Chapter 398: Explosion

Chapter 398: Explosion

That afternoon, Ren returned to the Swordsman Headquarters.

"Sir Ren, your airship is ready and can depart at any time. Lady Claire and Lady Beyonce are already waiting for you at the airship docking area in the headquarters," a messenger informed him.

Olenna quickly exited the office and reported to Ren.

"Good, Lady Olenna. Thank you for your hard work," Ren nodded with a smile.

The Swordsman Headquarters had its own airship docking area, which was extremely convenient, especially for transporting the ten-ton Hellfire Golem over long distances. It could be directly placed in the lower cabin of the airship.

If they had used horse-drawn carriages, it would have taken at least half a month to reach the vicinity of Blade Volcano in Mosel Province.

The efficiency was like night and day!

"It's my honor to serve you, Sir Ren," Olenna said, covering her mouth with a light laugh.

Soon, the two arrived at the airship docking area located north of the headquarters' training ground.

"Captain!" Claire, dressed in a blue wizard robe, saw Ren and her face lit up with joy. She immediately saluted.

"Captain Ren!" Beyonce, the other woman standing next to Claire, dressed in a fiery leather armor, brightened at the sight of Ren and respectfully bowed.

As a quasi-legendary-level ranger, Beyonce's strength surpassed Claire's.

Therefore, she could clearly sense that Captain Ren's aura had become even more robust than before.

And it had only been less than a month!

Captain Ren's strength seemed to have increased significantly in such a short time.

Was this the growth rate of the Empire's top genius? It was truly terrifying.

"Claire, Beyonce, greetings," Ren smiled and nodded at them.

"Hmm, Claire, it seems like you're about to break through?"

Ren glanced at the two women and noticed that Claire, who was originally at the peak of a first-tier wizard, now had a more rounded spiritual power, as if she was about to break through to the second-tier liquidization level.

"Hehe, Captain, your insight is truly remarkable."

"After this mission with you, I think I'll give it a try," Claire said with a smile.

"Mhm, if you need help at that time, you can come to me," Ren nodded.

"Thank you, Captain! Captain, shall we depart now?" Claire asked.

"Wait, something is arriving soon, it's almost here," Ren said, looking ahead with a smile.

The two women looked around, but they didn't see anyone approaching them, so they looked at each other in confusion for a moment.

"Look up," Ren smiled.

"Huh? This seems to be the Wizard Academy's airship!" Claire realized and looked up at the approaching airship.

Indeed, an airship was flying towards the Swordsman Headquarters.

It was understandable that they had overlooked it.

After all, this was Tamriel, where the skies were often bustling with numerous airships.

There were docking points for large airships in all directions, as well as those for special agencies and top families. At any given time, there were at least a dozen airships floating in the sky.

It was easy to overlook a single airship in such a busy sky.

However, this made the women even more curious.

What could require an airship to deliver?

Soon, as the Academy's airship landed, Olenna quickly approached and coordinated the situation.

A massive object, covered with a cloth, was carried onto the Swordsman Headquarters' airship by over twenty strong guards with great effort.

"Is that a puppet?" Claire asked, her eyes widening as she recognized the shape and partially exposed parts of the object.

Beyonce also looked on in surprise at the sight before her.

After all, in her eyes, Captain Ren's strength was already formidable.

But this time, he had also brought along a metal puppet that seemed incredibly powerful.

She remembered that even during their previous mission to kill the poison dragon, they hadn't been this cautious.

"Shall we depart now, Lady Olenna? Farewell."

"Sir Ren, farewell to you and the ladies," Olenna said with a slight bow and a smile.

Ren chose this departure time, and by the next morning, around eight or nine o'clock, they would arrive near Blade County in Mosel Province.

The timing was perfect.

About three hours after Ren's departure, in a valley estate on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, Tamriel, near Luvad Town, several middle-aged men in robes looked anxious.

"It's almost evening, and Sir Stavven still hasn't arrived?"

"Yes, if this continues, we might miss our chance!" another middle-aged man said, his brows furrowed as he looked at the elder in the center of the room.

"No, we need someone who can complete the task smoothly, so we must give him enough time," the elder wizard in charge said after a moment of thought, shaking his head.

"As for other difficulties, we'll find a way."

Hearing the elder's words, the others paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

It made sense.

Missing the planned ambush point would cause complications in coordination and preparation. Additionally, intercepting an accelerating airship in the air would be extremely challenging.

