Chapter 239: Intruder detected

Chapter 239: Intruder detected

The entrance to the Engineering Guild was a long, narrow corridor that didn't even bother to hide its traps. Mason stared at the holes on the ceiling, the arrow slits in the walls, and what looked like large slots for some kind of blades to come out. He sighed.

"Send in a construct? Set off the traps?"

Blake frowned and inspected. "I could maybe deconstruct some of this. Plug some holes. That kind of thing. But it might take me a minute."

Mason felt his impatience like a physical thing. But he knew it was unwise and might get someone killed. It wasn't just him down here anymore, and not everyone regenerated.

"Alright," he sighed. "It doesn't look like we're in a rush. Go ahead and..."

Mason trailed off as the wall slid open at the far end of the corridor. A goblin wearing goggles stepped out holding a giant, gun-like tube. It stopped long enough to smile, then aimed it straight at the party.

"Becky, shield!"

Mason didn't waste any more time thinking. He summoned his Claws and activated his Shield gem, jut his arms out slightly so his Sleeves were facing the walls, and sprinted straight through the corridor.

The engineer spewed enough flame Mason couldn't really see.

Apex Predator flared with Elemental Affinity. The thunking, whistling sounds of traps springing from every direction filled the air. Two blades like circular saws sliced inward from the walls, bouncing off Mason's Sleeves. He saw Transformation and Duality of Strength spinning up.

Then he was through.

He slammed Shield first into the engineer, crushing him against the wall so hard he heard half a dozen bones break. The flamethrower bent and fizzled out, and Mason winced as he expected some kind of explosion that never came. He dropped his shield, and stomped the fallen engineer. Twice. For good measure.

The smell of roasting flesh made him wince because he knew it was his. Pain danced up and down his body, punctuating at an arrow apparently stuck in his thigh. Below the shield, his legs had been badly hit, and his shins looked a little like burnt chicken wings.

"Good thing Alex isn't here," he muttered. "Now I'd be 'Flame-bait'."

"Move, move!" He heard Blake's voice behind him, and the rest of the players all ran past the traps without any problems. "They take a minute to re-activate," Blake explained. Then his nose crinkled and he looked Mason up and down with obvious distaste.

"I am really not getting used to...this."

He soon reached the 'platform' to discover a giant shaft going up, and a circular hall filled with...machinery, or at least a variety of goblin devices, and several more lifts. Apparently this place was ridiculously large.

A crash and some goblin shrieking made him turn back to see the others vanishing through one of the iron doors. Blake had stayed in the hall, and looked towards Mason and stuck up his thumb.

"All good. Just a few..." he looked at the room and winced. "Nope they're dead."

Mason really wasn't very worried about the others. Blake by himself seemed disturbingly powerful, and with Rebecca and Calypsa to protect him, nevermind Annie, it would take a hell of a threat to actually harm them. Unless they got seriously surprised.

So Mason crept forward onto the platform, sniffing and listening for any sign of actual goblins. By now he sort of expected to run into more committed resistance. Not just the occasional trap and one engineer with a big...

Intruder detected. Intruder detected.

He crouched and spun, hearing the voice as if all around him but no sign of anything nearby. Finally he looked up and saw something like a speaker, and a giant...eye, looking straight at him. He pulled his bow and loosed a Power Shot straight into the thing, no idea if that was wise.

Intruder detected, blared the voice again.

Then the room's dull, white lighting flickered, and the sound of mechanical presses echoed through the cavern. The platform shook, and the middle rose up like an elevator until some kind of robot stood fully revealed.

For a moment it didn't move, and Mason activated Ranger's Mark as he inspected the thing. It had three legs in a tripod, the torso squat and thick with two arms ending in...guns with bayonets? Spear launchers?

Mason honestly wasn't sure. He was about to run up and just start hacking the thing when the lighting flickered and dropped again, this time returning with bright red.

The 'robot'—and it looked like several more on the other platforms—made a series of buzzing and clacking sounds, then turned and faced in Mason's direction.

The same red light glowed in its chest, revealing what appeared to be a corpse-like, emaciated goblin holding...joysticks? There were tubes sticking out of its chest and head, and it looked at Mason with glazed, madness filled eyes.

He also heard footsteps and goblins shouting from above, from below, from the sides. From everywhere.

"Blake!" he shouted, moving sideways as he picked a path to approach the first robot, Streak growling and following behind.

The thing turned and shot, and at least that settled that. It was definitely a spear-gun.