Chapter 10

In Raven's memory, although Karin had learned stealth techniques, they were for hunting, not for an assassin's path: "This is a covert operation, it's not suitable for you."

Pursing her lips, Karin ultimately didn't argue, but asked, "At least tell me the location. If anything happens, I'll come to your aid."

The daughter of a hunter had seen blood. Given Karin's character, she wouldn't be willing to stay in the rear after recovering her strength.

Hesitating for a moment, Raven still told her, "The stone bridge to the east of the town, 200 meters north along the river, there's a small wooden house. That's my target. You can hide in the grass downwind of the wooden house. Once the Black Erosion's purge order is issued, all the inns in this town will be searched soon. Without a Free Citizen's Certificate, it will be very troublesome. Pack up and leave directly."

A Free Citizen's Certificate is essentially a certificate of no criminal record. As long as you can pay, even if you are a demon, any city's constable will issue you this certificate.

It's a very ironic paradox. Yet, the entire continent recognizes it. People feel that if you can afford to pay for the certificate, it at least proves that you are not the lowest of thieves or gangsters.

The two set out, arrived near the wooden house, and saw Karin hide in the grass. Raven quietly sneaked into the wooden house.

As soon as he entered, Raven cursed.

Raven's memory was correct; this was indeed a key escape point for the Black Erosion Church.

The situation before him, however, deviated from his memory.

Severely!

He had expected that there would be at most two guards here. After listening outside the wooden house for a long time without sensing anyone's presence, and observing for a long time from the window, the hall seemed unremarkable, just a pile of old furniture and ropes. So he sneaked in.

As soon as he entered, he was caught.

The moment his foot stepped into the hall, a pile of old ropes on the ground suddenly moved.

Thick hemp ropes surged, like a nest of snakes writhing and entangling each other. They rapidly formed arms, ankles, calves, and thighs, instantly creating a humanoid shape. The creature stood up, almost twice as tall as Raven. Its face had only a rough human outline, with two pure white energy orbs burning in the eye positions.

Caught off guard, Raven instantly understood what this thing was—damn, it was a Strangler Golem!

A Strangler Golem is also known as a Rope Golem. When not active, it disguises itself as a pile of old ropes to ambush intruders. In the game, even the smallest Strangler Golem has 450 hit points and a challenge level of 52, meaning at least a mid-Silver rank is needed to defeat it. And you need to use the right method, because this thing is almost immune to physical attacks!

Raven's mind was instantly filled with thousands of galloping grass mud horses! Why was he so unlucky!? To encounter this thing in the beginner area!

He definitely couldn't fight it!

Run? He was already in the trap. Within a ten-meter radius, it was the Strangler Golem's domain. Unless he had over 100 points in intuition and evasion skills, he shouldn't even think about it!

In this critical moment, Raven's mind raced, trying to recall everything about the Strangler Golem:

In the world of Aotu, there was once a powerful human empire called Neras. At its peak, it had a vast territory of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. Within its borders, civilization and knowledge flourished, including the study of magic. Magicians and engineers began to make progress in the research of constructs, especially autonomous golems.

Three centuries later, King Iosil III began to fund the Imperial Engineers' Association—an independent institution of skilled craftsmen chosen by the king but not subject to his control. He set them the goal of creating a highly adaptable construct—a creature that could have perception without imprisoning immortal spirits or elemental beings. This construct should be able to complete its mission autonomously and learn from it.

Iosil's son, Ildir, succeeded him after his death, but the engineers had not yet completed their work. The continuous unrest in the wild regions of the empire changed the purpose of the work to serve the war. He needed soldiers, not just ideal constructs.

To achieve this goal, Ildir used his royal power to order more alchemists and soul researchers to devote themselves to this research.

To complete the goal as quickly as possible, these magicians imprinted the knowledge of mechanics into their blood and souls, thus giving birth to the branch of mechanical magicians.

Under the leadership of the mechanical magicians, the Imperial Engineers' Association soon completed the first creation furnace, and the first mass-produced war golem was created. However, Ildir's demands caused a split in the association. Some dreamers hoped to create the constructs imagined by the late King Iosil. These mechanical magicians, along with a group of engineers, left the association, taking with them the technical copies for creating golems.

