Chapter 30: Hope

Chapter 30: Hope

POV: Darmon

I had always dreamed of dying in battle.

To fight powerful monsters, to stand my ground in a final, hopeless clash, to fall with my weapon in hand and a battle cry on my lips. That’s how I wanted to go—not in some feeble bed, surrounded by relatives and boring goodbyes.

A quiet, peaceful death? No, that wasn’t for me.

But it seems my time has come sooner than I expected. Suddenly. Without warning.

And now, as I stand here staring into the darkness from which death is about to emerge… I realize: I don’t want this. Not like this. Not now.

"So this is what the end feels like," I thought, gripping the hilt of my sword. My hands were trembling. Not from fear—from realization.

Up ahead, deeper in the dungeon, the ground was already shaking. Waves of dark wolves were drawing near.

We were ready. Only experienced adventurers stood around me. Someone had even summoned three golems—powerful and massive. By the looks of them, at least Rank Four. Impressive.

The wolves were getting closer. The first ranged attacks had already begun. Then came the second, and the third. One by one, the adventurers joined in the barrage. In less than a minute, most of the wolves were wiped out. The few that broke through the storm of magic and arrows were immediately crushed by those massive golems.

"Damn..." I thought. "I was the most useless one in this battle."

Everyone in my group had ranged combat skills. All four of them. And me, their leader—I had nothing of the sort. Oh well…

One wolf somehow made it through and charged straight at me. It leapt—and in the next moment, I drew my sword and cut it in half. Effortlessly. The wolf's body disintegrated and vanished into the air.

"At least I was of some use..."

The first wave—completely destroyed. Not a single casualty. No one even got scratched.

But I knew it wouldn’t last.

The next wave would be bigger. And then another. Each attack would be stronger than the last.

Will the Adventurer's Guild have time to send reinforcements? No... Even if they learned about this immediately, it would still take them at least a day and a half to get here.

And we don’t have that much time.

At best, we’ll last through ten waves. If each wave gets stronger… maybe six or seven hours. If we're lucky. If not—less.

Hah. Looks like my childhood dream is going to come true. I’ll die fighting monsters. Heroically. Just like I always wanted.

But I don’t want to watch my dear companions die in front of my eyes.

Well then… I’m the strongest adventurer here. The highest level among us. That means one thing: when we run out of mana and arrows—melee will begin. And I’ll have to charge ahead and cut down as many monsters as I can. Just to buy the others a little more time. A little more hope.

…No. Who am I kidding?

I just don’t want to see my companions die. I don’t want to hear their screams. I don’t want to remember their faces in their final moments.

I’m a coward.

That’s why I want to die first.

Oh... Looks like a couple of adventurers have climbed down from the wall. I don’t know why. Maybe they just decided to run. If so—let them. Let them live. If they can survive, I honestly wish them well.

But… a few minutes later, one of them—a girl—came back.

Why?

She should’ve kept going. She might’ve had a chance. A small one, at least.

She approached the edge of the wall... and did something.

At that moment, eight magic circles flared up on the ground. One after another.

And from them, eight more golems emerged. Just like the three I saw earlier.

Three of them were exact copies.

Now there were eleven. Eleven golems.

So… she summoned those three as well? Eleven golems… If they're all as strong as the first ones—and I saw them fight—then I was wrong.

These aren’t Rank Four.

They’re Rank Five.

Rank Five golems.

Summoning eleven of them… That’s a truly powerful skill.

What a shame.

A shame that someone so young will most likely die here.

If she doesn't die… she’d have a brilliant future ahead of her.

Even now… considering the power of those eleven golems… she’s stronger than me.

I might be able to handle one or two. But eleven?

I’d lose.

Yeah… it’s bitter. Talents like her dying so young.

There… now she’s leaving again. Stepping down from the platform and vanishing from sight. Maybe she used all her mana on summoning these golems… and now she’s leaving.

If so—my respect.

This is backup.

They’ll help us hold the line for a little longer.

Maybe… a couple more hours. And that’s already enough.

"I hope you survive… Good luck," I thought, watching her disappear.

Escaping on foot from these monsters is almost impossible… But who knows, maybe they have some kind of mobility skill.

Alright then… Good luck, I wish you well.

—Another wave is approaching, —said one of the adventurers with long-range vision.

—What kind of monsters this time?

—Wolves. Dark wolves, —he replied.

