After casting Greater Invisibility, Anbaixiu swaggered straight into the territory of the Flaying family.
Though the family had a fairly long history, they lacked the ability to pierce Greater Invisibility.
Passing through layer after layer of guards as if walking through an empty field, Anbaixiu arrived directly in the mining area.
Blast furnaces billowed black smoke as sorted ores were smelted into various metal ingots on the spot.
The Flaying family's mine sat on a very peculiar composite vein. Aside from iron and copper ores jumbled together, there were many other miscellaneous metals, as if several mineral veins had been forcibly kneaded into one; it didn't look naturally formed in the slightest.
Mining this sort of vein was a massive headache. Different metals required different smelting methods; the ores had to be sorted first, then smelted and separated in furnaces kept at varying temperatures.
The more metals mixed in, the more troublesome the separation.
Picking up a chunk of mixed ore, Anbaixiu muttered to himself, "No wonder the Flaying family put so much effort into building alchemy laboratories. Relying on this mine alone wouldn't make any money—they might even take a loss."
For the mercury soul puppets, however, it didn't matter. No matter how many metals were blended together, they could devour them all the same.
Anbaixiu released both mercury soul puppets together. Having just split, the little fellows were famished.
Without needing any prompting from Anbaixiu, they immediately pounced on the mounds of ore and began gorging themselves.
The mercury soul puppets' capacity to devour metal was astonishing. Like water splashed over grains of salt, the hills of ore caved in at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Such a commotion naturally caught the attention of the mine workers before long. Having never seen creatures like mercury soul puppets, and finding their iron pickaxes and shovels promptly swallowed whole, they decisively called for the guards.
Yet bringing the guards proved useless. The moment the tips of their spears prodded the mercury soul puppets, they were devoured in an instant, leaving only the wooden shafts behind.
The two little fellows were simply too hungry to bother retaliating. Spreading out their bodies, they gorged themselves, putting up no resistance at all.
This inert response gave the guards a false impression—they assumed these puddles of mercury couldn't fight back.
Since metal was useless, they fancied themselves clever and tried to use wood to shove the mercury away, preventing it from corroding any more ore.
A dozen wooden poles jabbed wildly, trying to herd the mercury soul puppets into buckets.
That genuinely angered the mercury soul puppets. Clusters of sharp blades sprouted from their malleable bodies, and they hacked away wildly at the guards.
Five guards were beheaded on the spot, and many more suffered severed arms and legs.
The battle began and swiftly ended.
Common mortals had no way to deal with a mercury soul puppet; even well-trained soldiers were merely throwing their lives away.
Now that blood had been drawn and lives lost, the incident escalated rapidly. The overseer of the mine soon arrived, who appeared to be an alchemist.
The man possessed some knowledge; the moment he saw these two masses of mercury devouring metal, he recognized them.
"Living mercury?! How is that possible?"
It was common knowledge that Living Mercury Solution was a failed product from the City of Alchemy. This alchemist was seeing a mobile version for the first time in his life.
In that instant, a wild thought seized him: if he could capture these two specimens of living mercury and study them thoroughly, he would be the next legend.
He immediately ordered the soldiers not to act rashly, then pulled out an assortment of vials and jars to concoct something right there on the spot.
Anbaixiu watched for a few moments and guessed the alchemist's intent.
He was brewing a potent sleep potion effective against the vast majority of living creatures.
A sound idea, but he underestimated the intelligence of the mercury soul puppets.
Just as the alchemist finished brewing the sleep potion and before he could hurl it toward the puppets, a chunk of ore flew through the air, smashing the vial in his hand to pieces.
A faint white mist drifted outward. With a dull thud, the alchemist collapsed sound asleep, showing no reaction even as his forehead cracked open against the ground.
The stone had been hurled by one of the mercury soul puppets. After their sneak attack succeeded, both little fellows emitted strange noises that only Anbaixiu recognized as raucous laughter.
Anbaixiu was astonished; this performance was far smarter than before.
A simple act of throwing a stone actually revealed many subtleties.
Back when he had set it against the paladin, the little fellow had merely mimicked its opponent's movements and ended up completely suppressed by Alan's swordsmanship. It wasn't until Anbaixiu offered a reminder that the puppet remembered it had no need to maintain a humanoid form, allowing it to defeat Alan.
Yet this time, without any prompting from Anbaixiu, the little creature knew the object in the alchemist's hand posed a danger and took the initiative to strike in a targeted manner. The little fellow already understood that glass bottles could be shattered and that the potion within could be turned against the alchemist.
This growth in intelligence pleased Anbaixiu greatly.
With the alchemist fast asleep, the soldiers flusteredly carried him away, then nervously encircled the two mercury soul puppets. Facing such monsters, however, they had no idea what to do next.
Until someone shouted a suggestion: "Fire! Burn these two monsters to death!"
"Quick on their feet, aren't they?"
Anbaixiu mentally praised them. Then, from an unseen corner, he released all his elemental undead—constructs using glass shards and sand as bodies, five of each kind.
"Go on, little ones. Let me see your combat prowess."
These elemental undead had existed for several days now, and their intelligence had noticeably grown. The fine sand spread out, creeping forward across the ground bit by bit—barely perceptible unless one looked closely.
These sand undead had already grasped their physical traits while analyzing their surroundings, allowing them to pull off such a stealth-like approach.
Meanwhile, the glass undead knew full well that they would catch the sunlight, so they made no attempt to crawl slowly. Instead, they clumped directly into balls and rolled toward their targets.
