Mechanical Alchemist

From the moment that Grand Magician from the eighth tier failed to ambush Su Lun, those from the divine plane were destined to completely lose the opportunity to turn the tide of battle.

Without the protection of the legion barrier, the mages stood no chance against an eighth-tier dragon.

The silver dragon and the monster tide took advantage of the gap created by Su Lun and violently surged through.

Before long, the remaining four thousand mage regiment perished in battle.

In the end, only a ten thousand member regiment, already damaged by twenty to thirty percent and depleted of magic power, remained. Although they still held on to fight, once morale fell, there truly was no chance of turning the tables anymore.

They understood clearly that even if they desperately fought off the monster tide, the native alchemists who fled earlier would definitely return to strike them head-on, ensuring they wouldn't leave alive.

The battle continued in this atmosphere of despair.

Although the silver dragon realized it was being used, it did not hold back.

Having finally found an opportunity to retaliate against the human mages who almost killed it, why would it let go? While previously feeling weary and weak, it now seemed rejuvenated, spewing dragon breath even more fiercely than before.

...

Meanwhile, far away at sea, Su Lun stood alone.

Seeing that the overall situation was settled, he did not intervene any further.

Although only less than a quarter of those mages from the divine plane remained, most of the top mages of seventh tier and above were still alive. In the face of impending death, the instinct to survive ultimately exists. The closer to the end of the battle, the more unreservedly those survivors used various forbidden techniques, causing their fighting power to explode terrifyingly.

Su Lun certainly did not want to endure the final desperate outburst of an elite ten thousand mage regiment.

But those not-so-intelligent monsters had no such considerations; they continued to be driven by the dragon's presence, persistently surrounding and attacking the mage regiment. The two sides caused even more exaggerated commotion on the ice surface than before.

Before long, the number of corpses on the ice surface increased, the remaining number of the ten thousand mage regiment decreased, and the size of the legion barrier grew smaller and smaller.

Su Lun observed this scene, his gaze devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

Towards his enemies, he had not a trace of mercy.

Besides watching the battle, he occasionally charged in to harvest some soul shards.

Watching the last of those elite mages still holding on, Su Lun pondered, "Will these guys choose to fight to the death or will they scatter and flee?"

During the previous battle, these individuals had obtained some information about the Dawn Regiment, especially about Su Lun's own small void realm. Regardless of whether the information was shared, he was determined not to let anyone live to leave.

He analyzed in his mind the possible reactions of the enemy and made a judgment, "They would likely attempt to break out..."

The ten thousand mage regiment hadn't fled before, not because the high-tier powers lacked the ability, but because the large number made it too cumbersome.

If the high-tiers fled, the tens of thousands of low-tiers would certainly die without a doubt.

The mages serving as commanders couldn't possibly make such a decision.

But the situation was different now.

From the three ten thousand people regiments, only a few hundred remained.

In the current situation, continuing to fight would inevitably lead to their annihilation.

Killing more magical beasts would be meaningless to them.

Just as Su Lun was watching, suddenly a loud "boom" echoed in his ears.

In his field of vision, a super intense magic shockwave erupted on the ice surface.

Upon another look, hundreds of mages surrounded by monsters suddenly unleashed a Hurricane Technique comparable to ninth-tier magic. The surrounding tide of monsters was instantly disrupted, with sharp blades of air slicing limbs and cutting them into flying debris, temporarily stopping the monsters' assault.

And right after the high-powered spell was released, over a hundred mages, each protecting themselves with a magic shield, frantically fled in all directions.

"Indeed, they chose to break out,"

Su Lun muttered to himself when he saw this scene and at the same time urgently spoke into the communicator, "Begin slaughtering!"

Before he could finish his statement, the Dawn Group's elite fighters, who had been waiting on the ice's perimeter for a long time, also began to show themselves.

.....

The ice surface was filled with monsters, and in the sky hovered a menacing eighth-tier silver dragon; escaping wasn't just a simple matter of wanting to break out.

At the same moment when the Hurricane Technique suddenly erupted, a mocking glint passed through the eyes of the silver dragon.

It possessed intelligence not inferior to humans; how could it not see that these people were trying to escape?

This mighty dragon didn't hesitate either; it spewed a breath of Holy Light Dragon Breath, instantly killing dozens of mages who were just preparing to break through.

The overall commander, Su Lun remembered was called "Mode," an eighth-tier Grand Magician, chose to take the brunt himself to cover his comrades' escape.

