[Chapter 283. Gatura]

Moments later, the only ones left were the two holding heavy shields, and these weren't just for show.

They repelled each shot, one after another, moving their shields with uncanny speed, anticipating every angle and every trajectory. He couldn't even see the beasts holding them; only their clawed feet were visible beneath the bottom edge of the massive bulwarks. His drones fanned out, surrounding them and firing from all sides, but then a sudden pulse of energy reflected all of the incoming beams at once.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Searanox stepped forward, his boots crunching on the debris-strewn floor. He kicked the shield pressed against his barrier with all his available force, sending the small creature flying backward. It skittered across the stone as it slammed into the far wall with a sickening crunch.

There was no resistance to his kick; the shield-bearer simply took flight and crashed into the ruined furniture with the sickening crunch of wood and bone. Yet, even as it lay groaning in the rubble, his drones beams still didn't connect, deflecting off an invisible field that extended beyond the physical shield. Searanox crouched down, wrapping his fingers around a decently sized chunk of debris, and hurled it right at the creature as it struggled back to its feet. To his surprise, the debris veered sharply mid-air, as if swatted by an unseen hand, and slammed against the far wall with a loud thud.

`That's what I would call good ranged protection. This isn't just reflection; it's active redirection.`

He pulled out the Mycelial Fang, its blade humming with latent energy, and in a blur of movement appeared behind the Gatura right up against his barrier. He stabbed the dagger straight into its exposed neck, the sharp metal sliding in without resistance, parting fur and flesh until it emerged from the other side. The beast gave a choked gurgle, its clawed hands scrabbling uselessly at its throat before it fell dead to the ground, its shield clattering beside it.

In the next moment, the other Gatura was back on its feet and already rushing him, its eyes burning with fury. Its shield glowed an ominous yellow-green before the creature dashed forward in a blur of motion—even Searanox's enhanced eyesight could barely keep up. The air around the beast seemed to warp and distort, leaving brief trails of light in its wake.

Searanox took a quick step back behind his drone's barrier just as a booming sound shook the very foundations of the castle. His eyes went wide and he shook his head, ears ringing from the concussive force. It sounded as though someone had just fired a cannon right next to him. His defensive drone's barrier, which had withstood countless attacks before, splintered under the force of the impact, fragments of blue energy scattering like broken glass before dissipating into nothingness.

"What the fuck was that?"

As the dust settled from the devastating impact, swirling in thick grey clouds that made his eyes water, the furry beast bashed its massive shield against the stone floor with a deafening clang. The sound reverberated through the chamber, a clear challenge echoing off the crumbling walls. The creature's matted fur bristled with aggression, its eyes locking onto Searanox with primal hatred. For a heartbeat, it stood poised, muscles tensed beneath its hide, shield held ready.

Searanox vanished again, reappearing behind the creature with supernatural speed.

The Mycelial Fang plunged deep into the beast's skull with a wet, sickening crunch, its phosphorescent veins flaring brightly as the blade connected. The beast's body convulsed violently, claws scraping uselessly against the stone floor before it collapsed in a heap, its final breath escaping in a pathetic hiss.

Before bringing up the System window, Searanox made absolutely certain this was the last remaining threat. His enhanced hearing picked up no sounds of movement, only the crackling energy of dissolving bodies. The snipers behind the banister were already halfway dissolved into shimmering System energy, their forms wavering like a heat haze before breaking apart into light. Meanwhile, the corpses of the ground floor combatants had just begun their ethereal disintegration, their blood-soaked fur and weapons fading into nothingness as the System reclaimed its resources.

