Chapter 171: By Mutual Consent
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: By Mutual Consent
Arthur Dexter is a former Titanium-grade explorer.
While there are just over a hundred explorers ranked Cobalt or higher in the Great Labyrinth Calax, the number of currently living Titanium-grade explorers officially recognized by the Guild barely exceeds sixty across the entire surface world.
Even though he has retired and now serves as a Guild administrator, his past glory is still spoken of today.
"The Invisible Monster."
"The Invincible Starfish...?"
"It means he cannot be seen."
"Aha... but I see him just fine."
Raya Delbaheim, a half-elf whose youthful appearance belies her three-digit age, knew his prowess during his prime all too well.
Back then, he and Katrina the Black Wolf—who was currently busy stealing snack pies in the Southwest Branch Guild and teasing her juniors—were a duo of proven might with a record of reaching the 65th floor of the labyrinth.
Now, for the first time in over a decade, that power was being revealed to the public.
* * *
"Just for the record, I’d like to ask how far you want me to go."
"I am well aware that you are incredibly strong, Sir Dexter."
"I see."
Yoo Eon replied to Dexter's question. Fortunately, Arthur Dexter had no hobby of killing people. Furthermore, because he knew the extent of his own power when going all out, he assumed that doing so would surely kill Yoo Eon.
"Sir Dexter. Would it be possible for you to fight me with everything you have?"
"Hmm? I think that might be a bit dangerous."
"I want to know how long I can hold out against a Titanium-grade opponent. If possible, I’d like you to go hard enough to cause physical dismemberment."
These weren't words that would normally come out of a person's mouth. Unless it was a desperate struggle for survival where one's life was on the line, asking someone to use enough force to tear one's body apart was bizarre.
"Is that... because you can recover using a skill?"
"That is correct."
"You must have quite an impressive healing ability."
Dexter was somewhat aware of it. When they had met on the 2nd Stratum of the labyrinth recently, Yoo Eon's entire body had nearly been shattered by his attack. Yet, here he was, perfectly fine.
"Well then, I suppose losing an arm would be alright?"
Dexter asked lightly, almost jokingly. Yoo Eon replied:
"You can even blow my head off."
* * *
The moment the countdown ended, the two monsters inside the domed barrier began to gather their mana.
Crrrk...
Bone and flesh split apart as new muscle and exoskeleton sprouted. Yoo Eon reconstructed his entire body in an instant, simultaneously drawing a weapon from the artifact worn on his left middle finger.
The difference from before was that his thoracic cavity now housed the bright, water-colored mana core of the Irregular Megido Serpent and the deep navy mana core of the Knight Lord.
He utilized the mana cores of the Lich, Queen Arachne, the Irregular Megido Serpent, and the Knight Lord. The heart of the Irregular Orc Chieftain and Tenebrax's Dragon Heart were positioned on either side of his chest.
He filled his abdominal cavity with three pairs of powerful lungs and replaced his spine with the hard, flexible vertebrae of the Megido Serpent.
Just as it had been with the Haunted Centurion Armor, the moment Yoo Eon engraved the Knight Lord's mana core into his chest, he realized something.
That Knight Lord bastard... just how much was he holding back?
Without any magical physical enhancement, the Knight Lord had sharpened his blade with pure mana alone. With such a body, he had overwhelmed Yoo Eon—who far exceeded the bounds of humanity—hundreds of times over through sheer swordsmanship and technique.
The Knight Lord's swordsmanship, now flowing through Yoo Eon's body, made him vividly realize that power.
Furthermore, the sword and shield of the Knight Lord, which had regained their original forms, were also magnificent. They were a pair of rare metal armaments forged through an ancient, now-lost smithing technique.
Contrary to the description of rare metals—which supposedly gathered mana from the air to gain unique characteristics—these weapons were violently venting mana just by existing.
This was a trait the Knight Lord had acquired upon becoming a necro-type entity, and the weapons were now proving their skill by recognizing Yoo Eon, who was using the Knight Lord's mana core, as their master.
And standing before him was Arthur Dexter.
Boom!! Thud!!
What is he doing?
It was the same peculiar scene he had witnessed on the 2nd Stratum. Dexter was striking the ground with force powerful enough to make heaven and earth tremble, yet for some reason, the floor showed no sign of breaking.
