Fighting the Black Wolf

The black wolf leisurely walked through the Warehouse Area.

A wandering Iron Golem attacked the wolf, but the wolf easily dodged the Iron Golem's monotonous attacks and sent it flying with a swipe of its forepaw.

CRASH! The Iron Golem slammed into the dungeon wall and instantly stopped functioning, becoming nothing but a lump of iron.

Moreover, a clear mark from the punch remained on the Iron Golem.

… Our Iron Golem has top-tier defense, and this is what happens.

A chill ran down my spine, and I gulped.

The Haniwa Golem that Niku was controlling was made of stone. No matter how much armor it had, one hit and it would be done for.

"… Guiding! I'm going!"

By saying "guiding," she meant she'd judged our chances of winning were slim and was going with the plan to push it onto [Flame Cavern].

"Leave the directions to me! First, lure it to the right. Rei, attack with arrows from the right! Kinue, follow up on Niku's attacks, and when you're taken out, immediately switch to the next golem so it doesn't get a break! But Niku, there's no replacement for the Haniwa, so use it carefully! Nerune with the Spike Mountain Golem, drive it from behind!"

"Understood! Golem, go!"

"Rokuko-sama! What should I do!?"

"Ichika, block the side paths with Wall Golems and guide the enemy's direction!"

Following Rokuko's orders, Niku's Haniwa Golem, Rei's Four-Legged Archer Golems, Kinue-san's Four-Armed Golems, Nerune's Spike Mountain Golem, and Ichika's Wall Golems each went into action.

The directions were precise. So precise I had nothing to do. Wait, am I even needed here?

"Third Archer down! But guidance successful! Sending in the fourth!"

"Is the Haniwa Golem still okay?"

"No problems. Will lead it, to the Magma Area, like this."

Checking the monitor, the black wolf was attacking the Haniwa Golem, but the forepaw punches weren't being blocked head-on—they were deflected by the shield in its hands. For bites, a shield larger than the wolf's mouth was thrust forward to block. Meanwhile, it was making threatening attacks with its sword, but these were being evaded.

A Four-Armed Golem tried to interfere and was easily sent flying by a light body check… instantly becoming a pile of stone rubble. But like an all-you-can-eat meal service, Four-Armed Golems kept attacking one after another.

At the same time, a Spike Mountain Golem was driving it from behind, but it wasn't very effective. Its stone spikes were easily crushed by the wolf's tail, rendering it powerless—now just a stone dumpling. With no other choice, it charged in a suicide attack, only to be taken out by the tail in return.

I couldn't read the wolf's expression well, but it looked irritated.

And perhaps because it couldn't stand leaving enemies alive, or because the Four-Legged Archer Golems' arrow attacks were especially annoying, it deliberately came to attack them—heading toward the guided direction.

By repeating this endlessly, we guided it toward the Magma Area that Rokuko had created.

"Alright, one more push and we'll reach the Magma Area! … Niku, are you okay?"

"I'm okay… I can, still go! …!"

Finally, the Haniwa Golem's shield shattered. The black wolf gnawed and swallowed what had been the shield. Crunch, crunch.

The shield was made of stone, so it did well to last this long. It could only have lasted this long because Niku's technique for receiving attacks was so skillful.

Immediately after, a forepaw sweep. Receiving this, the horse portion was instantly taken down. The main body barely managed to separate and escape, but there was no room left.

It was barely deflecting attacks with its sword, but the accumulated damage had taken its toll… The sword that should have been a magic Golem Blade was now just a regular sword. Still, being iron equipment, it could serve as a substitute shield.

… Thinking about it now, I should have given it an iron shield too.

"Kuh, the sword won't last much longer, just one more step…"

"Roll straight into the Magma Zone! It's fine to break the Haniwa!"

"Yes!"

Following Rokuko's orders, the Haniwa Golem tumbled down the stairs into the Magma Area.

She said it's fine to break it, but I'm the one who has to remake the golem, you know. Well, I don't really mind if it breaks though.

Crash, crash—the Haniwa Golem tumbled down the stairs, scattering fragments of its worn stone armor.

The black wolf chased after it and was about to enter the Magma Zone—or so I thought. It suddenly stopped dead and turned back.

