"Intruders!"
As soon as we crossed the boundary of the Reception and the connecting pathways of the Waste Disposal Site that was currently littered with Bronze and Silver Automatons, the machines simultaneously shouted with their mechanical voice.
The Bronze Automatons that Reinys heard clanking earlier immediately moved, they were holding onto handcuffs that had an Energy Restraining effect on their hands.
However, A simple sweep of Reinys and Elise's different colored flames was enough to send the Bronze Automatons tumbling away.
This place was just marked yellow on the map which means, these Automatons would only try to apprehend us for trespassing.
But with our Objective at the back of this place, there's really no way for us to become obedient enough to accept being apprehended.
At this moment, Reinys was only using her Elemental Pathway, honing the Fire Elemental Spells she created to reach mastery.
As for Elise, apart from her Flamebird that was moving on its own, she's using her Spirit Pathway, utilizing her Spirit Ocean to take the tank role among the three of us. The contrasting Flame and Ocean was effective against the Automatons.
On the other hand, I was only using simple Elemental Spells to repel every Automaton that would target me as well as opening Aura of Enhancement alongside Domain of Valor.
With the two stat-raising UPL-uplifting skills, even the Silver Automatons were finding it hard to stand their ground against the two.
"Intruders refused to be apprehended, switching to Lethal Mode."
After five minutes of being knocked down or burnt to a crisp, the Automatons stood up again along with the two slits of their mechanical eyes glowing in sinister red.
Following that, one of their arms transformed into a sharp pointy-tip double-edged blade, drawing in the surrounding Source Energy to empower it and the other transformed into a mini-particle cannon that was also utilizing the surrounding Source Energy to fire it.
"These Automatons aren't functioning using Source Energy… How come those weapons draw in Source Energy?!" Reinys exclaimed.
She brandished her Wizard Staff and balls of fire shot, each one a different size, towards the Automatons.
However, most of the Automatons who managed to react either fired their mini-particle cannons towards the incoming fireballs of Reinys or slashed it with their arms that transformed to a blade, rendering her attack obsolete.
"Their initial prowess also heightened. Daisuke, care to explain this to us?" Elise jumped up and fluttered down from above after dodging a barrage of cannon fire from the Silver Automatons.
She also recalled her Flamebird in fear that the machines' cannons would be able to disperse it.
Looking at these two troubled women that were waiting for my explanation, I couldn't help but give a nod to the Automatons.
Bringing them here for training was truly a golden opportunity to prepare them for the different types of enemies we would face.
Before answering them, I made a move to assist the two. First, I dashed in front of Elise, kicking three times in three different directions to repel three Silver Automatons that were aiming to hack at her.
Following that, three clones were instantly conjured which immediately moved next to Reinys, casting different Elemental Spells to complement her own Spell, burning down another three Silver Automatons.
"Explanation, huh? Let's see. These Automatons… you can liken them to the mass-produced Metagens that were being used by the Operators. They were all remotely controlled by a processing unit that was hidden somewhere in this big place." As I began my explanation, the machines' response to the intruders went up another notch as they all began swarming us with their attacks. This time, they added a few more diverse tactics. They began fighting in a group which made it harder for the two women to repel them as easily as earlier.
However, even with that, the Bronze and Silver Automatons were still proven not a threat to me or the two women with me.
To prove that, Elise let her Flamebird fly high again. It then flapped its large wings, raining down flames in the shape of feathers to the Automatons.
Reinys followed up by conjuring her Spirit Ocean. After extending it in a circular area around her, she activated her Spirit Domain which ignited her crystal clear Spirit Ocean into a sea of blazing hell.
Although those still weren't enough to melt the Automatons, it disabled them and fried whatever circuit that was making them move.
"Those Metagens, they still have a Regenium Engine that absorbs Meta Energy for it to work, unlike these machines. How is this possible? Besides, they're stronger than Transcendents! If these machines were the ones sent in a Mortal World like ours, it would not take long for it to conquer it."
Elise gave valid questions that needed to be clarified.
First, these machines were truly impossible to imitate unless one was versed in Earth's technology of days old.
With technology as the supplement for denizens of a Psyche World, each of those worlds would have its own specialty.
However, these Automatons weren't Earth's specialty. They were just a bunch of mechanical guards used for guarding places like this.
Moreover, they couldn't be made stronger than a sage. The strongest they could get was Rank 5 Transcendent and that was the ultimate form which was quite difficult to produce without the necessary resources.
"That's true. However, these machines cannot go out of this place. The processing unit that's making them move was a massive fixed structure. Unless someone made a breakthrough to create a portable processing unit, we couldn't hope to take these Automatons with us when we leave the Earth."
That's right. There's a core area here that housed that Processing Unit. That's the one utilizing Source Energy. And it's not absorbing just a simple amount when it could make a horde of these machines move about.
Taking it out of this place would be nigh impossible.
It's not like I hadn't thought of making these Automatons fight for us but at the moment, they could only be used as a training tool for us. Instead of that, there's something here apart from the World Zone Navigator that could elevate our strength up a notch. I just had no idea where it was.
I guess we could search for it once we're done with our objective.
"Processing Unit… I understand. So that's how they could move even without Source Energy. It's like Telekinesis. Then their weakness should be that Processing Unit."
"Yes, that's correct."
I could pinpoint the location of that Processing Unit and disable it but what's the point of doing that? Then there would be no more threat for the girls and the other Transcendents who entered here. This wouldn't be a training exercise anymore.
After hearing my explanation, the two women nodded their heads as they contemplated their next course of action.
"Alright, we have to move. Our strength was not enough to destroy them. Like regenium, the ore used for making them could also regenerate so those you took down would be up and running again after a few minutes."
"Eh? Isn't that cheating?"
"That's the perks of a higher world, my dear Reinys."
However, my knowledge about it was also superficial despite becoming a Divinity. I wasn't someone who would spend my time researching technology after all. I was more of a consumer than a producer. That's why the worlds I created weren't Psyche-type. I'd rather the linear and straightforward way of advancement through Spirit Cultivation of a Spirit-type world or the easy and non-confusing advancement of a System-type world. It's like you're just playing a game and you could see how much you needed rather than estimate it.
"That's still cheating. But… I like the idea of taking them out and bringing them with us. Will it not be easier for us to fight enemies if we have this army of machines? We can spend our days leisurely that way."
"Ah. My Elise has been corrupted to this extent that she now wants to slack off."
"Huh? No. Daisuke! I thought we could… you know… have more time for ourselves than fight a needless fight." Elise tried to reason but the way her face turned red from what she's saying was truly adorable, to say the least.
"Un. That's a great idea. Perhaps one of us would be able to study the intricacies of that processing unit. Let's look for it later."
With the threat of the machines reduced to the extent that we could leisurely talk like this, we began moving and followed a path towards another green zone marked on the map.
At every step, an Automaton would be knocked down. With the combination of these two women's flames, even the Silver Automaton who's as strong as a Rank 2 Transcendent could only reach up to five meters before us before getting toasted by Reinys's blazing sea of flames or rained down with flaming feathers by Elise's Flamebird.
Well, the real threats that I had prepared for the girls were the Gold and Crystal Automatons that were as strong as a late Rank 2 Transcendent and Rank 3 Transcendent.
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