Chapter 44: The Magma Behemoth

The courtyard spread out before Alvian like a battleground.

Neatly cut lawns. Fancy fountains spraying water in smooth arcs. Stone paths carved with the Magnus family crest. All of it was meant to show visitors that the family had so much money they could waste space on pretty things.

Right now, that pretty place was filling with panicking men.

Guards poured out of the guard house on the east wall. Fifty of them. B-Rank Awakened in shiny magitech armor, each one Level 25 to 28. Each carried a magitech rifle that could shoot through heavy tank armor. They moved like well-trained soldiers, forming defense lines around the main mansion’s entrance. Team leaders shouted orders. Rifles went up in matching rows.

Alvian activated Gambler’s Delay before they could fire.

[Gambler’s Delay active. Saving base EXP from upcoming kills. Release command: "Spin."]

[Current pool: 0 base EXP.]

[Fate’s Loaded Dice: INVENTORY. Will trigger on release.]

Every kill from now on would feed the pool. Every dead guard, every dead bodyguard, and every piece of the Duke himself would add up into one big number. And when that number was high enough, he would say one word. Then Fate’s Loaded Dice would turn it into something that changed the world.

He drew his sword.

The blue lines in the steel caught the morning sun and glowed brighter. The Clearwater Coating on the blade hissed, leaving thin trails of acid smoke in the air. The weapon had grown stronger with him. It was repaired by Talent power and mixed with dissolving energy. It was not just a sword anymore. It was a tool to deliver death.

The guards opened fire.

Fifty magitech rifles fired at the same time. The courtyard filled with the CRACK CRACK CRACK of heavy bullets, the high squeal of Essence lances, and the loud thump of flying metal. The air between Alvian and the guard line became a wall of fast metal and crushing force.

The heavy bullets hit his Clearwater Coating and dissolved instantly. The metal shells turned to grey powder. The hitting force went through the acid layer and reached his body as soft pushes. The Essence lances felt like tiny bee stings. The sharp bullets bounced off his Coating and flew into the garden bushes.

[Incoming damage: 4 HP. Reduced by VIT 68 and Clearwater Coating.]

[HP: 132 → 128.]

Alvian walked into the attack.

He swung his sword sideways. Severing Sword Aura activated. A silver wave of squeezed air shot from the blade, fifteen meters long and paper-thin. It crossed the courtyard silently and hit the guard line.

Three rifles were cut cleanly in two. A wall of stacked magitech boxes dissolved into wood pieces and grey dust. The guards behind the wall fell backward, coughing as the acid wave ate through their helmets and burned their lungs.

A straight downward slash. Another silver wave. This one cut through a stone fountain standing between two guard groups. The fountain split in half. Water sprayed everywhere. The cut edges smoked with leftover acid burn. The guards using the fountain for cover ran away.

He was not trying to kill them all. He was breaking their power to fight.

[Ding! Defense wall dissolved. A wall is not a valid target for EXP.]

[The System suggests aiming at real enemies if the Host wants that pool to grow.]

Some guards did not run. Five B-Rank close-combat fighters charged at him, their Talents active and glowing bright. Stone Fist. Iron Skin. Wind Blade. Flame Strike. Earth Spike. Brave men. Well-trained men. Totally outmatched men.

The Stone Fist fighter reached him first. His hard fist swung toward Alvian’s jaw with enough force to break castle walls. Alvian blocked with his Coated blade. The attacker’s fist hit the acid-coated steel.

The fist melted away up to the wrist.

The guard screamed. The acid ate through his Talent shield, through the armor under his skin, and through his real hand. He fell backward, blood spraying from the stump, and dropped to the ground.

[Kill 1: B-Rank Guard (Level 26, Stone Fist). Base EXP: 200. Pooled. Pool: 200.]

The Earth Spike fighter made the ground explode under Alvian’s feet. AGI 38 was barely enough to survive. He jumped sideways as sharp stone spikes tore through the courtyard floor. The Wind Blade fighter attacked next with a squeezed air blade. The attack had no physical mass to dissolve. It hit his Coating and bounced off the Essence shield, turning into harmless wind.

The Flame Strike fighter threw a stream of fire. The fire hit his Clearwater Coating and died out. VIT 68 made the heat useless against him. The Iron Skin fighter tried to grab him from behind with hardened arms. His Talent made his skin as tough as steel. But the Coating on Alvian’s back ate through the tough skin in three seconds. Stronger skin just gave the acid more to break down. The Iron Skin fighter screamed and let go, his arms smoking.

Alvian pushed his sword through the Iron Skin fighter’s throat. The Coated blade cut through the hard skin like wet paper.

[Kill 2: B-Rank Guard (Level 25, Iron Skin). Base EXP: 180. Pooled. Pool: 380.]

The remaining three close-combat fighters ran back. They headed for the mansion doors, holding their wounds, their broken Talents smoking with acid burn. The rest of the guard line broke apart too. Forty-three guards ran into the building, locking the heavy wooden doors behind them.

The courtyard was empty now except for Alvian, the melted gate, the broken fountain, and the bodies of two men who were only doing their jobs.

’Pool at 380,’ ’Two B-Rank kills. Not enough. I need the main targets.’

He stood in the quiet air and waited.

The main doors did not open. They blew up.

BOOM!

The wooden doors blasted outward in a cloud of splinters and sharp metal pieces. The blast wave hit Alvian’s Coating and dissolved around him. Through the smoke and trash, something walked out into the courtyard.

Duke Gaius Magnus was not a human anymore.

His A-Rank Magma Behemoth Talent was fully powered on. His body had turned into something from a volcano nightmare. He stood nine feet tall. His weight had doubled. His skin was a hard shell of cooled lava, dark red and black, with lines of liquid fire flowing underneath like blood made of lava. His fists were giant clubs of hard rock, each one the size of a watermelon. The air around him shook with heat hot enough to melt stone.