"Huh!? W-wait, why!?"

Rokuko panicked. Can't blame her. This result despite sacrificing so many golems. Even I'm shocked. What do we do about this?

… After that, the black wolf seemed to notice the Wall Golems' existence. It sniffed around, then destroyed a Wall Golem with a body slam.

"This is bad, it's heading toward the Boss Room. We can't stop it!"

"… We have no choice but to intercept it in the Boss Room. It's the Iron Haniwa's turn. Niku, can you do it?"

"I'm… not confident."

She fought that well with the stone Haniwa Golem. With the upgraded Iron Haniwa, she should be able to fight even better. Plus this one has an iron shield.

"It might be better… to leave it to Rokuko-sama…"

"No, you just faced that wolf, so you can handle it better. I'm leaving this to you… I'm counting on you, Niku Kuroinu!"

"… Yes! Goshujin-sama!"

I patted Niku's head to fire her up.

"Here it comes!"

"Iron Haniwa, going in!"

The black wolf burst through the Boss Room door with a forceful body slam and entered. A black aura-like mist was emanating from its black body.

Facing it was this dungeon's strongest combat force, the Iron Haniwa Golem. Also known as Iron Haniwa.

Mounted on an iron horse, clad in iron armor—an iron haniwa.

"GAOOOOON!"

The black wolf howled. If I'd been standing there in person, I probably would have wet myself.

But the Iron Haniwa didn't flinch. Neither did Niku, who was controlling it.

"Pseudo-Slash!"

Wielding the specially-made large Golem Blade magic sword designed for mounted combat, she struck with a motion imitating the swordsmanship skill [Slash].

The wolf easily dodged this opening attack and lunged at the Iron Haniwa, which had lost its balance on horseback.

However, the Iron Haniwa Golem evaded by deliberately rolling off the horse.

"Rokuko-sama, the horse is yours!"

"Got it!"

Passing control of the horse to Rokuko, she concentrated on operating just the main Haniwa body.

The basics were the same as before. Block with the shield, strike with the sword.

And now, charges from the Rokuko-controlled horse were added to the mix.

Though called a horse, this was also a total iron golem made from an Iron Golem. Just ramming with it would pack considerable mass and destructive power. It ran around the room, built up speed, and charged at the wolf.

To put it another way, it was like a large motorcycle freely racing around the room and slamming into things.

"GRRRR… GAAAAH!"

But the wolf evaded both the diagonal slashes and horizontal sweeps mimicking swordsmanship skills while also dodging the horse's charges.

I thought it wasn't working, but its attacks had decreased as it focused on evasion.

… One more push was needed.

"Send out the boss's minions. All hands ready. Equip bows and arrows, wooden arrows. No need to synchronize timing—just be careful not to hit allies and keep shooting!"

These minions were ordinary Iron Golems, but armed. By swapping their equipment, they could change tactics and adapt to many situations.

This time I chose wooden bows and arrows. I wasn't expecting to damage the wolf with these—the goal was to distract it. Also, if we accidentally hit allies, the damage would be minimal. They're iron golems, after all.

Thwish! Arrows were launched at the wolf… Swat! They were deflected by its tail.

This was fine. The wolf's attacks decreased even more, and it was fully occupied with the Iron Haniwa controlled by Niku.

Now it was just a contest of whether the enemy tired out first or our concentration broke.

Just as I thought that, the horse golem's charge connected with the wolf. The iron horse at full gallop hit it from the side, and the wolf vanished.

"… No wait! It latched on!?"

The wolf—no, it no longer looked like a wolf.

A mass of black mist was stuck to the horse's belly.

"What is this!? It's not a wolf-type monster!? Wait, the horse golem is… being eaten!?"

The black mist engulfed the horse golem… and swallowed it into itself, ignoring the difference in mass.

Then it returned to wolf form. This time, the minion golems were taken out in an instant.

"… Kuh!?"

The Niku-controlled Iron Haniwa faced it again, but the wolf… when the golem thrust out its shield to block a bite, the wolf's head dissolved into mist and absorbed the shield along with the left arm. Next, the sword. And then—

"… I'm so… sorry…"

A pained voice escaped from Niku.

The Iron Haniwa Golem was helplessly devoured by the black wolf.