Chapter 259: Nieve! Run

Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Nieve! Run

As the aura of the Mad Slaughter Silver Crown completely faded.

The high-intensity hunt of the day finally came to an end, and the once-raucous mine gradually returned to a state of calm.

Lance stood still and stretched, slowly loosening the muscles that had been tense all morning.

However, Nieve, who had been acting as his Mage Tank from behind, was not in good shape.

Her already fair cheeks had taken on an unhealthy, deathly pallor due to her depleted Magic Power.

For the Snow Lady, the hours of fierce, non-stop combat had pushed her to her limits, both mentally and physically.

Fortunately, however, their efforts had paid off handsomely.

Whether it was the Crown Value on the leaderboards or the experience and rare materials they had gathered, it far exceeded what the Snow Lady had ever managed to farm on her own.

"Let’s head back to camp and rest," Lance said softly, walking over to Nieve’s side.

"Nieve will go get the loot hidden in the rock crevice now."

Nieve nodded meekly and shuffled wearily toward the corner where they had stored the materials.

Just then, Lance’s combat intuition suddenly screamed a warning.

He sensed a lethal danger approaching at high speed.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he surged forward from behind, grabbing Nieve as she bent over and tackling her to the ground. The two of them rolled behind a nearby jutting rock.

SWISH!

A sharp, high-speed spinning Chain Blade swept viciously through the very spot their upper bodies had occupied a second ago.

Before this terrifying Chain Blade, the stone wall of the mine was like fragile tofu, and a deep gash was instantly carved into its surface.

The Chain Blade even seemed to carry some kind of destructive, high-frequency vibration Attribute. The concussive force tore apart large chunks of rock, sending them blasting in all directions like cannonballs.

Lance gritted his teeth, using his broad back to shield them from several sharp, flying shards of rock.

He quickly looked up, his sharp gaze fixed on the attacker’s direction.

There, a short Half-Elf sat arrogantly atop a massive boulder, looking down on them.

The Half-Elf wore a suit of incredibly heavy Steam Armor.

Several small vents on the back of the armor were intermittently spewing scorching steam.

His left arm was completely encased in a metal Arm Armor that was seamlessly integrated with the Steam Armor. The Chain Blade that had nearly killed them a moment ago extended and retracted from the front of this very piece.

The Half-Elf wore an outlandish-looking monocle goggle, and his legs were encased in heavy metal Combat Boots.

This getup, armed to the teeth, marked him as an elite, veteran Professional.

The Half-Elf tilted his head as he sat on the rock.

He seemed somewhat surprised that his sure-kill strike had unexpectedly missed its mark.

He then leaped straight down from the massive rock.

Just as his feet were about to touch down, a blast of high-pressure steam erupted from the soles of his metal boots to cushion the impact, allowing him to land steadily on the hard ground.

"Is he one of the Hyenas? The kind that specializes in robbing people in the Underground City?"

Nieve, shielded tightly beneath Lance, watched the Half-Elf with a puzzled expression.

"No..."

Lance shook his head. He recognized the man—or rather, he’d seen him in the intel from the Illustrated Guide.

This man was an elite from the Crimson Bell of Death.

Codename: Explosives Master. A dangerous Level 5 Professional.

"Not a bad reaction, kid."

Grom watched the two who had dodged his attack and grinned cruelly.

He had just been bored after getting a warning from the Underground City, so he’d come to the First Area to have some fun stomping on weaklings.

He hadn’t expected them to be the first team in days capable of dodging his surprise Chain Blade attack on pure intuition alone.

"Looks like my luck is pretty good today. Two very delicious morsels of prey."

He recognized the woman on the ground.

She was that Snow Lady, a Rare Profession that the Silver Hand was investing heavily in.

As for the sharp, black-haired youth beside her, he didn’t recognize him.

But anyone capable of teaming up with the Snow Lady here was probably another genius the Silver Hand was secretly pouring resources into.

Grom stroked his chin. His favorite pastime was personally snuffing out these self-proclaimed geniuses.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to taunt them, to savor the desperate Fear of his prey before their deaths,

he suddenly heard the youth across from him turn his head and shout, "Nieve!"

Immediately after, the black-haired youth became a blur, launching a suicidal charge straight at him without the slightest hesitation.

Grom sneered.

He raised his left arm and swung it forcefully. The seven-meter-long, barbed Chain Blade whistled out again, carving a fan-shaped arc through the air.

He was going to cut the reckless, charging youth clean in half at the waist.

At that exact moment, a solid wall of ice materialized out of thin air diagonally in front of Lance.

The Chain Blade slammed viciously into the ice wall.

Shards of ice flew everywhere.

The ice wall, which had seemed incredibly resilient against the attacks of Low Level Demons, now appeared utterly fragile as the high-speed Chain Blade cut into it, shattering it to pieces in an instant.

But using the brief moment the ice wall had bought him, Lance had already closed the distance to Grom.

[Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style - Flaming Claw]

His five fingers, imbued with a piercing effect, whistled through the air as they clawed straight for Grom’s chest.

However, the instant his fingertips touched the surface of the armor, Lance could clearly see the high-pressure alchemical fluid flowing within it seem to boil over completely.

A powerful jet of steam instantly shot out from the vents on Grom’s back, leaving a white vapor trail.

Thanks to the immense recoil provided by the steam, the impact from his carefully-timed strike was completely nullified by the armor, leaving only a faint white scratch on the iron plate.

Lance’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately switched tactics.

He latched onto the armor, attempting to activate the power of his Royal Armory and forcibly shatter the turtle-shell-like Battle Armor.

However, he was met with an unexpected result.

[Hint: This equipment’s Resistance Threshold is 6. Current King’s Authority Value is insufficient. Activation failed.]

What followed was the Half-Elf’s right fist, which rocketed forward with a vapor trail, smashing toward him with overwhelming force.

Relying on his combat instincts, Lance urgently crossed his arms in front of his chest to block.

But his opponent’s equipment seemed to grant a massive bonus to the Strength Attribute. Even though Lance’s [Death Line Defense] nullified some of the damage, he was still sent flying by the absolute, overwhelming power.

Fortunately, Nieve was quick to react and caught Lance as he was knocked back.

"Nieve! Run!"

Lance roared, ignoring the violent churning in his chest.

After exchanging just two direct blows, Lance already saw the enormous gap in power between them.

In his normal state, the Blast Master’s stats, both Power and agility, were a huge cut above his own.

As expected of a Level 5 Adventurer, he had at least 40 more total Attribute points than Lance.

According to the intel he’d secretly gathered from the Illustrated Guide, this Blast Master’s true specialty was setting up various kinds of Alchemy Explosives.

But right now, just by relying on this suit of sturdy mechanical armor, his opponent could already completely overpower them in close combat.

He didn’t know why his opponent had a change of heart today and wasn’t using explosives.

However.

’My close-combat Attributes are completely outmatched, and Nieve is already exhausted of Magic Power.’

’If I force a fight, I might survive thanks to my revival ability, but Nieve will definitely be killed.’

’Our only chance is for Nieve, with her lower agility, to escape first.’

’I’ll have to stay behind to hold him off and buy her time. If I can successfully activate my Dragon Form and trade injuries, I might even be able to deal him some unexpected damage.’

"Nieve won’t leave."

The Snow Lady bit her lip, her eyes filled with defiance.

The light of the Frost Domain on her Longsword even began to faintly spread, a sign that she was preparing to fight to the death.