The Magic Stone Golems did not hold back.
Their bodies were naturally sturdy, and even if an arm or head was severed, they could simply recover.
They did not fear losing their core or brain, either.
When they went to support the Artificial Spirits, they were fully motivated.
The Magic Stone Golems emerged from the Dimension Ship, itself a giant golem.
As they crossed the Dimensional Sea, the battlefield, which had been hazy, became somewhat distinguishable.
-What a mess.
-I’ve never seen Spirits fight so dirty.
-Well, this is the first time they’ve faced such enemies.
The older Magic Stone Golems, who had observed Spirits for decades, were more shocked than the newly created ones. Artificial Spirits were faster and stronger than regular Spirits, usually overwhelming opponents in melee.
Even when fighting Dragons, they took hits from magic or Breath but never engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
Above all, the way the enemy dealt with Spirits was something even the centuries-old Magic Stone Golems had never seen. Draining a Spirit’s life force directly was possible with a Count-rank Demon’s Great Magic, but for a single entity to possess that ability was on a different level.
-The enemy is an energy absorption type. Their physical combat ability is poor, but be careful.
Even if it was an Eater Walker, an Orc could be torn apart by its strength, but a Magic Stone Golem could crush an Orc with a single finger.
Spirits fleeing from the Eater Walkers passed between the Magic Stone Golems.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Thump!
The Magic Stone Golems fired Magic Cannons loaded with Magic Missiles and Magic Stone Bullets. A Spirit caught by an Eater Walker lay in the line of fire, but it was already hopeless. Magic Missiles the size of telephone poles rained down like a downpour.
The cannons were not fired randomly.
Their data was linked, dispersing firepower so it wouldn’t overlap.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Magic Missiles had little effect on Eater Walkers, who possessed Magic Resistance.
But the Magic Stone Bullets, fired at high speed, embedded themselves in the Eater Walkers’ bodies, delivering massive impact.
The Eater Walkers staggered.
Still, the Magic Stone Golems did not lift their aim.
More Eater Walkers were flying in than those hit by the Magic Stone Bullets.
The Magic Stone Golems fired their cannons mechanically.
Magic Missiles shot forward in a dense swarm.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Eater Walkers pierced by Magic Stone Bullets died.
Soon, a wall of Eater Walker corpses formed.
Then the Eater Walkers’ charge stopped.
Tension still hung among the Magic Stone Golems.
Because behind the Eater Walkers, another mass of black shapes was swarming in.
It was a group of Air Walkers.
-Orders: disable Magic Missiles, use only physical rounds. These bastards have Magic Resistance on par with Anti-Magic Shell.
The Magic Stone Golems adjusted their cannons and fired.
Magic Stone Bullets flew even faster than before.
The Air Walkers died in droves, just like the Eater Walkers.
But there were over ten times as many Air Walkers as Eater Walkers, and the Magic Stone Bullets were not infinite.
Soon, all the Magic Stone Golems’ bullets were exhausted.
The Air Walkers flew straight in, without any evasive maneuvers.
The Magic Stone Golems raised their close-combat weapons.
Hammers, axes, even pile drivers.
-Wipe them all out!
The command golem charged first.
The basic combat doctrine was ranged engagement, but close combat couldn’t be ruled out entirely.
Clang!
The command golem swung its hammer.
The shockwave sent hundreds of Air Walkers scattering in all directions.
Some individuals had their bodies burst apart.
Even as countless Air Walkers were crushed into pulp, they only continued flying toward their prey.
Seeing this, the command golem sensed it.
This would be the toughest enemy they had ever faced.
Clang! Clang!
The hammer struck the air repeatedly.
Its built-in Chain Lightning incinerated fifty Air Walkers at once.
Soon, several hundred died, floating aimlessly in the Dimensional Sea.
The Air Walkers used those corpses as shields and charged.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The reckless assault rattled the joints of the Magic Stone Golems.