So this time, the ambush they arranged was located at the foot of the Blade Volcano in the Mosel Province.

Generally, ambushes are set up when the target has completed their mission, is wounded, or is relatively exhausted. However, Stavven requested that the ambush be executed when the target first arrives and is at their best mental state.

"Your Excellency Stavven."

Suddenly, the elder's eyes lit up, and he stood up, looking at the door and exclaiming in surprise.

"We can depart now." Stavven calmly nodded.

Instantly, everyone was overjoyed!

Soon, Stavven boarded the airship with his considerable number of undead, which had been specially modified.

"Your Excellency Stavven, this airship is named 'Swift,' and it's equipped with new technology from the Federation, boasting exceptional power and speed, about 50% faster than ordinary airships."

"Currently, you should be able to arrive at the designated location about two hours earlier than the target." The elder introduced.

"Good, I understand."

Soon, the airship quickly disappeared into the distant horizon.

The next morning, Ren's airship arrived at the Blade City's airship docking point on time.

At this time, several fully-armed guards and a Star-level team from the Mosel Province Swordsman Division were already waiting at the docking point.

Leading the team was a peak Great Knight holding a sword and shield.

Seeing Ren and the two women descend the gangplank, he quickly approached, slightly bowing, and said, "Welcome to the Mosel Province, Lord Ren, and the two Excellencies."

"My name is Dick, and I'm honored to have the opportunity to accompany you to the Blade Volcano."

"Thank you for your efforts, Excellency Dick," Ren smiled and nodded.

"There's also a puppet in the cargo hold of the airship that needs to be moved."

"Of course, I've prepared a sturdy cart." Dick pointed to a huge cart pulled by four horses beside him.

He also took the opportunity to quickly glance at the three adults from the Imperial Capital headquarters.

Aside from the young woman in the blue wizard robe, whose power he could vaguely sense, even the hot-figured woman's strength was beyond his perception.

Not to mention the middle one, the renowned Elite Swordsman Captain Ren, a prominent figure within the Imperial Swordsman System.

To be honest, if it were any other Elite Swordsman Captain, he wouldn't be optimistic about the mission's outcome. The Lava Fire Dragon 'Hemaodos' wasn't an easy opponent.

But the one before him was an exception.

Soon, Ren and the two women boarded a luxurious carriage with Dick, while the Hellfire Golem, covered in a tarp, was carried onto the cart by several guards.

The group of dozens left the city gates, heading towards the Blade Volcano.

"Excellency Dick, how's the situation in the Mosel Province lately?"

"Sigh! Lord Ren, various evil cults have been sprouting up like mushrooms after rain, and strange incidents keep occurring in different places. We at the Mosel Province Swordsman Division are overwhelmed."

Dick sighed as he spoke.

After some casual conversation, the carriage fell silent.

About two hours later, a gigantic active volcano, still spewing plumes of black smoke, appeared before them.

The volcano looked majestic and steep, standing tall in the plain, like a towering sword, hence its name, the Blade Volcano.

At this moment, Ren suddenly opened his eyes and said to the two women beside him, "Claire, Beyons, be extra vigilant later. If necessary, tear open the defense scroll to ensure your safety first."

Ren's words made the two women's hearts tremble.

"Captain, what do you mean?" Beyons's expression turned solemn.

After all, the so-called strongest legendary 'Carver' Harold had died at the hands of their captain, and yet someone dared to launch another attack?

Unbelievable!

"Be careful," Ren didn't elaborate.

A fleeting sense of threat had flashed through his mind.

The two women exchanged glances, their expressions turning serious.

Dick, on the other hand, thought Ren was reminding his teammates to be cautious for the upcoming battle with the Lava Fire Dragon.

Such young, beautiful, and unique women would naturally receive extra care from Ren, if he were in his shoes.

At this moment, the team advanced a few hundred meters, and Ren's face suddenly showed a hint of a smile.

There was indeed a problem ahead.

"It seems we have visitors, Excellency Dick," Ren said, observing the micro-expressions of the Mosel Province Swordsman Captain.

"What?!" Dick's pupils constricted. He glanced at Ren's expression and knew he wasn't joking.

"Everyone, be on guard!" Dick quickly jumped off the carriage.

"Captain, this is Excellency Dick," Claire, having experienced Mia's incident, was cautious. She looked at Dick who had just gotten off the carriage.

"He's probably not an enemy insider," Ren shook his head.

With his perception nearly reaching the peak of Tier 2 Liquidization, Ren could make an auxiliary judgment based on the opponent's blood flow speed and heartbeat, which were invisible to ordinary people.

