The Iron Men made a unified sound, indicating that the enemy was concealed within them at this moment.
Bang!
At the moment of the Iron Men's descent, Marika's hair shot forward toward one of them but emitted a muffled sound; her hair, covered in Armament Haki, was deflected by the exterior defense.
"It's useless! These are not cheaply made cyborgs filled with inferior materials. My Iron Men are personally designed by me, the boss assistant. It's only my genius brain that can simultaneously input commands into these Iron Men. Whatever skills you have won't work against me!"
Buzzing...
The chainsaw spun violently, producing noise across the flat ground. "Let me cut you down as well!"
"Machines... If Lady were here, dealing with you would be easy."
Marika suddenly stopped, smiled, and said, "With this strength, the Demon Race is indeed lacking. Even if it's me, if surrounded for too long, I might be defeated. Only by finding the true body can I defeat you and stop these things."
"Exactly, but you won't find me. Statistically, your chance of finding me is only one in two hundred thirty; yet my chance to defeat you... No, it can't even be called a chance; you are destined to be defeated by me!"
The Iron Men quickly surrounded Marika and the Demon Race. As they approached slowly, the Demon Race began to retreat. Some wanted to charge forward, but Marika stopped them immediately.
"No need. In this battle, if you died, even if Sage had no objections, I would feel guilty... It's not that time." Marika smiled softly.
"Oh? Giving up at this moment? That's right, surrendering is a good idea. No matter what, before a complete transformation, you're still alive. That's the way; our thoughts are actually the same. As long as people live, nothing else matters!" The Iron Men spoke again.
"No, what I mean is..."
Marika glanced around at this group of Iron Men, her eyes flickering with a ghostly light gradually becoming calm and extremely composed.
"Finding you is enough!"
With a red dot appearing in her eyes, Marika abruptly flashed towards a direction, instantly charging in front of one Iron Man. Her fist, entangled by her hair into a circular shape, fiercely struck the Iron Man's shoulder with Haki.
Bang!!
A grinding and piercing sound burst forth as the Iron Man's shoulder sank deeply, its half body skewing to one side.
Marika's reluctance to act doesn't mean she can't.
Hair is just hair, compared to her own strength, it's entirely insufficient.
With force alone, this kind of Iron Man is unable to resist!
"Impossible! How could you find me!"
The Iron Men were no longer speaking in unity, but a fearful voice rang internally from the Iron Man facing Marika. The Iron Man swung a chainsaw, only striking an afterimage, followed by another muffled sound.
Marika held the arm mounting the chainsaw, forcing the giant Iron Man to be unable to lift its arm, only emitting squeaking mechanical grinding sounds.
"You know, Sage once said, if battle is only about destruction, there are many ways. After all, these are different things. Battle requires wholehearted engagement, hoping the other party puts forth will and strength, thus having an exhilarating fight until victory is decided. But for mere victory, or destruction of the target, ways abound."
"Environmental impact, number impact, state impact... so many necessary conditions. If I wanted to fight you, indeed I would find ways to destroy these two hundred plus Iron Men to achieve final victory, but I feel you are unqualified to fight me."
"And dealing with you, too many ways. For instance, I could actually push all your steel into the lava."
Marika smiled, "That would be the simplest, requiring not much time, and besides..."
Her hair began to dance, drilling into the previously pounded shoulder of the tightly fitted Iron Man, seeking the crack that had emerged.
"Create a little gap, then reach into your vulnerable body, and you're done for."
Phh...
A slight sound of flesh penetration echoed from inside the Iron Man, causing those rapidly approaching Iron Men to halt their progress.
"Living underground for too long, have you forgotten about the existence of will in this world? If you so wish to remain content with the status quo, why not engage in honest business?"
Marika's eyes narrowed again, masking the red dot within her pupils, a smile playing on her lips: "An honest merchant is actually safer."
Observation Haki...
Though her insight wasn't as fast as Lily and Lady, she'd ultimately understood it.
To her, this level, after all, wasn't considered a strong enemy, albeit somewhat troublesome. Aside from using Observation to directly discover the true body, other methods all required a bit of cost, not as casual as Marika put it.
But that was just it.