Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 891 - 720: Ancient Royal Armory

Chapter 891: Chapter 720: Ancient Royal Armory

On the road, Tsuchigumo spotted several hundred fresh corpses of black people, and only then did she realize the rumor mentioned by the chairman that nobody reached the bottom was wrong—the company had arrived long ago.

These black people suffered varying degrees of goldification, the gold-plated parts being hard, while the regions untouched by it were pitch-black and soft. The rotting death fluids slowly seeped out of them, emitting a scent akin to citrus and bitter almonds.

They seemed to have been used for pathfinding, gauging the combat ability of the hollow golden people, like a herd that could be lured by external forces into dangerous areas.

Some drones remained in place, used to supervise and inspect these bodies. The Cyber Specter glanced at them, their indicator lights flickering before they flew to its side like loyal bees after it issued new commands, and then they headed forwards.

"There’s a city up ahead, a collapsed ancient city. Those two witches are almost there," the Cyber Specter spoke into Tsuchigumo’s ear.

Those two witches...

They could instantly defeat five hollow golden people, a combat prowess that was somewhat beyond Tsuchigumo’s imagination.

The only ones comparable to this were the Ancient Witches who created the "Eclipse of the Star."

Just how strong were they? Tsuchigumo gazed in the distance, following from afar, fearing that she would be discovered by them.

As if foreseeing Tsuchigumo’s thoughts, the Cyber Specter spoke to her.

"On the left is Empress Easter, and on the right is the Supreme Witch Xylophia."

Tsuchigumo was struck as if by lightning.

The Empress! The Supreme Witch?

This was the unorthodox combat power that one would only see mentioned in encyclopedias, and now it had all appeared in front of her eyes!

Was it her own extraordinary luck, or was The Scar of the World a place envisioned for the mightily powerful witches from the start?

If the Cyber Specter wasn’t just chatting nonsense with her, then an empress was proceeding right before her on the gloomy stone plains, possessing the strength that could possibly recreate another Scar of the World.

And here she was, boldly following them... Tsuchigumo truly felt that her life was full of dramatic ups and downs.

Watching them advance, Tsuchigumo envisioned herself back in Shinobi Village walking on wooden posts and practicing body techniques. The masters said ninjutsu was the skill of endurance; as long as one bore the pain, it could be exchanged for great power. But could this so-called "great power" be comparable to the prowess of the Empress-level?

She could only narrowly divert the attention of a hollow golden man by spitting spider silk and moving shadow to shadow, while the witch beside the empress merely drew and sheathed her blade to make five golden men vanish into thin air. All the hardships Tsuchigumo had endured over the past decade now felt as light as a handful of soil.

"They were walking towards the collapsed ancient city, fearlessly, intentionally attracting the golden men’s attacks," the Cyber Specter said.

Tsuchigumo moved ahead, passing through the piles of corpses of the black people. Surely their deaths were not the doings of those two, or else they wouldn’t have left so many corpses behind.

"The patterns on the Vigilante Emperor’s Armor seem to be sacred symbols of war and punishment from the ancient country, meaning that if you frequently see such patterns along the way, it could easily lead to the country’s barracks, temples of war, courts, or armories of that sort. I’ve already sent those drones to scout, and we should be able to quickly locate the things we need," the Cyber Specter continued.

Tsuchigumo nodded quietly to herself and continued to observe her surroundings.

The battle between the Empress and the Golden Soul caused the Zanges Ancient Country to collapse into the bottom of the gorge, so dilapidated roof tiles and shattered statues can be seen everywhere. They’re all twisted in quite a horrifying way, as if mangled by a giant beast beyond recognition—only vaguely can one discern the corridors, pillars, and steps.

Countless bones lay scattered, most shattered to pieces, like empty dust.

Through the haze, she faintly spotted a large ancient building that appeared as a marvel, still intact despite the massive fall.

"That is the tomb of Empress Shira." Cyber Specter said.