He was almost certain that Captain Dick wasn't an enemy insider.

"Let's get down too, they won't be able to handle the enemies ahead." Ren said as he stood up and stepped off the carriage.

The two women naturally followed and alighted from the carriage as well.

At this moment, if one were to look down from the sky, it would be evident that there were seven or eight gray lines on both sides of the dense forest, converging from all directions towards the convoy where Ren currently was.

After a few seconds, numerous trees in the forest on both sides of the convoy began to sway violently and quickly fell like grass being mowed, as if a cutting machine was pushing through.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

The sound of something sharp cutting through the air grew louder.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

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Several tall, gray shadows dashed out from the dense forest on both sides of the convoy with incredible speed, accompanied by a stench of corpses.

"Be careful on both sides!" Dick shouted.

The members of his squad and the guards under his command began to set up defenses, with Ren's carriage as the center.

"Hiss!"

At this moment, a warhorse at the front of the convoy seemed to block the gray shadow's path. It was sliced open, instantly cut into several pieces.

However, the other directions weren't as lucky.

In a matter of seconds, the guards were slashed into thin slices by the clawed ghouls' half-meter-long claws.

Even Dick could only barely hold off one of them, but there were at least seven or eight clawed ghouls attacking from multiple directions.

This caused the onlookers to anxiously turn their gazes towards Ren and the two women who had just alighted from the carriage.

"Clawed ghouls!" As the gray shadows paused, Claire, a knowledgeable wizard, was able to clearly see their appearance and exclaimed in surprise.

"And there are six of them at once!"

This special type of ghoul possessed immense combat strength and was extremely rare.

In terms of power, they were comparable to peak Great Knights.

However, the problem was that the presence of these ghouls suggested a high probability of a controller behind them, such as a high-level wizard specializing in the Necromancy School.

"Captain, these are clawed ghouls, and the enemy is likely a high-level Necromancer," Claire said solemnly.

"Oh? A Necromancer?" Ren's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Without hesitation, Ren quickly activated his spellcasting and began chanting.

With a light touch of his finger, a thumb-sized pillar of yellowish-brown light shot towards the Hellfire Golem covered by the cloth.

A deep rumbling sound emanated from within the covered golem.

The massive Hellfire Golem began to rise.

"Huh? It's a golem!" Claire, while casting fire spells, heard the commotion from the carriage and glanced over.

Initially puzzled, she quickly realized that it was not an ordinary puppet but a golem.

The power source of the opponent was a small furnace, and from this detail, Claire could confirm that the massive creature was indeed a golem.

"A golem?" Bianca, who was shooting, also looked shocked.

Although she wasn't a wizard and couldn't identify the opponent as quickly as Claire, she had heard of golems—creatures with power comparable to legendary warriors. She was surprised that her captain had brought such a powerful entity.

However, she was still a bit concerned about the golem's bulky and somewhat clumsy appearance and wondered if it could hit the incredibly fast clawed ghouls.

"Overclocked attack!" Ren silently commanded.

As the clawed ghouls were quite powerful, Ren immediately activated the 'ultimate move' of the Hellfire Golem.

The Hellfire Golem's chest opened with a 'crack,' revealing two pitch-black holes. Immediately, it unleashed a Gatling gun-like rapid-fire mode, with alternating red and black flashes of light.

"Boom! Boom!"

Dense red fireballs and black shadow arrows, trailing long flames, rained down like hail, rapidly striking a clawed ghoul in front.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Although a single fireball could only injure a small part of the ghoul's body, the rapid-fire attack was relentless.

After enduring three seconds and taking six fireballs and shadow arrows, the ghoul was blown apart at the waist.

"Careful, Captain, behind!"

Seeing their companion killed, several other clawed ghouls launched attacks from behind and the left side of the Hellfire Golem, seemingly attempting to destroy it with close-range assaults.

"Sizzle!"

One of the clawed ghouls' fierce claw attacks only left a half-inch scratch on the Hellfire Golem's arm, which was covered in tempered Mithril.

"Boom!"

The golem then punched the ghoul, sending it flying into the air to a height of about four meters.

The Hellfire Golem continued its assault with Gatling-like fireballs and shadow arrows.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The golem bombarded the ghoul in mid-air, leaving it in pieces.

At this moment, a third clawed ghoul leaped onto the Hellfire Golem's head but was grabbed by a metal hand and slammed into the ground.

