Chapter 176: One Breath of Steam Completely Broke Her Defense

The moment she saw blood flowing from Cecilia’s nose—

Syl, who had been maintaining her cold facade the entire time, felt her heart suddenly tighten. She almost immediately prepared to disperse the spell structure she was maintaining.

But someone moved even faster than her.

【Dragon Form, Activated】

Suspended in midair, Lance’s dark golden vertical pupils suddenly opened wide, while a muffled roar resembling distant thunder rumbled from within his chest.

Because when Syl cast this First-Ring Spell, she had merely treated Lance as a lower-class adventurer who had not even completed Class Advancement yet, the amount of Aether Mana she infused into it was not particularly high.

This level of restraint field might have been unbreakable for ordinary non-professionals.

But for Lance after activating Dragon Form—

It was completely insignificant.

“Crack!”

Accompanied by a crisp sound resembling shattering glass—

The purple force field originally surrounding Lance was instantly blasted apart with countless cracks by the terrifying brute force erupting from his body, before exploding into scattered points of light.

The moment the restraints disappeared, Lance’s figure dragged out an afterimage in midair.

He landed steadily beside Cecilia and immediately extended both arms, tightly pulling the girl—who was swaying from mental exhaustion—into his embrace.

There was no need for even the slightest hesitation.

Lance rapidly replenished her mana and Spirit Resistance through 【Source of Pleasure】.

Under the enhancement of Dragon Form, the effect of this trait seemed to have strengthened to an even greater degree.

Cecilia’s pale little face instantly flushed with astonishing redness.

She did not even have time to say a single word before watery light surfaced within her beautiful eyes, almost as if heart shapes were dancing within her pupils. Her entire body melted limply into Lance’s arms, falling into an extremely pleasurable dizzy state.

Standing several steps away, Syl stared at this scene with complete shock across her face.

She could clearly sense that Cecilia’s originally depleted mana and chaotic Spirit Resistance were rapidly recovering at an unbelievable speed under this bizarre physical contact.

“Rest here for a moment first.”

Under Dragon Form, Lance’s voice had become lower and hoarser than usual.

Without even sparing Syl a glance, he gently laid the already dazed Cecilia onto a nearby clean stone slab.

After settling the girl properly—

Only then did Lance slowly stand up and turn around to stare fixedly at the Elven female mage opposite him.

Being stared at by those icy dark golden vertical pupils caused Syl’s brows to unconsciously furrow.

Dragon-blooded?

This commoner adventurer actually possessed Dragon bloodline traits?

No wonder Cecilia had become so utterly infatuated with him. Dragon bloodlines indeed possessed a natural advantage when attracting the opposite sex.

“Whether she’s worthy of me…”

“Isn’t for you to decide.”

Lance stepped forward with heavy footsteps, advancing toward Syl.

Every word sounded as though it were being squeezed out from deep within his throat.

However—

The instant those provocative words entered Syl’s ears—

This Pure-Blood Elf, who had always prided herself on being aloof and refined, suddenly discovered in horror that her pointed ears had uncontrollably twitched violently.

Immediately afterward, an indescribable numbness spread directly from her eardrums throughout her entire body.

Two unnatural blushes instantly floated onto both sides of Syl’s cheeks.

She simply could not believe her own senses.

She actually found this hostile deep male voice… extremely pleasant to hear?

At the very instant she heard that voice, even her legs had experienced a strange moment of weakness.

To cover up this damned physiological reaction, Syl forcibly stiffened her expression and coldly shouted:

“Don’t think that just because you relied on a little brute force to break free from Grasp of Restraint, you can act arrogantly before me!”

“You’re making me… very unhappy.”

Lance had absolutely no intention of listening to her nonsense. He directly interrupted Syl’s warning.

Before his words even fully fell—

The Dragon-Hunting Breathing Technique within his body had already been pushed to its limit, while the Aether Energy Pool inside the Solar Wheel roared violently.

But this time, Lance did not choose close-quarters combat like usual.

He gathered all the high-temperature steam generated within his body into his throat, then opened his mouth and violently blasted it toward Syl ahead of him.

“Fwhoosh!”

A thick, boiling white airflow resembling a giant white python instantly crossed the distance between them.

Seeing this reckless junior actually dare take the initiative to attack her, Syl immediately decided to teach him a painful lesson.

“You think using this kind of fog to cover the battlefield will allow you to—”

She had only spoken halfway when a dense burst of steam directly rushed toward her face.

By instinct, she inevitably inhaled a large mouthful of the scorching white mist.

The next second—

Syl’s emerald-green eyes suddenly widened.

She felt as though electricity had surged throughout her entire body, causing her to tremble violently.

The Second-Ring Spell 【Spirit Realm Lightning Bind】, which had already formed at her fingertips and was meant to punish Lance, instantly lost mana control amidst that sudden violent trembling.

Several blue arcs of electricity twisted chaotically through the air before completely dissipating without a trace.

During the opening created by Syl’s failed casting—

Lance had already used the steam as cover to charge toward her like a crazed beast, directly throwing the lofty Elven female mage down into the ruins with both arms.

The instant the two collided—

Lance immediately sensed that beneath her clothing existed an indestructible permanent spell force field.

Physical attacks at his current level striking against it felt no different from smashing into an invisible iron wall, completely incapable of causing any substantial damage.

Physical attacks were useless?

Then let’s try enhancement effects instead!

With Dragon Form stripping away rationality, Lance’s combat thinking had become extraordinarily erratic.

He tightly pinned down Syl’s shoulders, deeply inhaled, then directly blasted scorching steam mixed with highly concentrated 【Source of Pleasure】 effects straight toward Syl’s exquisite face.

White steam cascaded across Syl’s face like a waterfall before dispersing outward along the ground.

Under the frontal impact of this high-concentration special steam—

Lance, who was firmly pinning her down, could very clearly feel the mature and alluring body beneath him suddenly arch upward.

Syl’s feet, clad in mage boots, kicked wildly against the ground, while her toes curled uncontrollably tight within the boots.

It’s over.

Only this single thought remained inside Syl’s mind.

Her pure Elven heart, which had remained single for countless years, simply could not resist this mutated trait specifically targeting Demi-Human constitutions.

An overwhelming sense of shame mixed with a bizarre pleasure she had never experienced before instantly drowned her rationality.

“Get off me!”

Accompanied by a scream filled with embarrassment and fury—

A spell model radiating terrifying heat rapidly began forming.

Lance’s combat instincts instantly sensed deadly danger.

Without the slightest hesitation, he released his grip and rolled backward with all his strength.

BOOM!

It was an advanced version of Fireball.

Third-Ring Spell 【Explosive Fireball】.

Having completely lost her rationality from being overwhelmed by the steam, Syl did not perform any aiming whatsoever in her panic.

This massive dark red fireball was blindly released purely to force Lance away from atop her.

The fireball exploded directly in midair.

The terrifying shockwave instantly swept through the entire courtyard.

The two-story house Lance had only rented not long ago appeared as fragile as paper before this world-destroying force, instantly exploding into countless fragments of shattered wood.

Towering flames instantly illuminated half the night sky above Graystone Town, while the scorching temperature distorted the surrounding air itself.