Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 412 - 411: The Grand Theater of Terror (Extra for Alliance Hierarch ’Confrontation Kid waaah’)

Su Lun’s breath-gathering strike was fierce beyond compare.

Like a summer thunderstorm, it came with flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder, howling as it passed.

With just that one strike, dozens of mechanical armors were chopped into pieces amidst the thunderous sword qi.

Officer armors could barely remain intact, while soldier armors were almost bifurcated in one cut. The sword edge sliced through the thick defensive armors, revealing the limbs of the controllers inside, with blood splattering, exposing the gruesome sight of flesh and bone...

The tens of thousands of eyes watching the central arena of Moros City-State were left agape in astonishment.

...

This strike by Su Lun stunned everyone present.

Whether it was the fighters from Mafa and the Northern Sea Fleet, or the onlooking melon-eating crowd and intelligence agents.

They watched, aghast, as parts of mechanical armors were suddenly slashed open or exploded apart on the battlefield.

"A single cut took down sixteen mechas, including one ’Colonel-level’ armor? My God, when were fencers able to breach the defenses of high-tier mechanical armors? Apart from a few top-tier swordsmen, I’m afraid no one else could do it..."

"What in the world is going on with the Dawn Squad! A fifth-order Sword Saint, so domineering... to have such freakishly talented professionals? And that shadow of the Rakshasa Golden Body, could that be a special ability?"

"No wonder they dared to make a move. It turns out they had a swordsman capable of countering mechanical armors. The Mafa mech fighters are in deep trouble now..."

"It’s hard to say. Despite Barrett and this Rakshasa Sword Saint being extraordinarily powerful, they are only so few in number. To my knowledge, there are at least three full fleets from the Northern Sea Fleet in the city, capable of mobilizing more than two hundred thousand troops. Moreover, Oleg and a vice-royal level expert are also here. Once those masters arrive, this group has no chance of making it out alive."

"..."

Although Barrett was strong, it was expected since he was an old and famous powerhouse, and his advancement to the seventh order wasn’t too surprising.

But the sudden appearance of the Armor-Breaking Sword Saint astounded those news merchants as if they had discovered a new world, all marveled.

Still, no one was optimistic about their fate, given that a large number of reinforcement troops from the Northern Sea Fleet had already arrived outside the arena.

Meanwhile, several kilometers away from the central arena, atop a tower.

Ekaterina also watched the intense battle from afar.

By her side, an old butler looked at the escalating fight, his face unavoidably etched with worry.

By this time, they could see numerous reinforcement troops, tens of thousands strong from all directions in the city converging towards the arena.

Seeing his young mistress delaying to give orders, the old butler still spoke up to remind her, "Miss, should we intervene now? If we wait any longer, once the encirclement is complete, even if we take action, it won’t be possible to change the situation."

Ekaterina’s gaze was profound as she looked into the distance, silent for a long moment.

After a few moments of contemplation, she finally shook her head and said softly, "There’s no need. If he’s made his move, he must be confident."

The old butler showed an expression of difficulty: "But..."

Ekaterina, of course, knew what the old butler was worried about, and her starry eyes shimmered as if she too harbored doubts, murmuring, "Even if that mysterious ’Mr. Jing’ comes to stop Oleg, it won’t be possible to turn the tide. I too am curious about how they can withstand the two hundred thousand enemies in this city."

....

The defense of the mechanical armors was extremely strong.

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```

Usually, if the opponent can’t break through the defense of the mechanical battle armor, it is almost invincible.

Even with the ability to slowly wear down the armor’s defensive coating and barrier, it definitely costs ten times more to destroy a single suit of mechanical battle armor.

Thus, mechanical battle armor, especially the officer-grade armor, dominates the majority of hand-to-hand combat professions in the middle and lower tiers, such as swordsmen, blade wielders, fighters, assassins...

And is seldom countered.

Light swordsmen, in particular, are solidly countered by professionals. Even a Sword Saint would struggle immensely against major or lieutenant general-grade mechanical battle armor, almost scraping by.

