Chapter 1299 - 707: Lighting the Path Ahead (Final)

Chapter 1299: Chapter 707: Lighting the Path Ahead (Final)

He knew he would run into something tough, so after previously facing the chaotic terror without heavy weapons, he went back, cleared out the display room, and found a cannon. There’s no need to talk about chivalry with monsters.

Although it was just an Eight-Pound Cannon made by Hamlet, the difference in caliber and charge made that hand cannon look like a "little handgun," not to mention it fired iron balls instead of stone ones.

Its power was evident, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to describe it as "flesh rotting wherever it passed."

Operating a cannon with seven people was no joke. Even though Lance wanted to reload for a second shot, the Holy Hall wouldn’t just stand by, almost attacking immediately after the blast.

"Baldwin, Barin, you hold off the protectors, I’ll take this chance to take out the warlord, watch out for bone spurs!"

Lance put away the cannon, and instead of grabbing Wolf Fang, he charged directly with his large shield.

The others quickly realized, and Junia, ignoring everything else, let the blazing Holy Flame from the torch surge, transforming into a lightning bolt striking the warlord.

Judgment!

The blow from the divine power disrupted the wound’s writhing and also caught the warlord’s attention.

Meanwhile, Lance charged forward without hesitation, the explosive force of the moment arguably no weaker than that cannonball, given weight and speed played in his favor.

Shield Strike!

If the warlord hadn’t been hit by the cannon, it might still be able to wield its claws to block. Unfortunately, there’s no "if." Missing half its body, even a monster with the Holy Hall prefix was affected, not to mention Junia’s move aggravated its injury, with Holy Flame burning it.

As soon as the shield made contact with the warlord, the terrifying force was fully unleashed upon it, even causing the touched flesh to decay instantly. Its whole body was uncontrollably knocked back, crashing and rolling over the ground.

Lance, caught by the recoil, didn’t fare well either; it felt like his internal organs were going to leap out, and the arm holding the shield, along with the side that took the impact, went momentarily numb, soon followed by intense pain.

At that moment, it was like being hit by a car. Although it didn’t look like he was hurt visibly, internally, he bore significant injuries. Thanks to his robust physique, anyone else might have ended up worse than the warlord.

Lance couldn’t afford to fall, so using Flesh Reconstruction, he healed his injuries and took the opportunity as the warlord lay on the ground to arm himself against it.

Snatching Wolf Fang, he slashed down, aiming to kick its one good leg while he could!

Lance, wielding Wolf Fang, didn’t even bother attacking the tail but directly chopped off its head. Once it lost consciousness, everything was entrusted to the sacrificial ritual.

His ability to seize opportunities was unparalleled, with attacks coming in waves relentlessly.

From the cannon fire to Judgment to Shield Strike and then the sacrificial ritual, it was all a matter of a few breaths. The Holy Hall warlord endured each blow consecutively, minus the opening move; it didn’t even get a chance to counter before getting devoured by Void Devourer.

Just like in a game where a seemingly powerful mini-boss in the opening cutscene gets controlled to death, it was truly comical.

With the situation with the Holy Hall’s two leaders shattered, the remaining protector, no matter how arrogant, was of no consequence.

Not to mention it hadn’t even used its most powerful ability; in a few strikes, it was hacked to death, also laughably weak.

Once the scene was cleared, Lance hesitated in front of the last Iron Crown altar; based on previous experiences, he anticipated significant disturbances. Who knew what would happen this time?

Lance considered having them retreat from the dungeon before he proceeded, thinking that if anything went awry, he could tear through voids to escape.

However, suggesting that would seem less like concern and more like an aloof gesture, utterly disregarding them.

That wouldn’t do; everyone else deserved respect too.

Placing Hands of Praise on it, flames sprouted from his fingertips, and the ritual’s latent power erupted, instantly seizing control of the altar.

At the same instant, a roar like that of a massive beast echoed throughout the dungeon, and the flesh attached above began to twitch, causing the dungeon to tremble.

The commotion was far more intense than before, making Lance’s heart race, but fortunately, as the Hands of Praise melted away, the dungeon stabilized once more. However, black, ominous energy cloaked it as the blood flowing from the skeleton’s mouth on the altar ceased.

"What do we do now?"

Baldwin looked up at the passage behind the altar, completely covered in flesh. Compared to other areas with scattered mutated flesh on the second floor, the passage’s fleshy construction was extravagantly exaggerated.

Everything appeared magnified several times, with the largest black eyeball as big as a human head, and the fangs were no longer merely a mouth-like growth but aligned like rows of saw teeth.

The passage was entirely layered with intertwined flesh, obscuring the original dungeon structure as if constructed of flesh and blood.

Unfortunately, the sight was obscured a little further down by blood mist, making it hard to discern the situation inside, but it was evident that this was the road leading to the next level.

In fact, he had long noticed that similar meaty passages existed where the other two altars were located, and he even suspected that the flesh spreading everywhere grew out from these three places.

Yet, faced with Baldwin’s inquiry, Lance once again chose to abandon further exploration.

"Let’s retreat; everyone’s exhausted. We’ll go back and rest."

Lance made a straightforward decision. Although they hadn’t encountered much danger along the way, everyone was indeed exhausted.

The reason was simple: this time, their mission was to push forward quickly, and this map was even larger than the first level. Despite having more people and a stronger team configuration leading to higher efficiency, they hadn’t had real rest, only brief respites in between. They had essentially fought their way through.

Though continually blessed and strengthened to stave off physical fatigue, psychologically, everyone was at their limit.

Not everyone could be like Lance, who could sleep for one or two hours and be fully rejuvenated, not even Baldwin, another Legendary member. Physical particulars varied greatly among individuals.

The team, led by Lance, began their retreat, but the withdrawal on another battlefield was not as simple...