[Chapter 242. Ancient Technology]

Searanox blinked, clearing his eyes from the downpour. The rain hammered down with relentless force, forming icy rivulets that streamed across his face and obscured his vision. Water droplets clung to his eyelashes, blurring the world into a mosaic of indistinct shapes and shadows.

He looked up at the tall figure just a few steps away. In that short time, he deduced the entity was at least twice his size—a mountain of metal and flesh that blotted out what little light bled through the storm clouds. Rain cascaded off ornate pauldrons, each smaller than his torso, collecting in shimmering pools before spilling onto the saturated ground below.

"I-it says his name is Searanox, and he is a Level 29 Dronemancer." Another voice spoke, hidden in the veil of rain. It was higher pitched and wavering, as if the speaker were young or nervous. The sound seemed to come from a few meters to the left, but the drumming of rain against armor and earth made precise direction difficult to determine.

A scoff preceded the female voice. It cut sharp as broken glass. "There is nothing on this world that is level 29. It's far too early for even the beasts of this world to reach such a level." Her tone dripped with condescension, each word enunciated despite the storm's fury. "The System must be malfunctioning."

"That's what it says." The younger voice took on a protesting tone, defensive and whiny. "I'm just reading what the interface shows: Searanox. Level 29, race Dhampir, Dronemancer class. The data is consistent, not corrupted."

"Whatever. Gron, seize him. We will take him with us for questioning," the woman commanded, dismissing the contradiction with an impatient wave of her hand that Searanox could barely make out through the sheets of rain. The command hung in the air between them, heavy as a death sentence.

By that time, Searanox had made it back to his feet. He had to accept that his prediction was right: they were twice his size. Each one was a giant in glistening armor that drank the ambient light. From his peripheral vision, he saw a massive figure move closer. Each step sank into the mud but made no sound despite its size, as if the ground itself feared to protest. Water cascaded down the figure's breastplate in silver rivers, pooling around intricately designed greaves that came up to the knee.

From that direction came a harsh, deep voice, like stones grinding together. "Come here, little one. Don't try to struggle and make it harder than it is on you." There was no menace in the tone, only a statement of fact that somehow made it more terrifying. "Kandora wants to talk to you, and it never goes well when she has to wait."

Searanox reached out behind him. His magitech gauntlet shimmered with energy as his mind raced through available options. With a blue flash of light, a basic travel drone materialized beneath his hands. The illumination cast his face in an ethereal glow, revealing the sharp angles of his dhampir features and the calculation in his eyes. His fingers curled around the edge of the drone's housing, the metal cold and familiar against his own armor.

With a jolt, he was pulled from the wet ground. Rain flew past him, deflected by the magic of the drone's antigravity field. It created a shimmering cocoon of dry air around his body as he rose into the storm-darkened sky. The figures below shrank as he ascended beyond their immediate reach.

A moment later, a metallic screeching sliced through the storm's rhythm as an arrow buried itself into the surface of the drone. The projectile punched clean through the housing with disturbing ease. Its three-bladed head continued its trajectory until it collided with his armored arm. The impact sent a jolt through his body. His eyes fixed on the weapon—exactly like the ones he had found inside the dungeon. The arrowhead's serrated edges had torn through the drone and nicked the armor of his gauntlets. The barbs bit deep to prevent extraction without grievous damage.

His summoned drone shuddered. Its energy field flickered before vanishing in a shower of blue sparks that sizzled as they hit the rain. With his only means of escape gone, Searanox fell from several dozen meters, the wind howling past his ears as he plummeted toward the earth. He hit the wet ground with enough force to create a small crater, his body sinking into the mud and water that splashed up around him.

His gaze darted toward the portal, shimmering like heat haze in the downpour. To his grim satisfaction, he had covered considerable distance in those few airborne seconds—hundreds of meters from his attackers. But what he saw offered no respite. Six winged forms closed the distance with terrifying speed, their massive shapes resolving into heavily armored figures on wings that cut through the rain like knives. They were fast, their approach heralded only by the beat of their wings that his ears could barely catch above the storm.

A glinting object streaked toward him through the curtain of rain. He threw himself sideways, muddy water spraying as he rolled, but his efforts were insufficient. The next arrow embedded itself in his abdomen, piercing through his magitech suit. Pain exploded through his midsection, hot and absolute. His breath caught in a choked gasp as he felt the barbs hook into his flesh.

"Anax, don't kill him. I want him alive." The woman's voice cut through the downpour, distant yet unmistakable in its authority. It was barely audible above the storm's fury, but its cold precision carried across the battlefield.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Searanox reached out with both hands, pushing himself off the ground. He brought out two of his defensive drones—one basic, the other intermediate—materializing them in formation before him. The drones deployed layered energy barriers that shimmered into existence, catching the next arrow as it pierced the rain. The barrier rippled, colors shifting across its surface as it absorbed the kinetic impact, but it held firm.

