CH 251

Episode 251 – Item Experimentation

Based on appearances alone, it looked overwhelmingly stronger than the Peak Gorilla. It was like a moving cluster of boulders, so normal attacks would have no effect on it whatsoever.

“Lewin, stop spacing out. You’re in the way.” (Aruna)

I was in a daze, watching the Elemental Golem wielding its axe, when Aruna, who was on standby behind me, brought me to my senses with a straightforward remark. As soon as I had hurriedly gotten out of her line of fire, she fired an Elemental Arrow at a gap in its joints.

When the arrow pierced in, it stopped moving for a moment, but then it lightly swung its arm to break the arrow at the root before continuing on as if nothing had happened. It looked like that did absolutely nothing to it at all…

“So, hurry up and attack.” (Aruna)

“Sorry. I was just examining its movements a bit!” (Lewin)

Prompted by yet another straightforward remark, I went off in a hurry to go support Rosalie.

The main attacker this time was Rosalie. Our strategy was for me and Aruna to stop its movements so that Rosalie could deal powerful blows to it. Unlike the sword she normally used, Rosalie was equipped with a slightly thinner hammer as a blunt weapon to smash the Golem.

“Please lead it around the left side. I’ll set up the Sticky Bombs a bit ahead.” (Lewin)

“Got it.” (Rosalie)

I gave Rosalie some combat instructions and then tossed a massive number of Sticky Bombs in a wide radius on the area where I predicted it would be led to.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if the Sticky Bombs would work or not, but if it was able to stop its movements then our victory would be guaranteed. If it didn’t work, we wouldn’t be able to move as freely due to the large area covered in Sticky Bombs, but… it was by no means a poor wager.

“I’ve led it here.” (Rosalie)

“Perfect. Go up to it and attack on my cue. 3…2…1… now!” (Lewin)

On my signal, she swung a half-turn with great force and cleanly smashed the hammer into its knee joint. A dull reverberation truly befitting of a pile of rocks rang out the moment it was struck, and the Elemental Golem lost it balance and stepped onto the scattered Sticky Bombs.

It was perfect up to this point, but… what mattered in the end was whether or not the Sticky Bombs would work.

I watched to see how the Elemental Golem would move after having its foot trapped in the stickiness of the kneaded Adhesive Herb, but it easily freed itself with pure strength alone. Every time it took a step, squishing sounds could be heard from the soles of its feet, but the Sticky Bombs hadn’t accomplished my original purpose of trying to dull the Elemental Golem’s movements.

“The Sticky Bombs didn’t work. There are three more items I want to try, so please work with me.” (Lewin)

“Got it. Either way, I don’t feel scared since its movements are so slow.” (Rosalie)

“Yeah. But taking even a single blow can cause a fatal wound, so please be careful.” (Lewin)

“It’s fine. My party got half-destroyed by this Golem before, so I know the weight of its attacks.” (Rosalie)

With such a heavy reply, Rosalie slowly made her way up to the Elemental Golem. As she had reassured earlier, she proceeded carefully. The Golem wasn’t able to land any of its attacks.

Aruna was supporting her from long-range with her arrows, so if she continued like this, we would be able to win perfectly even if I didn’t do anything. However… the true might of the Elemental Golem was only displayed in the second half.

I wanted to try out all the items I had created while it was moving slowly and while I was still free to do whatever I wanted. With that in mind, I took out a Smoke Ball.

This Smoke Ball wasn’t just for the purpose of making smoke to conceal oneself. It was made using a Night Vision Herb with a negative level, which gave it an effect of temporarily taking away vision. It was highly effective against normal monsters since they would begin attacking blindly, even injuring or killing their allies once their vision was robbed of them.

I felt like the possibility of it working on the Elemental Golem was even lower than the Sticky Bomb, but if it had even the slightest effect on its eyes then it was worth a shot.

“Next, please get it to punch somehow, Rosalie-san. I’ll throw the Smoke Ball at that time.” (Lewin)

“I understand. I’ll signal you once I gauge the distance.” (Rosalie)

After giving me a reliable response, Rosalie closed the gap in one go. She charged in right until she was in point-blank range of the Elemental Golem’s outstretched hand, close enough to the point that she could reach out and touch it. I was nervous that it would hit her, but… she had managed to dodge it skillfully.

She was handling her body as well as Aruna, and it was clear from this maneuver that she had finally gotten fully used to the Focus Potion.

As I marveled at Rosalie’s perfect sidestep, I waited for the right moment to throw the Smoke Ball. The Elemental Golem seemed to become impatient that its attack didn’t hit, so it took a step back. And then―it began to throw its entire body into a right straight punch.

“Now!” (Rosalie)

Vitalgrass was a plant with a strong vitality, and it was originally nothing more than a weed. But I had noticed that when I gave the seeds my special nutrient mix, they would grow at an unusual rate.

One time, I tested the Vitalgrass Seed plus nutrient mix combination on a Kobold, and it had such a monstrous vitality that it sapped all of the Kobold’s energy in just under a few minutes.

The Smoke Ball seemed to have no effect whatsoever, but I watched on with great expectations for the two-item combo. The Vitalgrass grew in an instant due to the nutrient mix and covered its entire right arm, but it lacked killing power and eventually stopped growing. However, the Golem looked annoyed that it had been entangled in plants, and it seemed to have achieved the effect of stopping its movements.

“For the last one, I’m going to do something flashy, so please get away from it!” (Lewin)

The last item I had to test was, of course, the powder explosion combo. After hearing my words, Rosalie immediately made sure to create some distance. The flour that I had mixed with Stickweed showered over the Elemental Golem, and then I threw a ball of Bomb Grass to ignite it.

Along with the sound of a violent explosion, the Elemental Golem’s body was engulfed in a massive, towering blazing pillar of fire, but… unfortunately, it was not able to take the Elemental Golem down. I could see its large, charred, and somewhat chipped body moving as it brandished its greatsword in the midst of the thick smoke.