This was only the beginning.

Chaos spread quickly. A few Mechanical Bodies with simple logic AI, only capable of head-on assaults, became nothing more than walking points in the face of the Mechanical Bodies controlled by seasoned veterans who had been lying in wait.

They were ambushed, lured into traps, and dismantled from every conceivable angle.

Excited shouts rose and fell from the viewing stands. The junior apprentices were so fired up they wished they could be promoted to Advanced Apprentice on the spot.

Meanwhile, the Advanced Apprentices from the alchemy schools analyzed the tactics and design philosophies of every Mechanical Body on the field. To them, this was the most valuable treasure.

Victor’s Molten Champion was rapidly becoming the center of attention.

Its massive, crimson body and unconcealed energy fluctuations made it an unmissable beacon amidst the ruins, and trouble soon followed.

A mantis-shaped Mechanical Body appeared on the side of a derelict skyscraper.

It used its mounted, small-caliber rapid-fire cannon to lay down harassing fire on the Molten Champion.

The energy bolts struck the thick carapace, leaving only a few dents without causing any substantial damage.

But this harassment was extremely effective.

The Molten Champion’s pre-programmed threat assessment logic designated the active target as a high-priority threat.

It turned its body, and the beam emitter on its scorpion tail locked onto the figure, firing a series of beams.

The mantis Mechanical Body was extremely agile. It leaped sideways on the wall, easily dodging the attack while continuing to provoke with its rapid-fire cannon.

In the contestants’ area, Victor’s expression soured.

He knew his opponent was toying with him, draining his Mechanical Body’s energy reserves, but this was the fully automated combat logic he had pre-programmed. He couldn’t intervene now.

As the Molten Champion was led around in circles by the mantis Mechanical Body, no one noticed a far more lethal threat silently approaching from the shadows of a rubble pile behind it.

It was a multi-legged Mechanical Body, only thirty centimeters tall, resembling some kind of arthropod. Its codename: "Chameleon."

Its shell was coated with a special material that absorbed energy fluctuations, rendering it almost completely invisible.

The mantis Mechanical Body fired again, this time targeting the Molten Champion’s front-left leg, forcing it to shift to its right.

The Molten Champion, seemingly enraged, slammed its giant pincer against the wall, trying to knock the annoying mantis off.

The instant it raised its massive pincer, shifting its entire weight onto its right-side limbs...

The Chameleon moved.

It shot out from the shadows, silent as a ghost. A spike on its head glinted with a faint, eerie blue light.

That was its main weapon—the Dissociation Rune Stake.

Its target was the Molten Champion’s energy bay, exposed in the chassis’s midsection as it continually moved and turned!

SCREECH—

The sound of tearing metal cut through the din of the battlefield.

The Dissociation Rune Stake met no meaningful resistance as it pierced the outer armor of the energy bay and plunged deep inside.

In the viewing stands, everyone’s eyes were glued to the scene.

The colossal Molten Champion froze.

Its massive crimson body immediately lost power, toppled to one side with a thunderous crash, and slammed into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Its strike successful, the Chameleon immediately withdrew its weapon and, without a moment’s hesitation, vanished back into the shadows.

The mantis Mechanical Body on the wall also ceased fire and quietly retreated.

The spontaneous, temporary alliance between the Mechanical Bodies was over. The entire process had been clean and efficient.

On the light screen, the Molten Champion’s feed turned a dead gray, and the commentator declared it eliminated.

The entire arena was in an uproar.

"Am I seeing things? Victor... is eliminated?"

"He was taken down by a team-up! Those two Mechanical Bodies coordinated perfectly!"

"That Chameleon... how did it know to attack that spot? The armor there wasn’t even damaged!"

The announcer’s excited voice rang out as the massive light screen began replaying the fatal blow, zooming in on the Chameleon’s precise strike.

"Incredible tactical judgment! An incredible autonomous cooperation protocol! No generic Control Core on the market can do that!"

In the viewing stands, Victor Iron Flame’s face was so dark it looked like it could drip water.

He stared intently at the replay, his fists clenched tightly.

He had lost. Not because of his Mechanical Body’s performance, but because of his tactics and his understanding of the rules.

These seniors, who had spent years in the Black Tower, had taught this rookie a harsh lesson with a cold-blooded, coordinated hunt.

Just as Victor was dejectedly eliminated and the entire arena’s focus was on him, a new threat was brewing on the battlefield.

Several ranged Mechanical Bodies, which had been hiding behind buildings and had yet to join the fray, adjusted their cannons in unison.

Their target was surprisingly unanimous—the battlefield’s high ground, the derelict skyscraper occupied by the Spider Slayer!

Allen’s Mechanical Body had been discovered long ago!

They, of all contestants, knew best just how dangerous a sniper in a high position could be.

They were just waiting—waiting for the real brawl to begin, waiting for an opportunity to focus their fire.

On the back of a tracked Mechanical Body, a six-tube Magical Guided Missile launcher opened.

A quadrupedal artillery platform began to gather a blinding light in its cannon barrel.

BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM—!

The next second, a dense barrage of firepower blanketed the top of the skyscraper.

A continuous roar of violent explosions erupted as fire and thick smoke shot into the sky, blasting the entire lookout post to smithereens.

Rubble flew in all directions. A huge chunk of the skyscraper’s summit was blown clean off, leaving a gaping, smoking crater.

After completing this round of focused fire, the ranged Mechanical Bodies immediately relocated to find new prey.

According to their assessment, the mission was complete.

No low-level Mechanical Body could have survived a saturation attack of that magnitude.

In the viewing area, the cheers from the members of Allen’s support group died abruptly. They stared at the light screen, dumbfounded, their faces pale.

"Lord Allen’s Mechanical Body... it’s destroyed?"

"It’s over. He was hiding up too high and became a sitting duck."

"He’s definitely eliminated now..."

However, just as everyone thought contestant number 27’s screen would turn gray, the unexpected happened.

"Wait a second!" a sharp-eyed apprentice shouted, pointing at the massive light screen. "Look! Number 27’s signal hasn’t disappeared!"

Everyone quickly looked. In the split-screen view belonging to the Spider Slayer, after the violent flash of explosions and dust had cleared, only the wreckage of the lookout post remained. The Mechanical Body itself was nowhere to be seen.

But the feed on the screen still hadn’t turned gray.

It was still alive!

But... where had it gone?