Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 449 - Mechanical Creature (6)

What made it scarier was that nothing was popping out.

‘Hmm.’

Meanwhile, Han-Yeol didn’t really care because he couldn't sense anything around him.

“There’s nothing around here. No monsters or traps.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

It wasn’t wrong to say that there was really nothing.

‘What the hell?’

The path continued in a straight line forward, as if directing them to follow it and not go anywhere else.

“T-This place is—?”

What existed at the end of the passage was simple.

The pyramid, which looked massive from the outside, was actually empty on the inside except for a huge object standing in its place.

The problem was that the object wasn’t a good thing for Han-Yeol. To him, the object looked like a giant robot.

Of course, from the perspective of science and technology, it was quite different from what one would consider a robot, but no matter how he thought about it, the object was still a robot.

The problem was that the robot was alive.

Zzzzing!

As soon as Han-Yeol stepped through the passage and into the large space, the black, dead mechanical creature started to light up and respond.

“Wow... I passed through all the undead, and now this?”

Han-Yeol felt like dying because of his rising blood pressure.

“It’s like the saying: one thing after another.”

“Stewart, this isn’t the time for old sayings.”

“...”

Old sayings were surprisingly one of the few things in the human world that Stewart, a demon, found interesting.

The mechanical creature looked out of the ordinary. At first glance, the mechanical creature reminded Han-Yeol of the magnetic robots he’d played with as a kid. Its body was big overall, with very large shoulders, a thin waist, and thick legs.

However, it didn’t walk. Instead, it was floating slightly above the ground.

The reason he called it a mechanical creature was simply because it felt like its upper body, waist, and lower body were all separate living beings, as if they could disassemble and move on their own, unlike a robot. In addition, each part of the body had a unique life force that couldn’t be felt in a simple machine.

‘In other words, this is a bioengineered robot.’

It was clear that if it faced an unfavorable or dangerous situation, its body parts would separate and try to escape.

‘Although I’m not going to let that happen.’

He checked the creature’s blue-and-white colored body with White Dragon’s light, and found them to be similar to the undead clergymen and Evil Ghosts he’d met so far.

‘Was this robot also made for religious purposes?’

If there was one thing different about this guy compared to the rest of them Han-Yeol had passed, this creature didn't look like an undead.

It was a robot, so that was to be expected.

Zingggg! Shhhh!

Just as Han-Yeol’s thoughts reached an end, hot steam erupted from the robot’s back, and it slowly started to move.

[The intruder has entered the temple from the sanctuary. I cannot forgive him. I will crush him before the holiness of the temple.]

[It would please God if we offered this strong intruder as a sacrifice.]

[There haven't been sacrifices that made it this far.]

[Hehehe.]

As far as Han-Yeol could tell, this robot was made from three parts, but in reality, it was four.

Shhhh! Thud!

“It’s coming.”

“I know.”

Gulp.

Han-Yeol felt nervous. The giant mechanical creature before him was a tremendously strong monster, far more powerful than the undead clergymen and Evil Ghosts he’d encountered so far.

“It's probably like the semi-boss, right?”

“I think so...”

Neither of them thought this monster was the boss when there were still a million miles to go.

However, this creature couldn’t be an ordinary monster because it gave off such a strong sense of danger. The mechanical creature was so intimidating that it even made Stewart nervous.

[Since it’s our first time seeing each other, we should probably start by saying hello, right?]

[Sacred Light Steam attack!]

Shaaa!

It was a sudden attack.

Without a heads-up, the robot at the very top of the three-tiered creature shot a blast of incredibly hot steam from two holes near its shoulders.

‘This heat is?’

Han-Yeol flinched at the hot steam and quickly attacked back.

‘Ice Crushing Impact!’

Kwanggg! Shhh!

Since dealing with hot steam with even more heat would only make his surroundings even hotter, he used his freezing attribute to neutralize the attack, sending thousands of ice shards flying.

As the hot steam and cold ice collided in the air, lukewarm vapor filled the surroundings.

“I-I can’t see!”’

“Captain!”

“Yes, Han-Yeol-nim!”

“Take everyone and hide in the passageway, now!”

“A-Alright!”

If he could, the captain also wanted to fight alongside Han-Yeol. His life as a Hunter was short—very short. But, his pride as a man and fighting spirit were very high.

However, his pride and fighting spirit were nothing more than a lantern in the wind in the face of a three-tiered mechanical creature that let off an overwhelming sense of danger.

[Hahahaha.]

Although the language it spoke was different, its laughter was the same.

