Braham Rose is the eldest son of Gideon Rose and is hailed as one of the greatest talents among the new generation. After the Pearl Island massacre, he is wanted by authorities and has thousands of gold on his head. Few bounty hunters are willing to try their luck against Braham Rose, mainly due to his unknown whereabouts and fearsome reputation. The Idil soldiers which came in support of Pearl Island attended counseling after witnessing the carnage he wreaked upon the natives or retired upon returning. Reports of the vampire noble residing in Garbrandt are unconfirmed due to the lack of reputable sources within the city.

~ unknown report from Elway archives

It was easily five times the size of the second-largest insect in the horde. Chester was stumped upon seeing a monstrous insect the length of a bowling alley crawl towards them, clacking its mandibles loudly and making a chittering noise that sounded angry and ominous. Unlike the usual ankheg color palette of grey and brown, the ankheg queen was a solid black. Similar to the cold iron, all light seemed to be absorbed by its carapace. Its abdomen was massive, almost double the size of its head and torso combined. Every step it took shook the ground and made the junkyard rattle like a broken car engine.

A glob of venom acid surpassing the volume of blood in his body was sent their general direction and Chester screamed out a warning.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY!"

Several Scrap Bots used their elemental powers to slow the attack, but it melted through most of them without stopping. Earth, lightning, and fire did little to stop the incoming sludge. The man calculated the trajectory and aimed his Mana Blast but saw that it did almost nothing. Damien jumped as high as he could and swung his sword downwards.

"Shadow Smite!"

A wave of darkness stopped it in its tracks, and the rest of the liquid fell to the floor. It melted through anything it touched, making a sizzling noise as it made contact with some of the foot soldiers and the metal debris which laid haphazardly on the ground. The vampire landed a meter away and looked cautiously at the insane amount of Elric shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes completely focused on the task at hand. His hands blurred together while creating the mysterious weapon. He had made exponential progress and went even faster as the Queen appeared.

"DISTRACT THE QUEEN FOR THIRTY SECONDS! I'LL NEED JUST A BIT MORE TIME TO GET THIS READY!"

Chester wanted to drop kick the man in the chest.

'How the hell are we going to distract this threat to humanity?!'

It was worse than anything Chester had ever seen. Even the mighty knight that he had fought didn't seem as fearsome in comparison. Its carapace looked as though it could tank artillery shells. Despite this, he knew that when it came to distractions and deceptions, it would require him to hold it down for any period of time.

"Whatever weapon you're making, it better be fucking good!"

Chester made his way towards the titanic insect, seeing how the ankheg's numbers have depleted, and began blasting it with mana. It made minor explosions that seemed to deal almost no damage but it certainly caught the Queen's attention. It turned its head and shot another glob of acid. Chester managed to outpace it and jumped to completely escape the splash zone of the attack, turning invisible as he did so.

While camouflaged, he began making his way up the massive carapace and its large abdomen, leaping three meters into the air. The illusionist knew that he was usually capable of greater feats, but the armor was weighing him down and made it a tad more difficult to get proper footing. Clambering atop its back like how one would with a horse, he crawled toward the top and raised his invisible flail.

"Mana Infusion."

It lumbered towards Elric and the others unaware of the man who was spinning his weapon to gather momentum, before putting his entire body into the strike like his life depended on it.

THWACK

The noise reverberated throughout the junkyard. Chester didn't hesitate to repeat this action a few more times until he was forcefully thrown off. Sailing high into the air, he crash-landed atop another ankheg and toppled it. A Scrap Bot took this chance to finish off the dazed insect with a saw blade to the head. An unholy screech that damaged his ears occurred and the illusionist could see that his attacks had done some minor damage to its carapace which healed rapidly. A slight dent and cracks were visible even from below, but so was its apoplectic expression directed towards Chester.

He didn't know that an insect could be so expressive.

"Oh, fuck me."

A wave of shadows consumed the insectoid's head, and it reared back to reveal Damien with his sword piercing its eye. The boy planted his feet along its face as he used the sword to stabilize himself.

"Unlike the robots, this one has critical points which are quite easy to target." A twist of his weapon elicited another screech and his grin grew even wider. "See?"

