Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 659 - 658: Calculated Every Step from the Beginning

Su Lun had also conducted deep research into necromancy.

He understood clearly that necromancers controlled the undead by using incantations to trigger specific waves of magic power to achieve control.

The principle was much like the exclusive frequency of a communicator, making these encrypted commands difficult to interfere with from the outside.

However, the secret incantation chanted by Cleopatra IX just now was known only to the Pharaohs of the Tares divine lineage, and naturally, Su Lun did not understand it. The reason he was able to render these hundreds of thousands of mummies rigid was entirely due to physical control.

After all, the Tares divine lineage was a humanoid race, and although they had some beast-like forms, their structures were almost identical to humans. Moreover, lifeless bodies are easier to control than living beings. The threads directly interrupted and locked the nerves, joints, energy channels, and the flow of magic power. How could these mummies possibly move?

You have a remote control, I simply cut the power.

This was the best solution Su Lun had researched for dealing with undead legions of such massive scale.

Of course, this was also a method only he could use.

....

Not far away, Kamul, Ralph, and Masia were dumbfounded.

What seemed like a certain death situation had been reversed by a magical Alchemy that appeared to be a Puppetry Technique.

At the same time, they all harbored the same doubt in their hearts: what exactly was this guy's profession?

All of them possessed keen perception and, despite their fleeting doubts, they had already discerned that those energy threads had immobilized the mummies in a clever way.

It looked like a physical restriction at the level of biological structure, achievable in theory by anyone with a mastery of anatomy.

But the difficulty lay in the... quantity.

We're talking about hundreds of thousands of mummies here!

They thought of the Puppet Masters in their respective realms, with controlling a few hundred puppets considered to be the pinnacle of Puppetry, what was the deal with this "Nicholas"?

All three were among the select few mortals who had touched the pinnacle of power beneath the level of the divine, and witnessing the capabilities of this peer of theirs, they felt an incredibly strange sensation.

It wasn't just because he was strong, but because of an indescribable shock.

A Puppet Master isn't a side job.

From what they could see now, this Nicholas, who had kept a low profile, was really a Puppet Alchemist?

Which meant, were all the various abilities he had shown before secondary to his role as a Puppet Master?

Was this the "forbidden" Alchemist spoken of in ancient legends?

Really that outrageously strong?

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Pharaoh Cleopatra IX, as a summoner of the undead, was also cast into gloom.

The mockery on her face was gone, and as she looked at the rigid mummies, her eyes were filled only with cold murderous intent.

The invincible Divine Arts of the Tares race were being countered?

This gave her an inexplicable sense of crisis.

It was a desecration of the gods as well as a desecration of the ancestors buried in the tombs.

Just then, she began to recite another arcane incantation, "￥%#%#..."

The hundreds of thousands of mummies twitched and struggled, seemingly trying to respond to the call of the incantation and move once more.

But the incantation was not the issue, their bodies needed to be able to move!

As time passed, more and more threads fell, and the number of threads piercing each individual mummy increased. Su Lun had steadily taken control of the entire field.

Although a very small number of higher-ranked mummies were unaffected and still fighting, without the domain of the "Curse of the Pharaoh" at the level of battle formation, these dry carcasses posed little threat to the four summoners of gods and devils.

At that moment, Catwoman Cleopatra still tried to revive more mummies from the coffins with incantations, but to no avail.

No matter how many mummies emerged, they were immediately held fast by the threads. And she looked up at the huge alchemy cross in the sky, realizing that the sorcerer's construction was almost perfect, impossible to disrupt.

With just this one move, the tide had turned.

The entire desert realm was subject to an unknown super-prohibition: the forbiddance of divine beings' descent.

In this sealed tomb, a battle formation composed of hundreds of thousands of mummy troops could kill a demigod in minutes, and under normal divine conditions, it was impossible for anyone to break through.

However, the presence of Su Lun, the Puppeteer, directly shattered this dead end.

And the three Centaur Kamuls were not idle, with the mummy army being restrained, they seized the excellent opportunity without hesitation!

It was at this instant that the three of them launched an attack as swift as lightning, while Pharaoh Cleopatra the Ninth had most of her magic power engaged in the Undead Summoning Technique and had not had time to react properly, was killed once again.

This was the fourth time she had been killed.

