“Not now.”
Hulim Heyerar rejected the idea outright.
“Huh, why not~?”
“I just advanced to Rank A—I haven’t fully mastered my new power yet. Besides, that creature’s strength is far beyond ordinary Rank A. Even with the Seven Luminaries and Helkem, my chances of winning right now are slim.”
“At the very least, I need to get the Philosopher’s Stone first and restore the Seven Luminaries to its complete form. By then, I should have a fighting chance......”
“Hmm...... Right! Once the Seven Luminaries is fully restored, that stupid dragon won’t stand a chance! Let’s hurry, Hulim—let’s go get the Philosopher’s Stone right away!”
“Alright. By the way, how much farther is it exactly?”
“Let Little Semiris check~!”
Little Semiris flew into the sky, scanning the surroundings.
She then swooped back down and landed on Hulim’s head again.
“Not far! Just three more mountains to cross! Hurry! Hulim, let’s go! Let’s go!”
Little Semiris wriggled excitedly on Hulim’s head.
“Okay, okay, stop rushing. I’m already on my way, aren’t I?”
Hulim said helplessly, picking up her pace slightly.
“Roar——!”
She hadn’t taken more than a few steps when,
a massive Snow Golem suddenly lunged out of the snow.
It roared and launched an attack at Hulim.
Yet, Hulim acted as if she hadn’t seen it—her expression remained unchanged, and she didn’t even slow down.
Just as the Snow Golem’s attack was about to hit her,
Crackle!
An iceberg suddenly shot up from the ground.
The Snow Golem, frozen mid-attack, was sealed inside the iceberg in an instant.
Hulim continued walking forward as if nothing had happened, and even Little Semiris on her head didn’t glance at the trapped Golem......
After Hulim had walked far away,
Crack!
The iceberg imprisoning the Snow Golem developed cracks.
A moment later, the entire iceberg shattered into pieces—along with whatever was frozen inside it......
......
“This is where the Philosopher’s Stone is sealed?”
Hulim stared at the desolate, empty area in front of her.
“There’s nothing here.”
She tried to find a hidden entrance or something similar, but found nothing.
“Little Semiris, are you sure it’s here?”
“Positive~!”
Little Semiris flew into the air.
“It’s normal that Hulim can’t see the dungeon—because it’s hidden~!”
“Hidden?”
She hadn’t detected anything concealed nearby at all.
Could it be a Tier 6 Stealth Magic Array......
As Hulim pondered,
Little Semiris suddenly raised her hands above her head.
“Little Semiris will bring it out right now~!”
Hum——!
A massive magic array unfolded above Little Semiris.
Immediately after, chains made of glowing runes stretched down from the array, connecting directly to the ground.
Boom!
In the next second, the surrounding earth began to shake violently, then glowed with a faint light.
“......What’s happening?”
Hulim looked at the ground in confusion.
To be safe, she also flew into the air.
Hum——!
Almost as soon as Hulim left the ground,
a magic array unfolded beneath her.
Hulim glanced down,
and was greeted by a shocking sight.
Rumble......
An extremely ancient ruin entrance slowly rose from the magic array on the ground.
Boom——!
After a sudden, deafening tremor,
the ruin stopped ascending and stabilized.
Little Semiris deactivated her magic array at that moment.
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The array on the ground gradually faded away, but the ruin remained, standing firm on the earth.
“There we go! The entrance is open! Hulim, let’s go inside with Little Semiris~!”
“......”
Where exactly had this dungeon been hidden......
......
Tap, tap......
Inside the silent dungeon, which resembled an ancient temple, Hulim’s footsteps echoed clearly through the vast, grand space.
Hulim observed everything cautiously.
Dull gray tones, incredibly hard stone materials,
intricately carved and numerous relief carvings,
and a complex network of corridors and passages crisscrossing in all directions—impossible to tell which way to go......
Moreover, even though there was nothing here and no sign of life,
a sense of danger continued to emanate from all directions.
Click......
A sound that wasn’t Hulim’s footsteps came from the darkness.
Hulim froze abruptly, listening intently.
Click.
The sound came again—she was certain she hadn’t imagined it.
She instinctively gripped the Seven Luminaries in her hand......
“Hulim, they’re coming!”
Little Semiris whispered a warning.
“Got it. Little Semiris, hide well—don’t get thrown off later.”
“Little Semiris understands!”
With that, Little Semiris skillfully crawled into Hulim’s clothes.
“......”
Well, she was used to this by now......
Shortly after Little Semiris hid,
Click, click, click......
More and more sounds echoed in the darkness,
gradually forming a tidal wave of noise.
And this wave was rapidly closing in on Hulim from all directions.
Here they come——!
Hulim’s eyes sharpened.
She swung the Seven Luminaries forward.
Blinding light burst forth from the tip of the wand instantly.
Click——!
At that moment, the source of the strange sounds revealed itself.
They were Golems—
with an extremely unusual design.
They looked like mechanical puppets,
yet they were surprisingly agile, with speed that was astonishing.
And although they appeared to be made of wood, they were actually forged from an alloy mixed with adamantium—a top-tier magical material.
In other words—
these were all High-Rank Combat Golems!
......
After locking onto Hulim’s position, the Golems split into two groups: front and rear.
The ones in front were all Swordsman Golems wielding standard long swords, while those behind were Warlock Golems holding standard wands.
Hum! Hum! Hum......
The Warlock Golems in the rear struck first. Identical magic arrays unfolded in front of them,
and streams of charging magic beams were about to bombard Hulim.
Boom——!!!
But,
before their attacks could be unleashed,
a massive light column suddenly erupted in front of them.
The column swept across, directly blasting away all the stationary Warlock Golems.
A large number of Warlock Golems were destroyed on the spot; even the remaining ones that could still move suffered severe functional damage.
However, this attack barely hit the agile Swordsman Golems.
Unafraid of death and lacking any sense of panic, they charged toward Hulim without hesitation.
Hulim swung the Seven Luminaries upward forcefully.
Rumble, rumble......
The ground of the nearby temple began to shake violently.
In the next second, the earth seemed to come alive, churning and heaving!
The Swordsman Golems lost their balance instantly, their advance halted.
But the attack from underground didn’t end there.
