Chapter 201. The Burning Wastes 3

Among the horde charging toward Bastion after he used Taunt were fire elementals, firescale salamanders, magma beasts, hellhounds, fire bats, cinder skeletons, and inferno golems. Fire elementals drifted through the volcanic plains like massive balls of living flame, while firescale salamanders ambushed prey from the lava flows. Magma beasts stalked the rocky terrain, feeding on hardened lava to sustain their hulking bodies. Hellhounds hunted in vicious packs across the scorched wasteland, fire bats swarmed from the mouths of volcanoes and darkened caverns to attack anything that disturbed their territory, cinder skeletons wandered the ash-covered landscape with charred bones wreathed in embers, and inferno golems lumbered across the volcanic terrain with molten cores glowing beneath their rocky bodies.

They were all formidable Rank 3 species that had earned their place through either their powerful bodies or innate magic. None of them could be underestimated simply because they were considered dungeon mobs. However, they were far from the peak examples of their species. Their experiences were essentially downloaded into them, meaning the wisdom gained from long lives and hard-fought battles for survival was practically nonexistent.

Hence, Bastion charged straight toward a lumbering magma beast that was roughly the same size as his giant armor, confident that he could defeat it despite the creature's formidable appearance. The beast stood nearly 4 meters tall on four powerful legs, its body covered in a thick, armor-like hide that resembled hardened volcanic stone. Three massive horns jutted from its head, giving it the appearance of a monstrous fusion between a rhinoceros and a water buffalo. Each step it took shook the ground beneath it, its immense weight and strength making it a living battering ram that intimidated even the other creatures charging alongside it.

Right as they were about to clash, Bastion activated Shield Bash to conduct the first test of his 5-meter-class mech armor.

BOOM!

The earth groaned as the Rank 3 magma beast’s charge was halted, its front horn embedding itself into the 1-meter-thick, 4-meter-tall tower black shield. However, the attack was far weaker than Bastion had estimated.

From the lack of air pressure and knockback, he quickly realized that his Shield Bash had effectively been reduced from Level 6 to Level 1. The skill’s energy was being consumed simply to move the massive shield arm, leaving little power remaining to enhance the strike itself.

In theory, he could still use skills while inside the mech armor, but their effectiveness would depend on how much of their power was lost to the armor’s weight and limitations. As a normal knight, Bastion knew he could already stop a magma beast’s charge with a Level 6 Shield Bash. The mech armor in comparison had only doubled his size and weight while providing almost no improvement to his skills.

The result was disappointing. Unless the skill itself was significantly more powerful or the armor provided a substantial boost of its own, using skills inside it was practically pointless.

Continuing the test, Bastion tilted the tower shield aside, exposing the stunned beast’s neck before bringing down his 3-meter sword while activating Slash. The blade easily cut through the magma beast’s thick hide before embedding itself against the creature’s neck bone. He quickly pulled the sword free and repeated the attack, killing the beast after three brutal strikes.

‘The weight of a 5-meter mech armor made from heavy Rank 2 blood iron is already pushing the upper limit of what a Level 6 skill can handle. At this rate, increasing the armor’s size or adding more weight will only further reduce skill effectiveness. If I want to use skills properly while wearing mech armor, the armor needs to either become significantly lighter or provide enough advantages to offset the loss in power. Otherwise, I’m just trading my abilities for size and durability,’ Bastion calculated.

He moved around the magma beast’s massive, disintegrating body while preparing himself to face the next opponent from the charging horde.

‘In that case, a gigantification skill like Ravok’s might be the superior option. It directly increases physical strength without interfering with my existing skills and can even stack with Reinforce. The only advantage the mech currently provides is additional armor and reach, which may not justify the drawbacks.’ he concluded.

The massive black armor swung its sword, cleaving three 2-meter-tall hellhounds in half as they pounced toward its head. It then raised its tower shield to block the incoming fireballs and flamethrowers unleashed by the rest of the pack after they realized their physical attacks were ineffective.

The armor withstood the barrage but failed to notice another magma beast charging straight toward it. The beast slammed into the tower shield, embedding one of its horns into the metal and driving the entire armor backward. Bastion repeated the same maneuver as before, twisting the shield aside to expose the beast's neck before bringing down his sword three times to finally behead it.

All the while, the continuous torrent of flames from the hellhounds at the flanks washed over the armor. The intense heat steadily raised the temperature of the blood iron until it surpassed its melting point.

“It’s getting a little too hot in here,” Bastion said with a chuckle as he broke out of the encirclement.

He charged forward blindly with his shield raised, activating Charge as he barreled through the horde. He slammed aside a 5-meter-long firescale salamander, trampled over several cinder skeletons, and then suddenly collided with something that refused to move.

When Bastion looked up, he realized he had run straight into an 8-meter-tall inferno golem. The massive construct raised its fists, preparing to crush the armor, but Bastion struck first. He drove his sword deep into its molten core, then twisted the blade to crack it open.

BOOM!

The exposed core erupted in a fiery explosion, unleashing a wave of heat and force that sent the armor flying backward before it crashed onto its back. Before it could recover, nearby cinder skeletons and hellhounds swarmed over it, tearing into the mech and ripping the melting outer armor from its frame.