But mechanical battle armor also has a "critical point" for defense value.

Once physical damage penetration surpasses this point, it’s like slicing through vegetables.

And, "Void Breeding Armor" just happens to be one of the few things within the realm of alchemy that naturally counters mechanical battle armor.

This can amplify a professional’s attack penetration power.

And "Thousand Stripes" fused with [Void Ghost Hand] significantly increases physical penetration ability, allowing her Sword Qi to easily penetrate rune armor, cutting iron as if it were mud.

Once defense is broken, mechanical warriors are just a bunch of slow-reacting iron clumps to the nimble swordsman.

Like right now.

After Thousand Stripes breaches the armor of the mechanical battle suits, the blade in her hands is no longer a mere scraping knife but a slaughter knife.

After she charged up and broke through sixteen mechanical battle armors, her form weaved like a ghost through the royal mechanical legion.

Mechanical arm?

A single strike chops it into two segments, gushing blood.

Rune cannons?

Equally smooth to slice.

As long as she avoids the heavy defensive armor, every slash opens a gaping wound. Striking some key components can immediately cause the mecha to malfunction and become scrap.

This is something nearly impossible for any other fifth-tier professional.

Thousand Stripes moves in close quarters among the mechanical battle armors, where these clumsy iron clumps are almost entirely vulnerable.

Mechanical battle armors, like humans, have many weaknesses: mechanical joints, power boilers, energy pipes...

Because Su Lun previously raided Mafa’s "Submarine Mechanics Research Institute" and captured a group of mechanics, he even completed the knowledge of mechanical battle armor that Mafa regarded as top-secret.

These days, Su Lun has meticulously educated everyone in the Dawn Brigade on the structure and weaknesses of mechanical battle armors.

Now, Thousand Stripes not only has super-strong armor penetration capabilities but also possesses surgical precision in cutting.

She is like performing a surgical operation, bringing a nightmare to this group of mechanical warriors!

...

Thousand Stripes weaves through the mechanical warriors, incapacitating and exploding thirty-four mechanical battle armors in just a few encounters.

Although these Mafa mechanical guards also reacted immediately, forming the impenetrable iron bucket formation unique to Mechanical City, their firepower output was also restricted.

```

This significantly eased Barrett’s pressure.

However, at that moment, the North Sea Fleet’s top expert finally arrived, Oleg’s right-hand man, the quasi eighth-tier professional "Steel Bone General" Augustine Hert!

This was a top ten Pirate in the Bounty Hunters Guild’s pirate bounty rankings, with a staggering bounty of 5 billion and 330 million liriso, and also the highest-ranking navy officer to have defected from the Ruin Kingdom.

Before the man himself arrived, a domineering aura surged over like an avalanche.

The burly figure leaped high from a distance and appeared above the arena.

Almost simultaneously, Qianjiao seized the moment to slash at the figure in the sky with a cleaving blow.

With a "whoosh," a crescent sword Qi tore through the air.

Augustine glanced at it and snorted coldly. With a casual fist, he metallicized his hand into a golden luster and crushed the sword Qi, capable of severing mecha armor, on the spot.

Qianjiao was not at all surprised by this, as the intelligence had detailed information on him, the "B-037-Iron Body" second awakening talent, possessing nearly invincible defense!

That was also the reason why he had been wanted for so many years and never been caught.

Even though Augustus was not an eighth-tier, not all eighth-tier professionals could kill him!

After blocking Qianjiao’s attack, he threw two more punches, one at Qianjiao and the other at Barrett, who was entangled with Samijina, blasting them out!

Qianjiao nimbly dodged, and the punch’s force created a several meters deep crater on the ground.

Barrett’s eyes narrowed. Instead of dodging, he seemed to prepare to take the hit head-on.

Although he knew he would likely get hurt, if he didn’t block it, the punch would shatter the chessboard space with its powerful energy!

.....

With August’s intervention, the Pirates of the North Sea Fleet also heaved a sigh of relief.

With this "Vice King" present, it should be enough to suppress the scene.

What no one expected was that before Barrett could take on the punch, a figure wearing a black and red cloak flashed by swiftly and silently took the punch.

On closer inspection, it was an old man dressed in classic noble attire. He wore a red and black cloak, with a complexion so pale it was unnerving, emitting an oddity that did not fit this era, like a noble from an ancient oil painting.

When Augustine saw the newcomer, his brows immediately furrowed, "A Vampire? The old thing from Senodia Province hidden in a coffin who shuns the light..."

Being able to catch his punch meant a top-tier Vampire had arrived. He looked very unfamiliar, likely one of those ancient Vampires that had slept for over a century.

However, the strength of this person was secondary. What surprised the North Sea Fleet more was why there were Vampires coming to aid the Dawn Group?

Such a high-caliber old monster valued resting over anything else. Who could possibly have asked for his assistance?

Even Queen of Ruin might not have such privileges!

A bad premonition crept over August.

Nobody present, apart from the Dawn Group, recognized this Vampire elder.

He was a second-generation blood descendant of Mr. Jing, the "Blood Duke" Moore Wazhuaz, a Vampire who had lived for seven hundred years. He had come to contribute his strength when Mr. Jing issued a call, only Vampires of high "rank" were qualified for this.

Wazhuaz took the punch, and his cloak behind him "bang" unfurled into a pair of huge flesh wings, and his face transformed into a demonic state with a green visage and fierce fangs.

