Chapter 138: Chapter 135: A Sneak Attack, Huh? Then You’re Not Going Anywhere

Allen stood by the porthole, looking down at the desolate earth rushing past below.

Twisted, withered trees reached for the sky like struggling arms. The ground was riddled with fissures of varying depths, and occasionally, one could see the rusted metal remains of ruins.

This was the western side of the Third Ring Belt, a silent wasteland. Deep within this wasteland lay the Ancient Golem Factory.

After finishing all his preparations at the academy, Allen hadn’t delayed. He set out first thing in the morning and was about to arrive.

"Dear passenger, we will soon be arriving at the temporary docking point. Please prepare yourself."

The Alchemy Airship’s cabin door opened, and a strange wind, tinged with the smell of rusted metal, immediately gusted in.

Allen was the last passenger. He pulled up his face mask, walked down the ramp, and six basic-model Spider Slayers followed behind him.

The sky was leaden gray, the sun nowhere to be seen. In the distance, the sinister silhouettes of twisted plants pierced the earth’s surface.

The airship slowly ascended behind him, quickly disappearing into the thick clouds.

Allen didn’t spare it a second glance. He stood his ground, first casting a Magic Shield on himself, then activating [Odor Concealment] to suppress his scent. Next, he donned his Stealth Cloak. A faint light shimmered across the Runes on the cloak, and both his physical form and Magic Power fluctuations faded.

Only after doing all this did he raise his hand.

"Demon Eyes, auto-deploy."

Five fist-sized metal spheres flew from his hand, quickly turning transparent and melting into the surroundings as they silently flew off in five different directions.

On Allen’s Insight Glasses, the five reconnaissance feeds integrated into a single, real-time 3D map.

With a faint flash of light, the nine Spider Slayers stored in his Alchemy Bracelet were also released, bringing the total to fifteen. He organized them into three squads.

"Squad One, advance and scout. Squad Two, spread out in a fan formation and maintain alert."

Ten Spider Slayers’ segmented legs glided silently across the ground as they swiftly began to carry out their orders.

Squad Three consisted of five upgraded "Spider Slayer Mk. I" models, which Allen ordered to guard his immediate perimeter.

He did not release the "Pacifist" prototype, PX-0.

This, his strongest trump card, was to be saved for the most critical moment.

With his preparations complete, he looked up toward the far end of the wasteland.

There, the faint outline of a massive structure was visible.

"Advance."

He gave the command and walked in the center of the formation. The Spider Slayers followed him in a stealth pattern like the most loyal of guards, maintaining a distance that allowed for immediate fire support.

The feeds from the Demon Eyes constantly shifted in Allen’s vision, highlighting units with powerful Magic Power signatures.

A troop of rusted Ancient Golems dragged their broken limbs, wandering aimlessly across the plain. Some writhing black shadows, viscous as crude oil, emerged from cracks in the earth, and there were also strange Magical Beasts foraging about.

One Demon Eye even captured the wreckage of an Ancient Golem over ten meters tall. It sat silently on a small hill, one half of its body collapsed, its internal mechanisms long since hollowed out.

Allen maneuvered his squad, carefully skirting these dangerous areas.

Unnecessary fights were to be avoided at all costs; the loss of a single Golem would be a painful blow. His only objective was the factory.

He was already halfway there, and everything was going smoothly.

Suddenly, DSeek’s alarm blared without warning.

[WARNING! POWERFUL MAGIC POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED AT HIGH ALTITUDE. IT’S A FLYING CREATURE!]

[TARGET IS DIVING! EXTREMELY HIGH VELOCITY!]

[EVADE IMMEDIATELY!]

Allen’s scalp tightened.

’Dammit! How did it find me?’

’The Stealth Cloak is enough to fool most forms of Magic Power detection, yet this flying Magical Beast locked onto my position directly to launch a deadly surprise attack!’

He snapped his head up.

The leaden clouds were torn asunder by a tremendous force, and a massive dark shape shot down at an astonishing speed.

It was a two-headed Magical Beast with the body of a lion and the wings of a dragon. One of its fearsome dragon heads spat flames, while the other condensed frost. It was enormous—its wingspan easily exceeding twenty meters—and its shadow instantly enveloped Allen and his third squad.

"A two-headed Chimera."

DSeek’s database immediately returned a match.

[MAGIC POWER PEAK: 1056. COMBAT RISK ASSESSMENT: MODERATE.]

’Fast! It’s too fast!’

There was almost no time between the alarm sounding and the creature appearing overhead.

The Chimera’s target was terrifyingly clear: his exact position.

It had no intention of scouting or probing. Still in the air, it opened its two massive maws, going for a killing blow right from the start!

Two streams of breath, one scorching and one freezing, rained down on Allen.

The stench of death had never been so close.

In that split second, Allen didn’t hesitate for a moment. He pulled a Scroll from his Space Ring and tore it apart.

The instant before the devastating breath attack could swallow him, his figure vanished into thin air.

The destructive breath slammed into the ground.

The gray-white wasteland was instantly melted and frozen, then shattered under the combined assault of ice and fire, leaving behind a massive crater.

The five Spider Slayer Mk. I models had also evaded at the first possible moment, but one was still clipped by the edge of the blast, and half of its body melted away.

A dozen or so meters away, Allen’s figure suddenly reappeared.

In the sky, the two-headed Chimera let out a frustrated roar, as if angered that its attack had missed.

It circled once, the four eyes on its two heads locked onto the spot where Allen had reappeared, having already reacquired his position.

Allen glanced at the terrifying crater, then looked up at the Chimera roaring in frustration. His eyes turned ice-cold, revealing a murderous intent born of pure fury.

The Magical Beast was preparing to adjust its posture and launch a second attack.

Allen raised his left hand, revealing the Alchemy Bracelet on his wrist.

"You like ambushes, huh?"

A spatial ripple spread out.

Immediately after, with a deafening roar, a four-meter-tall Steel Giant slammed into the ground!

THUD!

With a loud crash, the ground itself trembled.

The "Pacifist" PX-0 had appeared out of thin air, its thick composite armor reflecting a cold white light!

Allen stood at the Steel Giant’s feet, looking up at the sky with a ferocious grin.

The primary thread took direct control. The Runes around the washbasin-sized "Divine Punishment" main cannon on PX-0’s chest lit up one by one. A massive amount of Magic Power surged into it as an azure light gathered deep within the muzzle, emitting an increasingly loud hum.

KLICK-KLACK...

To the sound of synchronized machinery, the fourteen surrounding Spider Slayers deactivated their stealth modes. Their six segmented legs dug deep into the ground, fixing them in place like sniper turrets as their dark muzzles aimed in unison at the target in the sky.

The wind on the wasteland seemed to stop at that very moment.

Allen patted the leg armor of his PX-0 and looked up at the somewhat bewildered two-headed Chimera in the sky.

His voice rang out across the silent wasteland, carrying far into the distance.

"You like ambushes, huh? Then don’t even think about leaving! Come on and trade blasts with me!"