Chapter 312: The Heroic Spirit’s Prank, Phase 2 Lance

Chapter 312: Chapter 312: The Heroic Spirit’s Prank, Phase 2 Lance

The explosion of those Alchemy Explosives had undoubtedly angered the Underground City once more.

Areas that had already been cleared, where by all rights no new Demons should have spawned, began to mutate wildly.

From the hard stone walls on all sides, all sorts of Demons squeezed out in a constant stream, sprouting like mushrooms.

What was even stranger was that these enraged Demons didn’t go after the direct source of the explosion.

Instead, as if they had eyes, they aimed all their hatred at the four of them!

Faced with being hunted and cornered by hundreds, if not thousands, of frenzied Demons, the four of them had to give it their all just to escape back to the day’s temporary safe zone.

"This definitely isn’t the will of the Underground City controlling this!"

Cassis leaned against the rock wall, his face grim.

According to the Underground City’s original rules, the aggro should have locked onto the person who physically detonated the bombs.

It shouldn’t have been able to lock onto them with such precision!

The only logical explanation was that the descended Heroic Spirit Species had taken complete control of this floor of the Underground City from the moment the second half of the Summer Crown began!

Not after a failed attempt to clear it!

Everything they did was, in fact, under the watch of that Heroic Spirit Species.

That king was toying with them at their leisure, like someone watching insects struggle in a mud pit.

The atmosphere in the cave was incredibly oppressive, and all four of them looked terrible.

Although they had used items to stay alive for the moment...

...there was only one day left until the end of the Summer Crown.

Once time was up...

...all the safe zone protection mechanics in the Underground City would be deactivated, and their area would be overrun by Demons.

Just as Cassis was pondering how they would survive...

The Dark Elf, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly shuddered.

In that instant, his Perception sent a powerful warning to his brain!

His pointed ears shot up.

"Watch out!"

The Dark Elf shouted.

Before the words had left his mouth...

...a piercing red light suddenly lit up the tunnel at the entrance to the cave.

A Crystal Spear burning with a silver-red light shot toward Cassis’s head like a bolt of red lightning tearing through the night, accompanied by a deafening sonic boom!

"HUMMM!"

In the face of death, Cassis displayed astonishing combat awareness.

Relying purely on muscle memory, he instantly activated a One Ring Magic Shield.

[Oblique Mist Armor]

[Condenses a form-fitting armor of high-density water vapor mixed with Ether on the body’s surface, providing a base 40 points of Magic Shield. When struck by fire or high-temperature energy attacks, the mist armor instantly evaporates in large amounts, using physical heat absorption to negate an additional 20 points of high-temperature energy damage.]

High-density water vapor instantly condensed before him, forming a layer of flowing armor.

"BOOM!!!"

The Crystal Spear slammed into the surface of the high-frequency, flowing mist armor.

The Dragon Remains Crystal on the spear’s surface instantly set off a violent Suicide Bombing!

BOOM!

This seemingly Ordinary strike possessed destructive power comparable to a full-force Two Rings Fire Element Shaping Spell!

Thanks to the special mechanics of the [Oblique Mist Armor], which absorbed a massive amount of heat damage by rapidly evaporating water into steam...

...but even so, the terrifying force of the explosion still sent Cassis flying.

The instant the Crystal Spear was launched, the quick-reacting Dark Elf had already scrambled up a rocky outcropping high in the cave like an agile gecko, looking for the best cover from which to launch a ranged counterattack.

The smoke and dust from the explosion had yet to settle.

From deep within the tunnel came the sound of footsteps.

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows.

It was none other than Lance, who had now fully activated his Dragon Form.

At that moment, dark red Dragon Remains Crystal covered him like a suit of form-fitting Battle Armor, and two crystalline Dragon Horns sprouted from his head.

White, high-temperature steam billowed from his mouth and nose with every steady breath.

His Dark Gold Vertical Pupils silently swept across the scene.

Cassis clutched his aching chest as he pushed himself up from the ground.

His pupils contracted violently when he got a clear look at the newcomer.

