Chapter 2378: Chapter 2379: Flame Charging

The desolate seabed without water, with the mist constantly rising.

Amidst the mist, one can vaguely see fiery flames and swirling dust.

"Intruder, die!" A cold, mechanical voice came from within the mist.

Accompanying the voice were columns of water as thick as an adult’s fist.

These water columns pierced through the mist, slicing through the air with a sizzling roar. Their power was also formidable, with each water column reaching the pinnacle of a magic trick, with astonishing destructive power.

One of the water columns struck a piece of sedimentary rock on the seabed, which instantly shattered into fragments. It’s worth noting that these were made from oceanic sediment from millions of years ago, which had resisted erosion and sea beast collisions. Yet, this water column easily shattered it from within, a testament to its immense power.

"Whose alchemist creation is this hunk of metal? It’s so... extravagant!" Ferro looked at the oncoming water column, compelled to quickly change his position.

He had already faced off several times against the "hunk of metal" hidden within the mist and knew how terrifying the destructive power of these water columns could be. One or two were manageable, but the opponent was an untiring artificial creation, unleashing hundreds at once with considerable endurance.

Facing these water columns head-on was the stupidest thing to do.

Furthermore, since Ferro was a fire wizard, the water columns had an additional effect on him. So, instead of engaging the water columns in direct combat, Ferro rapidly moved, dodging while approaching the opponent.

However, since Ferro was not a bloodline wizard, relying solely on maneuverability to dodge was somewhat unrealistic. Around him burned eighteen clusters of refined flames, ready to become weapons in Ferro’s hands at any moment.

When it was too late to avoid a water column, Ferro could pluck a cluster of flame, quickly condensing it into a fire shield, with a speed comparable to instant casting in a witchcraft slot.

When water columns blocked his path towards the opponent, those refined flame clusters could transform into fire arrows, fire spears, or a barrage of fire, quickly activating to preemptively break and evaporate the water columns.

One could say that the fire clusters around Ferro combined offense and defense, and their replenishment speed was swift. In such small-scale battles, they were able to achieve an infinite energy cycle.

This is Ferro’s proudest self-created spell technique—Flame Charging, which he hoped would lead him to true knowledge.

With Flame Charging’s offensive and defensive capabilities, combined with Ferro’s exceptional evasion skills, he was closing in on the hunk of metal within the mist.

He could already hear the hissing of rapidly moving parts and the roaring of steam.

"Expel! Expel! Expel!" The mechanical voice from the mist grew more urgent, and giant water columns of significant volume locked onto Ferro’s position, rushing like a torrential stream.

These enormous water columns had reached the level of formal spell techniques, something Ferro did not dare withstand. He plucked a flame, this time directly merging it with his body, transforming the lower half of his body into roaring fire elements.

The fiery legs merged like the tail of a genie from a fairy tale, twisting at an incredible angle, almost skimming the water columns, spiraling towards the mist-cloaked target.

Breaking through the mist and sweeping away the white steam from fire evaporation, Ferro had already spotted his opponent.

It was a four-meter-tall silver head, with no body or legs, just a metallic robot head.

Its face was long, with facial features corresponding to those of humans but in bizarre shapes.

At this moment, the mechanical head was opening its abyss-like mouth, which was spewing the terrifying water columns.

Ferro had seen this mechanical head before, having battled it twice, and was quite familiar with its combat mechanism.

He didn’t blindly attack the mechanical head; instead, he focused his gaze on the base of the mechanical head.

It appeared to stand on the ground, but in reality, its neck was connected to a shimmering water ripple, floating on some kind of water ability.

The reason Ferro hadn’t gained any significant advantage in the previous encounters with the mechanical head was that it would retreat into the water ripple below when sensing trouble. When it reemerged, its energy for water columns was fully restored, leading to a tug-of-war battle.

Thanks to Ferro’s "Flame Charging," otherwise, he couldn’t have lasted.

