Chapter 604: Explosion

Golden-orange flames rose slowly, twisting with wild, rampant curses, mingling with thick, billowing smoke.

The entire arena was filled with fire.

Lily, the halfling, stared at the man's back at the center and felt an inexplicable surge of excitement.

She forcibly held down Tally, who was trying to leap out from the shadows of her clothes, pressing her small palm to her mouth to amplify her voice.

"Luo De, how strong is a ninth-rank?"

"Very strong—roughly equal to Asmodeirs when wounded, but his spell power is clearly inferior, and this guy was overconfident; he's probably held back many techniques."

Luo De smiled.

The hidden rule Lily uncovered helped immensely; otherwise, it was uncertain whether that sword strike could have pierced the 【Spell Devouring】 magical barrier.

Moreover, the 【Infernal Heart Pump】 triggered its critical damage effect.

The bonus stat "Damage Increase" is an extremely prestigious one—far more potent for lethality than simple strength amplification.

But he was weakened by 【Fabio's Soul-Gazing Gaze】, leaving his current seventh-rank spiritual quality noticeably lacking.

He glanced at the piercing mage in the spectator seats.

Rosalia's report said the cardinal was ninth-rank; though I've never seen him, the one I just faced clearly wasn't that cardinal.

So… two ninth-ranks?

Luo De grinned, spat out the black blood surging into his throat, his battle spirit burning high.

That piercing mage won't accept this—he's probably just hiding behind the cardinal, waiting to ambush. He'll come for another round.

I'm struggling now, but let me try leveling to eighth and see how it goes.

"My turn! Swap! Swap!"

Lily bounced up and down, waving her hands, her eyes gleaming—she was itching to fight.

The halfling girl was even more battle-hungry than Luo De.

"Alright, alright."

Luo De laughed and walked toward her—the ninth-rank 【Home Field Advantage】 had already been spent.

What?

Vincent returning to the arena again?

Laughable—this guy won't even link to the mana web; if he dares to risk it, I'll eat my own head right here.

At that moment.

Luo De suddenly stopped, turning his head to gaze at the flickering illusionary sky along the dome's edge.

A large section of the sky's illusion was missing, revealing the raw stone and timber walls built by the earth mage.

No one noticed what slithered past there.

【Ghoul Pan Ni: Master, the ghouls are in position… Waaah, are we really going to do this?】

Through the Far-Speech Chain, Pan Ni sent a message.

Luo De chuckled.

He looked again at the information on his panel: 【Treasure Obsession】.

【Strategy for "Blood Lion Spine Arena": Heavy Shockwave!】

Even though no one dares to step forward now, I don't mind giving you all a brutal surprise.

In the spectator seats:

No cheers. No applause.

The gray dwarves occasionally whipped the unruly slaves into submission; even as the whips struck their flesh, the slaves dared not make a sound.

The three-meter-tall small giant, though a mage, radiated an utterly terrifying aura.

The atmosphere turned icy.

The piercing mage Vincent struck first, coldly fixing his gaze on the dragonfly-masked man.

He advanced slowly, amplifying his pressure to its peak.

"Don't you know your treasure has a backdoor? You idiot!"

The dragonfly-masked man had been staring wide-eyed, still not reacting.

Hearing Vincent's blame, he opened his mouth slightly but said nothing.

Then he turned and slapped a woman behind him wearing a black beetle mask.

"You didn't check if the treasure had a backdoor? Huh?"

The woman looked wounded but dared not speak, lowering her head and murmuring an apology while clutching her swollen cheek.

The dragonfly-masked man's anger subsided somewhat.

He adjusted his necktie and asked respectfully: "Mr. Vincent, what should we do next?"

"What else can we do? Cancel the arena! Without the backdoor's boost, do you think he could have hurt me?"

"Yes, yes, of course not—he's nothing. A mere forest warden. We could've just forced more fighters onto the field; if our squad brothers lend a hand, we could kill him easily."

"Get lost! This is your fault, your mistake—you'll reimburse me for the spell components I just used!"

"Of course, of course—we'll add ten percent more."

"Only ten?"

"Twenty! Twenty okay?"

Vincent snorted, signaling his tacit approval.

"If not for that bitch's ban in Dusk Hill, I'd kill Luo De like a dog."

After all, a ninth-rank mage wouldn't dare show his face without several etheric or spiritual spells.

But now? Can't use them—the goddess's ban forbids it.

Even coming to Dusk Hill, Vincent had been terrified for a long time, only relaxing once he confirmed Mistral hadn't appeared above him through the mana web.

Grand Leader Carter watched the haggling coldly.

He shook his head.

He muttered under his breath: "The Cardinal was right to come—Campbell people are utterly unreliable."

He no longer believed Vincent had any chance of killing Luo De.

Luo De…

Carter had a strong intuition: a man like Luo De wouldn't be hurt by the same trick twice.

If that's true…

How would you break his Dragon Scale technique?

The Arena treasure, having had its backdoor found, is clearly unusable now.

The Cardinal said not to worry—perhaps he's already thought of a solution.

Crack—

A faint, brittle snap echoed in the ear.

An unnatural spiritual frequency surged far beyond normal levels.

Carter's face twisted in shock—he spun toward the gap in the illusionary sky above.

Plop!

A ghoul with sunken cheeks, rotting lips gone, shoved its head out.

From its hollow eye sockets poured thick, acrid green smoke.

The next instant—

A green fireball erupted violently between the ghoul's ribs!

The explosion carved a hollow cavity in the rock wall and blasted the heads and limbs off the two undead corpses beside it.

The shockwave traveled along the corpses, triggering chain explosions Guozhesuigu!

A muffled thunderous roar!

Boom!

Boom boom!!

Boom boom boom!!!

The Arena treasure flickered wildly; the spectator seats, the illusionary sky, and the arena center all shook violently.

A long-prepared corpse explosion ritual?? Can corpse explosion spells have this power?!

Carter stared in disbelief at the Campbell faction—they stared back at him with equal shock.

"You…" *2

Neither side could speak—the other had no reason to strike so early.

"Did you leak our position?!"

"Impossible! I have a treasure that blocks transmission!" Carter roared.

There was no time for further words.

The powerful explosions toppled the dome's load-bearing pillars; rib-like arches twisted under the chain blasts, debris and rotting flesh rained down like a storm, and the entire underground plaza began spiraling into collapse.

Amid rolling clouds of dust:

The shockwave hurled everyone deeper into the abyss.

(End of Chapter)