Vol. 12 - Ch. 753 - The Defense War at the Heavenly Sandal Kingdom 5 - 3rd POV

The punch from Divine Golem blasted Gandira backward like a missile, making it crash onto the rubble of its own making. Though, unlike what others expected, he didn't fall. 

«Requesting additional units. Redirecting jet engines. Relaying Combine Command. ...Adding Parts.»

Right where the magic circles were, nozzles akin to jet engines appeared out of Gandira’s back, each generating a propulsion force at the expanse of his mana. If one glanced at it closely, one could capture the glimpse of a mana furnace, barely visible from the opening of those nozzles. 

Scattering apart the rubble from the air pressure it blasted out, Gandira managed to readjust his balance instead of crashing. 

Though, the punch from Divine Goelm had clearly left its mark. There was a clear, indent on his orichalcum frame, with cracks spreading around it. The «Hook Arm» skill of Divine Golem had surpassed the endurance of orichalcum. (※ Most of the operation of Divine Fusion is considered as «Function», however what Dwarf used was a «Skill». The hodgepodge of many aspects was why they called them «Skill».)

«External Wound Confirmed. Mana Boost... Heal.»

Gandira activated his own function to heal himself. The patterns inlaid over the orichalcum frame emitted a radiance, with some squirming sound audible, and restored his body.

"Tch, all that and he easily healed himself. —Watch out, he's coming!!"

«Superspeed Armor-Piercing Fist.»

Just as everyone had taken aback by his healing, Gandira suddenly increased the output of the magic furnace, propelling him forward. In a mere moment, he was right in front of the Divine Golem, his arm extending toward it.

The fist of the extending arm had transformed into a high-speed drill, and it nailed itself into the Divine Golem’s face, shattering half of its structure, and blasted it backward. 

Dragonkins, who weren't expecting the Divine Golem to hurl their way, were frozen on their spot, stunned. The Divine Golem was meant to be their shield, to prevent any harm from reaching them, however Gandira's action completely caught it off guard, and now the same shield was about to crush them behind its weight.

If Divine Golem wasn’t stopped, the damage wouldn’t be limited to dragonkins only. The countless citizens of Divine Realm, and their houses, would be similarly laid to waste. Admiral Galara, in charge of the Head Unit, noticed the situation as well, and hurriedly commanded the situation.

"Hey, this is bad. Too bad!! Leg Unit, activate «Flight»!!"

"Also, he head of the golem has been severely destroyed. Initiate «Repair», Left Hand Unit!! Torse Unit, make sure the fusion isn’t undone!!"

Similarly, General Zaurele also guided the teams of golem masters. 

"Mana Gauge is dropping at an alarming rate! We need to somehow fill it or we can't maintain merge status!! And the usage of two skills at once can pose danger!!"

The bitter cries of the Torso Unit squad, who had been monitoring mana reserve and its consumption rate, echoed out. The Torso Unit administered the mana supply to the rest of golem, hence when they saw their current mana reserve wouldn't be able to make it out, they channeled their own mana, albeit reluctantly.  

Leaving aside the grumble of the Torso squad, the Legs Unit squad activated «Soar», immediately gaining the altitude, avoiding the fate of squashing dragonkin under their feet. The Left Hand unit followed after, initiating «Repair» skill, and returning the Head of Divine Golem back to its undamaged state.

Taking this moment to recover, the dwarves in Cockpit took out a few heaven's grace and recovered their mana while they'd the opportunity. 

Incidentally, it was impossible for Divine Golem to recover through the same means. The only plausible methods were either to change the slates, use a skill, or golem's own function. 

The «Repair» also healed the insignificant scratches archdemons had made. They had been blasting their ranged attack against it from the sideline.

As for Gandira, he didn't try to chase after them, and opened a distance between them. He conjured several magic circles around his head and glanced at Divine Golem. 

«The enemy golem is confirmed to be in a repair state...... Weak point detected. Director Shinonom, requesting transfer of Megalon Canon.»

Seemingly figuring out what strategy to use against their opponent, he requested for a canon. A moment later, a huge magic circle appeared in the air, delivering a 100 meter long canon to the shoulder of Gandira. 

«Huh, what's it doin—a, a weapon!! That guy is going to use canon! Shit, we're all done for!!"

Inside the cockpit, Admiral Galara's panicked voice reminded everyone of the situation as he glanced at the central screen. Within a few moments, Gandira had already channeled his mana, evident from the glow converging at the centre of canon's barrel tip. 

"We need to stop him. But where the heck is he bringing out all those weapons?! There's no end to it. Hurry up before we’re cooked!!"

"He's a freaking menace. Legs Unit, speed up and close the distance!"

"Accelarating!! Straight Dash!!"

Meruru's idea was to close the gap between them, disabling the advantage of long-range attack. And the suggestion received a nod from everyone. 

But they’re a step too late—the geometry pattern from Gandira's frame had already inlaid itself over the canon.

«Mana Output at 60%. Commencing Fire. —Megalon Canon!»

—*BOOOOOOOM*

Before Divine Golem could close the gap entirely, Gandira launched the plasma beam cannon. 

"Left Hand Unit!!"

"It's too late!!"

"Deploy Light Barrier!!"

The situation was so tense everyone inside the cockpit jumped on their feet. 

Zaurele and Galara's command barely managed to make the Left Hand Unit act in time, deploying a light barrier. The level 6 skill was quite strong, though it also was a huge mana guzzler. 

The dwarven squad of five worked together with Tam-Tam to deploy a 100 meter light barrier, and tackled the incoming Plasma skill «Megalon Canon». 

The plasma cannon collided against the Light Barrier. In the contest of force, Divine Golem met with a disadvantage, and the force carried by cannon began to push the 250 meter tall golem behind. 

