The breaking sounds were from the gear-shaped core's surface that cracked, revealing its innermost part that looked like a half-sphere.
The core had the instinct of a human because it was essentially powered by several humans' souls so it hid back inside the automaton the moment it got hit. That alertness and decisiveness saved it from getting destroyed, but Alexei was satisfied because the gigantic thing still ended up paralyzed for several seconds.
'In-game, this is called DPS window,' laughed the youth who immediately sprung back to his feet after he landed.
DPS stands for damage per second, and DPS window referred to the span of time a mob or boss was susceptible to damage. The term was frequently in conversations among Mavria players because there were bosses and elite mobs that had tons of invulnerability phases. Of course, it was also used on opportunities like this where the mobs confronted had a paralysis state that could be triggered and exploited.
He madly began to hack at the automaton that slowly slumped on the rocky ground. Alexei only had about a few seconds to exploit before his Gift entered a who-knows-how-long cooldown. So he wasted no time as he dealt damage to the enemy.
Through his efforts, he managed to destroy the thing's legs and detached one arm from its body. On the midriff section, he also managed to expose the wire-filled insides and destroyed some.
'Not enough!' And he was not content with that.
He kept slashing down using his water blades until several deep cuts appeared all over the head and torso parts. When the blades disappeared, he simply began to use his fists. But he then became annoyed and frustrated when he failed to find the spot where the core hid.
"Ex...ter..."
Unfortunately, time ran out and the automaton's core had repaired itself. The latter seemed to have been enraged that it began to speak. The giant thing's eye glowed deep crimson before it fired magic-imbued projectiles at him. Alexei had no choice but to distance himself from it in order to dodge the sudden attacks. When the first explosion resounded, Alexei swallowed some saliva after he saw the devastated earth where he used to be.
"Ex...ter...mi...nate!" The voice was almost inaudible, yet the word it said did not escape Alexei's hearing.
"Mas...ter...said...to..."
It did not care about the amount of mana that it would empty out from its core. As it currently could not stand up, the automaton continued sending magic missiles after him. When almost a minute passed and the barrage showed no sign of stopping, that was when he realized that the opponent discovered that he could no longer use his Gift today.
The automaton blatantly exposed its repaired core. Blinding flashes filled the area. Explosions rang one after another, and then when the light disappeared, the terrain around them forever changed.
Alexei managed to dodge all the projectiles, nonetheless, he was always near the place that received the greatest impact so wounds started to accumulate on his body.
Many parts of his body were bleeding, including his eardrums. Thankfully, although some of the wounds were deep and showed a bone or two, at least no organs of his were fatally harmed.
Still, he silently lamented about his currently unusable Gift which could have helped him cripple the enemy more, or protect him from some of the rocks and other stuff that flew around.
A moment later, Alexei shook his head and thought. 'This should be enough... It would definitely follow me.'
Then he threw two short swords from his inventory to the automaton before he turned around and resumed running toward the river.
As expected, the opponent stopped firing magical projectiles when he got outside its range. However, it was reluctant to let him get away so it dragged its huge body across the ground to follow him.
"Mas...ter... or...der..."
Alexei purposely controlled his running speed so that he would not be too far away from it. He baited the automaton to continue sending missiles his way in order to drain its power fast. But what he did not expect was for it to channel some of its reserved energy to its remaining leg to catapult itself forward. He must admit, that moved quite amazed him since he found it extremely bizarre to see a flying robot with one leg and one arm. No matter how awestruck he was though, Alexei did not forget to dodge and dash.
Five and a half minutes passed. Without any suspense, the ten-meter-high giant ended up ruined beyond recognition as it got baited to jump into the highly corrosive waters. Alexei was lying on the ground not far away, looking so exhausted. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was widely opened and his chest was heaving fast.
'I think I'm dying.'
The youth could only smile bitterly because this time, he had truly pushed his Gift beyond the limit.
After expending all his energy and mana, he found himself in serious trouble. His necklace refused to respond no matter what he did. Right now it could not even activate its passive healing which it used to do immediately after he got hurt.
