What emerged, blasting away the debris of the collapsed cave, was a massive presence that forced one to look up.
It was without a doubt over four meters tall. Its width was equally imposing—a humanoid figure with a rugged, intimidating appearance.
That figure, made entirely of stone, was what was known as a golem.
"……A golem is one thing, but how was something that huge inside the cave? No matter how you look at it, I wouldn't have missed something like that."
To begin with, the creature was taller than the collapsed cave itself. There was no way it could have fit inside.
"In other words, it wasn't visible when I entered the cave? ……Was it embedded in the ground or the walls? No, if that were the case, there should have been all sorts of inconsistencies I'd have noticed…… so then, what's going on?"
What crossed Rei's mind was the magic circle at the dead end.
There had been a pedestal similar to the one where the censer was placed, and a jar had been sitting on top of it.
(Did that jar have some kind of effect on this golem? Now that I think about it, for a collapsed cave, there didn't seem to be that many rocks and stones. A fair amount had been blown upward, though, so I can't say for certain……)
While Rei pondered this with a wary gaze, the golem advanced, forcefully shoving aside the stones and rocks around it.
Standing directly in its path were Rei and Set.
The first to launch an attack against the golem as it ground forward through the rubble was Rei.
"Flying Slash!"
The flying slash unleashed with those words shot straight toward the golem.
"Gurururururu!"
At the same time, multiple Wind Arrows fired from Set streaked toward the golem.
"Gaaaaaaah!"
The Flying Slash carved into its body while the Wind Arrows struck the rock form.
However, the Wind Arrows lacked the power of the Flying Slash and could only manage to leave small scratches on the golem.
"Tch, as expected of a golem. It's not just ordinary rock—it's magically reinforced. ……The fact that they set up something like this means someone was expecting visitors……"
The bandits spotting them might have also been part of a trap.
With those bitter thoughts in his heart…… the next moment, a smile crept onto Rei's lips.
"True, for an ordinary person, a cave collapse combined with a golem appearing would be an instant-death trap. But…… that's only if you're ordinary."
He tightened his grip on the Death Scythe and began chanting an incantation while concentrating his mana.
O flame, thou art the flame that burns all, thou art the spear that pierces all, thou art my power that annihilates all. Devour my mana, let thy fangs grow sharper, harder, and devour the life of my enemy.
As he murmured the incantation, a single spear of fire materialized above the Death Scythe.
Among the magic Rei possessed were spells that created things like flame arrows and swords of fire, but what he used this time was an incantation that produced a spear of flame.
What set it apart from his previous spells, however, was the sheer amount of mana infused into that spear.
An enormous volume of Rei's mana—so vast that an ordinary person could never hope to control it—was poured in.
It was a spell made possible precisely because he had grasped the sensation of compressing and concentrating mana through the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
What Rei created was a single spear composed of flame.
The mana contained within that spear, however, was equivalent to what dozens of ordinary mages would produce by expending their very life force.
The spear forged from such tremendous mana unleashed its power the moment Rei swung the Death Scythe.
Flame Spear
The spell's name was as simple as could be.
But the spear it unleashed flew straight toward the golem…… and the instant it touched the creature, it generated intense heat and effortlessly pierced through its massive body.
The spear, now embedded within the golem, transformed into flame the next moment and burned the golem from the inside out.
The magically reinforced stone of the golem's body melted before their eyes from the internal heat.
It was like pouring boiling water over snow. The alchemist who had likely placed the golem here with killing intent saw his designs come to nothing as the rock melted away.
The golem's massive frame, which had stood roughly four meters tall, turned bright red and melted, spreading across the ground.
The sight, which looked like nothing so much as a pool of lava, was truly a vision of hell on earth.
"Gururu……"
Set, whose only turn in the fight had been the initial Wind Arrows, let out a disappointed rumble.
But even for Gryphon Seto, there was no way it could intervene against a golem that was melting into a lava-like sludge.
The Flame Spear that had burned through the golem's interior did not fully dissipate there. It went on to brightly burn and melt the cave's remains as well.
The place that had been a cave mere tens of minutes ago was now in a state where every rock and stone had melted and liquefied—no trace of the cave remained.
"……Defeating the golem is one thing, but maybe I went a little overboard?"
The effects of the flame spear itself had been mostly contained by the spell and hadn't spread outward, but the heat of the lava from the melted golem still radiated into the surroundings.
Fortunately, there was nothing flammable nearby, trees included, so a forest fire was avoided. Even so, it spread an unseasonable heat throughout the area that no one would expect in spring.
Thanks to the Dragon Robe, Rei didn't suffer from the warmth…… well, from the intense heat, at least. But leaving things as they were would surely cause some kind of problem.
"For now, I just need to make sure it doesn't spread."
What Rei retrieved from the Misty Ring as he muttered this was the Dagger of Flowing Water.
It was a magic item with the ability to generate water through mana and freely manipulate it to attack enemies.
……However, when wielded by Rei, whose magic attribute was specialized in fire, there was no way he could use the water as a weapon.
The water produced by the Dagger of Flowing Water when used by Rei, who possessed mana beyond common sense, became drinking water of a quality worthy of being called exquisite—but that was all it was.