```

As he transformed, the elegant and noble aura he had just moments ago instantly became incredibly sinister, and a terrifying, sandpaper-like laughter emanated from his throat, "Heh heh heh... It has been a long while since I’ve indulged freely in the taste of blood."

Vampires are an abyssal race, inherently possessed of a brutal and murderous nature in their bloodline.

If one were to study history, one could certainly find records of the terrifying deeds of this great Duke of the Bloodline in the annals of that era, when he once made all the major nobles of the northern part of Ruin tremble.

A dense blood fog emanated from Wazhuaz’s body, a unique "blood domain" belonging only to the most elite of the bloodline.

With a spread of his flesh wings, he flew swiftly towards the crowd of pirates, his speed so fast that all one could see was a series of afterimages.

A horrifying scene unfolded!

Wherever the blood shadow passed, the blood fog transformed into swarms of tiny bats. As they swept by, pirates of the first and second tiers fell like cut wheat, their bodies instantly becoming desiccated corpses. Even mechanical warriors, if they had any skin exposed, would be drained dry in the blink of an eye.

After Wazhuaz fed, his previously shriveled and aged body filled out, transforming him into a stern-looking middle-aged vampire, and the blood barrier around him grew even more vigorous.

Bullets striking his body made a metallic "clang, clang, clang" as if hitting a steel plate.

Even when alchemy bullets of the Holy Light series wounded him, creating bloody holes, they would heal in an instant through feeding, restoring him to his original state.

This was the vampires’ innate ability, self-healing through bloodsucking.

A cold sneer was now the only expression on the face of this high-ranking vampire.

The high-level professionals of the Northern Sea Fleet, watching and wanting to stop this top-tier vampire’s harvest, had the "Steel Bone General," Augustus, personally intercept.

But vampires are undead; their bodies, aside from taking substantial damage from Holy Light, are largely impervious to other forms of physical attacks or spells. Even if more than half of their bodies were blown apart, they could heal by feeding.

A member of the undead, possessing the strongest defense.

You can’t kill me, and I can’t kill you.

The two fought fiercely, with no clear winner in the short term.

Moreover, there wasn’t just one high-ranking vampire that arrived.

Seeing the pirates threatening the chessboard space guarded by Barrett, immediately someone stepped forward to block them. One by one, five or six ancients from centuries past emerged.

.....

The successive "accidents" left even the information traders somewhat confused.

How could the Dawn Group have connections with high-ranking vampires?

The battles in the fighting arena grew increasingly fierce. While there weren’t many from the Dawn Group participating, each of them was impressively formidable.