It felt as if they had been knocked from the Dimensional Sea into another Dimension altogether.
No Magic Stone Golem worried about a few Air Walkers latching on.
Their bodies were Magic Stone, reinforced by magic.
It would be strange for such petty creatures to even scratch them.
CRUNCH.
An Air Walker bit a Magic Stone Golem’s arm with its massive jaw.
By the golem’s estimates, the teeth shouldn’t have penetrated even a millimeter.
But the Air Walker’s jaw dug in 30 centimeters.
As the Air Walker exerted force again, the golem’s body was ripped away in chunks.
The Magic Stone that had been the golem’s body scattered into the Dimensional Sea.
This happened less than ten seconds after the Air Walker got close.
-My arm is gone!
-Engine destroyed! Immobile!
-Too many enemies!
-There’s no end!
The Magic Stone Golem’s communication network was extremely chaotic.
The golems, who had set out with confidence, were now desperately trying to peel off the Air Walkers.
The Artificial Spirits, who were supposed to receive help, ended up having to support the Magic Stone Golems instead.
“I told you to avoid close combat!”
Clytemnestra fumed.
His subordinate golems, like him, had strong autonomy and didn’t always follow orders.
Although the vanguard took damage, the formation wasn’t broken.
Still, the situation wasn’t good.
The enemy was still attacking from six directions.
An enormous number had emerged from the Dimension, stretching out like long tentacles.
“We need to kill that one first.”
Clytemnestra was looking at Kuongi.
Not only was it huge, but the firepower coming from its massive body was also formidable.
Rumble.
The Breath fired by Kuongi passed by somewhere far away, yet it caused tremors all the way to where Clytemnestra stood.
The Claw Devourer and Swarm Lord were holding well for now, but it was uncertain when they might break through.
“I was too complacent.”
Clytemnestra did not dwell on self-reproach.
During the journey, he had done his best to maintain secrecy and plan.
The fact that they were still ambushed meant there was something he and Gunsmir hadn’t anticipated.
“Did information leak? Or were they just lucky? Maybe both.”
Clytemnestra picked up his Expel with both hands.
It was a warhammer equipped with Annihilation Magic—a powerful weapon.
Turrets armed with Magic Cannons popped out from his shoulders and thighs, then retracted.
Clytemnestra, the Magic Stone Golem, was a weapon from head to toe.
“Is it a hundred years since a day like this might come?”
Clytemnestra checked the status of his Chain Annihilation Bomb.
The weapon, which caused matter to annihilate in a chain reaction, was fully functional.
If activated in the right place, it could blow away an entire sea area.
It would be especially effective against enemies clustered together like this.
Clytemnestra stepped outside the Dimension Ship.
The battlefield became clearer.
The conflict between those trying to penetrate and those trying to block.
At a glance, the defenders seemed to have the upper hand.
They had a solid formation and an overwhelming engagement ratio.
But Clytemnestra knew how excellent the Outer Mind’s adaptability and reproductive capacity were.
How many battles had the Outer Mind overturned despite inferior power using that ability?
Moreover, the Outer Mind’s core forces hadn’t even acted yet.
KABOOM!
An explosion occurred on one of the Dimension Ships.
A 100-meter-long Magic Cannon rose up, scraping the underside of another Dimension Ship.
Pillars of fire rose multiple times from where the turret had been.
“That’s the one that stirred up Magrain. Gunsmir will handle it well.”
Artificial Spirits were better at dealing with stealthy, fast individuals than Magic Stone Golems were.
And Clytemnestra had a different enemy to handle.
It was a being flying at super-high speed, with four scythe claws.
Clytemnestra kicked off the ground.
In an instant, he accelerated to Mach 3, cutting through the Dimensional Sea.
Soon, a warning appeared on his combat interface.
“There aren’t two—three. It seems another one has been added.”
Three Lutals were flying in a triangular formation.