Naturally, it wasn't because of the superior quality of the paving material or a lack of power on Arthur Dexter's part.
It was the first of his skills.
The 'Solidification of all Air' within a 1km radius of himself. Most easily formed into cubes, he could solidify air into any shape he desired depending on his proficiency.
In terms of hardness, it had a weak defensive power that would dissipate back into a gaseous state with a mere flick of a finger, like a child playing with soap bubbles. However...
"Hup...!"
The moment Yoo Eon slammed his tail into the ground and propelled himself forward while beating his wings, he shot ahead at the speed of a bullet.
He was so fast that the ground beneath him shattered only after his entire body had vanished like an afterimage.
Swish—!!!!!
And so, Arthur Dexter's second skill.
This is impossible...!?
The 'Rigidification of all Solids.'
The Knight Lord's Aura Blade, which had sliced through Queen Arachne's exoskeleton armor like a knife through butter, was easily blocked by Arthur Dexter's bare palm, which wasn't even covered by a leather glove.
Of course, becoming a rigid body didn't mean he gained complete resistance to external repulsive forces, but for some reason, the sword touching Arthur Dexter's hand lost all its momentum and came to a dead stop.
"Impressive power."
— — — — !!!!!
A roar loud enough to tear eardrums erupted.
Arthur Dexter's third skill.
Through Impact Stacking, he had absorbed the momentum of Yoo Eon's sword swing, reducing it to zero, and then unleashed that stored force through his own fist.
Yoo Eon, taking a punch with the same impact as his own sword swing, was sent flying into the stage's barrier as his exoskeleton armor exploded.
"Incredible."
"Ha, wow. Sir Dexter, that’s an unfair power...!"
The cracked and shattered exoskeleton was instantly enveloped in navy flames as the wounds began to heal. If he had been an ordinary person, he would have exploded without leaving a trace the moment his body absorbed that much impact.
The domed barrier of the Grand Martial Arena was already half-cracked, and the murmurs from the spectator seats were growing louder.
—Holy shit...! What was that just now...?!
—How the hell did that guy survive...!?
"It's too early to relax, Aven."
Arthur Dexter slowly extended his fist toward Yoo Eon.
"Burst."
Boom—!!!!
"Guh...?!"
Yoo Eon's body, taking an invisible blow directly to the solar plexus, was driven even deeper into the arena wall.
True to Arthur Dexter's nickname, it felt as if an invisible monster had swung its fist at Yoo Eon with all its might.
In reality, however, it was an attack created by the fantastic combination of the three skills Dexter possessed.
He solidified the air between himself and Yoo Eon into a rectangular cube, then used his skill to turn it into a rigid body that transmitted all external impact perfectly.
Then, he released the impact he had stored by striking the rigid floor with all his might before the fight began, using Impact Stacking.
Before the Yoo Eon embedded in the wall could even fall to the floor, Arthur Dexter continued to strike the ground to store more impact. He pushed Yoo Eon back by operating all three skills simultaneously.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Attacks compressing the force of dozens of monstrous punches at Titanium-grade power struck Yoo Eon’s body without a hint of loss.
So this is Titanium Grade...! Amazing...!
Dexter's continuous attacks pinned Yoo Eon deep into the wall, preventing him from falling.
Clang!!
In the split second Dexter struck the floor to stack more impact, Yoo Eon sliced the wall into pieces and escaped the corner.
Whoosh!
With a powerful flap of his wings, a dark violet mist that would rot lungs with a single breath surged forth. Yoo Eon, hiding within the mist, opened the eyes he had kept closed behind exoskeleton eyelids for protection.
I see it...!
Queen Arachne's Future Sight showed him the future, and the Umbra Valkyrie provided the solution to navigate that future. The moment the pupils of the Evil Eye froze Dexter's body for a fleeting instant...
Swish!!!
Adrenaline Break activated. Yoo Eon, gaining physical force by directly combusting mana, swung his sword at Dexter.
Clang!!
Impact Stacking was too late, but Rigidification had activated. The moment Dexter grabbed Yoo Eon's sword and turned his body into a rigid object to transmit all the impact directly into the ground...
Rumble...!!!
The walls of the Grand Martial Arena cracked and split as if an earthquake had struck.
