CH 176

The next instant the fist was slowly held aloft, the artificial arm headed at me with twice the speed.

“Ste—kuh!” (Souma)

The actions seeped into your body come out in emergencies.

I tried to avoid with Step by reflex, but it was obviously pointless.

Even so, right before the giant hit my head, I jumped to the back and escaped.

A thunderous sound rang right after.

When I looked, around 2 meters ahead of me, I could see that the swung down fist of the iron giant was sunk into the ground.

I felt like the whole tower shook with that one attack and I trembled.

(If I had been a millisecond late about evading…) (Souma)

In this world, how strong something looks doesn’t exactly mean they are actually that strong.

But considering the data specs, the Sorcery Golem is outstanding.

If I were to take that hit directly, I will most likely face the same fate as that floor.

“Hohoh, you managed to avoid that attack? That’s the Hero-dono for ye.”

The impressed voice came from way higher than I expected.

When I looked over there, Iaski went up the Sorcery Golem with a deftness that you wouldn’t think came from an old man.

“You bark a lot for someone leaving things to others.” (Souma)

I try answering with that bluff, but I don’t really have that much leeway here.

I am an indoor gamer to the core here.

I don’t want to enter a fisticuff with a giant construct with strength that can destroy me in one hit.

But now that Iaski has gotten on the Golem, it has become harder to slip by the Golem and defeat him.

Also, the Full Build Bob is an indestructible object.

It would be pointless to consider destroying it.

The cards I can play are narrowing.

Even so, I still tried to think of a way to avoid the battle, and Iaski spoke to me in a boastful manner.

“Hey, Hero-dono, do you believe in fate?” (Iaski)

“Fate?” (Souma)

What is he saying all of a sudden?

I raised a brow at the unexpected topic, and Iaski continued speaking on top of the Golem.

“If not fate, you can call it the flow of this world. Have you felt it before? The sensation of your will being warped and your actions being determined by the world.” (Iaski)

“Your actions…being determined?” (Souma)

I have not had an experience like that.

I haven’t, but those words were something I couldn’t ignore.

“For example; when you came to join the Mage Guild.

I felt like I had to do the baptism for you personally all too naturally.

Thinking about it logically, such a thing shouldn’t be necessary.

And so, I think that such unnatural actions might be the world’s interference that’s weaved in order to create the desired flow of the world.” (Iaski)

“…The compulsory power of events.” (Souma)

I muttered this.

This world tries to replicate the situations and game systems of Nekomimi Neko.

Within those, things that relate to game systems and events are especially strong in their desire to replicate them.

There has been no one who has been aware of that compulsory power until now.

But this man…

“Hooh, so you really do know about it. I thought from an early stage that you would be the one that would be an obstruction in my ritual.

Not only the subjugation of the Demon Lord. You even got through the trial of the Hisame household, defeated the monster army that advanced onto the capital, and got in the way of the Evil God worshippers’ ambitions at the underground dungeon.

Your grand achievements are truly worthy of your title as a hero.

It is obvious that, if left alone, you would notice our plans and would try to stop us.

In that case, I will use the desired flow of the world as a means to defeat you.” (Iaski)

I see…

Those words finally made me piece together this situation.

This is an event.

Moreover, the last stage of the ritual event will wipe out the residents of the capital.

In order to activate the last event of the Mage Guild, you need to go through several guild events, level up your character, become an executive of the Mage Guild, and clear 3 quests to gather required materials for the ritual.

Of course, this isn’t something that a player that has just done the baptism ceremony can jump right into.

But Iaski obtained all the items for the ritual aside from the Nekuranomikon, and said that he would make me an executive of the guild the moment I joined the guild.

Becoming an executive of the Mage Guild and obtaining the necessary materials for the ritual have already been fulfilled.

(In that case, this is bad. I might have been locked up.) (Souma)

It is impossible to stop the last event of the Mage Guild until the event is finished.

Being teleported to the magic circle room marks the end. You can’t go down until the ritual has been achieved and you defeat Iaski.

In that case, I could defeat Iaski and mess the event, but there’s actually a branching route when you ‘defeat Iaski and do the ritual yourself’.

You couldn’t get out until you finished the ritual in that case too, so there’s no point in that.

No, the vice-guildmaster came from the outside.

Even if you can’t go outside from the inside, if it is from the outside…

“…Sinking into your thoughts in front of your enemy, quite the leisure guy.” (Iaski)

I ended up falling into thought in front of the enemy, and a lump of iron approached me as a displeased voice rang.