Their target was a Magic Stone Golem facing the Claw Devourer.
Clytemnestra swung his hammer wide.
Annihilation magic extended outward.
The Lutals scattered in three directions.
The space between them collapsed, and all matter vanished.
Six eyes of the Lutals rotated.
Looking at them, Clytemnestra felt a chill run down his spine, even though he didn’t have one.
“I’ve never faced an enemy like this.”
A survival alarm blared in Clytemnestra’s consciousness.
A function installed by Salika that even Clytemnestra himself hadn’t known about.
“But I can’t run away.”
Clytemnestra’s existence was for Salika.
Even if the final destination of his plans was the extinction of all races except the Crystal, even if Salika had degenerated into Hasu Rika, he would not stop.
“Come!”
Clytemnestra fired his Magic Cannon at the Lutals charging toward him like bolts of lightning.
The Lutals agilely dodged and lunged.
In an instant, the distance closed, and Clytemnestra had no choice but to use Expel.
WHOOMPH!
Even though the Expel, containing immense energy, exploded, the sound was faint.
Because even the medium that would carry sound was annihilated.
That didn’t diminish its power.
It was strong enough that even the Lutals could not block it head-on.
Expel and Death Blades clashed countless times.
Each strike was enough to destroy a Dimension Ship, yet their battlefield was eerily quiet.
KABOOOOOM!
Clytemnestra, lost in a frenzy, suddenly lifted his head at the thunderous noise from behind.
The Magic Stone Golem that had been blocking the Claw Devourer was missing one-third of its body.
Its side was gouged out, and both arms were gone.
CRUNCH!
The Claw Devourer rammed into it and crushed its head with its mouth.
It happened so fast that the other Magic Stone Golems had no time to intervene.
The Claw Devourer used the Magic Stone Golem, now only its power source remaining, as a shield to push forward.
Super Titans and Titans followed behind, finally wedging themselves like a spike into the enemy formation.
—
“Tough.”
That was Choi Kangjoong’s impression as he faced Clytemnestra and Gunsmir.
Even though he had ambushed them from within the Dimension when they were close, the enemy’s agitation was minimal.
They seemed more shocked by the Eater Walkers and Air Walkers crushing their Magic Stone.
“Reaction is fast too.”
When the Artificial Spirits were lost to Eater Walkers, they deployed Magic Stone Golems.
When those golems were in danger, they sent larger ones to help.
Thanks to this systematic response, the Claw Devourer was unable to break through the enemy formation.
In the first charge, the Super Titans and Titans were lost to enemy artillery, forcing a reorganization.
In the second charge, they were hit by a four-armed enemy on a Dimension Ship and had to retreat to the rear for healing.
If that was the case for the Claw Devourer, the Swarm Lord was no better.
They could have pushed in with just the two of them, but they would have been surrounded and killed.
Still, Choi Kangjoong didn’t think they would lose.
Breaking through the enemy’s barrage would cause heavy losses, but the Wide Sentry Fleet was replenishing nutrients, making it manageable.
The nutrients and Evolution Points gained from devouring Spirits were also substantial.
Thanks to that, Apocalids were still emerging from the Soil Pit of the Hive Class.
KABOOM!
The Stealth Predator also began its activity.
Within ten minutes of awakening, it had crippled one Dimension Ship and moved on to the next.
“That’s the golem called Clytemnestra.”
The Magic Stone Golem that attacked the Lutals.
It was different from other golems in quality alone.
Soon, a battle erupted between the Lutals and Clytemnestra.
After assessing it, Choi Kangjoong felt he could leave it to the Lutals.
“Let’s deal with that first.”
Choi Kangjoong pointed at the Magic Stone Golem harassing the Claw Devourer.
Kuongi prepared its Dimension Cannon, and the Claw Devourer lured the golem.
KABOOOOOOOM!
The Chitin Bullet was fired, and it struck the right side of the Magic Stone Golem square on.