It bucked its head and sent him careening off to the side. The Queen responded with an additional glob of acid as he fell, but Chester could see a barrier of shadows along with the telltale sign of Christopher's Holy Shield protecting him. The moment Damien hit the floor, he screamed in pain showing that the damage wasn't neutralized completely. His dog was alerted and could be seen using the ankhegs as a platform to jump and reach its owner. Chester didn't have time to worry about his fellow adventurer's health as the massive ankheg began making its way toward the illusionist.

Chester sent another Mana Blast towards it, dodging its leg as it tried to trample him underfoot. Each one of its legs was the size of his torso, and the impact between each step made the ground shake. Turning invisible once more, he took a glance and saw that Elric and Android 02 were almost done constructing the weapon. The Scrap Bots, along with Christopher and Android 01 were having a tough time keeping up with the influx of insects. In terms of sheer numbers, they were much more superior, and it was only the metal army's natural resistance to their attacks that made them last so long. The formation was beginning to crumble.

"That asshole said thirty seconds!" Chester multi-tasked, blasting the Queen's underbelly with mana while whacking its legs with his flail. Both of his hands were occupied and he failed to notice the mutant sneaking behind him. It charged the man and knocked him over, and he was unable to get up as it placed its entire weight on him using three legs. Chester's peripheral vision could see its mandibles dripping with acid, which was purple and seemed to be the same one that turned him to stone during their first encounter with the species.

Chester swung his flail clumsily, trying to get it off him but was unable to protect himself from the glob of petrifying fluid that seeped through his shirt. The mithril-orichalcum plates stood strong, but the gaps in his armor were allowing the acid to seep through and affect portions of his back. His neck and shoulder joints were beginning to solidify and he screamed for help as the petrification took hold. The mutant opened its jaws to rip the man to shreds.

A timely attack incinerated the ankheg on top of him, leaving its legs to fall to the ground carelessly while Chester lay there paralyzed. The familiar form of Priest Engel got close and he could immediately feel the effects of the acid subside. However, it came with an intense itching sensation throughout his body that made him want to scratch off his skin. He got up and saw that Elric was close behind, punching and destroying any ankhegs that came close.

It showed just how large the power gap was between them. Elric showed no signs of difficulty launching the monsters several feet away with a singular kick or punch. The man's intimidating helmet turned fully to face the recovering illusionist and he barked out orders.

"Hurry up and get the fuck out of here! Follow 02's instructions and put all your energy into the railgun!"

'Railgun?!'

Chester looked to the center of their formation, seeing the massive machine had stopped firing and was in the process of transferring massive amounts of energy into the new weapon they created. It looked like a turret, but the barrel was unconventional. Instead of the cylindrical barrel he was used to seeing in a gun, it had open spaces surrounded by three sides of adamantium which glowed brightly with power. The model was very futuristic in design.

"NOW!"

"The boost only lasts for a short while, Elric! You must retreat before Greater Haste runs out!" Christopher called out, but the man didn't show any acknowledgment of the elderly priest's words.

They began running back to the formation as Elric leaped and crashed right into the Queen's underbelly, making it screech in anger and focus its full attention towards the cyborg. His speed was seemingly doubled by Priest Engel's spell, making him faster than a rocket. Every strike or attack missed him as he laid the beatdown on the massive insectoid. It looked straight out of a comic book. For a brief moment, Chester witnessed Elric with his fist drawn back and his bionic eye flashing and helmet open as though he were roaring. Then he met the Queen's seemingly indestructible mandibles as they fought blow for blow.

The duo ran towards Damien and found him in a pile of steaming liquid that smelled of corroded flesh. It looked horrible, as most of his body and face were melting from the acid. His face was twisted up in agony as the ankhegs did their best to finish off the injured vampire. His servant's hackles were raised, making a cautious patrol and preventing them from encroaching upon the small circle where Damien was laid out. Chester opened his pack and withdrew several potions, dumping them into the boy's mouth. Christopher chipped in with his powerful healing spells, and they sighed in relief as the boy began making massive leaps in recovery.

"Holy shit! I thought you got a defensive class! Why are you so fucked up?!"

"I'm only this hurt because of my skills." He gritted out, wincing as muscle and nerves began to reconnect. "Quick, I nee-AHHHH!"

Damien's exposed flesh was beginning to heal over as though time was rewinding. It was a painful process as some of the acids were interrupting the process but it was beginning to dissipate. The scar tissue began to fade and his skin no longer looked deformed. Damien still looked exhausted, seeing that the recovery speed took a toll on his body and stamina.