The sound of rolling balls of crushed glass caught the attention of several soldiers. Before they could decipher what the objects were, all five glass balls had rolled right in front of them.
Upon getting close, the glass shards scattered and wrapped around their shins, spinning furiously.
These grunts were nowhere near qualified to wear full plate armor; their legs bore only simple boots and trousers. The razor-sharp glass shards quickly shredded the fabric, slashing open wide wounds across their calves.
Shrieks of agony erupted. Though it seemed to inflict considerable damage, Anbaixiu felt somewhat dissatisfied.
These elemental undead didn't yet know where the vitals were; they merely attacked whichever parts were closest, causing what were essentially superficial injuries.
No rush, however. Hunting was the finest opportunity to learn; he would let the little ones practice at their own pace.
Anbaixiu might be dissatisfied with their combat capability, but the Duke of Flaying's soldiers felt quite differently. A swirling mass of broken glass slicing into one's shins like death by a thousand cuts—the gory sight was utterly terrifying.
Worse, the wounds weren't fatal, leaving the injured soldiers to scream madly and spread terror to everyone else.
Over on the other side, the mercury soul puppets devouring ore noticed their little underlings in combat. Halting their meal for the moment, they swung silver-white blades and surged over, slaughtering the soldiers until rivers of blood flowed.
Not every soldier had been brainwashed by bloody magic; most of them had never truly overcome fear. Confronted one after another by such incomprehensible monsters, they lost even the will to resist and began fleeing in all directions.
Frantic footsteps sent the fine sand scattering. By the time the people had mostly fled, the sand undead clumsily clumped together—having stalked for ages only to find nobody left.
Anbaixiu looked on from the side without offering hints. Certain lessons had to be learned on their own.
Having slain the remaining soldiers, the mercury soul puppets resumed devouring the ores.
Having split into two, their appetites had doubled as well. Mound after mound of ore was eaten down to mere slag, yet the two puppets showed no sign of being full; they had merely recovered from the weakened state following their division.
Watching this gave Anbaixiu a headache. He had originally hoped to mass-produce mercury soul puppets, but it seemed they could only serve as an elite few; otherwise, he truly couldn't afford to keep them fed.
Once they had eaten nearly all the ore stored in the open, Anbaixiu prepared to relocate them to the underground veins to let them graze further.
Just then, a dense rumble of running footsteps echoed from the distance, kicking up vast clouds of dust.
Anbaixiu glanced over. A familiar army came into view.
Frenzied slaves running on all fours, and a female knight clad in heavy thorn-patterned armor mounted on a warhorse.
Doubt arose in Anbaixiu's mind. Last time, he had drawn upon the Golden Throne's power to blast everyone away with a Thunderwave, and their life signatures had vanished. What was going on with this female knight?
Had that female knight survived, or did this territory possess another one?
If the former, then she likely possessed a blessing from Loviatar, the Goddess of Pain.
"A blessed of the Goddess of Pain... a worthy opponent."
As Anbaixiu pondered, the Bloody Legion charged into the mine.
The spell-bound, fearless bloody slaves began searching for targets. Yet having never seen the strange creatures Anbaixiu brought, even upon seeing the two masses of mercury squirming over the ores, they weren't sure if those were enemies.
Not until the mercury soul puppets shifted forms under Anbaixiu's command did two indistinct, silver-white humanoid shapes charge toward the army.
Though they had never encountered such peculiar foes, the Bloody Legion showed no hint of retreat and likewise charged at the two mercury humanoids.
A crimson tide easily swallowed both silver-white figures, bathing them completely in blood.
Yet after the initial clash, the two silver-white shapes re-emerged, carving in and out through the sea of blood.
These spell-bound slaves were not particularly formidable in truth—they merely feared no death, and their wounds could regenerate by devouring flesh and blood.
This time, however, they had run into two masses of mercury.
The mercury soul puppets Anbaixiu created had no concept of fear either. These bloody slaves were ultimately nothing more than deranged mortals; no matter how mad they were, what harm could ordinary weapons, clawing, and biting inflict upon two puddles of mercury?
Thus, following that first clash, both mercury soul puppets went on a slaughtering spree.
The bloody slaves felt no pain? Sever their heads and pierce their hearts—feeling no pain wouldn't keep you alive.
Blades long and short condensed from their forms, turning the two mercury soul puppets into meat grinders. As many mortals as came, that many died.
Though the Bloody Legion seemed to hold overwhelming numbers, after leaving behind twenty or thirty corpses, their commander realized something was wrong. Continuing this way was merely pointless attrition.
"Useless trash, out of my way!"
The female knight drew a barbed whip and lashed it left and right among the slaves, tearing away great swathes of flesh and blood.
The slaves, who previously felt no pain, shrieked under the barbed whip. The power imbued within it caused them excruciating agony, as if every wound they had ever suffered was erupting simultaneously.
Having generated this suffering, the female knight became enveloped in thick crimson radiance, and the whip in her hand turned so red that its original form was unrecognizable.
Spurring her steed through the crowd, the female knight surged before one of the mercury soul puppets. The blood-red whip snapped taut, transforming into a four-meter-long crimson greatsword that slashed down at the puppet.
Pain: Divine Smite!
Channeling the power of Loviatar, Goddess of Pain, she struck down with a blade that felt like ten thousand razor-sharp edges tearing into flesh.
Chapter 105