Chapter 325: Heroic Spirit Specialization: Bronze King Body

Chapter 325: Chapter 325: Heroic Spirit Specialization: Bronze King Body

Lance didn’t answer immediately after hearing Galeos’s words.

The name he had spoken carried far too much weight!

’Balthazar Lot...’

Lance mulled over the name, a chill running straight up his spine.

The name was familiar.

The first Jhin, the Virtuoso, had signed his name as Balthazar.

Lance had always assumed he was just some nameless predecessor, lost to the annals of history.

But he never would have imagined that this madman, who dared to mock fate with death, would share a surname with Molok—the one who had been hiding behind the scenes, manipulating him like a puppet on a string!

’What in the world is going on?’

He also recalled how Galeos had just referred to their duel as "a game between two kings."

That meant Balthazar Lot must have been one of the kings from that era,

The war of the kings, the Red Dragon Bloodline, the mysterious place indicated by the three great achievements, Forbidden Alchemy...

All of it felt like a vast, invisible net closing in around him.

’Just how many more secrets are hidden within this body of mine?’

Molok had gone to great lengths to manipulate his life’s path, attempting to guide him toward a specific destination.

And yet Balthazar, who also carried the Lot surname, had placed the Jhin, the Virtuoso Profession—one capable of defying fate—into his hands at a critical moment.

Was this some kind of twist of fate?

As for the "little gift" Galeos had mentioned...

Lance guessed it was the Thousand Descendants’ Blessing.

But judging by Galeos’s current state, he clearly hadn’t discovered that Lance had fed the Legend with his Source Material.

Lance could just imagine Galeos returning to the Heroic Spirit Hall after the fight, only to discover that their shared Specialty had been completely pilfered. He’d probably be hopping mad.

Galeos quickly sensed something was amiss from Lance’s silence.

"Still haven’t recovered your past memories?"

"Just as I’d expect from you."

He sneered, a hint of wariness in his voice.

"Even after losing all your memories, you can still instinctively use those bewitching methods of yours. You easily wrap those tens of thousands of fools outside around your little finger, making them willing to die for you."

"But..."

Galeos slowly rose from his Bronze Throne.

"All the better. In that case, just never remember."

Galeos raised his right arm and swung it forcefully in Lance’s direction.

At his gesture, the hard bronze floor of the great hall began to churn and converge like soft mud melted by high temperatures, roiling violently.

The dark-red blood flowing in the vein-like channels also surged forth, rapidly mixing with the liquid bronze.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of massive bronze greatswords, heavy spears, and battle-axes materialized in mid-air!

These heavy weapons, forged from blood and bronze, shrieked as they tore through the air, raining down upon Lance’s position like a meteor shower.

Faced with this overwhelming assault, Lance quickly lowered his center of gravity.

Thunder Sting Reflex activated instantly, pushing his neural reaction speed to its absolute limit.

Simultaneously, his Eyes of the Young Dragon switched to high-speed motion-tracking mode.

With this dual perception enhancement, the weapons’ trajectories became clear and traceable in his eyes.

BOOM!

The first Bronze Giant Axe grazed Lance’s left shoulder and smashed viciously into the ground beside him.

The tremendous impact carved a half-meter-deep crater into the bronze floor. The purple, vein-like channels were instantly shattered, sending the dark-red liquid inside spraying in all directions like a fountain.

’So heavy!’

Lance was secretly alarmed.

At that moment, the Outer World True Vision in his mind quickly parsed the information about the ability Galeos was using.

[Heroic Spirit Specialization: Bronze Melting and Casting]

[Effect: Can draw bronze and blood from the surrounding environment at any time to instantly forge numerous heavy weapons. Projects them at the enemy in a saturation barrage. Each weapon hit deals 50 base physical damage.]

’Fifty points of base damage!’

Lance did a quick mental calculation.

Even factoring in his current Constitution, all his Natural Armor, and the Dragon Remains Crystal...

At most, he could only mitigate around 30 points of damage per hit.

If he took more than ten direct hits from this overwhelming barrage of bronze weapons, he’d be on the verge of death right then and there.

’As expected of a Heroic Spirit Species!’

Even while limited by this Underground City’s Level 5 Tier Ceiling, the destructive power of one of its casual Skills was still despair-inducingly insane.

Lance didn’t choose to retreat and create distance.

He took a deep breath. His internal Ethereal Melting Furnace whirred to life as he prepared to meet the rain of bronze weapons head-on and force his way toward Galeos!

SWOOSH!

A Bronze Giant Sword whistled through the air, shooting straight for his face.

Lance’s gaze hardened. He didn’t dodge.

Heart Intent Martial Structure activated instantly!

Ether Energy surged wildly to his calves, and a layer of dark-red Dragon Remains Crystal rapidly solidified into a set of Crystal Shin Guards.

The muscles in Lance’s legs tensed explosively, launching him high into the air.

In mid-air, he put sudden force into his waist, turning his entire right leg into a steel whip.

Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style: Dragon Leaping Tail!

His Crystal Armor-clad right leg struck the spine of the greatsword with unerring accuracy.

CLANG!

The sound of clashing metal rang throughout the great hall.

The Bronze Giant Sword was knocked off course by the force, embedding itself diagonally into a distant wall.

Lance, meanwhile, cleverly used the immense recoil to propel himself forward another few meters.

Just like that, Lance continued to weave, dodge, and parry within the dense stream of bronze weapons, using their own momentum to his advantage.

He pushed forward under the immense pressure, finally managing to get within ten meters of Galeos.

Watching Lance hop around like a flea, Galeos snorted, slightly raised his index finger, and pointed it at him.

"Go."

The moment he spoke, a heavy Bronze Dragon Spear with a spiraling tip materialized before him.

Then, like an Armor-Piercing Shell, the Dragon Spear shot straight toward Lance’s chest.

Lance didn’t choose to dodge. Ether Energy surged wildly from his body.

In the blink of an eye, a Dragon Remains Crystal Arm Armor and Dragon Claw Hand Armor materialized, covering both of his arms.

He thrust both hands forward, forming a cage-like grip as he went to grab it!

SCREEEEEECH—

A piercing, grinding sound erupted instantly.

Lance sidestepped the tip, his hands clamping down hard on the middle of the Dragon Spear’s shaft!

The layer of Dragon Remains Crystal on his hands shattered from the intense friction, turning into a cloud of scattered, dark-red powder.

Royal Armory, activate!

[Resistance Threshold check in progress... Current holder’s comprehensive Tier: Level 6. Target item’s Resistance Threshold: Level 5.]

[Check passed! Seizure successful!]

「The next second.」

Soldier Resolution and Re-casting!

The Bronze Dragon Spear instantly dissolved into a stream of molten, Dark Gold liquid.

This stream of scalding liquid metal flowed up Lance’s arm and merged directly into his Hand Armor, replacing the original Dragon Remains material with a type of Composite Armor bearing a Dark Gold Pattern.

Feeling the substantial weight of the new Hand Armor, Lance felt his confidence surge.

[Martial Corpse Blazing Stream Fusion complete: Current Hand Armor Hardness increased to 7 Points, attack weight increased by 100 pounds, grants +15 Base Destruction Power Bonus.]

’Now, it’s my turn to fight back!’

Lance bent his knees and kicked off the ground.

Dragon Leaping Tail!

Lance turned into a shooting star, charging directly at Galeos on the throne.

In an instant, Lance was at the left side of the throne.

His left fist, clad in the Dark Gold Hand Armor, was glowing red-hot from the furious infusion of Silver-Red Ether Energy.

The punch landed squarely on Galeos’s left cheek!

BAM!

A massive boom echoed through the great hall.

The shockwave from the impact of knuckle on jawbone blew apart the purple-red toxic mist swirling around Galeos.

’A direct hit!’

However, despite taking such a powerful blow, Galeos’s head merely tilted a few degrees with the force of the punch.

There was no expected crack of shattering bone.

Even the intense heat of the Ash Dragon Breath failed to leave a single mark on his skin.

Galeos slowly turned his head back. His eyes, filled with the derisive mockery one holds for the weak, silently stared at Lance, who was still frozen in his punching stance.

[Heroic Spirit Specialization: Bronze King Body]

[Base Effect: 6 points of Natural Armor Value (30 points of damage reduction), and 50% base all-damage reduction.]

[Hydra Legend Blessing: Generates an additional, invisible layer of "Nine-Headed Armor" on the body’s surface. If an enemy’s single attack fails to exceed 70 final damage, the damage is completely nullified. If it exceeds 70, the damage is calculated after 70 points are subtracted.]

Reading the defense mechanics, Lance inwardly drew a sharp, cold breath.

He finally understood why, in all of human history, there were almost no records of a solo Adventurer successfully subjugating a descended Upper Heroic Spirit Species.

’This is just cheating!’

What did a damage nullification threshold of 70 points even mean?

It was basically equivalent to the maximum damage of a Second Ring Attack Spell.

In other words, if your attack power didn’t meet that threshold...

...you couldn’t even break through this monster’s most basic defenses!

You wouldn’t even be qualified to tickle him!

But Lance still managed a slight smile.

Because after he’d taken that last hit, the "70-point nullification value" had quietly changed to 69.3.

The effect of Melting Gold Armor Shattering had successfully triggered!

’So mechanics really are the key for the weak to defeat the strong!’

Just as Lance was preparing to press his attack, Galeos’s voice rang out again.

"Did you go to all this trouble just to perform this ridiculous sideshow for me?"

’How can you say something so infuriating when you’re basically cheating? Have you no shame?!’

Lance responded with action.

He shot his left arm up.

SWOOSH!

The Steam Chain Blade shot out from his Arm Armor, instantly wrapping around Galeos’s torso.