There was a moment when Malin wondered if he had walked onto the wrong set.
Bald head, big sunglasses, towering figure, thick black trench coat, indifferent expression, drooping corners of the mouth... wait a second, Jiaxi, are you sure you’ve been taking good care of that Magic Carpet of yours?
Then the next second, Malin saw the hulking figure charging towards him.
"Get out of the way, don’t block me." Malin said to the Big-eared Fox behind him, and then the tender shoots of the World Tree fused into a long staff. Holding a weapon with a significant advantage in length, Malin poked the bulky man with it.
There was absolutely no reaction, Malin felt like his poke was akin to poking the planet beneath his feet— it was a solid poke, and he had never seen anyone catch his seventy percent power "Salted Fish Thrust" before.
Although Malin knew there were many people, such as His Majesty, who could probably catch his full-strength strike with one hand fully powered up, the guy in front of him didn’t even burst his clothes, nor did he lift his hand!
With this thought in mind, Malin quickly stepped back three steps, while the staff disassembled and Lorrin pierced into the ground, then emerged to entangle the legs of the bulky man.
The next second, Malin watched Lorrin struggle in the air with the wind, quite helplessly, as it followed the steps of the big man.
Unfazed by the holy little branches and ignoring the thrusts, Malin thought for a moment and threw a Flame Burst at this man, instantly engulfing the big guy in flames, then watched as he walked out of the fire.
Holy crap, doesn’t flinch at thrusts, ignores bonds, and now even faces Fireballs head on, what kind of monster is this!
As he was thinking this, Malin saw his hood crumble to ash under the envelope of flames, revealing a purely mechanical skull.
Wait a second... I haven’t written this theme yet!
With this sense of astonishment, Malin saw the twisted runes on the mechanical skull.
"It’s a Twisted Battle Armor!" Matilda reminded from behind.
As Malin turned and followed the Big-eared Girl to retreat, he listened to her explanation— this was an autonomous battle armor from before the Great Destruction Era, commonly seen in the destroyed and Dark Zones east of the Eastern Kingdom. The Chaotic Rune on its head was probably captured and twisted by Chaos.
Matilda made Malin understand, and what he didn’t understand was, if the Great Destruction happened ten thousand years ago, how could this device remain so pristine for so long, a whole ten thousand years, wouldn’t their transmission structures break down?
With this thought, Malin commanded Lorrin and Fio to find its lower limb transmission structure. The two little branches twined around its legs, wormed into the pants, and then the thing’s speed visibly slowed down until it raised its left leg but could never take a step.
Then, the mechanical body fell to the ground.
"Did we get it?" Matilda asked cautiously, watching the mechanical body.
Probably. Malin said while he took out Blood Roar and its original axe handle, put them together, and lifting the axe, spun half a circle, smashing the thick back of Blood Roar heavily onto the mechanical body’s arm, breaking its still functioning arms. He then cracked open its skull, and when the black oil from the tubing started spraying from the breach, the mechanical body finally stopped moving.
"I thought I was dead." The Big-eared Fox turned to look at Malin, "Why did you come?"
"I heard someone say you needed me." Malin did not retrieve the oil-stained little branches, but let them find somewhere to clean the dirt off themselves first.
The Big-eared Fox fell silent for a moment, then hugged Malin’s neck.
Then they both heard footsteps and turned their heads toward the corner, just in time to see a woman with a bruised nose and swollen face walking out of the shadows.
"Mentor!" Matilda bristled.
"You little rascal." The lady said and covered her face, but as she moved her facial muscles, the pain made her issue a simple command, "Back to the inn."
After some thought, Malin led the little fox to follow the lady, while Lorrin and Fio rolled up the mechanical body’s legs, dragging it behind their master.