The Golem King saw it and could not help but tremble in excitement. It was one of the objects of legend. He had one himself, but the Earth Core he had was weaker. The ancients that made them and charged them with the vow they had to fulfill were tied to the large Earth Core behind him. 

The Earth core was powered by death. The more blood and flesh they offered to the large Earth Core, the more energy it had.

The Golems had faced several races. The Lizards weren’t the only ones. And the number of their enemies grew more and more.

The Golem King even concluded that they would all soon die. But true to their charge, the golems accepted their fate.

But the appearance of that object was like hope to them in their darkening despair.

“A… Prime Earth Core?”

“Can you sense this? The moment I saw that large core behind you, I could guess what that is! You are guardians of this place! Your sworn duty is to make sure that nothing passes through! But you are losing this battle! The Lizards have amassed their armies. The Swamp Man-Gators and the Lizardmen are growing more and more. You will soon die! But if you had this, you could have a chance!”

Kyros then summoned the Soil Golem from the ground, and it stood right in front of him.

Many of the golems appeared to have gasped.

“It looks like the sentient golems are fewer than the ones that are…” Kyros noted.

“You know that humans don’t exist here! We did not violate the terms of your vows that demand us to be killed!” 

[Oration skill level increased.]

Kyros saw the notification and kept speaking.

“If you save us, I will give you this… In fact, I could even find more of this to be granted to you! And if that is the case, you will have many strong golems that can resist the attacks and even acquire the power that I have! But if you abandon us or try to kill me…” Kyros suddenly brought the Earth Core back to the Inventory, and it vanished.

The Golem King, who had locked down on it and was about to attack Kyros, suddenly froze as the energy of the Earth element disappeared.

“What say you?!” Kyros asked once more.

“…Who are you?” The Golem King asked.

“Who I am, is not important! Save my friends, and you will have not only this Earth Core but the chance to survive and be Transcendent! You know the tongue of the First Word! By that, I can roughly guess your potential. Are you not descendants of the great Gigantes race?!” Kyros asked.

“Gigantes! Of course, why didn’t I thought of that!?” Calaminus realized it.

“Bruh…” Calaminus praised Kyros for how he connected the dots.

“You are born of man and darkness! But darkness cannot dwell in mortal man. When the Gods created humans, they took soil and breathed life into it! And so we say, from dust, you are to dust return when humans die. But you… The Fallen took the death of these mortals and crafted them to make their own children like the Light. They made saints, but you here… are the Gigantes race! Weak bones that don’t even have a soul. I offer you the chance to transcend!” Kyros shouted again.

The golems were all silent. The various metal, gold, and other golems began to look at their king.

Their King was silent.

Kyros stood waiting for the Golem King’s response. It all boiled down to this. When they first reached this room, Kyros knew that it was impossible to plead for them to establish an alliance. There just wasn’t enough time. He could try to do this, but the wild charge of the golems would cause some of the knights to die. The Golem King may also use the knights as hostages to get Kyros to hand over the Earth Core if he hid it in his Inventory.

And if the battle would be stopped and Kyros failed in negotiating with the Golems, he and his family would have no place to retreat to as the Lizards would catch up to them and pass by the intersection.

Because of the many risks and factors, Kyros decided to go with this plan. He ordered the group to retreat and find them a safe place to defend themselves. Kyros continued to test the intelligence of the golems in his attempt to put them into fighting with the lizards. If he succeeded in causing the two sides to fight, then it would mean that reasoning with the golems was pointless as they wouldn’t have the intelligence to understand what an Earth Core was. If this was the case, he would initiate another plan and use the battle between the two races to their advantage to escape.

But the fighting ended quickly. The Golems retreated, and the lizards continue their pursuit over them. This proved that the Golems were not only intelligent, but they valued their number. They knew that their enemies outnumbered them and avoided any clash as possible. Their duty was to do what they can to ensure no lizards would pass through them. 

Kyros was careful not to use the secret tunnel to escape. He didn’t want to make the Golems kill him and his allies to cross the line until the Golem King agreed to his proposal. This was why he gave Avary the Dark Cloak spell that his Cloak of Darkness provided to help Avary escape unseen in order to complete the secret task that also demanded attention..

Kyros believed that if he used that path to escape or breakthrough to meet the Golem King, he would only draw the anger of the Golem King. Kyros used the more dangerous route of breaking through the Lizards, which also brought chaos among the lizard ranks.