No, that lump of iron is the leg of the Sorcery Golem.

This haphazard attack that has enough power to kill me made my body falter.

“Don’t underestimate me!” (Souma)

But I jump to the side as if kicking my own scared body.

Barely made it.

I confirmed the kick of the giant that flowed to the side worth 3 bodies, forcefully waved my hand while still in an unstable posture, and hit the golem’s leg with my held staff.

The stance, positioning, angle; a hit that was terrible in almost every aspect.

Even so, the tip of the staff still managed to hit the leg of the giant.

However…

“Wa?!” (Souma)

The staff only made a dent the size of a fist on the leg of the iron giant.

The staff instead made a dry sound and easily broke in two.

It is impossible to repair now.

“Damn it!” (Souma)

I threw the remains of the staff to hinder it at least, but there’s no way something like that would connect to damage.

Seeing how it all bounced off the Golem, Iaski’s smile widened.

“That’s pointless. No matter how outstanding of a warrior you are, you won’t be able to win against my giant in this field.

That’s an unshakable truth that is supported by experimentation.” (Iaski)

“What do you mean by that?” (Souma)

I ended up asking back at the poison mixed in his words.

When I did, Iaski made an evil smile and looked back at the statue of a brawny man at the back.

“I had to work hard to set this trap, ye know.

First of all, in order to borrow this statue from the Warrior Guild, I ended up having to pay a large sum of money in order to buy everything of something called Protein.” (Iaski)

I forgot about that!

I heard about the shortage of Protein that the Warrior Guild members love greatly along with the shortage of mithril.

That’s not because of the Warrior Guild moving, but because Iaski and the others bought it all off, huh.

“And so, you used the Protein as a negotiation chip to borrow that statue?” (Souma)

“That’s right. Good grief, entering that den that reeks of sweat was an unpleasant experience, but I had an unexpected harvest there.

Do ye know the man called Alex? Level 200. The highest level human in this world.” (Iaski)

“Could it be…!” (Souma)

Iaski shook his head at my expression changing.

“No need to worry. I haven’t killed him. It would be stupid if I were to cause a ruckus before my real objective.

However, he was coincidentally at that den of abominable brutes, so I simply requested him to have a mock battle close to that statue.

The result was…fufu. It wasn’t even a battle.

He couldn’t injure my Golem even once, and left dejected!

That level 200 who is the number one warrior of the nation!” (Iaski)

“You…” (Souma)

He has lost it.

He is so stuck with his level supremacy, no, because of it, he has a strong sense of inferiority against high level characters.

If I remember correctly Iaski himself is level 180.

Alex must have been someone he disliked since he is level 200.

Even if it was within his own field, he crushed him one-sidedly, so he must have been on cloud nine.

But he overlooked an important possibility.

“Hey, that doesn’t exactly mean that I won’t be able to defeat it though?” (Souma)

I ask the obvious.

But even when Iaski heard this, he simply laughed out loud.

“Hahahahahahahaha! Ye really say some amusing stuff!

I will admit that ye have overcome many stratagems and tribulations.

However, weapons, skills, magic, items, and…comrades.

The things that ye relied on have been taken away from ye.

Even if ye say level is not the only factor of strength, in the end, what a human can rely on is their level.

Yer level is lower than even Alex who couldn’t do anything against my Golem.

In other words, it means ye absolutely can’t defeat my giant!” (Iaski)

That’s really just like the level supremacist Iaski.

But I shook my head.

“…That’s wrong. You are wrong.” (Souma)

“What?” (Iaski)

Iaski raised his brow in displeasure and I slowly put a hand inside my sleeve.

“That’s…!” (Iaski)

What I took out from the sleeve were colorful gems.

I grabbed that…

“I see! Yer planning on fighting with items in a space where magic has been sealed! That’s fitting fer a cunniving—”

And placed it gently on the ground without using it.

“What are ye doing?” (Iaski)

I don’t answer that question.

I simply place the Nekuranomikon at the side of the gem.

“I will say it again. You are wrong.

You said you took my comrades away, but that’s not true.

My comrades will definitely get all the way here and save me.” (Souma)

“Nonsense! Only Diekill and Salmon know how to enter this tower!

In the first place, they shouldn’t know that yer here!

This tower cuts off the search spells and teleportation spells, too!

That’s why…” (Iaski)

I looked at Iaski who was shouting hysterically, and put the last item I had in my hand, the Chronos Watch, on my neck.

