Chapter 144: Feeding

"So that's it…" Alger's mechanical eye adjusted its focus, "They treat the villagers as 'feed', cultivating higher‑grade symbiotic entities here."

From the depths of the vertical well came the roaring of gears meshing; some colossal being was rising.

Elina wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth: "What do we do now?"

Robin pointed his Tang Sword toward the well: "Go down."

"Are you mad?!" Alger's mechanical voice shifted tone, "Below that is at least an Order Knight Level mechanical construct!"

Silver‑blue light swirled in Robin's pupils: "Precisely because of that, we must destroy it. The three villages represent the power of three Order Knight Level forces; this must be Duke Frost Eagle's trump card."

The tremor from below grew ever more violent.

Alger suddenly ripped off the ice‑blue core and pressed it to the well's edge: "I can freeze the passage for five minutes." His mechanical limbs began to overload and smoke, "But you'd better be certain of a killing blow."

Elina looked at Robin, the thorn pendant resonating and glowing with his Tang Sword: "The Round Table Council's heirloom 'Sword of the End', I have only a single strike's power."

When Alger's core erupted a blast of absolute‑zero cold, the three leapt into the well.

The underground space was as vast as an arena, and at its center stood a meat mountain made of living machinery—hundreds of human faces floated and wailed on its surface, and at its core a pulsating silver heart was embedded.

"Mechanical Apostle…" Alger's database auto‑identified, "This is an Order Knight Level Mechanical Apostle. If three Mechanical Apostles were to merge, they could unleash the battle of a Three‑ring Wizard!"

The Mechanical Meat Mountain extended countless tendrils, each bearing the lingering consciousness of its devoured victims.

Elina's Sword of the End flared first, golden light illuminating the depths like the sun, carving a passage.

Robin's figure surged within the golden light of the Sword of the End, the silver‑blue engravings on his Tang Sword fully released, the blade becoming a flowing light blade. The Apostle's tendrils struck like poisonous snakes, but were severed the instant they met the blade's light, spraying silver‑black viscous fluid from the cuts.

"Left side!" Alger's mechanical voice crackled through the communicator.

Three massive tendrils, each over half a meter in diameter, erupted from the shadows, their surfaces bearing the anguished faces of the devoured. Robin twisted his body sharply, the blade tracing a perfect arc.

"Half‑moon Slash!"

Life Force gathered at the blade's edge, silver‑blue crescent Sword Qi sweeping outward.

The first tendril was cleaved at the waist, the second split more than half, but the third, just as it was about to be cut, suddenly fractured into dozens of fine filaments, whipping toward Robin's limbs.

"Bang!"

An ice‑blue energy bolt roared in from the side, freezing the cluster of filaments.

Alger stood at a distance, his right arm reshaped into a cannon barrel, ice‑frost energy swirling at the muzzle.

"Don't get distracted; this is just an appetizer."

The body of the Mechanical Apostle suddenly writhed violently, hundreds of faces emitting a piercing shriek in unison.

The ground trembled as countless metal spikes erupted from below.

Robin vaulted upward, blade light weaving a net beneath his feet, shattering every incoming spike.

"The core is moving!" Lina's voice came. In the afterglow of the Sword of the End, the silver heart could be seen darting rapidly within the meat mountain.

Alger's mechanical eye locked onto the target: "Three o'clock direction, moving toward the second chamber!"

Robin, upon landing, exerted force, his body shooting out like an arrow.

The dark‑red engravings on the Tang Sword suddenly ignited, forming vein‑like patterns along the blade.

"Let me through!"

Three half‑mechanized corpses abruptly detached from the meat mountain, forming a human wall before Robin. Their joints reversed, spines extending sharp bone blades.

"Assimilated knight." Alger's database scanned quickly, "In life, at least a Great Knight Level!"

The bone blade of the first Mechanical Corpse was already at eye level.

Robin sidestepped, the blade's tip rising, precisely slicing into its neck joint.

Silver‑blue energy poured along the blade, the Mechanical Corpse's movement instantly stiffening.

The second came from the side; Robin spun, kicking, and while retreating thrust out three throwing knives.

The throwing knives lodged in the Mechanical Corpse's eye sockets; the runes on the handles detonated instantly, blasting the skull to fragments.

The third accelerated suddenly, its bone blade grazing Robin's left shoulder, drawing a string of blood beads.

The intense pain caused Robin's movement to falter briefly, but a second later, silver light surged in his pupils.

"Dragon Devouring Breathing Method, full throttle!"

Life Force within him erupted like a volcano, the wound healing at a visibly rapid pace.

Robin's speed surged suddenly, the Tang Sword becoming a silver lightning bolt, instantly piercing the chest of the third Mechanical Corpse.

"Boom!"

The energy on the blade detonated inside the enemy, mechanical limbs scattering in spray.

Robin did not pause, continuing his thrust toward the body of the Mechanical Apostle.

The surface of the meat mountain suddenly split open a massive maw, spewing thick acid.

Robin halted abruptly, blade light weaving an airtight net before him, blocking all the acid.

The corrosive liquid met the silver‑blue energy, emitting a "sizzle" and raising a pungent white smoke.

"Alger!"

"Copy!"

The ice‑blue energy cannon fired again, this time striking the Mechanical Apostle's newly opened maw.

Extreme cold energy spread rapidly, freezing most of the meat mountain.

Robin seized the chance, thrusting his Tang Sword straight at the silver heart.

At the instant the tip was about to strike, the heart suddenly sank, vanishing within the meat mountain.

"Dammit!"

The ground suddenly gave way, a bottomless pit yawning beneath Robin's feet.

Countless metal tendrils reached out from the hole, coiling around his legs.

In the nick of time, a golden blade of light descended from the heavens.

Elina's figure flashed past, the residual might of the Sword of Terminus severed most of the tentacles. Robin seized the opportunity to leap up, landing in the safe zone.

"Its weak point is not just one." Elina panted, saying, "We need to attack three energy nodes simultaneously."

"Alger's scan results confirmed this: left abdomen, right shoulder, and the center of the back. We must destroy them all simultaneously!"

Robin wiped the sweat from his forehead, the light on the Tang Sword blazing brighter: "Then we'll split up."

The three tacitly scattered.

Alger's mechanical body began to overload, its icy-blue core bursting forth with blinding light;

Elina's thorn pendant glowed again, though not as mighty as the Sword of Terminus, it still condensed powerful holy energy;

Robin closed his eyes, pouring all his Life Force into the Tang Sword.

"Go!"

Three figures surged simultaneously toward the mechanical apostle.

Alger's ice cannon blasted toward the right-shoulder node, Elina's sword light stabbed at the left abdomen, while Robin's Tang Sword, bearing an unstoppable momentum, went straight for the vital point on the back.

The mechanical apostle let out a final shriek, all its tentacles frantically retaliating, but it was too late.

All three nodes were struck at once, the flesh mountain convulsed violently, and the silver heart was forced to the surface.

Robin's blade flashed without pause, piercing straight through the beating heart.

"It's over."

(End of chapter)