"I need more...I need blood. Please."

His equipment was in terrible shape after the ordeal. His vambraces and boots, which were made of steel, had been corroded and hung limply at his sides utterly destroyed. The mithril equipment looked warped and damaged. Chester sighed and offered his arm to the vampire, who gratefully bit into the chunk of flesh and began to suck. The illusionist winced but could see the color returning to Damien's face. After a few seconds, he stopped and got up, getting rid of his damaged equipment and picking up his shield. It was an odd sight to see the vampire boy barefoot but wearing the rest of his surviving armor. The star steel alloy seemed completely unharmed, but the acid was persistently bubbling as it tried to eat away at the magical defenses. Damien winced as traces of the fluid ate at his arm once more.

They had no time to talk as Elric crashed a meter away from where they were, but aside from scuff marks he didn't look injured. The adamantium plates that protected his body looked seamless, and his expression was hidden by his helmet. Waves of mana rolled off his body, showing that his Mana Infusion skill was on another magnitude in comparison to the Scrap Bot's and their own. With one powerful jump, he met the Queen's mandibles and delivered a punch that sent it crashing to the ground. Its exoskeleton had large cracks along the surface, and all the ankhegs had converged to protect their queen from the menacing cyborg.

"Come on, he said we need to charge the weapon or something."

Without the interference from ankhegs, they quickly made their way to Android 02 who seemed to be making an expression of concerted effort.

̿ ̿̿ ̿’̿’̵͇̿̿з=(◣_◢)=ε/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿

The railgun looked gigantic upon closer inspection, at two meters in height and three meters in length. Almost two-thirds of it seemed to be composed completely of adamantium, with mithril wiring and other segments being orichalcum from within. Chester salivated upon seeing the futuristic tech and wondered what it was valued at. All of the Scrap Bots were converging upon them, taking up space as they contributed to the charging of the weapon.

"Quickly. We must charge it."

"Why did you guys waste time making this? Elric could've spent that actually trying to kill the damn ankheg."

Android 01, who had been picking off all the weaker ankhegs that tried to pursue Elric, dropped down and butted in. "We are aware of our limits and the monster's true power. The Ankheg Queen is too powerful to kill on its own, we require a dedicated weapon to kill it."

Adamantium Railgun

- Made from adamantium and other magical metals, it boasts absurd hardiness and durability along with a natural ability to repel magic. Created by a powerful automaton and a talented artificer, this reduces the mana cost and recoil of firing the weapon.

- The damage will apply to a radius of 5 meters around the target.

- Attack Distance: 10-350 meters.

- Reloading Speed: 1 minute.

- Greater Durability I: Further increases the equipment's natural durability and resistance to wear & tear.

- Prerequisite: Only the creator and its subsequent creations can wield and fire the railgun.

- Weight: 8500kg

A long, winding cord slithered towards the group. It was connected to Android 02 who was grabbing at the back of the railgun and steadily charging it with arcane energy,

"Please transfer. Your mana here."

The three of them hesitantly took the cord and began pushing all their energy into the cord, which glowed to show just how much mana was going inside. Elric seemed to be getting banged up as the battle progressed, showing signs of damage where his armor had been hit by the Queen's deadly acid. It was much lighter compared to what Damien went through, but it was clear the swarm was impeding his full potential. As the man dropped to the floor, his entire body began to emit an exponential amount of power that dwarfed anything Chester had ever felt before.

"Overclock."

For a brief moment, Damien compared it to his great-grandfather's own. But he realized that he had never seen the monarch of Wisperium ever go all out. Despite this, he knew that matching his predecessor in any capacity was a feat on its own. As Elric's power grew his entire body was shimmering like a summer heatwave. The Queen sensed danger and the swarm simultaneously spat out a wave of acid that would've turned them all into sludge.

"Prime Mana Blast."

A bright flash of light completely erased the tsunami of multi-colored liquid, and the entire junkyard was covered in white. As the flash subsided Elric let loose a barrage of punches that seemed to shake the earth. His speed and strength were on an entirely different level. Energy coalesced around the Queen and the ankhegs around it seemed to grow meaner and stronger, buffed by the aura that surrounded their matriarch. It was no use as three ankhegs would die with every swing of his fist. Even for Chester, he couldn't wrap his head around someone going so fast.

