Mechanical Alchemist

"Not enough, send in twenty more slaves!"

"Good, the witch's frenzy is complete!"

"Prepare to execute..."

"..."

Su Lun heard clearly that the Oliver family intended to send in a group of slaves in order to trigger the Wailing Witch's berserk state.

The witch, while killing people in their dreams, also required a division of her attention. By sending in more people at once and overloading her, the witch would have no choice but to enter a second phase of berzerking inadvertently, killing even more people.

As it happened, Su Lun was supposed to be the "fertilizer" accelerating the witch's frenzy.

But now, he had awoken.

Su Lun also knew that if the Oliver family managed to kill the witch and break the curse space, what would these people do with him as the sole survivor?

Previously, with only the "Sharp Knife Troop" leader Blum, a second-tier professional, Su Lun was confident whether in combat or in flight.

However, right now, there were five second-tier professionals just in front of him, and two first-tier individuals who were extremely difficult controller magicians. Under normal circumstances, Su Lun wouldn't even have the right to flee if any of them discovered him.

Moreover, besides those seven, there were certainly more enemies outside the cursed space.

But it wasn't all bad news.

The good news was that Su Lun was now outside the monastery in the mist, and those who were besieging the witch had not yet realized he was awake.

And within the thick fog by his side, he faintly saw several silhouettes standing there idly—these were all "fertilizer." Just as he glanced over in that instant, a few more shadows disappeared, likely killed in the dreamscape and then expelled from the cursed space.

Seeing this, Su Lun instantly knew what he had to do.

...

The silver-haired nun, who was already over five meters tall, was oppressive enough, but now she had entered a frenzied state, emanating a thick aura of blood that made it hard for anyone to look directly at her.

Her silver hair floated in the wind like sharp blades, and just a light touch was enough to cut through the monastery's stone columns effortlessly.

The hair split into needles, capable of puncturing the hard floor with a myriad of hole like raindrops;

Clustered together, it could strike a target heavily like a weapon.

Since she had entered a frenzy, her silver hair, both in quantity and length, was no longer limited and for a time, the entire monastery seemed to be caged by a web of silver hair, firmly trapping those seven people inside.

Seeing this, Su Lun's eyes narrowed slightly.

He knew that this was also the aim of these people—to stimulate the witch into the second phase and harvest her infinitely growing silver hair.

But he knew now was not the time to intervene.

The monster was not injured, and the seven individuals in the arena were obviously not completely restrained yet.

After all, they had come prepared, and even when facing a lord-class fiend, they were not at a disadvantage.

The Steam Party's "Mechanical Tyrannosaurus" Toynbee, transformed into a humanoid T-Rex, used his armor-plated mechanical limbs to keep a multitude of strands tangled up by himself;

Captain Blum of the War Blade Group wielded a wind-elemental two-handed sword like a giant windmill, clashing with the converging silver strands to produce a metallic clanging and sparks flying everywhere.

Langfero of the Crow Gang, known as "Blood Crow," had even stranger curse magic. The hexagram beneath his feet shone a dark green light, and he held a feathered crow in his hand. With one bite, he severed the crow's head, producing a chilling sound of bone crunching and chewing. It was that noise that made the Wailing Witch tremble all over, as if her own bones were being gnawed on...

Even Su Lun, not far off, felt a tingling scalp upon hearing this horrific sound.

However, the most exaggerated of them all was the Trickster Lloyd, the main force of the assault.

This was the first time Su Lun had witnessed the battle of a genuine Puppet Master.

....

Watching as the witch completely lost her inhibition and entered the second phase, Lloyd shouted, "Get ready, I have it under control, you move according to plan and strike to kill!"

No sooner had his words fallen than his hands quickly formed a set of sorcerer's seals, his gaze intense: "Plating · Release!"

As soon as the plating was released, the Puppet Master's body underwent a bizarre transformation.

It felt like he had suddenly lost all vitality as if he was no longer a living person but had become a puppet himself.

What was even more eerie was that the skin exposed on his body all cracked open. It was like a black-threaded cloth doll had its outer skin slit, revealing the black threads inside to the air.

And as his hands completed the final sorcerer's seal, those "threads" within the puppet body began to wildly surge, shooting out like living creatures...

After Lloyd released the Plating with his seals, he hardly paused before forming another set, muttering incantations.

He was unleashing his signature secret technique—[Mystic Art: Puppet Theater].

A complex series of thirty-six sorcerer's seals left onlookers dazzled. No sooner had he finished the seals than a giant blue Hexagram Alchemy Array, covering the entire monastery, lit up in the sky. Following the illumination, a massive cruciform phantom slowly materialized from the alchemy array.

At the same time, as if responding to the black threads on his body from afar, numerous black lines trailed down from the enormous cross in the sky, growing as they were whipped by the wind...

As these black lines descended, the puppets that Lloyd had previously placed around the monastery also began to "click" and "clack" to their feet.

In an instant, it seemed as though the entire monastery had turned into a large Puppet Theater, with everything connected by the black lines.

Like a pair of backstage hands, they controlled everything.

And the black lines were not just meant to manipulate puppets—they were there for "control"!

More and more black lines from the cross in the sky kept invading, like a black tide gradually spreading into the silver world.

Their numbers might not have matched that of the witch's silver strands, but their momentum was just as formidable.

The puppets manipulated by the black lines surged toward the witch, swiftly being entwined and controlled by the silver strands, wrapped into a bundle.

But this was exactly what Lloyd had intended.

The two types of strands tangled and interwove, the black lines gradually entangling completely with the silver hair, turning into tight knots of chaos.

