Chapter 139: Armor King (1)


    The three crossed the destroyed stone wall and ran up the stairs. At the end, they reached a room that was around five meters wide, ten meters deep.


    「Holy! That was fast, he can’t even buy time, I swear!」


    The room was rather small to contain a fight, and the man in bulky armor was there. When he noticed Mira and the other two, he quickly closed an enormous iron gate he was holding open, and desperately struggled to turn its lock. When that was done, he turned around like nothing happened, wielding his halberd.


    「Oh well, it can’t be helped that he was the weakest out of the three of us.」


    The moment he finished his sentence, Mira used Ground Shrink to run just in front of him.


    「What! I couldn’t see youing at all!」


    He was shocked seeing Mira appear in front of him like that, but without wasting a moment, he swung his halberd. While it looked burly and heavy, the attack was swift, creating a powerful gust of wind. The entire room shook. It truly was a powerful strike, but ultimately it failed to aplish anything.


    「I see, you were telling the truth saying the kid was the weakest. That was more powerful than I expected.」


    Mira had returned to her earlier position in the blink of an eye. 「But with all that voluptuous armor I doubt you can pay attention to your surroundings.」 She added, showing something dangling on her hand.


    「Wait, wait a moment, how! When!」


    Mira was holding onto the key for therge iron gate. She had easily snatched it away while she was next to him. He turned to look at his hand, now empty, sounding genuinely surprised. But after a while, he chuckled menacingly, firmly holding his weapon with both hands.


    「No matter, key or not, you shall not pass through me. As long as the Armor King stands, this path is barred. Our preparations are nearingpletion, so I’ll ward this post until my dying breath.」


    The man stood imposingly in front of the iron gate, he called himself the Armor King. But he had reason to assume that name, his armor that looked like a huge chunk of steel provided ample resistance, and power.


    「I’m sure that the entire armor is also made of special spirit arms. Anything below a mid-level strike will bepletely useless. And high level attacks won’t do much either, I’d wager.」


    The Armor King showed no signs of attacking, simply remaining in front of the iron gate, protecting it. Mira watched it stand there waiting for his opponents to make the first move, and assessed his capabilities. That armor was far more resistant and thick than the one Gregorius wore in the Ancient Circr Gate. It neared on an imprable defense.


    「Hmph… for something so stupid, they…」


    If that suit of armor existed during the game period, it would have beenbeled a cheat item, but also made one wonder just how many spirits had lost their lives for it. Kagura was starting to get overtaken by a dangerous impulse.


    「That unnatural power is like a symbol of what Chimera epasses.」


    Sero’s eyes were locked on the Armor King as he muttered to himself, stepping forward before Kagura could do anything.


    「The key is in our possession already, you two should go ahead. I’m worried about whatever that <em>thing</em> they’re preparing is. So please let me handle this, and go.」


    From the way they spoke of their n, they were very confident in its power. It was possible Chimera uzen would produce something topletely overturn the battle. Sero was worried about that, but also about Kagura, who had lost her calm, and would potentially act without restraint. Either way, Sero knew there could be a lot of destruction to the surroundings moving forward, so he decided to take the initiative and engage the Armor King, pointing herpanions to the iron gate.


    He had seen what happened to the other head, and he remembered a battlefield he witnessed years ago. Even him, the leader of the famous guild écate Carillon, did not want to get caught up in the destruction brought forth by a wiseman.


    「Hmm, destroying his armor looks more tricky than with the earlier kid. And I’m worried about the <em>thing</em> too, we better hurry.」


    「Well, okay then. Even if they aren’t that strong on their own, they’re using powerful spirit arms, so don’t let your guard down.」


    Saying that, Mira and Kagura moved away from Sero, circling around the room to reach the iron gate.


    「Wait, that won’t do!」


    The Armor King strongly swung his halberd, creating a powerful gust of wind that ran through the entire room and threw the three against the walls.


    「Now it makes sense. This room was built so small on purpose.」


    「He seems more thoughtful, unlike the first one.」


    「He’s just being a bother.」


    Mira seemed to step on air, fixing her posture, while Sero turned his body tond on his feet against the wall, then stepped down onto the floor. Kagura was caught by a made of branches, from which she then jumped onto the floor, looking calm.


    The three did not seem concerned at all, their eyes fixed on the man standing on the other end of the narrow and long room.


    「Please, if you resist that so effortlessly I’ll lose confidence in myself.」


    Even though those were his words, there was no sign of resignation in his posture. He reaffirmed his grasp on the halberd, a spirit arm of wind, a swing of which could cause a powerful gale. It was far less lethal than other weapons, but it was far more useful depending on how it was handled. And it was the perfect tool to buy time. Or at least when pitted against enemies of a simr power level to himself.


    「I’ll restrain his weapon then, you two use that as an opening and go.」


    Sero began walking forward, gradually unsheathing his sword with each step, getting closer to the Armor King.


    「Try as you may, you shall not get closer!」