From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 421: Revenge Guard Raised High

Bang!
The heavy hammer, which was fixed in the air by the meshing gears, fell heavily, and the entire forging platform shook with the sound of metal collision.

With sparks and noise, the giant gears under the forging platform began to turn.

Through Shirov Yari's experimental records, Ivy has learned that the entire giant forging platform and the forging hammer on top are pushed back into place by steam. The heat of the molten lava can not only melt the adamantium, but also turn the water of the Ebony Lake into high-temperature steam. This hot fluid can easily lift a metal forging hammer weighing more than 10,000 pounds and drive the gears that dozens of people cannot hold together to rotate.

The forging platform descended relatively smoothly, and at least the people standing on it could keep their balance.

Looking at the approaching lava lake and feeling the increasingly scorching air, the adventurers on the forging platform swallowed involuntarily.

The descent lasted about 5 seconds, and the forging platform touched the bottom again. The metal gears reversed, and the brass pipe responsible for injecting steam into the platform reconnected with the platform. In the silence of the adventure team, the forging platform had quickly completed its preparations.

"What a cool transition! Really nice!" Kalak laughed and looked around with great interest. "Even though it has been abandoned for so long, it can still be used normally. What should we do next?"

"The ore and the mold have been put in. All we have to do next is turn the valve and inject magma into the forging platform." Ivy crushed a piece of black sediment with his foot. It was attached to the groove of the forging platform, and it was obvious at a glance that it was what remained after the lava cooled.

"Where will the guards come out from?" Minsala looked around keenly, hoping to find the hiding place of the adamantine golem in advance.

Unfortunately, the isolated island where the forging platform is located is almost the only place to stay in this lava lake.

"When we start the process of forging adamantium, the guards will appear." Ivy looked around and his sight fell on a pipe outlet. There was a small mass of lava that had not yet completely cooled down. "So I think it will come out of the lava pipe. To be on the safe side, everyone stood on high ground and avoided the grooves on the ground to avoid getting their feet burned by the magma."

"I'll turn the steering wheel." Kalak volunteered and stood in front of the metal steering wheel. "As long as you say so, I'll turn it."

Ivy nodded and continued to arrange the tactics: "After the guard golem appears, everyone will use long-range attacks in turn to attract its attention and buy me time to crack its pre-made program. If we are unlucky, we must guide it to the bottom of the heavy hammer and use the forging hammer itself to destroy it."

"Will, you stand near the forging hammer control lever. If my spell fails, you have to rely on your own judgment to control the timing of releasing the forging hammer; Xie Nian, you are the most flexible, stand on the mold room and use the crossbow to attract the attention of the guards. Laizer, Minsara, you stand on the roundabout and help me limit the movement of the guards as much as possible." Ivy commanded each teammate to take their positions in turn, and then began to play the lute. The magic notes jumped and merged into each teammate, providing him with extra protection and strength.

"It's amazing!" Kalak did a bodybuilding move, making his swollen arm muscles bounce up, "I feel like my muscles can do anything!"

"Indeed," Laizer made a sword flower with one hand, "This huge sword turned into a feather in my hand. It feels really wonderful."

"Are the preparations completed?" Xie Nian checked the crossbow to make sure the crossbow arrows were in their positions.

"There is one last step." Ivy put the lute back on his back and took out a small crystal bottle from his pocket. Through the wall of the bottle, he could see the light blue liquid inside.

Ivy shook the bottle up and down in his hand to mix the contents thoroughly, then threw it out at the right spot.

The crystal bottle hit the metal parts of the forging platform and turned into a pile of fragments, and the liquid filled with fine bubbles inside also quickly poured out.

After the light blue liquid came into contact with the air, it quickly boiled and released a large amount of mist that shone with light dust. This mist condensed around Laizer and Minsara, transforming from gas into a solid magical existence.

It was a hand, Bigby's hand.

“Mystra!” Gale, who was not standing below with his companions, held his head and exclaimed, “Is that an activation spell? I thought an activation spell could only be created under extremely accidental circumstances! But you put it in a bottle?”