"Boom!"

The golem's thick metal legs, driven by the small furnace, repeatedly stomped on the ghoul, turning it into a bloody mess.

For a moment, the Hellfire Golem's might was unparalleled.

The remaining few Clawed Ghouls hesitated to swarm again, instead opting to quickly circle around them.

"Impressive!" Dick exclaimed, amazed by the display.

"It's so strong!" Claire, as a wizard, could better understand the exaggerated combat prowess of their captain's golem.

While golems are generally as powerful as legendary beings, their agility is usually inferior. So, being comparable is already impressive, and in reality, they are just a bit lacking.

However, their captain's golem surpassed Claire's expectations in both attack frequency and defensive capabilities."

She believed that even an ordinary legendary warrior would not be a match for their captain's golem.

As the two women breathed a sigh of relief, Ren's gaze remained fixed in one direction.

"It's here!"

Huh? What's coming? As the women showed confusion, the ground suddenly trembled, and the trees in the forest snapped with a 'crack', as if a massive beast was rapidly charging towards them.

"Be careful!"

"Oh my! What a terrifying monster!"

A three-meter-tall creature with a muscular upper body and a giant scorpion's lower half rushed towards the golem.

An intense and brutal aura filled the area.

"Bang!"

The creature's speed was astonishing, and its strength was terrifying. It directly knocked the ten-ton Hellfire Golem away with a collision.

In the next moment, an even more shocking scene unfolded.

The Hellfire Golem's thick metal arm was tightly grasped by the creature's hands and torn off with a twist!

"It seems your golem is in trouble." At this moment, a deep voice resonated, and a middle-aged wizard in a black robe with three skull emblems on his chest emerged from the dense forest.

"I heard that your transformed strength can increase significantly. Perhaps, you can save your golem." A hint of excitement flashed in Stavven's eyes as he spoke.

"Oh? That's not certain." Ren glanced at the Hellfire Golem, which was clearly at a disadvantage with one of its arms already torn off, and said calmly.

"Although the testing time was slightly shorter, it can still be considered complete."

"Hmm?" Stavven heard Ren's words, but for a moment, he seemed a little confused.

Before he could figure it out, his eyes suddenly widened, focusing on the battle between the two massive creatures.

The energy emanating from the Scorpion Man, who was now pinned under the golem, suddenly intensified by several times!

The next second, a blinding green light, ten times brighter than the sun, flashed across the sky!

Immediately following, a visible hemispherical transparent shockwave spread at an incredible speed.

After two seconds, a deafening explosion, like a military arsenal, reverberated through the air!

Although Dick and the others were hundreds of meters away from the explosion's epicenter, they were still swept by the blast, and all the trees around them fell like wheat. Even the sturdy horses were mostly knocked down.

"You!" Stavven quickly cast a Tier 3 Defense Spell, blocking the shockwave and sound wave damage, but his eyebrows furrowed, and a small knife seemed to pierce his mind.

The Scorpion Man was his most important necromancer, and there was a spiritual link between them.

The sudden death of the Scorpion Man caught Stavven off guard, causing him to suffer a backlash in his spirit.

"Bang!"

A large chunk of the Scorpion Man's remains, weighing several tons, landed heavily between Ren and Stavven.

On the scorched remains, one could vaguely make out a dark metal chestplate with intricate patterns.

"It seems I won't need to transform after all." Ren said, gazing at Stavven with a smile.

Although the Hellfire Golem cost Ren a significant amount of rare metals, its self-destruction directly eliminated a legendary peak-level necromancer. Ren didn't feel any regret.

If anyone should feel regret, it was the other party.

"Damn it!"

"Do you know what you've done!" Stavven glared at the remains, his eyes instantly turning red.

His highly anticipated Scorpion Man, along with the Iron Spine Necromancer chestplate, had been destroyed by the golem's self-destruction!

This also ruined Stavven's efforts to advance through the orthodox path of a necromancer and become a Dawn Wizard!

Now, he had no choice.

At the same time, several dozen miles away, beneath the Blade Volcano, a massive creature soaked in nearly a thousand meters of scorching lava was seemingly asleep.

Suddenly, its huge eyes, which had been tightly shut, snapped open, and its giant vertical pupils gazed towards the direction of the recent explosion.

It seemed to sense something and stood up, revealing its massive wings covered in red scales.

"Roar!"

A creature resembling the red dragon beast Ren had seen before flapped its giant wings and soared out of the lava, charging towards the volcano's peak!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end