Thick smoke smelling of sulfur and charred flesh still billowed from the bottom of the canyon. The giant pillar of fire created by Seraphina had turned the front of the mine into a miniature hell. However, amidst the swirling smoke, a pair of glowing red eyes filled with vengeance glared straight up at the cliff.
"GRAAAARRGH!"
The Kobold Mine Overseer's roar thundered, creating a shockwave of sound that blew away the surrounding ash. The Level 8 Boss with a Black Iron rarity realized that the source of its army's annihilation was the red-haired woman atop the cliff.
Ignoring Garrick, who was standing in the middle of the crater, the Overseer dashed forward with a speed entirely unnatural for its massive physique. The muscles in its scaled canine legs bulged, and it leaped dozens of meters into the air, scaling the rocky cliff with just a few brutal footholds, aiming directly at Seraphina!
"Lyra, Kael! Clean up the remaining guards below! Garrick, hold the Boss!" Orion issued a rapid barrage of commands in a cold, measured voice.
Orion did not retreat. He activated his [Eye of the Sovereign]. His eyes emitted a magical golden glow. A small amount of Mana from within his body—which he had just realized was flowing faintly through his veins after reaching Level 3—was drained. The world around him slowed down. Streams of data cascaded over the giant body of the Kobold Overseer flying through the air toward them.
[Eye of the Sovereign activated. Analyzing target...] [Weakness Detected: The target's left chest plate has a micro-crack from a past battle. The target's second heart is located right behind that plate. The target's mobility will decrease by 40% after executing consecutive aerial attacks.]
"Seraphina, three steps back!" Orion shouted.
The Pyromancer, possessing absolute loyalty, stepped back without hesitation. In the exact next second, the Overseer's giant double-bitted axe smashed into the edge of the cliff where Seraphina had been standing a moment ago. The solid rock shattered into pieces, creating a small crater.
However, the Kobold Boss didn't have the chance to raise its axe again. A giant bronze shadow had landed back atop the cliff with a leap no less brutal.
"Your opponent is me, Dirt Mutt!" Garrick roared.
The guardian giant slammed his bronze shield squarely into the Overseer's flank.
CLAAAAANG!
The sound of pure metal colliding was deafening. For the first time since he was summoned to this world, Garrick was pushed back two meters. His metal boots carved shallow trenches into the rocky ground. Outside the 300-meter radius of Orion's territory, Garrick did not have the additional 15% Overlord's Aura buff. His base Physique stat was 30, while the Level 8 Kobold Overseer's Strength reached 35.
The high level gap was able to balance out the Rarity suppression!
The Overseer smirked savagely, spinning its double-bitted axe to deliver a horizontal cleave aimed at slicing Garrick in two.
"Seraphina, Magma Shield on Garrick!" Orion commanded.
Seraphina swung her ruby staff. A layer of molten lava glowing bright red instantly coated Garrick's bronze shield.
CLAAANK! SSSSSS!
As the Boss's double axe struck Garrick's shield, the extreme heat from the Magma Shield instantly melted the edge of the iron axe blade, drastically reducing its destructive power. Garrick absorbed the attack with one knee bent, sacrificing his balance to execute a perfect block.
"Now!" Orion yelled. "Lyra, pierce its left chest plate! Kael, execute!"
From the bottom of the canyon, Lyra, who had just shot dead the last two Kobold guards, immediately shifted her aim. The distance was over fifty meters, shooting upward toward the cliff top, right into the middle of a chaotic close-quarters melee. For an ordinary archer, it was an impossible shot. For a Bronze-tier Elven Shadow Sniper, it was merely target practice.
[Active Skill: Armor-Piercing Arrow!]
The emerald arrow sliced through the air like a laser beam. It flew through a narrow gap under Garrick's arm as he raised his shield, striking precisely at the micro-crack on the Kobold Overseer's left chest plate.
CRAAAAK!
The iron chest plate exploded. The emerald arrow pierced deep inside, shattering the monster's second heart.
The Overseer's eyes bulged, spewing black blood from its snout. Its body stiffened, its mobility instantly ruined due to the destruction of a vital organ.
At that very moment, a black shadow blurred from behind Orion. Kael, who had quietly scaled the cliff while Garrick drew the aggro, glided through the air. His steel sword emitted a pitch-black aura, signifying his ultimate attack.
[Active Skill: Fatal Slash!]
