Chapter 908: Puppet War
Hubert swung Slaughter, colliding fiercely with the enormous grinding wheel. Sparks flew in all directions. The Dragonblood Orc grunted, forced to stagger back four or five steps before he could steady himself.
As one grinding wheel swept across under the control of a mechanical arm, another massive wheel spun into motion, crisscrossing toward Leon in a deadly pincer.
Leon frowned, but Reina acted first. With a breath, two shards of frost traced white arcs through the air, striking the joints of both mechanical arms.
Instantly, frost began to spread from the joints of the mechanical arms, freezing their once-ferocious movements into rigid stillness.
The two mechanical arms trembled violently, struggling as if still trying to attack.
Leon scanned the area, finding no traps. These mechanical arms were powerful—strong enough that even Hubert couldn’t match them—but their original purpose was to grind alchemical puppet parts, not to fight.
Yet just now, the arms had intertwined to attempt a lethal attack—an ability only combat-oriented alchemical puppets should possess. Their timing and coordination seemed impossible for mere auxiliary machinery.
Leon observed the arms for a while, then used his crystal pen to inscribe dense alchemical runes across them, severing their energy supply completely. Only then did the trembling arms finally come to a full stop.
Leaving the room, Leon glanced back, unsettled by the strangeness of it all. It felt as if some unknown detection method was at work—one he couldn’t uncover, always triggering ambushes in places he least expected.
Continuing down the corridor, Leon suddenly stopped—one of his cast Wizard’s Eyes had lost contact, destroyed before it could see anything.
It was like a chain reaction: seven or eight Wizard’s Eyes sent out in succession all lost contact, one after another. The last one barely caught a fleeting image before it was destroyed.
As this Wizard’s Eye entered one of the open rooms, the door suddenly slammed shut. Inside, a device capable of generating searing flames shot a ray of fire, obliterating the Wizard’s Eye.
Leon frowned, pondering. The other Wizard’s Eyes had also vanished after entering rooms along the corridor—likely destroyed in the same way.
"Prepare for battle."
Leon gave a quiet order, and his Dragonstaff began to glow.
They stood in the center of a cross-shaped corridor, when suddenly, violent waves of magical energy surged from all four directions.
In an instant, dozens of fire rays shot in from every side, trapping Leon and his companions in the narrow corridor—only seven or eight meters wide, with nowhere to dodge. They had no choice but to withstand the assault.
Leon raised his Dragonstaff, and with a flash of light, four Gates of Eskrym rose up around them, blocking the barrage of fire rays.
Reina began chanting in Dragon Tongue, conjuring four transparent ice walls behind the Gates of Eskrym, shielding every direction.