"We cannot enter."
"Doesn't look like it."
The next day, we were forced to a standstill outside of the grave.
To be more specific, there were a huge number of people gathered at the entrance already, so we couldn't get any farther. All of them were making lots of noise while blocking the entrance.
Honestly, they were a real nuisance.
"Umm, excuse me… Did something happen?" Haruka asked a random guy who was nearby.
Huh, he's got brown, short hair and he's real built… Wait, that's the leader of the adventurers from yesterday!
When he noticed it was us, he went, "Ohh."
"So you're all here to explore the grave, too? Oh, so this pretty red haired girl here must be the other one you were talking about yesterday."
"Yes, my name is Haruka, a free merchant. So, what happened?"
The adventurers scrunched up their faces in thought when Haruka asked her question again. Apparently, it wasn't a happy subject.
"Yeah, there was a special investigation corps dispatched here from Laevateinn two months ago, but they failed to check in today. They should have reached near the top floor yesterday, so everyone was really excited that they were close to beating the thing, but…"
"Isn't it just that something happened that's causing a delay to their regular check-in?"
"That's what everyone thought at first, but it's already been five hours. Isn't it weird that it's been this long, and they still haven't sent any sort of message through magic?"
Hearing the adventurer's reply, Haruka looked over at Fiona and I. We nodded silently and separated ourselves from the group, moving to hide behind a nearby shelter.
"What do you think, Big Sis?"
"They were most likely done-in by Penny. There's no doubt she's at the top floor."
"I agree. She probably hit them with Brachium when they reached the top floor."
The investigation corps that failed to check in was probably filled with pretty skilled people. I didn't know exactly how hard this grave was, but judging by today's standards it was clearly not something to be trifled with.
But it was their bad luck that they were just skilled enough to thoughtlessly make their way to the top floor.
To the people of today, encountering Penny meant unavoidable death. It was painful to think that all their hard work was for nothing. However, as long as Penny guarded the top floor—putting it bluntly, there was basically no chance of winning.
But she did have a weakness.
Brachium couldn't be fired in succession. If they had just sent someone in alone to take the shot of Brachium, it would've been possible to then fight her with the remaining members, essentially sealing Brachium's power.
But there was no way they could have known that. They had no method of figuring out the weakness—that Brachium couldn't be fired continuously—because once she fired it, everyone died. Not to mention how hard and life-threatening it would've been to get up to the top floor in the first place, only to be met with Penny's full force.
Dead men tell no tales—Since everyone had died, there was no one left to pass along information.
The only ones who knew of this weakness were Jenny and I. Neither of us had ever told anyone else about it. However, I'd only arrived in this world the other day, and Jenny was deceased. The other Twelve Zodiac's Guardians might have known as well, but there was no way any of them would hand that information over to any humans. So, there was no chance that anyone would know of Penny's weakness, causing a mountain of corpses to pile up until today.
Still, if asked if they would have had a chance at victory just by knowing of that weakness, I'd have had to definitively say no.
It was true that Penny didn't have a way to repair herself and still has her initial stats. She hadn't been boosted at all. However, even without Brachium she was just generally strong, with the highest level among all the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians at 910.
Unfortunately, outside of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, the Seven Maidens of Midgar, and the Grimm King, there was probably no one who would stand a chance against her.
…No, only about half of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians had HP above 100k. The Seven Maidens of Midgar had been weakened, so they were probably out, too. If that were the case, then there really were only a small number of people who could have broken through Penny.
"The number of victims will only continue to increase like this if we don't retrieve her soon."
She was still a little better than Fiona because she wasn't actively attacking a country, but it was bad that we kept losing brave, skilled adventurers to her. Humanity's fighting power just kept getting shaved away, even though it was already so low.
We need to get Penny back before anyone else makes it to the top floor.
"All right, let's go, you two."
"Yes!"
"Penny will be impossible for me, but I can at least take care of the small-fry!"
With Haruka and Fiona in tow, I pushed through the throng of people and approached the Black Empress's grave. I heard people trying to stop me, but I boldly ignored them.
But just as I was about to enter, someone grabbed my shoulder.
"W-Wait just a second, missy! Were you seriously just going to go in?! Didn't you just hear what I said?! That's madness! The investigation corps was made up of hundred skilled veterans that were chosen by the country. And it was impossible even for them, you know!"
