Star Forge Titan

From it came a steady sound of footsteps, as steady as the sound of dripping water in a stalactite cave that had remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

He had only heard similar footsteps before, in one particular young man.

As expected, Jerome was not surprised to see Ivan slowly walking out of the contestant passage, and a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his lion-like face.

"Yo, boy, is your match next? What a shame, I've already made it to the finals and was looking forward to having some fun with you."

After saying this, the half-blooded orc who was staring at the lion's head suddenly burst into laughter, and then continued:

"Listen up! Next up is a free service from Good Mood Master Jerome. The rules of today's competition have changed. One hundred people will take the stage, and only one will remain to be the final winner!"

The almost ridiculous new rules that emerged from the mouth of the lion-hybrid beast seemed to reveal their unreasonable brutality and bad taste.

"The only winner will directly advance to the finals and present the bloodiest and most spectacular gladiatorial show in front of that woman!"

"..." Ivan glanced at Jerome with indifference, and this attitude made the latter immediately pout his lips and make a series of strange sounds like a dog sneezing.

"Lululululululu, I like a good opponent who doesn't talk much." As he said that, the lion-orc hybrid raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture on his neck.

"Boy, I'll be waiting for you in the finals."

With another ferocious smile on his face, Jerome jumped off the ring without looking back and walked towards the contestant passage on the other side.

However, before his tall and domineering figure completely disappeared in the contestant channel, he heard a deafening roar like thunder from behind him!

The hybrid orc with a lion's head had his hair standing on end, his eyes widened and his pupils shrunk to the size of needles. He jumped up quickly on the spot like a frightened big cat, and turned his head as fast as he could to look at the ring.

The scene that came into view was even more exaggerated and shocking than the tragic scene he had just left behind.

The arena, which was stained with the blood of victims just a dozen seconds ago, now looked like it was hit by a meteorite falling from the sky, with a huge radiating depression exploded from the center.

The black-haired boy, who was actively provoked by Jerome, was now slowly straightening up, and at the same time slowly pulling out a fist with his five clenched fingers from the center of the depression.

He was surrounded by a golden magical glow, and it was obvious that he had stimulated his boxer's "Qi" to the extreme.

But the scene that really shocked Jerome was not on the ground.

At the same time, in the sea-blue sky directly above the shattered arena—

A full one hundred boxers were blown away!!!

The next second, the black-haired boy stood quietly in the center of the broken arena, surrounded by the losers falling like rain.

He moved his fingers gently, and a look of boredom appeared on his face, as handsome and cold as the statue of an angel of power.

"Boring."

Chapter 111 Barrier of Despair

[Perfect Power] A power of superb perfection, and the rage flowing in the soul can further amplify physical strength until it breaks through the quadrant.

[Iron Muscles] Your muscles are integrated with artificial muscles made of mithril alloy, allowing you to burst out with power far beyond the limit of what the flesh and blood body can bear.

[Divine Wrath] A violent, superior alternative, the Titan's wrath is powerful enough to burn away the turbidity of the entire world, allowing a new, pure light to descend upon it once again! Temporarily increases Strength and Constitution based on Mana invested. The stronger the rage, the greater the increase.

[Blessing of Steel - Immortal Body - Extreme Steel] The Titan's Bone is the backbone of the world, greatly strengthening the bearer's skeleton. The spine can be used as an additional mana pool to store magic. The Titan's Body is the body of the world, greatly enhancing the bearer's physical strength. Every drop of blood is filled with powerful magic and vitality.

……

The stacking of combat power party data has begun to show results. With the blessing of a whole row of talents that can simultaneously enhance physical fitness and strength attributes, Ivan's current physical strength and maximum strength have far exceeded the limits that ordinary second-level or even higher-level extraordinary people can reach.

It can be said that the awakening degree of the Titan genetic factors raised by the foundation of the Great Mystery World and the progress of the extraordinary path have together created a combat power beyond common sense.

The ultimate technique allows this power to be released at one hundred, two hundred, or even one thousand percent.

The force string dominates, the highest and only ultimate configuration of the Storm Fighting Holy Fist, which can manipulate and interfere with the essence of "force", and use space as a medium to perform and create illusionary skills, which allows Alvin to concentrate all the strength of his body in one place.

then……

With just one punch, the immensely violent force destroyed the arena! Blowing the opponent away! Creating the exaggerated spectacle of defeating a hundred people in one blow!

Although it is exaggerated, the so-called perfect seed must have such performance to be worthy of the title of "Candidate for Perfection" and the reputation of the most powerful seed in this world.