“I guess this is as far as I can go for now,” Bastion said with a sigh. “It was my fault for testing the armor in this kind of environment. Still, the motor functions were excellent, the performance reached Rank 3, and it can even fight against a horde for a short period.”

Bastion quickly used Armor Slot, replacing the mech armor with his heat-resistant armor set. He then used Weapon Slot to equip a Rank 2 autocannon on each arm, weapons capable of dealing with Rank 3 enemies.

BRRRRRRRRRRRT

He opened fire in every direction, clearing the immediate area around him, before using Jump to launch himself high into the air. He combined Fire and Wind magic beneath his feet to propel himself back toward the encampment while continuing to fire down on the horde.

The barrage tore through the firescale salamanders, hellhounds, and cinder skeletons, riddling them with holes. The magma beasts and inferno golems proved more resilient, but concentrated fire against their exposed sides and cores eventually caused them to collapse or explode. The fire bats quickly pursued him, their 5-meter wingspans making them easy targets. Their wings were shredded by bullets, leaving their bodies riddled with holes before they plummeted into the battlefield below.

The only creatures unaffected were the fire elementals. As beings composed primarily of flame, physical attacks had little effect on them, leaving only elemental attacks as a viable option.

Fortunately, Lilia was prepared. Using her Mana Net, she unleashed perfectly accurate freezing spells that extinguished the floating fire elementals one by one.

Finally, Bastion landed safely behind the camp’s defenses, right beside Ariel, who was already tearing through the horde with an autocannon held on each arm.

“Hahahaha!” she laughed wildly, completely consumed by her battle frenzy.

The pair then worked together to eliminate the heavily armored monsters within the horde. They focused their fire on the firescale salamanders, whose scales could resist lower-ranked bullets, the magma beasts, whose hardened hides offered similar protection, and the inferno golems, whose cores were buried beneath thick layers of molten rock.

The fire elementals were handled by Lilia, whose expertise in Water magic made short work of the creatures due to their elemental nature. Meanwhile, the hellhounds, fire bats, and cinder skeletons, which made up the majority of the horde, were forced to contend with the autocannon armed golems. Although their weapons only fired lower-ranked ammunition, the overwhelming rate of fire guaranteed that the weaker creatures would eventually be cut down.

However, the horde was far from weak. Despite the relentless bombardment, the monsters continued advancing, using their numbers to push closer toward the center of the encampment’s defensive line where Bastion, who held their full aggression, was stationed. They crossed the battlefield without hesitation, filling the defensive pits with their corpses, suffering through the numerous traps scattered across the battlefield, breaking through Lilia’s funneling walls, and steadily forcing their way forward.

“I guess it’s up to me,” Seraphina said with a sigh. “I hope we improve our defenses before we do this again.”

She threw a dozen potion bottles into the charging horde. The glass shattered on impact, releasing waves of freezing energy that spread across the front lines. The monsters immediately slowed as their flames weakened, the intense cold spreading through their bodies and turning the surrounding terrain into frozen ground.

The front line of the horde gradually transformed into frozen statues, only to be shattered by the creatures behind them. However, those monsters soon suffered the same fate as the freezing energy continued spreading, turning the advancing horde into a chain reaction of frozen bodies and shattered remains.

This continued for several minutes until the last of the monsters fell, and the Burning Wastes once again returned to its relative silence.

“Man, that was expensive,” Seraphina complained. “Rank 3 freezing potions are hard to make, you know! Sure, the recipes are relatively simple, but I’m only Rank 2. I have to rely on potions, rituals, and equipment just to gather enough mana to barely craft them, and I still fail 70% of the time.”

“Money well spent,” Bastion said with a smile. “This was just our first wave, so low-efficiency battles are to be expected. Besides, we’re not supposed to group them up like this in the first place. We’re supposed to hunt them efficiently. Otherwise, our ammunition supply won’t last.”

“Hahaha… Hah... hah... hah...” Ariel breathed heavily as she slowly came down from her frenzy, her body finally relaxing as she slumped to the ground. “I’m... hah... sorry... It’s all my... fault. I was ambushed by fire bats when I flew over the volcanoes to search for fire crystals. I kinda just panicked after that.”

“That’s fine,” Bastion said. “So? Did you manage to find them? How much can we expect?”

Ariel smiled at the question. “From just one volcano? About 20 of those houses.”

“That’s more than enough for ammunition,” Seraphina calculated, her eyes scanning over the mushroom houses as she imagined their total yield. “I’d say we’ll even have a surplus if the other volcanoes have even half of that amount.”

“How did the geological survey go, by the way?” Lilia asked Bastion.

“Good enough to overhaul our equipment to Rank 3 before we leave.”

“That’s insane!” Lilia exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

“That’s not all,” Seraphina said, pointing toward the battlefield. “We also got some incredible Rank 3 loot from that battle.”

As excitement spread through the group at the prospect of the resources hidden within the Burning Wastes, Bastion smiled.

“Good. We’d better start harvesting the loot, then. We need to see exactly how many resources we’ll be producing every month.”

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