Mechanical Alchemist

In the sky, the moment Su Lun's million puppet legion appeared, they instantly seized the initiative in the battle.

Even though reinforcements from the United Fleet had not yet arrived, the four from Dawn stood midair without a hint of fear on their faces.

Now that the enemy's battle array was broken, the most dangerous moment had passed.

Next, it was time for a head-on major confrontation between legions.

Su Lun's puppet legion VS the magic legion.

Puppets do not care about death, and those gargoyle faces looking fierce as they stared down the mages of the divine realm seemed like devils from hell, cold and devoid of emotion, showing not a trace of fear.

On the other hand, although none of the mages spoke, facing the sea of puppets that filled their vision, they couldn't help but swallow hard.

Beings that surpass one's understanding always instinctively inspire awe.

And this million-puppet legion was such a being.

...

Across the way, the 'Archmage of Evil' Constantine Reiloz's gaze was somber, and he already knew that there was only one choice now: a fight to the death.

"Great Dark Overlord, hear my prayer, I summon the force of the dark elements..."

He was decisively swift as he raised his gleaming magic wand. In an instant, dark mists rolled in waves over tens of miles around him.

As he chanted the magic incantation, the dark elements rapidly converged into the nine-pointed star magic circle, quickly forming into countless jet-black arrows.

Constantine raised his hand and made a motion with his magic wand as if drawing a bow and firing an arrow.

In that moment, the entire sky seemed to lose its color and dimmed.

Su Lun watched coolly, easily recognizing this as a ninth-tier forbidden spell, the "Annihilation Divine Arrow of the Fallen Veras".

This spell could attack targets over a wide area, not only possessing great lethality but more importantly, it could cause sustained corrosive damage, capable of melting metals and eroding magic patterns. It was usually used in sieges to destroy enemy cities, magic patterns, siege engines, and other large targets.

Seeing the opponent respond in this way, Su Lun had to admit that Constantine was truly worthy of being a demigod.

The fellow's sharp combat instincts allowed him to see through one of the few weaknesses of the puppet legion at a glance.

While it is true that gargoyles forged from "Animating Silver" possess high magic immunity and are not affected by corrosion, at present, only a very small part of the million puppets are forged from high-purity Animating Silver. The rest contain many impurities, and should they be covered by this forbidden curse, they would be heavily corroded.

Once the structure is compromised, they are no better than scrap metal.

This is especially true for the hundreds of thousands of mechanical octopuses, whose precision components cannot withstand the corrosion of a ninth-tier forbidden curse.

This old man struck precisely at the weak point with his initial move.

It was a pity, though, that while puppets are lifeless objects, they were controlled by Su Lun's will.

The moment Constantine made his move, Su Lun had a thought, and the runes on the bodies of hundreds of thousands of puppets around him already lit up.

His eyes narrowed with determination, and he declared, "Alchemical Mystery: Element Steal!"

Although this was a commonly seen mastery-level alchemy formula, when used by a legion of hundreds of thousands, it had an unimaginable power.

It was within this flash, the clouds roiled in the sky, as if two controlling forces were tearing at each other.

But almost immediately, a victor emerged.

The dark elements that Constantine had gathered seemed to be extracted by an inexplicable force, pouring like a breached dam into the legion-sized Nonagram Alchemy Formation beneath the puppet legion's feet.

In the contest of elemental control, Su Lun's puppet legion triumphed!

...

Under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible for lower-ranked professions to steal elements from an opponent of a higher rank.

This is due to the gap in understanding the laws of magic caused by rank suppression; the control over elements is simply not on the same level.

Su Lun, being rank eight, was one and a half ranks below a demigod,

A normal rank eight professional's understanding of elements is like gravel, at rank nine it's like a rock layer, and a demigod's is like steel.

Under normal theories, such powerful forbidden magic should not be interruptible at all.

But now, Su Lun's understanding of the laws of all things is certainly not much less than that of Constantine.

Moreover, with the second revelation from the All-knowing Eye, he had already seen through all the secrets of the magic.

Furthermore, however powerful a demigod is, he is still just one person, how could he compete with an alchemy formation that channels the combined will of hundreds of thousands of puppets?