However, in a blink of an eye, the old man was slammed into the ice by a dragon claw, creating a huge crater upon impact.

Immediately following was another old Dragon Breath sprayed down, directly burning him to ashes.

Without the legion's protective shield, these mages' individual defenses appeared almost as fragile as paper in the eyes of that silver dragon. Even for an eighth-tier Grand Magician, it was the same!

However, these two exchanges had still created a slim chance for the other mages to escape for their lives.

These guys tore up various spatial scrolls, substitute scrolls, burrowing scrolls, teleportation scrolls... in short, they used every means available to save their lives.

The inheritance of magic in the divine plane was tremendously strong; these high-tier mages each had more or less some means to save their lives.

Some even managed to escape several miles away in an instant.

Su Lun watched the silver dragon chase after an eighth-tier mage and also changed direction, disappearing on the spot through teleportation.

Grasping a black umbrella in his hand, he fully activated his perception ability. Mages hiding under the ice, in seawater, masked by the wind, or feigning death, none could escape detection.

The first time he teleported, he appeared hundreds of meters away on the ice. A seventh-tier mage had just used a spatial scroll to escape there but hadn't yet managed to flee far when what met him was a scythe slashing down.

A regular seventh-tier mage posed almost no threat to the current Su Lun, let alone some who were already exhausted remnants.

Enveloped in the domain of Death, Su Lun easily broke through the opposing mage's magic shield and ended his life with one slash.

After reaping the soul, he teleported again.

All over the vast expanse of ice, one could see a ghostly figure flickering incessantly.

With almost every teleportation, Su Lun inevitably took a life.

The only trouble was that these fellows chose to scatter and escape, spreading too far.

Those who fled beyond the range of perception were very hard to find again.

However, it wasn't just Su Lun involved in the encirclement and kill, but also the high warriors from the Dawn Group.

Qiántiáo, Barrett, Wuz Waz, Number Nineteen, and Bartolo had also been waiting for a long time.

With Tanni and his mother's perception abilities, the possibility of mages escaping was very low.

...

Thus, the breakout operation of those few hundred surviving mages from the Heavenly God Plane came to a brutal end.

At this moment, it was late in the evening, and those mages cloaked in magic shields flickered like fireflies, their light waning and waxing.

Then, not a quarter hour later, all the glowing "fireflies" in the view had completely vanished.

The people of the Dawn Group didn't encounter any particularly difficult enemies because the tough eighth-tier Grand Magicians had died at the hands of that silver dragon.

Previously bombarded by legion magic, the silver dragon was already itching with hatred. As soon as it broke out, it capitalized on its advantage in flight and keen sense of smell to specifically target several eighth-tiers.

This also saved Su Lun and his group a lot of trouble.

In the midst of battle, Su Lun watched the "grey mist" above the corpses of those eighth-tier mages and felt it couldn't go to waste.

Thus, he also intermittently teleported over, following the silver dragon in a spree of reaping.

Every mage the silver dragon killed was one he harvested.

He also collected the spoils from the bodies along the way.

The insight into the laws of eighth-tier mages was extremely rare, and Su Lun had never had such an easy time harvesting such precious high-tier insights as he had in this instance.

However, this act also infuriated the proud giant dragon.

After the giant lizard had killed several Grand Magicians, it turned around to come looking for trouble with Su Lun.

As far as it was concerned, all humans were insects that deserved to die!

Su Lun had no intention of facing this malevolent dragon alone.

When the Dragon Breath came, he did not show off his strength and immediately teleported away.

He didn't flee far, just toyed with the silver dragon on the icy surface with evasive maneuvers.

He knew that as long as he could tie down this giant dragon, he would create more opportunities for the others in the Dawn Group.

...

It wasn't long before Qiántiáo, Barrett, and other high warriors from the Dawn Group finished off the fleeing other mages and hurried over from all directions.

The silver dragon seemed to sense something was amiss, ceased its attacks on Su Lun, and flew up high.

With his companions by his side, Su Lun instantly felt more confident.

Gathering his breath, he then psychically transmitted to the giant dragon, "Your Excellency Silver Dragon, last time in the capital of Ekrelunsa, it was I who destroyed the magic tower and saved you once. This time, let's call it even, shall we? And, the offspring of yours was not killed by us, but by the magicians in the city back then who wanted to bait you into their trap, the same fellows you've just killed..."

These were negotiations.

Dragon hunting was just an alternative plan.

