Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 438: Lower Levels

“Thank you. It was better than slaughtering them all,” he informed the gnome. “Ready to return to where I had you?”

Chuckling, Niziver shook a little and nodded.

“I’m not going to lie. I was quite scared at first when you grabbed me, and the next thing I knew, we were in this lift, and I heard your voice but couldn’t see you. Still, we’ll need to hurry. If someone does check the logs and notices I’m not listed, it could cause someone to investigate.”

Max summoned his dimensional space again and helped the gnome inside, no longer invisible.

“I noticed you selected the 10th floor. Is that where you expect her to be?”

“If she isn’t, you’ll probably find her on the 9th floor, as that’s the only other floor I could imagine them attempting to create something with a dragon core.”

“Thank you again,” Max told the gnome as he willed the opening shut.

You were lucky he didn’t break, and they didn’t push him for information. That distraction seemed to have bought us some time.

I know… it was the only thing I could think of that didn’t require me killing someone, and while I’m certain we could take those guards, I was more concerned with an alarm or something going off and making it harder to find Nimyn.

When the light that marked the B10 floor was finally illuminated, Max entered Stealth and held his breath as they opened up.

A long, tall room cut in the same black stone was at least a half-mile wide and fifty feet high.

Over a hundred automatons stood in columns and rows, all painted purple and with the family crest upon it. Each had a rifle similar to the one the guards above had been carrying.

On the other side of the large open area were dozens of vehicles that had a set of three guns, each barrel wider than a dwarf.

It appears someone is already preparing for war.

Yes, and the audience is gathered further ahead.

He could see the group Bob had mentioned about three hundred yards away, eight or nine gnomes all standing around a bench where Nimyn was bent over, working on something.

Next to them were a pair of gnome creations similar to the CP-8D0 he had fought, except Max could tell they were a little taller and more refined. They didn’t have a bulky appearance as his first real opponent and their entire head was metal, no real flesh visible that he could see from this distance.

Both wore a mark he didn’t recognize.

He could see the stolen core on the stone counter, its glow radiating slightly as different metal wires and something else covered a chunk of it.

Rage began to build, and Max summoned his weapon and shield, choosing a sword long enough most men would need two hands, but he didn’t. He wasn’t like most others.

Be cautious and remember why we are here. Collect the core, then worry about revenge.

Bob was right. He needed the core first and could always retreat home, returning to fight another day.

Taking a single breath and letting it out slowly, he calmed himself just enough not to make stupid mistakes.

Let’s do this.

He raced forward, his eyes fixed upon the core. Gone was his shield, choosing instead to have at least one free hand so he could grab it and secure it.

Forty yards from where the two large guards were, his face collided with an invisible barrier.

The impact didn’t hurt as his body was too tough, but his stealth broke, revealing himself to the red eyes that had been almost lifeless, now blazing with energy and focused on him.

“Intruder!”

Everyone in the room began to turn, yet with his speed Max sensed the problem wasn’t just behind the barrier and the two creations that were moving as he was.

The automatons on his side of the barrier began to activate, a humming sound echoing off the stone as he sensed the heads of some of the closest ones turning toward him.

His eyes were locked on the core, and Nimynwas watching as she slowly looked up from whatever she was doing to the core and the metal contraption on the stone counter.

Both blue eyes were behind goggles, but as the lenses rotated, he could see the look of shock as they dilated.

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Wind Blades began to sweep out from around him, crashing into the nearest purple-garbed machines as they turned, weapons lifting upward and pointing in his direction.

Bob!

No reply came as he dodged to the left, a chained weapon with a four-edged curved star spinning past the location he had been standing, just as quickly being retracted by the gnome warrior creation on the right behind the barrier.

“Kill him!”

Nimyn’s voice somehow rose over all the sounds of carnage as gunfire erupted behind and around him, the mechanical machines slowly coming to life as their barrels tried to track him and light began to glow on them.

Lightning streaked from above, bouncing off the barrier as the other large gnome creation left its safety, its right hand holding a sword unlike any he had ever seen. In the middle was a grip and on both sides were two blades, each over four feet long. Its left hand had a shield with three barrels on it, and they began to illuminate with light.

Energy blasts were coming from both sides behind him, and Max’s shield was between himself and the two larger opponents. He sensed the chained weapon coming at him again, moving with a speed that felt almost impossible except that he could fight this fast.

