Using all his strength, Shaun managed to knock back one of the Incredible Golems back at a small distance.
As Shaun and the others prepared to fight the other Incredible Golems, they all rolled passed them completely ignoring their existence.
Bruce even managed to hit one of the Golems using a huge tree like a bat, but the tree broke into pieces as soon as Bruce used it on one of the Incredible Golems, it did absolutely nothing to the Golem.
The heroes then realized that those Golems weren't interested in them in the slightest.
A helicopter Golem saw a few apex dragons around the area, the rest of the Golems in the nearby area were all headed that way.
'Do they not even care about us?' Shaun thought as he was ready to fight them all, yet all but one was left.
The Incredible Golem he launched back stood up with its legs. It walked closer to Shaun as the century hero pointed the spear at the Golem in front of him.
'How does it not even have a dent?' Shaun noticed there wasn't even a scratch on its body. He knew he used more than enough strength to pierce iron, yet the thing in front of him wasn't even scratched.
Taking a closer look at the Golem, not only was it enchanted, but it was made of a material that he had never seen before.
"Goo AwwAy, herOOes!"
Hearing that voice the heroes couldn't help but back away in fear and surprise.
The Golems' voice sounded hoarse, slow, and creepy. The Incredible Golems are not designed for talking. Using the holes from its limbs the Golem could force some sound to come out, but that made it sound as if his voice came from a horror movie instead.
"Doo NOT mAke meE KilL yOuu. LEaVe!"
The Incredible Golem knew that this man was a hero. And the fact that the younger one behind him, Bruce, was able to lift a tree and use it as a bat, meant that most likely all of them were heroes as well.
It thought that perhaps bringing these 4 heroes to the Sun kingdom was too dangerous. They recently killed Josh, a hero and used his body to make a magical item which he knew was taboo but did it for his master's sake and growth. And before that another hero decimated the Sun kingdom.
It also knew how his master feared the Great Sage. And even with his permission to kill the heroes, he thought that sparing their lives would be better.
As long as no one knows the fate of the heroes they killed even the Great Sage would not take action. But if another 4 heroes were to go missing near the Sun kingdom, most likely the Great Sage would take action.
Why didn't the Great Sage take action despite 4 heroes having gone missing, 3 of which they knew were in the Sun kingdom? Aside from not giving a damn, the Great Sage didn't think Will had the balls to kill heroes.
The only hero he believes has the guts to kill heroes is Victoria.
"Hey!" Henry suddenly shouted, everyone turned to look at him, "We are looking for a hero named Peter or also known as Pete, have you seen him?"
Henry was shaking in fear. He could feel his legs shaking and his breathing became colder despite the warm weather. He might be afraid and wants to flee, but finding his friend is his top priority.
"LeAve!" The Golem ignored his question.
Shaun, without warning, jumped and thrusted his spear at the Golem at such speed that no ordinary man could react to it.
The Incredible Golem was prepared. Using one of its long arms, he smacked the hero in the air. Shaun however successfully blocked the attack by using his spear, but that didn't stop him from being launched back and crashing into a tree.
The magical spear in Shaun's arm glowed a dim, yellow color the moment the Golem hit the spear.
Shaun looked at the Golem in shock. Not only was it smart enough to talk, but its limbs had that much power and speed?
He always used a sneak attack on monsters, including cyclops, to take them down swiftly in one attack. Very few times, like right now, could someone see and react to his attack.
The Golem already saw Shaun's attack once, it could roughly caculate how strong he was and where he would be in the air if he jumped.
"Shaun!" Bruce said, "The weakness is in its core! It's right in the center of its body!"
Using the knowledge he got from watching the Incredibles movie, Bruce and even Britney thought that perhaps its weakness was in its core.
Golems do have a weakness, their cores. But each Golem has a core placed differently on its body making it difficult to locate it.
'Is that so? Wish you would've said that sooner.' Shaun thought, he hoped his student was right. But even if he was right, it was going to be difficult to pierce through its body.
It wasn't as if he didn't have a way to do it.