He was definitely a good guy. From his perspective, we definitely looked like stupid kids who didn't even understand the dangers involved. The fact that he didn't just leave us alone but took the effort to stop us meant that he was really nice.
Although I was fully aware of all the risks when I tried to enter in the first place. In fact, I don't think there's anyone in this world who knows how dangerous Penny is more than I do.
"We will give our thanks for your concern. But it is unneeded. Now then, let us go."
I gently removed his hand from my shoulder and stepped into the Black Empress's grave.
Just like I'd expected, the inside was just passages made of brick-like stones. The surroundings were dim, and the farther away we got from the entrance, the darker it was.
We were not troubled for light, though. Fiona lifted her hand and a small flame appeared in her palm, lighting the way for us.
We continued on deeper and deeper into the grave.
As one might have expected out of the first floor of this well-traveled place, pretty much all the traps had already been sprung. Basically, nothing got in our way as we moved on, and we easily made it to the next floor after finding the stairs.
After we continued on for a while on the second floor, a single shadow appeared before us.
It was a badly made stone golem.
However, with my Observing Eye I could see that it was still level 150. To me, it was weak, but that probably wasn't the case for other people.
"Oh? A golem, huh?"
"Yes. By the way, this is one of the golems you mass-produced for the final fight against the Seven Maidens of Midgar, Big Sis."
"Ahh, We see. So this is our golem? No wonder why it is such a high level even though it is built so shoddily."
For the final fight with the Seven Maidens of Midgar, I tried to cover the difference in war potential with mass-produced golems.
However, a player couldn't bring more than one golem with them at once. Even if one had multiple golems on them, the game would prioritize the golem nearest to the top of the player's inventory to manifest, and any other golems would stay in storage. So even if a golem I made were to be destroyed, I could only bring out the next one after the battle ended. Mass use of golems was banned.
Also, golem AI could only be set in levels from 1-5. The higher the AI's level, the longer it took to move on to the next golem, causing mass-production of high-performance golems to be impossible.
But it was still possible to find any number of loopholes if one played the game enough.
On the flip side, since making high-level-AI golems was impossible in a short time, that meant making masses of dumb golems was completely possible. Even if I couldn't employ one myself, I could still deploy all my golems if I distributed them to my soldiers.
I took advantage of that loophole to equip all my forces with low-level-AI golems to forcefully drag up my war potential. Even though I went that far, they were still all basically just fodder for high-level players.
Apparently, this grave was littered with tons of leftover golems that I made, just wandering around.
"Hm, these should be golems that We have made, but We can feel their intent to attack us."
"Didn't you program these golems's thought routines to indiscriminately attack, and I quote, 'Any living thing that is not one of the 'Zodiac' or a golem?' Your country doesn't exist anymore, Big Sis. Of course you'd get attacked."
"…Ahh, oh yes, We remember now. These ones are idiots that can only keep attacking whatever enemy is closest."
Low-level-AI golems were dumber than monkeys.
To put it bluntly, all these golems ended up as crude ones that could only charge at their closest enemy and repeat normal attacks. If a golem's AI was low, they wouldn't be able to use skills even if they had any, and they don't think about their comrades, either.
Golems will use skills if their AI level is 2 or higher, but at 2 they basically just choose skills at random and don't think about the situation at all.
That was why it was common sense between alchemists that at least AI level 3 was necessary for real fights. In a sense, my battle plan of mass-producing golems flew right in the face of established doctrine.
…The result was disastrous, though.
Common sense was important. It was there for a reason.
"Well, if that's the case, then there is no need to hold back. We can destroy these as We please." I cracked my knuckles and looked squarely at a golem.
If the rejects I made one thousand years ago were still around and causing trouble for people, then it was my responsibility to dispose of them.
But just a moment before I was about to charge into the golems… Something got in between us, recklessly stopping the golem's fist with a sword.
"Whoops! I can't let you do that! For I am Cardin the adventurer, a man who never forgets a debt! And these three are the rest of my adventuring party, the team Cardinal'! We owe you one, so we'll help you out, missy!"
The ones who suddenly got between me and the golem were the brown-haired adventurer and the other three men in his party…
Honestly, I'd rather they not have bothered.