Although apparently trapped in this place, looking quite distressed, it seemed as if it could receive an endless stream of new intelligence. It must have other drones hidden here, and it could connect directly to external signals. Tsuchigumo thought silently.

"Perhaps Shira was too bored here, so she built herself a mausoleum and left her legacy around it," Cyber Specter suggested.

Then, another tremor came.

Tsuchigumo looked up sharply and saw that Empress Easter had blasted open the front of the mausoleum, shattering the entire wall that was blocking their path.

The wall, at least seven to eight hundred meters wide and nearly ten meters high, was rapidly bursting and collapsing in the darkness, being destroyed amid a series of explosions.

Boom—Boom boom—

Like agitating a house full of wild beasts, a multitude of Hollow Gold Men surged out from all directions of the ruins, madly charging towards Empress Easter and Xylophia at her side!

This time, Xylophia didn’t need to lift a finger; Empress Easter simply raised her hand casually, and the rushing Hollow Gold Men were blasted to pieces one after another, vanishing in the bright light and explosions.

After destruction, the light on their bodies quickly dimmed, not even leaving any remains.

Was it explosion-based magic power? Tsuchigumo watched silently. One person equaled an army, how terrifying a witch could be. If the outside world knew that the world’s most powerful witch was this strong, what would they think?

Hollow Gold Men were capable of single-handedly killing nearly all members of Renwang Security, and here in this collapsed ancient city, Empress Easter alone had taken down at least 300.

With a clear goal, Tsuchigumo continued her search in the ancient city for the pattern on the Vigilante Emperor’s Armor.

It seemed to symbolize an angry spirit or a god-monster in charge of slaughter from ancient Hot Tree Continent. She saw related patterns inscribed on a bronze shield, and some oddly shaped gold cauldrons with similar engravings on all sides, half-buried in the rock and earth, their centers piled high with broken weapons, arrow heads, and torture instruments.

Empress Easter and Xylophia were heading towards Shira Mausoleum, gradually moving further away.

"There is a hall in front of you, to the right," Cyber Specter said behind Tsuchigumo.

Tsuchigumo nodded, still not daring to make a sound or disturb anything.

Empress Easter and Xylophia were free to slaughter the Hollow Gold Men at will, but if she encountered even one, it would be certain death, so she also did not dare to converse with Cyber Specter.

After entering the hall revealed by Cyber Specter, Tsuchigumo found a statue that had fallen there.

It was generally humanoid in shape, cast entirely in bronze, with an ancient style. Unlike modern craft experts skilled at carving exquisite appearances, it looked somewhat comical and unlike real humans—almost beastly or alien-like.

Sometimes at museum company exhibits of so-called "Ancient Masks" or "Ancient Sculptures", most are of this kind.

Um...

That’s not right, either.

Perhaps the sculptors of that time saw such creatures every day. If there are already so many specters and monsters in modern times, the past must have been even worse.

The ancient war spear held in the statue’s hand astonished Tsuchigumo even more; despite thousands of years, it had lost none of its sharpness, surely it was a divine weapon.

Tsuchigumo carelessly pulled the weapon from the statue’s grasp and swung it lightly.

In an instant, the war spear seemed like a bottomless black hole, drawing magic power from Tsuchigumo’s body.

Before she could react, the war spear had already devoured half of the magic power within Tsuchigumo.

Huff, huff...

Drenched in sweat, Tsuchigumo felt fortunate to be a High-Ranking Witch with some strength to spare. If she had been a Lower-rank Witch, the spear probably would have drained her completely.

After feasting on Tsuchigumo’s magic power, the war spear began to reveal strands of pitch-black patterns. Familiar ancient war scripts crawled upon it as if thirsting for the blood of enemies, and more unfamiliar characters gradually emerged as the dust faded away.

"Show me the text on it," said the Cyber Specter.