One might be asking themselves at this point, why didn't Shaun run away when he had the chance? Despite the fact that the only reason he was here is to protect Bruce at all costs.
Because Shaun was very curious to see how powerful this 'machine' was. He had no confidence in taking down multiple at once, but in a 1v1 he felt confident.
Besides, he also knew that as long as he kept this machine separate from the other ones, there was no way for it to call for backup.
One thing about the Golems that nobody knew but Will is that they are a hivemind, all Golems are connected to one mind.
The Golem turned into a ball, rolling towards Shaun at a great speed.
Shaun held his spear like a baseball bat. And using all his strength, he swung hard and launched the Incredible Golem back.
For some reason, the spear in Shaun's hands glowed brighter.
The High-tier Golem, the most intelligent Golem by far, and who was with Will, thought that it didn't make sense. Even if the spear in Shaun's hands was a magical item, which he already knew it was, it should've broken by now.
'Guess I don't know what abilities that spear has yet.'
One thing about the High-tier Golem is that his intelligence is on par with a very intelligent man and not that of a machine.
An advanced machine can make millions of calculations in a second, even the world's smartest man cannot even compare. The High-tier Golem is like that, day by day it learns, it adapts to its surroundings, the longer it lives the smarter it gets. Any mistakes it makes it learns from those as well.
The Incredible Golem stood up, and the minigun on its body started spinning as it was getting prepared to shoot him.
"SHIT!" Shaun knew this was going to happen.
"I WiLL noT SaYyy it agAaiin, LEaveEE NowWw."
This Golem didn't want to kill them. But he could not have more heroes in the Sun kingdom either, at least those his master didn't trust.
According to his master's words "if they don't run away kill them." meaning that as long as they don't run away he'll continue to have a reason to attack them.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Henry attempted to leave, but stopped himself from leaving. He wanted to leave, but he wanted to see his friend in the Sun kingdom, if he was there that is.
"Not until you tell us," Shaun said, "what happened to the other heroes who were here?"
They weren't only there on a mission to retrieve Pete and Josh but also the other heroes, or at least find out if they are still alive.
So far they know 2 heroes are living in the Sun kingdom, Sandra and Will, with Will being the king. 3 heroes have gone missing since they went to the Sun kingdom, 1 hero, Victoria, has gone missing since she destroyed the Sun kingdom and ran away.
They did not know if Josh or Pete were in the Sun kingdom but were missing as well, but the odds of them at least having visited the Sun kingdom is not exactly zero percent, although they had no proof.
"IT is nOT oF My CoNcErN."
"Honestly I could care less about these heroes." Shaun said, "But we are here because two of the heroes we believe may, or may not have come to the Sun kingdom. His name is Pete and Josh, these are their photos."
The king asked Shaun in secret to at least save Josh due to him having a powerful ability, everybody else came second.
Shaun threw the pictures at the Golem. They were more like sketches than pictures but they were extremely accurate descriptions of Josh and Pete.
They didn't bother showing pictures of the 3 other heroes because they knew they were still in the Sun kingdom, but had no idea if they were alive.
"LeeaVE Noowww!"
Shaun could not tell what it was thinking. Did it even see the sketches?
The Golem did see the sketches from where it was standing and recognized Josh.
"I can't do that. I need to see what happened to the other three heroes who were here as well."
"VErrry WelLL."
Instead of aiming the minigun at Shaun, it aimed for the other 3 heroes.
"WAIT! OKAY! STOP! We'll go!" Shaun put his spear away as he raised his hands. He didn't think it was capable of going that low.
"Let's get out of here." Shaun, not wanting to face more of those things, made the right decision to flee as he dragged Bruce with him. The other heroes followed them.
The Incredible Golem continued to aim at the heroes while their backs were turned. It had trouble making a choice.
He knew they would be back, or at least Shaun would be back. But if he were to kill them then that would bring trouble for his master, if he didn't that would bring less trouble for his master, at least he believes so.
Nobody else, but Will and the Golems knew of the terrible fate that had befallen on the 4 heroes who were killed in the Sun kingdom. As long as nobody knew he believed they would be fine.
