Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys Chapter 1447 - 495: Red Signal Flare (Part 3)

A short while earlier.

Deep within the ruins, protected by the shimmering force field of the shield generator.

"Lord Haleem, we have just fired the second-to-last signal flare. Our frequency has dropped from once an hour to once every three hours, yet there is still no indication of a rescue party from the outside world."

Licking his parched lips, a Second Level Liquidized Wizard delivered the report.

"We have a small amount of food remaining, but our water supplies are nearly depleted."

Even though the combined protection of the shield generator and the isolation Witch Array had successfully kept the nameless horrors and perils of the ruins at bay, they were reaching their limit. They simply could not survive much longer.

"The energy levels for the shield generator are also fading. It has been running at maximum output to ensure our safety, meaning it can only function for three more days," a raspy voice added.

This speaker was another Second Level Liquidized Wizard from the Federation Mechanical Research Institute. He looked grim as he adjusted the controls of the device.

"Has the Federation truly forsaken us?"

"I doubt it. It is more likely that the rescue teams have run into the same complications we did," the major from the exploration team replied, shaking his head.

"The end result is identical, isn't it? No help is coming!"

"Curse these goblins! Curse these monsters!" A young wizard shouted, his emotional stability clearly fracturing.

He had been trapped in this confined space of less than thirty square meters for an entire week.

"Lord Haleem, do you think we should attempt a breakout?"

The major looked toward Haleem, who held the highest authority among them.

"Do you honestly believe we haven't considered that? Before we found you, we tried twice. We didn't just lose men; we lost a significant portion of our supplies. We could have lasted much longer otherwise."

As Haleem remained lost in thought, another wizard answered on his behalf.

"We will wait one more day. If no assistance arrives by tomorrow, we will make our move," Haleem finally stated, returning from his reflections.

...

Simultaneously.

Rein and his comrades were rushing toward the location where the signal flare had been spotted.

However, perhaps because they had just eliminated that peculiar Mechanical Land Bird patrol, Rein’s group was intercepted by two more patrol units in less than three minutes.

"The rate at which they are appearing is accelerating."

"The second encounter happened after ninety seconds, and this one took only about forty," Rein noted with a heavy expression.

"It doesn't matter how many of these things show up; I can finish them in a second," Terrio remarked, appearing unbothered.

"Terrio, you're missing Lord Rein's point. What he is trying to say is..."

Before Hernandez could finish his sentence, the heavy sound of metal crashing echoed from ahead.

"Bang! Bang!"

This noise was fundamentally different from the previous mechanical clatter, and the very earth beneath them began to vibrate.

"It seems a large opponent is approaching."

"Is this what you were going to warn us about, Hernandez?" Sword Saint Terrio asked, his gaze fixed forward as he slowly unsheathed his Longsword.

"No, my point was that something must be here commanding the movements of these goblin corpses," Hernandez replied, shaking his head.

"What? That... that is a prototype!"

Hernandez’s eyes suddenly went wide with shock as a massive mechanical silhouette emerged through the drifting smoke.

Rein observed the enemy closely. It was a colossal humanoid demon statue, standing roughly twenty meters tall, though its design differed significantly from the Destroyers of the Valziger School.

Instead of hands, its arms terminated in three dark cannon barrels. Even more intimidating was its chest, which was integrated with six massive, heavy barrels arranged like a Gatling gun.

Each barrel had a diameter the size of a man's fist; it was undeniably a machine designed for slaughter.

"A prototype? Is that the same giant demon statue Haleem was commanding when he entered this place?" Terrio hesitated, pausing his advance.

Earlier intelligence suggested that Haleem had brought a prototype—a massive demon statue recovered and restored from a different goblin ruin—into this zone.

If the prototype was appearing now, did it mean Haleem’s mind had been seized by those strange black insects?

Or was he perhaps still safe somewhere, yet trapped and unable to escape?

For the moment, Sword Saint Terrio refrained from launching an attack.