Chapter 260: Something This Outrageous Shouldn’t Exist in the Material Realm

Chapter 260: Chapter 260: Something This Outrageous Shouldn’t Exist in the Material Realm

Lance shot out a hand and grabbed Nieve hard.

"Listen to me. In our current state, there’s no way we can beat him."

Lance stared into Nieve’s ice-blue eyes, speaking rapidly.

"If you leave now, I have a way to escape and catch up with you later. That way, we can both survive."

"If you insist on staying, we’ll both die here today."

Lance’s tone grew heavy.

"Throwing your life away recklessly is not part of a Knight’s creed."

At Lance’s stern words, Nieve’s hand, gripping her longsword, trembled slightly. She fell silent.

"Go to the restaurant in the safe zone and wait for me. I promise I’ll come find you."

"Will you... will you really come, Lance?" Nieve’s voice was laced with uncertainty.

"I will."

After getting Lance’s firm reply, Nieve bit her lip hard. She abruptly sheathed her longsword, turned, and sprinted desperately down the passage behind Lance.

Grom, who hadn’t moved, watched with great amusement as the two played out their little life-and-death parting scene.

He couldn’t help but let out a derisive, booming laugh.

"You two morons. Did you think to ask my permission while you were planning your little escape?"

From their brief close-quarters clash, he’d already gotten a rough measure of the black-haired youth.

The boy’s combat intuition and physical prowess were indeed far beyond his peers, but he had barely crossed the threshold of a Level 3 Professional.

Before a fully armed, Level 5 veteran like him, the boy was still just a bug to be crushed at will.

Grom raised his left arm. The Chain Blade once again tore through the air, flying straight for Nieve’s retreating back with a lethal whistle.

Just as the Chain Blade was about to strike its target, a blast of high-temperature white steam erupted directly in its path.

A left hand, encased in dark-red Hand Armor, shot out from the white mist and clamped down on the rapidly spinning Chain Blade.

SCREECH! The sound of metal grinding on metal rang out as sparks flew.

But the weapon was held in an iron grip, unable to move forward a single inch.

Grom stared at his opponent in surprise.

Lance’s appearance was now completely different.

His black pupils had turned dark gold, and a layer of dark-red Energy Dragon Scales was rapidly covering his entire body.

Grom frowned, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

His opponent was actually one of the rumored Dragon Descendants.

But the flicker of apprehension was quickly snuffed out by an even stronger killing intent.

’This is the Underground City, beyond the reach of the Kingdom’s laws.’

’All I have to do is kill this meddling Dragon Descendant as quickly as possible.’

’Then I’ll chase down that runaway Snow Lady and silence her for good. Dead men tell no tales.’

If killing a talented youth in the wild usually gave him a day’s worth of satisfaction, then personally slaying a stray Dragon Descendant would be a thrill he could savor for a whole month.

Just as Grom prepared to channel his Armor Energy once more, forcing the Chain Blade to entangle and crush Lance, the cruel smile on his face froze.

He discovered to his horror...

...that his Chain Blade, which he could normally control effortlessly with his Telekinesis, had in that instant completely severed its connection to him.

Now, even the Mechanical Arm Armor on his left arm...

...seemed to have had its power source forcibly severed. All its combat buffs vanished, turning it into a useless piece of scrap metal.

[Judgment successful.]

As the crisp notification sounded in Lance’s ears, Lance tightened his grip on the Chain Blade. He put all his strength into his core and yanked Grom’s massive body toward him.

The distance between them closed in an instant.

A brutal melee had begun.

But Grom, despite being suddenly yanked toward Lance, was a battle-hardened veteran with lightning-fast reflexes.

The expensive Kinetic Energy Jump Boots on his feet erupted with a powerful whirlwind.

He used the momentum from Lance’s pull to launch himself into a mid-air Wind Pressure Kick, enhanced with a Burst Power +3 Attribute, straight for Lance’s face.

But Lance, now in his Dragon Form, didn’t back down.

He spun, unleashing a powerful, heavy [Dragon Leaping Tail].

BANG!

The wind pressure and the Dragon Scale-covered leg slammed into each other in mid-air. The terrifying impact instantly created a shockwave that blasted outward.

Although they were evenly matched in terms of Burst Power, Lance could clearly feel a faint cracking sound from deep within his own leg bone.

Grom used the recoil to land smoothly on his feet.

The Tactical Goggles he wore were also a high-grade piece of Enchanted Equipment.

The goggles were now flashing red, rapidly scanning Lance’s body for any defensive weaknesses.

Meanwhile, Lance used the momentum of his landing as cover.