Even if they came back, as long as the Great Sage does not take action, he believes that the Sun kingdom is more than powerful enough to defend themselves from the Reyes kingdom.
"Master." The Golem spoke to Will, "the heroes have fled."
"Any casualties?" Will asked.
"None on both sides."
"How about damages?"
"None."
"Huh, I was expecting a bigger battle. That's kind of… anticlimactic."
"Master, it seems they believe that the hero Josh is in the kingdom."
"Josh?"
Will touched the ring on his finger. If they knew what he did, war would really be inevitable.
Did he regret killing Josh? No. Did he regret turning him into a magical ring that benefited him? Absolutely not. Did he know what he did was immoral? Yes.
"I believe it was more of a theory on their part, Master. They were unsure of Josh's final destination, as well as another hero named "Peter" also known as "Pete.""
"I think I heard that name… I think."
Sandra once mentioned Will Pete's name when they first reunited in this world, along with Josh's name, Victoria's, Britney's, and Henry's.
"How many Golems did the heroes fight for them to flee? Ten or twenty at least?" Will asked. He thought that heroes are very powerful and a single one could fight off multiple of his Golems with ease.
"Just one, Master. A single Incredible Golem is all it took for them to flee."
"Wait, what? Seriously?" Will thought he heard wrong.
He thought heroes are stronger than his Golems.
"I am not lying, Master. A single Incredible Golem made the heroes flee. Then again, only one hero did anything, the rest were merely spectators."
'Is it because the Incredible Golems design was made after a robot who kills heroes? No, that's dumb. But still are heroes really that weak? Or is the Great Sage too powerful?'
There was indeed a huge gap between the current heroes and the Great Sage. No one has come close to the Great Sage's power, there has been many speculations as to why that is but no one is certain.
Many heroes have tried to achieve the Great Sage's power all their lives, but the Great Sage was born with that power, along with two others who were also summoned with him 300 years ago.
Will was beginning to feel like a video game character who had completed nearly every single side quest and has become too powerful. How much more did he have to grow before he can overpower the Great Sage?
"You didn't say anything about what we did to Josh or the other heroes, right?" Will asked, very concerned.
"Obviously I did not, Master."
"Good. I'm getting tired. When did you say the monster Golems are returning with the apex dragon corpses?"
"If I were to send them back right now it would take at least 2-3 hours, but right now we just killed 2 more apex dragons and a few more lower tier dragons, and we are currently harvesting their corpses. So right now it'll take between 5-7 hours."
"Man. I'm gonna have more Golems. How many apex dragons have you killed in total?"
"Six, Master."
"Good. Tell me when the 'package' has arrived. Oh, and before I forget, make sure to collect the trees you guys tear down as well. It'll save me the trouble of gathering them myself."
"Yes, Master."
Will teleported back to his kingdom. It was quiet but also lively as always. Most people always waved at Will and greeted him before resuming their daily activities.
Will made sure to remove a piece of his apex dragon scale armor as it'll get rid of the bonus set which grants him the strength of an apex dragon. Learning to control this newfound strength is difficult, thus it was better to get rid of it for now.
Will noticed the people of the Sun kingdom were getting accustomed to their new lives. Will thought they might be bored, but nobody was bored, on the contrary they were just happy to not have to pay taxes, fend from themselves from monsters and tax collectors, and to have enough food for their families.
Entering his castle, he noticed Sandra and Adaline on a patch of grass. Adaline was lying on the grass while Sandra stroked her head gently.
"Hey." Will sat beside them as he rested his hand on Sandra's shoulder. He hadn't seen Adaline outside much since Victoria very nearly killed her after destroying the Sun kingdom.
"Hey." Sandra held Will's hand as she continued to stroke Adaline's head.
"Sorry I haven't been here lately, for both of you."
Adaline stretched out one of her roots and coiled it around Will's hand, in response he gently held her roots.
"It's fine. I know you have to take care of your 'hobbies'"
"Yeah. Has Amelia said anything else about 'that' dragon?"
Sandra shook her head.
