Chapter 49: Pest Extermination
The spatial passage between two worlds, while easily blocked and sealed, is in a sense indestructible.
Thus, when they realized the spatial gate had been obliterated into nothingness by that previous beam of light, neither Joshua nor Loranda panicked excessively. Glancing at the still somewhat distorted spatial rift above the lava pool, the paladin merely snorted and shook his head in complaint: "It seems we'll be stuck here for quite a while. If I'd known an adventure in another world would be so thrilling, I would have brought my armor."
"I'm not fully armed either. Who could have guessed that the first alien world I stumble upon would already be corroded by Chaos?"
Joshua shrugged. He hadn't anticipated such bizarre circumstances either. No sooner had he entered this alien world than he was blasted by a judgment light cannon from the Chaos side. Waiting for the spatial gate to restore itself would likely take ten days or even months. After a moment's thought, he looked up at the sky and said, "Loranda, we should probably be more cautious."
He had no choice but to be cautious. In all his years of adventuring, this was the first time he'd nearly been annihilated—soul and body alike—right from the start.
"...Hearing those words from you is truly unbelievable."
Ignoring the other's sarcasm, the warrior continued his monologue: "To avoid triggering another magical attack like before, we both need to be careful. Use Holy Light and Order Force sparingly. Ying and Lin, you should be cautious too. Even though you don't inherently possess these powers, prolonged exposure to me will leave traces."
"Yes, Master." "Understood, Master."
The boy and girl nodded in unison. Joshua then made his next decision. Gazing southward—toward the capital of Babel Province—he said decisively, "Let's head in that direction first. I sense a massive concentration of Chaos... and, of course, my horse."
Since the spatial passage had been temporarily shattered by such powerful energy, rather than waiting idly for it to reopen, it was better to retrieve that runaway half-dragon quickly. Moreover, the Chaos aura in that direction was so dense that Joshua grew concerned for Hei's current situation.
And indeed, Hei's situation was far from good.
A dense shadow appeared on the horizon of the black-clouded sky. Due to the sudden surplus of mana, purple lightning flickered between the clouds. Illuminated by this lightning, an almost endless swarm of flying stone golems surged toward the capital of Babel Province like a tidal wave. Among them were colossal monsters resembling flying whales, as well as bizarre, haphazardly assembled creatures with wings grafted onto them. Regardless of size or form, they all resembled voracious locusts, greedily aiming for the city as they sped through the air.
In an instant, these monsters reached the skies above the capital. Combat erupted almost immediately. The Federal Elf army had long prepared anti-air defenses, but since the volcanic dragon's earlier defense had been too thorough, they hadn't been deployed. Now, with the half-dragon entangled by several Adamantite Stone Golems and unable to provide air cover, the elves had to fend for themselves.
Gunfire thundered across the sky. Shells were hurled upward and exploded violently, their shockwaves churning the atmosphere and whipping up fierce winds. Small stone golems hit or caught in the blast disintegrated mid-air or crashed to the ground. But the larger flying stone golems retained their mobility, diving into the city one after another to engage the fortress defenders.
An even fiercer battle began. Amid roars and battle cries, shells struck rock-hard carapaces. Magic crystal-powered cannons hurled steel and explosives, tearing through the monsters' bodies. In the white-hot battlefield, every second saw large stone golems shattered, fortresses destroyed, monsters reduced to rubble, and elven warriors torn into bloody shreds.
Stone golems were akin to mages' clay or rock golems—almost indistinguishable. The only difference lay in a mysterious power that allowed these stone golems to self-replicate.
For mages, self-replicating golems were always the ideal guardians for home defense. No need to spend time crafting them manually; just write the program, and they would naturally copy themselves. Unfortunately, only the lowest-grade mud golems could achieve this. Stone golems, however—whether made of steel, mithril, or adamantite—all possessed the ability to replicate themselves, varying only in the time required. The depth of magical technology involved was almost unimaginable.
Such powerful, infinitely self-replicating golems were already a force capable of destroying a world, a civilization.
Gunfire mingled with the heavy footsteps of stone golems. Elven fragile flesh mixed with rubble. Everything seemed thrown into a meat grinder. The battle reached its climax. The Federal Elven front lines were gradually collapsing. Most of the outer fortresses had been destroyed by the frenzied stone golems. Many buildings in the capital had collapsed as well. Over half the city lay in ruins. Even if the stone golems were repelled this time, it would take decades to rebuild—and victory was far from certain.
In the sky, even the howling wind was drowned out, leaving only the rumbling thunder of cannon fire, the heavy tread of stone golems, and the dying screams of elves. Then, a high-pitched dragon roar drowned them all out.
A beam of light—a crimson ray—was spat forth. This beam contained unimaginable heat. It struck a battered Adamantite Stone Golem. Its mirror-smooth body, already scarred by claws, could no longer reflect such an attack. In an instant, the stone golem was reduced to ashes.
