Evolution:The Bloodthirsty Saga of the Magic Engineer

Chapter 85: The beginning of the confrontation

Without wasting any time, I turned and ran. The reactor in his chest roared, and inside the armor, I was running faster than a leopard.

When I reached the stairs leading to the Tower’s main door, I noticed three acolytes—two at level 3 and one at the peak of level 2.

The warning I had sent through the magical talisman could only be received by a special magical item, which was currently in the hands of one of these apprentices. That apprentice was Lucius, one of the level 3 acolytes. When he learned that three powerful acolytes were in the forest, he knew that, with his abilities, there was no way he could chase or capture these outsiders. Lucius requested help from two other strong acolytes.

When they noticed me, my armor skidded to a stop in front of them, kicking up dust into the air. I looked at Lucius, who stared at me with a smile full of malice.

"Only three people?" I asked, frowning. "Why not bring more acolytes? Wouldn’t that be easier? This would be a massacre."

Lucius tilted his head slightly, his eyes gleaming like those of a satisfied demon.

"Well... if too many came, it would be hard to make a profit, right?"

Rafael, the other level 3 acolyte, who had remained silent until then, moved his head and murmured, "Where are they?" He clenched his fists and added in a tone of contained excitement, "It’s been a while since I last killed someone."

I shook my head, suppressing an internal laugh. What idiots... If these guys die, at least I’ll get to keep their belongings.

"Follow me," I said, turning and moving toward the location where I had previously encountered the invaders.

As we walked, the level 2 acolyte, the quietest of the group, glanced at my armor with a curious glint in his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he finally asked:

"Are you Miguel’s new apprentice?"

I rolled my eyes before answering.

"Why do you ask?"

The acolyte smiled and cast a glance at Lucius and Rafael, as if expecting them to intervene.

"We heard you have a talent for engineering, second only to Mateo."

I slowed my pace, measuring them with my gaze.

"Do you want to buy something from me?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral.

The level 2 acolyte hesitated before responding. "Not now. Maybe in the future, I might order a mechanical armor similar to the one you’re wearing. Could you tell me the price?"

I felt the keen gazes of the other acolytes on me. That’s when I realized: in their eyes, I was a golden goose. And without a doubt, they had malicious intentions. But I pretended not to notice.

"Well, that depends on the material you want me to use for the armor," I replied, keeping my tone casual. "Magical steam is a bit complicated to create, which makes everything quite expensive."

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In less than ten minutes, the mercenary group employed by the three acolytes was almost entirely exterminated.

The last four were covered in blood from head to toe. They stood back to back, barely able to defend themselves against the attacks of the surrounding demons. On the other side, their employers—the three acolytes—stood there casually, watching the mercenaries die with cold indifference. Unless they were attacked by the demons, they did not interfere in the battle between the demons and the mercenaries. It was as if the deaths of these mercenaries meant nothing to them.

As the last four mercenaries fought for their lives, the three acolytes conversed leisurely with one another.

"The energy aura we just felt should have belonged to one of the local acolytes. Why didn’t you let me capture them?" The skeleton in the form of a Lolita grumbled at her large, muscular companion.

"We are here to kill acolytes, not to invade the tower. It would be better to let him spread the news that we are here."

"What? That’s exactly why we should have captured him!" The Lolita skeleton spoke furiously. Perhaps because her opinion had not been accepted, she began venting her anger on the nearby creatures.

He raised his wand and waved it. "Whizz~~" A purple lightning bolt struck another demonic baby, making it explode.

The Serpent-Headed Apprentice shook his head and approached the muscular leader, asking, "Are you sure it’s okay to let that bastard escape? I’m sure he’ll bring reinforcements, and what if they bring a mage here?"

"A Mage?" The muscular leader let out a dark laugh. "This forest is just a common resource site. Do you really think the tower’s mages would be willing to waste their precious time

A white shadow left his forehead and disappeared into the crystal ball.

