Speed
"...Huh? Why do I feel like everything has been so smooth? I clearly remember there being a tough guy blocking the road at this intersection before..."
Escorted by two pairs of combat dolls, Ximu and the others set out again. After going down two floors in a row, Morina, who had been on guard, suddenly came to her senses and muttered this in some confusion.
She was right, but she discovered it a little too late.
Ximu had already noticed this when he came back earlier.
Maybe Ruisha did something.
As the first stronghold they captured, in order to reduce the risk of travel, he may have focused on sweeping these high-risk areas, spending some time killing the monsters that repeatedly appeared there until they no longer appeared.
In fact, his abilities should be far more than that.
After skillfully killing some Chaos Magicians who were not difficult to deal with, Ximu looked at the gradually disappearing escapees and thought that if Ruixia had sufficient funds, the dormitory area would have become their world by now.
It is said that mechanical engineering is a very expensive skill...Now, Ximu has truly experienced it from all aspects.
Establish a monitoring network, review literature, analyze the quality of supplies, create positioning hair accessories for her, and even find time to clean up some high-risk areas for them...
Although Ruixia stayed in the base alone, she really did not lack any work.
Before leaving, he pulled himself aside and quietly handed him a sound transmission scroll.
"This is a set of two-way voice transmission scrolls. The other one is with me... If you encounter any difficulties that require rescue, be sure to call me immediately. Hey, I hope you don't go beyond the range of the voice transmission..."
The young man sighed in distress, his face always filled with worry every time he saw his teammates off.
Ximu was puzzled. Aren’t there already hair crowns that can be positioned?
"That only allows us to locate you," Ruixia retorted angrily. "If you stay still for a long time in a place where I can't see you, how can I tell whether you are trapped or just resting?"
In fact, if it is appropriate, it would be best if everyone could get one, but firstly, he didn't bring that many with him when he went out, and secondly, neither Morina nor Sorens were particularly quick to react. If the time came when they really had to ask for help, it would be more appropriate for Ximu to make the judgment.
"It doesn't matter if the exploration progress is a little slow... We are a complete team, and we must leave together as a whole, okay?"
When Ximu heard these words, she was stunned for a moment.
She understood that one person's strength was ultimately limited, so sometimes cooperation was necessary. However, in her previous missions, going together was common, but returning together was never emphasized.
For the family, as long as she, as a sacrifice, can successfully reap lives, accumulate sins, and return safely with the screams of the dead, that's enough - they don't need to care about the others who walk with her and pave the way for her.
They were the death warriors trained by the family, the stone steps that paved the way for her to reach the altar, and consumables that no one would care about even if they died.
In the past, Xi Mu just took all this for granted.
But it was not until now that Ximu finally realized that those faces hidden behind the masks also had their own joys, sorrows, anger and happiness?
Do they also talk endlessly about their favorite things like Ruisha does?
Would those girls of her age laugh as happily as Morina?
When they humbly call her "Miss," are they sincere or sarcastic?
Her mind was filled with questions she had never thought about before, but looking into Ruixia's expectant eyes, she instinctively agreed.
"...Okay. We'll be back. Let's come back together."
Before I knew it, I had reached the lobby on the ground floor. Outside the slightly opened door, the night was hazy and dim.
"The dormitory door was never closed?"
Faced with Morina's question, Ximu could only shake his head in response.
When they arrived, they entered the dormitory building directly from the living supplies area, and then went directly to the teaching building through the sky bridge - this was the first time they had walked through the main gate of the dormitory area.
Maybe Ruixia opened it for them while she was cleaning up the monsters?
Ximu didn't think much about it and came to the door first. He carefully poked his head out from the crack of the door and quickly observed the surrounding situation.
Frankly speaking, if there weren't monsters wandering around in the academy, the courtyard garden under the moonlight would be a really beautiful sight.
Although there was no bright moon hanging high in the sky, the ingeniously designed medieval courtyard seemed to be covered with a soft veil of light under the illumination of the magical ripples that surrounded the entire academy, like the aurora. The shadows of flowers swayed, the green plants were slightly drunk, and the fountains and wrought iron chairs were half light and half shadow, outlining a very charming moonlit scene.
But Ximu had no such artistic talent at all. She was more concerned about whether there was an ambush hidden behind the flower shadows, whether Ruixia had completed the barrier at the agreed location, and whether the "locals" walking back and forth in the courtyard would strictly follow the established route, or suddenly turn around.
After observing the behavior patterns of the monsters in the yard, Ximu felt that the time was ripe, so he made an inquiring gesture to the combat puppet behind him.
