Chapter 96: The Stone Golem (4/5)

The skeletons came running out of the cave, still holding their wooden shovels for digging. In the square-shaped pit, earthen steps had been preserved leading upward, which the skeletons climbed in an orderly fashion.

Wade noticed one of the tunnel entrances had collapsed. Something had violently destroyed the load-bearing structure of that cave dwelling, even bringing down the earthen walls. In that instant, over a dozen souls returned to him. Over a dozen skeletons hadn’t made it out of the cave in time, their mobile shells destroyed.

Wade regretted not having the skeletons craft some weapons and armor these past two days. The sturdy wood could have made simple spears and wooden armor – at least helmets. With protection, he might not have lost so many in mere seconds.

But what exactly had the skeletons dug up?

Wade cautiously gripped his round-headed mace, feeling tremors in the ground. Whatever it was had tremendous strength, emerging from underground. In the depressed earth, Wade saw bluish-black stone tearing through the soil.

The ground split open as weathered, chisel-marked stone pushed through the yellow earth. The framework painstakingly built over days with stone and wood was destroyed as two thick stone arms acted like levers, pulling the stone body toward the surface.

A colossal figure appeared in the pit Wade’s forces had dug, standing on the soil and reducing their entire underground project to ruins. Wade finally saw his enemy’s true form – a stone golem. While working, the skeletons had somehow unearthed this ancient construct of unknown age.

Just another meter or two taller, and its head would have emerged from the five-meter-deep pit. It had limbs and a head like a humanoid, but no facial features, with disproportionately thick limbs – looking like an obese rock monster.

Made from some unknown bluish-black stone covered in grinding marks, its joints bore intricate patterns. Its tremendous strength caused earthquake-like tremors when moving. But the golem was severely damaged – the chisel marks on its chest and back appeared melted, as if struck by high-temperature magic. Its chest cavity was filled with yellow earth, the edges covered in spiderweb cracks. Its movements were uncoordinated – it had barely stood before collapsing again.

The thunderous crash came with the splintering of wood. The sight chilled Wade to the bone – the stone golem’s thick limbs toppled their underground project like collapsing blocks. Stone walls were pushed over, wood beams snapped, and over half of their carefully dug rectangular pit collapsed from the impact. The tunnel chambers needed no mention – nothing remained inside.

Nearly ten days of collective effort – foundations and framework nearly complete, almost ready for completion – destroyed in an instant. Wade tightened his grip on the mace, summoning the souls back to him. All skeletons lay down behind him as his body began glowing. Mia came to his side, clinging to his neck.

After falling, the golem tried pushing itself up with its arms, but its legs seemed nonfunctional – the stone thighs remained motionless, leaving only its arms usable. It flailed like an overturned turtle, churning the pit into complete chaos!

Even Wade’s former dwelling cave was nearly shaken apart. Wade had enough – while powerful, this slow, barely-functional golem was clearly an ancient relic long overdue for retirement.

Wade leapt onto the golem’s body, trying to stop it. Cold winds swirled around Mia as white frost formed on the golem’s surface, slowing its movements to near stillness. Over eighty percent of its body was already damaged, covered in cracks – incomprehensible how it still moved at all.

According to the souls’ reports, it had been completely motionless at first. The skeletons thought it just rock buried in mud, considering whether to dig it out or break it. But the more they dug, the larger it seemed, until touching a certain spot triggered tremors. Like a switch being flipped, the stone golem activated and attacked.

From the souls’ perspective, they’d touched its head region. Wade saw what looked like a magic crystal embedded within the golem’s head, chaotic magical energy converging there before channeling through surface carvings to its limbs. But with cracked channels interrupting the circuits, it couldn’t move its legs. Like a paraplegic, its arm movements were completely erratic too.

Destroying that crystal’s connection should stop it. The crystal itself seemed badly damaged, appearing broken, with metallic remnants around it – likely remnants of a protective casing for the golem’s core.

Enough – this destruction had to end!

Wade ran across the golem’s body, quickly reaching its forehead to strike the carvings around the crystal. Hitting the crystal directly might be more effective, but after this thing ruined their hard work, he wanted something in return.

Swinging down, Wade discovered his round-headed mace worked surprisingly well. At a certain threshold of force, his strikes seemed amplified. The mace sparked against the stone surface – this rusted weapon Wade had picked from the sands held some dormant power within, one of the few not crumbling to dust at touch.

So it was an enchanted weapon, requiring sufficient striking force to activate its enhancement. The empowered blows made the golem stagger. Its already cracked head fractured further under Wade’s strikes until, with a final crash, the stone golem collapsed motionless.

Finally stopped the damned thing – but looking at the surrounding ruins brought no joy. Wade tapped the golem’s head again – who knew such constructs were buried beneath this land? He’d learned a lesson – this wasteland wasn’t as lifeless as it seemed. Likely many things like this stone golem lay buried underground.