But this time, Ferro wouldn’t be careless again. Since he knew the opponent hid behind the water ripple, he would destroy it!

Ferro’s eyes suddenly turned flame-colored, locking onto the light blue ripple below the mechanical head.

"Let’s see how you run this time!"

Ferro shouted in frustration, directly crushing eight fire clusters around him, leaving only two for backup and charging guidance.

The eight crushed fire clusters transformed into refined fire elements, flowing like liquid red light in Ferro’s palm.

Ferro didn’t try to shape these fire elements but pressed them directly onto the soft, coral-dried ground.

Flames conducted through the ground.

Before the mechanical head could react, a pillar of condensed flame rose directly from beneath it.

The high-temperature flame incinerated the light blue ripple entirely.

Seeing this, Ferro’s eyes gleamed with joy. Destroying that water ripple meant the hunk of metal couldn’t escape!

The flames continued to burn, scorching the metal of the mechanical head’s neck and chin black.

Sparks flickered above the mechanical head, indicating internal issues.

A bit more effort, and this thing would be left as scrap metal.

Ferro happily plucked another flame cluster, transforming it into a flame hand, pressing it down from above.

To Ferro, victory seemed within reach.

However, at that moment, behind the half-defeated mechanical head, a familiar water ripple suddenly appeared.

Ferro’s pupils shrank sharply: "No, it can’t be? There’s another ripple on its back?"

Before Ferro’s words faded, the mechanical head seemed to be pulled away, merging into the water ripple behind it, and then disappeared.

The air was left with only the sizzling of re-evaporated steam from the flames and Ferro’s helpless roar.

According to previous battles, Ferro knew that the hunk of metal would reappear soon.

Even if he found the laboratory door now, he couldn’t break it in the short term. So, the best course was to quickly fill up with fire again to deal with the upcoming battle – that was his experience.

With this in mind, Ferro didn’t bother to avoid anything, remaining in place to start producing flame clusters.

Intentional charging was much faster than natural condensation. In less than two minutes, eighteen flame clusters were once again surrounding Ferro.

Meanwhile, a familiar voice echoed again from deep within the mist: "Intruder, die!"

"This damn hunk of metal, I swear I’ll melt you into scrap!" Ferro cursed viciously, without pausing, he immediately crushed a Fireball Cluster and charged toward the source of the sound...

However, after only a few steps, Ferro felt something was amiss.

He saw familiar water jets shooting out from the Mist, but these water jets were not directed at him; instead, they headed in a completely opposite direction.

Ferro looked over in confusion and saw that in that direction, there was another "Ferro."

That Ferro looked exactly the same as him, constantly dodging the incoming water jets, and then pulling Fireball Clusters to create shields and arrows... almost perfectly replicating Ferro’s previous battle tactics.

"What’s going on here?" Ferro stared blankly at this spectacle, wondering who that ’Ferro’ was. Was it an Illusion?

But who created the Illusion? Could it be some kind of anomaly in the Mist Belt?

Ferro was full of doubts and was extremely cautious when a voice reached his ears.

"Wizard Ferro."

The voice came from behind him.

Ferro turned around sharply, only to see several figures standing behind him: a handsome young man with red hair and golden eyes, a bent old man with gray hair peering into the distance, a woman in soft armor, and Reynaud’s spirit.

Ferro had seen Angel in disguise before, so upon seeing the red hair and golden eyes, he immediately recognized the person’s identity.

"Angel? And Nis?" Ferro looked incredulous: "Why are you here?"

Looking back at the hunk of metal fighting the Illusion, Ferro suddenly realized: "Angel, did you create that Illusion over there?"

Angel nodded: "I’ve also created an Illusion here that envelops us."

Angel quickly explained their purpose, albeit omitting some details due to the urgency of the situation, simply stating that they were here for the laboratory as well.

Ferro, knowing some of the situations at the Underground Altar, quickly accepted their reason for being there.