The dozen or so puppets, like so many nails, pinned the witch firmly in place, leaving her unable to move or fight back.

Even though the silver strands could elementally dodge the black lines, the witch could not retreat at all and was only getting more entangled. The moment she gave up her defenses, her body would be immediately wrapped by these black lines.

The silk threads of both sides became entangled, like a mass of intertwining snakes, giving anyone watching goosebumps.

Lloyd's control was gradually achieved.

....

"These black threads are actually 'Tismoxing Iron Wire Worms'?"

Su Lun examined the black threads and discovered they were not inanimate objects but living creatures!

Discovered and named by an ancient alchemist called Tismoxing, these iron-eating parasites have bodies that can stretch up to a hundred meters and are incredibly tough due to their metal diet, impervious to the slash of swords.

Just these two characteristics made them the dream material for a Puppet Master's threads.

Seeing this, Su Lun suddenly felt his perspective was too narrow...

He had assumed that all Puppet Masters' threads were inanimate, but this was another possibility.

This "Trickster" actually used his own body as a host to nurture so many living parasites...

But witnessing this, Su Lun's interest was piqued, and he muttered to himself, "So this is how a Puppet Master can control the field with threads. But then again, how can that guy produce so many threads at once? Is it because of a mystic art or because of the implant..."

This was far more advanced than Su Lun's mechanical gauntlets. No matter how intricately designed the gauntlets were, at most they could only handle a dozen steel wires at a time.

Yet this 'Trickster' Lloyd had black threads sprouting from all over his body, a number that wasn't even in the same league.

There were plenty of threads, but after all, Iron Wire Worms were still bound by being 'physical threads,' susceptible to being pulled and cut as drawbacks.

But what if they could be replaced with the Wailing Witch's hair, capable of shifting between solid and ethereal?

At this thought, Su Lun was suddenly filled with anticipation.

And he finally understood why that young lord of the Olli family was so focused on the witch...

....

Hair and black threads crisscrossed, and the tall, blood-magic-using sister was completely controlled on the spot.

The black and silver threads wrestled each other, and the buildings they passed were carved into segments.

As Lloyd, a 'Trickster,' struggled to compete head-on with a lord-level aberration, he coughed up blood in a short standoff.

But at the same time, he bellowed, "Attack!"

On hearing this, the other second-level professionals also started to form seals, seemingly preparing to unleash powerful strikes...

However, what they hadn't anticipated was that almost at the same time, Su Lun heard the command and made his move as well.

His gaze, previously diffused, suddenly sharpened, as keen as a blade.

In the critical moment, as they were about to strike down the witch, he raised his handgun without hesitation, aiming for the head of the Blue Robe Sorceress who was casting "Slowing Light Beam."

But how keen was the perception of a second-level professional?

Out of the five second-level professionals present, apart from the 'Mechanical Tyrannosaur' Toynbee who was slightly slower to react, the other four instantly picked up on the anomaly.

They saw someone outside the monastery lifting a gun in the fog and all had the same thought: "An ambush!"

Although shocked that someone had awoken from the dream, they reacted immediately.

As Su Lun raised his gun, Blum, the leader of the Blade Brigade, stamped his foot violently, shifting his figure several meters to position himself in front of the Blue Robe Sorceress.

They knew well that it was a critical moment in their effort to kill the witch, and they couldn't afford the slightest error. If the "Slowing Light Beam" spell ended and the witch regained her normal speed, their situation would become very dangerous!

Seeing that the attacker wielded a gun, Blum also breathed a sigh of relief.

It was just a gun; he was confident he could fend it off with a swing of his sword. With him as a shield, no matter how expert the shot, it would not harm anyone!

"Tsk tsk... Close-combat professionals indeed react quickly."

Upon seeing this, Su Lun appeared to have anticipated it, a curve forming on his lips as he fired without hesitation.

As his right hand pulled the trigger, his left hand made a sudden grabbing gesture in the air, controlling the invisible zombie nearby to slash down with its blade!

"Bang!"

The special boom of an alchemy bullet echoed through the entire monastery.

Flames burst from the muzzle, the noise of the bullet masking the sound of the scythe cutting through the air.

Blum was also sharply aware of Su Lun's "little movement" with his left hand.

Nonetheless, he chose to block rather than dodge.

Because he knew that if he dodged, the sorceress behind him would get shot.

Besides, it was just a gunman, even an "Arms Master" couldn't kill him with a single shot.

As long as he could withstand this shot, once the others realized what was happening, it would be the death of that gunman!

However, he didn't realize he was facing Su Lun, the "S-rank Wanted Criminal" from Old Lington City's bounty list, nor did he know about Su Lun's [Xiupunos's Night Scythe], the deadly weapon he possessed!

Blum could block an alchemy bullet, but he was utterly unprepared to block a spatial rift.

The instant the gun fired, the sound of the bullet drew everyone's attention, unaware that the next moment, a dark spatial rift would silently appear right in front of Blum's forehead.

Even though he shielded his head with his weapon, the blade unequivocally sliced through his Famed Double-edged Sword as well.

The spatial rift continued its momentum, chopping off half of Blum's head before vanishing.

And just at that moment, a bullet passed through the split in the severed head...

The Blue Robe Sorceress, who continued casting spells without a chance to react, watched in bewilderment as the person in front of her had their head halved. Then... a bullet grew larger in her vision, striking her eye socket, and the world plunged into darkness.

"Boom~"

A bursting sound erupted, the Blue Robe Sorcerer's head exploded into a cloud of blood, and she fell to the ground with a thud.