Chapter 1047 Split
As Izroth fell from the sky head first, he kept his sword pointed out before him toward the ground. At the same time, a series of alerts sounded from the system.
〈System Alert: Recognizing «Authority»...〉
〈System Alert: «Authority» recognized as Mid Level!〉
〈System Alert: Establishing active link with «Immortal Persona: Dragon Lord of the Abyss»...〉
〈System Alert: Active link established!〉
〈System Alert: «Immortal Persona: Dragon Lord of the Abyss» has answered your call!〉
(Human, you haven't forgotten about your promise, have you?)
'As long as you continue to prove your usefulness, I will find you a suitable body as promised.'
(Having to rely on the words of a human is disgraceful. However, this lord has already chosen to place its fate in your hands. I hope that you do not disappoint me, human. That's why, until the time of that promise comes, this lord shall lend you its strength as you see fit.)
'Then, I'll be sure to hold you to that.'
Immortal Persona—this was one of the skills attached to Izroth's Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence.
An Immortal Persona was similar to a living spirit that resided within an object. In this case, the object was Izroth's armor.
Based on the level of authority he had over the Immortal Persona, Izroth was able to acquire access to certain abilities related to that particular Immortal Persona. He also discovered that if his authority was too low, the Immortal Persona could refuse his call.
So far, Izroth currently had two Immortal Personas within his Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence.
The first was an unknown Immortal Persona that refused all his call attempts. Although Izroth had no proof, given the nature of his armor, he believed that this specific Immortal Persona was likely the original living spirit of the Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence itself.
As for the second Immortal Persona, it was, of course, the Dragon Lord of the Abyss.
With a Mid-Level Authority, Izroth had access to a portion of two skills; an offensive-type skill known as Dragon's Mark and a defensive-type skill called Dragon's Scale.
In this case, what Izroth required was the use of Dragon's Scale.
Dragon's Scale made it so that as long as his maximum HP was above 80%, any damage he received would be negated and stored to the side. This effect would last until a threshold equal to 180% of his maximum HP was reached. After that, he would receive a massive backlash of all the damage he accumulated, half of which would be inflicted immediately and the other half that would take place over the next five seconds.
Since healing and shielding could not reduce the stored damage amount, it meant Izroth would not have a lot of time once the threshold was reached. He hoped that it did not have to come to that; however, since this was his first time attempting something like this, Izroth knew that it was better to take some level of precautions.
Under normal circumstances, Izroth would use Falling Feather Steps to break his fall. Unfortunately, for what he had in mind, utilizing Falling Feather Steps would only work against him. And, by the time achieved his goal, it would be too late to activate it.
'Well, if all goes accordingly, I should be fine.'
20 meters...
10 meters...
5 meters...!
'Fusion Skill... First Baneful Sword-'
Suddenly, an overbearing aura of a chilling piercing intent encompassed Izroth's Sword of the Storm.
Zeeeeeut!
'Destruction Point.'
DIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
A deafening ring sounded throughout the chambers as the tip of Izroth's Sword of the Storm collided with the protective barrier that surrounded the coffin.
Crraaaaack!
The ground beneath the coffin shattered, forming a sizable crater in the process as fractured fragments of the transparent barrier could be seen giving way under the immense pressure generated by Izroth's strike.
Shiiiiiiing! Woosh!
Izroth's sword sliced through the protective barrier and without slowing in momentum, cut the coffin in two!
...BOOOOM!
Izroth's sword crashed into the ground beneath the coffin, creating a large cloud of dust at the chamber's center.
Simultaneously, just as his sword successfully cut through the coffin, Izroth prepared himself for incoming backlash as he slammed into the ground!
〈Battle Alert: Warning! The threshold for the skill «Dragon's Scale» has been reached!〉
〈Battle Alert: You have received [21,672] damage!〉
〈Battle Alert: You will receive [4,334] damage every second over the next 5 seconds!〉
When Izroth saw the damage warning, a carefree smile appeared on his face.
«Immune»
«Immune»
...
'I knew it would be a close call, so I planned to immediately activate Crystallization either way, but... It looks like I managed to stay just below the limit.'
Instead of bleeding out the 4,334 damage that he was supposed to, Izroth was completely immune to it!
This was due to the Greater Physique passive of his Heavenly Golden Body. As long as the damage did not come from weapons like a dagger, if it were below 4,434, then Izroth would be entirely unaffected by it.
Using this to his advantage, Izroth was able to effectively negate the biggest downside to the Dragon's Scale skill.
(This human is too crazy...! Will my fate really be alright left in his hands?)
Meanwhile, Izroth's allies who felt the earth shake from the impact just now were left dumbfounded. The fact that they could feel the force of the impact from tens of meters away made them question whether or not the person responsible for it could even survive something like that.
"That guy... He's even crazier than I am..!" Noir said with a grin.
"Ahahaha! Didn't I tell you, Noir? You should just follow my brother! You'll have a much more entertaining time than rotting away in those top guilds!" Guan Yu stated proudly.
"Maybe you weren't just needlessly boasting, after all," Noir commented.
Guan Yu was well known among the 5th Unit for the stories he often told about this mythical-like brother of his and the incredible feats he accomplished. Of course, many of those in the 5th Unit did not take Guan Yu seriously. After all, some of the stories he told sounded like events pulled right out of the epics of heroes. However, after witnessing the person at the source of his stories in action firsthand, there was one thought that flashed through the minds of the 5th Unit members—could it be that those insane stories Guan Yu told were actually all true?
Just like the members of the 5th Unit, those of the 9th Division under Izroth were also at a loss for words. They knew how incredible their Captain was; however, he always seemed to exceed their previous expectations of him.
"We really lucked out joining this Division, didn't we, Sky?" Astral Knight said with an expression of high nerves and excitement.
"Yeah, this Captain of ours is a real freak of nature. I'm glad you talked me into tagging along with you at that time." Clouded Sky remarked.
Lances glanced over towards the center of the chamber. Just before the cloud of dust formed, he saw it clearly—the coffin being split in two.
"The protective barrier that surrounded the coffin was something even I didn't have confidence breaking in a short amount of time without having to pay a heavy price. Even then, my chances of succeeding were only around fifty percent. Breaking the protective barrier alone is already an impressive feat, but for him to also cut the coffin itself in half... I've never seen such a precise level of swordsmanship." Lances thought to himself.
If that attack had been performed by somebody with mediocre swordsmanship, the aftermath of destruction would have spread well beyond the area of the coffin. However, the only thing one felt with Izroth's strike was the tremors. What made it more remarkable was the fact that the tremors were generated as a result of the vibrations produced by Izroth's sword hitting the protective barrier.
The reason Lances was so amazed by the precision of Izroth's swordsmanship had to do with how he concentrated the entirety of that sword strike to a single point at the tip of his sword.
The coffin of a Night Lord was not just some random object that could be found on the side of the road. It was, at minimum, an S-ranked magic item crafted for the sole purpose of guarding whatever, or in this case whoever, it housed. That kind of magic item was not something just anyone could cut through. This was even more so considering he did so immediately after breaking the protective barrier around it.
It did not take long for the dust to clear out from around the chamber's center. By the time it finished doing so, what revealed itself was Izroth standing before the damaged coffin.
As he watched the numerous particles drift off into the sky, Izroth heard the sound of the system alerts go off.
〈System Alert: 1/1 Prevent the full revival of the «Antumbra of Decay, Night Lord Zarolas».〉
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have completed the quest «Hidden Guardian of the Mortal Realm»!〉