Facing the mechanical tower before him, Victor gulped down a mouthful of saliva. Its imposing structure loomed as ominously as it had a month ago. But what had changed was Victor’s purpose and determination to go here.

  Not one of vengeance, but one of survival.

  Actually, on his way to the chasm, he had stopped to check on Silka, the little queen spider. She had been so overjoyed to see him and had even bumped her head on Victor’s stomach, almost causing him to puke. After that, she hugged his face, sparking a brief but intense scuffle between Lumen and Silka.

  What was more, Victor had been amazed at Silka’s rapid growth; she was now over a meter tall. Perhaps in the coming months, she would be able to begin laying eggs, expanding Victor’s military arsenal. Commanding an army of immortal players and countless spider monsters would undoubtedly strike fear into any opponent.

  Naturally, he hadn’t forgotten to leave more meat for them. Additionally, he decided to leave the cave entrance open this time. The other Lesser Hiveborne Arachnids had hatched recently and seemed big enough to hunt on their own. If Victor kept the entrance closed, it might lead to starvation and cannibalism among them…

  Suddenly, the mark left by the twin overseers on his right wrist began to glow, and in an instant, both Victor and Lumen, who had returned to her original size, were teleported elsewhere.

  “Whoa!” Victor was startled but quickly regained his composure. The new surroundings were familiar — a vast, dimly lit chamber with intricate and sleek mechanical designs.

  “Welcome back, challenger,” echoed a voice. “You have returned to fulfill your promise. Are you ready to face the trial?”

  Along with that voice, two figures emerged from the shadows. The older one was a brown-haired male with a slightly tall stature, Garry. The younger one was a girl with snow-white hair, wearing a charming yellow dress, Gabrielle. Victor recognized them immediately.

  Lumen growled beside him, her eyes stared daggers at the twin overseers. It seemed like she was prepared to protect Victor with her life.

  Even now, Victor couldn’t ascertain what the nature of these two was. But he was finally able to barely sense some sort of mana connection between them and something within the tower. It was as if they were a pair of marionettes on a string.

  “Hey, did you hear what my dear brother said?” Gabrielle questioned with an icy cold voice.

  “Ahem.” Victor squared his shoulders and nodded. “I am ready.”

  “Very well,” Garry, the male overseer, stated, “Follow us to the duel chamb—”

  “Wait!” Victor swiftly interrupted. “Before we begin, you have to tell me a few things first.”

  They both looked at each other. Although Gabrielle showed no emotion, it was obvious that she was annoyed. On the other hand, Garry still maintained his nonchalant expression and said, “Ask away.”

  Finding that he had been given an opportunity, Victor inwardly smiled. “So, how does the duel go? Are you going to fight me one by one?”

  “Hah, a play of words won’t work this time.” Gabrielle smirked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Victor tried to play oblivious.

  Garry, the male overseer, shook his head. “You can’t bend the rules. You have to face both of us at the same time. Haven’t we given you enough advantages, like allowing you to fight alongside your beast companion?”

  Gabrielle then smiled menacingly. “Or do you want to fight both of us alone?”

  “Tch.” Victor had already known they were going to go fight him two to one, and he’d been hoping that they would fall for his ruse again. Unfortunately, nothing was going according to plan. Deception can only go so far…

  “Fine.” Victor’s eyes were cold like steel. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Subsequently, the overseers led Victor and Lumen to a large, circular chamber with a metallic platform in the middle. Looking around, he noticed that the walls were adorned with powerful runes designed to contain potent magic attacks. Moreover, the air was suffused with all sorts of elemental particles — a perfect place to go all out.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The overseers then stopped in their tracks and turned to face Victor.

  “This is the place,” Garry announced. “This is where your last trial will take place.”

  “Remember, you must defeat us both to claim victory. There is no other way,” Gabrielle added coldly.

  Then, the floor on the platform shifted, and a pair of mechanical constructs emerged — their eyes glowing with a menacing light. Victor was told to stand on the platform to get ready as the door where they came from was shut tight. His heart raced, but he took a deep breath and let his mind focus on observing his enemies. The constructs were mechanical golems shaped like a pair of noble knights, with one male and the other female outwardly, and were more intricately designed than the ones Victor had seen so far.

  “These are our true bodies,” Garry explained with pride, “They will be your opponents.”

