Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 104 - Mechanical Penguin Bot

"Wind Shot!" Elara exploited a sudden angle where the barrier did not cover, three arrows piercing through one of the guns, rendering it useless.

"Vortex..." Marcus suddenly exploded in flames, the tentacles released from him as he freed himself.

The Elites shot as they retreated, but one found themselves tripping over a shadow, and the other found ice in its leg.

No longer could they avoid the rushing Valeria, so they combined their barriers to brace for impact once more. They suddenly caught a glimpse of someone to their right.

Their eyes widened in disbelief.

How dare this weak mage teleport right next to us? A few quick shots and it’s over!

Though they itched to kill him, they ignored the weak mage to focus on defending themselves from the powerful Knight.

A swift stream of light magic flew through the air. It was completely ignored. Surely, the Wings Elite reasoned, it would stop at their armor, or merely cause a bit of damage?

The light magic pierced through a hand, then another, another, and then the last hand. The defining trait of Light Shower was its piercing nature. That was a constant, unable to be blocked by almost anything.

The damage caused their hands to tremble and flinch, and when Valeria reached them, their shields were blown away, their bodies sliced in half, and then their heads cut off.

[EXP +276]

[EXP +282]

"Push through!" Valeria ordered. "Don’t let them establish defensive positions!"

Even Marcus kept up, taking a red vial out of a storage pouch and downing the potion as they ran.

They continued advancing. They turned left, and met a stray henchman. "Wait-" The henchman widened his eyes as they approached. He hurriedly took out his gun. "NOO-" His cry was cut off as his life was ended in passing.

They moved on, encountering pockets of resistance at every major junction. The base was large, consisting of multiple levels connected by stairs and elevators, rooms branching off in all directions. They passed laboratories, barracks, storage areas, and stranger chambers whose purpose wasn’t immediately clear.

"They’re falling back in order." Valeria observed after their fourth skirmish. "They are likely preparing a proper ambush up ahead. Be prepared."

As they pushed forward, the resistance did not stop. Various Elites executed ambushes, seeking to claim the lives of all the knights. They used the base’s layout intelligently, creating killzones and fallback positions.

Despite that, the level difference remained telling. What should have been deadly ambushes became mere delays.

The strongest Wings Elite thus far had been Level 43.

The weakest Knight was Level 48. And what’s more, Lumi knew Valeria was at the Third Rank, meaning some unknown level above 60.

They pushed onwards. Loud mechanical footsteps echoed from ahead. "Expect heavy resistance." Valeria stated.

They entered an open room full of various technologies. In front of them were six large monstrosities. Each one was a mechanized construct of metal and tech which towered over even Valeria, a. These were six Mechanical Penguin Bots, but these were clearly military models rather than infiltrators.

"Careful!" Lumi yelled urgently. In case anyone was still taking it easy, he warned them. "Some are as strong as Jin!"

[Mechanical Penguin Bot Mk-II - Level 44]

[Mechanical Penguin Bot Mk-II - Level 45]

[Mechanical Penguin Bot Mk-II - Level 46]

[Mechanical Penguin Bot Mk-II - Level 45]

[Mechanical Penguin Bot Mk-II - Level 47]

[Mechanical Penguin Bot Mk-II - Level 48]

"WHAT?!" Jin yelled. For the first time, he didn’t launch himself forward recklessly.

WHIRR-

Machine guns installed on the bots came to life, firing at the squad. The corridor erupted into chaos as they were forced to scatter.

"Look at their chest units!" Susie called out to inform. "Those purple cores, they’re using glacier fragments as power sources!" At the same time, she channeled magic. "Ice Crush!" A large formation of ice materialized around the legs of one of the bots. She suddenly felt a strong impact, knocking her to the side.

She teleported away instantly, now behind a mass of metal rising from the floor. "Fuck..." Blood dropped from her head. She tilted her head down...

Cling~

A bullet fell from her forehead onto the floor.

She took a deep breath, and teleported away as a missile landed on her location, creating a large explosion.

"Target the cores!" Lumi ordered, adjusting his aim. Light Shower’s penetrating properties made it ideal for striking a vulnerable core beyond armor. He pierced through the core of the bot that Susie had frozen the legs off, causing damage yet not finishing it.

Boom!

The powerful strength of the machine broke the ice encasing its legs, just in time for a wave to crash into it. "Thunder Crash!"

The wave carried water into its systems, disabling it for a few milliseconds. It wasn’t long, but by the time it regained its senses, it found the shadows tearing holes in it, and its internals flooded by furious fire.

"Dark Stars." Zara threw three throwing stars enwrapped in darkness. Each one homed in, the first piercing through its breaking armor. The second exposed the core, and the third sliced it in half.

Yet the bot was still operational.

"Thunder Sweep~" Jin generated a wave of water upwards, then did a flip midair as he linked it to a second skull. "Thunder Crash!" He put his first straight through the bots internals, finally finishing it.

[EXP +331]

Just as the Knights knew to focus fire, so did the bots. They identified Jin as the least mobile combatant, yet due to the risk of friendly fire, instead targeted Elara, the second-least mobile.

Energy beams carved molten lines as they surged towards her from multiple directions, alongside several missiles.

Elara’s eyes went wide, but she did not panic. "Furious Vortex..." She concentrated and used a skill, creating a suction that curved the missiles away from her, exploding harmlessly far behind her.

Unlike the bots, the knights held one very powerful advantage.

That was having a Valeria.

Elara was ready to attempt a desperate escape from the lasers, enduring damage as she did so. When she saw Valeria from the corner of her eye, she no longer moved.

Just as the lasers were about to converge on her chest, a woman appeared in front of Elara.

That would be Valeria.

She tanked the blows, groaning. She swiftly added. "I am NOT a tank." Before charging onwards to a bot.

The bots’ attempt to trade one for one had failed.