When many ants unite, they can consume an elephant.

With this move that undermined the foundation, once the ninth-tier forbidden spell "Annihilation Divine Arrow of the Fallen Veras" was about to be released, it was like a balloon losing air, and instantly the dark mist dissipated.

The anticipated storm of black arrows never came to be; the sky merely drizzled a light black rain that was hardly bothersome.

In the distance, the 'Archmage of Evil' Constantine saw this and his complexion changed dramatically.

The showdown between masters can be discerned with just one exchange of blows.

The might of this puppet army far exceeded his imagination!

What Constantine failed to realize was that Su Lun's move not only interrupted his spellcasting but also dominantly took control of most of the free elements within tens of miles around the puppet army's battle formation.

Even as a demigod, he found it very difficult to compete for the right to use elements within that puppet army, let alone other mages?

A mage who cannot control elements is like a bird with broken wings.

As such, any mages within this area would be able to gather only a very limited amount of external elements for their spells, effectively putting them at a significant disadvantage without even fighting.

Seeing this, Constantine felt an ominous hunch, and the corner of his eye twitched fiercely.

He never imagined that just four people could drive the million-strong elite forces of the Ascieden Empire into such a dire situation!

But no matter what he thought now was useless, there was only one option left: to fight to the bitter end.

The Ascieden Empire was a powerful magical nation with tens of thousands of years of history, and its depth was not to be underestimated!

Upon realizing this, Constantine decisively shouted, "Legion, focus fire, spare no expense, kill that Puppet Master first!"

It was this command that galvanized the nearby mages into action.

Earlier, due to the explosion of the gold flagship, the thousands of magic airships in the sky had fallen into brief chaos.

In that moment, they gradually rallied together again.

Even if the battle formation was broken and they were scattered, they had at least left behind eighty to ninety fully-formed ten-thousand-person mage battalions.

It wasn't just the terrifying number of people—each ten-thousand-man battalion also had its own large legion magic guide!

"The Prophet Farah's Agony," "Retrospective Magic Lantern," "Void Realm," "The Norn Sisters' Web of Entanglement," "Twilight Holy Sword"...

One by one, those magic airships lit up with various colored lights, emanating from the terrifying magic-powered artifacts.

These epic artifacts each possessed the power to destroy cities. Upon that "at all costs" command, dozens of magic guides simultaneously cast brilliant radiance towards Su Lun and his companions.

...

At this moment, the murderous intent of a million people came overwhelmingly, as if to suffocate the sky.

Su Lun and his companions felt like they were ants targeted by the collective fire of dozens of cannons. If they were hit, they feared that the space around them would collapse along with them.

Seeing this, Mr. Jing, who hadn't had time to catch his breath, once again split into nine, with each clone entering full defense mode.

Lei wiped the faint golden blood from the corner of his mouth as his Sword Qi accumulated once again.

Pandora's pupils were red like the moon, and her divine Moon Reading technique was already being deployed again.

They all knew that if they could withstand this wave, the balance of victory would be completely shifted!

Only Su Lun appeared calm as he undid the "God Profaner" attire and entered a state of absolute rationality for contemplation.

He had already deduced all the possible outcomes in his mind, with no surprise in his eyes, and whispered in a barely perceptible voice, "In my Puppet Theater, the script must be followed... This performance, I call 'The Slaughterhouse'."

As thoughts vanished in a flash, Su Lun the Magician focused his intent.

Following the Element Steal, the cross in the sky swelled once again, quickly covering the entire space above the magic airships. Numerous invisible threads had already silently punctured into the magic airships.

Like previously taking control of the command center, these void-penetrating threads easily pierced through the defenses of those magic airships. Unnoticed by the mages, the threads penetrated their bodies.

The mages on those magic airships were now like insects caught in a spider's web, soon to be completely entangled with no chance of escape.

A few surviving ninth-tier mages had witnessed the terror of this technique, which had wiped out the command center in a moment previously.

Their faces paled as they shouted at the legion, "Trouble! Scatter quickly!"

Unfortunately, it was too late.

With the power of the "Urobolos Space-Time Ring," the threads could ignore distance and puncture any position. In an instant, Su Lun had taken control of the mages operating the legion's magic guides on nearly a dozen warships nearby.

