134 The Powers of the Behemoth Part 1 (1/2)
The burning magic on the war puppet did not kill a single insect. It was only Grade 0 magic, and like the Fire Washing spell, its effects were best shown when dispersing toxins or heating up food.
The insects immediately pounced on the body of the puppet and began chewing on it, their razor-sharp teeth biting through the puppet’s armor. The war puppet waved its sword around and started bashing them randomly with its shield, each strike killing dozens of insects. However, there had been at least hundreds of thousands of insects near the puddle, and it did not take long before an entire layer of armor had been gnawed off of the war puppet.
The burning magic stopped the corrosive toxins of the insects but could not stop the attacks from their teeth.
Amid the clanking sounds, a small square hole appeared in the chest of the war puppet, and from this hole a thick smoke began to spray out. The red insects that were sprayed fell to the ground. This smoke was poisonous and quickly killed thousands of insects.
Lex did not dare call back the war puppet, and once the smoke had been used up, the puppet’s four legs were revealed to be in the puddle. More red insects pounced onto the puppet’s body. By the time it crossed the puddle, the entire layer of metal armor had been chewed off from it, revealing the white, gel-like material within the armor.
This gel-like material was the muscle of the war puppet and served to reduce the impacts upon it as well. Even if its armor was dealt a huge impact, it would not cause any damage to the puppet’s internal structure. Lex was prepared to abandon this puppet and only had it continue pushing forward, crossing the puddle. There was a lush patch of forest ground ahead and the war puppet carried the red insects on its body with it as it ran towards it.
So long as the core of the puppet was not destroyed, it would be able to continue fighting. The puppet continued rubbing its body on the branches and leaves of trees, intentionally running into them. Even though most of the red insects on its body had been crushed, even after it had squeezed its way deep into the forest, hundreds of red insects were still gnawing at its muscles.
The bones were showing on many parts of the bottom half of the puppet. These bones were the bones of the Grade 4 magic beasts that had been processed and were tougher than metal. As the number of red insects was reduced, the war puppet did not stop hacking at its body viciously as though it had gone crazy.
Lex was slightly taken aback. The war puppet had not been eaten away completely by the insects, and only its armor had been eaten away. If it was met with another enemy, its defensive abilities might have been reduced to less than half of their original amount, but it still had its offensive abilities.
The red insects seemed reluctant to be too far away from the puddle and allowed the puppet to move a distance away. No other insects attempted to attack it.
Lex was even more careful now. If she lost all thirteen war puppets, the team would be directly exposed to all the dangers in the forest. The puppet which had been attacked had helped drive away all of the red insects and took a long way around to regroup with the other two puppets. Lex lowered their speed and kept the distance between two puppets under one hundred meters.
”There is a magic beast following behind us.” At the back of the team, Saleen became aware of their situation and lowered his voice as he reminded Lex.
”Master, they do not intend to attack,” Nailisi said softly. She was not as nervous as the others. Dozens of magic beasts were following the team from the back, and they were those that had survived despite attacking the camp. Their leader had died and they had given up attacking the camp, instead slowly dispersing and retreating into the forest.
The dozens of magic beasts followed behind Lex’s team from afar, patiently remaining at a distance of over five hundred meters. Saleen was not Lex and could not observe what was happening through a puppet. He instructed a puppet to turn around and stopped it. The magic beast following behind them stopped as well, and laid on the ground.
A war puppet certainly could not fight against a dozen magic beasts, and even though Saleen could not see exactly what was happening, he was able to recognize this difference in strength. Since his advancement, his senses had become equivalent to those of a grand mage. Seeing how the magic beasts were not attacking the puppet in the back, Saleen could only trust Nailisi and had the puppet continue with the team.
As the puppet in the back moved, the magic beasts moved along with it, staying about five hundred meters away.
The team’s speed had dropped to roughly five kilometers an hour and Lex transferred the war puppet that was nearly destroyed to the front, leaving it in charge of clearing the way. It was fortunate that the road ahead was smooth and did not have many fallen leaves. They did not have a hard time walking and were able to preserve their physical strength.
After travelling for a few kilometers, the plants within the forest became less dense and there were even some clearings to be found. As they lifted their heads, they could now see the grey skies of god’s hell.
”It’s been a while since we have seen anything. Something is wrong,” Sika began muttering to herself. From her experience, she knew that this could mean there was something around here that did not like to be disturbed, and it was strong.
Powerful magic beasts had different ideas of territory compared to low-grade magic beasts. They did not like to have much interaction with other magic beasts of the same type. The team had already advanced deep into the forest. By this point, they should have come across many magic beasts.
Even though Lex did not often leave her home, she was a mage and knew a lot about magic beasts from books. Hearing Sika’s words, Lex grew a little unsettled as well. Just as she was about to stop and alter their course of movement, a loud growling sound emitted from the air in front of them.
Boom! Crack!