Mechanical Alchemist

The seasoned Grand Magician Augustus of the Divine Plane watched as Su Lun teleported to him in an instant, a flash of cold light fleeting through his aged eyes.

Now that even a Divine Art banning flight couldn't restrict his teleportation, it must mean he possesses a divine-grade treasure.

What a fortuitous opportunity...

However, even though the man before him was an entire major rank lower, Augustus didn't dare to underestimate him in the slightest.

He used to think the natives of the Alchemy Plane weren't worth mentioning.

After all, with incomplete laws and a civilization with broken and missing eras, there was a limit to what its practictioners could achieve.

But over these past days, as the magic legion suffered repeated heavy losses, the contempt in his heart had dissipated, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.

Just now, for instance, although the black-robed magician was only a seventh-rank, he somehow managed to entangle him for so long, even causing him a bit of trouble.

In the Divine Plane, it was absolutely impossible for such a person to exist!

Having encountered numerous strong foes throughout the majority of his life, Augustus had to admit that the black-robed magician he just faced was the strongest seventh-rank he had ever seen!

The secondary release of the "Mind Reading Technique," although not too exaggerated a talent, was especially effective when used by the black-robed magician. Those eyes of insight seemed to leave no secrets hidden, creating a sense of restraint and helplessness in battle.

This was his personal encounter; had it been any other eighth-rank Grand Magician from his group, it's not to say they could win, they might even have been defeated by this seventh-ranker!

But strangely, such an aberrantly powerful seventh-rank magician turned out to be an "invisible character" unmentioned in any intelligence report?

Another glance at the swordsman slaughtering his way through the mass of snakes in the distance... What was this situation?

A third-release Rakshasa Woman and a seventh-rank step-away Sword God, either trait would be considered top-tier talent.

Yet, both were seen in the same person?

This "Dawn" alchemy organization seemed more and more mystical.

Moreover, the current man had severely wounded that Puppet Master who had injured Saint Frank.

This guy, an even tougher nut to crack.

At this moment, Augustus no longer had the slightest hint of underestimation.

...

Su Lun had taken Mr. Hei into the Minor Void Realm and faced the legion commander Augustus, his expression just as tense.

Often, to judge if an enemy was strong, just sensing their aura was enough to tell.

This guy... was very powerful.

Su Lun even felt he was more difficult to deal with than that arrogant Saint Heir, Frank McAdam.

His gaze flickered towards the Golgion God Temple. Though he couldn't see clearly what was happening inside the dark palace, deep within the current uneasy atmosphere, the soul of Queen Medusa was in a very unstable state, as though undergoing some kind of transformation.

Unsure of how long the legacy of the Golgion clan would last, Su Lun knew he had to brace himself.

Before Su Lun had any chance to catch his breath, the opposite Augustus raised his staff, and instantly a bolt of lightning shot from his right-hand wand.

With a "crack," faster than thunder, the lightning bolt had already struck where Su Lun was standing.

The afterimage dissipated, and tens of meters away, Su Lun looked at the spot where he had just stood, still glowing with residual lightning, and murmured, "Instant-cast seventh-level arcane magic, so this is the strength of a seasoned Grand Magician..."

And at the same moment he attacked, the Gorgons in the forest also launched a full assault, a tidal wave of Poison Snakes crazily flooded into the temple, quickly burying the fighting Chians in a mass of serpents.

Several high-ranking Gorgons with human upper bodies and serpentine lower halves also appeared in view.

Su Lun dared not take any chances, clenching his sorcerer's seals, a giant crucifix swiftly appeared in the sky.

He swung his black scythe, and with a space-tearing slash, the surrounding Sea of Snakes was instantly cut into several bloody sections as if slicing through a cake.

However, in the next second, the severed tide of snakes was covered by even more Poison Snakes pouring in.

In that instant, though, Su Lun had already summoned hundreds of gargoyle guards to his side.