The captain felt goosebumps form all over his body when he heard the mechanical creature’s grotesque laughter. He’d learned a bit about manipulating mana from Scarlett, but this wasn’t something he could master in a short amount of time, even if he was a Master-Rank Hunter. Manipulating mana was a matter of skill, not mere strength. Of course, no amount of practice would make one proficient with mana if they were weak to begin with.

[Not bad, little creature and soon-to-be-dead intruder. Hahaha!]

Shove!

Han-Yeol dug into his ear with his pinky finger.

“Ugh, this is so frustrating. Just what are they saying?”

His ears were itching from listening to this language he couldn't understand.

[Oh, this is the first time I’ve heard this language.]

[Haha, he’s a guest from another dimension.]

[That makes sense since our dimension collapsed seventy million years ago.]

[What? It’s been that long already?]

[The other creature wouldn't know anything because they lost their sanity ever since they were been trapped here to protect the sanctuary, but we know since we’re one with the computer. Why are you acting like an amateur?]

[Haha, true, we’re machines!]

[Calculating time is so easy for us!]

[Seventy million years in seconds is...]

[Stop, it’s a waste of data!]

[Yeah, do you realize how precious data is these days with the rising cost of living?]

[Hey, since when did we ever care about data?]

[Oh, right.]

[Hahah, right.]

[WIFI FREE!]

[Huh? Did we ever apply for that?]

[I don’t know!]

[Hahaha!]

The mechanical creatures were lost in conversation amongst themselves.

Han-Yeol was still preparing for battle, but when they started going on a tangent, their steam leaked.

‘What are they doing?’

[First of all, that creature looks like it’s made of three parts, but... it has four voices.]

‘Oh, Karvis. Wait, four?’

[That’s right.]

Karvis had remained silent until now, as she had nothing else to do but assist in combat. However, after staying quiet for a while, she informed Han-Yeol regarding the robot.

This kind of microanalysis of information was his specialty—although this wasn't particularly important information.

‘Four... Does that mean there’s something else besides those three robot body parts?’

[I think so.]

‘Okay, then it’s important to find that fourth guy and destroy it.’

Han-Yeol’s guts were telling him that the mechanical creature’s weakness was the fourth voice.

[Alright, then, let’s begin the ritual of sacrificing this stranger from another dimension.]

[Sounds good!]

[Music Q! Wait, that’s not right. Cue!]

Ding, ding, ding!

“Huh, what’s this music all of a sudden?”

The built-in speaker in the mechanical creature’s body started to play upbeat music.

[Good beat and good vibes!]

[This legendary song still sounds good even after listening to it for seventy million years!]

Zinggg! Boom!

The mechanical creature had a total of four consciousnesses. Even if two of them were doing nothing, the other two were more than capable of fighting.

[Die, intruder!]

“Damn it!”

Shakkk!

The powerful steam attack just turned Stewart’s thirty summoned Shurarmors into dust.

Stewart summoned thirty more by cracking his whip, but he didn’t seem so pleased. His lips were sealed in a way that showed that he was in a bad mood.

‘That creature is too strong to deal with just a summoning skill.’

Because the mechanical creature was so big and powerful that no matter how many of them were summoned, they would be reduced to dust in a single blow.

‘In that case, I’ll use a different method.’

“Han-Yeol-nim!”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think using only the summoning skill will work on that creature.”

“What? Then what are you going to do?”

“I’ll use magic.”

“Hmm, okay.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“Got it.”

Tap!

Han-Yeol smiled brightly at Stewart, then kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.

Kuaaa!

His body was already emitting a tremendous amount of Transcendent Master-Rank mana, and his Blood Strengthening and Blood Leg had been activated. In other words, Han-Yeol was serious.

[Oh wow, look at that creature.]

[Wow?]

[He’s got some pretty interesting powers.]

[Hey, let’s not sacrifice him to God. We can sacrifice the others, but let’s capture him and use him as our guinea pig for our experiments. He could be interesting to modify and use as our parts or we can make him into an android.]

[I’m good with that.]

[Me too.]

Three of them were in favor, and one of them abstained.

The mechanical creature that originally abstained was actually in favor of the idea, but since it was somewhat of a leader, it wasn’t sure if it could support the idea of stealing the sacrifice. So, it abstained out of courtesy in the end.

It should have voted against the idea, but it was also an engineer in the past, so it couldn’t dare to turn down the idea.

[Okay, then let’s give it our all!]

[Okay!]

Shhhh!

The steam coming from the rear of the three-tiered creature grew more intense.

[Judgment of the Steam of Light!]

[Take this horrible steam from the Steam community sale(?)!]

[Huh, is that the right line?]

[I don’t know! But I’m shooting steam, so who cares if it’s this steam or that steam!]

[It doesn’t really matter. Hahah!]

Wiiiiing! Shhh!

The seemingly random name for an attack skill was activated.