That's right, that's what adventure is like!

hum-

The moment his fingers touched the astrolabe, a silent, icy wave of magic suddenly emanated from Torger's body, causing him to tremble violently and his eyes to be instantly covered by a silver-blue light.

"roar!!!"

Torger roared, his eyes fixed on Roland. He had completely lost his own consciousness, with only one thought echoing in his mind—clear the way and take the star chart!

With his left hand gripping the astrolabe no bigger than a human palm, he raised his battle axe high in his right hand and charged fiercely at Roland, completely engulfed in madness.

when--

Roland swatted away the animated armor in front of him with his battle axe, deftly dodging the impact and then turning to hide behind another suit of armor.

He wasn't surprised by Torge's "betrayal," but rather felt a sense of sudden realization.

"It must be some kind of delayed mind control spell... Daphne's backup plan? No wonder she let me leave so easily."

Roland glanced at the astrolabe gripped tightly in the orc's left hand, dodging another of Torg's axe blows, and silently plotted in his mind.

"No, she must know I can handle Torger perfectly well. There must be other ways to deal with this predicament."

His guess was spot on. Just as Torger was launching his frenzied attack, strange movements also appeared on the rock walls of this space due to the star disk detaching.

Clang—

A cold, sharp metallic clang rang out, and a disguised stone slab rapidly contracted, revealing a tall, humanoid metal construct.

It is about nine feet tall, with a dull, matte blue-black surface. It is well-proportioned, heavy, and solid, with streamlined armor covering its joints.

He held a heavy greatsword almost as tall as himself in both hands. The blade was broad and blunt, seemingly focused on pure slashing and smashing.

Two points of eerie blue light shone from the dark crystal mask. It slowly scanned the entire area, finally settling on Torg, who was holding an astrolabe and in a frenzy, and Roland beside him.

Roland naturally noticed its gaze, and after only a brief glance, he roughly guessed that it was a guardian puppet driven by some kind of magic and made by dwarven craftsmanship.

"This is troublesome. Torg can still use the terrain to stall for time, but since this puppet is set up to guard this place, it's probably not easy to deal with."

A sense of foreboding washed over Roland. He dodged another attack from the battle axe and pondered how to break the deadlock.

But before he could figure it out, the puppet had already started moving!

A faint blue light flashed in his eyes, and his heavy body started moving without warning. His speed was astonishing. The puppet covered a distance of more than ten feet in just a few seconds. With a swing of his giant sword, he slashed at Roland's waist!

when--

The metal greatsword came with a piercing shriek that tore through the air. Roland dared not take the force head-on, which was clearly beyond that of an ordinary human. He twisted his body and slashed with his longsword at an angle, trying to use a clever force to deflect the sword's path. It was the starting move for a parry and counterattack!

However, the puppet's combat logic far exceeded his expectations.

The massive sword, which was sweeping across the ground, suddenly changed direction midway, turning from a sweep into a slash, and then slashed down with even greater speed!

too fast!

Roland's pupils contracted sharply, his parrying and counter-attack rhythm immediately disrupted. He could only forcefully twist his body, holding his longsword horizontally above his head to take the heavy blow head-on.

when--

A deafening explosion rang out, and sparks flew everywhere.

Roland felt as if he had been hit by a battering ram. His arms went numb instantly, his blood surged, and he staggered back three steps uncontrollably, each step leaving a deep pit in the soil. A metallic taste filled his mouth.

Before he could even adjust his state, or even stand firmly, he felt a strong wind coming from behind.

It was Torger. He completely ignored the puppets that appeared, his eyes only on the initial "obstacle," Roland. His battle axe slashed down on Roland's back with ferocious force!

Being attacked from both sides is the most dangerous situation.

But it was precisely in such a critical moment that Roland's mind became clearer. After only a brief hesitation, he made the right decision decisively.

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. Instead of slowing down, he used the momentum from being cleaved back by the greatsword to take two more steps back, allowing the edge of the battle axe to narrowly graz his chest armor.