"Just like the first time," he thought. The dungeon had no rule against sending the same monsters twice in a row. Why not?

—Get ready! —he shouted. —Second wave incoming!

"This time too, we should avoid casualties and injuries," he added quietly.

And right then, more summoning circles flared up in front of the wall—eight bright symbols lit up the ground almost simultaneously. From them, new figures emerged one by one. Eight more golems.

By size and aura, they were exact copies of the ones already standing guard. Now there were nineteen. Nineteen Rank Five golems.

—What?.. —he whispered in shock.

Murmurs rose nearby. Others had noticed too—and were just as surprised.

"I thought that girl left… So she’s still nearby?" he wondered, glancing around. But she was nowhere to be seen. Not atop the wall, nor at its base.

"Or is it someone else?.. No. The golems are the same. It has to be her. But where is she now?"

The second wave approached. There were more monsters than last time, but thanks to coordinated attacks and the golems’ support, they once again held them off without a single loss.

But as soon as the fighting ended—another round of magic circles flared up before the wall. And eight more golems stepped forward.

—Who can summon this many?.. —someone muttered in disbelief.

He clenched his lips silently.

"How much mana does she have? How is she doing this?.."

"Maybe she has some mana potions… maybe even more than I expect. But if she ever needs more, we do have a supply. A few potions of pretty high rank. We could give her some. If she keeps summoning golems like these—it’s worth it."

He looked up at the wall again—but she still wasn’t there.

"No, she’s not here. But she’s definitely close by. Somewhere nearby."

"The summoner must be within range," he thought, scanning the area again. "As far as I know, summoning has a limited radius. Not too far from the caster."

He looked again at the rows of golems in front of the wall and slowly exhaled.

"Well… with this kind of support, we’ll last much longer than I initially thought."

And right then, eight more summoning circles lit up before the wall. From them, more golems rose—identical to the ones before. Massive, with powerful auras. All Rank Five.

"Damn... How many can she summon?"

He clenched his fists slightly, trying to contain his nerves, then shook his head and added mentally:

"Well… the more, the better. The longer we can hold."

Just over an hour passed. In that time, two more waves hit the wall—the third and the fourth. The number of monsters increased. They attacked with fury, but… despite everything, not a single adventurer died. No one was even wounded.

He watched it all with growing amazement. These waves, despite their numbers, were actually easier to handle than the first two.

The reason for this wasn’t that the wolves got weaker. And it wasn’t because the adventurers suddenly became stronger. No. That wasn’t it at all.

Darmon stood atop the wall, gazing forward. The real reason stood directly before the stone barrier—like an army of stone and magic. Over a hundred Rank Five golems, arranged in perfect order, silent and fearsome.

The adventurers’ ranged attacks did wipe out many dark wolves before they reached the wall, but with each wave, the number of enemies increased. If there were about a thousand in the second wave, then the third had over fifteen hundred. And not all could be taken out from a distance.

But not a single dark wolf got past the stone guardians. Not one.

For over an hour now, summoning circles had been flaring up before the wall. Again and again. About every seven minutes. And each time, another eight golems appeared at the wall’s base.

Darmon silently watched as the guardians lined up in precise rows, protecting the front. Over a hundred. All Rank Five. A silent army, knowing no fatigue, no fear, no hesitation.

Whispers echoed around him:

—Who's summoning them?

—Is it an artifact?

—No, it’s too consistent… It has to be a skill.

Darmon said nothing. He knew the answer. He had seen who first summoned these constructs. And more importantly—he understood how massive the mana pool must be to sustain this.

"With this many Rank Five golems… you could take over cities. Small cities, minor fortresses… even fight the army of an entire country, if it’s not too big."

He clenched his fist.

"Why have I never heard of her before? A power like this can’t belong to someone unknown. But I don’t recognize her face. No name. No clan. No rank."

He looked across both sides of the wall again. The girl was nowhere to be seen. But he knew—she was nearby.

Over three hours had passed. And they had just survived the tenth wave of attacking monsters.

The tenth wave of black wolves.

And still—not a single scratch. Not one person injured. On the contrary, it seemed that with each new wave, despite the growing number of monsters, handling them was becoming easier and easier.

But the reason wasn’t that the wolves were weakening, nor that the adventurers were growing stronger. No. The main reason stood directly before the wall. Below, at its base. Silent. Motionless.

