Chapter 316 (1/2)

”Hillmane household takes the win again, let us give a round of applause for the king candidate! With this, only one match remains! Who will be our next king!”

A large white golem strode back below the arena while the people cheered. This was the semifinals and Zhang Dong's side had managed to clear them with suffering only minimal damage and tear.

The combination of cultivator automaton and the technology of the dwarven race proved quite effective here. The only real problem was the limited time of operation due to Isabella's and Beatrice's involvement.

”How are you two doing?”

”W-we are fine Mr. Leigong.”

Answered Beatrice while sweating a bit.

”Yes, just one more match, we can handle it!”

Replied Isabella while also not looking especially rested. The fights started taking longer the more advanced golems they thought and Zhang Dong was also getting the hang of piloting this mech. Due to the long tournament, the two girls that were used as batteries were slowly running out of juice.

”Conserve your power, only the last match remains.”

He could only cheer them on and have them drink some mana potions. Those helped slightly but prolonged use had diminishing returns. The mana that people used in this world was connected to the soul and the longer you drained it the harder it was to recover.

Zhang Dong powered down for the time being and returned to his own soul dimension to give the girls more time to rest. While they were doing their breathing exercises outside the golem the earth rumbled above them.

The last pre-final match was taking place above them. On one side was Takeshi and the hero team, on the other some rich dwarven noble. He had seen the golem that the kids were using and it was quite a beast.

It was clear to him that the person that built this was banking on the heroes piloting it. This golem was huge and required people with high mana capacity to boost the mana engines that it was running on. While most golems only had one this possessed multiple. Clearly, they used some secrets to construct it as most golems were stuck with one engine. Adding multiple ones was dangerous and could end in an explosion.

From what he knew the household Takeshi was fighting for was called Runefall. It was the most influential family in this city and even before the heroes arrived they were said to be the favorite.

Zhang Dong even believed that this family had other backup golems depending on the pilots. Probably if they didn't get the operators they wanted they would go with a different design. With the heroes on board, they were in the strongest position to win it all.

”Dang, Is it over already?”

There was a signal that the fight above them was over in an instant. The other house that was qualified towards the semi-finals didn't even last a minute against Takeshi and their golem. Now they would have an hour to rest before the main event took place.

Without much to do, they waited. From the distance, they could hear some kind of large machine lumbering down through the corridor. The tremors that followed the footsteps indicated that this golem was much heavier than the rest.

The hour passed fast and it was finally time for the last bout. Only one side would be walking out victorious. All the families that had failed to achieve victory would be put through hard times. Without the king title the loss of money could not be regained, they would need to tighten their belt as it would take years for them to recover.

This was the same for the Hillmane household, but the old head of the family was already glad that his family reached this point. From his perspective being the runner-up was already an honor. Everyone would know his house name from this moment. Gaining new trade partners would become easy as their name became famous.

”Fellow dwarves, this has been what you have been waiting for. The birth of a new king! Soon we will know who will have the honor of leading our race into the future!”

The announcer started rattling on while one of the gates opened up. A mostly white humanoid golem walked through it, shield in hand.

”Let us welcome the Hillmane household, the dark horse of this king tournament! No one expected them to come this far, can they finish the deal and become immortalized in history? Or will they be a stepping stone for the true victors!”

After Zhang Dong came out on the other side the other slab of rock started sliding down. There stood quite the large metallic contraption. It was barely able to fit through the frame with its multiple legs.

”It's no surprise that House Runefall has made it this far! Their golem innovations have been known throughout the lands by all. Will they be cemented as the greatest golem manufacturers in our dwarven history and take the crown?”

Everyone looked at the marvel of engineering that was before them. This golem's bottom part looked like a spider. The many legs were a must to support this machine's large frame. It looked a bit similar to an Arachne-type monster that was wearing heavy dwarven armor.

The spider-like legs connected to a large abdomen on which some cannons were placed. Then it all stretched into a bulky humanoid torso that also had two sets of arms. This thing dwarfed Zhang Dong's mecha more than a head's length in height and was several times longer as well.