Seeing its companion melt away, the Abyss Insect let out a roar of fear and confusion, not daring to approach for a moment. The girl, Aoi, observed this scene through her mech, her heart filled with doubt.
‘Insects can feel fear? These monsters have shown complete disregard for pain and death from the very beginning. When they fought me just now, they even collectively turned into suicide squads. Why are they retreating now?’
“What in the world is going on…”
Her attention fell back on the rain of arrows from before. Those arrows had no physical form, yet they accurately struck the insect swarm, clearly from a friendly force. The problem was, her magic radar hadn’t detected any magic user at all, as if everything just now was an illusion.
“Hello.”
Suddenly, a slightly hoarse voice rang out.
“…?”
Aoi was stunned, thinking she was hearing things.
“I’m on your left shoulder.”
The voice sounded again.
The Radiant Knight abruptly turned her head and saw a portly armored figure almost pressed against her face in her field of vision.
“I am the Deputy Director of the Church’s Demon Hunt Bureau, the Commander of the Valkyrie Knight Order, Qiqi Zhu. I’m here to help you. What is this weapon of yours?”
“I am Aoi, a blacksmith from the Radiant Light Guild. This is a secret weapon I built. You can think of it as me sitting inside, controlling this giant knight with magic,” Aoi explained simply.
Qiqi Zhu stared at the runes on the mech and suddenly commented, “This magic… it has that woman’s scent.”
“That woman? Do you mean Miss Shalum?”
“Correct.”
Aoi nodded. “The Radiant Knight was developed by her and me together. The current magic source was also provided by her. But the magic is almost depleted. I must retreat.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiqi Zhu directly placed her hand on the mech. A vast surge of magic poured in, instantly recharging it completely.
Aoi was utterly shocked.
“Elder… you’re a magic user?”
“Stop the nonsense,” Qiqi Zhu commanded directly. “Your fighting style is too stupid. Withdraw immediately.”
“Didn’t you say we didn’t need to withdraw?” Aoi was a bit confused.
“Tactical withdrawal, understand? Who stands in place and fights a Worm Tide head-on? Aren’t you an adventurer? Don’t you even know how to kite? Don’t talk back. Run.”
By now, the insect swarm was surging forward again. If they didn’t leave, they’d be overwhelmed once more.
The Radiant Knight immediately retreated. The heavy frame stomped on the ground but moved with extreme speed. Even the well-traveled Qiqi Zhu was momentarily stunned, but then she thought about the fact that Samimi was involved in its development and felt it made sense.
“Strength, speed, defense, endurance… all not bad.”
She stood on the mech’s shoulder, her feet rooted as if planted, remaining perfectly still despite the violent movements of the frame. This was the elf’s talent: Extreme Balance.
“But the attack methods are too single.”
As she spoke, she took the giant sword from her back. With a crack, it split open and transformed into a giant bow-blade. Thick, chaotic poison-type magic rapidly condensed, forming a massive magic poison arrow.
The biggest difference between Qiqi Zhu and ordinary elves was her terrible accuracy. Because she used pure magic arrows with no physical shafts, she didn’t follow the sniper route but rather area coverage. If ordinary elves were snipers, then she was a multi-barrel rocket launcher.
She fired the giant arrow into the sky. Her target wasn’t the insect swarm, but the giant, upside-down centipede hanging in the sky.
The Giant Centipede instantly sensed the threat, violently retracting upward a section and shaking off a large number of leaves.
Boom!
The poison arrow exploded mid-air, transforming into countless tiny poison arrows that poured down like a torrential rain.
This time it was a true arrow rain. The insect swarm was covered in poison, melting on the spot. Even their companions didn’t dare to devour these corpses.
“Wow! What kind of magic is this? It’s amazing!” Aoi inside the cockpit was completely dumbfounded.
“Hmph.”
Qiqi Zhu snorted coldly.
“If Samimi were here, she’d definitely say I’m neglecting my proper duties.”
Indeed, from a traditional magic perspective, this kind of magic was flashy without substance, existing purely for slaughter. It belonged to the heretical path, but its effectiveness was outstanding.
“Who is Samimi?” Aoi couldn’t help but ask.
Qiqi Zhu ignored her and continued drawing her bow. One after another, poison arrows soared into the sky and burst apart, forcibly tearing a gap in the insect swarm’s front line.
The defensive line that the Radiant Knight couldn’t break through after ninety minutes of slashing was now easily ripped open.
Of course, this wasn’t the achievement of one person alone. Without the mobile platform provided by the mech, she wouldn’t have been able to maintain stable output. For a long-range shooter, the output environment was more important than the attack itself. And now, she was standing on a moving platform. Perfect.
Poison arrows fell like rain. Qiqi Zhu directly transformed into a shoulder-mounted cannon, pouring out dozens of poison arrows per second. The insect swarm melted away like trash.
Aoi, meanwhile, controlled the mech to continuously slide-step and retreat, attacking while backing up. The insect swarm simply couldn’t catch up; any that got close were instantly headshot by poison arrows.
The ultimate combination was born.
The previously incalculable number of insects now began to become countable. Aoi grew excited.
“Don’t celebrate too soon,” Qiqi Zhu coldly reminded her. “If we don’t deal with that centipede in the sky, it’s all for nothing.”
“Oh, right…” Aoi nodded. “Elder, do you have a plan?”
“Can this thing of yours fly?” Qiqi Zhu asked in return.
“No, it can’t!”
“It doesn’t look like it can fly either,” Qiqi Zhu sized it up.
“It’s not completely impossible,” Aoi began a rapid analysis. “If you can increase the magic input, I can try. I installed a magic jet backpack; it can provide thrust. Theoretically, it could achieve brief lift-off.”
Qiqi Zhu was silent for a second.
“You’ll die if you fall.”
“Really?” Aoi’s tone still sounded a bit clueless.
“You decide for yourself,” Qiqi Zhu said flatly.
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