Over four hundred golems stood before the stone wall like an army. Their formation precise, like well-trained soldiers. The front lines had already advanced far—over two hundred fifty, maybe even three hundred meters ahead.

And just now, fifteen more Rank Five golems joined the army. Yes—fifteen. At first they came in groups of eight, but with each new wave, the number slowly grew: eight, nine, ten… and now—fifteen. Perhaps the summoner was growing stronger.

The only benefit these monsters gave the adventurers was experience points. Despite their numbers, they left no magic stones or valuable loot. They simply vanished.

Whoever summoned those golems was gaining an absurd amount of experience. Judging by how many wolves they were killing—it was incredible. Every strike, every attack brought down another monster—and all of it likely counted toward the summoner.

But how is she even managing to summon them again and again? Regularly. Every few minutes—without fail. Even if she has a large supply of mana potions… She can’t drink them endlessly. No human could withstand that. Unless she’s a monster herself.

Darmon frowned, looking at the fifteen new golems that had just emerged.

"If she’s spending all her mana and recovering it with potions, then even with conservative estimates, she must’ve already consumed at least thirty. Thirty in one day! That’s impossible. Just impossible..."

He clenched his fists.

"I pass out after eight. Eight—and my body gives out. Even the toughest mages can’t endure more than ten…"

"No, no matter how I think about it, I can’t find a logical explanation for how she’s doing it," he thought.

His gaze shifted to Trevar, standing nearby. The oldest member of their team and very experienced. He knew a lot about skills.

—Trevar? —he called.

—Yes, —Trevar replied, still watching the golems.

—What do you think? The summoner of these golems… how are they calling so many so regularly? —Darmon asked.

—I’ve been thinking about that too. And I have a theory, —Trevar said. —And I think it’s probably correct.

—What theory? —Darmon asked.

—Before I joined your group, I worked with many others, —Trevar began. —Once, during a mission, our team faced a monster onslaught. There were so many of them that if we’d fought alone, we would’ve all died.

He paused briefly, remembering.

—There were several groups with us. And one adventurer had a unique skill. A defensive one. He could create a protective field around us. Almost impenetrable. Monsters couldn’t break through.

Darmon listened silently.

—We had almost no chance, —Trevar continued. —But thanks to that skill, we survived. However… maintaining that shield cost an enormous amount of mana. Powerful skills devour mana like crazy. If he had only that one skill and no support… we might’ve lasted a couple of hours. Then the shield would’ve collapsed. And… I wouldn’t be here now.

Trevar exhaled slowly and looked at Darmon.

—Since I’m still here, it means we survived, —he said. —That guy had another skill that worked in tandem with the shield. It let him recover mana quickly.

—You think the summoner has a similar skill? —Darmon asked.

—Yes, that’s what I believe, —Trevar nodded. —Of course, the one I knew didn’t recover mana that fast… but maybe this summoner has a much higher-tier version of that skill.

—Yeah, if you’re right, that explains why the summoner can call so many golems. The combination makes it all possible, —Darmon said.

—Exactly. That combo of skills could lead to something truly massive, —Trevar nodded. —But it comes at a cost.

—What cost? —Darmon frowned.

—When I asked that guy, he said that while using his mana recovery skill, he had to meditate. He couldn’t move and became extremely vulnerable. For the skill to work, he had to stay still and focused. In that state, even a Rank One monster could kill him, —Trevar explained calmly.

"Now I get why that girl left," Darmon thought, glancing toward the camp. "And the guy went with her. He’s probably protecting her while she recovers her mana."

—Darmon, do you know who’s summoning those golems? —Trevar asked.

—Yes, —he replied curtly.

—Then we need to ensure their protection, —Trevar said. —Because if they die, the golems disappear. And you know what happens then.

—Yes, I understand, —Darmon said quietly, staring into the darkness beyond the stone wall.

—Krayv, Ellina, come with me, —Darmon said, turning to two of his companions.

They rose without a word and followed him. They had heard the conversation between Darmon and Trevar, and knew exactly what this was about.

—Watch things here while I’m gone, —Darmon said to Trevar.

—Yeah, don’t worry. Our role here has been greatly reduced. Those guys are doing the real work now, —he nodded toward the golems.

—Yeah, you’re right, —Darmon replied. They really weren’t doing much anymore. The last few monsters had been taken down without their involvement.

Without another word, he turned and jumped off the wall toward the camp. Krayv and Ellina followed without hesitation.