Their bodies were forged of pitch-black steel, joints exhaling steam, and in the hollows of their eyes burned eerie blue flames.
The shapes of the beasts varied; some resembled three-headed, six-armed giants with spiked joints; others were like colossal serpents covered in gear-shaped scales; still others were spider-like, with eight gleaming legs ending in razor points.
But one thing was certain,
Every single one was enormous.
And entirely metallic.
With steel bodies and cold, lifeless eyes, they moved under the command of the black-robed wizards, like an army of awakened war machines. Hundreds, even thousands of these metal creations took to the air from the structures of the city.
"This is… a welcome ceremony?" Ian muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching as he watched the massive figures rising from the city's edge, like a terrifying swarm of gigantic steel bees.
"This, this is way over the top!" He yelped, eyes wide as he stepped back fast. There was no mistaking it; every one of those steel monstrosities had locked onto him.
A moment later, the metallic beasts lunged, moving with astonishing speed, closing in on him almost instantly. Ian reacted at once, casting magic with lightning precision.
At the same time,
BOOM!
The first metal beast spread its wings and roared forward, it looked like a mechanical western dragon, its twenty-meter wingspan slicing the air, claws gleaming with a chilling metallic light.
Ian raised his wand swiftly, casting what he considered a solid, reliable spell.
"Diffindo!"
A silver arc of light shot toward the nearest spider-like beast, but it only left a faint white scratch on its armored shell. The spell hadn't harmed it at all.
Ian could only dodge awkwardly.
"Incendio!" he shouted next, his wand flaring with red fire, but the flames vanished the instant they touched the metal beast, swallowed as though by a black hole.
No good.
Ian gritted his teeth and transformed the flames into Fiendfyre. The blazing inferno coalesced into a western dragon of living fire, roaring as it hurled itself toward the metal monstrosity. Yet, just as it was about to engulf it,
The steel surface of the creature lit up with countless runes. The unstoppable cursed fire was absorbed completely, vanishing as if it had never been.
Yes, the raging Fiendfyre, roaring like a dragon, rushed upon the steel dragon… and in the instant it touched its body, it evaporated into nothingness, not even leaving a single scorch mark behind.
This was not the first time Ian had encountered a material that even Fiendfyre could not burn.
And just then,
"What?!"
Ian's pupils contracted sharply.
He suddenly realized, the metal composing this city and those monstrous constructs… it was the same metal as that bronze gate he had seen before. So, the bronze gate and the wizards here were indeed connected!
Before he could even process that revelation, another steel beast lunged from the side, its massive body like a scorpion, tail spewing high-pressure steam.
Its razor-sharp metallic stinger shot straight toward him!
"Demonic Surge!" Ian roared, the tip of his wand erupting in a beam of dark green energy. It was a modified version of the Kedavra Curse, its destructive force enough to surpass centuries' worth of Voldemort's work in one blow.
Yet, the moment the dark energy struck the metal beast, the runes etched across its body lit up again. The beam was absorbed completely, leaving no mark behind. Worse, the excess energy ricocheted into another metal beast behind it, which absorbed the force and converted it into fuel, into metallic vitality.
"What the--?! It can absorb spells?!" Ian was dumbstruck. Then it dawned on him, this wasn't ordinary magical defense. It was an entirely different energy system, something beyond his understanding of Cognition.
"Listen to me! I'm not your enemy! I came from another era! I just want to go home!" Ian shouted, switching rapidly through several ancient languages.
But,
"There! It's saying those same cursed syllables again!"
On the walls of the Iron City, the black-robed wizards stood with wands raised, chanting strange sounds. Just like before, Ian couldn't understand a single word.
All he could hear was incomprehensible gibberish.
"Damn it! Their steel really is the same as that bronze gate, completely immune to magic?!" Ian gritted his teeth and sidestepped swiftly.
But,
The metallic scorpion's tail grazed his shoulder, tearing through his cloak and leaving a long rip.
"You bastards! Have you ever heard of diplomacy?!" Ian shouted, dodging a rain of attacks while furiously cursing under his breath. His wand flashed through the air, tracing runes of ancient spells.
But every incantation from his era, every carefully honed spell, proved useless against these steel monstrosities. Ian rolled through the air in desperation, trying to gain distance, but more of the beasts were surrounding him from every direction: mechanical eagles, gear-scaled serpents, steaming colossi.
They had no life, no mind to influence, and ignored all magic as if it were nothing, as though they were born to counter wizards.
"Path of the Fire God! Invisible Storm! Gravitational Collapse!" Ian roared, flinging spell after spell in a storm of fury. But every cutting charm, every explosion curse, all were swallowed or deflected by those eerie runes.
Even gravity-based spells couldn't so much as shake the metal creatures.
BOOOOM!
A steel colossus swung its massive fist, and the compressed air erupted in a shockwave. Ian barely raised a Protego in time, but the force still blasted him dozens of meters back, his chest throbbing with pain.
"You lunatics!" he spat blood, glaring at the black-robed wizards atop the Iron City. "I haven't even done anything, and you go straight for the kill?!"
"How rude!" he barked, chastising them mid-fight.
But the wizards only stared down at him, tense and wary. Though it looked like their mechanical beasts had the upper hand, their expressions were full of fear and strain, as if the pressure they felt was no less than Ian's own.
Not one of them dared to duel him directly with magic.
Was it that they didn't want to?
No, it looked more like they didn't dare! They stayed behind the walls, commanding their metal beasts, trying, it seemed, not to destroy Ian outright, but to drive him away.
"You bunch of tin cans are doing this on purpose!" Ian shouted angrily while weaving between attacks. "I'm just passing through! I'm a civilized man!"
"Damn it, these things just won't die…" he growled through clenched teeth. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. He took a deep breath, and a glint of resolve flashed in his eyes.
"If magic's useless…"
He suddenly stowed his wand. Crossing his arms over his chest, his magic power surged violently within him. In the next moment, his body began to twist and transform, bones realigning, muscles tightening, skin shifting into sleek black feathers.
Animagus form!
"Caw--!"
A massive raven burst skyward, its pitch-black wings tearing through the clouds. The metal beasts' attacks all missed as Ian shot past them like a streaking comet, aiming straight for the Iron City's Protective Shield.
For a heartbeat, the black-robed wizards froze. Then their eyes widened in panic.
"It's him! It really is him!"
"Stop it! Don't let it through!"
"Phase Two! It's entering Phase Two!"
Their terrified cries echoed through the city as they frantically directed the metal beasts to intercept the charging raven.
(End of Chapter)
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