  As if on cue, both overseers suddenly dissipated into particles, merging with the constructs. The golems’ metallic forms glinted under the chamber’s eerie light, and he could sense the immense power radiating from them. For simplicity, Victor decided to call them by their overseers’ names — Garry and Gabrielle — to differentiate the two.

  “We’ve got this, pal,” he whispered to the wolf beside him, to which Lumen responded with a nod. Lumen had used {Gigantification} to enlarge herself to the size of a large car. They had trained hard for this moment, and now it was time to put everything to the test.

  With a signal in the form of a short blaring sound, the battle commenced. Garry, the first construct, lunged forward first with a skating-like move, its arm transforming into a massive blade. Victor barely had time to react as he dodged the attack, feeling the rush of wind as the blade sliced through the air, sending out a trail of ice in its wake.

  Holy shit! If I’d backed away, I would’ve been frozen solid. Victor felt his heart jumping to his throat. Meanwhile, Lumen took advantage of the distraction, leaping to the side and preparing to counterattack.

  But as she was about to swipe her claws, Gabrielle unleashed a barrage of elemental orbs. Flames, ice, wind, and lightning shot from its hands, converging on Victor and Lumen. The wolf growled, summoning a protective barrier of light that absorbed the brunt of the assault. Victor followed up by casting {Warpblade}, unleashing several ethereal blades toward Gabrielle.

  Unfortunately, none of his attacks managed to land a hit on the construct as it nimbly avoided each and every strike. In addition, Victor was forced onto the defensive, barely dodging or teleporting away from relentless enemy assaults. He was given no time to counterattack.

  He quickly realized that these constructs fought with a coordination that was almost impossible to break. Garry’s sharp and relentless close-quarter offense combined with Gabrielle’s supportive long-range magic attacks made for a formidable duo. Any Elemental Adept Magus on his feet would have perished from the first attack.

  Worse still, he felt that they weren’t even serious yet!

  Seeing that his current approach was futile, Victor quickly altered his strategy. “Focus on Gabrielle!” he instructed Lumen through a magic transmission — it was the most troublesome one, after all. Taking one of them down was their best shot at victory. Otherwise, they would be the ones to suffer defeat and ultimately end up perishing.

  Garry advanced again in a zigzag move, this time aiming a horizontal slash at Victor. Anticipating the move, Victor cast {Gap Hole} to halt his advance and then used {Blink} to reappear behind Gabrielle. He consecutively cast {Volcanic Spear} at the construct, whereas Lumen fired dozens of light arrows while keeping Garry at bay.

  Boom!

  The explosion shook the chamber. Did I get it…? Victor thought, sweat dripping down his forehead. But to his dismay, Gabrielle remained unscathed. These mechanical constructs weren’t only good at dodging, but their defenses were also superb, tougher than even the mechanical golem that Victor fought in the past. Not a single scratch marked its exterior. How concerning.

  “Is this all you’ve got?” a voice appeared from the male construct, dripping with condescension. It belonged to Garry. “For that figure’s successor to be this weak…”

  Gabrielle chimed in, “You’re going to die at this rate.” She then swiped her fan, summoning an Anemo-infused blast that tore through the space where Victor had just stood as he had dodged by swiftly flying backward.

  Huh, their patterns change? As opposed to acting separately as before, they were now holding hands and moving in perfect synchrony. It became increasingly difficult to get close or attack them with magic, as they covered each other’s weaknesses flawlessly. It was clear they had anticipated Victor’s strategy of separating and defeating them one by one.

  What a troublesome enemy.

  “Wait, they’re dancing now—? No, it’s more like ice dancing,” Victor muttered, watching as the constructs moved in a coordinated, dance-like pattern. Guess this could be my chance to end this once and for all with “that” attack.

  He decided to test the waters first, casting several Aleph-tier offensive spells. But Garry and Gabrielle’s synchronized movements made them nearly impossible to hit. Their seamless combination of physical attacks and elemental blasts forced Victor to stay on his toes. What was more, they went to pressure him by attacking in combination as he was forced to summon and wield an ethereal blade to block most of their attacks.

  Realizing that subtlety was getting him nowhere, Victor decided it was time to reveal his trump card. He sent a magic transmission to Lumen, instructing her about his plan and intention for her to create a temporary distraction.

  He was going to stake everything on this one final attack.

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