"A Dragon Descendant?!"

He was horrified.

’Could this be the black-haired youth Grom said he’d killed with a bomb?’

’Not only is he alive, but his Power is this terrifying?’

’How did Grom have the nerve to claim he killed him?’

He gave them no chance to breathe.

As Lance took a step forward, a gray-white Aura instantly expanded from him, enveloping the entire cave and the four people within it.

[Pale Domain] deployed!

Instantly, the faces of the four, who had just gone on alert, changed drastically.

At the same time, they felt as if their lungs were being stuffed with sodden cotton, making it incredibly difficult to breathe.

Their stamina, already nearly gone from their flight, began to drain away at an absurd rate, like water from a bucket with a hole in the bottom.

A profound sense of fatigue washed over them instantly.

The Priest, Cyrus, gritted his teeth and cast a Purification Divine Skill on himself, fighting the sensation of suffocation.

But after a few seconds, the negative status effect clung to him like a shadow, utterly impossible to remove!

"What kind of Skill can’t be purified?!" Cyrus cried out.

"Forget that! Together! Kill him!"

Cassis watched Lance advance step by step, the sense of dread in his heart rising to its peak.

’If we’re trapped in his domain, we’ll be worn down to death without him even having to lift a finger!’

He instantly cast the One Ring Spell [Deceitful Mist].

[Instantly releases a dense fog with a 30-meter radius that lasts for 180 seconds. Enemies within the fog have their visibility forcibly reduced to less than 3 meters, and the fog changes shape according to Cassis’s Telekinesis, creating illusory Demons or teammates. (Profession Specialty Bonus: Teammates ignore the fog’s visual impairment.)]

A thick white fog materialized from thin air, filling the entire cave in the blink of an eye.

Cassis’s true self took the opportunity to slip into the fog and retreat into hiding, leaving behind a lifelike illusion to draw fire.

Staring at the white expanse before him...

...a flicker of mockery flashed in Lance’s Dark Gold Vertical Pupils.

[Talent: Vibrating Resonant Ear Membrane]

In an instant, every subtle movement within a thirty-meter radius was magnified countless times.

The slight disturbance of the air, the sound of loose rock falling, even the thumping of the four’s accelerated heartbeats, fueled by their tension.

All of it instantly constructed a perfectly clear, three-dimensional model in Lance’s mind.

"Found you."

Lance’s gaze locked onto an area to the right side of the dense fog.

He stomped his right foot hard.

The powerful reactive force propelled him forward, and he shot into the white mist like a cannonball.

Inch Force erupted from the sole of his foot. The power traveled up his calf, through his waist and abdomen, channeled and amplified until it all converged on the knuckles of his right fist.

[Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style: Fallen Dragon Shards]

[Effect Bonus: Instantaneous Burst Power +5, Ignore Armor Penetration +10%. If it strikes an enemy’s torso, it inflicts "Penetrating Internal Injury."]

"BANG!"

It was accompanied by a deafening blast of air.

The moment his right fist flew out, Cassis’s true form appeared in that very patch of fog.

His eyes widened in disbelief, completely unable to comprehend how his opponent had pinpointed his true location so accurately despite the visual obstruction.

Horrified, he instinctively cast his life-saving Two Rings Spell.

[Deceptive Refraction Barrier]!

[Provides 60 points of Directional Spell Shield Value, primarily used to block ranged projectiles or medium-range Spells.]

A diamond-shaped Magic Light Shield, fluctuating with Magic Power, instantly materialized before him.

But at the instant the fist and shield made contact...

...the silver-red Ash Dragon Breath on Lance’s right Hand Armor roared to life.

The passive Trait of [Melting Gold Armor Shattering], which ignores 30% of a Magic Shield, combined with the ultra-condensed Power of [Fallen Dragon Shards] to create an unstoppable destructive force.

"CRACK!"

Before Cassis’s eyes...

...the sturdy magic barrier, like glass struck by a sledgehammer, was instantly covered in a dense web of cracks.

Then...

...it shattered with a loud bang!