The mercenary’s life force evaporated, and his bloodied arm fell to the ground, never to rise again.

The Tower Acolytes watched all of this unfold and stood frozen, horrified by what they had just witnessed.

Their arrival caught the attention of the skeleton girl. She walked straight toward our group, lifted her head, and gently asked, "Hi! I’m the adorable Bleia! Are you guys from around here?"

The rest of us stared at that tiny skull-shaped Lolita, who seemed to be trying to befriend us, but we were not fooled by her disguise. Within the population of Apprentice Acolytes, friendship, love, and humanity were merely beautiful words that had long been discarded. All that remained in us was the desire to possess, dominate, and advance.

Apprentices who were naive would die before even reaching the level of a rank-1 acolyte.

Noticing that we were eyeing her crystal ball and cage, Bleia quickly hid them behind her back, pouting and saying, "All of these things belong to Bleia. You’re not thinking of taking them from me, are you?"

Lucius glanced around before whispering sharply to me:"I thought you said there were three Apprentice Acolytes. Where are the other two?"

"Kenedy went that way… He’s a big guy and good at fighting… If he runs into any of you, I’m sure something exciting will happen…" The little girl pointed east and spoke in an innocent tone, clearly referring to Lucius and Rafael. "Martin went that way… I think he said he wanted to search for some materials."

No matter how many demons were killed, none of us would feel the slightest pity. But if those plantations and secret herb gardens were discovered by these outsiders, perhaps the group of acolytes I called would be punished by some mage from the tower. After all, they could bring more acolytes into this battle.

Rafael’s rough and hoarse voice instantly exploded: "I’ll head in that direction to stop that guy!"

After saying that, Rafael’s strong body started running toward the east. As he ran, he crushed the few Demonic Babies that got in his way under his feet, making the others scream in rage—though none dared to approach him.

"I’ll go this way!" Lucius said coldly, adjusting his hat before running west.

In the end, only Kirkou, the level-2 acolyte, I, and the strange, unpredictable skeleton girl remained at the scene.

"Are you going to fight me?" The little girl tilted her head and looked at the two remaining men. "Before we fight, aren’t you curious about why we’re here?"

"There’s no reason to ask you anything. You caused chaos here and will be punished for it. If I capture you, you’ll have to tell me everything. If I can’t defeat you, I’ll take full responsibility for what happens here. Now, show me what you can do!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he clenched his fists and began to invoke a spell. "Holy fire! Come and burn the darkness~~~" As he cast it, the air shifted, and the light energy shone like a sun before Bleia.

This little girl shouldn’t have a strong physique. So, as soon as she was hit, her bones would turn to dust, and she would quickly lose the ability to cast any of her bizarre spells.

Before we came here, I had emphasized the strange abilities of this little girl, so Kirkou had no intention of testing them. He just wanted to knock her out as quickly as possible.

But what happened likely made Kirkou’s mouth drop open in shock.

The fire spell formed in Kirkou’s hand after about 10 seconds, and then he launched it toward the skeleton.

"Zooshh~~"

The holy fireball cut through the air.

On the other side, the little skeleton hadn’t wasted time either and began to cast her spell. "Dark energy. Deep darkness. Form a destructive ray~~"

The dark spell also took about 10 seconds to form and vibrated in front of the girl’s wand.

"BUZZZ~~~~"

The black lightning rushed toward the golden energy ball that was flying toward the girl.

A powerful wave of collision erupted as the spells met, seeming to tremble in the air. The girl pressed her wand, which continued generating energy, making the energy ball explode in the air.

"Booom~~" The energy collapsed, creating a strong shockwave.

"Shit! This is epic." Tyler thought, as he moved away, searching for a distant place to position himself, planning to only intervene when Kirkou died or the girl lost. After all, he wasn’t obligated to defend this place—he was just here for an investigation, the mission he had accepted.

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2118 Words