`Okay, a Lesser. Not bad. The fight itself was quick. But what was that explosion? If they had both used it from the start, one of the barriers would be gone in an instant. But overall, not much intelligence.`

He thought this while looking up toward the second floor. The air still carried the acrid tang from that explosive shield charge, a smell that mingled unpleasantly with the castle's pervasive damp rot. His ears throbbed with a phantom ringing that echoed the shield's devastating impact. That ability—it wasn't just defensive. The Gatura weaponized its own protection, converting shield energy into a concussive blast that had shattered his drone's hexagonal barrier. It changed how he needed to approach the next battle significantly. A single hit at the wrong moment and his carefully constructed defense would crumble, leaving him exposed to the claws and blades of this castle's denizens. He made a mental note: engage shield-bearers at close range with extreme prejudice, and never allow two of them to synchronize their explosive attacks.

The next few fights went exactly as the first. The creatures possessed almost no intelligence; they always ran blindly into his barrier and were picked off by his drones in a matter of seconds. The process became almost methodical. He'd enter a room, his defensive drones would materialize with their familiar soft hum, and the Gatura would respond with predictable ferocity. Their tactics were rudimentary at best: charge directly at the threat, attempting to overwhelm through sheer numbers and aggression rather than any semblance of strategy.

It was brutish, unsophisticated, and utterly ineffective against his technological advantage. The creatures snarled and clawed at the magical wall, their eyes wide with either fury or confusion, while his drones systematically eliminated them. Precise beams of energy carved through fur and flesh with surgical precision. Each encounter left him more convinced that this dungeon relied on environmental hazards and overwhelming numbers rather than the tactical prowess of its inhabitants.

That being said, the Guards still had to be finished off with a dagger, as they appeared to be completely immune to ranged attacks. He'd made the discovery when his drones energy beams harmlessly dissipated before even touching the shield-bearers, deflected by that unseen force. It was frustrating, forcing him to close the distance with creatures whose primary function was to keep him at bay.

Each encounter with a Guard followed a similar pattern: dash behind the creature, drive the Mycelial Fang through a vulnerable spot, and then retreat before its companions could react.

The Gatura Warriors came in a variety of forms. Some had crossbows that could easily shoot down his drones if given the chance—he learned this the hard way when three of his machines were knocked out of the sky by well-aimed bolts before he could order evasive maneuvers. The sword wielders would blindly attack everything in front of them, just like the ones armed with spears and axes. Their lack of tactical awareness was their greatest weakness; rushing forward in a straight line made them easy targets for concentrated fire.

Searanox looked into every room he came across. Most were empty, some were filled with the strange grey fog, and others just held more Gatura. The castle's layout was maddeningly inconsistent. One chamber might contain nothing but dust and cobwebs, the next a full contingent of Warriors sharpening their weapons around a flickering brazier. The architecture spoke of former grandeur—faded tapestries depicting battles between armored knights and fantastical beasts, crumbling stone balconies overlooking empty halls, massive stained glass windows that might have once cast colored light across marble floors but now admitted only the grayness of the perpetual fog outside.

As he ventured deeper into the castle, stepping into another open space, a bright flash of light illuminated the area before something exploded right against his barrier, sending rock shards flying across the room. The impact was less forceful than the previous shield blast—more of a concussive thud than a cannon shot—but it still made his defensive drones barrier flicker momentarily as they absorbed the energy. Shrapnel ricocheted off the hexagonal barrier with sharp pinging sounds, fragments of stone and mortar clattering to the floor around him.

In the next moment, these brain-dead beasts ran blindly into the hexagonal wall once again. Then, another flash—this time of bright orange light—filled the space, and an inferno of flames swallowed everything on the other side of his protective wall.

As the flames died down, the acrid smell of burnt fur and scorched stone filled the air, thick enough to make his eyes water. The beasts lay burned to a crisp right in front of him, their blackened corpses curled in death, some still smoldering with small, glowing embers that dotted their ruined flesh.

"You've gotta be kidding me. They killed each other?" Searanox mumbled, his voice rough with disbelief as he looked over their charred remains. The irony wasn't lost on him—the creatures were so mindlessly aggressive that they'd destroy their own just to reach him, their tactics reduced to chaotic, explosive recklessness.