Chapter 1527: Open Door

They fought for a few more minutes, the robot suffered a lot of damage now. Erend remained still for a moment as he watched the mechanical guardian. The strange machine had raised more questions than it had answered.

The factory itself already seemed suspicious enough, but now there were modern-looking machines that were also ancient, capable of using techniques that resembled human martial arts, along with some kind of unfamiliar energy coming from deeper inside the facility.

Erend was genuinely curious. "What happened to this world?" he wondered.

Everything he had learned from Norma only described the world from the perspective of its current inhabitants. To them, the Apocalypse had happened three thousand years ago and Valthoria had simply become the wasteland they knew today.

But the factory suggested that the history of this world might be far more complicated than that. The technology, the machines, and the strange energy inside the facility hinted at something that had been hidden beneath the surface.

Part of Erend wanted to investigate everything immediately.

But he had another responsibility.

He, Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven had come to Valthoria for a specific reason. They needed to find the ancient Dragonborn trial and discover whatever remained of the Dragonborn legacy in this world.

That was their actual mission, and getting distracted by the mysteries of Valthoria could waste valuable time.

"I’ll investigate this later if I get the chance. For now, I should stick to the real task."

Erend made his decision and turned his attention back toward the mechanical guardian.

The machine suddenly tried to move again. Its glowing blue eyes fixed on Erend with the same relentless hostility as before. Even though its body had suffered considerable damage, it still seemed determined to continue fighting.

Erend moved and crossed the distance in an instant and struck one of the machine’s limbs and completely disabled it.

The guardian attempted to counterattack, but Erend immediately grabbed its arm and twisted it in a direction its mechanical joints were never designed to withstand.

He heard metal screams and the robot fell to one knee.

Erend continued without hesitation. He struck its other arm and then damaged both of its legs, breaking the mechanical joints and crushing several of the components responsible for movement.

The guardian collapsed onto the ground. Its blue eyes were still shining with clear hostility. It still stared at Erend with the same murderous intent, but it could no longer move.

Erend looked down at it for several seconds.

He could have destroyed its head and ended the machine permanently, but there was no reason to do that yet.

"I better report this to the settlement."

Someone in the settlement might recognize the machine or know something about the factory. For now, Erend decided to leave the guardian alive here and continue his investigation.

He picked up his backpack and moved deeper into the facility.

It did not take long before he encountered other robots.

Five more mechanical guardians eventually emerged from different sections of the outer grounds. Each one of them reacted to Erend immediately and attacked without hesitation. Their glowing blue eyes locked onto him before their mechanical bodies charged forward at him.

Erend dealt with them in the same manner as the first. He did not kill them and just dismantled their ability to move.

One of the robots lost both legs after Erend struck its joints. Another robot had its arms torn apart before it could land a single meaningful blow. A third robot was slammed into the ground and had its mechanical limbs crushed beneath Erend’s strength. The remaining two suffered similar treatment.

Within a short time, all five machines lay scattered across the ground. Their blue eyes were still looking active but none of them could move.

Erend glanced back at them once before continuing.

The further he went, the stronger the strange energy became.

Eventually, the factory’s outer grounds gave way to an enormous entrance.

Erend stopped in front of it and saw that the gate was already open. That surprised him.

He actually had expected the entrance to be sealed after the last abandonment by its last residents, but the massive metal doors stood partially apart, leaving a wide passage into the darkness beyond.

Erend narrowed his eyes and activated his Dragon eyes again. Nothing immediately attacked him this time.

He stepped through the entrance and he immediately felt that the atmosphere changed the moment he entered.

The interior of the factory was enormous like he expected. Massive metal structures stretched above him, disappearing into the darkness of the upper levels.

Thick pipes ran along the walls and ceiling, some of them were already broken and hanging loosely while others were still completely intact.

There were large pieces of machinery standing throughout the facility, covered in layers of dust and rust.

The floor was made from thick metal plates, many of them stained by age and corrosion.

There was no natural light inside. Just faint blue lights appeared in several places along the walls and machinery, flickering weakly as though the facility’s power system were still struggling to survive despite decades of abandonment.

Erend slowly looked around. The factory felt less like a dead ruin and more like something that had simply been waiting.

Dust covered almost everything but there were signs that some of the machinery had remained operational at some point.

Several panels still displayed faint traces of light while small mechanical components occasionally clicked somewhere deep within the facility.

The air was stale and carried the smell of old metal, oil, and something else Erend could not immediately identify.

He took another step. His enhanced senses immediately picked up the strange energy again. Inside the factory, it was much stronger. The energy seemed to come from deeper within this building.

Erend stared into the darkness ahead. "Hmm... I think this place really is hiding something."

He continued forward. Erend’s suspicion was getting stronger that the abandoned facility was connected to something much larger behind this world’s history.

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