Chapter 3178 Expendable Pawn (Part 2) 3178 Expendable Pawn (Part 2) The Tree had done their homework and the Chroniclers this time coordinated their attacks against Solus instead of fighting as individuals. They covered each other's back, exploiting the openings that Solus' attacks created and forcing her to turtle up. Until that moment, she had failed to kill anyone after Uldreyin. 'It's done!' Vamir alerted Solus the moment the Engine was fully formed and the link with the mana geyser established beyond what the World Tree could cut off once they stepped off the exposed ground. 'Fire in the hole!' She replied while pointing at the still-open blast mark left by Thundercrash. The Librarian nodded and fired the electromagnetic cannon. The shockwave alone sent the Chroniclers slamming against the wall while the noise burst their eardrums. It wasn't enough to kill them, but that was Solus' job. As the bullet opened a gaping wound in the Tree's massive body, the agony they suffered spread to the Chroniclers on top of their own wounds, paralyzing them. Solus unleashed her spells, threw her hammers, and cut down those closest to her with the Hands' blades at the same time. To add salt to the open injury in the Tree, she collected the Yggdrasill weapons of the dead Chroniclers with Spirit Magic and sent them to the Bleed for life force extraction. 'I'm sorry.' Vamir lowered his eyes in shame as he had the Engine pick Solus up and charged forward. 'About what?' She asked, triggering another mind fusion to reinforce her hold over the elf. 'I slightly adjusted the targeting system of the Mechatron. It was aimed at one of our villages and Ellila might have been there. I couldn't risk harming her.' 'Don't apologize. You have my thanks for that.' Solus replied. 'Really?' 'Yeah, I'm not Lith. I won't kill innocent elves unless it's absolutely necessary.' Solus activated the tower's flight enchantment and escaped the Yggdrasill's clutches before the opening could heal. 'By my Mom!' Even though she was on the run, the sight of the Tree's Fringe was still breathtaking. The Heir of the First Awakened was so big that the Engine was as tall as a toddler standing in front of a centuries-old oak tree. A single branch was big enough to host an entire village of elves and most of them actually did. Before she got too far from the Tree, Solus had the time to notice that there also were villages built in between the roots and several tunnels led under the Tree. 'Sun elves emit a golden radiance while Moon elves a silvery one.' Vamir explained. 'What about you?' Solus pointed at his soothing blue aura and light brown skin. 'I'm a Wood elf while Ellila with her red glow is a Shadow elf, silly. Mighty Tree if you are an airhead.' The Librarian chuckled. Elves were forbidden to invoke the gods' names, afraid that the Guardians might listen to them and discover the secrets of their master. 'I'm sorry. I must have taken one blow to the head too many.' Solus had no idea what he was talking about or what Ellila looked like. The telepathic defenses she had learned from Dawn required her to keep as much information as she could about her host out while she performed a mind fusion. Vamir knew the most intimate detail of Solus' life whereas she didn't know even what color his eyes were. 'How far does the Fringe extend?' She asked, eager to change the topic. 'Kilometers. We should-' A solid punch to the face cut the Librarian short and sent the Engine tumbling on the ground. 'Surrender now.' The World Tree completed the phrase for him. 'I'm sick and tired of this game. I won't tolerate any further disrespect.' Colossal wooden golems surrounded the tower, each one of them over 40 meters (130') tall and made of solid Yggdrasill wood. Elemental and white crystals the size of an adult man were studded at the joints, on the chest, and face. To make matters worse, their power core contained solely offensive and defensive spells, without wasting a single rune with attack protocols or artificial intelligence. Each golem was controlled by a Chronicler, giving them a mind of their own. A mind focused by the power of the Yggdrasill wood and empowered by a titan almost as sturdy as Davross. The golem's fist had caved the Engine's face. Menadion's masterpiece was far from recovering the gold-veined marble of which it had originally been comprised. At the moment, it was just a bunch of grey rocks with a few white streaks. Alas, even if it did, Menadion had chosen the gold-veined white marble because it was the best available compromise between physical and magical resistance. Davross was too rare to build a tower out of it and so was Yggdrasill wood. But not for the World Tree itself. By dedicating small parts of themself to the golems, the Heir of the First Awakened had crafted invincible war machines that the elves used to deal with Divine Beasts. Thanks to the bond with the Tree, the wooden golems had access to the infinite energy of the Fringe and since their wood was still alive, it also shared the regenerative properties of a Fae. Guided by the minds of the Chroniclers and supported by the knowledge collected by the past World Trees, the golems made the Yggdrasill as powerful as a Guardian. 'Surrender now. I won't repeat myself a third time.' The Tree said. 'Gods if you are a whiny bitch!' Solus' reply came in the form of the Engine dealing a palm strike to the nearest golem and activating Silverwing's Annihilation from that same hand. Albeit powerful, the golems were still limited by the Tree's and the Chroniclers' bright violet cores, requiring at least three constructs to cast Silverwing's spells. The tower, instead, was a white core on its own and also had Solus' bright blue and Vamir's deep violet cores. The anti-Guardian spell pierced a hole through the construct, allowing Solus to see past it. The problem was that with so much mana and so many enchantments, she had no way to spot the Chroniclers controlling the Golem with mana sense. Roots and vines sprouted from the wound and closed the hole as fast as the Annihilation opened it. Solus was cutting the golem in random directions when a second wooden construct charged at her in a blaze of emerald light. Vidun raised his left hand and the Engine did the same, stopping the golem on its tracks and dispelling its magic. 'What? How?' The Yggdrasill was more surprised than scared. The Tree had deployed more than two golems and even though it was the least of Solus' problems, with each of her escape attempts, she was showing the Tree how powerful Menadion's tower was. "Surprise, motherfucker!" Solus said as a white barrier flickered in and out of existence, taking the golems' spells with it. While the Engine's right hand released a stream of Annihilation, the left conjured a Bastion right upon impact to save as much power as possible. 'Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Yet defense alone wins no battle. You are still trapped in my grasp.'? The Tree said. "For now." Solus raised her hands in surrender, breathing heavily.