The magic guides, which had just gathered strength and were originally aimed at Su Lun and his companions, suddenly turned, firing upon their "comrades" instead.

And Su Lun's control alone was more precise.

For a moment, dozens of spell-level magic explosions sounded in the sky, like glorious fireworks, a kaleidoscope of colors.

Boom...

Boom...

Boom...

One by one, the magic airships were hit and burst into flames.

In that instant, another dozen or so airships fell from the sky.

Su Lun barely made any grand gestures; a mere flick of his fingers had destroyed over a dozen ten-thousand-man mage battalions.

And this was just the beginning.

In the sky, countless void mechanical octopuses clattered with a sound of metal friction as they surged toward the thousands of magic airships. With void runes enhancing them, they moved as flexibly as if they were in water, with hundreds of thousands of mechanical octopuses swimming through the air, like a swarm of locusts.

Originally designed as a superweapon for breaking ships, the mechanical octopuses had arms fitted with runes and mechanical devices for both magic and physical destruction, such as "Magic Draining," "Armor Piercing," and "Penetrating."

Even though those magic airships had protective shields, whether at the energy level or the physical level of defense, they would be devoured cleanly in minutes in front of the tens of thousands of mechanical octopuses.

One after another, the magic airships were breached; the mages aboard either died tragically or fell from the sky like rain.

The mages organized a counterattack, and various spells exploded in the sky. Mechanical octopuses were also damaged and fell into the sea amidst a clattering noise.

Su Lun was not the least bit anxious.

Let them kill.

Fighting on, the mages finally realized in despair that the number of puppets didn't seem to decrease at all.

No matter how many were destroyed, an equal number of new ones would be replenished.

By now, the war production line in the little void realm had matured. As long as the materials were sufficient, mechanical octopuses could be continuously produced.

Over the years, the warehouse had already accumulated mountains of batches of mechanical octopuses, which were now conveniently used up in this battle to deplete outdated technology stocks.

Even if it was a one-for-one exchange, millions of mechanical octopuses for millions of mages, Su Lun wouldn't feel the slightest bit heartbroken.

They would just clean up the battlefield after the war.

Fighting against a puppet army that did not fear death became increasingly futile as the battle dragged on.

More and more magic airships were destroyed. Soldiers were constantly on guard against their comrades, who might be controlled at any moment... yet they were completely unable to do anything against their opponents.

Gradually, a sense of pessimism grew heavier in the hearts of the mages from the divine realm.

Once morale began to wane, defeat was just an inevitable outcome waiting to happen.

...

"Boom!"

Another forbidden-level spell struck in the direction of Su Lun and the three others.

However, it caused no damage whatsoever.

The energy shield formed by those hundreds of thousands of Puppet Battle Arrays intercepted this eighth forbidden spell.

It wasn't just the ordinary mages who were in despair. Constantine and several top-tier mages watched the scene unfold, their faces turning ashen.

They were already among a small handful of people with the broadest knowledge in the divine realm.

But today, they had truly been schooled in these puppet tactics.

This was a scene they had never witnessed before.

They had thought that the million-strong magic army would march straight to the capital of the Alchemical Empire and that there might be an intense, large-scale battle resulting in millions of casualties. Ultimately, they would destroy this alchemical civilization...

However, they never imagined that an elite army of a million would be stopped here by a Puppet Master.

By,

One person!

Pushed to,

Such a desperate situation.

How could one person hold off a million-strong army? The thought of such combat power was baffling.

If they hadn't experienced it firsthand, no one would dare to imagine it.

They also wanted to break the situation, but they had no way to do so.

The puppet army consisted not only of mechanical octopuses but also hundreds of thousands of gargoyles and other attack puppets, which were the real threat to top-tier mages!

It was Constantine who had just tried all sorts of methods to kill Su Lun and the three with him to break the situation.

But after trying, he realized it was simply impossible.

Whatever type of spell or even forbidden curses were deflected by the Puppet Battle Array.

An equal number of puppet troops were not the least bit weaker than a mage army in combat power. The defensive shield formed by the hundreds of thousands of gargoyles, even a demigod like him was completely unable to do anything about it.