"What is an animation spell?" Minsara stretched out a finger and poked the gelatinous body of the Animated Bigby's Hand. The touch reminded her of another creature. "Why does it look like a mud monster?"

"That's because the Animation Spell does have a lot in common with the Mud Monster." Ivy nodded.

After Dumbledore's sister Ariana was resurrected, Ivy began to study the process of activation spells. After so much time, he naturally mastered the method of making specific activation spells. However, this artificially generated activation spell can only survive for a very short period of time. Usually no more than 10 minutes, they will turn into a ball of magic again, and no residue will be left.

Even if Ivy could grow oozes that last longer, it wouldn't extend the life of an animation spell. But these creatures, which share some similarities with oozes and constructs, are still very useful in some ways.

For example, the Activated Bigby Palm in front of us. Its solid body gives it a stronger suppression ability. It can basically capture and suppress creatures of large or smaller size better.

However, having a physical body will also bring certain negative effects to Bigby's Palm. Since the original spell is to create a force field palm, when executing the self-defense command, the force field palm can effectively deflect various physical missiles. But after having a real body, the activated Bigby's Palm will be damaged by physical missiles. Although this kind of damage can only have a very limited effect on its gelatinous body that is very similar to the mud monster, it can still kill it if it accumulates.

Ivy chose to summon the Activated Bigby's Palm when fighting the Adamantine Golem in order to better control the opponent's actions and leave room for himself to crack its core.

Releasing the activated Bigby Palm was still not the last step in the preparation. Ivy's fingers left some flashing tracks in the air, and as he chanted the spell loudly, a floating palm appeared again.

This is still Bigby's Palm, but the spell version of Bigby's Palm imitates Ivy's right hand, while the activation spell version imitates his left hand.

Even Ivy couldn't maintain two spells that required concentration at the same time, so she chose to use the activation spell instead of casting her own spells. Although it was slightly inferior in flexibility, the stronger suppression power obviously made up for this little shortcoming.

Ivy commanded the force field right hand and the gelatinous left hand to pinch each other's fingers, and then helped Laizer and Minsara close their jaws. Then he gave an order to Kalak who was completely stunned over there: "Turn the steering wheel, let us welcome the guards of the adamantine furnace!"

With a sharp creaking sound, the valve inside the pipe slowly opened, and the hot lava immediately lit up inside the pipe, flowing along the pipe into the groove of the forging platform, and then injected into the ore crucible through the sinking guide valve. The first step of forging fine gold officially started.

When the flowing lava filled all the grooves on the forging platform, the sound of metal machining began to echo inside the pipe.

It seems that in addition to drawing magma from the lava falls, this pipe is also responsible for the deployment of furnace guards.

"It's coming!" Kalak, who was standing on the side of the lava outlet, warned loudly. She could already see the lavender light emanating from the golem's core.

The adamantium mace collided violently with the fence of the pipe, and a huge construct lifted the fence and drilled out from the inside.

At a glance, the adventurers on different islands separated by lava confirmed that the golem was indeed made entirely of adamantium.

Because they don't know what other metal in the world can deserve such an evaluation.

It was a dark indigo, like frozen midnight, but it shone with the cold luster of metal. The Shar worshippers painted the construct with silver and purple decorations to show the world Shar's wealth.

The adamantium gears spun rapidly in the golem's chest, transforming the core magic power into surging power to drive the nimble and coordinated limbs of this killing machine.

Although the Vengeance Guard cannot speak and there are no eye-shaped openings on its visor-shaped helmet, everyone who comes face to face with it feels as if they are being stared at by the most terrifying predator.

The boiling lava on the forging platform covered the Vengeance Guard's ankles. The heat from the center of the earth flowed upward along the golem's joints and transmission devices, coating half of its body with a fiery red.

Minsara, who had assumed a fighting stance the moment the Vengeance Guard appeared, lowered his center of gravity and reminded loudly: "Filo's notes are true. The heat of the lava has reduced its defense!"

The lava softened the adamantium joints, but the Vengeance Guard would not fall down. It stepped forward and waded through the lava, raising the mace in its right arm high, aiming straight for Minsara's head.

