Elementary Energy Shields!
The amount of energy damage it could shield against seemed to be between three hundred to five hundred points.
Blue light flashed in the depths of Greem's eyes. He had managed to figure out the nature of these energy barriers in a matter of seconds. He even calculated the amount of energy damage it could endure.
Gazlowe's ingenuity marveled Greem at this point. He was indeed a genius of a goblin engineer. To think, he had been able to transfer a low-grade magic spell onto combat machines. Not to mention the fact that the shields themselves had a decent ability to protect against elementium damage.
It was important to note that an elementary energy shield cast by an apprentice adept would only have a tolerance limit of approximately fifty points. But upon Gazlowe's modification to employ them on the magical machines, the strength of the shield had suddenly increased tenfold.
This situation had occurred because a human body had far less tolerance compared to a magical machine. The sudden energy output of up to fifty points was still barely within an apprentice body's range of tolerance. However, if they abruptly increased the strength of the shield tenfold, the apprentice in question would be utterly crippled, despite how much more potent of a defense that sounded like.
However, this problem didn't exist for the magical machines. The amount of energy the devices could instantly put out was often several times that of the human body, as long as their metallic bodies could still withstand the intensity of the energy. If better and more appropriate magical metals were used to forge the energy conduction system, then the instantaneous energy output could easily be a hundred times that of a human body!
That was why the magical machines had been able to achieve the effect of an advanced energy shield despite only using an elementary one. Greem couldn't help but frown at this.
Five hundred points of energy defense. Even a Second Grade fire adept like himself would require three all-out attacks to get past the shield. An agility-type adept like Mary would then probably need seven to eight continuous attacks to get through.
Greem was slightly shocked. He instantly sent the numbers that he had calculated to Mary and Billis.
Now that they had tested the opponent's defense, it was time to check their offense.
Greem strode forward. He only needed to grab and toss with a single hand to send a powerful Magma Fireball flying towards the magical machines. All these fireballs dealt damage above two hundred points, and it placed enormous psychological pressure on the squad of machines.
To ensure the accuracy of the test, Greem did not utilize his Lava Shields. Instead, he used the purer Fire Shields. The ferocious and savage fire elementium gathered to form several Fire Shields. They orbited Greem's body at high speed, helping him block all attacks that came his way.
The storm of metal bullets crashed against the Fire Shield, where they were melted into liquid metal by the streams of fire before completely vaporizing in small explosions of flame.
Greem continued to advance. Crackling sounds proceeded to ring out from the three Fire Shields that spun around him. These pure-flame shields constantly trembled as crimson cracks started to appear on their bright red surfaces.
Fifteen to twenty-five points!
Greem estimated the strength of the metal bullet attacks. He quickly provided an assessment to this attack.
The good news was that the opponent's barrage was entirely physical damage. There was no elementium damage attached to them. The bad news was the frequency of the enemy's attacks. Assaults like these of the beginner-apprentice level could still cause moderate disturbance to an adept when stacked in this manner.
The thirteen magical machines surrounded Greem, maintaining a distance of twenty to thirty meters between them and the adept. They barraged Greem and drowned him in a deluge of metal and fire.
The opponent's strange fire shields had mostly destroyed the relentless stream of bullets. The shots that missed their marks had hit the ancient trees around them instead. Even these old, massive trees couldn't hold on for more than two seconds before being riddled with holes and collapsing to the ground.
Their unique observation lenses allowed the goblin mechanics that were hiding inside their machines to watch on with excitement as they beat down upon the human adept, who had been rendered incapable of fighting back. No; the opponent could still retaliate. It was those Magma Fireballs with shockingly high energy signatures.
However, fireball counterattacks such as these were no problem for the elite magical machine squad. They either blocked them with their barrage of bullets or dodged them and avoided the landing point of the fireball. At any rate, this evil adept was now surrounded and didn't seem to be as terrifying as rumored!
Just as the members of the squad started to relax, Greem finally lashed out with all his strength. He believed he had performed all the necessary tests he required.
Two Lava Shields forged from burning magma and pure fire quickly gathered in front of Greem, replacing the battered Fire Shields.
With these two Lava Shields that possessed excellent physical protection, Greem's previously shaky defense was now rock solid. Greem raised his right hand high into the air as a Scarlet Firestorm with a massive radius enveloped the area. All the magical machines were dragged into the Firestorm.
The wild elementium flames turned into hundreds and thousands of randomly rampaging flame streams. They wreaked havoc upon the land and also quickly obscured the vision of the mechanics.
"All of you, be careful. Reposition yourselves as fast as you can." The captain of the squad, Tigule, had plenty of experienced. He sensed something wrong about the situation and immediately shouted to warn his team members.
But it was too late!
Chapter 503 A Brutal Battle
At almost the same time the flames obscured the vision of the goblin mechanics, Greem vanished.
When he once again reappeared, he was near the side of the wolf-type machine.