All the onlookers failed to recognize the identity of the vampire elder, except in a distant tower, where Yekaterina raised her eyebrows and muttered to herself, "A vampire with the strength of nearly a tier-eight, looks like the ’Blood Marquis’ Orvick Wote from five hundred years ago, or perhaps the ’Blood Duke’ Moore Wazhuaz from seven hundred years ago... all big shots indeed. However, this makes the identity of that ’Mr. Jing’ all the more special."

...

Su Lun was the main character of the Dawn Group, and Princess Stika was all too aware that Su Lun possessed an oversized storage space, having absorbed the "Submarine Mechanical Research Institute." Thus, among the kill targets for the Northern Sea Fleet, everyone could be let go, but this Su Lun had to be captured!

Wherever he appeared, this place was bound to be the main battlefield.

More and more pirates surged towards the arena, and fleet captains and squadron leaders alike hurried over.

Although the members of the Dawn Group who had appeared so far were quite powerful, capable of taking on hundreds by themselves, they were gradually falling behind under the overwhelming numbers of the enemy.

```

Just as the battle was at its most intense, suddenly the situation changed abruptly.

Two figures appeared out of nowhere.

The missing Su Lun finally emerged from the chessboard space.

In his hand was Onis, battered and bloodied.

"Stop!"

With a loud shout from Su Lun, both parties in the arena, locked in fierce combat, turned to look.

Taking Oleg’s second son as a hostage proved to be very effective.

At his words, both the pirates and the army of mechanical warriors simultaneously ceased their fight.

It had to be admitted that Onis was indeed strong, born with "courage" and deeply skilled in battle techniques, a true heirloom of the Roman country’s War God. Among fifth-tier professionals, Su Lun believed that except for someone exceptionally strong like Qian Tiao, no one else he had seen at the fifth tier could compare in close combat abilities. And this was even when Onis had lost the Power of Faith and his strength was greatly diminished.

Su Lun was confident he could kill him but capturing him alive was no easy task.

Fortunately, after some effort, utilizing the Puppet Master’s home field advantage in the chessboard space, he managed to capture Onis alive, albeit barely.

The Dawn Group was not here today just for a fight; their most important purpose was to rescue Kay.

Taking this hostage was also a pivotal step.

From the moment he brought out the Golden Spear, it was all for this moment.

...

Su Lun held Onis by the throat, ready to end his life at any moment.

He looked at Princess Stika, guarded by heavy troops in the distance, and directly stated his terms, "I would like to exchange this man’s life for a friend of the Dawn Group."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s gaze shifted to the Princess of Mafa in the distant stands.

Princess Stika’s face was clouded with anger, but she did not speak, though there was no surprise in her heart.

The prophecy had pointed to "Kay."

This slave was the most important bait in this ambush.

However, now it didn’t matter. The fish was already in the net, and the bait was no longer important.

Yet seeing the calm demeanor of Su Lun and his group from afar, a hint of unease rose in her heart.

Now that they had seen the current situation, why were they still so composed?

Whether it was the strange destruction of the temple earlier or the sudden appearance of the blood race, there was a sense that something was off.

But now Oleg himself had arrived, and there were two hundred thousand troops that could be mobilized in the city.

Princess Stika couldn’t think of any flaws in their plan.

Su Lun looked at the Princess of Mafa, who remained silent. Without any hesitation, he swung the black scythe in his hand, severing one of Onis’s arms with one stroke. "Do you not agree?" he asked.

The arm fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

This action enraged the pirates gnashing their teeth.

Nobody had expected Su Lun to dare to cripple the most talented son of Oleg in front of everyone.

The situation had gone too far; even if these people surrendered, they would no longer be spared.

Princess Stika’s expression turned frosty; naturally she couldn’t watch Onis be killed. She shouted angrily, "Bring out the person!"

After about a few minutes, a few mechanical warriors escorted Kay, who walked out unhurriedly.

