Chapter 233

Klee and their small motorcycles would never be able to reach Guyun Stone Forest on their own.

So, Takumi had to take them there.

Klee sat in the front, while Qiqi sat in the back. Yaoyao and Diona got into Noelle's car.

Once everyone was seated, Takumi took off.

With a sharp acceleration, he sped toward their destination.

"Fortified!"

A low groan escaped Takumi as he and Noelle activated a massive shield around their vehicles.

Then, without hesitation, Takumi pushed forward at full speed, accelerating rapidly.

His speed was astonishing—Noelle was instantly left behind.

After hesitating for a moment, she pressed the accelerator and hurriedly caught up. 

This was the first time Noelle had experienced such high speeds.

She thought she would be scared, but the shield surrounding them gave her a strong sense of security.

This was the power of Geo!

Meanwhile, Lumine and her team had already arrived at Guyun Stone Forest.

They stood on the highest peak of the area, gazing down at the ruins below.

From here, they could clearly see the entire landscape of Guyun Stone Forest.

The four of them paused, taking in their surroundings.

Fischl sent Oz to scout ahead, using her ability to share his vision.

It didn't take long before Fischl spotted something.

"Found it! Over there!"

She pointed in a specific direction, her face filled with excitement.

Hearing Fischl's words, everyone's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"That's great!"

"Let's go!"

"If we handle this quickly, maybe we can head back by tonight."

Lumine was also excited—she hadn't expected to find their target so easily.

However, Fischl hesitated.

"That Ruin Guard… there seem to be too many of them. Are we really okay with this?"

Indeed, there weren't just a few.

There were dozens of them.

Unlike in the game, where only a handful appeared, this was real life—an entire area was filled with inactive Ruin Guards.

Hearing this, Lumine was momentarily stunned.

Then, her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"We've hit the jackpot!"

"Still, since there are so many, we need to be cautious."

"Are there any active ones?"

"If so, we should take them down one at a time."

So many Ruin Guards meant a lot of money.

Lumine wasn't scared at all—she was thrilled.

Maybe she could clear all her debts in one go.

Perhaps she could even make enough money to renovate her home.

Just thinking about it made her excited.

Fischl took a moment to confirm through Oz.

After a short while, she reported back.

"There is one."

"It's a Ruin Hunter!"

"On the other side. We can circle around and take it out first."

Fischl stopped scouting and relayed her findings to the group.

Hearing Fischl's words, Lumine became even more excited.

She made the decision immediately.

"We'll start with the Ruin Hunter."

The others agreed. If something went wrong, they could always retreat.

Without hesitation, the four of them sprang into action.

As they crossed the island where the Ruin Guards rested, they saw them sprawled across the ground.

The sheer number of them was overwhelming.

"Whoa… that's a lot…" Bennett muttered, eyes wide.

Luckily, they hadn't rushed in blindly—otherwise, they would have been in serious trouble.

They quickly moved past the Ruin Guards and reached the isolated Ruin Hunter.

Seeing the inactive machine, Lumine's excitement grew.

If they could defeat and capture it, they'd be in for a huge profit.

"How do we fight it?" Bennett asked curiously.

Lumine responded without hesitation.

"We fight it directly!"

"No need to overthink it."

"A quick fight."

"We don't want to alert the other Ruin Guards."

If Klee were here, she could have blasted it with her explosives.

But right now, they had to work with what they had.

Fischl was an archer, but Bennett and Razor specialized in melee combat.

Hearing Lumine's plan, Bennett and Razor exchanged glances before nodding.

It was their best option.

Once their strategy was set, Lumine charged forward first.

Fischl took to the skies on her motorcycle, providing ranged support.

As soon as Lumine, Bennett, and Razor made their move, the Ruin Hunter activated.

A mechanical beeping sound echoed as it powered up.

Slowly, it began to hover.

Bennett was the first to attack, activating his elemental burst.

"Burn it up!"

He slammed his fist into the ground.

A wave of Pyro energy erupted from the impact, forming a massive emblem on the earth.

Lumine and Razor immediately felt a surge of power within them.

"Turn into dust!"

Lumine channeled her Geo energy, stomping hard on the ground.

Stone pillars erupted around the Ruin Hunter, striking it from all sides.

"Blitz!"

Razor summoned his Wolf Spirit, leaping onto one of the stone pillars created by Lumine.

His wolf-shaped energy form swiped at the Ruin Hunter with ferocious claw attacks.

The three of them worked together to overwhelm the enemy.

Meanwhile, Fischl drew her bowstring, taking precise aim from above.

As the Ruin Hunter hovered higher, its blades extended, slashing at the attackers.

Seizing the opportunity, Fischl fired a charged Electro arrow.

Her shot hit its mark, disrupting the machine's movements.

However, this wasn't like a game.

A single attack wasn't enough to disable it.

The Ruin Guards and Ruin Hunters were built using advanced alchemical technology from Khaenri'ah.

Standard elemental attacks barely scratched them.

To defeat it, they had to break through its defenses.

The four of them continued their coordinated assault.

Whenever the Ruin Hunter attempted a surprise attack, Fischl's arrows forced it to stagger.

Even when it tried to launch its built-in missiles, they prevented it from activating.

However, as the battle raged on, their attacks made too much noise.

What they didn't realize was that, behind them, the inactive Ruin Guards had started to awaken one by one…