Now, with three ten-thousand strong mage corps on the Heavenly God Plane annihilated, for the Dawn Group, this was already a perfect conclusion.

And seeing the battle before, Su Lun was even firmer in his belief that it was better for the silver dragon to be alive.

Only with this silver dragon alive would the threat to the people from the Heavenly God Plane be greater. A plan like today's might even be repeated in the future.

Also, Su Lun had now realized that the silver dragon was not severely injured after the fierce battle and still had ferocious combat power, which would not come without significant risks if they were to fight.

However, ideas are good, but things might not develop as he envisioned.

An arrogant giant dragon would negotiate with a human who had taken advantage of it.

Sure enough.

No sooner had he spoken these words than a sneer of scorn appeared on the face of the silver dragon in the sky.

A burst of Dragon Might suddenly pressed down, seemingly to remind these frail humans whom they were speaking to—a great pure-blooded dragon.

Qiántiáo and the others at his side showed no weakness either, their imposing aura surging to meet the Dragon Might head-on.

Seeing this, Su Lun simply shrugged his shoulders and said no more.

The breakdown in talks was not unexpected.

The dragon's arrogance was a priority over their intelligence by instinct.

The gap between biological classes made such creatures unwilling to communicate with beings weaker than themselves. This arrogance was both a strength and the nature of the dragon race.

Just like the blue lightning dragon before, they all relied on their fast flight speed, thinking nothing could trouble them.

However.

While legions numbering in tens of thousands might not handle these monster waves, that doesn't mean the Dawn Group couldn't.

While legions numbering in tens of thousands might not handle the silver dragon, that doesn't mean Su Lun and these high-end fighters from the Dawn Group couldn't.

However, just when the Dawn Group resolutely responded, the silver dragon in the sky felt it had been offended by these lower beings.

Having nearly died at the hands of humans before, it had no fondness for humans anymore.

Seeing that these humans were not afraid, the furious silver dragon unabashedly unleashed a blast of Dragon Breath!

Yet at that moment, a golden figure moved even faster.

Number Nineteen once again surged in front of everyone, blocking the Dragon Breath with the golden wings of a Battle Angel.

Seeing this, Su Lun's pupils slightly shrank as he exclaimed, "Attack!"

Hearing this command, the expressions of the nearby Dawn Group members turned stern, and the battle intent they had been harboring for a long time surged forth!

In an instant, two terrifying auras collided in the air, exploding with a deafening crash.

'Dragon Hunter' Bartolo was the quickest, drawing his sword and sending a slash of frosty Sword Qi slicing through the air.

Previously, in order to conceal his presence, he had barely made a move.

Now, facing off against this eighth-tier silver dragon, he felt that as the person with the highest rank among these old bones, he shouldn't lose to these young people.

An eighth-tier giant dragon, ah...

This was an enemy that they, the Black Sam Group, were never confident they could defeat!

Although he didn't know how the Dawn Group planned to create a dragon-hunting miracle, when he had stood with those young people just now, the blood in his veins had surged like never before!

Barrett's figure flashed, air currents stomped under his feet rippling outward, "Pop" "Pop" "Pop" a series of air explosions, performing the Imperial Air Walk.

One more look, and his figure was already appearing in mid-air.

At this moment, his muscles were bulging, and his skin shimmered with rune lights—the Dragon Scale Armor granted him formidable defense against the direct attack of a Silver Dragon!

Previously in the capital of Aike, he had fought this Silver Dragon before, and facing the same opponent again, Barrett's response was much more composed.

The moment the Frost Flower Night Snow domain was activated, snowflakes filled the sky in an instant.

The Old Sword God took the lead, and Number 19 also showed no weakness.

She spread her wings and instantly took the frontline. Her golden wings, divine-tier mechanics, were not inferior even when facing Dragon Breath.

The two of them together took on the Silver Dragon in an intensely fierce battle.

This wasn't the sort of large-scale magic attacks used by previous mage groups but up-close, physical combat.

The Silver Dragon, seeing these two humans engage it in melee, had initially been cautious, but after the exchange, it felt disdain: merely this much!

Although it recognized that these two were much stronger than any of the mages before, they still posed no threat to it.

As for those on the ground, they were even weaker.

The giant dragon had never feared close combat; it didn't use its flight to escape, but rather to kill these ignorant humans!

...

On the ground, watching Barrett and Number 19 tangle with the giant dragon, Su Lun and the others did not make a move.