Even so, the water was infused with mana, so it might have some effect on the lava.
With that in mind, Rei sprinkled water over the stones, trees, and earth around the lava.
"I hope it doesn't turn into a wildfire…… will it be okay?"
Whether due to the barrier created by Rei's spell earlier, the lava was hot but not to the point that an ordinary person couldn't endure it.
Moreover, the lava itself didn't seem to be flowing outward, so for the time being, Rei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Gururu."
As if to say good work, Set rubbed its face against Rei with a rumble.
"Yeah, thanks. ……Still, going to the trouble of setting up something as nasty as a golem means they're a fairly skilled alchemist, as the magic item situation already suggested. All our leads are gone now, though…… what do you think we should do?"
"Guruu?"
Set tilted its head with round eyes.
Seeing Set look as if to say even if you ask me……, Rei recalled something from when he was in Japan.
A scene from a police feature program where they used police dogs to search for something.
"The scent…… the scent! That's right, the scent……"
It's there. Rei was about to say so, but he immediately recalled the scene before him and shook his head.
What lay before him was the cave that had collapsed and was now being scorched by lava.
Even if the alchemist's scent had been present, the cave's collapse would have made it difficult to track. And more importantly, the golem had melted, its scent overwriting everything else.
No matter how he thought about it, tracking the scent was impossible.
Even so, clinging to a sliver of hope, Rei asked Set.
"The alchemist's scent…… can you track it?"
"Gururu……"
In response to Rei's words, Set shook its head weakly with an apologetic cry.
"I see. No good, then……"
"Guruu."
Rei gently reached out and placed his hand on the head of Set, who was whining sadly.
"Don't worry about it. I only asked on the off chance you could. Still, this means all our leads have completely vanished…… what do you think we should do?"
"Gururururu!"
You'll be fine, Rei! Set rumbled from its throat.
Rei could tell it wasn't empty encouragement—Set genuinely meant it.
That gesture stirred up Rei's spirits and filled him with fresh determination.
"Right. The leads here might be gone, but I'm not the only one gathering information. Vihera and Byune are too…… no, I can't really expect much from Byune in this area."
Byune's skills as a thief were disproportionately high for her age, but when it came to social interaction, she was even worse than Rei, who was by no means adept at such things himself.
He couldn't possibly imagine Byune gathering information about where the alchemist was hiding.
(Well, Byune is probably acting together with Vihera. Vihera seems like she'd be good at gathering information.)
Given Vihera's appearance and the way she carried herself, it was clear as day that many men would want to talk to her even a little. If someone like Vihera was searching for information, there would undoubtedly be many who would try to bring her some.
……Of course, it was equally certain that men would emerge trying to talk to Vihera under the pretext of sharing information they didn't actually have.
"Byune can handle filtering those out. ……Set, let's head back to Gilm too. Let's pray that Vihera and the others have gotten some information."
"Guruu!"
Set rumbled at Rei's words and turned its back.
Rei mounted Set, and after a few running steps, Set flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
"……Eh?"
"My, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? You're not about to tell me you failed an experiment or something, are you?"
At Adria's words, Zboz stopped the motion of shaking a nearby beaker.
Then, as if he couldn't believe it, he reached for a fist-sized lump of metal sitting nearby.
But even when Zboz touched the lump of metal, nothing happened.
……Yes, normally, channeling mana into it should have returned a response from the golem's core that had been placed in the cave. Yet there was absolutely no response.
"Is this connected to the censer incident earlier? No, but for the golem I created using that many materials to be destroyed in such a short time is a bit hard to believe."
"Whoa, that golem was destroyed? That's a little hard to believe."
For Adria, who prioritized fun above all else, those words were something she couldn't afford to miss.
She had seen how much effort Zboz had poured into the golem's core.
He had used a large quantity of rare materials, infused as much mana as possible, and the process of channeling mana through magic circles had taken a considerably longer period compared to other magic items.
All of this had been for the purpose of eliminating in one fell swoop whoever had come to that cave seeking clues to their whereabouts.
Yet that trump card of a golem had been destroyed so easily.
(Is this really connected to the censer incident? No, but if so, the time between the censer and the golem's destruction is clearly too short. But are there really that many people who would wander into such a deep part of the forest? ……I suppose it's not impossible, but……)
Zboz thought it over, but eventually concluded he couldn't figure it out on his own. He turned his gaze toward Adria, who was wearing an amused smile.
He felt somewhat irritated by Adria for smiling as if she found it amusing, despite the golem he had poured considerable effort into being destroyed. But there was nothing he could say—after all, she was the only person willing to accompany him in his foolish endeavors, as even he himself understood full well.
……He did complain, though.
"In any case, if someone capable of destroying that golem is investigating us, it would be extremely troublesome."
"Did they really come there because they were looking for us? Can you rule out the possibility of it being a coincidence?"
"I can't deny that, but I can't afford to be optimistic about it, either. ……I absolutely cannot die until I have avenged His Highness Cabajid. One cannot be too careful."
A flame burning with vengeance dwelled in Zboz's eyes as he spoke, and Adria watched him with an amused gaze.