But Ivy, who had been waiting on the side for a long time, quickly clasped his hands together, and the force field palm and the gelatin palm immediately replicated his movements, squeezing the Vengeance Guard firmly in the middle, with his ten fingers overlapping and placed, leaving the arrogant adamantine construct no possibility of escape.

The Revenge Guard froze in place with its arms raised, then began to struggle hard. The steam pumping from its joints and the sound of metal friction showed how much strength it was using.

Not only was the upper body of the Vengeance Guard exerting strength, but its two pillar-like metal legs were also struggling. Large swathes of magma that looked like molten gold were spread out by it, splashing towards the two adventurers in the front position.

The greatsword in Laizer's hand was relatively wide, so it was not difficult for him to block the lava, but Minsara, who was holding the magical longsword of Eilistraee, was not so lucky. The slender sword was obviously not enough to block all the lava, and her swordsmanship had not reached the level of "the sword was flying, and the water could not penetrate it".

At the critical moment, the exiles from Menzoberranzan quickly turned sideways, minimizing the area of their bodies in contact with the lava and preserving their combat effectiveness as much as possible.

But it was not until the lava got close to her that Minsala realized that everything she did was in vain, because the splashing lava actually stirred up a wave-like pattern, then slid to both sides, without any falling on her.

“It’s DOOM’s shield magic…” Minsara breathed a sigh of relief and looked again at the Vengeance Guard who was firmly clamped by two giant hands.

"Fuck the Nine Hells..." Kalak muttered, expressing the thoughts of all the other adventurers present.

Because the arrogant platinum golem was pulled out of the magma by two giant hands like pulling weeds out of mud and lifted into the air.

The force field palm created by Bigby's Palm has the properties of suspension and flight, and its 26 points of strength allow it to easily suppress various targets of medium size or less.

Activated Bigby's Palm also inherits these characteristics, and also gains further attribute gains, because Ivy's caster level will be fed back to the activation spell in a certain proportion, enhancing its attribute benefits.

The Vengeance Guardian is indeed an ingeniously constructed killing machine, but it is difficult to gain the upper hand when facing two opponents of similar size and greater strength.

Although the two giant hands could not cause effective damage to the Vengeance Guards, and even the activated Bigby's Palm with a gelatinous body was damaged by the heat from the lava on the Vengeance Guards, Ivy's original purpose in summoning them was not to defeat the Vengeance Guards, but to let them buy enough space and time for himself.

Ivy didn't feel much resistance when he intertwined his fingers, so he decided to change his posture. He controlled his two giant hands to throw the Vengeance Guardian high up, then quickly pinched its limbs in pairs and swung it horizontally in front of him.

"Very good... I can see it very clearly..." Facing the rune circuits and mechanical structures hidden under the adamantium armor of the Vengeance Guard, Ivy nodded happily. The teammates who were the backup plan were completely useless. As long as they could find a way to paralyze the Vengeance Guard before the activated Bigby's Palm dissipated, they would be done.

"...What should we do now?" Laizer looked at the others and asked, holding up his sword, "Are we in a daze?"

"What?" Ivy's mind was completely immersed in the core of the Vengeance Guard. He was half a beat late to answer the question of the Star Bay Girl. "Just stay alert for the time being, or in your words - stay in a daze. Once I can't control it anymore, I will tell you in advance."

The technology that Shirov Yari used in the Vengeance Guard is similar to the technology used in building the Adamantine Forge, but the former is obviously more skilled and sophisticated, because in terms of time, the Vengeance Guard was obviously created after the Adamantine Forge.

"...Power supply circuit - not hard to understand... Is this one used to provide driving force? Or is it used to indicate a target?" Ivy squinted his eyes and carefully examined the core of the Vengeance Guardian, interpreting the meaning of the magic runes word by word, and looking for a suitable position to start.

In the end, Ivy decided to start with the prefabricated personality, which was the cognitive program that Shirov Yari had reserved for the Vengeance Guard. As long as it was destroyed, the Vengeance Guard would become an unconscious big fool.

(End of this chapter)