Heaving a heavy breath, Hei stood amidst the ruins, surrounded by countless monsters. Dodging the grabs of several Mithril-grade stone golems, he leaped onto a rooftop, looking down from above, preparing another breath. The core on his chest flickered with light. But then, another Adamantite Stone Golem, seemingly appearing from nowhere, lunged from behind, pinning Hei and the entire building beneath it.
The combined weight of the two colossal beings was terrifying. In an instant, the building was crushed into dust. Struck by this blow, Hei's eyes went wide, his golden dragon pupils unfocused. The weight of an Adamantite Stone Golem was immense—comparable to a Titan giant. Even as a half-dragon, he couldn't withstand it.
Seeing this opportunity, the other stone golems rushed forward, ready to pounce and completely crush the fearsome half-dragon. The Adamantite Stone Golem, with its weight and strength, firmly locked Hei in place.
"ROOOOAAARRR!!!"
Sensing the threat of death, Hei roared in fury, struggling violently. The black carapace on his body appeared with countless lava-like patterns. From the carapace on his skull to the tip of his tail, flickering red light of varying intensity surged back and forth. Terrifying heat enveloped the half-dragon's entire body. In an instant, the ground melted into a lava pit, and Hei's entire form sank into it.
The Adamantite Stone Golem maintained its posture, still locking Hei down. As a puppet, it lacked the intelligence to judge the situation. The other stone golems all piled on, pressing it deeper into the lava pit.
But from the lava pit, Hei's voice was gone. Not far away, a section of road suddenly turned red-hot. The next moment, the half-dragon, wreathed in fiery elemental mist, burst forth from the now-molten road and angrily spat out a high-temperature dragon breath.
The clustered ordinary stone golems were instantly annihilated. The Adamantite Stone Golem was trapped in the lava pit, which was rapidly cooling due to Hei's massive mana expenditure, sealing it inside.
Walking up to the monster, Hei cleanly shattered its upper body. After finishing this task, his limbs went weak, and he nearly collapsed. The fire-elemental mana that had coursed through his body dissipated rapidly, and his lava-like golden-red carapace turned black again.
Having killed over a dozen Adamantite-grade stone golems and countless ordinary ones, even Hei's ancient dragon bloodline was reaching its limit. Yet stone golems still appeared endlessly from streets, alleys, and the horizon. Their numbers showed no sign of decreasing. Though only a few thousand had descended from the sky, there were now at least ten thousand—more than double.
Shaking his head, Hei took a deep breath. The increased mana in the atmosphere allowed stone golems to replicate faster and also helped him recover his combat strength sooner. Regaining some strength, he prepared to head to other areas needing support, to help the elves kill stone golems. But just then, another wave of flying stone golems roared overhead, and a portion turned to charge at the half-dragon.
—Endless! Damn these monsters!
The half-dragon grew exasperated. He finally understood why his master always looked disgusted when talking about Chaos. If all Chaos armies had such unreasonable numbers, it was truly nauseating to the extreme.
Hei's carapace remained tough, with little damage—a substance resilient enough to withstand lava and underground pressure. But beneath the carapace, his muscle tissue and internal organs had sustained considerable damage. Stone golems' punches couldn't shatter the carapace, but they could penetrate it to harm the flesh beneath. Facing this group of flying stone golems, Hei wasn't too panicked. These monsters weren't strong; one claw strike could kill them, and with luck, he could take out several at once.
But suddenly, a powerful psychic pressure swept across the entire city.
Like a typhoon raising giant waves, an earthquake triggering a tsunami, the immense psychic force attacked the souls of everyone present. Most elven soldiers collapsed unconscious or even went mad. Those in better condition saw endless illusions before their eyes, and waves of negative emotions surged within their hearts.
Hei also felt a pang of palpitation. Because of this, he took another punch from a Mithril-grade stone golem. Anger quickly broke through the inexplicable unease. The half-dragon tore it apart with a single claw. But while he remained unaffected, the other elves did not. Under the assault of stone golems completely immune to psychic attacks, in that moment of hesitation, another large section of the defense line was breached. Stone golems had already charged into the last line of defense of the Sanctuary, and the entrance to the underground shelter was even visible.
But Hei had no energy left to care about these things. His golden dragon pupils contracted as he stared into the clouds above.
Purple mana lightning streaked across the sky. In this gloomy, dark firmament, a strange silver light appeared.
It was a humanoid figure, but its body was composed of countless light rays. Its interior was hollow, with only a ring-like magic array slowly rotating in the brain area. With each rotation, the array released powerful psychic shocks.
Vaguely, the half-dragon could hear a strange voice.
"Autonomous golem mission failed."
It was a bizarre, dizzying psychic noise, like the friction of glass and metal: "Now, Coordination Terminal 317 will execute the Pest Extermination mission."
(To be continued.)