Chapter 125: Chapter 104 Oops, we’ve become cannon fodder! _1 Chapter 125: Chapter 104 Oops, we’ve become cannon fodder! _1 Ivita and the Hearthstone Grand Witch followed Marquis Tata and his party, climbing upwards. As they had left the one hundred gears overseen by Marquis Tata, there was no need for them to stop and inform the dwarves anymore.

The higher they climbed, the higher the temperature became in the gears, yet the dwarf corps were still marching with high spirits. Along the way, they even encountered other dwarf squads assembled into formations, also heading towards the so-called Gear No.3333.

However, the Hearthstone Grand Witch reacted rather oddly, unexpectedly confessing to Ivita that she was nearing her limit!

Ivita looked at her quizzically and asked her in a low voice, “What’s going on? Are you planning on escaping?”

The old witch quickly shook her head, “Your Highness, it isn’t like that at all. I’m not that kind of person. Don’t you feel the magic power being drained?”

“It seems like the Fire Demon is some sort of a natural nemesis for witches.”

“I can’t be sure, but I feel more and more uncomfortable as we get closer to it.”

Ivita shook his head.

He didn’t sense anything unusual.

The old witch looked at Ivita, puzzled, then as if having a revelation, she said with admiration, “I see, it must be due to your inherent talent for fire magic.”

“It appears that you are immune to the magical power of the Fire Demon.”

“Although your current level of magic is just a wizard apprentice, and I am a Great Witch, I still can’t resist the Fire Demon, whereas you, due to your fire dragon bloodline and fire attribute magic power, can ignore the power of the Fire Demon.”

“How I envy gifted wizards like you.”

The Hearthstone Grand Witch revealed a rare, genuine look of admiration.

Upon noticing some of them lagging behind, Marquis Tata quickly went over and asked with concern, “What happened? Great warriors?”

Ivita frowned, discreetly grabbed the old witch’s hand, and transferred his fire magic to her. The panting old witch almost immediately began to feel much better.

She looked at Ivita with even more envy.

Ivita also understood, in this world, levels and professions don’t explain everything.

To a large extent, every profession has its unique characteristics, and wizards at every level have their own strengths and weaknesses.

As long as one capitalizes on the strengths and weaknesses, it’s very possible to win against the odds.

For example, the old witch’s carnivorous flower secret garden is like a nightmarish garden of despair for a group of people who have no iron tools, but if they have iron tools, soldiers could easily destroy the carnivorous flower secret garden by virtue of their numerical advantage.

Now it is not known whether it is because of the fire attribute magic power given by Ra, or because of the fire dragon bloodline within him, but he has ignored the power coming from the Fire Demon.

Ivita mused, ‘No wonder the senior witch wanted to build a mechanical clock and use ordinary people to suppress the Fire Demon, maybe it’s because the Fire Demon can drain the magic power of witches who get close to it.’

‘This is why the witch who built the Clock Kingdom used ordinary people as guards—the ability of the Fire Demon to drain the power of other professions is yet to be known.’

He had long noticed that all the dwarves in these gears are ordinary people. There are no professionals among them.

At first, Ivita suspected that this was because the resources within the clock were scarce and could not support everyone becoming a professional.

But now it seems, it may not be unintentional from the witch who constructed this Clock Kingdom.

Marquis Tata looked at the two of them strangely. “What exactly is going on with you two? Are you tired?”

“Don’t fall behind, I won’t be able to see you, and if I can’t see you, I can’t protect you.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t have a long journey ahead because we are about to reach the ‘Moving Big Ladder’ soon!”

“Once we get on that big ladder, we can directly reach Gear No.3333.”

“Hahaha… everyone, keep up.”

Ivita and the somewhat recovered old witch curiously followed them onward. They left through the metal door, away from the metal axle and arrived atop a gear. Ivita looked up to see an enormous iron gear looming ahead, dim and indistinct, like a distant mountain, its outline barely visible.

Most of the dwarves even thought they saw a large mountain.

The gigantic gear was still spinning, and it happened to be vertically linked to the gear they were standing on.

‘The gear we are standing on is a bevel gear, and the colossal gear in front should be the driving gear in the middle of the mechanical clock.’

‘If it were a regular, functional mechanical clock, the transmission ratio from driving gear to fourth gear should be 60.’

Ivita quickly thought to himself, “The top of the gear should be the power source of the mechanical clock – the spring mechanism, while the lower part of the gear should be the ticking mechanism for adjusting the time.”

“This gear is arguably the most important gear in the entire clock mechanism, and it’s been taken by the dwarves in this Dwarf Kingdom as a tool for transporting troops.”

“No wonder they regard this transmission gear as a ladder.”

“Quite imaginative.”