Tsuchigumo, with the joy of acquiring a new weapon, crawled back while replenishing her drained magic and stamina with Soldier’s Ration Pills, presenting the script on the weapon to the Cyber Specter.

"’May Shira protect you, making your strides as earth-shattering and invincible as hers.’ This is a blessing for warriors; this weapon was employed by the Imperial Guard of the state. It suits you better," the Cyber Specter declared.

Tsuchigumo nodded in acknowledgment. The Cyber Specter could even read Secret Scripts—how did he accomplish that?

She went outside and gazed upon the tallest mausoleum-like structure, which lay at the bottom of The Scar of the World like an intricate manor, exuding a bizarre sense of tranquility.

The Empress had been blasting her way through, and her figure was getting farther away, discernible only by the sound of explosions.

She persisted in ’blasting’ her way forward—what was her intention? Was she planning to blow this place sky-high?

In the ancient city, many surviving buildings now lay shattered to pieces along Empress Easter’s path, turned to dust.

With power, one could disregard rules; perhaps this was a unified mindset of the strong? Tsuchigumo had become numb to it.

"I have located the ’Vigilante Emperor’," came the voice of the Cyber Specter again.

Tsuchigumo propped herself up with her appendages, letting the Cyber Specter lead the way.

At that moment, she caught a glimpse of tiny Hummingbird Drones moving about in the sky, different from the models she’d seen before.

If not for her excellent vision, they would have been very difficult to spot. These Hummingbird Drones could either belong to the Cyber Specter or be launched by other exploration teams.

The Empress’s barrage had almost completely destroyed the city in front of them, and a well-defended large military arsenal was also impacted by the explosions.

Half of its wall had collapsed, revealing a precarious crack.

"This is the Royal Armory; the Vigilante Emperor is stored here." The terrain was too complicated; the Cyber Specter stood at the entrance of the fissure to indicate the way.

Tsuchigumo carefully supported herself with her hind limbs, moved the rocks with her forelimbs, and crawled through the crack to observe the situation inside.

The so-called Vigilante Emperor’s Armor was firmly suspended in mid-air by several chains.

Tsuchigumo stared at the Armor; it was more mysterious, weighty, and peculiar than depicted on murals.

She carefully approached, intending to strike at the chains and retrieve the Vigilante Emperor during one of the Empress’s explosions.

"Boom!" As expected, the Empress caused another massive explosion, this time louder than ever, accompanied by a series of collapsing and shattering walls.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Tsuchigumo swung her spear forcefully, shattering the chains.

Her new weapon cut through iron as if it were mud, stronger than any other weapon she had used before; she was quite satisfied as it seemed to have been reforged by the magic power she had imbued into it.

The heavy Vigilante Emperor’s Armor fell downwards, landing on the rocky ground with a clatter, and just as Tsuchigumo reached out to grab it, the armor stood up on its own, posed in a combat stance, and then swung its arm at Tsuchigumo!

It—It was armor that could move on its own!

Bang!

Tsuchigumo managed to block it with her spear, her giant spider legs providing leverage, and in combination with her original limbs, she could manipulate eight limbs in unison.

She fought with the sentient armor using her war spear, grateful to have a weapon; otherwise, it would have been too disadvantageous to fight this armor!

Just then, the entire city was suddenly illuminated by a blinding golden light!

Boom!

An even more piercing noise erupted, and Tsuchigumo couldn’t help but shout to the Cyber Specter, "What is happening?"

"The Golden Soul has been awakened by Explossing Easter’s explosions; it has broken free of the containment and is now preparing to battle Easter."

"So only the Golden Soul lives... Has Empress Shira died?" Tsuchigumo shouted while fighting.

"It seems so," was the reply.

Then, the resonant voice of Easter rang out in all directions.

"You’ve finally shown yourself! If I defeat you, you won’t be able to hurt anyone else, right?"

Yet another battle between the Empress and the Golden Soul!