"Okay. I'm just gonna…" Will took off most of his armor before he found himself falling asleep. Something about seeing Adaline and Sandra together like that made him feel that was in heaven.
Sandra smiled as she laid his head on her lap. It reminded her of the times they would watch movies together on weekends, they would fall asleep on the couch and Will would always use her lap as a pillow.
Alex was rarely ever with them when they cuddled. He always gave them their space by staying out for several hours. At the time Sandra thought he was going back to his house, she never knew he was living with Will all that time.
Will, who was somewhat awake, could tell what she was doing, and he couldn't help but count himself the luckiest man alive to have her by his side. It's because of the people he cares about that he is going to do whatever it takes to protect them.
"Master, Master!"
Will woke up to his Golem calling out his name. He was in his bed, his dragon scale armor was stripped off his body and placed beside the room.
'Did Sandra carry me here?' Will rubbed his eyes as he was still tired. He didn't see Sandra in the room, and it was dark outside.
"Master, the Monster Golems will be arriving with the dragon corpses soon."
"Okay… okay…" Will was still in the midst of waking up.
"And also, two elves and an organic creature are headed this way, Master."
"Elves? Why…?" Will groaned in annoyance.
For the past few times elves have been trying to enter his kingdom under a disguise. Thanks to his system that lets him see the individuals species name above their heads no elf could make it inside successfully.
Will made sure to not let in a single elf because he knew the hatred elves carried for humans. The last thing he needed was a fight or drama to erupt in his kingdom.
The elves who were under disguises were merely looking for Will's weaknesses led by Radix, the only elf to kill Will. So far they have been unsuccessful.
Slowly Will washed his face to wake himself. Slowly he put on his dragon armor and flew towards the direction of the elves.
Now that he could fly permanently thanks to the magical item he created, there was no need to use a chair or wings anymore.
Will landed in front of the elves. He saw two familiar faces. And the organic creature behind them was one who could fly.
"Well, well, if it isn't Arbor and… I forgot your name."
"Rias." The young elf answered.
"Right… who?"
"Have you seriously forgotten about me?"
"Nope. Just to remind you, don't touch my stuff again." Will remembers her all too well.
Rias looked away. 'Wow, he can really hold a grudge.'
"Say… those metal things patrolling around the area, are those yours?" Rias was referring to his Golems.
The creation of those Golems left all the elves shook. They have heard from the forest how they're taking down dragons without effort, and tearing down trees everywhere they go.
"Yes, why?"
"No reason. Just make sure none of them come near our forest."
"Sure, sure. How is Grace?"
"Better. Still recovering from the mental scars of being kidnapped."
"Good. Why are you guys here anyways?"
Will found it a bit strange: Grace is still recovering and Arbor isn't with her? His only daughter? And also Rias would only come here since she can speak human tongue and can communicate with Will, Arbor can not.
"We're here to take back Adaline."
"Ummm… what? Why?"
"I… I can't say why but Adaline needs to come with us to Lea's forest for a few months at least."
Will looked at Arbor. Why now of all times?
Adaline is free to go wherever she wants, if she wanted to go back with the elves she would have done so months ago.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Will said. Much like Grace, Adaline is still recovering mentally as she had gone through a terrible near death experience.
"Why not?"
"She almost died! And she needs to recover. A few weeks ago a hero destroyed the entire kingdom and almost killed Adaline in the process."
Will felt that Arbor had the right to know. Arbor cares for Adaline as well.
Rias, a bit taken aback, translated to Arbor what Will just said.
Arbor's eyes opened wide as he hurried to the kingdom to see Adaline, not even bothering to use the flying organic creature. Obviously he was worried for her. First Grace now Adaline.
"Tell him he can't enter the kingdom." Will said. He had made some major improvements since the last time they were here.
Rias told Arbor what Will just said, but he ignored both of them and continued running.
Instead of running, Will flew as he followed them from behind, which he found to be better than running.
Arbor stopped running as soon as he saw the giant iron wall.
"I can't bring you guys inside. There are a lot of people living in the kingdom, if they see you there will be a lot of drama unfolding."
