Free Web NovelChapter 357: Chapter 178: I’ve Come to Help You
Lin Ye had nowhere to run.
At the critical moment, his body suddenly turned illusory and transparent.
[Phase Shift]!
All the attacks passed through his ethereal form, striking nothing but air.
The great wave of magma crashed against the distant rock wall with a deafening roar, shaking the entire cavern violently.
Meanwhile, Lin Ye had already passed through the assault and appeared before Balan.
His eyes had turned completely blood-red.
[Frenzy]!
His stats instantly doubled!
Lin Ye vanished. In the next instant, he reappeared atop Balan’s enormous, draconic head.
His speed surpassed the limits of Balan’s reaction time.
A golden light flared from the Star-Piercing Spear, wreathed in an incredibly dense Flowing Gang. Lin Ye had also switched to the Soul-Chasing Stance.
Unfortunately, to resist the intense heat radiating from Balan’s body, he had to temporarily switch to Shadow Scale.
He couldn’t use Crystalization to enhance this attack.
He thrust his spear down.
PSHH!
The tip of the spear sank into Balan’s skull.
"ROOOAR—!"
Balan let out a roar of absolute agony. Its massive body thrashed wildly, trying to fling the ant off its head.
But Lin Ye’s feet were rooted to its head. No matter how it struggled, he didn’t budge an inch.
Lin Ye was shocked.
’Its head is pierced, yet it seems to only be in pain, with no other reaction? Is it because the head isn’t a vital point for the Molten Demon Race? Or is its skull just too thick for me to have pierced it completely?’
As Lin Ye pondered, he flashed continuously with Instant Body.
The Star-Piercing Spear in his hand flickered, unleashing bursts of golden light!
Each thrust left a bottomless hole in Balan’s massive body, the tyrannical Gang Sha rampaging wildly within it.
After a few probing attacks, Lin Ye noticed a pattern in Balan’s defense.
’It’s deliberately, almost instinctively, stopping me from attacking the core in its chest!’
Lin Ye understood.
’If you’re afraid of that, then that’s exactly where I’ll strike!’
In the next instant, all of his attacks were aimed at a single location.
Balan’s chest—the dark red Furnace Core!
When the tip of Lin Ye’s spear was less than three meters from the core, all of Balan’s magma tentacles snapped inward, closing like petals to shield the core in its chest.
’Trying to defend?’
’You think you can stop me?’
Lin Ye left an afterimage in his place.
[Instant Body]!
The next moment, he appeared phantom-like at Balan’s side. All the Gang Sha on his Star-Piercing Spear converged at its tip, a golden light that seemed capable of piercing through anything!
Lin Ye focused all his strength into this single thrust.
PSHHH—!
The Star-Piercing Spear accurately pierced through Balan’s side and plunged deep into the heavily guarded Furnace Core!
CRACK!
The core’s hard outer shell shattered on impact.
The Star-Piercing Spear drove through like a hot knife through butter, burying itself completely within.
A trickle of bewitching, bright red essence blood slowly flowed out along the spear’s shaft.
"ROOOAR—!"
Balan let out a mournful cry that echoed throughout the entire subterranean world. With the resolve of mutual destruction, all its tentacles whipped back in a sudden strike.
Lin Ye felt an irresistible force slam into him. It was like being hit by a high-speed train; he instantly lost control of his body.
RUMBLE—!
He was sent flying backward like a cannonball, smashing hard into the rock wall behind him. The immense impact collapsed nearly half the cavern, and countless tons of rock came crashing down, completely burying him.
The next moment, rubble shot out like shrapnel in a deafening explosion.
A figure shot out from within and landed steadily on the only remaining high platform. It was Lin Ye.
He was unharmed, though the luster of the Shadow Scale covering his body had dimmed slightly.
Lin Ye looked out over the vast Magma Lake, but Balan’s massive form was nowhere to be seen.
In his vision, the crimson marker indicating Balan’s level, [LV. 45], was slowly moving deep within the sea of magma below.
His gaze fell upon the black stone pillar still standing in the center of the lake, and a thought surfaced in his mind.
’Balan... It might have already broken free long ago. The vague hint from the system when it issued the Phase 3 quest seemed to imply as much. This seal probably exists in name only. Its earlier posturing was likely just an act for my benefit. Or rather, for the humans who sealed it here in the first place.’
Watching Balan sink into the Magma Lake, Lin Ye knew things had become tricky.
Even with the considerable Flame Resistance he’d gained from killing members of the Molten Demon Race, plus the Fire Resistance from his Shadow Scale, there was no way he could dive into magma hot enough to melt steel.
Just as Lin Ye was at a loss, a familiar, heroic voice called out from the cavern entrance behind him.
"Mr. Lin—!"
"I’ve come to help!"
Lin Ye turned to see Dongfang Zhen’s figure emerge from the tunnel.
He gripped his large halberd and leaped down.
RUMBLE...!
A clap of thunder sounded, and Lin Ye’s heart leaped with joy.
His backup had arrived.
Dongfang Zhen had actually just arrived, having followed the markers Lin Ye had left on the outskirts to find his way into the cavern.
He arrived just in time to witness the entire sequence: Lin Ye piercing Balan’s core, then being swatted away by a single blow.
Before Lin Ye could respond, Dongfang Zhen was already erupting with brilliant lightning as the majestic and tyrannical Thunder Monarch Dharma Aspect materialized once more.
Without the slightest hesitation, he transformed into a streak of purple lightning and plunged headfirst into the roiling sea of magma!
Lin Ye’s eye twitched.
’It takes Magic to fight Magic!’
’One is magma Elementalization, the other is lightning Elementalization.’
