Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 97
Only Noblemtl
The overload of the power plant gave off a tremendous amount of heat. The molten automata and the scorched earth mixed together and erupted like magma.
The entire facility was burning endlessly, making it difficult to approach. Judging by the swirling eye shape, it seemed as if a magical storm was brewing.
A magical storm is a phenomenon that occurs when a shock is applied while the magical density is too high. If a normal person approaches it, they will fall down as if they were exposed to radiation.
Your entire body is pierced by tiny magical particles. You may not even realize that you have been hit because there is little change on the outside.
Taylor looked up at the sky.
Even though there was such chaos, there was no change in the ruins. When a huge amount of power fluctuates, it is bound to affect the barrier or space, but here, a blizzard fell just like that.
It was hard to imagine how this place was created.
‘Can it be called a simple relic?’
While I was seriously contemplating this phenomenon for the first time, I heard Alan’s call.
“Look over there.”
The facility was so large that he had to turn his head to see other areas. Taylor also checked the red eyeballs.
Eyes redder than the flames burst through the wall of flames. The reason the tarantula-like automaton only had two eyes was because the other six had melted away.
“I guess he came back to get revenge.”
“That can’t be. The size is different.”
“I’m joking.”
If Alan’s spider was the size of the palm of his hand, the tarantula was about the size of a car.
“It looks so plain. It must be bland.”
“Brother, you must not let your guard down.”
Even the expression on Shiva’s face as he spoke was relaxed. The artificial muscles that had been protruding from the part where the outer armor had fallen were burned, and several of its legs had been lost. The automaton, which was on the verge of turning into ashes, was no threat at all.
At that moment, another pair of eyes rose from the flames.
“Oh, it’s a bit big···.”
Taylor’s neck snapped upwards, and the guy who had escaped the inferno stepped forward.
Kwajik!
The tarantula flattened. The legs that were not crushed by the giant soles danced noisily and then stopped moving. The newly appeared form of the automaton.
“An elephant? A mammoth would be more suitable in a snowy field, but it’s too big···.”
If measured from head to toe, it was similar in height to a three-story building. It was a body size that turned the expression ‘as tall as a house’ from a metaphor into a fact.
Taylor considered running away, but seeing the mangled mammoth gave him a little confidence. He just rolled his eyes and looked at the group.
Shiva was comforting Harsh, who was on the verge of losing consciousness, while Alan was standing still.
It was hard to tell what was on Alan’s mind from his expression because of the visor and the thinly modified mask. As always, he was expressionless.
“Do you want to have a go at it?”
“Yes. It doesn’t look like it’s going to let us escape. Even if the mammoth is broken, its legs are long enough to make it much faster than us.”
As he said, the distance between me and the guy who was approaching me with brisk strides quickly narrowed.
“let’s go.”
beep-
“You, not me.”
Alan boarded a makeshift sled. The sled, made from the outer armor of an automaton knocked down in the snow, was pulled by a leopard.
The box showed signs of wanting to go along, but Alan shook his head firmly.
“You provide fire support here. If necessary, take the hit instead.”
With those words, Alan leapt forward. Or, to be exact, the sled he was riding.
Taylor put his hand on the box’s head as he watched the sight.
“Instead, you say I should take it. The master is really too much. Isn’t he?”
beep!
The box clanked loudly as it struck Taylor’s hand.
“Are you angry? Why?”
Meanwhile, Alan circled the mammoth, observing its condition.
‘Considering its size, its firepower must be great.’
If I had fled clumsily while being held back by the magic bullet, I could have been defeated in return.
However, the mammoth that was hit by the explosion and the magical storm caused by the overload was not normal. In particular, its left hind leg was tattered. The outer armor was completely torn off, and the mana flowing out through the torn magical cables was oxidized and glowed blue.
Alan planned to harass the leopard by taking advantage of its mobility.
“Faster!”
The leopard responded to its master’s command and kicked the snowfield even harder. The sled leaped forward with the sudden acceleration.
Toodoodoodoo!
The eyes bulged out fiercely along the path it had taken. The cause was a mammoth’s tusk, or to be precise, a machine gun disguised as tusk.
The black line that drooped down under the ivory was not a cable, but a belt for feeding ammunition. The ammunition was sucked into the inside of the machine gun at a terrifying speed.
‘It looks 20mm in size? It wouldn’t look good if it got hit.’
The sled ran in a large circle around the mammoth, which turned its body to hit Alan.
The attention was drawn, so the first step was a success. If the machine gun had been pointed in a different direction, Harsh would have certainly been torn to pieces, if not Taylor or Shiva.
Alan, who was moving counterclockwise, raised his left arm. The power suit’s forearm opened, revealing a thick gun barrel.
The preloaded bullet was an armor-piercing bullet. My arm shook slightly from the recoil of the bullet exiting the muzzle.
The armor-piercing bullet flew through the air. It was clearly on a miss, if only the mammoth hadn’t turned around.
Kwajik!
The left tusks snapped down and dangled. The ammunition being carried inside the machine gun exploded repeatedly as if it had been stimulated.
The mammoth’s head shook violently as it took additional damage. At the same time, the magic bullet fired from the box lit a flame on the creature’s side. The magic bullet targeted only the parts where the outer armor had melted.
As Alan and the box’s attacks continued to succeed, the mammoth’s front legs fell to its knees. It couldn’t possibly feel pain, but there was a momentary malfunction in the signals sent by the magic circuit.
“Let’s go too.”
“Okay, Brother Harsh, you’re hiding behind that rock.”
Taylor and Shiva couldn’t miss the enemy’s abnormal signal. Their bodies were already trembling. What predator would miss a wounded herbivore? Of course, the target was a mammoth, so it was awkward to call it a herbivore.
