Chapter 178 - 174: The Mechanical Body Shows Its Might

Chapter 178: Chapter 174: The Mechanical Body Shows Its Might

All of this happened in an instant, and only a few of the most powerful individuals present could react in time.

They immediately realized that the two Mechanical Bodies were under Jon’s control; such precise evasive maneuvers were impossible for masterless constructs.

"Follow them! Take down this blasphemer!"

The old knight named Simodo roared, pointing his blood-stained sword straight at Adonis as he became the first to join the charge of the Mechanical Bodies.

Several noble guards, whose eyes were bloodshot with rage after witnessing their friends and family perish, let out battle cries of their own and charged close behind, rushing toward the grim-faced, gray-robed Mage.

After recovering from his initial shock and anger, Paris Manola immediately began to issue commands.

"Notary! Locke! Clear the hall! Protect everyone and get them to evacuate!"

His two most trusted retainers immediately acknowledged the order. Like immovable rocks, they parted the panicked crowd and guided them toward the exits.

"Everyone, fall back to the side halls! Quick!"

The chaotic crowd finally had a pillar of strength to rally around. Guided by the Defender Warriors and the Lord’s Guard, they surged toward the relative safety of the other rooms, crying out and supporting one another.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized somewhat, a cold glint flashed in Paris’s eyes. He drew the sword at his waist and pointed its tip directly at the besieged Adonis.

"Knights! With me! We will slay this man!"

The handful of knights who had gathered roared in affirmation. With a clang of armor, they joined the battle like a torrent of steel.

The two silent Mechanical Bodies became a black storm, rushing Adonis from the left and right with cold resolve. Their lances lunged like vipers striking, their giant shields slammed down like collapsing mountains. The gale they kicked up was strong enough to dishevel the Mage’s immaculate hair.

But Adonis didn’t panic.

Dealing with Mechanical Bodies, especially those powered by Magic Power, was the specialty of an Enemy Mage like him.

He gathered a wisp of gray energy at his fingertip and aimed for the glowing spot on the construct’s chest. All it would take was one precise strike to destroy its Magic Power core, and even the mightiest Mechanical Body would be reduced to a pile of expensive scrap metal.

The next moment, however, his outstretched finger froze!

’His pure Breaking Energy couldn’t find any "interface" to pour into!’

’The drive cores of these two exquisitely crafted Mechanical Bodies, whose movements were too fluid for inanimate objects... were completely empty?!’

’No, that’s not right. They’re definitely being driven by some kind of Power, but it’s not Magic Power!’

"This is impossible!"

A storm raged in Adonis’s heart. This unknown propulsion system completely neutralized his greatest assets—Energy Annihilation and Spell Counter were useless!

And that brief moment of shock was a fatal opening.

The jet-black lance slammed into his protective shield with a piercing shriek, sending ripples across its surface. The heavy impact snapped him back to his senses.

At the same time, the other massive shield swept in with overwhelming force, forcing him into a pathetic backward roll.

Adonis could no longer maintain his former elegance and composure. His deep-gray Magic Robe was now stained with dust and splattered wine.

To make matters worse, the old Knight Simodo’s vengeful blade was already upon him. Viscount Paris’s overhead strike, fueled by a lord’s fury, came crashing down. The attacks from the other nobles sealed off all his avenues of escape.

Having lost his magical advantage, forced to rely solely on physical evasion and a few Low-Tier Protective Magics, Adonis found himself cornered. Besieged by several Official Level Combat Professionals and two terrifying, magic-immune Mechanical Bodies, he was instantly thrown into a desperate, life-threatening struggle, barely able to fend off their attacks.

Every dodge was a desperate effort, and his Magic Power was draining rapidly as he struggled to maintain his Protective Magic and cast Acceleration spells to evade.

"Damn it!"

Adonis cursed in his heart as cold sweat beaded on his temples.

’If this goes on,’ he thought, ’I’ll be torn to shreds or captured alive in less than ten seconds.’

The killing intent in Paris’s eyes and the bloodshot rage in the guards’ gazes told him exactly what kind of miserable fate awaited him if he were taken alive.

Backed into a corner, a look of fierce and pained resolve flashed across Adonis’s eyes.

He bit down hard, piercing the tip of his tongue. A surge of metallic-tasting essence blood, mixed with surging Magic Power, instantly filled his mouth. At the same time, a black Crystal Stone covered in strange Runes, hidden up his sleeve, silently shattered.

"Shadow’s Aegis, Thousand Mist Form!"

With a roar that carried a strange vibrato, Adonis’s body began to distort and ripple violently, like the surface of water after a stone is tossed in.

The next instant—under Jon’s suddenly sharp gaze, amid Paris’s furious slash, the old knight’s thrust that met only air, and the slam of the Mechanical Body’s heavy shield—his body exploded with a loud BANG!

Yet, it was not a spray of flesh and blood. Instead, he dissolved into several tendrils of churning shadow mist as thick as ink.

The mists seemed alive, allowing physical attacks to pass harmlessly through them. They instantly dispersed and spread to fill every corner of the hall, carrying an echoing whisper, as if several Adonises were speaking at once.

"Hehehe... Lord Paris, Mr. Jon, and all you ’heroic’ lords..."

"I trust you are all satisfied with this evening’s ’greeting’?"

"Remember, this is merely the beginning. A trivial... teaser."

The cold, venomous voice, laced with a spiritually corrupting power, emanated from every wisp of mist at once. It layered upon itself, reverberating under the hall’s high ceiling and drilling into everyone’s ears:

"The Blood Eye is watching Birch Town, watching your futile resistance... If you insist on playing the moth to the flame, on continuing this pointless ’struggle’..."

"Then you should eagerly await—"

"The Blood Eye Association will be sure to deliver more... ’spectacular’ gifts... until the grand finale!"

"We... shall meet... again... very... soon!"

The voice grew fainter and fainter. He was clearly about to escape by some unknown means!

Yet at that very moment, Reya, who had been standing beside Xia and Xina the whole time, suddenly cried out.

"You wretch! You think you can escape after committing such atrocities!?"

As the red-haired girl cried out, a blazing Saint Flame ignited within her emerald-green eyes.

She slammed her hands together in front of her chest, and a pure, scorching radiance filled with an inviolable majesty erupted outward from her!

This was no simple illumination spell. It was a divine radiance, filled with the power of a Divine Favored!

It swept through every corner of the banquet hall like a tidal wave—bright, yet not blinding, carrying the power of Purification to dispel all that was dark and evil.

"Aaargh—!!!"

The thick shadow mists, which had been scattering and attempting to seep into the building’s crevices, let out a shrill, inhuman shriek, like snow touched by the blazing sun.

Wherever the light touched, the shadows boiled violently, twisting and evaporating as if they were being incinerated by an invisible fire.

The next second, a pathetic figure was forcibly "squeezed" out of the nearly dissipated shadows and slammed heavily onto the cold marble floor!

It was none other than Adonis!