Jerome watched in amazement as a hundred boxers were eliminated by a single man with just one punch.

This strong impact made the lion hybrid, who had traveled all over the world and seen all kinds of situations, look astonished.

Then, Jerome's expression slowly grew gloomy, and he no longer had the boldness he had displayed before. The stark contrast between the two on the ring made him feel that his previous words and performance now looked like a completely self-righteous and ridiculous clown.

Hahahaha, the clown is actually me.JPG

He fell to the ground with a wailing scream, and at the same time, another boxer who was not dead slapped Jerome's face one after another like a big slap, making the lion-blooded orc's dim eyes immediately bloodshot.

Moreover, its lips were turned outward, revealing its sharp fangs still stained with the flesh and blood of the victim, giving it the brutal posture of a bloodthirsty beast.

"Good!" Jerome clapped his hands with a ferocious look on his face and cheered loudly for the only winner standing on the ring at the moment.

However, now it looked like he was about to jump in and start fighting rather than clapping and cheering.

After glancing coldly at Jerome, who had an ugly face, Alvin cast his gaze on the referee and host, who seemed to have dropped his jaw and couldn't close his mouth.

"The winner is Walker! Walker!" The host, who works part-time as a referee, shouted out the pseudonym that Ivan is currently using in panic.

Immediately afterwards, the stands, which had been as silent as if suffocating, burst into thunderous cheers.

Before, the audience didn't even have time to react before being left speechless by the shocking and impactful scene before them.

Now that they had finally come to their senses, they immediately let out all kinds of screams. People couldn't even discuss with each other what they had just seen, as if the rationality and thinking ability of the brain had been blown away by that shocking punch.

Ignoring neither Jerome's gaze nor the shouts all around him, Alvin turned around, jumped off the ring, and walked towards the depths of the contestant tunnel.

At this moment, his back exuded a strong presence like a mountain that could not be ignored, making it difficult for everyone to look away.

This time, no one with bad intentions dared to follow him.

Alvin returned to Rigor's courtyard very easily, and then saw his senior brother Brad looking at the fallen tree with suppressed anger on his face.

He suddenly remembered that the person who was usually responsible for watering the flowers and plants in the yard, loosening the soil and even applying fertilizers seemed to be the tall and strong senior brother in front of him.

Despite his size, Brad is actually quite passionate about plant cultivation and puts a lot of effort into it. Having said that, it's not surprising that retired middle-aged cadres enjoy growing flowers and plants.

Although Brad is still a long way from retirement, he can develop midlife hobbies in advance.

Back to the point, Brad was probably even more upset about the broken tree than Master Rigol was.

"Junior brother, do you know what happened?" Brad, who was known as the Wrist Blade but actually loved to plant things and tend to flowers and plants, asked with a forced smile:

Brother, if you are very angry, you don't have to force yourself to laugh...

Ivan looked at the bulging veins on Brad's forehead speechlessly and couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

"Although I don't know the specific circumstances, I believe this matter must be related to the evil Witch King."

In fact, he knew nothing, but the black-haired boy was able to use the traditional human skill of putting pots in thin air without any instruction. As for whether the Titans had a similar tradition, it was unknown.

Brad held his forehead.

"If it really was the evil Witch King, then we probably wouldn't be able to see this courtyard anymore."

"So, what have you been busy with recently?" Ivan asked casually.

"Well, now that things have come to this, I might as well talk to you about it." After a little thought, Brad suddenly asked a question that Ivan had never thought he would hear from him before.

"Junior brother, what do you think the Witch King is?"

"A high-handed and dictatorial magic slave owner?" Alvin tried to answer, and at the same time he became a little interested.

"Slave owner, that's quite appropriate." Brad was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

"But I'm not just talking about their political identity as dictators, but also the aspect of the Sorcerer-King as a transcendent being."

"A powerful spellcaster? A monster that can transform into a giant beast?" Recalling the relevant information he had heard, Ivan said uncertainly:

"Well, these are all manifestations of the Witch King's great power." Brad nodded, and then continued:

"But the only time they are truly untouchable is when they are in the city-state they rule."

"Could it be because the Witch King at that time was surrounded by a large army?"

Despite saying this, Alvin felt that the answer was not that simple.

Sure enough, he then saw Brad shake his head.

"Not entirely for that reason."

Brad, the 'Wrist Blade' who was famous throughout the desert, had an extremely solemn expression at this moment.

"What truly makes the Witch King untouchable..."

"It's called the Barrier of Despair."

Chapter 112 The Secret of the Blood Tax

"Barrier of Despair?"

Ivan recalled that he had never heard of this word.

