Chapter 394: Dira’s Spirit Armor
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The number of sorcerers studying Dark Elements was minuscule in comparison to those studying Light Elements.
The stable, mysterious and quiescent attributes to these types of elements leaned heavily towards sorcery like blinding spells, illusory spells, and shadow-bound spells to name a few. As for the seasoned Demon-Hunter Sorcerers who were veterans of Demon-Hunting Expeditions, like Grimm himself, their understanding of Dark Elements was less in-depth than their non-combatant counterparts.
If not for his research into Enigmatic Energy which was closely related to Dark Elements, the pitiful amount of knowledge Grimm had about Dark Elements would not even have existed.
For now, a large field of Dark Elements shrouded Dira’s surroundings, twisting itself into a large spiral of Dark Elements as if it were some kind of optical illusion.
“Grimm, what’s the plan?”
Yates asked as he stood on the stone giant whose body was covered in rocky spikes. The stone giant was seven meters tall. Under the layers of Dark Element that covered it, Grimm could only barely make out its burly silhouette, making it all the more mysterious.
From Yates’ point of view, Grimm must have had a series of masterful plans in mind, which explains why Grimm was so confident to openly challenge a Level-2 sorcerer to battle.
A lower-level sorcerer striking a higher-level sorcerer pre-emptively?
The suppression of a lower-level sorcerer’s Force of Nature by a high-level sorcerer was typically more than enough for him to give up the fight. Yates believed that Grimm must have been confident in his own skills before opting to fight. Perhaps, this Level-2 sorcerer had some kind of weakness?
The plan?
Grimm shook his head in disappointment. In the first place, he wasn’t even expecting Dira to show up so abruptly, what more to say about a plan to defeat him.
Grimm’s level of strength, was just that of an official orcerer ordained roughly a hundred years ago. His mental strength might not have even reached the two hundred point peak for Arcane Sorcerers. But if we were talking about pure fighting strength, Grimm’s should at least be equal to his opponent’s.
In fact, in a one-on-one fight, the odds would be more on the Dark Sorcerer’s side.
After all, Dira was just an Arcane Sorcerer. He was not required to slug it out over long periods of time just to make it out alive in battle. He was not accustomed to the level of situational awareness expected of a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer when exploring a foreign world full of deadly creatures lurking in the shadows. Nor did he need to waste time praying to the sorcerer’s barrier or choosing which field of sorcery to conduct research on.
If Dira was a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer who could activate the sorcerer’s barrier, he would undoubtedly have sensed Grimm’s Rank-1 Demon-Hunter Honor Badge. If that were the case, he definitely would have thought thrice before making any rash decisions, Level-2 sorcerer or not…
“It never occurred to me that I would be trapped in this kind of a situation, so what plans could I possibly have? Our opponent is a real, living sorcerer from the Sorcerer World, not some wild creature from those foreign worlds.”
Grimm said while gritting his teeth as he was desperately pushing back the suppressive atmosphere acting against him. In an attempt to grab more control over the Force of Nature, he summoned the Savage Flame Giant.
Roar!
Burning intensely, golden flames and pitch-black flames intertwined in a twisting dance. A laughing face protruded from his chest and a crying face, on his back. As the blazing flames reacted with the Earth Element, a five-meter long Lava Greatsword appeared in the giant’s hands within a short span of time. At the same time, a layer of lava armor was forged onto the eight meter-tall giant.
On the Lava Greatsword and the Lava Armor, crimson flames rolled like waves. Grimm slowly descended onto the Savage Flame Giant’s shoulder as he stated in an extremely serious tone, “The ultimate plan, is to end the battle as swiftly as possible. We cannot afford to drag the battle on any longer!”
“Curses! Fleeing immediately sounds like a more solid plan to me!”
Yates lost his vigor the moment he realized that Grimm had no plans to begin with. To bring down a high-level sorcerer that possesses Elemental Teleportation, the Elemental Body, a higher basic mental strength not to mention the Force of Nature suppression?
This is…
The absurdity of Grimm’s plan sounded to Yates, almost like a dream. Perhaps there indeed existed such talented sorcerers in this world who would live up to such a challenge. But that kind of person would have been showered with respect from the community of Demon-Hunter Sorcerers. As for himself and Grimm…
Hm?
Suddenly, Yates turned to look at Grimm. Through the veil of Dark Element, his eyes widened.
Could it be…
“Hah hah hah hah!”
Dira, who was put in a temporary hallucination under Yates’ spell had now snapped out from it and drove away the Dark Elements that encapsulated him. He cackled eerily as his single eye looked at the Savage Flame Giant, before looking over at the Dark Elemental Stone Giant.
“I can’t believe you are talking about escape in the face of a Level-2 sorcerer possessing Elemental Teleportation, you half-wit! For Grimm, I will let him understand the true meaning of despair. As for you…I’ll wipe you off the face of this earth.”
With a poof, Dira turned into ice crystals, dissipating into thin air before reappearing directly in front of Yates.
With the press of his large hands, the bone-chilling Arctic Spiral came crashing down over Yates from Dira’s sleeves.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!…
The stone giant shot hundreds of rock spikes towards Dira’s attack, with each spike covered with a thick layer of Dark Element. As the spikes tore through the air at such speeds, they created a series of ear-bursting sonic booms.
