Chapter 31: Bronze Warriors Take Up Arms

Adrian’s bronze statue wielded its long blade horizontally, looking like a majestic Otherworld Guan Yunchang. It first sliced Lawrence cleanly in half like a butcher chopping fish, then flicked the tip of its blade, sending Lawrence’s upper body flying!

As for Lawrence’s two legs that remained rooted to the spot, the bronze statue had no intention of continuing to chop them. Instead, it shifted its target. With a twist of its wrist, it swung the long blade in a gleaming arc through the air and slashed toward Chris Mann with the speed of a falling meteor!

In this critical moment, the physical instincts honed by years as a Scout saved Chris’s life. The young archer rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the sweeping blade. Yet, he still felt a sudden chill on his back, followed immediately by a burning, searing pain.

The bronze statue’s slash was simply too fast and too precise! Even though Chris dodged in time, the incredibly sharp bronze blade still managed to slice a thick strip of flesh right off his back!

Missing its lethal strike, the bronze statue showed no sign of stopping. Its body twisted a full three hundred and sixty degrees, swinging the blade diagonally in a massive circle before viciously chopping down at Chris once more!

There was no human Martial Artist in the world capable of twisting their body a full three hundred and sixty degrees! However, inside the bronze statue lay not flesh and bone, but a Magic Circuit hand-crafted by an eighth-tier Grand Mage!

Thus, this completely unnatural strike gained absolute superiority in speed. Just as the young archer scrambled up from the ground, a fatal, soul-chasing gleam had already appeared right before his eyes!

The traditional Huaxia martial arts manual, *Three Talents Life and Death Chart: Weapon Chapter*, had long established the tactical advantage brought by weapon length: "An inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch deadlier!"

The long blade, transformed from a Magic Staff and reaching nearly three meters in length, combined with the statue’s own body structure that defied human common sense, led to one terrifying consequence. In the dictionary of this Bronze Arhat, the term "blind spot" simply did not exist!

The blade arrived in an instant, followed by a deafening CLANG!

The long blade in the bronze statue’s hands did not shear off half of Chris’s head as intended. Instead, it crashed violently against the sharp edge of the Treasure Sword swiftly thrust over by Alice Comstock!

In the entire Magic Laboratory, only this female Swordsman—who had secured successive victories in the Eagle’s Rest Castle tournament, and, as a woman, stood unmatched among countless male heroes—had reflexes fast enough to draw her sword in this dire moment. She barely managed to save Chris’s nearly extinguished Fire of Life!

Seeing Captain Alice’s Longsword blocking the enemy’s blade, Chris didn’t hesitate for a second. He rolled again, escaping the bronze statue’s attack range. The moment he stood up, he swiped his hand, drawing his shortbow with a sharp arrow already nocked on the string!

At this moment, with a piercing metallic SCREECH, the locked blades—pressed against each other like locking horns—finally decided a victor!

Even though the female Swordsman’s pretty face flushed red from overexertion, the Longsword in her hands abruptly snapped under the immense force of the bronze blade. A piece of the broken sword spun as it flew into the air!

Alice’s personal sword, though not a world-renowned legendary weapon, was still forged from top-quality fine steel. Yet now, after just one clash with the bronze statue’s blade, it was utterly defeated and sent to the sword graveyard!

Whatever material the long blade in the statue’s hand was made of, it was clearly not ordinary bronze, which was known for being brittle and easy to break!

Having realized early on that her weapon was no match for her opponent’s, the female Swordsman displayed her wealth of combat experience.

The very instant her sword snapped, Alice used the tremendous force from the enemy’s blade to leap backward. Landing nimbly on her high-heeled leather boots, she slid diagonally across the ground for three or four meters, effortlessly breaking away from the bronze statue’s attack range. She held her broken sword horizontally, shielding the Lord behind her.

Since her weapon was broken and any counterattack was hopeless, quickly disengaging from the fight was the best strategy!

