Guardian

"Rumble—"

The hemispherical building was violently breached from within, a massive human-shaped hole smashed straight through its thick metal walls.

A huge, burly figure strode out of the darkness.

This was more than mere physical destruction.

Amid the tearing shriek of metal, a stale odor that had lain dormant for thousands of years came gushing forth.

It was the acrid scent of evaporated machine oil and highly concentrated metal ions.

This was a metal puppet more than ten meters tall. It had no head, and rusted fracture marks showed at its neck.

Both its hands gripped a dark, colossal hammer nearly larger than its own body.

Though it lacked its head, the center of perception, its movements were not delayed in the slightest.

It had clearly followed Bronte out. After swiftly locking onto Bronte's location, it wasted no words and brought its hammer down directly toward Dago's head.

This was pure physical kinetic energy, without the slightest flashy technique.

Yet at this scale, mass itself was the most terrifying law.

"Whoosh—crackle!"

The terrifying hammer crushed layer after layer of air, unleashing a string of dreadful, sharp detonations.

The air was instantly compressed to its limit, forming a visible white shockwave.

It was a sonic boom cloud.

The moment the hammer swung, countless traces of rune-lit circuits abruptly appeared across the enormous headless puppet.

Before the hammer had fully descended, a dim yellow halo spread from its striking face, instantly enveloping Dago and Bronte, who was tucked between his knees.

"Energy circuits activated... Is this an advanced application of earth elemental laws?"

Dago's Eye of Truth instantly caught the abnormal tremors of free particles in the air.

The surrounding gravitational constant had been forcibly altered at that moment.

Dago immediately felt his body grow heavy, as though he had suddenly sunk