Rias, once again, translated what Will said to Arbor. Arbor looked at Will and was talking to him in elven tongue. He could barely understand a word.
"He says to bring her out. He needs to see her."
*CLANK*
They heard the noise of the heavy iron doors being lifted. Adaline exited the kingdom as she ran towards Arbor.
Arbor ran towards her and hugged her, checking her if she was alright. Using an elven ability, Arbor's hands glowed brightly as Adaline's vines also glowed a green bright color.
This ability tells anybody the condition of any living being. Arbor could tell Adaline was fine, physically. But emotionally and mentally she was still recovering.
Arbor started talking to Adaline gently and softly.
"What's he saying?" Will asked.
"He's asking her if she wants to go back to the forest."
Will closed his eyes. He loved Adaline. But there wasn't much he could do for her when he knew the elves could do better.
"By any chance… Do you guys want to take her back because of that huge dragon?" Will asked.
Their timing seemed too weird to be coincidence.
"Yeah, the mountain dragon might awaken any day… How the hell do you know about THAT dragon?!" Rias looked at Will in disbelief.
"I have my ways. So it's true what I said."
Older elves know of the mountain dragon, because they have seen it before it went to sleep. The mountain dragon once sought to destroy all the elves, but Lea, their Goddess, protected them and won against the dragon.
This was long before the first three heroes were summoned.
They all made sure to keep its existence a secret. Many had already or started to forget about him.
Some had told the humans about the existence of the mountain dragon, hoping that maybe one day one human stupid enough would awaken the mountain dragon and destroy all the humans and the Great Sage. But those were merely treated as 'rumors' and never taken seriously.
Silvas, king of the elves, had visited the Great Sage many times, and Silvas suspects that the Great Sage might've known of the mountain dragon because he might've read their minds and found out.
The Great Sage never reacted, or said anything about the dragon. No one but the Great Sage knows if he even knew if the mountain dragon existed.
"We didn't want to tell you to worry since Arbor, Adaline, and even Grace are your friends. But you must not face this dragon! Only our Goddess can face him. I don't even know if the Great Sage can win against him."
"Only your Goddess can fight him?" Will asked to be sure.
"That is what I just said, yes. WAIT YOU'RE FLYING? HOW?!" Rias just noticed Will was flying.
Will went into thinking mode. He had an idea.
"Is it possible for your Goddess to protect someone who isn't an elf or organic creature?"
"Nope. Well… I guess that would be up to her and Silvas, but I've never heard of her offering protections to humans. You might be able to visit our village if our Goddess sees you have no manintentions, but you also have to face all the elves who hate humans.
Not only that, but a few months ago an idiot hero tried to break into our forest and was thrown back. That was a warning to every hero out there. The next time she will kill anybody who trespasses into her forest. This always happens after new heroes are summoned."
"Then all I have to do is go to your village and strike a deal?" Will asked.
"We can lead you but don't get your hopes up. Also why do you want protection? You can come back from the dead."
"No, not for me, for someone else." He is talking about Sandra.
Will knew if such a huge dragon were to appear in his kingdom he had no way to stop it. At least if Sandra and Adaline were in the forest, he would feel better.
As for the other people he could make them go to the caves but that would be not as safe.
"Oh."
Rias went ahead and told Arbor. Arbor looked at Will. He was angry at him at the moment for letting Adaline get injured, but he knew it wasn't his fault, it could happen to anybody at any time much like with Grace.
"Arbor says you can come with us. But he doesn't make any promises if our Goddess is willing to protect a human."
"Thank you." Will turned to Arbor, "Ni 'lassui En." Will spoke in elven tongue to say thank you to Arbor.
(Yes, this is elvish from LoTR)
Will, along with Adaline, followed the elves to Lea's forest.
Will honestly does not think their Goddess would be willing to protect Sandra. If she is willing, great, if not, well too bad.
There is another reason why he wants to go to the village: their Goddess, Lea. What kind of being is able to fend off a powerful dragon and come out victorious? Perhaps his system can tell him something.
Will was desperate for answers, but perhaps the elves can tell him something.