Although the divine light twinkled from the "Key of Eternal Life," Pharaoh Cleopatra IX was resurrected once more.

But this time, both Su Lun and the other three people noticed that her resurrection was not as quick as before.

That slight difference confirmed to the group: Resurrection came at a price, and the divine-grade life energy stored in the key was limited!

Seeing this, Kamul, Ralph, and Masia unleashed their full power, preparing to kill this woman again.

Kill her a few more times, and they would eventually find the key to breaking the situation.

However, Su Lun, who was within the alchemy formation, became even more cautious.

Although maintaining the Puppetry Theater did not affect his actual combat strength, he had not been very proactive; instead, he occasionally attacked from a distance with his black scythe.

Meanwhile, his gaze was fixed on every movement of the Catwoman Pharaoh, who was being forced to retreat step by step.

The information gathered had now confirmed his previous conjectures, and he was almost certain he could kill this enchanting Pharaoh.

Now, he was merely waiting for an opportunity that was bound to arise.

But Su Lun was worried about something else.

The actions of the demon summoning Contractors had been ongoing for tens of thousands of years, and within the memories Su Lun had harvested, there had been several attempts of "Pharaoh assassination" and "tomb intrusion incidents" over the past few thousand years.

However, those predecessors had not succeeded, which meant that the dangers were certainly more than what appeared on the surface.

Su Lun did not think that just because his combat abilities were somewhat exceptional compared to his peers, he was entitled to disregard the risks of this pyramid crypt filled with secrets.

All signs indicated that there was certainly still a major event to come.

There was too much in this tomb that even he could not comprehend, so the means by which the Tares tribe protected the crypt could not possibly be limited to just the Pharaoh.

While the battle was in full swing here, Uncle Crow had already flown all over the tomb, scanning the spells from the "Book of the Dead" on those dark environment's rock walls and murals.

...

The rhythm of the battle was nearly as expected; the four of them teamed up and beat the Demi-god Pharaoh so soundly she had no fight left in her.

Ralph, the barbarian, indeed had the combat abilities he claimed to possess before; even on his own, he was confident he could defeat a Demigod. Now, with four top-tier fighters joining forces, they had killed Cleopatra IX for the fifth time in a short period.

However, Su Lun also noticed that a chilling sensation in the entire crypt was growing stronger and stronger.

Upon realizing this, he was not at all surprised, instead, he looked forward with anticipation in his heart, "The Divine Power of Faith, she is finally going to use this power..."

And this was the opportunity he was waiting for!

Sure enough, he was not disappointed. After Cleopatra IX was resurrected again, she began to chant another arcane spell: "￥%#&%..."

Su Lun narrowed his eyes at her lip movements, listened to the spell, and his eyes caught the rules invoked by the spell's syllables, as he also began to whisper, "Underworld God, grant me your Divine Power, summon the sand soldiers to appear..."

This was another incantation from the "Book of the Dead," a secret passed down by the Pharaohs.

But at that moment, in Su Lun's eyes, it was no longer as unfathomable as before.

The longer the battle went on, and the more techniques Cleopatra IX used, the fewer secrets she had left.

And just as that incantation was chanted, Ralph, the barbarian from afar, shouted, "Not good! She's summoning the Divine Power of Faith, kill her quickly, get the key!"

Su Lun knew that these words were more for himself than the others.

The other three were strong and could kill the Pharaoh, but none of their methods could stop the resurrection and the descent of this divine power.

And their only hope lay with the most mysterious alchemist in their team.

Nevertheless, Cleopatra IX was still a Demi-god warrior, and upon hearing these words, a look of scorn appeared on her face again. Being killed those few times wasn't in vain for her; now with the blessing of Divine Power, no one could defeat her within the forbearers' crypt, except for the gods themselves!

Masia, the Dragon Maiden who was closest to her, tried to interrupt the descent of Divine Power, opening her mouth to spew a dragon flame so ardent it distorted the void itself, striking the enchanting Pharaoh right on.

However, the dragon flames, which had previously been able to melt away a Demi-god's domain, were now blocked a few meters in front of Cleopatra IX.

Upon closer inspection, it was a thin layer of sand shield radiating with Divine Power.

Cleopatra IX snorted coldly and said with pride, "For you few to push me this far, indeed, your strength is surprising. It seems, the one who summoned you here is not simple at all!"

