[Chapter 112. Back for more than a Node]
The evening air carried a sharp, biting chill against his exposed skin, a reminder that the world outside his tower followed its own cold, indifferent cycle. The travel drone beneath him hummed with a smooth, low-frequency vibration, proving itself to be not only significantly faster but considerably more comfortable than any of the crude predecessors he had jury-rigged in the early days of his arrival. As he reached the designated coordinates, Searanox expertly dismounted the ATV-like chassis, his boots hitting the earth with a muffled thud.
He stood before another ancient node surrounding his tower—the second one of the six, he had managed to locate so far. It stood as a silent sentinel in the wilderness, a mirror to the power he already commanded. He stepped forward and placed his palm firmly upon the center stone. Almost instantly, his vision began to warp and bend at the edges. The sensation of being pulled in a dozen different directions at once was overwhelming, a spatial distortion that proved to be far stronger and more violent than the relatively smooth transition of entering a standard dungeon.
A split second later, the disorientation vanished. He found himself standing in a massive, echoing chamber that bore a striking resemblance to his own tower’s atrium. However, the aesthetic here was vastly different. This space was constructed entirely from polished, mirror-like black stone that seemed to stretch into infinity. Deep, golden veins pulsed with a rhythmic light from within the walls and floor, casting a warm, regal glow that illuminated the sterile environment.
Searanox wasted no time. With a flick of his mental intent, he summoned a small, specialized array of drones. As the mechanical units materialized in the air around him, a sharp system notification flickered into existence before his eyes, glowing with a cautionary red hue.
[System Announcement]
─ Intruder detected: Summoning Node Guardian
One defensive drone drifted into a hovering position directly before him, while two offensive models flanked his sides like loyal hounds. For this encounter, he chose to limit himself to only five drones in total, testing the efficiency of his new intermediate-tier equipment.
The magitech golem began to weave itself into existence from motes of golden light, rising before him with a heavy, grinding sound of shifting plates. It was a formidable construct: a tall, skeletal frame supported by thick limbs and exceptionally wide shoulders. In place of a traditional head, a massive, ornate arch connected its shoulders, humming with the concentrated energy of the node.
His defensive drone immediately projected a barrier. It was significantly larger than the basic models, featuring a sophisticated, layered design. Searanox could clearly see distinct layers of pale blue hexagonal barriers stacked precisely atop each other. The edges of these segments glowed with a deep, reinforced blue, indicating a much higher threshold for kinetic and energy absorption.
To his sides hovered the new intermediate offensive drones. At first glance, they looked somewhat ridiculous—essentially two hollow, matte-black cylindrical tubes connected to a central hovering sphere. However, their lethality was already a matter of record. The interiors of the tubes glowed with a faint, pulsing violet light, the air around them distorted by the sheer amount of power being cycled through their focusing lenses.
As the golem fully materialized and its optical sensors flared to life, Searanox issued a precise mental command: `Target the primary joints. Preserve the structural integrity of the internal components. I want the parts intact.`
The golem took a thunderous step forward, its heavy, metallic foot cracking the polished black onyx like stone beneath it. One massive arm rose with mechanical precision as crimson energy began to gather within the hollow limb. A moment later, it fired a brilliant, concentrated beam of heat.
The beam struck the hexagonal barrier with a roar, the energy dissipating harmlessly against the reinforced surface. The barrier only flickered briefly—a level of damage that would have easily shattered a basic drone's shield was barely a nuisance to this intermediate model. With a soft, satisfied exhale, Searanox gave the signal to counterattack.
Eight violet beams shot toward the golem in a synchronized volley—four from each flanking drone. They struck the golem's shoulder joints with pinpoint accuracy, burning through the thick, outer armor plates with terrifying ease. It was a feat of penetration that would have previously required at least eight overcharged basic drones. As the violet light faded, deep, melted craters marked the points of impact, the metal still glowing white-hot and dripping like wax.
`Stronger than I had anticipated.` Searanox noted, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the telemetry data.
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The golem, undeterred by the loss of its outer plating, shifted its remaining functional arm toward him. Crimson energy gathered once more, the air crackling with an heavy charge. The resulting beam was wider and more intense, striking the intermediate defensive barrier with a violent, explosive force. The first layer of the shield buckled and popped, punching through with a spray of blue sparks, but the beam stopped dead against the second layer. The inner shield held firm, its surface not even flickering under the sustained heat.
It was difficult to accurately gauge the power difference in standard dungeons, as most beasts were simply too weak to provide a meaningful stress test for his higher-tier equipment. This guardian, however, was proving to be an excellent benchmark.
