Time in the Molten Iron Mountain Range felt both exceptionally long and exceptionally rushed.

Day after day, the wind and sand of the wasteland battered the walls of Forged Fire Fortress, while deep within Zone 18, a steel behemoth madly consumed and processed a sea of resources.

Amidst the roar that continued day and night, shipment after shipment of metal ingots were brought in, exchanged for various magical materials, and fed into assembly lines. There, under the work of runic equipment, they were transformed into parts for the Golem Legion.

Allen barely slept or rested.

The corners of his workshop were piled high with empty Energy Potion vials.

When he got tired, he would down a bottle. When he felt sleepy, he would lean against the control console for a brief nap.

His Spiritual Power was pushed to its absolute limit through countless instances of extremely delicate Rune carving, only to become more refined and condensed with each recovery.

The "’Overtime Blessing’" series of Alchemy Servants, controlled by Jarvis, worked around the clock, precisely executing every step of production and assembly.

「One month later.」

Mining Site Two encountered a small-scale beast tide. A horde of reckless, demonized boars charged blindly toward the mining area.

But before they even caught sight of the mining area, they plunged headfirst into the peripheral "Jumping Spider" minefield.

Amidst a continuous series of explosions, the charging boar herd was blown into complete disarray.

The "Purgatory" launch platform, having received the Demon Eye alert, immediately let out a roar.

Six "Red Lotus-I" Magic Missiles whistled into the sky, precisely blanketing the remnants of the boar herd and wiping them from the face of the earth.

The garrisoned PX-1 didn’t even have to move. The battle was over.

This combat test filled Allen with confidence in his "standardized defense system" and strengthened his resolve to expand his army.

The two months finally drew to a close.

On this day, the sky above the Molten Iron Mountain Range was especially gloomy. Heavy, red clouds pressed down from overhead, as if heralding an approaching storm.

On the small, once-empty plain outside the workshop, a fearsome Steel Legion now stood in formation.

At the very front were thirty Spider Slayer II units in neat rows. Their sharp appendages were dug deep into the ground, their compound eyes gleaming with red light, like a pack of wolves poised to strike.

Flanking them were two "Pacifist" models standing in silent vigil—one PX-0 and one PX-1A.

Behind them, ten "Purgatory" launch platforms were arrayed in a fan formation, their one hundred and twenty launch tubes aimed diagonally at the sky.

And above it all.

Above the legion, five "Storm Falcons" hovered in the air, their silent presence casting a suffocating pressure over the entire area.

Allen stood before the workshop gate, his black wizard robes whipping loudly in the fierce wind.

Gazing upon the army he had built entirely with his own two hands, an unprecedented sense of heroic pride swelled within him.

[Commander, the First Golem Legion has finished assembling.]

Jarvis’s voice, tinged with a human-like solemnity, rang out in his mind.

[All units are at full ammunition and 100% energy. All self-diagnostics are complete.]

Allen slowly raised his hand and pointed south.

In that direction, sixty kilometers away, the entrance to Three-way Canyon resembled a great maw waiting to devour any who entered.

But he knew that starting today, the roles of Hunter and prey were reversed.

"After lying dormant for so long, it’s time to let our neighbors understand what an Alchemy Wizard is truly capable of."

A grim smile touched the corners of Allen’s lips—the madness of two months of suppression, now on the verge of erupting.

"Move out! Let’s deliver a generous gift to our scorpion friends!"

...

On the desolate gobi desert outside Three-way Canyon.

A lone Crystal Shell Giant Scorpion, out hunting for food, suddenly raised its head. Its highly developed senses detected an unusual vibration in the air.

It wasn’t coming from the ground, but from... above.

WHOOSH—!!!

Following a piercing shriek, a silver-gray streak of light tore through the clouds. It plunged down from an altitude of five thousand meters, dropped a blurry object, and then instantly pulled up and sped away.

An Alchemy Bomb, enchanted with invisibility and silencing Runes, fell with terrifying acceleration onto the Crystal Shell Giant Scorpion’s head.

BOOM!

An orange fireball erupted, and a small mushroom cloud rose into the air.

Although its shell remained intact, its massive body suddenly stiffened, then crashed heavily to the ground, silent and still.

’Their carapaces are indestructible?’

’Then I’ll just turn their insides into mush!’

’What a beautiful sight!’

Forty kilometers away, Allen and his first legion had halted. On the tactical map in his vision, the terrain of the entire sixty-kilometer radius was laid bare.

Dozens of red dots were roaming the outskirts of the canyon—adult giant scorpions, out hunting and patrolling.

"First, clear out the bugs on the perimeter. Don’t let them get away."

Allen issued commands simultaneously through several threads of his mental link.

[Storm Falcon squadron, you are authorized for free-fire hunting.]

In the sky, the five silver reapers instantly broke formation, transforming into five deadly lightning bolts as they dove toward their respective targets. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

They unleashed hell from above, exploiting the terrifying maneuverability granted by their Anti-Gravity Runes.

One after another, aerial bombs were dropped with precision.

The roll call of explosions from the aerial bombs shattered the tranquility of the wasteland.

The giant scorpion swarms on the ground were thrown into utter chaos.

They furiously brandished their tails, trying to attack the enemies in the sky with their venomous stingers, but their attacks couldn’t even touch the shadows of the Storm Falcons.

The Storm Falcons were simply too fast. Before the scorpions could even react, they had already soared to an altitude of several thousand meters, leaving only afterimages behind.

The scorpions couldn’t hit them, couldn’t shake them, and couldn’t escape.

Watching the red dots on the tactical map extinguish one by one, Allen coldly uttered four words.

"This is air superiority."

The one-sided slaughter lasted for half an hour.

The thirty-plus giant scorpions responsible for patrolling and foraging outside the canyon were all reduced to a field of charred corpses smoldering with black smoke.

This act thoroughly enraged the scorpion swarm deep within the canyon.

Accompanied by a series of scalp-numbing hisses, the ground began to tremble.

[Warning: High-energy reaction detected.]

[A large number of Crystal Shell Giant Scorpions are pouring out of their nests. Quantity exceeds two hundred!]

On the light screen, a dense swarm of red dots poured out from the caves deep within the canyon, like a black tide.

They no longer scattered, but instinctively gathered together, the sound of their carapaces colliding merging into a thunderous roar.

Leading them were three giant elite scorpions, each over five meters in size. They raised their massive pincers and let out furious roars at the sky, as if trying to intimidate the damned "iron birds" with their absolute numerical superiority.

They were assembling.

They were forming ranks.

They were attempting to use the pack tactics ingrained in their genes for tens of thousands of years to fight an unknown enemy.

Allen watched the red dots on the screen grow denser and denser, almost merging into a single mass, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

"Fools."

He softly uttered one word.

In an age of cold weapons, such a dense charging formation would indeed be incredibly intimidating.

But in the face of saturation fire, this formation had another, more fitting name—

Sitting ducks.

"Jarvis, have the Storm Falcons pull back to rearm. We wouldn’t want to scare off our guests."

Allen’s voice carried a tone of cold delight.

"Since all the guests have arrived, well... it’s time for the main course."