He was just a bit puzzled as to why Nis had accepted a mission, letting others take the lead, but then decided to come personally.

"I’ve had a premonition these days that my future might lie in the Mist Belt." Nis stroked his beard, looking profound: "So, I came."

"Wizard foretelling?" Ferro asked with surprise.

Nis smiled but did not answer.

But before Nis could finish his act, Angel interjected from the side: "Dororo made him come."

Nis’s expression instantly fell, grumbling irritably as he looked at Angel: "You’re just like your Mentor."

Angel ignored Nis’s reaction and looked at Ferro: "What’s with that mechanical head over there? What’s its origin?"

Ferro: "I don’t know either. It wasn’t there when I came yesterday. It seems to be an Alchemy Golem released by someone from the laboratory."

Angel: "You came to the laboratory yesterday? Didn’t go inside?"

Ferro shook his head: "The laboratory has a Door, it’s inscribed with a complicated Magic Pattern, blocking me for several days. I realized I couldn’t crack it quickly, so when I came yesterday, I didn’t plan to solve it but intended to break in forcefully, but..."

Ferro paused before continuing: "But something happened. It delayed me. After solving that issue, I came over here."

"Something happened?" Nis questioned: "What happened?"

Ferro fell silent for a moment: "I noticed human traces on the sea floor nearby and followed them... then I..."

"Then I encountered someone..."

Nis: "Who did you encounter?"

Ferro was about to reply when a loud explosion interrupted their conversation.

The group turned back, only to see the Mist dispersed by the water jets, clearly revealing the figure of "Ferro". He had once again approached the mechanical head.

The mechanical head seemed to have learned from its past mistakes; there were no more water ripples around it, instead, it was enveloped by a water bubble.

The water bubble lifted it in midair, from where it would continuously open its mouth, releasing water bullets like a chaotic shower that blocked all routes for "Ferro".

Every water bullet that hit the ground left a large crater, and the explosion sound they just heard was caused by these impacts on the ground.

"The water bullets are too dense; at this point, relying solely on Illusions is unlikely to deceive it." Angel commented, as his Illusions couldn’t truly manipulate flames.

"While this hunk of metal is still unresponsive, we can join forces to tackle it..." Ferro said; he wasn’t just a reckless lone wolf, knowing help could be utilized.

"What’s your plan?" Nis asked, having seen Ferro’s earlier battle with the hunk of metal, he personally thought it wasn’t easy to deal with.

"The core ability of this hunk of metal is the water ripples. Once it submerges, it can quickly restore itself to full state." Ferro explained: "So if we’re to deal with it, we must suppress its water ripples."

Ferro continued: "I know a Fire Pattern I’ve named ’Flame Law Ground.’

Fire Pattern? Nis squinted; Ferro had never revealed this before. This previously Sleepless City’s stationed wizard seemed to have quite a few hidden abilities.

Angel, however, didn’t care much about Ferro’s abilities: "What function does the Flame Law Ground serve?"

Ferro: "It creates a Domain where only Flame Power can exist. In other words, once that hunk of metal is trapped by the Flame Law Ground, it can’t release any Water System abilities, and the water ripples would naturally be useless."

Without the water ripples, it wouldn’t be hard to take down the hunk of metal.

"If you have the Flame Law Ground, why didn’t you use it before?" Nis inquired.

Ferro: "It requires power accumulation, not only using all eighteen Fireball Clusters around me but also accumulating seven more, which takes time... about a minute or so."

When Ferro fought the hunk of metal earlier, finding a spare minute, even a second was nearly impossible.

Moreover, the Flame Law Ground couldn’t be released prematurely, as its Domain was very small and the mechanical head’s appearance point was uncertain, so early preparation was not feasible.

Ferro hadn’t considered using the Flame Law Ground before.

But with others cooperating, the Flame Law Ground could swiftly resolve the hunk of metal.

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