Chapter 49

I delved deep into a world made solely of black rock, taking quite some time to dig down, and finally paused to catch my breath.

After smashing rocks with bare hands and continuously tossing the fragments outside to form a bridge, I reached a place that would take an ordinary person a full day’s walk without rest to arrive at.

Hmm… Good. About here, shall we craft a gate?

Since this is supposedly the path to the afterlife, wouldn’t it be boring if there was just a road with no gate at all? And naturally, we need something to guard said gate too!

After gathering up the crushed rock fragments and roughly piecing them together, I began carving away.

Let’s see… The image should be… An armored knight, perhaps! Although concepts like armor or knights don’t exist yet here!

At first glance, it’s a knight carved from hard black rock—so imposing and angular that it radiates menace. It’s strong enough that regular humans wouldn’t dare oppose it.

Though, even as a knight, its body proportions seem strangely off compared to humans. Its image leans more towards a robot—one vividly etched in my memory: a dark mechanical figure.

Thinking about the protagonist’s robot from some shonen manga, originally an enemy but later becoming an ally, I continued carving the rock.

Of course, I can’t replicate it exactly. Just borrowing its overall vibe.

Big and mighty. So big that even the shoulders and legs stretch beyond normal proportions. Arms slightly smaller but still large compared to the head. A robust torso for good measure.

And let’s add sharp edges everywhere. Sharp, fierce designs.

Thus, a towering figure around 10 meters high emerged—a knight of black rock.

Alright. Now that the general shape is done, we need to refine the less visible parts. Using magic, I levitated it and smoothed out the back, carved grooves on the soles to prevent slipping.

Hmm… But all-black is kinda bland. The chest feels too plain.

Then why not incorporate another robot design? Let’s carve a lion on the chest.

Like that ultimate boss robot who looked like the main antagonist but wasn’t—let’s carve a lion there.

No need for tails or wings since this guy’s only job is to guard. Drills on the knees will suffice. Hmm…

Great, the silhouette looks much more dynamic now. Time to paint it with different colors.

Dark red accents on the shin guards, forearms, and shoulders would look good. Oh, and let’s paint the head red too.

Gold highlights on the knees and the lion emblem on the chest. As for the eyes… Red seems fitting.

To evoke the terrifying guardian of the underworld feel, the eyes must glow red. The face should have a robotic, non-human edge.

And most importantly, the horns! Extending diagonally from the forehead in a V-shape… Should they be red or gold? After pondering within, gold suits the robot aesthetic better.

Sure, opinions may vary—white or red—but ultimately, it’s my personal preference.

Once satisfied with the color scheme, I used magic to paint the black knight accordingly. Dark red is… In RGB terms, maybe 133, 0, 8? HEX-wise, #850008. A brownish-red hue.

The color subtly evokes dried blood, making it intimidating enough to make most people faint at first sight.

And the gold parts? Simply transforming the selected black rock portions thinly into gold finishes the plating. Nice. Better than expected.

Strong, menacing, and the lion emblem on the chest turned out splendidly… Wait…

Didn’t I intend to create a guardian for the underworld? Why am I ending up crafting a cool robot instead?!

Grr… Can’t help it now! It’s already done, and dismantling it would be wasteful!

Gatekeeper of the underworld! Black Knight of the Underworld! Complete!

Still, shouldn’t he have a weapon? Not like this guy will throw rocket punches or fire beams.

Weapons… Hmm… Might as well use the same black rock for the weapon. Coating it with black iron would work fine!

What type of weapon? Sword? Axe? Spear? One-handed sword with a shield is nice, but how about a heavy two-handed sword?

A massive two-handed sword taller than the knight himself. Swinging it could split the earth! Imagine wielding such a blade—it’d be legendary!

After excavating suitable chunks of surrounding rock, I carefully carved out the blade.

Big and rugged, yet sharp. We’ll add decorations later; for now, let’s focus on the blade and hilt as one piece.

Skip the sheath—it’s unnecessary. After persistent carving, a colossal two-handed sword took form.

This was far too large to be called a sword. Extremely thick and heavy, almost resembling a mace. Naturally inspired by the protagonist’s two-handed sword from some anime.

Though dwarves might protest calling this a “sword,” who cares?

Coating the hastily completed rock blade with black iron sharpened the edge, and intricate carvings were added on the sides.

Skulls in chains, helpless and powerless. Carving these terrifying motifs onto both sides of the blade finally brought satisfaction.

With black iron, it should cut through anything. Hmm.

Giving the finished sword to the black knight and infusing it with magical power caused the knight to stir.

There, my first golem powered by my magic comes alive.

—

Rychlen ventured deeper into the cave made of black rock, relying on the light emitted by the mana stone in his hand, walking tirelessly.

How much time had passed? Around the time he crossed the first door, the narrow, winding cave gradually widened into a vast square.

In the distance stood a giant.

No, this was not the same kind of giant Rychlen had encountered before.

It was the first guardian of the underworld, spoken of by the wise ones of the deep forest.

Obsidian Colossus. Talos.

Its red eyes meticulously scanned every soul heading to the underworld, acting both as its vigilant overseer and the blade that eliminated those who disturbed it.

Upon seeing this figure, Rychlen immediately extinguished the light of the mana stone and held his breath.

The sight of the obsidian giant scrutinizing everything with its red gaze made Rychlen instinctively swallow dryly, the faint sound of his throat moving echoing softly.

Simultaneously, the red eyes turned toward Rychlen’s direction.

That piercing red gaze, which seemed to pierce through everything, made Rychlen realize he couldn’t evade it. He tensed further, gripping the item concealed in his embrace tightly.

—

Now, this black knight will become my first golem powered by my magic.

Hmm. Golem. Important stuff. Giant rocks moving on their own are also a fantasy dream, you know!

Oh, got distracted. Back to focusing on the black knight.

Let’s see… Automatically absorb ambient magical energy to store as power, and add regeneration magic in case of destruction.

While I could apply a spell to keep it intact forever, breaking it adds a special charm to robots like this!

But complete destruction isn’t appealing, so regeneration function it is!

Add the ability to scan the area with its gaze as part of its gatekeeping duties, adjust output for strength and agility, and grant it a moderate level of intelligence to assess situations and repel intruders.

Crushable, enemy-detecting with its gaze, moves swiftly despite its size, and delivers heavy attacks—our golem is complete!

As a final touch, let’s add a system to monitor against possible intrusions by Erebus.

Kind of like magical night vision goggles! Plus, detect entities with magical power!

Finish it off with a magical coating to harm Erebus, the embodiment of darkness!

Any special functions? Hmm… Nah, probably not necessary.

Unless we need something fancy later, like combining robots for bigger forms!

Robot combinations are dreams, after all!

—

Kugugugung…

The knight of black rock rises. Good. Time to name it.

Hmm… Colossus? Too plain.

Black Obsidian Colossus… Sounds too wuxia-like.

Colossus. Giant. Colossus of Rhodes. Hmm… So…

Yes! Talos! That sounds perfect! Talos!

Definitely the name of the bronze giant crafted by Hephaestus in Greek mythology!

“Your name shall be Talos. How does that sound?”

The newly intelligent Talos gave a small nod.

The moment the red-eyed colossus Talos was completed.

Now then…

“To thee, I issue thy first command.”

Talos stood proudly, ready to receive any order, while I smiled faintly and spoke.

“Use that sword to break and dig through the rocks!”

A tireless worker for digging land was born.