"For young people like you who haven't experienced the bloody seven days, that should be a very unfamiliar term." Brad slowly revealed a secret without any surprise:

"To understand the Wall of Despair, we must first begin with the abominable 'blood tax' levied by the Witch-King."

"Blood tax..." Alvin narrowed his eyes slightly. This was a term whose meaning he already knew.

The so-called blood tax is a special tax levied by the Witch King from everyone in the city-state. Its essence is not money, but the magic power accumulated in living things.

Although ordinary people who are not extraordinary cannot actively call upon this power, magic is the tiny particle necessary for the composition of all things in the world of Palladia, so there is a certain amount of magic in the bodies of ordinary people.

Furthermore, compared to the thinner magic power in the environment, the magic power stored in living things, especially intelligent creatures with self-awareness, is more concentrated and easier to call upon. From this perspective, it is undeniable that everyone has a certain probability of becoming a transcendent.

However, the amount of magic power in an ordinary person's body is closely related to their life maintenance, and there is not much excess to be used elsewhere. Therefore, if a large amount of magic power is extracted in a short period of time, it will inevitably seriously damage the organism's vitality, which means a shortened lifespan, and even direct death is not impossible.

Therefore, this special tax is called "blood tax", which means a high tax that requires the payment of blood and life.

Alvin was not a stupid person. When he heard the word "blood tax", he immediately had some associations, and then cold sweat broke out uncontrollably from his vest.

"Could it be..." The black-haired boy's expression became very ugly.

"Yeah." Brad nodded seriously.

"The Witch King can draw upon the magical energy of tens of thousands of civilians throughout the city-state, even treating their very life force as another form of magical energy, thereby constructing an impenetrable and long-lasting magical barrier for himself."

"The name 'Fortress of Despair' comes from this, meaning an unshakable defense that makes the enemy despair, and also means plunging the entire city into the despair of death."

After hearing these shocking words, Alvin did not seem overly excited. He looked at Brad calmly.

"That being said, Senior Brother must have a solution, right? Otherwise, the Witch King wouldn't have been killed by the fighters before."

"The price of killing the Witch King is too high to bear." Brad shook his head with a wry smile.

"Furthermore, during the previous decisive battle with the Fourth Wizard King, we also discovered another even more despairing fact."

"What?" Alvin's heart sank, and he had a bad feeling.

"The Witch King is able to extract more than just the magic and vitality of tens of thousands of ordinary people within the city-state."

"As long as they are within the city-state they rule, the Witch King can even absorb all kinds of magical energy floating around in the environment and artificially create a special environment where other extraordinary beings find it difficult to exert their power."

"Even an oasis will quickly turn into a desert under the 'gnawing' of those monsters."

"...desertification." Alvin muttered to himself, and at the same time thought of Heidi's hydrological survey of the Silent Desert, and couldn't help but guess a worse possibility.

"Yes, that word is very appropriate. That scene can indeed be called desertification." Brad nodded.

"If the Witch King wishes, those monsters can even cover all the oases in the Sea of ​​Dust with sand, turning this place into a complete death zone."

"How did the alliance win the previous battle?" Ivan couldn't help but ask:

"That's not an easy question to answer." Brad smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"While this is inseparable from the hard work of our alliance mates, it is also partly due to the decadence and contempt of the Fourth Sorcerer King."

"What?" This unexpected answer made Alvin look surprised.

"The Fourth Sorcerer King, Seened, is the most unmotivated and decadent of all the Sorcerer Kings. He indulges in strong liquor and the craft of making glassware, and pays no attention to any aspect of city management." Brad smiled, then regained his composure and said:

"The Witch King's indulgence has caused the situation in the city to become extremely chaotic, and the Witch King's collection of blood tax is not entirely dependent on his own strength." As he said this, Brad pointed to the street that seemed normal.

"Hmm?" Alvin was a little puzzled, then he began to concentrate on his perception of entering the realm of perfection.

Afterwards, amidst the chaotic fluctuations in the environment, the black-haired boy vaguely sensed something strange. It was a kind of strange fluctuation that he would not have noticed at all if he had not paid attention. It was similar to the slight fluctuations emitted by some continuously released low-level spells, or some enchanted weapons that were close to standby mode.

"What? Don't you feel anything wrong? This is the cunning of those monsters." Brad stomped the ground under his feet.

"Over a hundred years ago, during the 'Slavery War,' when the Witch Kings defeated the city's original owners and forced all the desert dwellers into slavery, they used the city's restoration project to bury a special magical device underground. Given its purpose, we call it a blood tax extraction device."