"Is thing done charging or whatever?!"

"Shut up. Your incessant chatter. Annoys me."

A beeping noise occurred and the adamantium railgun began to brim with power on par with Elric's. A mithril bullet the size of the illusionist's thigh was deposited into the barrel and Android 02 shouted for his creator.

"CHARGING COMPLETE! MAINTAIN POSITIONS."

The man's head snapped back and he leaped backward, unleashing another blast of mana that tore into the army of ankhegs. The Queen herself was gravely injured but looked ready to go several more rounds. One of its legs was in the midst of regenerating, and cracks along the carapace were beginning to smooth out. Its regeneration was on another level and put Damien's to shame. Even after Elric's onslaught of attacks, the Queen showed why even the robot army feared it.

"Welcome to the finale!" Elric said, the heat of his new skill dissipating as he approached. The man's body was incredibly sluggish and he seemed to be having trouble moving towards the railgun. Two Scrap Bots lent him some support to help him towards the railgun. "Let me tell you all something about this machine of mi-"

"We don't give a shit! Just fucking shoot the damn monster!"

"-ne. Without any gunpowder, I took it upon myself and created a railgun. But you may be asking, how do you make one without a reliable source of electricity to create a magnetic field?"

"I'm not! PLEASE! It's fucking coming towards us!"

The gun began to glow even brighter and the purple along the edges of the barrel became opaque due to how much light was coming out.

"It was always a prototype because of how much material it would take to create such a thing, not to mention that it's incompatible with enchantments like Favored Target. Adamantium repels magic. By angling the parts and using mana as a wonderful substitute, I made a railgun! That's why we needed access to the adamantium mines. But wait, there's more!"

He tilted the gun and a wide smile was present on his face as the Queen neared them. Android 02 occasionally fired off a mana blast to keep it at bay and prevent any acid attacks from coming towards them. Chester prayed for the clearly insane man who began a monologue during the middle of this crisis. Even Damien and Christopher looked panicked as the ankheg army inched towards them at a rapid pace.

"The mithril bullet is enchanted! It'll deal double damage to all ankhegs! So what do you get when an explosive mithril bullet is shot at the speed of sound?" Elric's face was masked but his voice contained unhinged eagerness. The illusionist watched as the Queen and its remaining army neared them, only twenty meters away.

BOOM

Chester clasped his ears just in time as he realized what was going to happen. The air felt like it was being displaced as a projectile going faster than the eye could see headed straight for the Queen. Its head was pulverized and everything within five meters of the blast radius was also destroyed. Although the actual blast killed very little, the entire junkyard shook from the impact and threw some of the vehicle-sized ankhegs a few meters away. The bullet imploded and completely erased the front half of the Queen, making the rest of its corpse topple over in a thundering crash.

You have slain Ankheg Queen (Level 72)

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You are now level 30.

The illusionist turned to the other people in their group after seeing the ankhegs in a state of chaos. They were in the midst of retreating and none of them decided to chase. Damien was wincing after hearing the loud noise. Christopher had his jaw wide open after witnessing the destructive power of Elric's toy. The man in question was cackling madly, whooping and hollering while calling the late Queen several slurs in English.

"I'm at thirty now. You got any levels?"

"Twenty-eight," Damien responded, reluctantly tweaking his ears to make sure they were functioning properly.

"What the fuck?! How are you catching up to me? You didn't even do any damage to the Queen!"

Chester cursed the fact that the vampire would soon overtake him, complaining about the power dynamic shifting between themselves. The machines, Scrap Bots, and the Androids had their hands raised victoriously. Damien's Shadow Servant had survived the entire ordeal and wagged its tail happily seeing the majority in a festive mood. It sat by the vampire and looked on expectantly. Damien noticed and patted it on the head, which made it shake its tail even harder.

"Our enemies are. Extinguished. Victory!"

"VICTORY!" They all announced as one. Chester couldn't help but join in, seeing the ecstatic smile on Elric's face. The exhausted man collapsed and he threw his helmet to the floor and pumped his fist. The illusionist hadn't seen the man in such joyous of a state in the short time he'd known him. For the most part, the cyborg had a pessimistic and cynical nature.