“You think it will work?” Calaminus asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t have the luxury to iron out this plan.”

“Bruh. For the short time you had, this is already impressive! You were able to view things in different scenarios.”

“I just hope it’s enough to outsmart Fate.” Kyros’s expression remained grim as he locked eyes with the Golem King.

“If this Earth Core is improved, it can summon more than one golem! It may even be possible to summons stronger golems! Clay, rocks, metals, and whatever form!” Kyros tempted once more and activated Oration.

The Golem King began to approach Kyros slowly.

“I am not your enemy!” Kyros suddenly shouted as he noticed that the Golem King was still hesitating.

“You said for yourself if another path was open that allowed us to move inside. Did you find it? There are no other paths! You have already found the path my allies found! And if there was another secret path, why are the lizards bothering and chasing me to death?!” Kyros challenged.

“If you can save my friends even without one dying, you will have my gratitude! They are on the other end of the new tunnel that you are guarding! Allow them to escape from there! I can even create more Earth Cores and strengthen that Earth Core behind you! But if any of my friends are dead, I will make sure to kill you all!” Kyros roared loudly.

[Taunt activated.]

“Why did you activate taunt?!” Calaminus cursed.

“Taunt won’t work to the higher leveled Golems. And that wasn’t just an insult. That was me showing my resolve.” Kyros glanced at the Golem King.

The many golems roared angrily, and some began to approach.

“HA HA HA!” The loud and powerful laugh of the Golem King echoed out in the hallway.

The sudden laugh caused all the golems to pause.

“Your actions have caused a few of my men to die! Why should I save your men?”

“Then I will replenish those lost men! You create more golems through drawing out the life and death energy of other creatures, right! Then send some of your men to fight with me and attack the lizards! I have breached through their defenses. I can help you kill all of them without losing another!” Kyros declared.

The Golem King smiled at Kyros’s bold declaration.

“Since you evaded even the hands of Lizard Captain, it seems you do have some resolve. I accept. Golems, do as… he say. And send someone to scale that tunnel to save those men.” The Golem King answered.

“But… my king! There are Swamp Man Gators and Lizardmen there!” An emerald green golem spoke.

“We would be losing a lot of men for this gamble!” A ruby red golem was also added.

“Foolish golems! Don’t you see?! That’s why you should attack! They believe you all to be so strict and stoic! They even sent their armies here without fear of fighting you! If you attack them now, you can kill a lot of them, for the forces that they brought will not be numerous!” Kyros urged.

The golems that were made of precious stones began to look at each other in realization.

“I would even suggest you ambush them! Those creatures are strong and are even. It would cost you a lot to kill them! But I have a way of blinding them! They are good at seeing in darkness, as well as in light. But not when these two happen all of a sudden.”

Kyros then hid and brought out the torch, creating the scene once more.

“Have one of the stronger golems carry me to present me back to them as a means to offer an exchange! The lizards are after me for some reason. It could be the taste of new meet, or it could be my bloodline! But they will allow you to make an exchange!” Kyros explained.

He knew that if Fate sent him here, it would be with a clause that the lizards would pursue him. This way, even his ability to speak different languages won’t save him.

“You’re bloodline?” The King Golem was curious.

“I’ll talk more later! Time is of the essence! My companions could die!” Kyros urged.

The King Golem stood up.

“Stoph. Lead the way. Do as the human suggested.”

“Send a Golem that could speak English and scale that small tunnel and inform my allies that Kyros has made a deal so that they can escape. Otherwise, they might fight you if they see a golem scale the tunnel.” Kyros added.

“Mardock. Go. Do as this Kyros said. Human. I will only save your friends if you are able to save mine. Since you made it here with only a missing arm, you ought to be strong. Make sure that none of my golems perish. If one does perish, I will kill one of your allies. A golem for a human. A life for a life. What say you?” The King Golem challenged.

Kyros sneered.

“You think I would hesitate? Consider it done. Get your men ready and have them follow my instructions. I will make sure, not one perishes.”

“Oh? And here I thought you’d be so eager to scale the other tunnel to save your friends. But it looks like you are more excited in going back to face those lizards.” The King was bemused.

“I have to get my arm back.” Kyros turned around and gazed at the darkness leading to the lizards.

An army of golems was approaching him, only this time, it was Kyros’s army.