to avoid them, and the overhead smash that accompanied the spell. With the machine unable to move after such a large attack, I was able to slice through several of the tubes connecting its arm to its body.

“NNNNNNRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!”

The Golem made that ear-piercing sound in response to the attack, though I doubt it was because it was experiencing pain. The sudden assault on my eardrums nearly got me, but I’d already experienced this before. While the cacophony did disorientate me, I was barely able to dodge its follow-up attack due to my experience with the Kumoko Matriarch. The hasty swipe left it open, and cost it its arm.

In the meantime, the NPCs had finished preparing their spell, so I hastily got out of the way while the Golem was still off-balance from losing its arm. Two seconds after I was clear, a flash of white fire exploded against the Golem’s torso with a deafening snap. The cracks the muscle-head made rapidly expanded.

“Well, what do you think of that?”

“Does taking its arm actually affect it in any way? It can still club us to death with the other after all.”

“Okay Alicia.”

“Huh?”

“Ah sorry, force of habit. Anyway, I wasn’t after its arm. I wanted to cut those tubes. I think they may have been circulating mana throughout the Golem, basically acting as fuel. Now it shouldn’t be able to use those rockets as easily.”

My companions had already told me about the Golems they’d fought. They’d described them as being made of solid dirt, which they’d reinforce with a metallic shell. The War-Machine, on the other hand, was made up of multiple stones linked together, and lacked the metallic shell.

I believed that the tubes were designed to funnel mana throughout the Golem, and that they’d used stone so that the Golem could reroute its mana into attacks rather then defense. With the tubes severed, it was basically the same as a car leaking gas: it could still go, but it wouldn’t get far. As for why they’d taken such lengths to do all this, I thought it was because an all stone Golem would be less mobile. Maybe. It is just conjecture on my part.

Anyway, I explained all of this to the musclehead and it went completely past him. What a waste of good exposition.

“Huh. So that means it can’t use that rocket attack any more?”

“Basically, yes. It’s more sophisticated then that, but you get the gist.”

“All right, that’s all I need to know!”

“Ah, wait you idiot!”

He charged at the Golem yet again, only this time he wasn’t recklessly rushing ahead. His approach was strangely slow compared to the first two times, so I paid special attention to what he was doing. And that’s how I noticed the mana gathering around his fists.

Aura!? So he’s not just charging in recklessly? Oh, he is doing that, but he’s also generating Aura. Well, this’ll either be interesting, or really messy. I’ve helped him twice, I’m not saving him again.

“Hahaha, this is what humans are capable of when we push ourselves to the limit!”

The Golem, now lacking in any sort of ranged attack, could only allow him to get closer, which was exactly what he wanted. The now ungodly levels of Aura gathering around his fist began to resonate with his internal mana as he threw a single punch aimed at the Golem’s torso.

“HAAH, Mach Punch!”

What? Is that the name of the Skill, or did he just make it up? Why am I getting these weird signals from this guy? I’m already regretting this immensely.

Despite the, exaggerated nature, of his attack, the results were quite impressive. With a burst of mana, the Golem was blown backwards from the force of the attack, bits of rock and tubing flying in all directions. It was so strong, that the Golem’s torso was completely destroyed, along with its core, meaning that he’d somehow killed it. And for some inexplicable reason, he shot me a thumbs-up from where he stood admit the debris.

Are you a character in a shonen manga? Because if so, tell me now so I can eliminate you before you infect more people with your absurdity.

***

A few, agonizing moments later…

“And so, I think you would make for a great pupil in the art of battle. And one day, one day…!”

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you there. I’ve no intention of being your pupil or anything else. Please, go crawl back into whatever you came out of and throw your brain away. I think it’s rotten.”

“Hahahahaha! What splendid banter! This makes me want you as my pupil even more!”

You’re taking that as banter!? That would be an insult to most people! What kind of hot-blooded, masochistic, hardheaded, happy-go-lucky superhuman are you!? I think I’m actually more scared of him, then I was of Finnél’s transformed state!

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