Chapter 82
"Take it apart first, then you can study it slowly!" Goliath said, twirling his sword in a beautiful flourish. I had seen this kind of complex movement during the Temple Knights' parade performances, and at that time I thought it was a ceremonial performance. It turns out that their movements were just as complex and beautiful when they were fighting!
Before the Exterminator Prototype could even greet us, it was already being slashed by Goliath's longsword. The knight's movements were so fast I could barely keep up, but I noticed that his expression wasn't relaxed after he landed. He twisted his wrist again, and we discovered that the Exterminator Prototype... was completely unharmed.
This was unbelievable news for Goliath, the Grand Master of the Temple Knights! After all, the video of Goliath splitting a cannonball with his bare hands was still prominently displayed on social media!
Reynold was being sat on by two apprentices... wait, sat on?
"Moli, Anna! Watch your behavior!" I scolded.
Reynold crawled out from under the butts of us two troublesome apprentices, not even having time to fix his hair, and hurriedly shouted, "The Annihilator's outer shell is made of high-strength alloy metal, possibly harder than current artillery shells! And it's impervious to water and fire, able to withstand high temperatures and freezing temperatures!"
Mel paused, holding the blizzard in her hand, and waved it away, dispelling the useless spell.
Goliath chuckled, "No wonder the cost was so high that it almost bankrupted many countries."
I nodded in deep agreement. In modern society, money is truly a deadly thing. If it weren't for the limitations of research funding, I wouldn't have been unable to finish restoring the teleportation array for so long!
The Exterminator Prototype revealed its complete form before us. It looked like some kind of prehistoric behemoth, full of mystery, its entire body made of an unknown metal (certainly not the kind of metal we mages would use), painted black, with paint chipped off in many places to reveal the sharp metal body underneath. It had four thick legs that made the ground rumble as it stomped. It also had human-like upper limbs, but it had four hands, each with a gun, sword, and shield instead of five fingers. It also had a square head with flashing red indicator lights on it. These indicator lights emitted particularly conspicuous lights and beeped when it got close to us.
It charged in with a thunderous roar, its imposing presence quite terrifying. Wielding its guns, swords, and other weapons, Goliath stepped forward, its Holy Light Shield rippling as it was Annihilator's diverse and varied attacks.
This thing, which I know absolutely nothing about, is much more troublesome than the Electronic Demon from last time. I think this falls into the category of "mechanical sci-fi horror" that Moli always talks about—it's scary because it's unknown.
My Hellfire landed on the monster's surface, but the Annihilator was lifeless, so it had little effect. I tried different types of spells, such as acid, frost, and lightning, and found that the Annihilator's shell was unbelievably hard. No wonder that countries could only produce one batch and never a second. If these things could be mass-produced so easily, the Machine Zealots in the Dark Ages would have won long ago!
Mel threw out runes, but neither the Withering Rune nor the rune we learned last time could stay on the surface of this monster for long.
This is so annoying!
The fireballs made a pinging sound like fireworks, while the icicles couldn't even leave a dent. It's no wonder it was something that cost a fortune to make; it's quite difficult to deal with. I wonder if I could pack this up and sell it to a museum and earn some research funding?
Goliath's body contorted incredibly to dodge the Annihilator's swung blade. Mel unleashed a Gravity Field, making the Annihilator's heavy body seem to sink several inches into the ground. However, this thing was incredibly strong, able to withstand the Gravity Field and forcefully pull its legs out.
I quickly threw Gravity Ball at it, allowing Goliath to dodge several incredibly fast attacks—this thing is truly anti-science! It looks so bulky, yet it moves incredibly agilely! It just doesn't make sense!
"Teacher! Puncture the joints! Puncture the joints!" Moli and Anna suddenly shouted from behind, "Break its leg joints!"
On this Annihilator, the limbs and torso are made of hard alloy armor, but in order to allow it to move, the joints are not welded shut. If you look closely... well, there are indeed tiny cracks.
Those two kids have such sharp eyes! If I hadn't heard Anna mutter, "That's how you split up monsters in the game...", I probably would have blurted out praise for them.
Goliath reacted first, his Goliath's Dou Qi ignited a layer of golden flames that clung to his sword, sending a chill down my spine—this holy flame was the bane of the undead. I could feel my teacher trembling... Oh dear, I broke my teacher's spine last time and forgot to glue it back on...
I'm sorry, teacher, I'll stick it on for you as soon as I get home.
Mel and I merged the two Gravity Field. At the same time, Goliath's longsword, wreathed in golden flames, pierced straight into the Annihilator's leg joint. But the Annihilator's greatsword had already fallen, forcing Goliath to release his sword and roll backward.
He looked on with distress as his beloved sword was embedded in the Annihilator's leg, seemingly heartbroken.
Then...
He pulled out a spear from his spatial ring... twice the size of him.
Goliath's height was disproportionate to this enormous weapon. The shaft of the spear was no different from a normal spear—oh, I'm referring to a melee weapon, of course! But the spearhead, my good gods, the spearhead was almost as long as Goliath himself!
He explained to us, "This is a dragon rider's lance, used when riding on the back of Xuefeng. Generally, the length of the lance tip is determined by the rider's arm strength and the length of the dragon's wings."
With that, he shoved the gun into the Annihilator's head with a soft thud.
The chilling red light went out.
"What's your gun made of?" I looked at the gun curiously. Its muzzle looked warm in color, not cold and sharp, and it was dark and didn't seem to reflect light much. The key point was that it had pierced the solid metal shell with one shot!
Goliath's long arms tensed, his hands straining so hard that the veins bulged, showing an unprecedented level of difficulty. So Mel and I hurriedly began to construct Gravity Cage to suppress the Annihilator's overly agile reactions.
Goliath let out a soft sigh, then answered me, "These are the teeth that Xuefeng shed."
Wow, Dragon Tooth Spear!
Mel and I were both immediately impressed.
Chapter 82
Goliath, true to his paladin reputation, possessed an exceptional ability to anticipate danger. The moment our thoughts crossed his mind, he turned back to us and said, "No, no, no! His dragon tooth took ages to grow back... and to ensure Xuefeng can continue eating without spilling after giving me this, he needs to pay for a denture. Dragon dentures aren't cheap... He said it was a gift for me, but it turned out I'm the one paying for his dentures!"
... As he said this, I felt Goliath's anger level rise significantly...
As he spoke Goliath actually swung his spear and smashed it down on the poor Annihilator's head... Uh, you're a paladin, not a berserker!
Well...
... Be gentle, this is an antique, after all!
It seems that, regardless of class, being poor is a key condition for unlocking the berserk state!
No wonder the Temple's salaries aren't high; it's well-known that way. And no matter how many times ordinary workers have received raises, the Temple has maintained the same old standard salary for thousands of years. Although they have room and board provided, and even their underwear is provided by the government, I doubt the Temple would use public funds to raise Goliath's dragons... I can't even imagine how much Xuefeng can eat...
In an instant, the entire corridor was filled with the clash of swords and spears. We threw out handfuls of Gravity Ball, Gravity Cage the sky. Gravity cages fell one after another at the feet of the Annihilator. Goliath, as expected of a specially trained paladin, and his enormous spear, never blocked our line of sight for casting spells, nor did he ever step into the range of our spells.