– Behind, they’re coming again!
‘I know!’
Fernandez swung his greatsword in a circular motion, slashing at the flying steel with the blade. With a loud crunch, the mechanical device shattered, and a heavy weight pressed down on his forearm. The bodies of these steel-constructed creatures were incredibly heavy, and the weight of the flying objects translated directly into impact force.
“We can’t keep fighting like this, can we?”
Fernandez narrowed his eyes and grumbled. Ziiing, wiiing. Each of the steel monsters emitted ominous mechanical sounds as they soared into the air.
Metal wings coated with levitation magic and instant weight reduction, bodies intricately woven with gears and dark composite panels, hot circuits flowing with lava, and exhaust vents occasionally hissing to cool their heated frames.
These mechanical marvels, worthy of being called the pinnacle of magic engineering, looked like winged women from a distance. They held twisted spears covered in rune glyphs, glaring at Fernandez from above.
“It wasn’t this hard in my past life.”
– The situation was different back then.
Faijashi clicked his tongue. The magic engineering golems of the Steelmaru Seal were slow and cumbersome. No matter how advanced the engineering, since it was fundamentally tied to magic, Faijashi could easily turn the golems on or off back then.
They moved leisurely, armed with projectile weapons designed to destroy intruders. It was an easy task to outmaneuver them and disrupt their magic circuits before they could react.
– Screeeech!
One of the floating golems swooped down like a hawk. Fernandez angled his greatsword, preparing for the assault. The golem elegantly spun its spear halfway and thrust it toward his head.
– Crunch!
Sparks flew. Fernandez displayed near-miraculous skill, deflecting the spear’s blade with the tip of his greatsword, redirecting the attack. As the golem’s balance wavered slightly, Fernandez’s gloomy blue eyes gleamed.
– Slice.
The sword of King Dane does not break under impact. How comforting that was, Fernandez thought as he cleaved the sturdy, heavy golem in half with a single strike, exhaling a sigh of relief. An ordinary greatsword wouldn’t have survived the third attack.
– Sssssss.
Scorching lava scattered in all directions. Quickly moving out of the lava’s range, the next golems circled the air once before diving down to strike.
“One by one!”
– Crunch!
“Come at me!”
– Crunch!
The wreckage of golems piled up around him. It had been a grueling day. Fernandez sighed, his tired eyes scanning the surroundings.
This situation had started three hours ago.
Crossing the corridor, passing through the gate, and descending the stairs for a while. When Fernandez finally stepped onto the ground, where the heat of the lava scorched his skin, he was walking while visualizing the city’s bird’s-eye view he had seen from above.
‘There are four main passages leading to the central node.’
– Among them, one is a life gate, and three are d*ath gates.
‘And the life and d*ath gates rotate clockwise.’
The roads and buildings of this magically activated city had to be seen as individual magical artifacts. It was a precise formation, meticulously arranged like pawns on a chessboard.
By now, it was clear that this was no mere sealing formation. It was a barrier. A barrier obsessively designed to block entry. In other words, this seemingly ordinary street could turn into a corner of hell at any moment.
– Clink, clank.
The sound of chains rattling could be heard. Once every ten minutes, and then once every seven and two minutes. Chains and hammering echoed from three different directions, each with its own rhythm.
“Hoo…”
A marker appeared in Fernandez’s mental map of the city. A rune forge that activated the magic circuit once every ten minutes.
– Clank, clank, clank.
Soon, another rune forge hammered once every seven minutes. Though the rhythms were entirely different, soon enough.
‘Take a step back. Turn to the third corner.’
Fernandez quickly moved. Simultaneously—
– Clank, clink.
With the sound of chains rattling, magic erupted from the rune forge that made noise once every two minutes. Lava swept through the spot where he had just been standing. The intense heat scorched Fernandez’s face.
As the lava’s trajectory shifted, the massive vortex flowing through the city twisted. Fernandez adjusted his mental map in real-time and moved forward. The road that had been a life gate moments ago was now a d*ath gate.
Again, to the next corner, the next alley. Fernandez walked with his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was an incredibly complex and precise barrier.
At the heart of the barrier, as he approached the third central node according to his pattern, an anomaly occurred.
– Screeeech…
From the rune forge at the city’s center, a loud noise echoed. It was a completely different pattern from before, causing Fernandez to stop and frown.
‘Did we step on something wrong?’
– There must have been another proximity-detection barrier. They hid it well.
Fernandez paused in what he assumed was the city area, likely a market alley. Screech, clatter, the noisy friction echoed throughout the city.
And soon, a human voice suddenly spoke.
[Warning. Unauthorized access detected.]
The words were spoken in stiff, segmented phrases, making it difficult for Fernandez to recognize it as ancient northern language.
[Warning. Unauthorized access detected.]
[Suppression strike team authorized to engage.]
‘That doesn’t sound very friendly.’
Fernandez chuckled as he heard the sound of wings flapping in the distance. What could they be protecting so fiercely, even creating guard golems? And their appearance was downright grotesque.
‘Female-type golems.’
Until now, the dwarf magic engineering golems he had seen were massive mobile turrets armed with giant shields, cannons, or other projectile weapons. But the golems in this dungeon were elegantly moving, aesthetically crafted figures.
Grotesque, indeed. Fernandez smirked as he observed the complexly turning gears on their exteriors. Lava seemed to boil inside them, with steam rising from their backs and red lights flickering in their eyes.
The lava, filled with magic, glowed through the gaps in their mechanical bodies, making them look like steel dolls imbued with hellfire. Their appearance was far from friendly.
– Ssshh.
“Let’s see if they’re as capable as they look.”
Fernandez laughed, angling his greatsword with his right hand.
Female-type aerial dwarf magic engineering golems… Fernandez, as a mage, couldn’t accept such a bizarrely named creation, so after crushing the seventh golem, he began pondering what to call them.
Now, he was approaching the first central node. That meant he was close to the rune forge emitting magic and the center of the barrier, where the density of magical manifestations was highest.
Simply put, given the barrier’s nature of operating with lava infused with magic, the barrier’s effects would start strongest at the forge where the lava erupted. Because of this, Fernandez had to keep moving, never stopping, as he searched for the path of life.
– Screeeech!
[Warning. Unauthorized entity approaching. Warning. Unauthorized entity approaching.]
The segmented warning tones echoed…