With his numb right hand barely managing to grip the longsword, Roland no longer tried to parry any possible attacks from the puppet. Instead, he channeled his power into the tip of the sword and twisted to strike!

The target is not the battle axe, nor the puppet, but Torg's left hand that is tightly gripping the astrolabe!

laugh!

The sword's edge stirred the dark red light emanating from the magic circle, transforming into a black beam that precisely cut into the gap between Torg's half-body armor and wrist bone, while simultaneously forcefully provoking it!

"Ugh—"

The excruciating pain of his severed tendons felt like steel needles piercing his mind, causing him to involuntarily loosen his grip on the astrolabe with his left hand.

The moment the astrolabe left his hand, the silver-blue color in Torger's eyes quickly faded, replaced by intense pain, weakness, and immense horror.

He staggered backward, his right-hand battle axe falling to the ground. He clutched his almost numb wrist, his face ashen, and his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat.

"My hand... mine..."

His gaze toward Roland was filled with anger and pain, but deep in his eyes lay a lingering fear and apprehension stemming from being forcibly controlled.

"No time to explain! It's here!"

Roland gave a cold shout, ignoring Torger's injuries, and instead focused all his attention on the metal construct that was restarting.

The puppet seemed unconcerned about the falling star chart; its core command was perhaps to eliminate the "intruder." Its crimson gaze coldly locked onto Roland, and the greatsword was raised once more.

This time, it's an even more concise and sharp thrust!

"Thorger, grab your axe!" Roland crouched down to dodge the attack, simultaneously issuing the command, "You hold it off, I'll find an opening!"

Since it is a construct, it must have an energy core. As long as we destroy that core, victory will be easy.

Torg gritted his teeth. The excruciating pain and blood loss made his vision blur, but his survival instinct and the ferocity of an orc were fully unleashed.

"Damn it, I'll send you to meet your dwarf mother!!!" With a low growl, he swung his battle axe with one hand and slashed hard at the joint of the construct's supporting leg from the side!

The puppet reacted immediately. Even though its joints had been reinforced, it adjusted its position and used its stronger armor to block the attack, and its body slowed down almost imperceptibly.

Right now.

Roland did not launch a frontal assault. Instead, he crouched low and slid forward, maximizing the speed of his longsword, which transformed into a chilling flash of light as it pierced the gap in the metal joint under the right armpit of the construct.

laugh!

The sword tip pierced the gap, producing a rough scraping sound. The puppet's right arm visibly faltered, and the trajectory of the greatsword's downward slash deviated.

"Continue!!" Upon seeing this, Torg immediately disregarded everything and smashed his battle axe into the same spot on the puppet's other leg.

Perhaps it was a fixed response, as the puppet adjusted its posture again.

Roland seized the opportunity to draw his sword, stepped on the puppet with his right foot and jumped up, twisting his body and drawing a semi-circular arc in mid-air, swinging his longsword with all his might.

Heavy Strike!

click-

A crisp cracking sound rang out as the sword tip accurately struck the eerie blue light spot on the puppet's mask. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the crystal mask, and the light inside flickered violently before suddenly extinguishing half of it!

At the same time, the puppet's movements became severely uncoordinated, as if it had lost some sense of balance. It not only swung its greatsword haphazardly, but also created gaps in its defenses against Torg.

good chance.

Roland landed and, without pausing, briefly exchanged a glance with Torg.

Thorg understood, and despite the excruciating pain, he slammed his shoulder into the puppet's body, which was tilting slightly due to loss of control.

boom!

The heavy impact caused the puppet, which was already off balance, to stagger two steps.

Roland immediately cut through the gap created by the impact, his longsword transforming into a deadly flash of cold light, neatly piercing deep into the construct's torso along the previously torn joint gaps, and violently stirring it!

Sizzle—Bang!

A metallic clanging sound came from inside, the puppet trembled violently, the remaining light in its eyes went out completely, the giant sword it was wielding fell limply, and its heavy body became completely unresponsive.

The battle is over.