Shiva headed towards the back of the mammoth, intending to attack its hind legs. Soon after, a loud bang, like something you would hear in a steel mill, could be heard. It was also like the sound of a temple bell being struck.
Taylor looked at the mammoth’s back. And the reflex accelerator was activated. The snowflakes fell slowly, and the explosions heard from all directions became longer.
In a slowed world, Taylor’s speed remained the same. The reflex accelerator accelerated and amplified the bio-signals. The shattered armor now appeared as a stepping stone toward the top.
Taylor, who had gained momentum by slightly kneeling, had already reached the mammoth’s back.
Taylor aimed his shotgun with a drum magazine down. With his magicware-enhanced left hand able to withstand the recoil, he drew his Mana Sword with his right.
In that state, he ran from his buttocks to his head.
Bang bang bang!
The magic stone powder mixed with gunpowder showed much stronger destructive power. It was useless when fired at thick armor like a tank, so I only aimed at the parts where the artificial muscles were visible.
Wham!
Manasod also dug into the artificial muscles gently. The bladeless weapon was light, so the range of motion changed quickly with just a twist of the wrist. Thanks to this, the artificial muscles took on a well-toned appearance.
Taylor only dug into the parts that had no armor. Exploiting the enemy’s weakness was not a sign of cowardice, but of cleverness.
‘If this guy was okay, running away would have been a much better option.’
The mammoth was a giant that could only be fought against a Titan. If they were put together, it would be quite a sight.
Taylor, who had reached the head, grabbed the Manasod in reverse. Automatons were different from animals, so it was unlikely that they had a brain, but it was certain that they had sensory organs.
Just before the Manasod penetrates the gap in the armor.
Woohoo!
A loud noise struck my eardrums. At the same time, my body shuddered. It must have been an effect in a range that living beings cannot hear.
The cause was the mammoth’s ears. The ears, which were clearly small, were spread out like fan ribs. They vibrated and released sound waves.
“Ugh!”
Taylor’s body slid down. He couldn’t handle the cooling time of the reflex accelerator. He barely managed to reach out to the protruding armor, but it fell down with him like a rotten tree breaking.
Taylor buried his face in the snow, the sound waves causing ripples in his eyes.
Shiva was also affected, and his body was bent over. Although it seemed to have improved due to the sacred law, his movements were as slow as a caterpillar.
And then Taylor saw a mammoth turn its head toward him. Its nose was burning red.
The light grew stronger, just like the moment before the goalkeeper fired his eye beam.
Boom!
A spectacular fireworks display took place near the nose. The nose snapped and a red beam of light passed over not Taylor but nearby.
The intense heat instantly turned my eyes into fog, and the surroundings became hazy.
Boom!
Another explosion erupted, and the sonic attack faltered.
Taylor rolled backwards and used the momentum to jump upward. A box came into view, clanking against the claws. This must be a sign that the shot was successful.
‘What about Alan?’
The sound of an explosion was heard on the other side of the mammoth’s body, so it was clear that there was a disturbance there.
“Brother, are you okay?”
“Thank you. First, the maintenance.”
“Let’s do that.”
Every time Shiva’s white hand brushed over my body, the pain subsided. When I had a moment to spare, I glanced behind me and saw the hind leg that Shiva’s fist had burst. That’s why the mammoth must have staggered after a few shots from the horse.
Boom!
At that moment, something fell near Taylor. It was an armor, but something was strange. It seemed like a part that was made with separation in mind.
Taylor raised his head and could see part of his back. The area where the armor had fallen off was filled with fist-sized small missiles.
Sparks flew from there, and missiles flew in all directions. The target was the box that had jammed itself with the magic bullet.
The box also deployed a magic shield-like barrier with one claw, but there were too many missiles.
Kwarrung!
A lightning strike struck, and all that was visible was a box that had collapsed. The word box was too far off, and the word scrap metal was much more accurate.
Taylor had no time to grieve over the death of the box that had saved his life. Harsh was hiding on a rock near the box.
“If you look at the blast radius, you would have been swept away.”
It was hard to see because of the thick dust, but it was clear that Harsh had wings.
At that moment, a dark shadow appeared through the dust. Its identity was a leopard and a sled. Harsh was holding onto Alan’s waist.
“Thank you···.”
“Be careful not to fall.”
“Ugh!”
The leopard had no consideration for its passengers. It was more like swinging the sled than pulling it. If it weren’t for the power suit, Alan would have been thrown out long ago and rolled around in the snow.
Alan’s eyes scanned the remains of the box. For a moment, he looked back at the mammoth. His gaze was the same as usual.
The mammoth’s attack didn’t end there. This time, the sides and stomach opened up, revealing a structure that looked like a factory-style chicken coop. Inside, there were automatons that resembled small birds, stored in layers.
The mammoth was a walking aircraft carrier. Small birds spread their wings and jumped out. Seeing them glow red and belch smoke gave me a sense of how they would attack.
‘It was probably suicide. But that was a mistake.’
A trio appeared on Alan’s face, hidden behind the visor. The area between the eyebrows, where the three circles overlapped, was particularly bright. If someone who didn’t know saw it, they would have thought it was the internal light of the helmet.
A blue light swirled around in Alan’s left eye, as intense and fierce as a waterspout.
The eyes pierced the soul stones of the birds, interfering with the star characters and manipulating the signals rushing to each part.
The birds that had taken flight changed direction. The same was true for the birds that remained on the mammoth’s body.
bang!
The birds’ bodies exploded as they hit the shell.
Boom!
The birds, waiting to take off, burrowed into the mammoth’s body and exploded inside. Flames and smoke rose from every corner of the mammoth’s body.
End