Eight more violet beams slammed into the golem's shoulder joints. This time, the drones didn't just scorch the surface; they pierced clean through the armored metal, the beams emerging from the opposite side of the construct. A deep, mechanical groaning sound echoed through the chamber as the structural stress became too much for the golem to bear. The first arm broke free with a spray of sparks, followed immediately by the second. Both massive limbs crashed onto the polished stone floor with thunderous impacts, sending spiderwebbed cracks across the mirror-like surface.
The golem stilled for a moment. Its primary weapons were gone, its arms lying uselessly on the floor. For a brief second, Searanox actually thought the construct might have a programmed surrender protocol once it was disarmed.
He was wrong. Dead wrong.
The golden energy within the arch-like shoulders intensified, the etchings across its surface beginning to glow with a blinding, incandescent light. The sections began to hum with a high-pitched frequency that set Searanox’s teeth on edge. Recognizing the buildup for what it was, he reacted instantly. Another defensive drone materialized before him, its twin-layered barrier flickering to life just as the guardian's hidden weapon finished charging.
A white-gold beam erupted from the center of the arch. The air in its path didn't just crackle; it seemed to vaporize instantly, creating a vacuum that roared with the sound of rushing wind. The beam tore through both layers of the first defensive barrier like they were made of parchment, stopping only when it hit the second drone's shield. The polished stone floor beneath the path of the beam warped and bubbled, the once-glossy surface turning brittle, rough, and gray.
`Jesus... what the fuck was that?` Searanox thought, a rare surge of genuine surprise flashing through him.
The beam continued for a full second, melting the stone in a flash of searing, white-hot heat and transforming the beautiful floor into a molten, glowing crater. His intermediate offensive drones immediately redirected their fire, targeting the arch structure itself where it connected to the main torso. A ripple of violet energy washed over the points of impact before the entire arch assembly detached from the golem's body, crashing onto the floor with a resonant, metallic clang that seemed to vibrate in Searanox’s very chest.
The next volley of beams concentrated solely on the golem's left leg. All eight strikes hit the exact same joint within a millisecond of each other. The construct's heavy metallic limb buckled under the focused thermal assault, the internal structure failing and the metal crumpling like tin. With its primary support destroyed, the entire golem toppled sideways. Its massive body struck the ground with enough force to send a shockwave through the room, cracking the stone beneath it into a thousand jagged pieces.
With the golem finally immobilized and sprawling on the chamber floor, Searanox took a breath. He dismissed the second defensive drone and two of his offensive models, reducing his active mana expenditure and allowing his internal energy reserves to begin their natural recovery process.
He approached the hulking, broken form as it lay sprawled across the ruined floor. Though it was motionless, the system had not yet registered its total destruction, which confirmed that the core remained operational and the construct was still technically 'alive.' He took slow, measured steps until he stood directly beside the fallen guardian. His fingers reached out to trace the thick armored plates; the metal was surprisingly cool to the touch despite the horrific damage he had just inflicted upon it.
A wicked, predatory grin spread across his lips as he leaned in close to the golem’s optical sensor. "I'm going to take you apart piece by piece," he whispered into the silence of the chamber, "and there isn't a single thing you can do to stop me."
He circled the main chassis, his fingers tracing the intricate, glowing patterns etched into the armor. The cold metal was a stark contrast to the lingering heat still emanating from the molten craters in the floor. His gaze eventually settled on the torso, specifically the area where the heavy plates converged over the central power core.
A single finger followed a nearly invisible seam between the plates. "You're going to tell me everything," Searanox murmured, his voice low and possessive as he leaned even closer. "How you function, what powers your resonance, the secret behind that arch-beam... every single secret you hold will be mine now."
A soft, dark chuckle escaped his lips as he pressed his palm flat against the chest plate, feeling the faint, rhythmic vibration of dormant backup systems deep within the machine. "And then, once I've learned everything you have to teach me... I'll rebuild you. I'll make you into something better. I'll make you mine."
The golem remained motionless on the cracked stone, its metallic limbs splayed at unnatural, broken angles. It offered no resistance, no more hidden attacks—just a heavy, expectant silence.
Searanox's grin widened as he stepped back, his fingers still tingling from the residual energy of the armor. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he dismissed the remaining offensive drones. Their mechanical forms dissolved into shimmering particles of violet light. In their place, a cargo drone materialized, its octagonal prism shape hovering silently over the prize. One final drone appeared beside them—a reconnaissance model, its sensor array already spinning as it began a high-resolution scan of the defeated construct.