Three Magma Fireballs simultaneously exploded beneath the Wolf machine. The ferocious flame shockwaves threw the robot into the sky. Its energy shield rapidly flickered inside the terrifying shockwave before finally shattering.
The moment the energy shield shattered, Greem lifted his head, and two highly concentrated Solar Rays shot out from his blazing eyes. The Solar Rays merged into a single ray midair, brutally burning away at the space between the forelegs of the wolf machine.
And that place was precisely where the goblin mechanic was hiding!
The sudden burst of attacks from the evil adept struck fear deep into the heart of the mechanic. The machine was also in the air, rendering it incapable of executing most combat maneuvers. The goblin's hand quickly worked across the seven control levers and fifteen crystal buttons when he sensed the terrifying rays blasting at the metal plates in front of him. He was frantically trying to have the wolf machine perform a dodging maneuver.
Sadly, it was all too late!
The Krathor Alloy that was four fingers thick might have a hardness that far surpassed ordinary metals, but it was mediocre when it came to resisting magic. After all, magical creatures that wielded elementium attacks were rare in the Goblin Plane. As such, magic resistance hadn't been the first priority of the goblin engineers when they created the magical machines.
The laserbeam-like Solar Rays stacked together. Even though the resultant beam wasn't as thick as a little finger, it possessed an astounding cutting ability that was unimaginable to an ordinary human. It practically ate through that metal plate in an instant. The goblin mechanic hiding within the narrow cockpit had absolutely no chance or space to dodge and was cut apart by the Solar Ray.
As the strength of the Solar Ray continued to increase, the purple and crimson pillar of light pierced through the body of the goblin and tore through the metal behind him. The beam stabbed through the back of the wolf machine and blasted towards the sky.
The torso of the wolf machine that was on
e meter thick had been thoroughly pierced through by the Solar Rays that Greem had shot out of his eyes. It wasn't hard to imagine what had happened to the goblin mechanic hidden inside the machine.
"Billy!"
"Billy... "
……
Screams and gasps rang out in the forest.
These goblin mechanics were obviously extremely close. Several combat magical machines roared and charged forward when they saw Greem striking Billy.
In particular, the Bear machine acted as a tank. It roared and stormed forward as it opened its massive bear mouth. A pillar of fire that was a dozen meter long burst forth. The Squid machine waved its seven-meter long metallic tentacles and struck at Greem as if they were whips.
Playing with fire in front of a fire adept?
A cold smile surfaced on Greem's handsome face. He paused for a moment before vanishing in a towering pillar of elementium flames.
Most of the magical machines here only had the strength of an elite adept. Only their captain, Tigule, could have some semblance of a Second Grade creature's combat ability. Even so, the battle was entirely one-sided. If it weren't for the plane suppression that Greem was enduring, the situation would have been much more unfavorable for the magical machine squad.
Greem flashed even further away with his Fire Teleportation. He appeared behind the Wyvern machine that was flying in the sky.
Greem didn't give it any chances. Purple flames of a shocking temperature started to burn in Greem's right hand. He bent his back and thrust his hand towards the backside of the Wyvern with a single motion. The energy shield protecting the Wyvern machine only endured for less than three seconds before cracking with a crisp sound.
The massive purple flame hand immediately stabbed into the tough metallic shell.
"Winny, he's on your back! Quick, cast him away!" Captain Tigule yelled furiously. He raised his arm as blinding fire instantly ignited at the end of the two goblin rockets attached to the arm. The rockets whistled as they blasted towards Greem.
The other machines quickly turned their guns, and a new barrage of bullets fired into the sky.
Their companion was protected by the metallic plates of the machine and wouldn't perish to their bullet assault. That was why they were able to shoot away without any worries to force that damned evil adept away from Winny.
Greem grunted. He didn't care about killing the creature beneath him. He leaped away from the machine with a single kick of his legs. Fire blazed while he was still midair and he was gone again.
"Dammit. All of you, dodge, quick!" The Metal Goblin that Tigule was piloting had just made it beneath the Wyvern machine. He had no choice but to stop his movements when he saw the evil adept vanish in a blaze of fire once more. He shouted to remind his companions while hastily searching for the next location the enemy would reappear.
Boom! This time, Greem appeared behind the Squid machine. The Solar Rays forming in his eyes swept past and instantly severed three of its metallic tentacles.
The Squid machine swiftly turned to run when it realized the situation. However, Greem extended a hand, and countless fire elementium particles gathered together to form a giant hand of fire. The hand grabbed the Squid machine's round metal body.
The hand of fire tightened its grip, and the thick fingers caused the energy shield to creak under pressure.
Seeing that it would take a while longer to break through the enemy's energy shield, Greem shouted under his breath, and the fiery hand threw the machine. The struggling Squid machine transformed into a massive bowling ball as it crashed towards the Metal Goblin.
Tigule had no choice but to save his endangered subordinate. He piloted the Goblin and had it leap up into the air, catching the crashing Squid machine with its large metal hands. The tremendous momentum caused the two robots to fly another dozen meters before finally crashing to the ground.
