Chapter 128: Iro the Magnetic Storm Infantryman

"My lord, I believe I do not have a sister named Vinya. I am Vinigo," Vinigo replied, gesturing toward the two girls behind him. "You have met them: Honey the priestess and Sherry the mage."

"Oh, nice little children," Sir Newton nodded. He lingered his gaze on Sherry for a moment. "A young Warlord?"

"A joint… gift from the Warlords and the Sheep-Bleating Cult," Vinigo hesitated before explaining. "Of course, for Sherry, it was a very long nightmare."

Sherry remained expressionless, though she gripped Honey’s hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"A welcoming gift. Take it and play," Sir Newton said, casually removing a ring from his finger and tossing it to Sherry.

Vinigo glanced at it and couldn't help but twitch his lips: the Ring of the Deep Spring, a treasure that significantly enhances water elemental magic abilities.

"You never seem to be this generous with me," Vinigo complained. He signaled for Sherry and Honey to find a place to sit, then plopped himself down opposite Sir Newton.

As an aside, Sir Newton was currently sitting on the floor, his mage robes half-open and his coronet worn askew, leaning against the ground while sketching characters that no one could decipher.

Vinigo took a glance and lost interest. However, he lingered on several exquisite drawings Sir Newton had set aside.

"Eskaton Crystal Pillars? These are very accurate drawings. The proportions and dimensions are exceptionally precise; this doesn't seem like your style, Archmage," Vinigo remarked.

"I have many students," Sir Newton replied. "Do you see anything?"

"Precise hexagons, perfect facets. If the volume were reduced a million times, it would be a very refined crystal inlay. It is hard to imagine how that Destroyer could conjure such crystal pillars out of thin air."

"Elements, four kinds of elements," Sir Newton explained. "He directly channeled the four elements and solidified them into this form according to fixed ratios."

"A spatial coordinate; it doesn't actually exist on this plane," Vinigo said suddenly. "You noticed that, I assume."

Newton looked up at Vinigo again, then grinned after a moment. "You clearly don't understand magic, yet you can see that. My students, oh, my students..."

"There is one more thing. Yesterday's incident, involving the Warlords," Vinigo said abruptly. "The Sheep-Bleating Cult attacked the crystal pillar and were obliterated by a retaliatory beam of light. A few minutes later, I saw several Warlords along with their guards. And they took the initiative to attack Sophie and me."

Sir Newton’s hand paused in its work. The Archmage looked up, his usually muddled face wearing a rare expression of cold seriousness.

"Warlords, those... scoundrels," Sir Newton sighed.

"We can help," Vinigo said with a grin. "Since they dared to attack me, I naturally owe them some reciprocity."

"How do you intend to help?" Sir Newton asked.

"Whatever they want to do, I will make sure they cannot," Vinigo stated his plan simply and clearly.

It was simple, crude, but highly effective.

"I know what they want to do," Sir Newton sighed. "I instructed Phyllis to monitor intelligence on the Warlords. Recently, the Warlords have been sending personnel to New Sorpigal. And the only thing there that could interest them is the ruins of the Garilin Ironworks."

"So, whatever they go there to do, I will make them fail," Vinigo responded. "Sir, the opponents are Warlords. May I have an advance on my payment?"

Sir Newton burst into laughter and reached out to pat him. "So that was your goal, kid. What do you want?"

Vinigo hurriedly pulled out a stack of sketches and spread them out before Sir Newton.

These were rough designs based on the data of the Tesla Infantry, including several components he could not manufacture on his own. Yet, these parts could be crafted through magic.

"Although I don't fully understand what you are doing, these are not difficult. Roughly... 4,200 gold coins. Deducting my fee, you still owe me 3,000," Sir Newton said.

"My lord, who said you were muddled?" Vinigo gave a wry smile. "You estimated that in just one glance? I spent all night on this..."

"Don't play the innocent after getting a bargain," Sir Newton snorted. "Even if you had the money, you wouldn't find anyone else capable of crafting these strange things. Now, get lost, and go find my student, that old gray-bearded fellow in the yellow robes. Truly a fool; as a student of Archmage Newton, he still hasn't had a breakthrough at sixty..."

He continued to complain incessantly, so Vinigo shrugged and took his leave.

A week later, Vinigo received his custom-made components.