The only good news was that no more enemies went after him. There were no monsters lingering nearby since the unusual aura of the river scared them. Actually, the nonstop missile attacks and explosions caused by the automaton also intimated the many mobs in the area and made them flee. As for the dark mages, Alexei was sure that they were too preoccupied with experiments to remember to check their connection with the automaton.
Hence, he took his time trudging back to the riverside. Not far away from the corroded lump of metals was a glowing cube that shone with a bright blue light. Alexei touched it using his forehead, then shortly willed it to be stored inside his inventory. After that, he slowly left the place.
...
Not even a day passed and Marlon received a message from the senior dark mage that left for the settlement in the southwest. The secret village of renegades was no more. Dark Mage Oliver did not come back. But the Dark Palace slaves that he took with him brought back several captives along with some weapons and abyssal resources.
"How amazing."
Marlon marveled at the blue monolith that the slaves put in the middle of the camp.
According to the letter sent by the other dark mage, this thing could be found on every floor of the Tower and was usually in the possession of the Tower fairies. Monsters nearby or inside the area of its effects would unconditionally receive buffs to their physical capabilities and sometimes, even gained elemental powers. For Marlon, it was a wonderful item that had tons of research value.
"If I remember the content of that book correctly, this monolith has no good effects on humans and only serves to empower monsters. How odd. Why would the refugees keep this thing by their side?" Confusion laced his voice.
There were slaves from different races standing in a line behind him. A few were actually Alexei's previous colleagues. However, none of them replied to Marlon. All of them knew that the mage was not talking to them, but loudly musing something to himself. They knew the right thing to do was to keep quiet and not lift their heads.
The dark mage touched the obelisk all over and even tried to apply mana to it. He forgot everything else around him. All his focus was on the thing in front of him. Those standing behind him saw the obelisk start to emit a faint purple glow which slowly spread into the air.
"Good... good... It's working." The dark mage proceeded to channel more mana from his staff.
A few seconds later, Marlon started laughing. At first, it was the usual one. The slaves thought it was because he was pleased with the fact that he managed to trigger a reaction from the obelisk. But shortly, it became louder and louder. Although he wore a mask on his face, those who were with him easily noticed the changes in his behavior.
The slaves exchanged glances with each other and slowly backed away. It proved to be a wise decision because Marlon suddenly started swinging his staff and arms around, all while giggling nonstop like a madman. He no longer seemed to be in his sane state.
One magic spell after another poured around the obelisk. After some time, the spells' target changed to the trees and captured abyssal beasts, then to the captives from the southwestern settlement. The camp of the Dark Palace that had just formed descended into chaos. For quite a long while, Marlon crazed murmurings and laughter echoed, resounding with the screams and cries of mercy from the other humans in the place.
When the dark mage regained his senses, more than five minutes had passed. The eyes not hidden by the mask slowly checked around him and found that nearly everything was destroyed. However, he showed no sign of remorse for killing so many beasts and people and wasting a lot of research materials. He also did not care about the slaves cowering at the top of the cliff.
"It indeed can do wonders to the mind." Marlon's voice was peaceful as if he was simply stating a conclusion formed after a series of experiments.
Then nodding to no one in particular, he continued studying the unknown inscriptions on the obelisk.
An hour or so later, he thought of acquiring more obelisks. There were ideas in his mind that he wanted to try or verify yet could not because of the lack of reference materials.
"I refuse to believe that there is only one settlement on this floor."
Marlon ordered a slave that looked like a half-lizard half-man to put away the item that he was studying. Then he entered his tent, a newly erected one, to take a seat and rest. The plan was also to contact the battle automaton he sent out to come back. Once it returned, he would make it search around for another village and more abyssal creatures to replace the ones that already turned into a mess of flesh, bones, and blood.
However, ten seconds later, the dark mage opened his eyes. There was a frown on his face and although no one else could see it, the gloomy aura in his body became stronger.
Marlon could no longer contact the automaton!
The core that he personally crafted was not responding to his call!
"Was it discovered by a local powerhouse?"
After hesitating for quite a while, Marlon decided not to report the matter to Dark Mage Oliver. He chose to investigate first and he planned to do it in person.