Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

--- 1 Day Later---

Tack Tack Tack

The wheels of their carriage made a soothing rhythmic sound on the paved road. The soporific sound and sway of the carriage suddenly came to a halt, waking up the three passengers inside. Looking outside, the world stood still, no longer flying past.

“Mariposa, why are we stopping?” the blacksmith asked their coachman. Outside on the coach box sat a slender golem knight, a named knight originally made using the body of a dark elf invader. She wasn't part of the first generation of golem knights, but had shown great growth and potential as a guard in the Tree Stations.

Although the golem carriage was automobile, there were things it was unable to deal with; that was why Seth had employed a driver. The illusion magic that made it seem like the carriage was drawn by horses and driven by a human also covered the golem, so he wasn't worried about people finding out.

“There seems to be a robbery in progress up ahead,” the emotionless, slightly higher-pitched voice came from the golem knight. Hearing the news, the trio poked out their heads from the windows of the carriage, looking ahead.

The road was blocked by several broken carriages, some debris even burning. The paving and vicinity of the road were covered with corpses and soaked with blood. It looked like the camp of a whole merchant caravan was completely slaughtered.

“We should have flown to Doushi, “ Fin frowned, still a little drowsy from being woken up. it wouldn't have prevented this from happening, but would have saved the this kind of sight on their vacation.

“You know why we didn't,” Mina said with a sigh. On one hand, the distance was not that far, at least not with their golem carriage going the speed of a car. The other reason was that Doushi was a proper cultivator city, and they had a lot of air traffic and even a sky harbor.

Being seen in a foreign silver flying vessel might have drawn unwanted attention. It wasn't that they couldn't deal with strong or annoying cultivators, but that it was a hassle. You defeat or kill one guy and the next moment their senior brothers, masters, or elders appear to get on your wick. They were a pain in the ass.

“Mariposa, can you look for survivors?” he asked the slender knight. Although it seemed cruel, the blacksmith hoped there weren't any, as it was a hassle to take care of strangers; however, he didn't want to be one of the people that would just walk by and leave people to die.

The next moment, the portal to Legion opened, and another golem knight emerged from the ring space. Its most distinguishable features were the iconic pot helmet and the red surcoat it wore on top of its armor.

“Ceniza, see if you can open a path through the rubble,” the blacksmith ordered the named golem knight, or rather golem wizard. Seth had brought along a couple of golem promising new knights that were developing an ego like Mariposa, in case there was work the trio didn't want to do.

“I will see to it,” Ceniza answered with a nod and followed Mariposa, who had gracefully jumped from the coach box and ran toward the burning carriages with nimble steps. Ceniza was originally one of the forces of Kozdam that Seth had turned into golems.

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When it turned out that the golem had the class of Fire Mage, Seth had personally enchanted an epic armor for him to make it an even more terrifying fire mage. Even the surcoat it was currently wearing was the work of Neeco Boos, woven from Seth's Draconic Flame.

Since the opponent was a bunch of wooden debris, Ceniza was suited best to cut a way through it. Apart from Seth himself, but he didn't feel like stepping out right now.

“No survivors,” Mariposa grunted, walking by Ceniza, informing the wizard that there was no need to hold back. While the slender knight returned to the carriage, the one in red surcoat began chanting a couple of steps away from the broken wagon fort.

"Whirlwind of flame, burn! Spirit of fire, ascend! Charge, consume, disintegrate!” Ceniza exclaimed, summoning a terrible fire storm that swallowed all the broken carriages, corpses, and rubble covering the street.

“I couldn't find any survivors. Anyone that wasn't killed by the initial attack was finished off cleanly. Judging by the condition of the corpses, it must have happened a couple of hours ago. They were already cold,” Mariposa reported grimly upon her return to the carriage, while the pillar of fire behind her opened up the road.

“There was nothing you could have done for them,” Seth assured her, hearing the regret in her voice. Named Golems had developed personalities and feelings to varying degrees; one of the reasons he had brought Mariposa was that she had already started showing feelings like a person, despite being formed with a soul lacking memories.

Golem Knights were no Faer; they developed their own, unique egos through their own experiences. This was also why Seth brought the newer ones along. This journey was also a chance for them to experience many different things.

TING!

He had just finished speaking when they heard a metallic clank from up ahead. Seth and Mariposa turned to look. Two more heads poked out of the window beside Seth, as the girls joined them, looking down the road.

Standing at the foot of the pillar of fire, Ceniza was facing a group of three men. The man at their helm had drawn his sword, and it looked like the Wizard had blocked an attack with his forearms, covered in gauntlets.

“Filthy Bandit! What did you do? What do you think you're doing?” the man who had just attacked barked with burning anger. The two men with him had also unsheathed their swords, but before anyone from the carriage could intervene, Ceniza moved.

A fist covered in steel and flame materialized in an upper cut, so fast the cultivator who had just spoken couldn't even react. It was like he was stuck in slow motion, while the golem knight moved at supernatural speed.

The fist dug deep into the opponent's angular jaw. The cracking of bone and squelching of flesh was audible all the way back at the carriage. Suffering sudden, tremendous damage, the man collapsed like a limp sack of potatoes. It was unclear whether he died in one strike.

“That's my question, you absolute piece of shit. Who do you pieces of shit think you are, attacking a noble warrior of Minas Mar out of nowhere?!” the golem bellowed furiously, as he jumped the other two, still stumped by what happened to their leader.

“Who do you even think you are!? Fucking trash that doesn't know their place! Attacking people out of the blue! Fucking die!” Fists of Fury were unleashed upon the other two, as Ceniza pummeled them, pounding them into the dust and kicking them when they were down.

Despite his words, it was clear he was holding back. The golem was close to lv. 80 and covered in proper equipment, while his opponents were barely scratching lv.55. Even if he was a wizard-type golem, he still had the golem might.

Apart from the first one who was knocked out cold, the other two were still able to scream in agony, so they were not dead. Ceniza usually acted cold and aloof, but in moments like this it was quite clear where his personality tended to develop. A true fire mage.

Ultimately, the fire pillar died down, and the golem's temper calmed. Holding the three by their scruff, he dragged them back to the carriage. Nobody had intervened; after all, he didn't kill any of them. Watching the golem beat them black and blue gave them a certain satisfaction.

“I apprehended the attackers,” Ceniza simply said, dropping them beside the carriage, like a cat offering its prey to its owner.

“Well done, you can return now,” the blacksmith said genuinely, and opened the gate to legion for Ceniza to return.