Chapter 96: With or without Excalibur
The headquarters building, finally unable to handle the immense pressure of the ritual, crumbled completely like a pack of cards.
Tons of solid concrete, glass panels, and heavy steel beams caved inward, creating a massive explosion of dust and debris that consumed the area.
Aegis formed a solid green dome above Leon once again, easily protecting him from the catastrophic crash and shielding his body from the falling rubble.
At the exact same time, one of Asura’s gigantic, stony hands acted like a massive umbrella over Yeon’s head, shielding him entirely from the heavy falling debris.
Once the dust settled, the giant floating body parts vibrated violently with dark, suffocating power.
They began pulling toward each other, combining seamlessly behind Teon to form a gigantic, eight-armed figure.
The monstrous construct expanded rapidly as it fused together, reaching over ten meters in height and casting a massive shadow across the ruined battlefield.
Each of its eight gigantic arms was filled with glowing orange cracks, looking just like the molten surface of an active volcanic mountain.
Dangerous, sharp spikes ran all the way from its massive elbows down to its rocky wrists, giving its limbs a brutal, weaponized appearance.
Strangely enough, the towering monster was completely headless as it stood fully assembled in the center of the ruins.
Only a crude, jagged rocky stump existed where its neck and head should have been placed.
Suddenly, the volcanic cracks running along its massive torso trembled violently as intense, liquid heat surged upward into its upper body.
A terrifying magma head rapidly grew above its rocky neck, forming out of pure, molten liquid rock in a matter of seconds.
A pair of cracked brown rocks solidified on its face to serve as its glowing, unblinking eyes.
There was another round, hollow piece of rock acting as its crude mouth on the lower half of its molten face.
Thick, glowing magma continuously dripped down from the stone mouth like boiling red blood, melting the concrete floor beneath its feet upon contact.
Leon looked even tinier than an ant in front of the colossal volcanic entity towering high into the sky above him.
As he stared up at the sheer scale of the ten-meter demon, he felt a cold chill run down his spine.
Leon smiled wryly as he stared up at the towering, ten-meter mass of volcanic rock and molten magma.
The sheer heat radiating off the creature was enough to scorch the air in his lungs from meters away.
He swallowed hard, his eyes tracing the massive spikes running along its eight rocky arms.
He thought to himself in quiet disbelief, ’I’m supposed to fight that... in close range?’
Without the divine blade and boosts of Excalibur, approaching such a colossal entity felt like diving headfirst into a boiling volcano.
Teon, on the other hand, laughed maniacally from his position behind the massive summon.
His voice rang out sharp and unhinged through the ruined remains of the fallen headquarters building.
His eyes were wild with absolute triumph as he pointed his shaking, blood-stained hands directly at Leon’s standing position.
"You’re dead now bastard!" Teon screamed at the top of his lungs, his face twisted in rage.
"Kill that bastard!" he shouted, pointing his finger at Leon.
Asura’s glowing rock eyes slowly tilted downward, locking its fiery gaze straight onto the tiny young player below.
The ten-meter demon raised one of its massive, rocky hands high into the air, its volcanic cracks flaring bright orange.
It swung the gigantic hand down at Leon with terrifying speed, moving like Leon was just a tiny, annoying fly he wanted to casually slap away into the dirt.
The sheer air pressure from the downward strike kicked up a violent tempest of dust and shattered concrete before the blow even landed.
Aegis suddenly appeared directly in front of Leon, glowing with its brilliant, familiar green light.
The massive, magma-dripping fist crashed hard against the shield with a booming collision that shook the ground.
Instead of crushing Leon, the giant hand was immediately slapped away upon impact, rebounding violently backward like it had just hit a trampoline.
Asura grunted loudly from deep within its molten chest, reacting to the unexpected counter.
The sound of its voice was terrible and harsh, sounding like giant heavy rocks violently scratching against one another.
Thick streams of boiling magma dripped out from its crude stone mouth, splashing onto the shattered floor below.
Leon swiftly charged straight at the giant beast at full speed, his boots digging hard into the broken ground.
Aegis floated steadfastly right by his side, its green light humming with protective energy.
He gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching tight as raw determination completely overpowered his lingering hesitation and fatigue.
He thought to himself with burning resolve, ’Excalibur or not Excalibur, I can take down this monster!’
He refused to rely on a weapon that had rejected him, trusting in his own strength, his relics, and his battle instincts.
He channeled his remaining energy directly into his defensive relic, activating its ultimate area ability.
He thought to himself with complete focus, ’Guardian’s Dominion!’
A transparent green dome instantly shone brightly from Aegis, expanding outward until it covered him completely from head to toe.
[Skill: Guardian’s Dominion]
[Rank: SS]
[Description: Create a divine sanctuary centered around Aegis. Allies within its domain receive enhanced defense and resistance to all negative status effects, while hostile attacks entering the domain are immediately reflected.]
With his defense secured inside the sphere, he leaped high into the air directly towards Asura’s gigantic torso.
He pulled his right arm back as he soared upward, readying a powerful blow in his fist to strike the beast head-on.
Asura didn’t sit still and simply watch the tiny insect leap towards its chest.
The eight-armed volcanic entity reacted instantly, pulling one of its other massive arms back with terrifying swiftness.
It threw a brutal, straight punch right back at Leon, driving its gigantic, spike-covered fist through the air to pulverize him mid-flight.