Regardless, Ildir's preparation for war was far-sighted. The Neras Empire soon found itself in a large-scale war against the humanoids and demons in the wild regions. The king allowed the nobles to be exempt from fighting for the empire as long as they could afford to pay for the creation of the golems that would replace them.

The imperial treasury supported the construction of more construct soldiers. Throughout the empire, even the traitorous magicians and engineers were using their creation furnaces to produce various golems for the war.

Undoubtedly, the golems, which did not fear death or injury, played a crucial role in the conflict. With their help, the Neras Empire won the war. However, after the death of the king and his successors, and several of the most influential leaders, the empire quickly collapsed, falling into factional strife and territorial disputes. The creation furnaces were sometimes used by minor nobles for amateur purposes. The surviving golems were recruited into new armies, enslaved, or left to fend for themselves.

Decades later, regional wars subsided due to the decline of trade and the consolidation of local nobles. The Neras Empire eventually split into many independent states separated by narrow wilderness. Even so, a considerable number of golems survived, though the most intelligent mechanical golems had been almost entirely lost in battle.

Over the centuries, the Neras Empire no longer existed, but in some corners of the world, a few creation furnaces still operated, producing new golems. The descendants of the Imperial Engineers' Association still used the old titles, producing new mechanical golems and selling them through black market merchants to armies, nobles, and any other forces that could afford them.

Defensive mechanical golems are the most common. These constructs, which can only accept simple commands, can be more annoying than a dragon blocking the road when used correctly.

If this was a mindless mass-produced golem, Raven was dead. If it was a high-intelligence version, there might be a glimmer of hope.

No matter what!

Take a chance! If it doesn't work, die!

Seeing the golem about to attack, Raven shouted in the ancient Neras language, which had long since vanished, "Asomido, Taronka!" which roughly means "Don't shoot! It's one of us!" To intimidate the Strangler Golem, Raven added the superior tone of a mechanical magician to his words.

The Strangler Golem really stopped, the energy orbs in its eyes flickering.

Suddenly, a section of rope on its body twisted, forming a string of Neras text, which roughly said, "Who are you? I don't sense the passage permission on you?"

"Beep!" The system notification sounded.

"You have activated the Performance skill! At this moment, you are possessed by a great actor. Depending on your performance, you will either die or gain an opportunity."

"You have activated the Bluff skill! You have issued a non-magical suggestion to the Strangler Golem, pretending to be from the Black Erosion faction."

"Due to your Expertise skill [Persuader], the other party's suspicion of you has decreased by 20%."

After decisively activating the skill, Raven continued to speak in Neras, his words flowing like honey: "I am the special envoy Raven, sent by the great and supreme Black Dragon King Lucian da Zakar. Due to the treachery of the Goddess of Wealth Vogen, she launched a despicable ambush on our Black Erosion Holy Church. Our believers were massacred, and our priests were threatened with their lives. Therefore, I was sent to the Black Dragon Secret Passage to meet the Chief Priest Fakarin. Due to the urgency of the situation, I didn't bring the token with me."

Raven spoke everything he remembered about the Black Erosion. If there were no surprises, the names of the Black Dragon and the priest should match.

As soon as he finished speaking, the system notification came.

"The Strangler Golem Rope One believes your words. Due to your extensive knowledge and perfect Neras language, you have successfully deceived an opponent far stronger than you. Your Performance skill has been significantly improved, and it is now level 45. Your Bluff skill has been significantly improved, and it is now level 33."

With the notification, Raven's heart, which had almost leaped out of his chest, settled back down. The cold sweat on his back was so much that it could have rained.

The Strangler Golem's massive head nodded, and the long rope twisted into a string of text: "Understood, you are indeed the special envoy sent by the master. I will add passage permission for you. I also received a notification from Lord Rudy a while ago. He has just entered the tunnel with Chief Priest Fakarin and his entourage. You can choose to wait for him here or enter the tunnel to meet him."

This was a difficult decision. The Strangler Golem was quite intelligent. If Raven followed his original plan to ambush the Black Erosion Church group in the tunnel, he wouldn't be able to come out from this side. Coming out with a dagger stained with the blood of a Black Erosion priest would definitely be attacked by the Strangler Golem. Leaving from the entrance of the Golden City, he might encounter the mercenary group chasing the priest, which meant danger and trouble.

If he didn't go in, Raven had even less confidence in ambushing a group of enemies who were madly fleeing for their lives in open terrain.

What to do?

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