It seemed like they couldn't keep up with the Silver Dragon's speed, lacking the opportunity to engage.

But in reality, they were waiting!

Waiting for an opportunity.

The Dawn Group had already succeeded in dragon hunting before.

The tactics had already been arranged.

And unlike the last dragon hunt, although it was an eighth-tier giant dragon this time, the Dawn Group had one huge advantage.

That was, they had all the data on this Silver Dragon!

Dragon Breath energy fluctuations, scorching temperatures, penetration strength, dragon claw power range, scale armor defensive strength... and so on.

All kinds of detailed data had been immaculately recorded during that battle in the capital of Aike.

The strategists of the Dawn Group had already formulated a detailed battle plan based on these data.

For an enemy whose every tactic was known, they dare to make their move, confident in their grasp.

It was like playing poker after seeing the opponent's hand, where even if they had many small cards, they could cleverly win.

...

The battle in the sky was incredibly intense; the eighth-tier Silver Dragon was undeniably powerful.

Even though it had already been worn down by a previous assault, it still dominated against Barrett and Number 19.

Although their attacks could penetrate the dragon scales to some degree, the damage they dealt was much less compared to the strikes they received.

The giant dragon had an absolute advantage in strength, winning every direct confrontation.

It looked like Number 19 and Barrett were variously thrown and smashed into the ice, blasting up sprays of snow.

Had it been an eighth-tier mage, they would have died countless times over by now.

But in reality, neither of them was seriously injured.

Number 19, with her mechanical limbs and indestructible golden wings, suffered some damage to primary components after multiple contacts, but replacement didn't affect her combat strength in the slightest.

And Barrett, as an experienced dragon hunter, was already familiar with every habit of the giant dragon. His exquisite movements allowed him to frequently dodge the dragon's attacks, skillfully deflecting the force; he was unscathed in the short term.

The two sides thus battled in the sky for a long time.

The Silver Dragon also subtly sensed something was amiss.

It felt that these humans seemed to be plotting something.

However, with confidence in its own strength and its speed, it believed it absolutely could not be defeated.

It was wary of the mage group of a thousand; put together, these lackeys posed no threat to it!

However, it was this arrogance that suddenly gave Number 19 an opportunity.

After a move of Sky-Feather Flurry, several golden feathers engraved with spatial coordinates pierced into the dragon's body through the cracks created by Barrett's Sword Qi.

The damage from these few feathers was negligible to the dragon's hundred-meter-long body.

But then, Number 19 uttered through her communicator in a low voice, "Spatial coordinates are fixed!"

On the ground, Su Lun heard this and his expression hardened, "Good!"

He spread his hands, and instantly his entire body was covered with Dragon Scale Armor.

With a pinch of the sorcerer's seals, his figure had already disappeared from the spot.

.....

Although the Silver Dragon was arrogant, its cunning kept it vigilant of the few humans acting on the ground.

Seeing the sudden appearance of dragon scale armor on Su Lun, it instinctively felt something was wrong, a scent of its own kind.

But before it could think further, suddenly, it smelled that human's scent already behind its back.

Spatial Teleportation?

The Silver Dragon had already experienced Su Lun's teleportation and was prepared.

Just as it watched his figure scatter, it flapped its wings in flight. Engulfed by the rule fluctuations of Holy Light rolling over its body, it was already a thousand meters away.

Its speed was not a bit slower than any Spatial Teleportation!

However, what the Silver Dragon had not expected was that, despite flying so fast, it found that the human's presence on its back was still stationary!

How did this human catch up?

Anticipation?

Filled with confusion, the Silver Dragon's wings flashed with Holy Light once more, and it flew erratically several times in succession, attempting to shake off the human.

However, a bizarre scene ensued.

After the fifth explosive burst of speed in the blink of an eye, it was astonished to find that the human on its back was still clinging to it like a plaster!

And just as it failed to understand this moment, it suddenly felt a sharp pain in its back. The Silver Dragon was bewildered that its dragon scales were broken by a human even weaker than the previous two?

It felt like being bitten by an ant—it was different, yet extremely insulting.

Before that arrogant dragon face could show its anger, an even stranger sensation appeared.

The Silver Dragon distinctly felt a corrosive, bone-piercing pain from the wound on its back. Having lived for hundreds of years in the human kingdom, it immediately knew this was a Dragon-Hunting Potion concocted by magicians specifically against their kind!

Damn it, how did these humans have this long-lost potion?