One perfect horizontal slash swept across the Mine Overseer's neck. The dark-red scaled dog head was cleanly severed from its body, spinning through the air before rolling onto the rocky ground. The headless body stood rigidly for two seconds before finally crashing against the boulders with a heavy thud.
Silence instantly fell over the canyon. A gust of wind blew the ash away from the canyon floor, carrying with it the last remnants of the Kobold tribe's resistance.
[Ding! Your troops delivered the final blow to kill the Kobold Mine Overseer (Level 8 - Black Iron Boss).] [Obtained: 500 EXP.] [You have leveled up to Level 4! All attributes increased by 4 points.] [Kael leveled up to Level 4! Garrick leveled up to Level 3! Lyra leveled up to Level 3! Seraphina leveled up to Level 2!]
The warm sensation of the energy burst (EXP) washed over every member of the group. Kael, who was panting slightly, instantly regained his stamina.
Orion walked toward the Boss's headless corpse. The loot light glowing from the body was far brighter than anything he had seen before.
[Loot Obtained: 1x Treasure Chest (Silver), 1x Subjugator Double Axe (Black Iron), 20x Basic Magic Crystals, 1x Iron Mine Core.]
"A Silver Chest..." Orion's eyes gleamed. On the Third Day, getting a Bronze Chest was already a miracle for other Lords, let alone a Silver one. He immediately stored it in his Storage Ring along with the abundant magic crystals.
However, the most important prize of this expedition was not yet in his grasp. Orion saw a dark brown, cube-shaped crystal floating slowly above the entrance of the mine cave below.
"Down we go," Orion ordered.
The group descended the cliff and gathered in front of the giant cave mouth. Orion touched the cube crystal.
[Ding! Found Resource Node Core: Iron Mine (Medium).] [Do you wish to claim this Mine in the name of your Territory?]
"Claim."
The cube crystal emitted a light that connected to the air, forming an invisible line linking it to Orion's Black Iron Obelisk 10 kilometers away.
[Claim Successful! The Iron Mine (Medium) is now part of your Territory.] [Mine Status: No workers.] [Passive Production: If you station 50 workers (minimum Normal tier), this mine will automatically generate 1,000 Units of Iron Ore per day.]
Orion frowned. "System, do I have to spare my combat troops to mine here?"
That would be a massive loss. He didn't have 50 worker units. And if he used his Summoning Gateway quota to summon peasants and sent them here, they would be eaten by wild monsters before they could yield any results.
Orion walked into the damp mine cave illuminated by oil torches. Inside, there were stacks of wooden crates and baskets filled with blackened rock chunks. It was the unrefined output of the Kobold tribe's labor.
[Obtained: 5,000 Units of Iron Ore.]
"Five thousand units..." Orion stroked his chin, his analytical brain beginning to weave a plan. "This iron ore is a Normal-tier material. If I want to forge Black Iron or Bronze-tier weapons, I have to smelt it using a blacksmith, which I don't have."
He took out two chunks of Iron Ore from a basket and held them in his hands.
"Unless... I don't need a blacksmith."
His Origin-Grade talent was not just a tool to merge troops. It was the very essence of creation and the restructuring of matter.
"Forge of Genesis: Synthesis!"
The golden cube materialized, swallowing the two chunks of raw iron ore. Blinding light swirled, separating the impurities, dirt, and excess carbon, condensing the metal into its purest form.
In the next second, a perfectly molded, pitch-black bar of pure metal dropped into Orion's palm.
[Synthesis Successful!] [2x Iron Ore (Normal) -> 1x Black Iron Ingot (Black Iron)] [Description: Mid-tier metallic material. Incredibly hard and capable of channeling mana. Suitable for forging elite armor and weapons.]
Kael and Lyra, standing behind him, held their breath. They knew their Lord could strengthen them, but creating high-tier pure metal without using a physical smelting furnace was something that defied the laws of this universe.
Orion smiled broadly, his laughter echoing inside the empty mine cave.
"Garrick, Kael, gather all the baskets of iron ore in this mine and bring them before me," Orion commanded, his eyes radiating the madness of an absolute industrialist. "I don't need 50 workers to produce 1,000 ores a day. I just need to drain this cave dry right now and synthesize it all into metal that I can trade for the lives of the Lords out there."
The iron mine was not a place Orion was going to staff with workers. It was going to be his second monopoly money-printing machine after monster meat. With five thousand pure metal ingots waiting for him, Orion Vance was preparing to dominate the armaments economy of all 10,000 Lords in his region.