Chapter 248 The Destroyer Returns! An acquaintance breaks in?
Without any warning, the ground shook violently, making everyone unsteady on their feet.
Natsuki Subaru stumbled, falling clumsily to the ground, looking around with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
"W-what's going on!? An earthquake?"
"Japan has a lot of earthquakes, but you don't need to react so strongly, do you?"
Arthur quickly walked out of the breeding room, following the direction of the tremor's spread, looking at the distant sky.
A familiar spider-like fortress was rapidly approaching, its eight giant legs propelling it forward, dragging a long, black trail of smoke behind it!
Arthur's eyes narrowed: "Is that... a mobile fortress destroyer?"
Aqua was stunned: "Why is a destroyer here? No! Wasn't it already blown to dust?"
Natsuki Subaru and Aura followed closely, rushing out of the breeding room to gaze into the distance.
In the blood-red sky, stained by the setting sun, an unimaginably huge black giant spider was crawling over tall buildings, its massive body rising and falling like a moving mountain!
"So big! Is it a monster?"
"That's not a monster; it looks like a mechanical construct."
Arthur looked at the resurrected destroyer, and naturally, the first thing he thought of was the unknown entity's puppet, but he didn't sense any malice from it.
The destroyer was getting closer, each step causing the ground to groan, and dozens of red lights flashed on its forehead, locking onto the breeding room's location.
"What's the play now? Such a huge commotion, yet no one else in the teaching building is reacting?"
With that, Arthur bent down, picked up a small stone from the ground, flicked his wrist, and a blur shot towards the teaching building's window!
Boom!
Spatial ripples rapidly spread as the small stone hit the indestructible transparent barrier, instantly shattering.
Arthur clapped the dust from his hands, then looked at Aura, who had failed to cast her thought-speaking spell.
"I'll deal with the destroyer; you take Aqua and Natsuki Subaru and get far away."
Aura lowered her head in thought. Her profession was a beast tamer, and her combat power was greatly reduced after leaving Nazarick, so she wasn't good at dealing with such giant enemies.
So, she silently pulled up the limp Natsuki Subaru and the head-crouching Aqua, and in a few leaps, retreated to the edge of the school building.
Arthur took out durandal from his storage bag, looking up at the approaching steel behemoth, feeling like something was off.
This destroyer seemed imposing, yet it was charging straight at the teaching building with its massive metal body, as if its sole purpose was to stomp on the school?
"Could it be that the destroyer's role in this world is truly an earthquake?"
He cleared his mind, and a vortex of wind condensed beneath his feet. With a bang, he rapidly ascended into the sky!
His clothes flapped wildly in the gale, and surging Curse power condensed on the sword's edge, forming a thin, crimson-flowing membrane!
The streaking light was fleeting, faster than imagination!
The three behind him only saw ominous spell patterns suddenly light up on the destroyer's body, with magical fluctuations overflowing!
The magic-nullifying barrier flickered under the sword's thrust, and amidst the crisp sounds of layers of glass shattering, Arthur plunged his sword through the destroyer's head!
Following the passage in his memory, he skillfully arrived in front of the control room. With a flash of sword light, he violently broke open the door!
Gusts of wind mixed with metal fragments embedded themselves in the floor. A robed figure, unable to dodge in time, was hit head-on by the incredibly sharp fragments, but it produced a clang of metal striking metal!
Arthur's gaze instantly locked onto the other party—
This black-robed person was imperceptible!
And in the other's hand, there was a corona stone rapidly flashing with ominous light.
"I guess you're Miss Assistant? You certainly made me search for you!"
Before he finished speaking, Arthur stomped and shattered the metal floor, and the lightning-quick sword edge had already pierced a hole straight through the black-robed person!
A large number of metal parts and unknown liquids splattered, yet the other party seemed unaffected, suddenly looking up, and two red lasers immediately shot out from the eyes beneath its hood!
Puff!
Arthur, who had remained vigilant, raised his hand and extinguished the two lasers. The air was instantly filled with a burning, charred smell!
"Strange, according to that reincarnator's design philosophy, aren't the cores of your kind of machine constructs all in the chest area?"
He pulled out his longsword with a backhand, then swept it through the air, cutting off the mechanical construct's head, and steadily caught the corona stone, whose flashing frequency was becoming more rapid and whose light had merged into one continuous glow.
「Cycle of Ritual, Order of Life and Death, Descend, Pure Grace.」
A sky-blue halo rippled out, softly yet powerfully enveloping the corona stone's surface, temporarily curbing its self-destruction.
After doing all this, Arthur gazed at the headless black-robed person, who still stood upright, and with a flick of his hand, unleashed several sword lights.
The wind howled, the dark robes tore and scattered, and the mechanical construct crashed to the ground, bringing with it a series of ear-splitting gear-grinding sounds.
Arthur examined the unbeautiful, simply constructed mechanical construct at his feet, his brows deeply furrowed.
"A mass-produced model, remotely controlled?"
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Responding to him was a piercing warning sound!
The mechanical construct's scattered head and body all glowed red. What was about to happen next was self-evident.
Boom—!!!
The three waiting outside saw a Flame Pillar rising from the destroyer's chest and abdomen. Arthur tore through the raging flames, and without a word, made a downward grasping motion.
The surface metal burned to molten, and the destroyer, continuously emitting terrifying high temperatures, was forcibly pulled into the air!
Layers of wind locks intertwined into a seamless protective shield. The next moment, the heat accumulated to a critical point within the steel wreckage exploded!
Crimson steam and golden thousand winds eroded each other, raging freely above the teaching building, unleashing a devastating shockwave!
The wind and waves, mixed with dark red metal particles, crashed into the transparent barrier. Spatial ripples rapidly spread, and the entire barrier was like a mirror smashed by a sudden downpour.
When Aqua and the other two climbed up from the ground, only a lingering smell of hot iron sand remained in the air, and the destroyer had disintegrated.
Natsuki Subaru brushed the iron sand from his body, commenting with lingering fear.
"It's dealt with? So strong! Arthur, this guy, might even be stronger than Reinhardt!"
Hearing his exclamation, Aura snorted, but as she watched Arthur descend with the wind, her expression grew increasingly solemn.
Aqua ran forward carelessly, greeting Arthur, who was studying the new corona stone.
"Mr. Arthur! Mr. Arthur! We've dealt with another mobile fortress destroyer. When we go back to Axel, can we apply for another reward?"
"This..."
Arthur was momentarily speechless, having to admit that Aqua's thought process was indeed unusual.
Once the iron sand rain lingering in the air had fallen, the barrier surrounding the teaching building also disappeared.
Each with their own thoughts, the group quickened their pace to the teaching building to explain the surprise attack to their respective companions.
Arthur entrusted this important task to Aqua, while he himself quickly rushed to the third floor and pulled open the door to the faculty office.
But before he could voice his confusion to Roswaal or Vanir, a familiar emerald figure, so familiar that it startled him, came into view, making him freeze on the spot.
Roswaal noticed his actions and spoke with a rather pleased laugh.
"Oh my~ Arthur, is something the matter?"
Riveria, who was holding a lesson plan, looking at a loss, heard the familiar name and suddenly turned her head.
After seeing who was standing at the door, a faint smile of relief appeared on her face.
"Finally, I've met a familiar face in a strange world... Arthur, where is this?"
Arthur opened his mouth, but in the end, could only spread his hands with a wry smile.
"This... Where should I even begin? Anyway, welcome to the team."