With this in mind, Ferro didn’t bother to avoid anything, remaining in place to start producing flame clusters.
Intentional charging was much faster than natural condensation. In less than two minutes, eighteen flame clusters were once again surrounding Ferro.
Meanwhile, a familiar voice echoed again from deep within the mist: "Intruder, die!"
"This damn hunk of metal, I swear I’ll melt you into scrap!" Ferro cursed viciously, without pausing, he immediately crushed a Fireball Cluster and charged toward the source of the sound...
However, after only a few steps, Ferro felt something was amiss.
He saw familiar water jets shooting out from the Mist, but these water jets were not directed at him; instead, they headed in a completely opposite direction.
Ferro looked over in confusion and saw that in that direction, there was another "Ferro."
That Ferro looked exactly the same as him, constantly dodging the incoming water jets, and then pulling Fireball Clusters to create shields and arrows... almost perfectly replicating Ferro’s previous battle tactics.
"What’s going on here?" Ferro stared blankly at this spectacle, wondering who that ’Ferro’ was. Was it an Illusion?
But who created the Illusion? Could it be some kind of anomaly in the Mist Belt?
Ferro was full of doubts and was extremely cautious when a voice reached his ears.
"Wizard Ferro."
The voice came from behind him.
Ferro turned around sharply, only to see several figures standing behind him: a handsome young man with red hair and golden eyes, a bent old man with gray hair peering into the distance, a woman in soft armor, and Reynaud’s spirit.
Ferro had seen Angel in disguise before, so upon seeing the red hair and golden eyes, he immediately recognized the person’s identity.
"Angel? And Nis?" Ferro looked incredulous: "Why are you here?"
Looking back at the hunk of metal fighting the Illusion, Ferro suddenly realized: "Angel, did you create that Illusion over there?"
Angel nodded: "I’ve also created an Illusion here that envelops us."
Angel quickly explained their purpose, albeit omitting some details due to the urgency of the situation, simply stating that they were here for the laboratory as well.
Ferro, knowing some of the situations at the Underground Altar, quickly accepted their reason for being there.
He was just a bit puzzled as to why Nis had accepted a mission, letting others take the lead, but then decided to come personally.
"I’ve had a premonition these days that my future might lie in the Mist Belt." Nis stroked his beard, looking profound: "So, I came."
"Wizard foretelling?" Ferro asked with surprise.
Nis smiled but did not answer.
But before Nis could finish his act, Angel interjected from the side: "Dororo made him come."
Nis’s expression instantly fell, grumbling irritably as he looked at Angel: "You’re just like your Mentor."
Angel ignored Nis’s reaction and looked at Ferro: "What’s with that mechanical head over there? What’s its origin?"
Ferro: "I don’t know either. It wasn’t there when I came yesterday. It seems to be an Alchemy Golem released by someone from the laboratory."
Angel: "You came to the laboratory yesterday? Didn’t go inside?"
Ferro shook his head: "The laboratory has a Door, it’s inscribed with a complicated Magic Pattern, blocking me for several days. I realized I couldn’t crack it quickly, so when I came yesterday, I didn’t plan to solve it but intended to break in forcefully, but..."
Ferro paused before continuing: "But something happened. It delayed me. After solving that issue, I came over here."
"Something happened?" Nis questioned: "What happened?"
Ferro fell silent for a moment: "I noticed human traces on the sea floor nearby and followed them... then I..."
"Then I encountered someone..."
Nis: "Who did you encounter?"
Ferro was about to reply when a loud explosion interrupted their conversation.
The group turned back, only to see the Mist dispersed by the water jets, clearly revealing the figure of "Ferro". He had once again approached the mechanical head.
The mechanical head seemed to have learned from its past mistakes; there were no more water ripples around it, instead, it was enveloped by a water bubble.
The water bubble lifted it in midair, from where it would continuously open its mouth, releasing water bullets like a chaotic shower that blocked all routes for "Ferro".
Every water bullet that hit the ground left a large crater, and the explosion sound they just heard was caused by these impacts on the ground.
"The water bullets are too dense; at this point, relying solely on Illusions is unlikely to deceive it." Angel commented, as his Illusions couldn’t truly manipulate flames.
"While this hunk of metal is still unresponsive, we can join forces to tackle it..." Ferro said; he wasn’t just a reckless lone wolf, knowing help could be utilized.
"What’s your plan?" Nis asked, having seen Ferro’s earlier battle with the hunk of metal, he personally thought it wasn’t easy to deal with.
"The core ability of this hunk of metal is the water ripples. Once it submerges, it can quickly restore itself to full state." Ferro explained: "So if we’re to deal with it, we must suppress its water ripples."
Ferro continued: "I know a Fire Pattern I’ve named ’Flame Law Ground.’
Fire Pattern? Nis squinted; Ferro had never revealed this before. This previously Sleepless City’s stationed wizard seemed to have quite a few hidden abilities.
Angel, however, didn’t care much about Ferro’s abilities: "What function does the Flame Law Ground serve?"
Ferro: "It creates a Domain where only Flame Power can exist. In other words, once that hunk of metal is trapped by the Flame Law Ground, it can’t release any Water System abilities, and the water ripples would naturally be useless."
Without the water ripples, it wouldn’t be hard to take down the hunk of metal.
"If you have the Flame Law Ground, why didn’t you use it before?" Nis inquired.
Ferro: "It requires power accumulation, not only using all eighteen Fireball Clusters around me but also accumulating seven more, which takes time... about a minute or so."
When Ferro fought the hunk of metal earlier, finding a spare minute, even a second was nearly impossible.
Moreover, the Flame Law Ground couldn’t be released prematurely, as its Domain was very small and the mechanical head’s appearance point was uncertain, so early preparation was not feasible.
Ferro hadn’t considered using the Flame Law Ground before.
But with others cooperating, the Flame Law Ground could swiftly resolve the hunk of metal.