I brush the back of it with my fingers and I felt the clear sensation of the scratch that is the proof of our connection.

“Even so, they will be able to run all the way here. I believe in them.” (Souma)

“D-Don’t joke around! Trust is helpless against true power! Even if yer comrades were to come here, I just have to kill ye before that! Kill him! My Sorcery Golem!!” (Iaski)

I approached Iaski who was losing it.

“And the biggest mistake you are making is that you believe from the very core of yourself that how high your level is defines true strength.” (Souma)

“Shut up! In the end…in the end, what moves the world is power! Comrades, bonds, and love are by no means in that spectrum! Power and level are the only things ye can trust in this world! If not, I…I…!” (Iaski)

What was the leisure of just before?

Seeing Iaski like this, I even thought he was pitiful.

“Level is the only thing that can be trusted…? What a joke. That way of thinking is completely wrong.

Listen here. I will only say it once, so perk your ears up, okay?

True power…” (Souma)

The black iron giant was throwing out those destructive attacks on me while we were talking, but once my resolve has cemented, such straightforward attacks are of no threat.

I saw through the attacks without issues, and after evading them, I  swung my right hand with a backhand fist and…

“…Cannot be told without seeing the individual stats!!” (Souma)

I smack the arm of the Sorcery Golem.

A second after that contact was made, a *pam* sound was made.

“…Huh?”

The arm of the iron giant tore off, spinning on the air, flying off with good momentum, and slamming on the wall before falling on the ground.

“What…just now…eh?” (Iaski)

Iaski’s eyes opened wide, not expecting me to fight back.

I didn’t let that chance escape and gave him a speech.

“Listen here. Neko—this world decides the level in a half-assed way.

The diary had written that they even decided with dice for the single digits.

That’s why using levels as a measurement is—” (Souma)

“Y-Ye bastard! My golem!!” (Iaski)

Even when I was in the middle of my speech, Iaski roared.

The Golem froze for a moment there, but it began moving again, and tried to grab me with the hand that was still fine.

…But it doesn’t get me.

There’s no way it can.

Having calmly read the trajectory of the fist, I walk one step to the right…and avoid it.

My speed is three times that of an average person.

When calm, such a punch is nothing.

“I-Impossible…! That spe—” (Iaski)

“As I said, levels are not everything.” (Souma)

I said this as I swung my fist on the arm of the Golem.

It made the sound of a super-alloy robot breaking, and the left arm of the Golem was torn off.

“I-Impossible, impossible!

There’s no way my Golem would be defeated…

Kuh! Retreat!” (Iaski)

There’s nowhere to escape even if he said to retreat, but the Golem tried to withdraw with the order of Iaski.

It has impressive speed even when running backwards.

If I were in a normal state, I wouldn’t be able to catch up to it.

That’s why I walked with quick steps and caught up soon after.

“Wa, wa, waa…?!” (Iaski)

Iaski had already become a being that can only flap his mouth.

I felt a bit bad about that look of his, but thinking about what he has done until now, and what he was going to do, there’s no reason for me to hold back.

“Sorry, Iaski, but I am only level 180…” (Souma)

Once I shortened the distance, the first thing I did was punch the right leg of the Golem to make it stagger, then I pulverized the left leg to make it fall, and after confirming that Iaski had fallen from the Golem…

“If it is in a fistfight, I am stronger than the Demon Lord.” (Souma)

I slammed my fist onto the trunk of the body, and the iron giant was completely silent now.

Looking at the Sorcery Golem that had become scraps, Iaski began to shout.

“Something like this…something like this shouldn’t be happening!

This is not in the realm of skills and level.

Destroying a Golem with your bare body is impossible!

What’s this…?! What the hell is this?!!” (Iaski)

I have no obligation to answer him, but it would be a pain for him to make even more of a ruckus here.

After confirming once more that the iron giant has stopped functioning completely, I face Iaski again.

“If you have investigated me, haven’t you heard about it too? The skill I have, the power of the Incarnation of Fury.” (Souma)

“Incarnation…of Fury? But…But all skills should have been sealed and can’t be used!” (Iaski)

Iaski lost it even more and I silently answered him.

“No, I have used it…since before defeating the Demon Lord.” (Souma)

…That’s right.

This is the power of Incarnation of Fury.

And this is also the Incarnation of Fury that was called a Balance Breaker and Truly Extraordinary even in Nekomimi Neko.

It is so broken that it was called the Incarnation of Fury’s Death Bug from the anger of killing the game. A forbidden buff technique.