Chapter 381: The Crimson Coffin Finally Enters Battle!

"KIKI!"

FWHOOOSH!

The instant Luke shouted that name, the pitch-black armor covering his fifty-foot Thunder Titan body began trembling, its rigid plates suddenly losing their shape as they transformed into a thick, flowing liquid.

Under the astonished gazes of the surrounding Orcs, the black substance slipped through the narrow spaces beneath the crimson chains, separating from Luke’s body before gathering in the air beside him.

Within seconds, the liquid expanded and hardened into a twenty-five-foot-tall crimson coffin, whose front bore a gigantic mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

However, the moment Valzareth completely separated from his body, Luke immediately suffered the consequences.

"AAAAARGHH!"

Without the threefold attribute enhancement previously provided by his Armor, his already strained mental resistance weakened considerably, allowing the strange power carried by the crimson chains to penetrate even deeper into his consciousness.

His vision blurred, and the pain pounding through his head became so intense that he could barely distinguish the figures standing around him.

’Shit... I can’t...’

His thoughts were beginning to scatter, while the five chains continued pulling his arms, legs, and neck in different directions, making even the slightest movement painful.

Meanwhile, the eight Peak B-Rank commanders had immediately become alert upon witnessing the sudden appearance of the crimson coffin.

"What is that thing?"

"Another summoned creature?"

Several commanders raised their weapons, expecting the strange coffin to attack them, but what happened next completely overturned their expectations.

"Kiki!"

The crimson coffin abruptly turned toward Luke instead, opening its gigantic mouth before lunging toward the chain restraining his right arm.

KRRRNNNCH!

Its sharp teeth clamped around the dark crimson links.

For an instant, nothing seemed to happen, and Uzgor almost smiled upon seeing the coffin attempting to bite through restraints powered by their ancestral formation.

However, before he could utter a single mocking word, a sharp cracking sound suddenly echoed across the clearing.

KRRRRAAAK!

The chain broke directly between Kiki’s jaws.

CLINK-CLATTER!

The severed links fell toward the ground, their crimson radiance flickering before gradually fading, while Luke’s right arm dropped slightly as the restraint holding it disappeared.

"...What?"

Uzgor’s smile vanished.

The other commanders also froze, unable to believe that something had just destroyed one of the chains supplied by their ancestral dome.

Unfortunately for them, Kiki had no intention of stopping after freeing only one arm.

FWHOOSH!

The coffin twisted toward Luke’s left side, snapping its jaws around the second chain before crushing the links with another powerful bite.

KRRRNNCH! KRAAAK!

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

An alarmed shout escaped one of the commanders as the second restraint broke apart, although Kiki had already lowered its body toward Luke’s legs.

CHOMP! KRRRACK!

The third chain snapped.

CLANK! KRRRNNCH!

The fourth followed immediately, scattering broken links across the ground while the crimson light around Luke’s remaining restraint flickered.

By now, the Orc commanders had finally recovered from their shock.

"STOP THAT THING!" Drukon shouted, gripping his staff as he rushed forward. "DON’T LET IT BREAK THE FINAL CHAIN!"

The other seven commanders immediately responded, their Peak B-Rank auras erupting as they kicked against the ground and charged toward the coffin.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Eight figures shot across the clearing, leaving fractured earth and bursts of dust beneath their feet as they attempted to reach Kiki before it could free Luke completely.

However, their reaction had come too late.

Kiki raised its head toward the final chain wrapped around Luke’s neck, and before the nearest commander could close the distance, its gigantic jaws snapped shut.

KRRRRAAAK!

CLINK-CLATTER!

The last chain shattered, releasing Luke’s neck as the force holding his entire body in place suddenly disappeared.

"UGHH!"

THAAAAAM!

Luke dropped onto both knees, his enormous body striking the ground hard enough to fracture the packed earth beneath him, while his freed arms immediately moved toward his aching head.

"Huff... Hahh..."

He desperately drew in several rough breaths, trying to recover from the mental assault that had nearly robbed him of consciousness.

Unfortunately, the eight commanders were already approaching.

Kiki seemed to notice them as well.

"KIKI!"

The coffin turned sharply toward the incoming Orcs, its gigantic mouth opening as its front doors suddenly spread apart.

For an instant, the commanders hesitated, having already witnessed how easily those terrifying jaws had destroyed the crimson chains.

However, what emerged from the coffin wasn’t another biting attack.

FWHIP! FWHIP! FWHIP!

Sixteen dark crimson chains suddenly shot out from within its opened body, each trailing a faint red glow as they rushed toward the approaching commanders.

"What?!"

Before the Orcs could properly react, the chains split into eight pairs and wrapped themselves around their wrists, binding both arms of every commander.

KRRRKKK! CLANK! CLANK!

"UGHH!"

The restraints tightened immediately, interrupting their charge as the Orcs struggled to pull their arms free.

However, the moment the chains secured themselves around their bodies, a familiar mental assault accompanied them.