As one of the diagonal gears on the enormous gear meshed with the gear under their feet, Ivita and the Old Witch joined the main troops and stepped up onto it. Each tooth surface of the massive gear surprisingly had some purposely carved steps.

All they had to do was march on.

The transmission gear in the center of the mechanical clock served as a natural and superior elevator for the clock-made dwarfs!

In this way, they didn’t have to undertake a long journey. Simply by utilizing this transmission gear, they could quickly reach Gear No. 3333.

As the two gears rotated, the height of Ivita and his companions gradually increased. Hanging above their heads was a gigantic semi-enclosed iron box, which was likely the mainspring box of the mechanical clock.

Several gears protruded from the outside of the mainspring box, and on one large diagonal gear parallel to the ground, there were indeed lines of dwarf armies.

These dwarf armies were combating a creature entirely engulfed in flames.

“Forward!”

“Forward!”

As the transmission gear and Gear No. 3333 intersected, Ivita and his companions could be smoothly turned onto the place of the diagonal gear. They walked upwards along some small metal steps on its surface.

By the time Ivita and his companions reached Gear No. 3333, they saw that tens of thousands of dwarf soldiers had already formed an array and were marching towards the Fire Demon in the center of Gear No. 3333.

The Fire Demon within the army was a being completely enveloped in flames, it was a giant compared to the dwarfs.

With a mere wave of its hand, it could set ablaze an entire line of the dwarf army.

A large iron chain was attached to its back, running down its spine and deep within its body, endlessly pulling it upwards.

The Fire Demon was resisting this upward pulling force. The dwarf armies were there to assist the chain. They sought to press the Fire Demon to retreat until it was hoisted into mid-air, reaching the bottom of the mainspring box.

Attached to the bottom of the mainspring box with a chain was a tooth, reminiscent of a moon. It was suspended at the top of Gear No. 3333, emitting a faint blue glow that suppressed the magical power of the Fire Demon.

That crescent was the object Ivita and the Old Witch were seeking- The Water Dragon’s Tooth.

Looking up at the Water Dragon’s Tooth, Ivita remarked, “As I suspected, The Water Dragon’s Tooth is indeed being used to suppress the Fire Demon.”

“Next, all we need to do is take it. However, we must first deal with this Fire Demon.”

“Even though the Fire Demon is currently ravaging this small hilarious place of the Clock Kingdom, once the Water Dragon’s Tooth is removed and its binding is broken, it will enter the real world and become a Fire Demon in reality. At that time, I cannot even begin to imagine how huge its real form might be.”

Ivita suspected that upon reaching the real world, the Fire Demon would turn into a blazing giant, capable of incinerating an entire city district with a single step.

However, as he stared at the Fire Demon hanging in the sky, he fell into deep thought. “This Fire Demon… It feels incredibly familiar, like I have seen it somewhere before.”

The Old Witch was confused. “Since your arrival in this world, I have been with you all along. I do not remember seeing such a terrifying creature, but… I feel my magic power instinctively wanting to ignite into flames. What on earth is that fiery creature? Why can it ignite my mana from such a distance?!”

“It’s like a witch killer, but why have I never heard of such a thing?”

Ivita also began to wonder. “I must have definitely seen it somewhere, but perhaps it looked different at that time.”

“Maybe when I first saw the Fire Demon, it took on a different form.”

Upon hearing this, the Old Witch hesitated. A wizard’s instinct should not be disregarded as an illusion.

But where had Ivita seen the Fire Demon?

What might he have seen that she had not?

“It could be related to your spiritual acuity.” The Old Witch found a possible explanation. “You possess an immense spiritual acuity that is almost impossible for a mortal to have, your intuition is far stronger than mine. You must have sensed some anomaly.”

Above the dwarfs’ magnificent army formations was a metal pad extruding from the bottom of the mainspring box. On the pad stood a tiny iron throne where a dwarf adorned with a metal crown sat, surrounded by guards protecting him.

When the dwarf king on the iron throne caught sight of Marquis Tata’s troops, he commanded his guards to shout, “Charge forward, Marquis Tata!”

Marquis Tata immediately saluted him. “As you command, I salute the crown of Clock Kingdom.”

“Everyone, move forward.”

The Old Witch suddenly frowned, commenting to Ivita, “This is not good, my lord. Our troops are going to become cannon fodder.”

Seeing the Fire Demon destroy an entire dwarf army corps, Ivita thought it would be unwise to battle the Fire Demon at this point.

In this world, information can be a powerful force.

Battling an unknown enemy implies dreadful risks, it would be better for them to observe for a while.

“Don’t worry, nobody is paying attention to us,” Ivita said in a low voice. “We’ll move to another army shortly.”

“I strongly agree with the idea of laying low.”

The Hearthstone Grand Witch was greatly moved, as though she had found a kindred spirit. “My lord, you are truly wise. Your wisdom shines as brilliantly as the sun!”