And yet, the Arctic Spiral was unstoppable as it came hurtling down towards Yates.
“God damn!”
Yates was dumbfounded.
It was just moments ago when Grimm so easily stopped the momentum of this Level-2 sorcerer’s attack with his Fireball attacks. Seeing this, Yates never gave any second thought before using the same method to fend off Dira’s attack.
To Yates’ horror, most of the Dark Element rock spikes barely put up a fight against the Arctic Spiral before the Dark Element dissipated into thin air while the rock spikes froze up into icicles before falling straight towards the ground.
Witnessing the impending disaster, Yates growled aggressively before his mouth stretched wide open.
With a loud bang, a pure and solid beam of Dark Element shot out from his mouth.
The Arctic Spiral and Dark Element clashed and tore away at each other, creating a small-scale elemental vortex chaotic area.
The beam of Dark Element lasted for several breaths, as Yates’ face grew increasingly paler. Until the Arctic Spiral was completely annihilated did Yates stop the violent output of Dark Element.
Yates was choking like a drowning man, fighting for air. The sparsely spread of hair on his head suddenly burst into flames with a loud “poof”.
This was one of the side-effects of such sudden outbursts of energy.
“Hehe, it’s over now.”
Caught in the middle of the stream of chaotic elements, Yates could feel the extreme cold gradually taking over his body. Out of desperation and despair, he looked around. There was a two-meter long ice spear. The piercing cold was slowly creeping up his spine as cold air started gathering around him.
In the previous moment, the Ice Spear was still in Dira’s hands. Now, it was right in front of him!
This sorcery attack, was precisely the exact same one used by Dira against the Fake Faceless Nilmar.
“Tomb of the Dark? No, I don’t have much time left! Illusory spell? That’s useless! As for the only form of defense his body had… Is this the end of my sorcerer’s journey? Right here, right now?”
In Yates’ despair, a dark-red necklace floated up from his chest, projecting a fairly strong ray of magic power, as a final struggle.
Suddenly, a crimson light shone through Yates’ vision. With a flash, the Lava Greatsword crossed paths with the Ice Spear, creating a series of cracks as the ice spear shattered into a thousand shards.
Hiss…
The Lava Greatsword gradually dullened before dropping down towards the ground like a piece of rock. There were also large dark spots on the Lava Armor, a huge difference from the one from before which was shimmering in a pure shade of dark-red.
Standing on the Savage Flame Giant’s shoulder, Grimm’s eyes underneath the Mask of Truth burned brighter than the Flame Giant’s fire as his gaze directed all his hatred and resentment towards Dira.
“Sorcerer Dira, your opponent is me.”
“Hah hah hah hah…”
Dira once again cackled loudly in the face of Grimm. His short stature was a stark contrast to his pressuring life signal. Rolling waves of nature’s force flowed in his direction, greatly affecting Grimm’s own control over the force of nature.
“Opponent? Oh the ignorance and arrogance! Since you are so impatient, I’ll let you run for your life for once!”
As he said this, Dira slowly removed the black eye patch that covered his other eye.
Underneath the eye patch was a gear that kept spinning. Another intricate machinery part surfaced from beneath his skin, forming a Mechanical Armor Core.
On both his shoulders, two cannons were actively searching for targets in Dira’s surroundings. Grimm could deduce from the signals that they might be the scaled-down versions of the Pulverizer Cannon.
The muzzle of the left cannon was filled with extreme-cold energy while the one on the right had a massive sword that could transform between solid and liquid-states. To normal eyes, the lens showed a dense series of information typically found on a crystal ball.
Buzz…
A few red dots moved around Grimm’s body. This feeling, reminded Grimm of similar experiments he had done in a previous Void Fortress.
“Hm? It seems to not be a pure Mechanical Armor Core Outfit.”
A suspicion floated into Grimm’s mind. Grimm too, once had a Mechanical Armor Core passed down to him by ancient machinists. He sold it to Julni who used it to beef up her little elves. This was how he had acquired knowledge about such things.
Dira’s Machine Armor on the other hand was equipped with all kinds of comprehensive offensive capabilities, as well as an impressive array of combat-support functions. It shared bits of similarities with the ancient Mechanical Armor Cores. To put it in another way, it was like a sorcerer’s apprentice’s magic staff that is highly buffed with high-level seals.
Modern Mechanical Armor Cores would place more weight on boosting a sorcerer’s offense power and is more geared towards defense. So it would be akin to a humanoid Magic Staff instead.
“Mechanical Armor Core? Hah hah hah hah…”
Perhaps he was mocking Grimm, or was he intoxicated by his own delusions. Dira laughed maniacally, “Grimm, from now on, you will be haunted by the nightmare of Dira’s Spirit Armor for the rest of your life!”
Immediately after, the mechanical parts on Dira’s body were abruptly ignited by the gray-colored Spirit Flame of before.
Grimm narrowed his eyes underneath the Mask of Truth.
With another poof the burning mechanical parts flew across the sky in all directions. And as the parts started to recombine, a long sword sliced through the air towards Grimm.