'This isn't going to end anytime soon. They're going to keep coming until they run out of puppets, but who knows how long that will take.' Sol thought to himself.
As he continued to close the entrances, leaving shadow men to fight in the narrow servant passages, he eventually concluded that this would never end. Every time he closed one entrance, they poured out of the next. So far, he had managed to seal 15 entrances, yet it felt like he had barely impacted their numbers, only delaying how long it took them to arrive.
He swung his fire sword, Lipon, at maximum power, using the last of its energy to wipe out the Azrem Combat Puppets surrounding him. As he finished, the Lipon ran out of energy, but that wasn't an issue. Calmly, he popped the elemental canister out of the Lipon and inserted another one in a fluid motion. He activated the Lipon again, this time unleashing an earth element sword. Sol had slightly over a hundred of these canisters, which he had been filling with various elemental energy during his spare time. Even at maximum power, it would last him a full day before he ran out.
Sol slashed with the earth sword, cutting down more puppets, and thought to himself, 'I've gone pretty far, they can't see me anymore...'
He had already left the main grand hallway and entered an even larger open area where multiple halls connected. If no one could see him, there was no reason to hold back.
Ten floating hands appeared around him, and seven launched the full spectrum beam, which split into hundreds of smaller beams that targeted all the puppets around him. The other three hands played a different role. Two used [Spectral Claws] to finish off those that survived the brilliant white beam, while the final hand conjured earth projectiles and walls to block off the nearby servant passages.
It was extremely effective, every puppet was decimated in the blink of an eye. Sol considered summoning shadow figures to aid him as well but decided against it.
'My mana can barely keep up with this and the shadow men I've already made. I'm draining over 150 per second even though I'm mostly using the mana around me. Without potions, I won't last more than half a minute.'
Fortunately, he had plenty of potions. Without hesitation, he took out a mana potion and drank it, refilling his mana. He not only had his personal supply but also potions provided for free from the mission. He estimated that he could last over an hour if he truly pushed himself to the limit, constantly draining and refilling his mana.
Obviously, he wasn't going to take it that far, but he wanted to see if the puppets were truly endless.
'I'll keep this up for 15 minutes. If they still keep coming, we'll retreat and find another way.'
…
To his pleasant surprise, he didn't even have to wait five minutes to get his answer.
The next wave of puppets was significantly less dense than before. Just by eyeballing it, he could count a little over 200. It was still a lot, but far fewer than before. He cleared them easily using only the full spectrum beam and saw that no more enemies were coming.
'Did they run out of puppets already?'
Still maintaining the full spectrum beam, he targeted the remaining puppets, easily destroying them.
Seeing no more enemies, Sol stopped maintaining the beam and drank another mana potion to recover his energy. He felt a little nauseous from draining and refilling his mana over ten times, but it was still manageable. He also took this moment to check on his shadows, which could convey basic thoughts to him through their limited sentience.
'No more puppets in the walls either. I should regroup with the team.'
He dismissed all the shadows, which dispersed into a thin mist, and began running back to where he had last left the team.
But before he could make any progress, he heard the loud sound of heavy wheels approaching. He turned to the source of the noise and saw a massive contraption resembling a fortress on wheels, with multiple cannons attached on all sides, leaving no gaps.
[Azrem Fortress Unit Model Chosen Slayer
Legendary
Skills:
[Rune Algorithm] Lv MAX, [Elemental Cannons] Lv MAX, [Adaptive Neutralizer] Lv EX, [???] Lv ?]
"What the—?"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before Sol could even understand what he was looking at, all the cannons aimed at him and fired an array of elemental projectiles without delay. Colorful explosions filled the entire area, shaking the structure with the sheer power it unleashed.
The bombardment continued even as smoke filled the air, making it impossible to see what was happening.
Meanwhile, the away team had finished clearing the remaining puppets and were steadying themselves from the castle's rumbling as explosions boomed in the distance. They turned toward the noise down the grand hallway and trembled in fear.
"What in the gods is causing that?!" one of the soldiers asked, shocked from the rumbling.
"No idea, but I don't dare investigate. It would be a meaningless death." an orc commented from the side. They could still feel and hear the explosions in the distance, meaning the assault hadn't ended. Whatever it was, it could maintain such devastating attacks for an extended period of time.
Lapis, who was drinking a stamina recovery potion, gazed in the direction of the explosions. She knew Sol had to be there, fighting. She considered running to help, but after hearing the soldiers' concerns, she knew she had to be practical.
"Fall back. Let's wait outside."
Though not officially the secondary leader of the team, the soldiers' fear of what was causing the explosions, along with Lapis' recent performance, convinced them to obey her. They hastily retreated back the way they came.
On the way out, Nataly approached Lapis and asked, "What about Sol? Shouldn't we help?"
Lapis agreed but knew they couldn't. "The soldiers would only get in the way, and I can't leave in case more enemies appear."
Nataly understood, but hearing the constant explosions made her worry. She frowned, and after a few seconds of silence, she came to a decision.
"Go help him. I'll watch over them."
Lapis didn't stop moving and shook her head. "No."
"What? But he could need your help!"
Nataly didn't understand why Lapis would refuse. She was confident she could lead the away team back to safety, so there was no reason for Lapis to stay. But the issue wasn't with Nataly's abilities or Lapis' trust in them.
"Most of my powerful skills are on long cooldowns. I need at least 10 minutes to be of any use in a fight like that. If I go now, I'd just be dead weight, and by the time my skills are ready again, it would already be over."
The last thing Lapis wanted was to be a liability. Holding back the massive horde of puppets had drained her energy and her most powerful skills. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve, but given the inorganic nature of the puppets, those skills would only add flair to her attacks without making much of a difference.