With that, she waved her hand, and the sand beside her instantly condensed into several tall sand soldiers wielding long spears.

As the sand soldiers appeared, one raised a shield to block the rain of destruction arrows from the centaur Makamul. Another lightning-fast hurled its spear, clashing with the axe Ralph had chopped down, bloodlight and Divine Power collided, and the barbarian, renowned for his strength, was unexpectedly blasted away.

Seeing this, all four judged at once that the sand soldiers, endowed with Divine Power, each possessed the combat abilities of a Demi-god!

On closer inspection, there were actually eight sand warriors here.

And that didn't include Cleopatra IX, who had been blessed with divine power and whose presence was so overwhelming it made one's scalp tingle!

With a wave of her hand, the eight sand warriors charged towards the four of them like ghosts.

With a two-on-one strategy, the sand warriors were so oppressive that the barbarian Ralph and his two companions were left gasping for air after just one exchange.

They could face a demigod head-on, but that didn't mean they could stand against the power of two demigods.

The centaur Makamul galloped wildly to gain distance, looking for an opportunity to strike.

On the other side, the Dragon Maiden Masia, with dragon scales pierced by divine spears, also urgently said, "Damn it, think of something fast!"

She simply couldn't hold on for long against two opponents.

Only Su Lun, who stood a bit further away, showed no change in his expression.

How could he not know the urgency of his three companions? But these sand warriors, condensed by divine power, were beyond even his own ability to contend with.

The Eye of Omniscience had already determined that the sand warriors were almost completely immune to physical and magical attacks, virtually unkillable. And since they were not living beings, they couldn't be controlled with strings either.

With these eight sand warriors present, not to mention the four of them at Tier 9, even four demigods would be at a loss.

The only hope for breaking the deadlock lay with their controller, Cleopatra IX.

Su Lun saw that the spears raised by two sand warriors were already just a foot away from his head, his expression suddenly turned serious, and he sent a mental command, "Move now!"

In the next instant, a bizarre scene unfolded once more.

The eight sand warriors, though bolstered by divine power, abruptly stopped in their tracks!

...

"What happened!"

The centaur Makamul, the barbarian Ralph, and the Dragon Maiden Masia were all taken aback simultaneously.

They looked at the sand warriors, who had just been pressing them in fight, now motionless, and then their gaze shifted towards "Nicholas."

Although they hoped he could deal with these sand warriors, they didn't believe that the sand warriors, with their half-divine strength, could be killed.

Therefore, the problem must stem from the source!

Turning their heads, they looked over to see Pharaoh Cleopatra IX, floating in the air in the distance, with a stiff expression and her eyes a bloody red, her previously gemstone-blue pupils transformed into two bizarre red moons?

"Mind control?"

Witnessing this, the three of them tentatively formed a hypothesis: The Pharaoh had been controlled!

Yet, at the same time, they wore expressions as if they'd seen a ghost; could Nicholas also wield mental secret techniques?

And more importantly... could he control a demigod blessed with divine power?

That was simply impossible!

A demigod bolstered by the power of faith was absolutely beyond the control of any mental secret technique below deity level.

...

Su Lun didn't have that ability either.

It was Pandora who made the move!

After lurking for a long time, this deity of the Moon Reading Illusion Technique had stolen the divine power and faith from the tomb.

After observing for so long and preparing numerous methods, she was waiting for this moment!

However, now was not the time for explanations. Seizing the opportunity, Su Lun, with his scythe in hand, charged fiercely towards Cleopatra IX.

Seeing this, the other three also realized the opportunity was not to be missed and made their move simultaneously!

However, it seemed that the killing intent, almost tangible, had triggered some secret technique, because the bloody red in Cleopatra IX's eyes quickly faded, and she suddenly snapped back to her senses.

As she saw the four of them closing in on her, she quickly raised her hand in a gesture, using her divine power to block the lethal attacks.

The scythe, the axe, the dragon fist, the arrows — all four attacks hit Cleopatra IX at almost the same moment. Even though the demigod managed to muster a divine shield in the final moment, it lacked the invincible defense from before. Their combined strike broke through with a "thud," and she spat out a mouthful of blood, tumbling a kilometer away like a cannonball, flipping over countless coffins before coming to a stop.