This three-hundred-strong gargoyle legion appeared and immediately blocked another sudden release of Mystic Arts magic.

Seeing this, Augustus's face darkened significantly, muttering to himself, "Puppets, huh..."

He had heard reports from the legion sub-commanders earlier, that a ten-thousand-strong puppet legion had crushed their ten-thousand-strong magic legion. He found it hard to believe, suspecting whether it was an advanced Illusion Technique or some other special methods that had confused everyone's senses.

However, looking at the puppet army that had suddenly blotted out the sky, Augustus's expression was also very solemn.

"Ten thousand puppets, how did this guy manage to control them so freely?"

...

Su Lun didn't give his enemies any time to be surprised; in the puppet theater, he was the master of everything!

The moment the gargoyle legion spread out, they had already formed into a battle formation.

When the gigantic Nonagram Alchemy Formation began to light up, the energy fluctuations grew more and more terrifying, "Mystic Arts: Subsonic Oscillation!"

Augustus, seeing the scale of the spell's deployment, comparable to that of a ten-thousand-person magician group casting a spell, dared not to be the slightest bit careless. With a gesture, he thickened the magic shield around his body by another layer. At the same time, he recited incantations, already conjuring countermagic.

In the next instant, the sky exploded with the activation of the Nonagram Alchemy Formation, a "boom" like the eruption of a volcano thundering through the heavens.

Augustus instantly understood something, his brows tightly furrowed, "A sonic spell?!"

But it was too late to stop it.

The moment after the explosion sounded, if one looked down from the sky, they would immediately see shockwaves rapidly spreading ripples over the forest around the center point of the Gole Work Temple on the island of Cocorosi.

The spell's might was not great; the shockwaves didn't even break the trees.

However, after the sound wave persisted for a few seconds, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The countless Poison Snakes from the "Sea of Snakes Calamity" were surging toward the temple, but as the wave of sound swept over the tide of snakes, the ones closest to the temple began to tremble strangely. Upon closer look, each snake was trembling so intensely that they appeared to have multiple shadows.

However, the phenomenon didn't last long, and suddenly there was a "crackling" sound, like firecrackers exploding; the trembling Poison Snakes burst into a cloud of blood mist in an instant.

This strange explosion continued to spread, swiftly clearing out a large number of Poison Snakes, staining the sky red with the resulting blood mist.

[Subsonic Oscillation]was aimed specifically at a massive number of lower-tier monsters!

Even if it didn't kill them, it would severely damage their internal organs.

Thousands of Sword Qi were sharp, but each strike could only kill a few hundred to a thousand Poison Snakes. However, the sonic spell released by the puppet army killed tens to hundreds of thousands of lower-tier Poison Snakes in one fell swoop!

In just this instant, the sky lit up once more as the gargoyle legion's second Nonagram Formation came into action.

The endless Sea of Snakes Calamity, though ferocious, might not be able to withstand such attrition.

...

Realizing this, Augustus could not help but feel surprised, "These puppets actually serve the purpose of magic towers!"

At this moment, he finally understood why a ten-thousand-strong puppet army could easily defeat a ten-thousand-person magician group.

These puppets seemed to be just that, puppets, but they were also like miniature magic towers.

Gathering magic power, solidifying spells, enhancing the might of spell techniques... These abilities that magic towers possessed were also present in the puppets.

Even though the puppets' functions were far from matching those of magic towers, they were smaller and more convenient.

The key was the number of ten thousand, capable of perfectly coordinating as a battle formation, which was simply impregnable!

"What exquisite puppet legions..."

Seeing this, Augustus couldn't help but marvel at the ingenious design of the puppet army before him.

But such a feat could not be replicated by just anyone else.

Not to mention that in the realm of the gods, no Puppet Master was known to control ten thousand puppets.

Even if there were, where would they find so many divine-grade materials that could bear such effects?

"It's actually Living Silver! Where did these aborigines find so much Living Silver?"

Augustus's complexion darkened at the sight.