Accepting her broken sword, leveraging the enemy’s force, disengaging from combat, and covering the Lord—the series of decisions the female Swordsman made in the blink of an eye were simply impeccable, worthy of the highest praise!

It was only then that Xiahou Yan and Master Laurie realized what had just happened. With just a single glance, the two Mages recognized the true identity of this bronze statue of Adrian.

A Demonic Puppet!

To think that this bronze figure, overflowing with Adrian’s narcissistic style, was simultaneously a self-moving, fiercely capable Demonic Puppet in combat!

Mages had always had a tradition of creating Demonic Puppets to guard their homes. These metallic monsters, cast from Magic Metal and embedded with Demon Cores and Magic Power Circuits, could fight autonomously using a certain degree of intelligence. On the streets of Academy City, where Mages gathered like clouds, quite a few steel Demonic Puppets patrolled the avenues to deter petty thieves.

The main reason Xiahou Yan and the Master had misjudged it was simply because this bronze statue was far too exquisitely crafted! Most Demonic Puppets on the market took the form of roughly shaped stone golems. The only person with both the dedication and the skill to create such a lifelike humanoid Demonic Puppet was likely the Grand Mage from eight hundred years ago, Simon Adrian!

A combat Demonic Puppet hand-crafted by an eighth-tier Grand Mage, which clearly had a lifetime of effort poured into it, still possessed formidable combat prowess despite losing a significant amount of Magic Power over the past eight hundred years. The snapped sword in Alice’s hand was the best proof of its astonishing strength!

Master Laurie was completely baffled. This Demonic Puppet had been obediently playing its role as a statue just moments ago. Why did it suddenly go berserk and start slaughtering people?

If the Master knew that this Demonic Puppet had been activated by the word "virgin," he probably would have spat out a mouthful of blood.

Master Laurie rapidly assessed the Demonic Puppet’s combat capabilities in his mind, while Xiahou Yan swept his gaze across the area, taking in the entire situation on the battlefield.

Lawrence had now been reduced to two hunks of meat. Alice’s Longsword was broken, leaving her remaining combat ability unknown. In the distance, although Chris had nocked an arrow and aimed at the bronze Demonic Puppet, he held his fire. He had clearly realized that Arrowheads polished from ordinary cast iron couldn’t possibly inflict any damage on a Demonic Puppet made entirely of bronze.

In other words, the only ones left with any hope of damaging the Demonic Puppet were the two Mages—one old and one young!

"What’s the plan?" Xiahou Yan stared unblinkingly at the Demonic Puppet. It didn’t rush to pursue Alice. Instead, it stayed in place, sweeping its hollow gaze over everyone. It was likely calculating its next attack path, or perhaps simply waiting for the humans to make the first move, saving its strength.

"It’s tricky..." Master Laurie sucked air through his teeth with a bitter expression.

He felt that their group’s luck was absolutely rotten! His own trump card was Spirit Magic, and the Lord himself possessed very low Magic Power, relying solely on the Necromancy he could cast for free beyond his tier. But as fate would have it, the enemy before them was a lifeless hunk of metal devoid of any thought!

Spirit Magic and Necromancy were both utterly ineffective!

"Then we run?" The Lord had clearly realized this as well, asking in a low voice.

Master Laurie pouted his lips toward the direction of the main doors.

Xiahou Yan quickly cast a sideways glance, only to discover that the previously wide-open doors of the Magic Laboratory had tightly shut at some unknown point. Adrian had likely designed it this way long ago—once the bronze statue was activated, the doors would automatically close, trapping them like rats in a cage!

And the Igor family’s party were the foolish rats who had triggered Adrian’s trap!

"Master, I promised you earlier that I wouldn’t use Forbidden Magic once we left the infected zone, right?" The Lord locked his eyes back onto the Demonic Puppet.

"Yes," the Master answered with difficulty.

"We haven’t left the infected zone yet," Xiahou Yan said through gritted teeth, pulling out the *Ancient Ritual Atlas* he had prepared long ago from his coat. "So please, help me hold off that Demonic Puppet for three minutes!"