`I have no other choice.`

The thought formed in his mind, cold and hard as the arrowheads that threatened him.

"I will look past your aggression if you let me be," Searanox called out over the rain, his voice strained but steady. "I apologize for being in the dungeon. I didn't know you were in there." The words felt hollow even as he spoke them, a desperate gambit against overwhelming force.

A soft chuckle carried through the storm before a deeper voice answered. "What are you going to do, little one? You are all alone, and a summoner above all else." The condescension in the tone was palpable, as if his attempt at diplomacy was nothing more than a child's pleading.

"The barrier is tough. It ate my arrow without showing much of an effect," the higher, younger voice called out. The words barely carried through the torrential downpour as the speaker adjusted their position in the sky.

The woman he saw in front of the dungeon landed before his drones barrier, punching against it. The force of her impact was great enough for her to slide back on the wet ground. Her armored boots dug deep trenches in the mud as she fought against her own momentum. "A defensive specialist. Rare... Now I want you even more." The smile on her face was visible even in the gloom—wide and predatory, promising nothing good for Searanox.

"Quin, you heard what I said. I want him alive. As long as Ulrum can fix him afterward, you are free to use whatever method you like." The woman in front of his barrier looked down at him as he got back up to his feet. Her gaze was intense and unwavering, despite the rain that plastered her dark hair to her face.

"Last chance to turn around," Searanox said, analyzing their positioning and their strengths. His mind worked feverishly despite the pain radiating from his abdomen and arm.

His drones shifted to his right and blocked an incoming strike. A heavy axe slashed against the basic barrier and shattered it, then made contact with the intermediate defensive drone, which stopped the attack dead in its tracks. The impact sent a visible ripple through the drone's energy field.

"You think you can talk your way out of this, just because you have a strong barrier?" Quin laughed as he pulled his axe back for another swing. The sound was deep and rumbling, seeming to shake the very air around them.

`Something isn't right. They cleared that dungeon, and his axe only broke through the basic drone's barrier. That makes no sense. Something isn't adding up... but what is it that I'm missing?`

Searanox pondered the discrepancy while bringing out another intermediate defensive drone to cover his left. Its blue energy field shimmered to life with a low hum that barely pierced the storm's fury. The hexagonal segments interlocked with satisfying precision, creating a translucent wall of protection that absorbed the gray light of the storm. A couple of seconds later, an arrow slammed into it, the force of the blow sending vibrations through its structure. The barrier held, rippling like disturbed water as the arrow clattered to the muddy ground, its three-bladed head reflecting what little light remained.

"Lady Kandora, something is wrong. There are too many barriers." An older voice spoke from the back of their formation, the words carrying a tremor of concern despite the distance. The voice belonged to a figure whose features were obscured by both the rain and an ornate helmet, though his posture suggested years of battlefield experience. "No summoner of this world's level should have access to this many barriers simultaneously. The energy expenditure alone would drain any lesser mage."

"Ah hahahaha!" Quin laughed as he slammed his axe once again against the drone's barrier. The axe slid off it, leaving a heavy ripple behind, the impact creating a visible distortion in the air. "More barriers to break! This just makes it more fun, little one!" His armored boots sank deeper into the mud as he braced himself for another strike, the muscles in his arms straining against his heavy armor. Rain poured down his faceplate, but his eyes burned with battle fever through the narrow slits.

Searanox exhaled, the breath misting in the cold air before being whipped away by the wind. A pale blue flash of light illuminated his hand. His fingers tightened around the rifle's grip, the magitech gauntlet responding to his intent with a subtle warmth that spread up his arm.

"And to think I even apologized to you." His voice was deep and void of emotion, each word measured despite the pain that radiated from his wound.

A violet beam of energy tore through the air, leaving a momentary tunnel in the rain. The beam crackled with raw power, illuminating the battlefield.

But before the beam could reach Quin, he glowed and vanished in the blink of an eye. The beam displaced onto a tall shield that could pass for a door. It materialized from thin air, its surface covered in runes that flared to life upon impact, absorbing the devastating energy with a deafening screech. The beam dissipated into harmless sparks that rained down on the muddy ground, leaving behind the smell of a lightning strike.

"I never heard of a summoner carrying an artifact." The older voice came from behind the shield. His words carried both awe and suspicion, his mind racing through possibilities that defied conventional understanding of summoning classes. "The System doesn't distribute artifacts to new arrivals, and certainly not something that channels destructive energy like that."

Kandora's eyes fixed on the rifle in his hands, her predatory smile widening as she recognized the weapon's significance. "An artifact? What makes you say that, Gron?" Her voice dripped with condescension, though her eyes betrayed a flicker of genuine interest. "Look at the craftsmanship..." She took a step closer, her armored form seeming to grow larger as she closed the distance nearly pressing herself against the barrier. "That's not an artifact, you fool. That's technology. The ancient kind."