Chapter 314: The Powerful Lord Annie
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Rusted gears and joints creaked, making a harsh and grating noise.
Dirt sprayed up from the ground as a massive shadow emerged, forcing half of its body out of the earth!
Before Chris could even get a clear look at the thing, an intense feeling of danger gripped his heart.
Run!
Run fast!
Terrified, Chris sprinted away without looking back, shouting to his panic-stricken companions:
"Move out of the way!"
"Don't block the path, go and notify Bay Territory!"
Once, Chris had failed to warn his companions in time, leading to a deadly outcome for his team.
Now, Chris had ingrained this reaction deep within him. His first instinct in the face of danger was to shout for his teammates to flee.
As for himself, running away was his specialty. Surviving was his talent...
Whoosh! Whoosh!
No sooner had he spoken, a gust of wind surged from behind him.
The premonition of death jolted him, and he instinctively rolled to the side.
He remembered Old John's evasive technique—"the lazy donkey roll"!
Faced with a sweeping attack, running a few more steps would still mean death, but lying flat might keep him alive.
Boom!
A violent shock caused dirt to explode, and Chris felt a sharp pain in his back as the blow struck near him.
Fortunately, the impact only left him in pain, without inflicting real injury.
Still rolling away in a panic, Chris didn't even open his eyes to see what had attacked him.
He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could!
The ever-growing sense of danger warned him that if he didn't escape the pursuit soon, he would be killed for sure.
Boom...!
The sound of a signal flare echoed through the narrow cave.
Desperately recalling the nearby terrain, Chris darted into a narrow passage just before the next whooshing attack came.
Crash!
A giant flail hammered into the narrow walls with a deafening bang.
Dust and debris flew everywhere, and the tremors made Chris's heart pound.
Peeking through the cracks, Chris caught sight of a terrifying metal monster!
Its body, coated in a mix of dirt and rust, stood at an intimidating five meters tall.
Despite the many gashes and holes in its exterior, some large enough to reveal its inner workings,
Sparks from its exposed mechanisms, mixed with grime and dirt, seemed to make the colossal beast even stronger in Chris's helpless gaze.
What was most terrifying was its head!
Encased in a heavy metal helmet, its blood-red eyes glared down at the trembling Chris, and it shouted in broken common tongue:
"Purge... con...tamin...ation!"
This war puppet, which could have earned Chris a 3,000-gold bounty!
Had now become his death sentence!
The puppet raised its massive metal arm high, and the grim, decayed flail attached to it hurtled toward him with frightening force.
Boom!
Dirt and dust flew towards Chris. Even though he shielded his head, he felt pain coursing through his body.
And that was just the aftershock.
If he were directly hit, Chris knew he wouldn't survive a second longer.
"Maybe if I die fast enough, I won't feel any pain..."
Watching the cracks in the walls widen and stones fly, scraping his skin,
With death approaching fast, Chris's mind flashed with painful, unbearable memories.
"Is this really the end?"
Crack!
A large piece of rubble broke off as the black flail swung toward his head.
Chris roared and drew his longsword from his waist, slashing desperately at the flail!
His voice was filled with helplessness and frustration!
Clang!
Sparks flew as his blade shattered upon impact.
Numbed by the shock to his hands, Chris could only watch as his sword broke in two, standing there, dazed.
One second!
Two seconds!
Three seconds!
???
"Why am I not dead?"
Chris's pupils dilated in confusion as he finally realized what had happened.
He stared at the frozen flail before him, even seeing his own battered reflection in its jagged spikes.
"But why am I still alive?"
Just as Chris raised his head, he saw a figure descending gracefully from the air.
She lightly landed atop the menacing war puppet, her silver staff glowing faintly as she called out in a clear voice:
"Earth Vein Prison!"
A massive hand rose from the ground, enclosing the enormous war puppet.
She deftly manipulated the hand's fingers to lock the war puppet's limbs in place, clearly knowing its capabilities and weaknesses well.
Now realizing he was safe, Chris quickly crawled out of the cracks and ran far from the battlefield, shouting in excitement:
"Thank you, Lord Annie!"
Even though Chris wasn't a spellcaster,
He knew that the reason the flail had stopped mid-air, sparing him from being crushed into dust,
Was because Lord Annie had cast the legendary high-tier spell—Time Stop!
Sure enough, the very next second after the giant hand restrained the war puppet, the frozen flail
Came crashing down where Chris had just stood, leaving a massive crater.
But no matter how much the war puppet struggled, it couldn't break free from Lord Annie's grip.
Chris quickly turned his head, not daring to watch Lord Annie's spellcasting, but couldn't help wondering to himself:
"Why does Lord Annie look so happy?"
Annie was, of course, overjoyed!
She never imagined she'd find a fully intact war puppet, even more rare in the Bloodmoon City ruins.
"Thank goodness Matthew summoned me here!"
With a glint of laughter in her eyes, Annie watched as Bay Territory's soldiers swiftly cleared the area.
Then, they brought in the large iron cage that had been prepared beforehand, making her feel an incredible sense of satisfaction.
"It's always best when I handle things myself, hahaha!"
"I'm taking this war puppet with me!"
Her mind filled with thoughts of how to carefully dismantle and analyze the war puppet's mysteries,
Annie barely managed to exchange a word with Matthew before she left with the captured war puppet.
She didn't notice the faint smile on Matthew's face beneath his hood.
"There are still six more war puppets. Once they finish clearing, all the warehouses filled with supplies and the true treasures will be mine."
Would Matthew ever make a losing deal?
Of course!
But only in small ways—he always made sure to recoup hundreds or thousands of times over elsewhere.
So what if Annie took the war puppet?
Any technology she developed could always be bought by Matthew if he had the money, and what couldn't he afford?
Saving time and effort!
With such a useful tool, why not make the most of it?