Yoo Eon flew through the air at incredible speed, evading the invisible attacks.
I can feel it...!
Boom!!
He parried Dexter's attacks with the Knight Lord's devastating techniques and approached boldly.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
He poured out hundreds of the Skeleton Mage's enhanced fireballs per minute—each possessing the power of a top-tier mage—while firing the Evil Eye's mana disintegration rays from his fingertips, warping and melting the floor.
The barrier installed to protect the spectators had already shattered dozens of times. If the mages belonging to the Page of Arcana hadn't reinforced the barrier at the risk of their lives, the low-level explorers present would have surely been turned into mush.
Swish!!
Fiercely swirling blades, wide-range magical attacks. Aerial evasive maneuvers difficult to follow with the naked eye, and the pupils of the Evil Eye that occasionally froze the body in place.
Slash!
He spread Arachne's webs on the ground to hinder Dexter's movement and used his sword or shield to deflect the invisible shockwaves that flew at him periodically. Since the impact was impossible to block outright, blocking was never an option.
"Burst...!"
While trying to deflect Dexter's shockwave, the entire arm holding the shield was ripped off with a sickening crunch.
Thud!
However, the maw of the Megido Serpent sprouted from the torn stump, bit the severed arm, and pulled it back into place.
"Hey, hey, hey...! Holy shit, what is happening...!"
"I-I don't know either, Clan Leader!"
Dexter, whom they thought was just a washed-up old man, was actually a monster. And the upstart rookie who didn't know his place was also a monster. For the small and medium clans watching this, it was enough to drive them insane.
Vrrr—
The mages couldn't stop the barrier from breaking, and Yoo Eon's Evil Eye x 12 destruction rays soared into the clear sky of Calax.
It was a relief that they hadn't been fired toward the ground.
"Did something like a purple beam just zip past?"
"You have a mental illness skill, don't you? You're kicked from the party."
"What the hell."
At that moment, a few people looking at the northeastern sky actually spotted it.
The stage of the Grand Martial Arena was already a mess. Dexter gathered all his strength and unleashed a shockwave toward Yoo Eon's head.
Pop!!
Yoo Eon, whose head was completely shattered, surprisingly stopped flapping his wings and began to fall toward the ground, only for his head to suddenly regenerate mid-air.
Holy shit! It actually works!
This was a self-defense system derived from the 'unconditional reflex' function that demonstrated the greatness of living organisms. It was like the way a foot kicks out when a doctor strikes a knee with a hammer.
The moment an abnormality occurred in the exoskeleton protecting the cerebral cortex, the spinal cord protecting the head reacted and 'stored' Yoo Eon's brain.
Then, the moment the body recognized the fact that 'the brain had not existed for more than one second,' it pulled the 'stored' brain back out through another unconditional reflex.
This was the solution Yoo Eon had devised after having his head sliced off hundreds of times while fighting the Knight Lord.
It was a revolutionary self-defense system that allowed him to survive even if his head was destroyed.
Of course, to the spectators watching, it was nothing short of cosmic horror.
"F-Fuck!! His head exploded!!"
"Arthur Dexter!! Stop the match!!!"
The members of the shitty small-time clan alliance, who had intended to nitpick if the two didn't fight seriously, were now the ones stepping forward to stop Arthur.
Of course, neither Dexter nor Yoo Eon had any intention of stopping the fight until they gave each other the mutually agreed-upon hand signal.
Dozens of the Skeleton Mage's bone arms sprouted from Yoo Eon's back, unleashing a full-salvo barrage, and lungs spilled out limply from his lower body, which had been blown away by a shockwave.
Despite pouring out enough blood to form a waterfall and a pool, Yoo Eon didn't die; instead, his movements became faster than before.
And Dexter, who didn't lose any ground against that monster, was just as terrifying.
Eventually, when the mages of the Page of Arcana used up all their mana and the barrier could no longer be restored, the battle ended by mutual consent.
The dark violet toxic mist that had filled the arena did not harm the spectators thanks to Yoo Eon's control.
"Gurgle..."
"Ru-Rubia! Get a hold of yourself!"
Rubia, who had been wondering, If I drink that, I’ll die, right? went into shock and lost consciousness the moment the mist touched her.