Su Lun’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Kay was in good condition. According to intelligence, he had been in high-intensity gladiator matches for the past month or two, achieving seventy consecutive victories and stabilizing his fifth-tier status. Moreover, it seemed that Princess Stika, in order to cultivate a strong combat slave, had even procured an implant with a high compatibility with the "Red Demon" talent—[the Baron of Hell’s Demonic Horn]—which allowed him to remain undefeated in the arena.

From a hundred meters away, Kay looked at Su Lun and the others with a bitter expression.

Su Lun took one glance at the armor and a flicker of insight shone in his eyes. He didn’t say much, but turned to Princess Stika in the distance and added, "Let him go, hand over the slave collar key, and also Kay’s personal items."

Princess Stika, however, did not agree to his conditions and said in a cold tone, "Release Prince Onis first!"

As Su Lun listened to these conditions, without any expression on his face, he slashed once more with his scythe and cut off Onis’s other arm. "Now, will you still negotiate terms with me?" he asked.

Seeing this, Stika’s face also turned cold.

The mechanical warriors escorting Kay immediately understood and prepared to cut off Kay’s arm as well, a clear threat with a hint of revenge mixed in. She didn’t want to be at a disadvantage in the negotiations.

However, far from appearing threatened, Su Lun held the blade of his scythe against Onis’s neck, his gaze devoid of any hesitation from being threatened, and he spoke indifferently, "This is the last time."

Seeing his move, the people from the North Sea fleet dared not take any action.

Although they too held a hostage, Su Lun was sure they didn’t dare to gamble.

The life of a "prince" compared to that of a slave was not something they were willing to, or needed to, bet on.

Anyway, they were all in the encirclement; whether to release the slave or not was meaningless.

It would be better to have Onis returned earlier; a severed limb might still be reattached.

Besides, Su Lun also knew that the other side was not merely trying to negotiate, but to buy time.

The longer it dragged on, the tighter the encirclement would become, and the "Prism Barrier" that prevented Void Displacement could be set up more securely.

He had already deduced what the blue light in the sky was, and there were no secrets to what these people were doing.

And he was not surprised at all.

...

Princess Stika naturally couldn’t watch Oleg’s son be killed because of her indecision.

As the delay was no longer possible, she could only say, "Let the person go, give them the key!"

The Red Demon was released, along with the key to his slave collar, the communication ring from the Mirror Organization, a box containing a Fallen Angel’s limb, and a storage ring.

All the important items were there, so there was nothing more to say.

At that moment, Qian Tiao walked to the front of the armor and picked up the key to insert it into the hole of the slave collar.

With a "click," the collar opened, and Kay regained his freedom.

From a distance, Princess Stika urged, "Now you can release the hostage, right?"

Seeing this, Su Lun’s lips curled into a sinister smile. Then he swung his black scythe without any hesitation, beheading Onis in one fell swoop.

Nobody could believe that he dared to kill the hostage outright.

It was supposed to be an exchange, but no one said whether the hostage had to be alive or dead. Su Lun did not want to leave behind any problems for future revenge from an enemy who once sought his life.

Just as he wielded his blade, a woman in the crowd, covered with a veil, screamed in horror: "No!"

Princess Stika’s complexion changed in an instant as she bellowed, "Kill them!"

This command was not aimed at the pirates but was instead an order given to Kay!

At her command, Kay’s eyes suddenly turned wild, and a red demon horn sprouted crazily from his head. His aura became as hot and violent as hellish lava. His muscles burst, revealing swathes of crimson skin, as his large hand reached forward.

A sneak attack from someone he was close to left no time to evade, and it seemed he was about to grasp Su Lun.

But Su Lun glanced out of the corner of his eye, completely unsurprised by this turn of events.

At the same time, a cloaked figure moved half a step ahead to position themselves beside him, then stretched out a hand to point forward preemptively.

Kay, who had not fully transformed into the hellish Red Demon, was suddenly stopped by that delicate jade finger pressed against his forehead.

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That seemingly fragile touch was enough to halt the monstrous being that was Kay.