Stone walls rose from the floor as Bob used his mastery to create barriers, the spinning weapon striking one and bouncing off, sending some shards of the new barrier flying.

These stones are strong enough to repel those attacks if I keep them that thickness. Focus on the two before us, and I’ll handle the smaller ones!

His newest opponent came at him from above, that dual-bladed weapon moving with a speed almost as fast as him, and as he descended the shield let out three shots simultaneously.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

The sound of that strike on the floor where he had been rang out, and Max could sense the destruction of automatons behind him.

Bob was hacking them to pieces with stone fragments and wind blades.

Another salvo from his opponent’s shield kept him hiding behind his own as they seemed almost to track his movements. Its sword rang out as the weapon struck against his.

“You are the one they spoke of,” it said, another hollow-sounding voice coming from the metal smile. “We shall dispose of you.”

Pieces of metal, stone, and ice filled the air as they moved with a speed no one could catch a glimpse of.

If… only one… I could…

The spinning chain weapon came again, no longer flying straight but curving and adjusting its flight pattern somehow.

When Max dodged it, four canisters came out from it, erupting in a gas that immediately began to burn.

[ Acid Attack Resisted ]

His eyes watered, and his throat felt raw, but for the most part, he was fine as the cloud of yellow smoke began to fill the area they were fighting in.

A pair of walls went upward, catching the sword user as it tried to take advantage of the cloud, stumbling when Bob sent nine-inch stone spears at it in rapid succession from all sides.

I’m almost done with the smaller ones. Keep dodging.

Max wanted to laugh, knowing that it hadn’t even been ten seconds and yet in that short amount of time his skill had ravaged the creations of those in this room, no doubt destroying large amounts of tokens in the process.

He could see the group of gnomes. They were gathered around the stone table where Nimyn was.

It’s descending!

Yes. Focus on these, we will follow them after!

Frustrated at how the situation was going and the knowledge that Rakonath’s core was still out of reach, Max parried the spinning weapon strike that came for him and decided to change things up.

[ Mirrored Image ]

His clone appeared and darted to the side, gaining distance between himself. He charged the one with the chained weapon.

The sword user faltered momentarily, large chunks of stone having torn parts of its flesh off that were exposed. The metal armor surrounding it kept it mostly safe from Bob’s attacks.

Help the clone. I’ll deal with this one.

Max could sense Bob using his abilities to support his copy, knowing that the stats it possessed weren’t going hold up long against the level of opponent it was distracting.

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[ Metal Mastery ]

He activated this ability, having never tried against an opponent like this and watched as the creation slowed down some, its limbs suddenly acting like they were moving through water.

Smiling, Max slashed with his sword, catching the bottom left foot as the gnome tried to get its shield down in time but failed.

His blade cut about four inches, rending metal and flesh, slicing off the front six inches of its foot.

Blood and a green liquid splattered against the stone as he blocked the strike coming for him and twisted, using the momentum for a backhanded slash, his Metal Mastery skill allowing him to prevent what should have been an easy parry and strike the right leg.

His blade bounced off, leaving a small dent in the armor, which he knew was thicker than the first hit he had landed.

Another burst of energy came, and Max summoned his own stone barrier from the floor, moving into position as he prepared for what he knew was possible.

He lowered his guard, preparing to feint and watched as his opponent took that opportunity, the amount of resistance it faced from his Metal Mastery becoming less.

With its weapon coming at him, Max made his move.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

[ Power Strike ]

[ Magical Strike ]

[ Rampage ]

This time, his weapon didn’t suffer the resistance it had before, cleaving through half of his opponent's body, causing it to shudder and both arms to extend outward and upward.

A metallic roar came from behind him, and immediately Max sensed a change in the opponent his clone was fighting.

The stone spikes that Bob was harassing it with no longer seemed to do anything and his sonar told him that the opponent was growing in size.

Both its height and width expanded, the weapon moving faster than it had just seconds before and no longer did the stone walls his skill tried to block with stop it completely, now shattering beneath the increased power.

Hurry here! This clone is–

Before Bob could finish that statement, the spinning weapon impaled itself in the clone's chest, never stopping its rotation as flesh and blood were sent out in a spray.

No cold sensation came from the attack he had landed on the that fell to the floor, but somehow Max knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

As if that thought was prophetic, another roar came from the last opponent, and its weapon began to glow white.

That can’t be good…

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