Even in the realm of the gods, it was an extremely rare magical material.

In this moment, he was once again astonished by the "brazenness" of these alchemical aborigines.

Even a mighty eighth-tier Grand Arcanist accustomed to grand scenes felt like a country bumpkin from the backwoods.

Members of this "Dawn Organization" casually handled artifacts of divine-grade, divine materials, mythical talents... Damn it, they really boggle the mind!

...

The gargoyle legion released the first round of spells, and Augustus also reacted, the vertical pupil on his forehead suddenly blazing with light, and a beam shot towards them.

Su Lun was well-prepared and easily teleported to evade it.

The blue beam from the [All-Encompassing True Solution] then hit the bodies of several gargoyles beside him.

The spatial black holes of the gargoyles, which could absorb various kinds of spells, suddenly ceased to function under this beam.

Instead, the moment the light entered the black holes, everything around started to disintegrate.

Not only the spells, but also the gargoyles themselves, were broken down into granular form.

However, in the blink of an eye, the seven or eight gargoyles that were hit by the blue light were disassembled, dissolving into fine metallic particles.

Seeing that he didn't hit Su Lun, Augustus did not continue to release the beam.

However, activated silver itself has an extremely strong memory feature, and the disassembled pools of liquid metal quickly reverted to their original shape.

But the inscribed runes, energy cores, solidified spells, and the like had been irreversibly dismantled, leaving only the material itself.

Seeing this, Su Lun felt not a twinge of heartache, but actually rejoiced.

As long as the materials remained, the loss wasn't significant.

The [All-Encompassing True Solution] was said to be capable of dismantling all matter, but only if it was within the comprehension of the caster.

It seemed Augustus, this eighth-level Grand Magician, was unable to dismantle divine-grade materials like activated silver, only destroying the gargoyle's structure.

Even if he were able, the casting itself required a tremendous amount of magic power.

These ten thousand puppets...

If he were left to disassemble them, he wouldn't have the time to do so, nor would he dare!

After all, Su Lun certainly wouldn't just watch his enemy destroy his puppets!

It was in the very moment that the blue light flashed, with a swift teleport, he appeared right behind Augustus.

A rune umbrella wrapped in Death God's Fire struck lightning-fast at the opponent's magic shield.

With a 'bang,' the figure shattered, leaving behind only a tattered magic scroll.

Su Lun knew without looking that the true body had fled.

Having exposed the Death God's Fire when he gravely wounded Saint Frank previously, it was expected that the enemy would be on their guard.

And since Augustus was a seasoned eighth-level Grand Magician, Su Lun knew his odds of a successful sneak attack were slim to begin with, and even slimmer now.

But, at this critical juncture, the one in a hurry wasn't Su Lun.

It was the enemy.

Now that six ten-thousand-member spell formations had crushed four and the other two were under fierce attack by the Dawn Brigade, the situation was very favorable.

Su Lun just had to hold out until Queen Medusa successfully completed her inheritance, and the situation would immediately take a turn for the better.

If the enemy wanted to drag things out, he wouldn't chase after them.

He just needed to defend the temple.

The gargoyle legion, standing in the void, coalesced the second round of legion spells; another wave of sound exploded, and tens of thousands of Poison Snakes burst into blood mist.

As for those high-ranking Poison Snakes not affected by the sonic waves, crosses in the sky quietly descended with strands of transparent threads...

Physical control over nerves takes precedence over mental control, and now with Su Lun's greatly enhanced spiritual power, the number of Poison Snakes he could manipulate was terrifying.

In the Puppet Theater, the number of enemies wasn't necessarily advantageous.

After all, the temple could only be attacked within a certain range, and just as he had against the undead legion, once he gained control over some of the Poison Snakes, the tide of the snake onslaught temporarily abated.

Furthermore, Su Lun noticed that the low-ranking Poison Snakes seemed very wary of the temple and stopped at the edge of the black water pond.

