The voice had barely fallen when the surrounding scenery instantly reorganized. The three of them appeared in the central clearing of the camp.
But what reached their ears was not the anticipated sound of scholars' lively discussions, but the ear-piercing sounds of metal colliding and tearing, along with the panicked shouts and fleeing footsteps of the crowd.
Not far away, a Mechanical Drake controlled by Kelvin was locked in combat with a larger, dark brown humanoid machine.
Suleiman's gaze fell upon the humanoid machine, and his expression darkened. "'Field Tiller'... That is a war machine made by Khaenri'ah!"
The machine known as the "Field Tiller" had a torso that was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a single eye atop it flashing a dangerous red light. Its thick arms grabbed the head and tail of the Mechanical Drake, and with a sound of twisting metal, it tore the drake into two pieces by sheer force, then tossed them aside like trash.
Coppelia tensed her entire body. "Prepare for combat!"
Before her words landed, Amos's Bow had already appeared in her left hand. But before her right hand could nock the string, a piercing electronic voice rang out abruptly:
"Welcome back, Columbina."
Columbina and Coppelia immediately looked toward the sound. Sitting atop the head of another "Field Tiller" was a dark brown mechanical hound, half a meter tall.
"Do not think of using teleportation," the mechanical hound's electronic voice was flat and devoid of intonation. "Before that—look!"
The "Field Tiller" beneath it slowly raised an arm, pointing in another direction of the camp.
Columbina's gaze followed.
She saw a "Field Tiller" swing its giant palm, swatting Kelvin, who was attempting to organize a defense, flying through the air.
Kelvin's body traced an arc in the air before smashing heavily onto the ground in the distance. He lay on his back, motionless. The monocle on his right eye had long since flown off to parts unknown.
Suleiman, seeing this, immediately sprinted toward where his friend had fallen, crouching down to support him.
Immediately after, over a dozen "Field Tillers" began to herd the scholars in the camp with organized precision. They gathered the panicked people into a circle around Kelvin and Suleiman. Several of the machines held those who hadn't escaped in time firmly within their giant palms.
One of the "Field Tillers" holding a hostage stopped not far from Columbina. In its palm was Nafisah, covered in dust and trembling violently.
The mechanical hound's electronic voice sounded again: "The food this woman cooks must be delicious, right? What do you say, Columbina?"
Nafisah saw Columbina, and tears instantly burst from her eyes, streaming down her dust-streaked cheeks. "Run... run..." She wanted to tell Columbina to flee, but the word stuck in her throat. Her lips trembled, and finally, she only squeezed out a hoarse cry: "Help!" before dissolving into uncontrollable sobbing.
Columbina's arms, cradling the disabled Moon Spirit, tightened unconsciously. Her voice trembled. "Do not harm them!"
"I naturally will not harm them," the mechanical hound's voice remained flat and emotionless. "As long as you come with me to a certain place."
Coppelia's heart sank. She reached out, gripping Columbina's shoulder tightly.
Columbina's breathing became rapid, her chest heaving. She looked back and forth between the weeping Nafisah and the silent mechanical hound, clearly trapped in a state of immense panic and hesitation.
The giant palm of the "Field Tiller" holding Nafisah tightened slightly. Nafisah let out a pained whimper and cried even louder.
"I'll go with you!" Columbina shouted urgently.
"That's correct," the mechanical hound said. "Just follow the one taking the hostage away. As long as you are obedient and do not make any sudden moves, I will not touch them."
The "Field Tiller" holding Nafisah turned around, moving its long mechanical legs, and walked step by step toward the depths of the rainforest.
Coppelia quickly scanned the situation, then applied force to her hand, holding back Columbina who wanted to follow immediately.
Columbina tried to break free, but the pull on her shoulder stopped her. Coppelia leaned close to her ear, her voice pitched extremely low: "It is just bluffing. It cannot handle your Spatial Authority... You wait..."
"What are you whispering about?" The mechanical hound's electronic voice revealed impatience. "If you cannot walk, I will help you."
It did not ask for permission. A "Field Tiller" that had been standing guard nearby immediately strode over, extending two giant palms to grab Coppelia and Columbina respectively.
The palms closed, gripping the two of them firmly. This "Field Tiller" turned, preparing to follow the one ahead.
However, just as it took a step, its metal torso—wide at the top and narrow at the bottom—along with Coppelia and Columbina held in its hands, vanished into thin air without warning!