"Hey, we're losing our ground. Channel more energy in the legs!!"

"Not our fault! The canon's just too powerful. We need to dodge it!! We don't have enough to withstand the bombardment for a long time!!"

The Leg Unit's team attempted to bruteforce their way forward with «Accelaration», but it didn't bear them any fruit. Their strength was lacking!

"Damn it! There's no way we're dodging it! Tch, Torso Unit!! Come on, pump more mana in it!!"

"But we're already at maximum output! Argh, Admiral, I fear w-we can't—"

«I have attempted some calculations, and I would suggest channeling the mana into the light barrier instead, and increase its width!!»

As a part of the Divine Golem, Tam-Tam proposed a solution he believed could work. 

If they didn't do something immediately, golem might run out of fuel, and halt its functionality. In such a situation, it would be on golem masters to channel their own mana, and the efficiency —the mana consumption rate, and its cycle—was dependent on intelligence stats. 

Acting on Tam-Tam's advice, the 100 meter light shield was expanded to 200 meter, while the mana supply was cut from every part except Head and Legs. 

The light shield was managed by Tam-Tam himself, something only he could do because it was his own skill, but ultimately, it allowed the golem to gain more power. Slowly, but surely, Light Barrier had started to push back the «Megaion Canon». 

But the advantage didn’t last for long. Gandira was never attacking with his full power, so when he saw they’re gaining some momentum, he increased the output of cannon.

«...Mana Output at 80%. Commencing Fire. Requesting transfer of two Mana Strongboxes.»

*BOOOOM!!*

A rumbling sound shook the very air as Gandira increased the output of his cannon, shooting an even stronger plasma beam. To make this the final nail in the coffin against Divine Golem, he also refueled his own mana reserve.

On the opposite shoulder from the right, where he had cannon equipped, two mana appeared. He immediately used one to fill up his mana gauge, while keeping the remaining one equipped on left shoulder.

"Grrgh! He's too strong!! We're falling out!!"

On the other hand, despite channeling their own mana, the Torso Unit was reaching their limit, their conscious blurring. 

Admiral Galara tried to salvage the situation, while Tam-Tam helped out in mana control, however nothing worked out.

The overwhelming pressure from «Megaion Canon» had started to force the Head and Legs Units—they're the only part outside of Light Barrier's skill to defend—out of their fusion state. The Left Hand Unit tried to rush the repair, but the damage per second had surpassed the repair speed.

As even their Legs Unit had started to lose their grip on the ground, it was a matter of time before the golem, along with the dragonkins they'd wanted to protect, would end up reduced to ash under the might of canon. 

Merle saw the situation unfolding through Bird E's skill. 

«Hey, Hachi, and you all!! Do something about that giant!»

The three elemental god’s strength had already been guided to prevent the demon's army from breaching their defensive line.

Had they not taken care of the demon's army, who had been turning into Evil Incarnates each time they were killed, the damage would have spread too far. But, this was their limit. 

So, Merle turned to Insect A, and its offspring. Receiving the command, the insect summon beasts  created a swarm and swooped at the Gandira. 

«Cricket-Cricket»

«Cricket-Cricket»

«Cricket-Cricket»

But much to their dismay, Gandira was completely prepared for his mission. Before they could target him, he conjured a magnitude of magic circles around his head. 

 «Homing Bullet Barrage.»

From the magic circles, countless machine guns appeared. As soon the insect summoned beasts approached, they shot out several thousands of bullets within a span of a few seconds. With each bullet laced with homing properties, it was a sure kill method. 

With lack of buffs, the summoned beasts were far from the archdemon's opponent, and they started to drop like flies, turning into light bubbles. The rest of the archdemons, who had been bombarding Divine Golems with their spells, also changed their target to summon beasts. 

When the first attempt was thwarted, Merle continued to dispatch more summoned beasts, trying to support Meruru and the golem. Unfortunately, nothing managed to achieve the result he wanted.

"Oh no, Oh no. We're done for!!"

The cockpit was filled with a depressed air, the golem almost pushed back to the backline, near the dragonkin. Just when everyone were out of ideas—

«...Meruru.»

Tam-Tam addressed Meruru. Its voice appeared especially prominent due to the stillness of the situation. 

"I know. It's time to call for Dungeon Master... huh."

Meruru probably had the same thought as he spoke the mind of Tam-Tam. This did have one card to overturn their situation. 

"Hmm? Oi, you're not thinking of fusing with Digragni, are you? Are you sure you can do it? I mean, you step away from using this one thing during Helmios-san's trial. I believe you were worried about the burden it would cast."

"But what else can we do?! I am sure we can pull it off......probably."

"Hey, you just muttered 'probably' under your breath, didn't you?!?"

"It's a do or die moment, boys. Let's do it!!"

"Good grief. We really are closing all the routes of our survival, aren't we? Ha... Everyone, prepare yourseeeeeeelf!!"

It was clear Meruru had no intention of budging off, and any more would be a waste of breath, so Admiral Galara instead turned to dwarves, warning them. 

Meruru stretched his hand upward, holding Magic Cube in it, to summon Dungeon Master in the Divine Realm. 

"Dungeon Master Descent (Digragniiii)!!"

—*Fwoosh*

Momentarily, a massive magic circle appeared over the sky of Divine Realm, and from there, a giant golem, its stature reaching 100 metres, and gleaming in golden brilliance, showed itself.

T/N - Due to circumstances, we'd to drop the novel. We will be unlocking the remaining chapters everyday (except Sunday!). Also, if you prefer dungeon genre x light-hearted story, try out LET ME SPEND MONEY, DAMMIT!