Moreover, there was the one with the mirror ability, the Sword God, the Pseudo-god... all extremely troublesome adversaries.

Even if he wanted to make a desperate attempt, they did not give him any chance at all.

Having not killed them in the command room before, now it was even more impossible.

The more they fought, the more Constantine recognized the strength of his opponents, and the deeper he fell into despair.

How meticulous must one's mind be to control a million puppets?

He also found that the Puppet Master possessed a near-numbing thinking ability; those eyes seemed to see through everything on the battlefield, never revealing any flaw.

This was no longer a battle that could be won through mere tactical cunning.

Constantine knew he couldn't break through the Puppet Battle Array, and now his million-strong magic army was being devoured by hundreds of thousands of mechanical puppets.

The longer the battle dragged on, the worse it would get.

And in the distant seascape and skies, countless steam-belching steel warships and airships were closing in.

Suddenly, Constantine realized that the situation was irretrievable.

As a Demigod, even in such a desperate situation, he still had a chance to escape.

But once he fled, the million-man army would surely perish here.

Living after losing the army would be particularly disgraceful.

Although he did not want to admit it.

He had to accept the reality.

The Empire's campaign had utterly failed.

Suddenly, Constantine's cloudy eyes revealed a hint of determination. The next second, his body's magic power flared up like raging flames, and he bellowed to his subordinates, "Find a chance to break through, save as many as you can!"

...

In the sky, the countless black crows split from Old Mr. Crow were cawing chaotically, providing Su Lun with an endless vista.

Everything his eyes could see was now an actor in the puppet theater.

The "All-knowing Eye" allowed Su Lun to handle everything in his field of vision with poise, and he was controlling more and more Mages.

Every moment, a large number of people were dying, and the battle was becoming more and more ferocious.

But actually, from the moment they had broken through the giant bird battle formation, this outcome had been sealed.

If they continued to wear each other down like this, Su Lun might lose several hundred thousand puppets, but those Mages from the divine realms were sure to be decimated.

However, it was at this moment, upon hearing that old Magic God's explosive shout, that Su Lun's numb face finally showed a trace of surprise, "Magic power burning?"

Mr. Jing, standing beside him, and the others slightly frowned as well.

They all knew that this Demigod was prepared to fight to the death.

But this was also an expected situation.

The stronger one is, the prouder they tend to be.

In the current situation, the Ascieden Empire's royal princess had already died in battle, and the million-strong army was about to perish here; Constantine, the fleet's vice admiral, certainly had no face to flee and live life in disgrace.

A fight to the death was the only option.

Su Lun and the others found this suitable.

In this battle, others could flee, but this Demigod must not leave alive!

...

It was the moment that old Mage roared, his aura suddenly surged several times higher, and with a raise of his hand, a ninth-level spell hurtled towards Su Lun and his party.

Its might was so great that even the Puppet Battle Array trembled, shattering hundreds of stone gargoyles.

A Demigod's desperate last stand was not to be underestimated.

Su Lun and his party did not dare to be distracted and defended with all their might.

They could see what Constantine was planning; he knew he was beaten and wanted to hold them there, to create a chance for others to break through.

Su Lun and his companions didn't engage directly, as Mr. Jing and others needed time to recover from their injuries. So it was fine to continue this deadlock.

As for the Mages trying to break through, that was left to the allied fleet.

Both sides engaged in a fierce battle at sea that lasted a good half of the day before finally coming to an end.

The "Archmage of Evil," Constantine Reiloz, perished in battle, and the divine realm's million-man army was nearly annihilated, with only a very few managing to escape.

Although the allied imperial fleet also paid a significant price, in comparison, this was already a resounding victory.

The news reached the imperial capital Lyndon, and the nation was in an uproar.

Everyone had been preparing for the decisive battle on land but had not expected the conflict to be turned around in such an unexpected way.

The photo of the Twilight Holy Sword group members in their Gold-Patterned Cloaks appeared once again in the major headlines of the newspapers.

The front-page title of the "Lyndon Daily News" was: The Legendary Battle, Puppet Emperor, 1VS Million!