Still, no matter what kind of monsters the golems were, the current reality was that they had to be defeated in order to move forward. Thus, Inari fired volley after volley of foxfire, blasting apart the golems that blocked her path.
“Well now, only humanoid types so far… hm?”
The ground rumbled. Charging toward her at high speed was a four-legged Rock Golem. It seemed to be bull-shaped, its horns lowered as it barreled forward in a fearsome rush. Fearsome, yes—but the foxfire Inari unleashed reduced the bull-type Rock Golem to rubble.
While she focused on the shattered remains, its fragments scattering with a loud crash as a magic stone dropped, a shadow suddenly fell over Inari from above. Looking up, she was taken aback.
“Hyoh!?”
There it was—a gorilla-type Rock Golem descending from above, fist raised to smash her into the ground. Foxfire… would not make it in time. She could raise a barrier, but her usual one would be overwhelmed, slamming her into the earth with sheer power.
As Inari hesitated, the gorilla-type Rock Golem’s fist struck the ground where she had been, the impact thundering like an explosion.
“Goooooh?”
The golem realized that its earth-shattering punch had not pulverized its prey. Lifting its fist slowly, it found no Inari beneath it. Then where? Scanning the area, the gorilla-type Rock Golem spotted Inari, still half-risen, and swung again.
“Mm, thou wert a tad slow.”
Her foxfire crushed the oncoming fist along with its arm, then immediately blasted the head apart, leaving behind a magic stone. Indeed, once its ambush had failed, the gorilla-type Rock Golem had lost any chance of victory. But how had Inari dodged that blow?
The answer was painfully simple—she had jumped and rolled away at the last second. Inari bore no pointless pride in battle, no need to look “dignified.” She had no hesitation in performing what one might call a “clumsy roll” if it meant surviving.
“Still, that startled me. Surely it did not truly fall from the sky… then it must be from the cliff above.”
Yes, the sheer cliffs that flanked both sides of the path. Since they were part of the dungeon, monsters naturally lurked there as well. But… dealing with such threats from above was troublesome, even for Inari. Troublesome, yes—but not something she minded overly much.
“Well, no matter. I shall press onward.”
After all, there was no rule that demanded she exterminate every monster within the dungeon. If another leapt from above, she would deal with it then.
So Inari advanced deeper, foxfire scattering the Rock Golems that attacked her along the rocky paths of that strange mountainous space. Step after steady step, until at last she arrived… at a dead end.
“…Nu, a dead end. I feel as though there was something like this back in Fuchū as well.”
That time had clearly been interference, but this time was likely different. If so, it was simply a matter of her luck. And while her “luck” was a fuzzy stat, seeing it quantified always made her feel, “Perhaps it truly is my bad luck…”
But there was no sense in standing idle before a dead end. She backtracked, tried another path—only to find another dead end. Again, another path—another dead end. Eventually, Inari found herself clutching her head in frustration.
“Mm, mmu… what am I to do? Surely I cannot dig a tunnel…”
There had to be a correct path somewhere. But where? Could it be that she needed to climb? Yet ordinary awakened would hardly attempt such a thing. And if climbing had been a real option, surely Akai would have mentioned it in their briefing.
So, not that. Then what? As Inari wandered before yet another dead end, she suddenly noticed something.
“Mmm? Does this wall not seem strange?”
The sheer cliff blocking her path… looked just a bit different from the surrounding stone. Could it be? Realizing, Inari leapt back and launched foxfire.
“Thinkest thou to deceive me? Show thy true form!”
Her foxfire blew open a gaping hole in the “wall,” which shifted aside to avoid the blast. No—it was not a wall at all. The clattering mass revealed itself to be many small rock golems. The “dead end wall” had been nothing but a collective formation of small golems disguised as stone.
It was unbelievable, and yet… there it was. The swarm of little golems clustered together, merging into the form of one enormous Rock Golem, lunging at Inari.
Their deception failed, they now turned to brute force. Which, indeed, was often the correct choice.
“Kogetsu, a bow.”
If their foe had been anyone but Inari, that is.
“GOOOOOOH!”
The swarm-rock golem roared, surging to engulf and crush her. But all of it—every piece—was erased in an instant by the blazing flash loosed from Inari’s bow.