The cheers from my previous victory hadn't even died down, but this time… the atmosphere felt different. The audience looked like they were waiting for something—perhaps the fall of the "stinky golem" from his too-rapid rise to fame.
"Contestant 143-B, your next opponent is... Slaraz of the Three-Nosed Tribe."
Okay. Three noses?
A slender monster with a head like a flattened crocodile and three large nostrils that constantly twitched emerged from the opposite side of the arena. He wore thin armor and carried a wind spear. But the most striking thing was his expression: glaring… and grimacing in disgust.
"I smelled you even before you entered Govart," he said in a deep voice. "This stench... can't possibly come from stone."
*Thump.*
He smelled my lie. Literally.
I rolled forward like usual, pretending I didn't hear. But behind my cracked shell, my mind spun. If he could truly track by scent, then my golem disguise might be blown.
> "Begin!"
The match started.
I immediately rolled in a zigzag pattern, but Slaraz just stood still, sniffed the air, and moved with eerie precision—like someone who could see through smell. His spear jabbed toward my path… nearly hitting!
> "No golem has scent glands like this. Are you... some stinking creature in disguise?"
The crowd roared. Some cheered for Slaraz. Others were simply intrigued. My children squirmed anxiously at the edge of the arena, still disguised as miniature rocks.
Suddenly, Slaraz stabbed his spear into the ground.
> **WHUUM!**
A gust of wind swept out, blowing away dust and… part of my golem disguise! A bit of my rotten shell peeked through. The audience fell silent. Slaraz grinned.
> "Exposed."
I leapt sideways, dodging his next move—the spear spun like a fan as it was thrown. But I caught it using my upgraded *klou* space!
> [Spear stored in Internal Inventory.]
The crowd gasped. Slaraz blinked.
"He… absorbed my weapon?"
"Is that some kind of spatial magic?"
"That's not a normal golem!"
I rolled toward Slaraz, who was now unarmed. But he still had the nose advantage. He sniffed every motion. My attacks kept missing.
I was running out of options.
Then…
A soft voice entered my mind. Telepathy from my kids:
> "Dad... Want us to help?"
I held back. Not yet. I needed to test my limits first. But… if this kept going, I wasn't sure I could win with just stink and strategy.
Slaraz raised his hand. Wind began swirling. The arena turned into a mini vortex.
> "Time to reveal who you really are, mysterious stink-beast."
And just as he leapt toward me in a final assault—