Chapter 72

At first, the block golem had been far smaller than Inari. Only about 50 centimeters tall, a toy-sized creature at best. But now, at 36 times that size, it stood approximately 18 meters tall.

So this was why the dungeon ceiling had been built so high, Inari thought.

"O-Oho... what madness is this..."

A golem whose size depended on a dice roll. And judging by the previous announcement, the dice results were multiplied. Two sixes meant a 36x multiplier—clearly the worst possible outcome.

Had the dice rolled double ones, the resulting monster would’ve been something Inari could destroy with a single kick. But now…

“Still, if it be stronger, then perhaps the magic stone shall be—”

『Beam』

"Whoa!?"

A massive laser beam erupted from the golem’s chest. Inari wasn’t able to dodge in time and had to block it with a barrier. The beam scorched its surface with a harsh shhht sound, and she very much did not want to take that unguarded.

It would hurt. A lot.

"Hmm... so its strength is thirty-sixfold as well. No wonder people place wagers on this dungeon..."

At a single multiplier, nearly any Awakener could defeat a block golem unless they were completely careless. Other multipliers would vary by the Awakener’s skill—but thirty-sixfold? That would kill a mid-tier Awakener in an instant.

The 36x golem now tried to kick Inari off the conveyor belt entirely, shattering the belt in the process.

Inari, already airborne, flipped away and readied Kogetsu in bow form. To avoid being targeted, she moved to its flank… then behind it.

She drew the bowstring.

『Beam』

"Wh-What the—!?"

A beam shot straight out from behind the golem. She had definitely moved to its back—yet the beam had come from there, as though it had eyes in the rear.

It wasn’t a matter of the golem rotating faster than she could see—Inari would’ve noticed if it had. She was sure of it.

“In other words... this creature hath no true front nor back?”

"What a bothersome foe..."

If that was the case, she'd just have to attack from the sides. So Inari darted to the side, but the golem’s upper body twisted independently, turning to face her.

"Th-That’s cheating, is it not!?"

『Beam』

"Hyoooh!"

Inari barely dodged the beam, gave up on archery for the moment, and fired a barrage of foxfire. It struck the surface of the 36x golem, cracking and burning away its outer layer, but the sheer size meant it would take time to bring it down.

Still, it could be defeated through attrition. Inari was sure of it.

Until—

『Parts change』

"Huh?"

Blocks flew in from somewhere and expanded—replacing the broken parts and restoring the golem to pristine condition.

Just like that, all the damage was reset. The newly-repaired 36x block golem stood once more.

"Th-That is unfair! What trickery be this!? Thou, thou—such a thing shouldst not be allowed!"

『Beam』

"NUOOOOOH!?"

This golem truly seemed to follow no rules—and yet, Inari was sure it must be bound by some system. There was no way it could be literally immortal.

Even if its strength was magnified thirty-sixfold, even if it could develop new abilities—

No, she'd like to believe it wouldn’t. If it could replace its own body, then she’d just need a way to defeat it that ignored that entirely, or rendered such regeneration useless.

She had her answer.

『Beam』

"Toryaaaaaah!!"

Rolling to avoid the beam, Inari drew her bow again.

"I see it now... the way to bring thee down!"

『Beam』

"Curse thy soulless response!"

Even while diving and dodging, Inari fired volley after volley of foxfire. The flames exploded on the golem’s surface, damaging it—only to be fully restored moments later.

But that was fine. No, she was counting on that.

The golem’s body paused—

『Parts change』

Once again, blocks flew in from somewhere, enlarged, and replaced the damaged sections. And at that very moment, Inari had already drawn a glowing arrow and pulled the string taut.

"This shall be the end of thee, toy giant!"

She released it.

The shining arrow blazed brighter still, transforming into a streak of light.

It struck the 36x block golem dead center, and light erupted from within its body, spilling outward until the massive frame began crumbling apart.

With a chime like a bell, the golem dissolved into light and vanished.

And in its place, a neatly-wrapped gift box, complete with ribbon, fell with a soft clunk sound.

A present box in every way, and definitely not a magic stone.

"Hmm... 'tis clearly a box, but..."

"So that truly was the boss... But aye, this one was rather tiring..."

Thus, Inari was transported back outside the dungeon.

Unbeknownst to her, however, that present box would soon cause quite a stir.