Looking again, the Swordsman from before was beginning to apply this potion to his sword as well.

In an instant, the Silver Dragon realized it had fallen into a huge trap.

...

The reason why Ba​rrett had not used the Dragon-Hunting Potion before was to avoid alarming the beast too soon, which would only make the wicked dragon more vigilant.

Now the timing was perfect.

The Silver Dragon paid a hefty price for its arrogance.

On its back, Su Lun had already struck with the Dragon-Hunting Dagger and steadied his footing.

Having used this tactic in his last hunt of a Thunder Dragon, he knew exactly what to expect.

Even with various dives and collision attempts by the Silver Dragon, he remained immovable.

If he encountered an unstoppable attack, he would simply teleport away and then back again.

From the moment the Silver Dragon was marked, it was destined not to escape no matter how fast it flew.

Seizing the opportunity, Su Lun pinched the sorcerer's seals with both hands and softly uttered, "Necromancy!"

On a focused glance, a massive mechanical octopus attached itself onto the dragon's back. Appearing instantaneously, its eight robust, sucker-filled mechanical tentacles latched onto the dragon scales, then grabbed at the base of the wings.

This plan had been practiced countless times by Su Lun; his actions were fluid and seamless. Before the Silver Dragon could react, several crisp metallic sounds resounded as the metal mechanical arms locked completely.

After the last hunt of a Thunder Dragon, the war workshop's mechanics had made improvements to the mechanical octopus. This mechanical lockdown was absolute; even if the octopus's nervous system was damaged by the dragon's majesty, it couldn't be unlocked unless the metal parts were also damaged.

However, this was no easy feat; not only were there several lock joints on each of the eight mechanical arms, but the type of special alloy from the Ma​fa Laboratory level was not so easily destroyed.

Now used on this eighth-tier dragon, it was perfect to test its extreme strength.

...

The Silver Dragon also noticed something heavy suddenly attaching to its back.

But until today, it had never even seen a cannon, much less a mechanical life form.

The Silver Dragon tried various dive accelerations to shake it off, but was horrified to find it utterly irremovable. Moreover, after a sharp pain, its wings suddenly felt weak, and the strange thing on its back locked tighter, eventually locking its wings' joints in a reverse direction!

Its wing-flapping amplitude was greatly reduced, and its speed drastically decreased.

Seeing this, Su Lun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Dr. Banks had already dissected the dragon's nervous and joint systems. That last strike, he directly stabbed into the dragon's wing nerve.

Otherwise, even with the mechanical octopus, it would have been impossible to gain an advantage in strength.

Now fully locked, it also meant they could start the true dragon-slaying phase!

The dragon's speed slowed, a thousand swordsman also drew swords and charged forward, and Hua​z​hua​s also turned into a demon state and flew over with wings flapping.

Barrett, too, had donned a set of full-body heavy armor, which was notably the Greystone Dragon Rider Heavy Armor (Legendary) that Su Lun had acquired from the royal treasury of Greystone previously.

Although his movements were still somewhat clumsy, the armor gave him absolute protection.

Surrounding and killing an eighth-tier giant dragon was a privilege reserved for top-tier professionals, and they all started the "blood wearing" process.

This was a familiar phase, and everyone cooperated tacitly.

Only far away, the Dragon Hunter Barrett wore a look of astonishment.

Seeing the mechanical octopus, he was also significantly shocked.

When he left Lu​ying, the Ma​fa mechanical armor had already become prevalent, but when had he ever seen such mechanical life forms?

Watching the Silver Dragon roar furiously to no avail, Barrett finally realized he had underestimated the situation.

After all, it was a dragon with combat power comparable to level nine!

Such a feat was beyond even an old eighth-tier like him to hunt.

He had initially thought these young people just wanted to try.

Young folks, having such courage and determination is precious.

He didn't mind risking his old bones to shield them from storm and stress.

If it doesn't work out, they could still retreat.

But unexpectedly, it wasn't just about courage; from the beginning, the Dawn Group actually had the capability to hunt a giant dragon!

A feat that three ten-thousand-person magic groups couldn't accomplish, this small Dawn Group had managed?

Watching this, Barrett's eyes shone with lingering glimmer through his dim pupils.

While incredulous, he looked at Su Lun and others with eyes full of relief.

The era of the old-age adventurers had passed, and a new era had arrived.

The light of hope at dawn was shining brightly on them.

They would write their own legendary stories.