Tigule extended one leg and planted the other into the ground behind him. He sunk half a meter into the ground before that kinetic force was neutralized.
Yet, it was this short delay that kept Tigule out of the battlefield. Greem smiled coldly and once again disappeared in a burst of fire.
All the magical machines went on alert when they saw Greem vanish. Those that were close by each other gathered together, back to back, and watched their surroundings with caution. The ones that were too far away from each other were fearful and started to move as quickly as they could.
Despite their superior numbers, the opponent's untraceable Fire Teleportation had turned them into the ones at a disadvantage; they didn't feel safe even with their companions by their side. When they sensed the slightest breeze at any location around them, they would instantly shower the place with a curtain of bullets as they retreated.
Even though they knew that their bullets couldn't harm the adept, they could still delay the enemy's attack motions. That would give them a few precious seconds to escape. It was why the cluster of flames would always be greeted by a barrage of bullets whenever it got close to a machine.
Poof! This time, Greem didn't appear by any machine. Instead, he had teleported to a distance of a hundred meters away from them.
When he stepped out of the raging pillar of flames, he held the Blaze of Destruction in his left hand. His loud and clearly enunciated chants also echoed throughout the forest.
Goddammit! The evil adept's spells were terrifying enough without the use of chants. If he were allowed to complete his chant, then even more casualties would occur.
The goblins instantly understood this fact. The machines sprung towards the adept in a fan formation. They continued to barrage the enemy's Lava Shield as they ran towards him.
Just as their attention was all concentrated on Greem, Mary and Billis finally emerged from hiding and struck.
Mary chose the Wyvern machine.
It was the only machine in the group that was flying at the height of twenty meters. More importantly, it had yet to regain its energy shield. Such a mistake should never occur on a battlefield, where life and death were determined in an instant.
Just as the Wyvern machine prepared to dive at Greem, a massive silhouette with bat wings appeared on its back. An opening in the shape of an inverted triangle could be seen on the clearly-defined, aerodynamic metallic body of the Wyvern.
That was the mark that Greem had left behind with his attack when it hadn't managed to burn through the metal due to the lack of time.
Mary walked towards the opening with her tall and slender figure. She immediately pulled the towering crimson bow in her hand into a full moon. Incomparably violent blood energies gathered at Mary's fingertip and formed into a delicate, crimson arrow.
Boom! The bowstring snapped loudly.
The crimson arrow sped towards the opening and pierced through the last bit of the metal plate, exploding inside the cockpit.
The goblin mechanic known as Winny died instantly. All of her blood essence was corroded and turned into a dense mist of blood that returned to Mary's body.
The Wyvern machine crashed down from the skies!
Billis, on the other hand, picked a considerable Metal Giant as his target.
As the machine was far too large, its movements were slow. As a result, it naturally fell behind its companions.
While the Metal Giant was shooting as it ran, the earth beneath its feet suddenly collapsed. The machine fell to the ground, completely caught by surprise.
A swarm of innumerable insects poured out of the split earth like a tide. They buried the Giant before it could even get up.
The Metal Giant struggled with all it had, but it was pinned down and restricted by a dozen sting scorpions. The terrifying swarm of bugs crawled all over the Metal Giant, digging all over its surface in search of passage inside.
And who'd have known? They actually found one!
The goblin mechanics still needed to breathe while enclosed in their cockpits. That was why every machine had ventilation passages on the surface of
the machine that connected to the cockpit. Under ordinary circumstances, these ventilation passages were very well-hidden and quite small. Regular enemies were hard-pressed to attack the goblin mechanic through these holes.
However, the scorpions that bug adept Billis controlled were no ordinary enemies.
Once the terrifying scorpions finished their search and burrowed into the cockpit, the only thing left for the other goblins was the painful screams of their companion and the crunching sound of something being eaten.
Chapter 504 Black Sun
To be fair, the magical machine squad wasn't weak at all.
The strength of each member could at least rival that of a veteran adept. Their leader, Tigule, even possessed the power of a Second Grade adept. However, while their strengths were visible, their weaknesses were even more apparent.
The ones that piloted these machines were all goblin mechanics that had undergone arduous training. However, there were still far too many blind spots when they were cooped up in those narrow and tiny cockpits. There was a limit to the range of the lens' vision. Moreover, the goblins were far too weak. They were often incapable of enduring a casual blow by the adepts the moment their metallic shell was pried open.
However, what limited the strength of the machines the most was their lack of alloys forged from magical metals.
They had created the machines with the toughest substance on the Goblin Plane– Krathor Alloy. This alloy was exceptional when it came to its toughness and flexibility. Unfortunately, it was far too weak when resisting magic!
The Goblin Plane lacked magical creatures. As such, there was no reason for them to invest large amounts of resources into researching an exceptional magical metal alloy. That caused the magical machines to be easily penetrated by the adepts when dealt too many magical attacks.
All these factors added together was what resulted in the utter defeat of the magical machine squad right now.
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