Due to limited resources, Ruixia cannot keep the defense barrier open for a long time, and must wait until Ximu and the others start to act before taking any action.
The performance of the mecha bugs is limited. If they want to magnify the movements of people far away, they must get close enough to be clear enough - but the situation on the battlefield is race against time. In order to cooperate more promptly, they have no means of long-distance communication and can only use combat puppets with more comprehensive functions to communicate.
The mechanical doll closest to Ximu nodded. Its originally funny fish-like eyeballs had been removed, and two small green flames briefly ignited in the empty eye sockets.
——This is what “can take action” means.
Ximu turned around and reminded Morina and Sorens that he would run as fast as he could and they must not fall behind. The short-haired girl nodded confidently and then quickly cast a spell to speed up herself.
Sorens was shocked, remembering Ximu's incredible speed, and immediately followed suit.
After pushing the door open to a width wide enough for one person to pass through, Ximu confirmed that the various mechanisms set up above had begun to glow faintly, then he took the lead and rushed towards the workshop!
The moment she stepped out of the door, the sound of the mechanism turning "clicking" was heard, which was particularly harsh in the silent night.
Ximu roughly determined the direction. In addition to the crossbow arrows shot from the top of the large library, there were obviously some similar attack facilities on the roofs of the dormitory buildings and teaching buildings.
But when the huge sound of breaking through the air came straight down, Ximu did not make any attempt to dodge. After turning his head to confirm that no one was left behind, he continued to run forward with all his strength!
“Clang——”
The deafening sound of blocking came from above, and the energy barrier composed of several mechanisms was pulled into a large net, intercepting all attacks from above!
"Hurry up and don't look back!"
In addition to the incredibly powerful crossbows, there were also several kinds of magical attacks mixed in. Starlight splashed above their heads, and against the backdrop of the energy barrier, it looked colorful and lively.
Molina had been running around with Ximu for a while now, and she had developed some skills. When she sensed the splash of star and moon magic, she cast a mind-clearing spell on herself and her two teammates while running, so that no one would be mentally disturbed while running and slow down the speed of the entire team.
The various colors looked gorgeous, but Ximu knew that with such intensive firepower attacks, it was only a matter of time before the barrier was broken.
"We need to speed up."
After Ximu said this calmly, Molina's face changed.
But before she could say anything, the combat puppet that had been following behind confirmed Ximu's gesture, and its arms suddenly grew longer, grabbed the priest and magician who were still running, and threw them towards the end of the road!
In fact, this was also a strategy they had discussed in advance.
Ximu's own speed and spells for acceleration can only be used on himself and cannot benefit teammates. Therefore, when it is confirmed that the team's speed is too slow, the accompanying mechanical puppets will lend them a helping hand and actively speed up the process.
This is also the reason why Ruixia asked them to bring four combat dolls.
In addition to dispersing enemy firepower and exchanging information, at critical moments, they can also act as shields to block one or two fatal injuries for others, buying them more time to escape.
"If it's broken, just leave it there. I'll try to recycle it later."
The confident mechanic said so.
"—So why is that?! It's not like I can't fly, why do you always throw me out?... Ouch."
The girl who was shouting loudly had a look of grief and indignation on her face, but it was obvious that she was just talking, because although this person was holding a staff, he did not take any defensive measures at all, as if he was sure that he would not really come into close contact with the earth.
Sure enough - after flying around in the air, she was caught by a pair of strong and thin arms.
But Ximu protected Morina, so naturally he couldn't care about Sorens.
Fortunately, this young man may have been mentally prepared. Although he rolled around on the ground in a mess, he probably cast some defensive magic to protect himself in advance, so after getting up, his cheeks and limbs were not injured, and he could move as usual.
At this time, they had arrived at the stone steps of the workshop gate. Under the cover of the porch arch, the arrogant attack turrets upstairs had lost their best attack trajectory.
I think we have left their detection range, and the dense cold weapons and magic rays began to gradually decrease until they stopped.
Ruixia in the stronghold may have also seen that they had escaped safely, and immediately closed the energy barrier in the side corner of the atrium. Many small creatures that could not be seen clearly in the night came out from the corners of the building, and began to work around the barrier mechanism with a ping-pong sound. I don’t know if they were performing maintenance or charging.
Seeing that they had successfully passed this dangerous journey, the three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as they stood up and prepared to enter the workshop to start working, a blue light suddenly flashed out from behind a stone pillar in the porch and headed straight for Sorens who was standing at the edge!
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