Black Iron Magician

Chapter 327 The Mechanical Scorpion

Zex Body began to emit steam from every part of the body, and also began to make electronic noise. Is it its way to tell us that the mode has changed? It seemed as if it was telling us to evacuate quickly, both visually and audibly. It’s very modernistic since it has an evacuation warning.

「Haru, it’s about to start.」

「I’m ready!」

This time, Haru is in a power-oriented battle stance, with the Doggan Staff as her main weapon. It has already been given a deadly poison and gravity manipulation, which is the usual atrocious set.

「Biiiii!」

At the same time as more warning sound was emitted, the mono eye on the head of Zex Body moved. The bright red eye is staring at Haru.

「Ha!」

In the next moment, the stretchable tail with a blade was launched. Haru evaded it by jumping sideways, and the tip of the tail is deeply buried in the place where Haru was standing. If she were to receive it directly, she would have died, huh.

「Tou, ha!」

That deadly attack is being released many times at high speed like a jab. I pierced the ground, pulled it out, and aimed at Haru again. In the last few seconds, it repeats the process over and over again. It’s fine for Haru, who has acquired the Skills of 『Evasion』 and 『Instantaneous Force』 and has good agility, but if it were a normal magician, they would have been dead at this point. If you build a poor barrier, the tail will penetrate it.

「Hah!」

However, Haru, who boasts an overwhelming battle sense in close combat, seems to have already identified these series of attacks in this short time. At the time when the tail is driven into the ground, she counterattacks with her Doggan Staff. The target is the joint between the armor of the tail. Breaking the solid armor that protects the interior is difficult, so she attacked that rubber-like part when it stretched to the maximum. The Doggan Staff is set to the heaviest weight, and it is swung vigorously and has enough power. It can be said that it’s Haru’s full power attack. …… Well, Zex Body won’t be defeated that easily, though.

「――!」

The blade of the Doggan Staff dug into the joint of the tail. However, the rubber material was only crushed by it, and there was no sign of it being cut at all. On the contrary, it was trying to take the Doggan Staff when the tail was pulled back to the body. Haru was almost losing her special weapon in the beginning, but she immediately pulled out the Doggan Staff.

Also, I think she’s too focused on the tail attack. The tail isn’t the only one she needs to be cautious of. As soon as the tail was pulled back, the giant scissors attached to his arms were closing in on Haru. If the scissors are closed, it will be a lump of steel, and if opened, it will press you from both sides and crush you to death. It’s a nasty attack that combines offense and defense.

On the other hand, Haru is defenseless after pulling out the Doggan Staff. I can help her here, but… well, I’m sure she can handle it. I will watch carefully as her master.

「Advaal!」

Just before Zex Body’s attack hit Haru, a large-sized poisonous swamp was generated on the ground where its four legs came into contact. The purple swamp, which would be nearly bottomless at this scale, invites the mechanical scorpion into it, causing it to lose its balance. Haru succeeded in interrupting the attack, and the scissors aimed at her missed splendidly.

If all goes well, she might be able to keep Zex Body stuck in the poison swamp. But well, that’s naive thinking. Being able to make the attack missed once is good enough. It’s already generated a special magnetic field from its feet and escaped from the poison swamp. The body is so large that you might miss it if you don’t look carefully, but it is slightly floating from the ground. The way it maintains its balance on the swamp is like a water strider. The principle is completely different, though.

「Tiny Hole.」

Taking advantage of the chance created by the swamp, Haru created a small black hole on her hand. Is she going to use the strategy she tried before? Indeed, it’s possible to counter the tail or the scissors with that.

「Gwuun…!」

「Ah, hey!?」

Zex Body began to move backward with tremendous momentum. Since it’s floating, it retreats really smoothly. It’s not just simply attacking, but it can make judgement according to the surrounding situation and the tactics of the enemy…. The rampaging state is just in name only, and the AI that’s moving the machine can be said to be calm.

And even while retreating, it’s been preparing for its next move. The tail stretches to the sky, looks down on Haru, and the tip begins to glow suspiciously. It’s like it’s about to emit a laser beam or something like that!

「Kyuin!」

「Whoa!?」

A tremendous ray of energy was emitted at a ridiculous speed. My prediction was spot on. Haru, who has a good sense of intuition, intuitively stuck out the Doggan Staff to the front to intercept the approaching attack. I see, she chose to use her Doggan Staff as a shield to defend against the attack rather than keep avoiding it. After all, that attack is continuous, and above all, its firing speed is faster than Haru.

However, she has no time to be relieved. Although the Doggan Staff managed to reduce the power by dispersing the magic power due to its characteristics, Haru’s legs won’t be able to withstand the burden at this rate. As the proof, Haru’s feet have already sunk to the ground until the knees because of the pressure of the attack, which power should have been reduced.

「Ugh…!」

She can’t use aiki against the beam. Should I help her now? No, not yet. This kind of predicament is a lot easier than taking a slap in the face from Nell. If it’s Haru, she probably can overcome it. …… She’ll be fine, right?

「Here…!」

As I was getting worried, the small black hole controlled by Haru moved to the front of the beam attack. To prevent the attack from reaching her, it absorbs the approaching light into the darkness. As for Haru, he began to chant another magic while hiding behind it.

Hohou, not only as a means of attack, but she uses it as a means of defense as well, huh. And in the meantime, she’s preparing herself. Haru seems to be using her head quite well. But the Tiny Hole, which is only a medium rank of Darkness Magic, is not going to last very long. The small black hole has a limited swallowing capacity, and it will disperse itself when it reaches its limit.

「Kyuiiiin!」

That beam duration is ridiculously long, huh. It still shooting without losing power. Zex Body doesn’t even try to get close to Haru even since she used Tiny Hole, and the way it’s fighting shows that it’s serious. It’s trying to get rid of Haru without mercy. There is no waste in the performance of the robot, and it seems that the battle will be harder than I had expected. Or rather, she’s having a hard time already. I guess I will completely heal Haru’s damaged legs while I can now.

When it comes to fighting from a long distance, Haru’s main attack will be throwing magic. It’s dangerous enough, but if asked whether it can counter that inexhaustible beam, I think it’s difficult. Then, how will Haru attack it?

「Hmmmph!」

While raising such a cute voice, Haru is swinging her Doggan Staff around.

「…… Could that be a hammer throw?」