Chapter 127 Going All Out!
"SCREEECH!"
Not sparks, but a terrifying sound of metal unmaking. A deep gouge appeared on the shaft of Dragon Soul Devourer. The Mythic weapon, which had withstood Borin's palm strike, was actually damaged by the assassin's Legendary katana!
[Weapon Durability Decreased: Dragon Soul Devourer - Minor Damage!]
Lucian felt a pang of anger and shock. Damaging his spear was unforgivable.
He saw his opening. The assassin was slightly overextended after the weapon strike. Borin was momentarily surprised by the barrier.
Lucian didn't hesitate. He ignored the damage to his spear, ignored Borin. He activated [Crimson Shadow Step] and [Shadow Pounce] simultaneously, pouring mana into them.
He didn't target the assassin's body. He targeted the assassin's sword hand.
He materialized beside the Shadow Blade, Dragon Soul Devourer thrusting not to kill, but to pin. The spear tip slammed against the guard of Void Whisper, the force generated by his augmented speed and strength jarring the assassin's grip.
Simultaneously, Lucian's free hand shot out, aiming for the assassin's wrist.
[Skill Activated: Blood Control - Minor Blood Burst!] [-100 Mana]
He focused his will, causing a tiny, contained explosion of blood within the assassin's wrist joint. It wasn't damaging, but it was disruptive, painful, unexpected.
The assassin gasped, faltering for a crucial instant as pain shot up his arm and his grip loosened fractionally from the combined impact and internal disruption.
That instant was all Lucian needed.
"[Mountain-Cleaving Slash]!"
He didn't need the full wind-up. He channeled the energy directly through his spear, already in contact with the assassin's defense. The golden-red crescent erupted point-blank.
"Slash!!!"
The energy wave, amplified by Emperor's Dominion and bypassing defenses due to Primordial Rending, slammed into the Shadow Blade's chest. His dark leather armor glowed but offered little resistance. Bones shattered, organs ruptured.
The assassin was blasted backward, hitting the rock wall with bone-jarring force, Void Whisper clattering from his numb hand. He slumped down, eyes wide with disbelief, blood pouring from his mouth and the massive wound in his chest.
[Assassin (Lv 100+) Eliminated!]
[+12,000 EXP | +2,500 Relic Gold Coins]
[SS-Rank Skill: Blood Devour Activated!] → +7 Physique, +5 Agility, +4 Strength
[Blood Harvest Activated!] → Dragon Soul Devourer Attack Power Bonus: +108%
[Item Acquired: Void Whisper Katana (Legendary)]
[Item Acquired: Shadow Syndicate Insignia (Quest Item?)]
Lucian didn't have time to check the loot. Killing the Shadow Blade had taken immense effort and precise timing, leaving him vulnerable.
Borin roared, enraged that his prey had killed one of the elite assassins right under his nose. "YOU INSOLENT WORM!"
He didn't use a fancy technique this time. He simply charged, his body blurring, crossing the distance instantly, his massive fist aimed straight at Lucian's head, carrying the weight of his full Level 103 power.
No time to dodge. No time for skills. The Wyrmscale Barrier was depleted.
The air crackled, heavy with Elder Borin's monumental killing intent. His Level 103 fist, a blurry mass of destructive force, was a hair's breadth from Lucian's skull. There was no escape, no time for complex maneuvers. The Wyrmscale Barrier was gone. His Amulet of Final Stand was still deep in its three-day cooldown.
This was it.
But Lucian was not a lamb to the slaughter. In that micro-instant, instinct honed by countless life-and-death battles took over. He couldn't dodge, but he could brace.
[Celestial Adamantine Body Max Output!] [Titan Armor Resilience!]
His crystalline skin, already hardened, seemed to condense further, a faint, almost imperceptible shimmer rippling across its surface. He angled his head minutely, trying to take the blow on the more reinforced parts of his Titan Helm rather than directly on his face. His spear, Dragon Soul Devourer, was still in his hand, but there was no time to bring it up for a proper block.
"BOOM!!!"
Borin's fist connected. Not with a fleshy thud, but with a sound like a meteor striking a diamond mountain. The very air around Lucian's head seemed to shatter. A visible shockwave, laced with Borin's oppressive grey energy, erupted outwards, pulverizing the jagged rock of the 60km zone for meters in every direction.
Lucian's world exploded into white.
[Damage Received: 25,600!]
[Celestial Adamantine Body Mitigated: -50% -> 12,800!]
[Wyrm Emperor's Aegis (Chestplate) Mitigated: -40% -> 7,680!]
[Titan Helm Mitigated: -25% (Combined Resistance) -> 5,760!]
[Physical Damage Reduction (Various Gear Synergies): -15% -> 4,896!]
[Final Damage to HP: 4,896!]
[Ungodly Regeneration Activated!] [+4896 HP, healing...]
[+8 Physique!]
[+6 Strength!]
[Titan Helm Durability Decreased: -1200]
[Wyrm Emperor's Aegis Durability Decreased: -800]
His body was launched like a cannonball, a crimson streak against the stormy sky. He flew backwards for nearly a hundred meters, carving a deep trench through the unforgiving terrain as he finally skidded to a halt, half-buried in shattered rock.
Smoke poured from his head and shoulders. The Titan Helm, a Legendary piece, was visibly cracked, its ambient glow flickering erratically. His neck, despite his SSS regeneration already furiously knitting it back together, felt like it had been snapped and reformed a dozen times in that single instant. Blood, quickly turning to steam in the superheated air of his own regeneration, trickled from his nose and ears. His vision swam. The sheer concussive force was enough to liquefy a lesser being.
But he was alive. His Ungodly Regeneration, working at SSS+ rank, was a furious engine of repair, flesh and bone weaving back together at speeds that defied reality. The +8 Physique and +6 Strength from enduring the blow were already integrating, making him fractionally tougher.
Elsewhere, the battlefield was a maelstrom of chaos.
King Levi, a mountain of crimson and black legendary armor, was locked in a brutal ballet with the Berserker Executioner. The Executioner, a hulking brute wielding the massive, bloodstained Skull-Splitter axe, fought with a terrifying, almost gleeful savagery. Each swing of his axe was a thunderclap, aimed to dismember.
"RAAARGH! DIE, SUMMON!" the Executioner bellowed, Skull-Splitter descending in a vicious overhead chop.
[Berserker Executioner Skill Activated: Decapitating Strike!] [+150% Cleave Damage, High chance to ignore armor!]
King Levi, unflinching, raised the Immortal Mountain Shield.
"CLANG-KRAKOOOM!"
[Leviathan's Defense Activated: Immortal Mountain Shield Block!] [+40% Block Chance Triggered!]
[Leviathan's Defense Activated: Founding Titan Set Bonus!] [+60% Physical Damage Resistance!]
[Incoming Damage Drastically Reduced!]
[Shield Durability: -50]