Only four slender mechanical limbs remained briefly in place. Losing their support, they collapsed forward under their own weight and inertia, smashing into the muddy ground and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
It was not just this one. Around the camp, the torsos of all twenty-plus "Field Tillers" vanished in the same instant!
In the next second, these missing torsos, along with Coppelia and Columbina, appeared simultaneously in the air dozens of meters away.
The metal blocks were forcibly compressed by an invisible force into a single lump of metal, suspended silently.
Columbina's figure appeared beside this lump of metal. Dozens of diamond-shaped hydro projectiles, resembling sapphires, instantly condensed before her. These projectiles circled the metal lump and fired simultaneously from all directions!
Shoo— Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!
The sound of hydro projectiles impacting metal was as dense as a torrential rain. As soon as one round finished, another volley fired instantly.
Countless hydro projectiles smashed into the already shattered metal, thoroughly pulverizing it until no trace of the original structure could be seen, leaving only a pile of twisted scrap iron.
Columbina exhaled softly, trying to calm her wildly beating heart, though her fingers still trembled slightly. She looked at Coppelia floating beside her, her voice shaking as she spoke:
"I... I just..."
"You did very well just now." Coppelia's gaze quickly swept over the scrap iron.
"But I feel like I didn't do anything..." Columbina gestured with her right hand. "I can't quite remember what happened just now..."
"How you did it isn't important; the key is to remember this feeling." Coppelia moved closer to her. "That dog had no way to deal with you. Because it was afraid too, it could only use the people you care about to threaten you."
"Threaten..." Columbina murmured the repetition. She recalled Nafisah's tears and the sight of Kelvin flying through the air, and her stomach tightened again. The word now had a heavy, tangible reality.
"Let's go back and check on the others. Find Suleiman," Coppelia said.
Columbina's gaze fell on the suspended wreckage in the air. "What should we do with this pile?"
"Hmm..." Coppelia thought for a moment. "Take it back to the edge of the camp too. Maybe Kelvin can research something from it."
A moment later, the massive lump of metal trash was set down gently on the clearing at the edge of the camp, making a dull thud.
Columbina then teleported Coppelia back to the center of the camp.
Nafisah ran over the moment she saw them. Her tear stains were still wet on her dusty face, but she managed to squeeze out a smile. "Thank you... Are you two alright?"
"We are fine," Columbina answered.
She finished speaking and looked around.
Throughout the camp, the limb remnants of the "Field Tillers" that had lost their torsos lay scattered in disorder. Most of the scholars were tending to each other's minor scrapes or collecting items scattered by the chaos. A few came forward to express their gratitude to Columbina and Coppelia. But more of them simply looked at them from a distance with complex gazes—neither grateful nor blaming.
Columbina dared not meet those subtle gazes, feeling a suffocating tightness in her chest.
Coppelia took a step forward and raised her voice to the crowd: "These machines from Khaenri'ah came for us. We are very sorry for implicating everyone. We will leave very soon and will not stay here to cause any more trouble."
Coppelia did not waste time comforting the crowd further. She dragged the still-dazed Columbina and went straight to find Suleiman. He was kneeling beside Kelvin, his hand on the other man's carotid artery, his face appearing unusually pale in the firelight.
"How is he?" Coppelia asked.
Suleiman did not answer immediately. A few seconds later, he detached himself from his emotions and took a deep breath. "He passed out. Ribs might be broken, but he's alive." His voice was dry, but his gaze was locked dead onto the wreckage of the mechanical dog nearby.
The mechanical dog lay on the ground, motionless. Its limbs had vanished, the cuts smooth to the point of being eerie.
"This thing spoke Columbina's name just now." Coppelia kicked the mechanical dog. "We are definitely being targeted. We must set off for the Akademiya immediately. We leave right after meeting the God."
"...It is my fault," Suleiman said suddenly, still staring at the cross-section of the mechanical hound. "When Kelvin was researching those Khaenri'ahn machines... he always said he had achieved complete control. I... I..." He didn't continue, his fists clenched tight.
The air fell silent for a moment. The faint sobbing and whispering of scholars drifted from the distance.
Coppelia broke the silence. "There might be a next wave of attacks."
Suleiman forced himself to tear his gaze away from his friend's face and cast it toward the wreckage:
"We leave immediately."
____
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