At that moment, this thousand-strong army of killing machines had split into ten columns and was beginning to wipe out all the Snake People!

’If we can’t kill these things, forget about slaughtering the humans in the city.’

’If we run now, we might still have a chance!’

In fact, that was exactly what the Snake Priestess was thinking.

Her recent Spiritual probe had revealed a startling discovery: among these Alchemy Puppet-like entities, there were more than ten whose Magic Power signatures were at the High Tier level.

In the current Magic Power-deprived environment, confronting an army of Alchemy Puppets that likely possessed vast reserves of Magic Power was clearly not a wise decision.

Still, she had to test them, no matter what.

So, the Snake Priestess gave her approval.

Soon, from the rear of the Snake People’s ranks, six High Tier Snake People spurred on their giant snakes. Each serpent, no less than a hundred meters long, charged toward the killing machines.

As the Snake People made their move, the scene outside the city quickly caught the attention of some prominent figures within Brady County City.

"My Lord Count!"

"Look! What’s happening outside the city?"

"Those things look incredibly strong, but they don’t look like any kind of blessing from a Divine Descent."

A commander of the city guard greeted the newly arrived Count and pointed grimly toward the terrifying scene of slaughter outside the walls.

Count Harun Knight had only just received the news and was the first to reach the front lines to assess the situation.

As he gazed out from the walls, watching countless Snake People get mowed down and turned into corpses by those terrifying ’humans’, an expression of shock unconsciously crossed his face.

At his peak as a High Tier individual, he might have been able to kill this many Snake People.

But seeing those ’humans’—who appeared to be only Low Tier—accomplish such a one-sided slaughter was still deeply unsettling.

’Long-barreled flamethrowers?’

’And something like a Magic Crystal Cannon?’

’Are they all products of Alchemy?’

Without hesitation, Count Harun used what little Magic Power he had recovered to quickly probe the area outside the city.

And the result?

His findings were nearly identical to the Snake Priestess’s!

"Those things... they aren’t part of the Human Race!"

"They’re all Alchemy Puppets!"

"This is definitely not the work of the gods. If it were, our situation wouldn’t have deteriorated to this point over all these years."

Count Harun stated his conclusion immediately.

And just then, right before his eyes...

The six High Tier Snake People had rapidly closed in on one of the hundred-man squads of killing machines.

The Magic Crystal Cannon had failed to hit the swift and physically powerful creatures.

Even the squad’s machine guns couldn’t penetrate their thick scales and flesh.

Just as the High Tier Snake People were about to crash into the hundred-man squad and begin a one-sided massacre...

Suddenly, at the front of the squad, six of the killing machines lowered their firearms!

In the instant that Count Harun and even the High Tier Snake People were stunned...

...the machines took flight, each one soaring into the air and charging toward one of the six High Tier Snake People!

’They want to fight us in close combat with bodies of mere Alchemy?’

The six High Tier Snake People had this very thought, and their eyes filled with scorn.

’It’s one thing for a group of Low Tier Alchemy Puppets to slaughter Middle-Low Tier Snake People with their somewhat powerful alchemical tools.’

’But to think they’d want to fight us, High Tier Snake People, in hand-to-hand combat?’

’How absurd!’

And so, without a second thought, the High Tier Snake People charged headlong into the six killing machines.

However!

"BOOM!"

"BOOM! BOOM!!"

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"

Six small mushroom clouds erupted in succession!

The horrifying spectacle was enough to make the very earth of the battlefield tremble.