Seeing this, he was even less worried.

...

The two sides were locked in fierce battle.

Su Lun marveled at how absurdly strong Augustus truly was.

With the "Shield of Innocence" in hand, other than Death God's Fire, Su Lun could hardly threaten this man with any of his means.

The more Su Lun fought, the more he wondered how Mr. Hei had managed to hold on for so long against this guy before.

S-009: Omniscient Solution was said to be all-knowing and almighty; a gifted one would naturally possess extensive knowledge. Augustus had almost mastered all magic under the ninth rank. Because of this, the man's combat style was dazzling to the point of confusion, casually brandishing Mystic Arts—even occasionally releasing forbidden-level spells...

Su Lun himself was several times pushed to the brink during the fight.

Fortunately, Su Lun's own means of survival were not weak, and with the cooperation of Qian, they could barely stall for time.

He also had an ace up his sleeve that he had not yet revealed, thinking about finding a good opportunity to completely eliminate the enemy.

Suddenly, he realized something was wrong: The enemy didn't seem as anxious as he had imagined?

"No! What else is he waiting for?!"

Su Lun's heart chilled, his mind rapidly processing the tens of thousands of pieces of information he had harvested but not yet digested.

His thoughts whirled at breakneck speed, and only after a while did he find a crucial clue among the jumbled information: "There is still a force of the Sacred Army's ascetics that weren't part of the landing troops!"

The magic legion also had a strict hierarchy of authority, and not everyone was privy to the full plan to surround and kill Queen Medusa. From the information Su Lun had previously acquired, almost everyone had subconsciously overlooked the existence of that group of five hundred Sacred Army ascetics.

But it was this oversight that was most crucial.

Given that the enemy knew Su Lun had the capability to severely damage Saint Frank, they would certainly be prepared for him to target the legion commander Augustus. Therefore, they must have a backup plan.

And the ascetics were among those closest to the divine, one of the groups of believers. The absence of those five hundred from the battlefield likely meant they were the backup plan.

Realizing this, Su Lun felt somewhat helpless.

After all, it was a battle for position, and even if he knew the enemy had schemes, he had to withstand it.

He could only inform the members of the Dawn group to be cautious.

...

Augustus, who was at a distance, watched as Su Lun's fighting style suddenly changed and sneered, "Hehe, have you just noticed? Too late."

Hadn't he seen Su Lun trying to stall for time?

And wasn't he also stalling?

Rather than risk a decisive outcome, it was better to wait for an absolutely sure method!

After all... the Titan gods who had fought in these seas were the supreme deities of their heavenly plane!

Just then, a long, drawn-out charge of a horn suddenly reverberated through the sky.

"Woo woo woo..."

This low and distant sound seemed to possess a magic power that made people's blood surge with excitement.

Su Lun furrowed his brows when he heard this sound.

He thought it was some sort of sonic attack, but upon careful discernment, he realized it was not.

"War horns? Charge?"

Su Lun was filled with confusion, not believing this to be a charge by the remaining two ten-thousand-strong magic formations.

As the sound of the horn became more and more distinct, a projection suddenly appeared in the sky.

Su Lun looked up, his eyelid twitching violently: "Another Artifact Projection?"

Galal's Horn of Doom (Artifact Projection)

Detailed explanation: A Divine Artifact made from a Titan god-demon's horn, capable of summoning the spirits of Titan warriors to charge; it has a bloodline suppression effect on creatures with Titan ancestry, and when Divine Power blows the horn, it compels all Titan descendants not exceeding demigods within range to join the battle of apocalypse;

Upon seeing the information from the identification, he instantly understood what the enemy was planning.

Almost at the same moment that the horn's phantom appeared, the seas near the island of Kokoros seemed to boil, the ground shook, and it appeared as if numerous enormous creatures were awakened from the depths.

What troubled Su Lun more was that the Hell Volcano in the distance erupted once again, and powerful auras surged forth!