"AAARGHH!"

All eight commanders cried out as intense pain suddenly struck their consciousness, causing their movements to falter while their previously flaring auras became unstable.

Unlike the chains powered by the ancestral dome, Kiki’s restraints possessed a noticeably weaker crimson radiance, but their sudden appearance and mental interference were enough to disrupt the commanders’ attacks.

Kiki wasn’t finished.

THUD!

Its coffin body dropped heavily onto the ground, and the numerous legs extending beneath it immediately spread outward before stabbing into the packed earth.

KRRRSH! KRRRKKK!

The pointed legs pierced deep into the ground, anchoring the coffin in place as the sixteen chains stretched taut.

"KIKIIII!"

With an excited cry, Kiki began pulling all eight Peak B-Rank commanders toward itself.

The chains tightened around their wrists, dragging their arms forward while the pain interfering with their minds prevented them from immediately exerting their full strength.

"YOU DAMNED THING!"

Gurvak planted his feet into the earth and pulled backward, the muscles along his thick arms bulging as he tried resisting the coffin’s strength.

Several commanders did the same, causing the ground beneath their feet to crack as both sides exerted force through the chains.

KRRRRKKK!

However, every attempt to concentrate was interrupted by another wave of mental pain, leaving their eyes increasingly bloodshot and their expressions twisted with anger.

Meanwhile, Brukha struggled to maintain her focus, forcing herself to look past the crimson chains toward Luke’s kneeling figure.

She could see that he was still recovering from the earlier assault, his enormous chest rising and falling as he tried regaining control of his thoughts.

’We can’t give him time to recover!’

Realizing the danger, she gathered enough strength to shout toward the surrounding army.

"ALL OF YOU, ATTACK HIM! DON’T LET THAT HERO RECOVER!"

Her voice echoed across the clearing, finally snapping the remaining hundred B-Rank Orcs out of their astonishment.

Until now, they had been watching in disbelief as a coffin appeared from Luke’s armor, destroyed the supposedly unbreakable restraints, and then proceeded to capture their eight strongest commanders.

The battle that had seemed completely settled only moments earlier had suddenly turned against them.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"

"ATTACK THE HERO!"

The shouted orders quickly spread through the surrounding army, causing the previously stunned Orcs to raise their weapons and prepare their ancestral techniques.

High above the battlefield, Gorzak stared down at the crimson coffin with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Another trump card? Just how many strange things does this brat possess?!"

His gaze shifted toward the broken chains scattered around Luke before returning to Kiki, which was still struggling against the eight commanders.

"Those restraints were supposed to withstand the strength of almost any B-Rank warrior, yet that damned coffin simply bit through them!"

What Gorzak didn’t understand was that Kiki’s ability to break the restrictions had very little to do with overwhelming physical strength.

Unlike Luke’s ordinary Armors, Kiki couldn’t be worn to provide the usual threefold attribute enhancement, since its true specialty lay in understanding and breaking seals.

Its ability could already interfere with restrictions reaching the soul level, a category associated with beings of S-Rank and above, although destroying powerful seals still required the coffin to apply its specialized ability through direct contact.

The ancestral chains had been powerful, but Kiki had attacked their sealing structure rather than attempting to overpower the energy sustaining them.

"Such an artifact must have been given to him by those gods," Kroghar remarked, finding it difficult to believe that a D-Rank mortal could naturally possess something so unusual.

Gorzak’s earlier irritation quickly transformed into a delighted grin.

"Heh! Then capturing him will be even more worthwhile. Once he’s ours, we can take that coffin for ourselves!"

Vradok, however, remained silent.

Although the coffin had surprised him, he was secretly relieved that he had insisted upon gathering so many warriors and deploying the ancestral formation.

Had they relied solely upon the eight commanders, that unexpected ability might already have allowed the Hero to escape.

For now, however, the dome remained intact.

Far away, Emberlyn watched the battle from her concealed position among the trees, her hands slowly tightening into fists as she saw Luke struggling to recover.

’What should I do?’

She knew that Luke had gotten himself into an extremely dangerous situation, especially since the scale of the ambush strongly suggested that the three A-Rank leaders of the Zhurkhal Tribe were involved.

If those three were indeed nearby, revealing herself could easily provoke a direct confrontation.

’If they attack me, Luke won’t survive the aftermath.’

A battle between A-Rank existences would produce destructive forces far beyond what his current body could withstand, especially while he remained trapped inside the dome.

Moreover, there was her father’s order to consider.

Emberlyn had already been forbidden from involving herself in the Orc conflict as that would consider help to Rhaenyra, and if her presence were discovered during a confrontation with the tribe’s leaders, news of her disobedience would almost certainly reach him.

’Damn it...’

She bit her lower lip as she looked toward Luke’s distant figure.

’Please, Luke. Just find a way to escape from that place.’

As long as he managed to distance himself from the A-Rank Orcs, she could still help him, but until then, her intervention might make the situation even worse.