"So, what next?" Chester asked the man. He looked worn down and his wounds weren't healing on their own. Even the marks along his face weren't recovering at the rate Chester expected. Android 01 knelt over Elric and he watched as her skill slowly began to repair his adamantium shell.

"I...I don't know. I didn't expect the invasion to happen. But with the Queen done, there shouldn't be as much ankhegs spawning here anymore. Apart from the individual colonies, I know that they can't reproduce at the rate the Queen could."

The illusionist gave Damien and Christopher a knowing look. He figured this was his chance to finally go up to the surface, capitalizing on the man's mental state. "Why don't you come up to the surface? There's so much to offer than this stupid junkyard. I sill can't believe you trapped yourself down here willingly."

Elric looked uncomfortable and the illusionist's hopes sank. But his response gave Chester some hope.

"Where would I even go? Who would accept me and my robots? As much as I'd want to go, I can't abandon them here. They're...almost like family now."

It appeared the man's main problem was finding a place where he and his constructs could live in peace. Chester wondered if he was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Damien overheard their conversation and a metaphorical lantern lit up in his head.

"Actually...I think I have a solution..."

"General Reinherz! No report on the whereabouts of the adventurers and Priest Engel after going into the abandoned mines."

A red-haired man in his late forties looked up from the paperwork. The subordinate who gave him the report nodded his head, keeping his stance strict and unyielding. The man's thick and powerful neck, along with the decorated emblem of the Idil Empire proudly emblazoned on the center of his breastplate gave him the presence of a mighty leader.

His expression hardened after hearing the report. The man was not used to failures whenever he handed out orders.

"What about Ailach? Has the spy been caught?"

The soldier shook his head. "None there as well."

It had been several days since the senior priest managing this village's church had disappeared. Even the reserved villagers had come to ask for their support when they received no response from the adventuring group that disappeared in the abandoned mines up north. The man surmised that they were dead. Their scouting team detected no signs of activity and it only served to further unease the experienced veteran.

'There are already accounts of these metal constructs in Welton...Has the new species already spread this far?'

General Reinherz looked at the report which had just come in today, talking about a wanted man who was recently involved in the scuffle between the Archmage and Duke Warner. The description matched that of the adventurer spotted roaming Stillwater. Curly brown hair, olive skin, and brown eyes. One of their soldiers had alerted them to a man with similar features that claimed to be from Elway.

"Get the villagers. We'll need to question them. The ones involved during the mining operations."

He was sure that the case regarding the Elway thief was solved, and he grabbed a new piece of parchment to begin writing up the notice that the criminal was likely dead after traversing the cold iron mines of Stillwater.

'I'll have to make sure and confirm that Priest Engel's disappearance is no fault of our own. I don't feel like bringing down an archbishop on my head...'

As the soldier saluted, a thundering crash occurred from outside of his tent. The General could feel the power and grabbed his orichalcum spear, preparing himself for battle. A humanoid figure wearing an adamantium helmet with menacing features was on one knee, having landed at the center of their base. It was surrounded by spears and swords from the soldiers in the vicinity. But they all had an inkling it would be useless against the powerful opponent.

The powerful General began to coalesce power into his spear, but from his peripheral vision, he could see an even greater threat. He was cautious about the intruder who was confident enough to waltz into an enemy camp without additional support, looking towards his vice-captains and infantry giving them a subtle hand signal to prepare for battle.

From Stillwater, they could see a massive horde of metallic constructs headed their way. General Reinherz wanted the inattentive patrols to be executed but noticed them further ahead, having been knocked unconscious as the mysterious army descended upon them. Upon spotting the monstrous robots General Reinherz began to break out in a cold sweat. In particular, a multi-limbed construct made out of cold iron at the forefront of the horde was giving him the greatest sense of danger.

The elite officer snapped his attention back to the humanoid figure that began to stand up, making the nearby force shift as it spoke in fluent Aetherian.

"Hello, I've come to evict you all from my property," Elric said in a monotone voice. The blue glow of his bionic eyes could be visible from within his helmet. An ominous, high-pitched tone began to reverberate as their opponent's mana began to drown their entire force. General Reinherz vividly remembered thinking that the occupation of Stillwater would be a simple and easy assignment to get himself promoted. The man remembered cackling at the misfortune his colleagues went through during the diplomatic incident in Elway.

He regretted it dearly.