Cleopatra IX stood up from the ruins, bellowing in disbelief, "Damn you, what have you done, why is my divine power fading..."

She hadn't finished speaking when she suddenly remembered something, "No, that's not right, you did something to my body earlier!"

Listening, a glint of cold light flashed in Su Lun's eyes.

It's too late to realize it now!

Actually, the moment Su Lun saw the queen's body without a soul outside, he had already thought of this step in his plan.

That's why he put the body into an ordinary storage ring instead of directly into the miniature void world—he felt the body might be useful.

In the time he possessed the body, he wasn't idle; Pandora had already marked it with various Divine Arts secret techniques, leaving behind a special Divine Power backdoor for siphoning.

The reason Su Lun didn't make his move earlier in the fierce battle was to give Pandora enough time.

Even the tomb battlefield had been carefully chosen by him for the Pharaoh in advance!

From the memories he had harvested from the Taris deity clan, he clearly identified a possibility—that the numerous mummies in the tomb could be resurrected.

Su Lun had guessed at that time that this might be part of the tomb's defense mechanism.

As he himself had extensive research on corpses, this wasn't a big issue for him.

In his Plan A, even if he couldn't control the mummies with his Puppetry Technique, he still had his "Plan B" with his legion of a million puppets!

If all else failed, it would be a direct clash of legions!

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Although the risk of mutual destruction wasn't small, risks were great everywhere in this yellow sand realm.

But if the plan succeeded, the risks would be minimized.

With sufficient intelligence to support him, Su Lun had almost anticipated any possibility, such as the Pharaoh resorting to the use of Divine Power after being unable to overpower the four of them upon resurrection.

Su Lun didn't think he had the ability to kill a demi-god strengthened by Divine Power within the Taris clan's tomb.

In this situation, Pandora's Faith Stealing would be crucial!

And, just like the plan, due to the prior tampering with the body, Cleopatra IX had already fallen into the Moon Reading Illusion Technique before she could call upon Divine Power.

Just like now!

Pandora's ability to read the divine also had peaked at the threshold of godhood; she wasn't so easily detected.

Even if Cleopatra IX was vigilant enough, it wouldn't help, because from the moment Su Lun killed Saint Jey earlier, he hadn't given the resurrected her any time to breathe!

Now, Cleopatra IX, severely wounded by the combined efforts of the four, spat blood. Her pupils rapidly alternated between azure and blood moon, as if two wills were fighting within her body for control.

The three barbarians, including Ralph, hadn't grasped what was happening, but seeing this, Su Lun didn't hesitate to charge forward again.

In an instant, he covered hundreds of meters, and in the blink of an eye, his black scythe was already pressed against the Pharaoh's neck.

Even a minute detail could determine the victor in a battle between top fighters, let alone a fatal struggle for control of the body.

Cleopatra IX's face switched between fear and an eerie demeanor; Su Lun's black scythe effortlessly decapitated her.

And this time, the "Key of Eternal Life" in the queen's hand didn't bloom with light.

Because Divine Power requires a connection to Faith, and after the faith was stolen, she could be killed! The resurrection energy in the Ankh amulet, unable to sense the Power of Faith, couldn't protect her soul.

Cleopatra IX's flying severed head wore an expression of unwillingness, revealing that she still desperately tried to grasp the power of resurrection.

But where would Su Lun give her a chance?

With a gesture, the shadow of death that followed him swallowed up that "gray mist."

After harvesting her soul, Su Lun finally took a deep breath, confirming he had truly killed this demi-god of the Taris clan!

Killed her?

In the distance, the three barbarians, including Ralph, who had been eager to rush to help, were overjoyed.

They saw the divine light of the key did not reignite, looking at the corpse which showed no signs of resurrection.

The four in the tomb breathed a sigh of relief, releasing a collective breath of foul air.

Having killed a demi-god endowed with Divine Power, they finally saw hope.

...

With nobody to obstruct them now, as long as they could place the "Key of Eternal Life" on the altar, the Divine-Demon Pact would be undone.

But looking at the key in his hands, Su Lun's expression became grave once more.

There were troubles far greater than the current ones in this mysterious Pyramid Tomb.

The affairs of gods and demons were not something humans could meddle with lightly.

Su Lun felt that what they were about to face might be the real, most significant danger that "predecessors" over tens of thousands of years had failed to overcome.