Underneath the cloak, Pandora’s blood-red eyes emitted intense psychic suggestions. The frenzied look in Kay’s eyes rapidly turned confused and murky, then cleared up again, refocusing.

He suddenly stopped, looking down at his own hands, as if part of his memory was missing, "What did I just do?"

Su Lun smiled, "Welcome back, Mr. Kay."

Only then did Kay realize, "Was I just psychically enslaved?"

Su Lun nodded.

He had guessed that Princess Stika would surely have used some trickery on Kay.

Even if it wasn’t for deception, to tame such a strong slave, spiritual means were definitely needed to ensure loyalty.

It’s a pity, when Su Lun first arrived in the Moros City-State, and there were no conflicts with the other party, he had met Kay with Pandora and planted a psychic suggestion in his mind.

As long as the psychic techniques used by the other party were not superior to Pandora’s Moon Reading Illusion Technique, he could awaken the rationality buried deep within him at any time, suppressing all forms of psychic enslavement.

Princess Stika had released the hostage so readily because she thought she had enslaved Kay.

Unfortunately for her, Su Lun had anticipated this from the very beginning.

It wasn’t so much a clever scheme as it was a simple principle: when you know the cards your enemy holds, figuring out a strategy around those chips means there’s little left that can surprise you.

...

Now that Kay had been rescued, and Onis killed.

Like a burning fuse on a powder keg reaching its end, the real battle for life and death was approaching.

Su Lun had never harbored any illusions about being able to save people and then teleport away.

Because at this moment, the "Prismatic Barrier" had already been laid out in the distant sky.

The people of the North Sea Fleet had been setting it up from the start, timing it with the exchange of hostages.

This was a form of top-tier spatial restriction, not a blockade, but a spatial killing method. The lethality of the barrier lay in artificially creating dangerous "spatial shards" within its range.

It was like someone scattering glass shards in a river; if someone stepped on them, they would be immediately pierced and bleed.

If Su Lun were to blindly teleport a long distance and touch even one piece of glass, he could be pierced by a spatial shard.

Considering the distance from the arena to the port, he would encounter not one hundred thousand spatial shards, at least eighty thousand along the way.

Teleporting through it, he would be riddled with holes and die on the spot.

The people from the North Sea Fleet had witnessed Su Lun’s ability for long-range directed displacement and would have strange if they had no targeted measures.

Now that teleportation wasn’t an option, he had no choice but to break out.

The previous battles were just appetizers; the real show was just beginning.

There were probably over a hundred thousand troops amassed outside the arena.

Yet Su Lun was not the least bit afraid.

A war of attrition?

As a Puppeteer, Su Lun did not fear this tactic, especially since he had now advanced to the fifth order.

Mr. Jing would handle Olek on that side, and several top professionals from the North Sea Fleet were held back by Barrett, Qian Tiao, and the descendants of Mr. Jing.

The rest was up to Su Lun’s performance.

His gaze sharpened, his hands moved through the sorcerer’s seals swiftly like shadows, and the light of the alchemy array sparkled under his feet.

As the spell took shape, an endless stream of dark spiritual power surged wildly from his body.

In the sky, a massive cross was rapidly taking form.

That cross, which was at most one hundred meters in diameter, suddenly expanded—three hundred meters, five hundred meters, a thousand meters...

It didn’t show any sign of stopping.

Not until the cross’s area covered the entire arena and a large surrounding region did Su Lun finally halt.

"Equivalent exchange" applied to all alchemy. Theoretically speaking, there are two major factors that affect a spell: skill proficiency, and energy.

Su Lun’s proficiency in Puppetry Technique was not necessarily unmatched, but there weren’t many in this dimension who surpassed him. This level of spell was still within his control.

And the "Heart of Isaac Alchemy" provided him with an inexhaustible supply of dark spiritual power, eliminating any limits his spells might have due to energy constraints.

At this moment, Su Lun’s eyes shimmered with an unprecedented domineering luster as he whispered in his heart, "Puppet Arts’ Great Theater of Terror!"