Chapter 292: The Guardian

Just as the alloy gate shattered like fragile crystal and collapsed, that blazing light tore through the air, delivering a searing, twisted strike aimed right at Miss Vilyric’s face!

“Bang!”

A black gem appeared before Miss White Fox in an instant, materializing a magical barrier to block the attack. The shower of sparks lit up the air around them, noticeably raising the temperature.

Not fazed by the sudden assault, Miss White Fox looked up at the neatly arranged line of figures before her.

They were girls clad entirely in silver-gray combat gear, their faces identical. Each one held firearms that seemed unnervingly out of place in this world, or they were collectively operating other bizarre artillery and weapons like laser synthesizers, completely expressionless as they took a stance for battle.

Behind them, the massive cannon that had just unleashed that crimson beam was still exhaling faint white smoke from its barrel due to the intense heat.

“Wow… this welcome ceremony is quite intense.”

Shaking her head in resignation, the White Fox Girl stepped forward.

“Warning, warning, access permissions not detected. Please cease your intruding actions. Prove your identity within ten seconds or surrender your weapons, or we will initiate an all-out attack without holding back.”

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh…”

Hundreds of guns aimed simultaneously at the defenseless White Fox Girl, just having stepped onto the wreckage of the gate, who was in the front, commanding a girl in particularly well-crafted combat attire, delivering the mechanical warnings in a cold, emotionless voice.

With the rapid clicks of numerous mechanisms loading bullets, the atmosphere reached a peak of tension.

“Hey, hey… didn’t that just count as an attack? If I hadn’t had some self-defense skills, I’d probably be blown to bits by now. Your warnings seem a bit late, don’t you think?”

Yet the girls… or rather, the dolls, didn’t react in any way to Miss Vilyric’s comments, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. They continued to follow what seemed to be deeply ingrained commands, and the leader doll’s icy voice issued another warning.

“Identity verification not detected within the stipulated time. Final warning, countdown 5… 4… 3…”

…Looks like there’s no avoiding a fight now.

Miss Vilyric pondered quietly.

She didn’t know if these dolls possessed any self-awareness. If they were intelligent beings like the Puppeteer Clan, dismantling them all might be a bit excessive…?

But as she noticed the hollow looks in their eyes, so unlike Iriush and the others, she suddenly realized she was worrying about something completely pointless.

Ha…

She felt she had become a bit too merciful and arrogant, still contemplating her stance and whether to show mercy in such a situation. If it were a true enemy, the consequences would surely be unimaginable.

This was… a deadly showdown coming with a killer intent.

“…1… 0… open fire!”

“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat…!!”

Without a pause or hesitation, the sounds of gunfire erupted like a torrential downpour, flames rapidly expanding before the White Fox Girl.

“Vroom~”

The magical light, forming an imperceptible barrier, exploded forth centered around the Magic God Gem.

Countless bullets, propelled by magic and specially crafted firearms, slammed against the translucent barrier with a ferocity far greater than anything from another world, rippling the surface like waves.

Accompanied by the sound of debris falling, soon, the ground beneath the White Fox Girl was littered with twisted, unusable bullet casings.

Clearly, this level of attack posed no real threat to her whatsoever.

Thus, a thunderous noise erupted from further away.

“Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!”

At least ten metal monstrosities, terrifying in diameter and protruding from the hall’s walls, unleashed an explosive roar and fierce flames that could only be found mounted on battleships in Blue Star.

The disconcerting mix of colors resembling a rainbow streaked across the hall, descending from the chaos of twisting elements above.

This was clearly a power exceeding that of the so-called Dragonbone Cannons from Demon Town, far surpassing any generic weapons of this world, possessing terrifying power that could even threaten true transcendents.

No… considering this was a barrage rather than a single attack, the illusion of them being mere feigned enemies was likely far from accurate.

But it wasn’t enough.

This level of force was still insufficient to challenge Xī.

“Magic Storm.”

The gem’s brilliance swelled once more.

What had been a passive defense surged forth, transforming into a visible vortex of magic, consuming all incoming colorful rays.

Immediately, that light reversed course, encompassing the hundreds of dolls still futilely firing, unable to breach the magic storm even a fraction!

However, even faced with such a horrific scene, the leading doll’s voice remained emotionless.

“Detected energy levels exceeding maximum capacity, initiating defensive shield at maximum power.”

A white light radiated from the gem at the center of her combat suit, and not just her, all the dolls synchronized perfectly in action, forming a light halo that connected them all into a pale, semi-circular shield, temporarily withstanding the magical storm unleashed by the Magic God Gem.

Though the shield emitted a grinding noise as if bearing some overwhelming external force, and the brilliance of the gems powering the defense rapidly dimmed…

A block was still a block.

Noticing this, Miss Vilyric was somewhat surprised.

The combat abilities displayed by these dolls, particularly in their joint efforts now, could honestly be described as quite alarming.

Even if they relied heavily on outside help, the fact that they could withstand an attack from the artifact known as the Magic God Gem indicated they at least possessed power capable of matching that of a Pseudo-God. If they faced the Light Element Spirit protecting Ella…

The outcome might not be so favorable.

No wonder they had become a deeply hidden secret of the Holy Empire; they were indeed impressive.

Of course, her approval didn’t mean Miss Vilyric would show them any mercy.

Based on their displayed attitude, it seemed they had received extreme orders to “hold the line.” If she wanted to proceed, dealing with this group of dolls was likely unavoidable. If she did show mercy and only incapacitated them without destroying them, they might resort to self-destructing, adding to the trouble.

After all, Miss Vilyric had already seen that kind of situation once by the Holy Spirit Path.

Thinking this through, the White Fox Girl placed her palm against the black gem floating before her, which had merely been attacking autonomously, and infused it with magic.

   

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