He quickly used his Telekinesis to pull a few spare Magic Energy Crystals from his Imaginary Number Dark Grid, roughly stuffing them into his mouth, chewing, and swallowing.

Before the Magic Energy Crystals could fully convert into Life Force, Grom’s right Arm Armor hissed, spewing out scorching steam.

A heavy punch, backed by a terrifying Power +5 buff, whistled through the air straight for Lance’s chest.

CRACK!

The sickening crunch of breaking ribs echoed through the mine tunnel.

But faced with this potentially fatal blow, Lance didn’t dodge.

He gritted his teeth and took the punch head-on, committing to a crazed strategy of trading blows.

A silver-red current of energy erupted from within him.

He unleashed a long-charged [Dragon-Slaying Spear], stabbing straight at Grom’s prized left shoulder armor.

This attack perfectly fused the dual destructive Traits of [Ash Dragon Breath] and [Melting Gold Armor Shattering].

The effect was obvious.

Where the attack hit the armor, the absurdly powerful Energy had corroded a charred crater into its surface.

Terrifying heat seeped through the fine cracks in the armor.

The scalding temperature was enough to make the once-arrogant Grom let out a pained grunt.

But as things stood, for Grom, who was covered head-to-toe in top-tier enchanted gear, the counterattack was still far too weak.

Over the next several dozen seconds, Grom’s full Agility Attribute of 40 points was unleashed.

Combined with the all-around buffs from his various pieces of Enchanted Equipment, he became a whirlwind, circling Lance and unleashing a frenzied offensive.

Lance, showing no weakness, returned fire with everything he had.

He stuck to his brutal strategy of trading blow for blow.

His target was exceptionally clear: every single one of his attacks was aimed at Grom’s damaged left shoulder.

The Energy Dragon Scales covering Lance’s body shattered under the relentless assault, and great spurts of blood flew through the air.

If not for the powerful damage reduction provided by his [Death Line Defense] Specialty and the Magic Energy Crystals he’d swallowed, which were constantly converting to Energy and mending his wounds, Lance would have long since been beaten to a bloody pulp by the storm of attacks.

It was then that Grom found an opening. He viciously thrust the sharp armor of his left arm deep into Lance’s left side, between his ribs.

Ignoring the searing pain, Lance shot out both hands and, with every last ounce of his strength, seized Grom’s left arm in an iron grip.

By now, Lance’s Life Value had plummeted to a critical low; he was on the verge of triggering the life-saving state of his Combat Continuation Trait.

Just then, the worldly Grom felt a sudden premonition that something was terribly wrong.

[Dragon-Slaying Spear]!

Lance gathered the last of his strength.

He plunged the Dragon-Slaying Spear, which now held all his remaining power, deep into the corroded fissure in Grom’s left arm armor.

Thanks to the stacking corrosion effect of [Melting Gold Armor Shattering], his blood-soaked arm finally slid unimpeded deep into the armor’s weakest point.

’Royal Armory! Deprive!’

Lance roared inwardly.

[Judgment Successful!]

As the system prompt sounded, he thought, ’It worked!’

’Physically damaging the equipment’s integrity causes a massive drop in the armor’s system Resistance Threshold!’

The color drained from Grom’s face.

First, his left Chain Blade Arm Guard had been rendered useless scrap. Now, his priceless suit of Enchanted Steam Armor had instantly lost all its functions as well.

In an instant, all the powerful bonuses to his Defense Power and agility, granted by his Enchanted Equipment, were forcibly stripped away by some irresistible, rule-bending force!

In all his years as an Adventurer, this was the first time he’d ever encountered something so outrageous!

"What in the hell did you do to me?!"

Grom roared in terror.

"How can something so absurd happen in the Material Realm!"

And now, the armor, its ownership now successfully stripped, seemed to sense its new master’s savage desire to tear it asunder.

The very armor that had once protected Grom gave a compliant response!

Lance threw his head back and let out a roar that sounded like a dragon’s cry.

His feet dug into the hard ground like steel spikes.

The muscles in his core coiled and unleashed their power, driving his arms.

He proceeded to brutally rip the now-unprotected armored arm, along with the flesh and bone within, from Grom’s body.

CRUNCH. CRACK. SNAP.

The sickening sound of tearing metal and splintering bone filled the air.

Grom let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Scarlet blood gushed from his severed arm like an uncontrolled fountain.

"Madman! You’re a complete, monstrous madman!"

Despite being a Level 5 Elite, this was the first time in Grom’s entire career that a young Adventurer of a much lower Level had wounded him so grievously.

’A power gap like this... it completely defies the laws of the Material Realm!’

’What kind of monster have I run into?!’