Using the entire hide of a Thunder Lizard, mages imbued it with magic to construct the shell of the Thundercloud Type I Insulated Power Armor. The interior was lined with a composite filler made of asbestos mesh, cowhide, and spider silk to improve the armor's resistance to lightning, fire, and impact. This full-body suit included a magic array that boosted strength, allowing the wearer to move swiftly despite the half-ton weight of the armor. At the same time, it featured a reinforced Atmospheric Aegis to enhance insulation and defend against projectile weapons.

Of course, the most important feature was the insulation. The armor's greatest strength was its complete immunity to lightning—at least under existing magical and natural conditions, it was impossible for lightning to penetrate it.

Vinigo fashioned the egg-shaped headgear himself using Nanoka’s sundries, primarily from crystal. This transparent, insulated crystal helmet provided high defense and insulation while ensuring a clear field of vision. To avoid reduced visibility due to severe impact or oil stains, Vinigo added six "Eyes of Air" magic circles to provide a 360-degree view—though that required some time to get used to.

The primary weapons of the Thundercloud Type I were the coils wrapped around the arms, made from a mithril and copper-silver alloy. The structure and material formula were found in the Eskaton Information Sphere; clearly, this design, proven and refined over a long period in another world, was the most perfect one Vinigo could find. Performance approaching that of a superconductor allowed these coils to generate magnetic storm currents equal to those of a Master Mage with very little heat generation.

It could instantly turn an expensive plate armor, along with the chainmail, cloth armor, and human body inside, into a pile of molten iron and ash.

To provide the massive current and ensure long-term combat endurance, the mages also crafted batteries using 30 ochre crystals as carriers. These gems, engraved with magic arrays, had become quite cheap since the appearance of the Air Elemental Plane gate; otherwise, Vinigo would have had to spend another 3,000 gold coins to build this incredibly expensive super-battery.

Its advantage was a massive capacity for current storage, and it would not explode even if destroyed. To mages, the inability of ochre crystals to provide large amounts of mana made them a low-end material, but for Vinigo’s Thundercloud Type I, the magnetic storm discharge generated by 30 parallel-connected ochre crystal units was already powerful enough.

After all, the Thundercloud Type I had a large backpack, while mages only needed a tiny stone embedded in a ring.

This expensive equipment, with a total value exceeding five thousand gold coins, was ultimately worn by Iru.

Only his massive physique was suited for this super-armor that could pass for a giant.

"The necessary preparations are complete. Next, we are going to New Sorpigal to cause trouble for those troublesome Warlords," Vinigo announced.

"Finally, it won't be so boring," the big cat said, lazily sprawled at Honey’s feet.

"Honey has improved!" little Honey clenched her fists, held them high, and announced proudly.

Sherry remained silent, only squinting at Iru in his Thundercloud Type I armor, looking quite interested.

"Sophie?" Vinigo turned to the knight girl. Sophie looked up, dazed for a moment, then nodded.

She was distracted... What made this girl, who was usually so calm and disciplined, lose focus while talking to him? Vinigo couldn't help but feel suspicious. It seemed Sophie had something on her mind.

The little wolf-girl Arkana and the little vampire Suna naturally wanted to go as well; they were the types who couldn't sit still for even a second. As for Marlin and Yuri... never mind, this kind of thing wasn't for them. Besides, they had more important things to do.

More important things than going out for a picnic.

"So, how are we getting to New Sorpigal? By boat?" Honey asked.

"I have another idea," Vinigo replied.

Half a day later, twelve strange-looking "horses" galloped out of Prism Manor. Their bodies and running movements were like ordinary ponies, only significantly broader and sturdier, with a ridiculous, round head.

But there was no doubt these strange horses had excellent speed and endurance, capable of galloping while carrying over half a ton of equipment. Though they couldn't compare to the charge of a knight's heavy warhorse, for transport, no horse could match them.

A product of Prism Manor, they were born from biological embryos found in ancient spaceship ruins, simply cultivated and modified using Kreegan biotechnology.

Now, with the addition of some techniques from the Eskaton Information Sphere, their growth rate simply met Vinigo's requirements.

Vinigo didn't intend to give them complicated names, so they were simply called Packhorses. These packhorses would carry Vinigo and his team, along with their equipment, galloping all the way to New Sorpigal.

The show was about to begin!