It was time to challenge the twelfth floor again. Since the Silver Faction was undoubtedly plotting something, we needed to clear it as quickly as possible. Our previous methods would take too long to break through, so I wished there were a better way... Hmm, I suppose it had to be that.
"What are you planning?" Lowell asked.
"Eh?"
"You've thought of something, haven't you?"
He had questioned me before I could even put my thoughts into words. Everyone else wore a mix of expressions—exasperation, curiosity, and worry—but they all seemed to expect me to pull something off. Was it really that obvious on my face?
"I have something I can summon that combines speed with the power to break through walls. I'm thinking of bringing it out from my Pandora Gift."
"Is that so?"
Lowell considered my words for a moment before looking at Halfa, who still seemed uneasy.
"It would be better to settle this quickly before things become irreversible," he noted.
"...Right," Halfa agreed.
She nodded to him rather than me. I wasn't entirely sure why, but it seemed I had been given the green light. And so, the operation began!
First, I peeked into the twelfth floor from the staircase. Devil statues protruding from the walls were already glaring in our direction. There was no doubt they would start firing magic the moment we stepped off the stairs. If I was going to do this, I had to do it fast.
What I intended to bring out was a tank. I imagined steel armor and powerful artillery. If it worked out, it would be a reliable ally that could destroy walls while shielding us from enemy attacks. I had never actually seen a real one in my previous life, so I was relying heavily on my imagination. I didn't need to worry about the controls, though; since it would undergo Golemification, it should move on its own.
"Okay, here I go! I’m going to bring out something big, so let’s use it as a shield and move forward!"
Everyone voiced their agreement. Even Halfa, who had looked so anxious, seemed to have switched gears. I felt relieved to hear her firm response.
I hopped out and quickly opened the Pandora Gift. I saw the devil statues firing arrows of flame, but the massive object emerging from the box was faster. It became our shield, effortlessly blocking the enemy's attack.
It had sturdy-looking armor and a massive cannon barrel. It was large enough to take up almost the entire four-meter-wide corridor. It was exactly what I had hoped for, and yet...
"Something is a little off!" I couldn't help but shout.
It looked very much like a tank... but for some reason, it was the color of clay. Even the texture didn't feel like metal; it was grainy. To put it simply, it was just like the Haniwa Knight!
Because it took up the entire width of the passage, I couldn't see the front, but this was definitely some kind of Haniwa-style construct.
"W-what is that? What happened?" Rei stammered.
"Don't worry about it," Lowell advised. "Whenever Tort brings out a golem with a definite shape, it just ends up like that for some reason."
Beside him, a slight smile broke across Halfa's face as she whispered, "As expected, Tort is still Tort."
Well, of course I'm me. But I wasn't sure how to feel about that being the source of her relief.
Still, I couldn't afford to lament. There was no time to re-summon it, and its appearance wasn't what mattered. Telling myself that, I executed the Golemification. Despite its massive size, my mana melded into it smoothly, and the Haniwa Tank let out its first mechanical cry within the dungeon.
"Haniwa Tank, advance for now! Prioritize attacking the walls that have turned into monsters!"
When I gave the order, the Haniwa Tank let out a sound like an engine starting—even though it definitely wasn't running on one. Then, it began to move, making a clattering sound like caterpillar treads. On closer inspection, it didn't even have treads; it was hovering a few centimeters off the ground.
It started slowly but gradually accelerated. It quickly reached a speed we couldn't match even if we ran... and just like that, the Haniwa Tank went hurtling into the distance.
"Wait, what?! Hey!" Mil yelled.
"It's gone...?" Sally added, stunned.
It was no wonder they were speechless. It had vanished from sight in the blink of an eye. Since the dungeon was dim, our range of vision was narrow, but I could tell roughly where it was. Those clattering sounds were quite loud, after all. Plus, I could occasionally hear a heavy, low-frequency boom that vibrated in my stomach. It seemed the cannons were working properly, too.
"U-um... there should have been devil statues up ahead," I muttered.
"I just saw them get wiped out!" Shiroru informed me. "It looked like they didn't even have time to start laughing!"
As I stood there puzzled by the lack of enemies, I realized they had been utterly obliterated by the Haniwa Tank's charge. Its offensive power was incredible.
Just as I was thinking I had created something truly outrageous, the clattering sound grew louder. The Haniwa Tank was coming back.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
The Haniwa Tank remained silent, but since it had a will of its own, Allen translated for me.
"It seems it has suppressed the area ahead to a certain extent, so it came back to ask for further instructions."
"Already!?"
That was shockingly fast. But at this rate, our exploration of the floor would proceed smoothly.
"In that case, could you just suppress this entire floor for now? And let us know if you find any suspicious places. You can recognize the Silver Abominations, right?"
When I asked, it replied with a loud vroom. I took that to mean yes.
"Then, I'm counting on you."
After I made the request, the Haniwa Tank revved its "engine" once more and went speeding off with a rattle and a clatter.
"Y-you certainly made an incredible golem," Rei said.
"It really is something, isn't it?" I replied.
"Why are you acting like it's someone else's problem...?"
When I nodded from the bottom of my heart at Rei's words, he just looked at me with pure exasperation. Honestly, even I didn't think it would be this extreme.
The report that it had found the Silver Faction came about ten minutes later.