Free Web NovelChapter 187: SS-rank Heirloom Artifact, Astral Guardian Crest!
"Shoot!"
Soren gave a cold command and released the arrow straight at Evan.
*Phantom Step!*
In the same instant, he activated his SS-rank movement skill, shifting his position in a blur.
*Swoosh!*
The arrow tore through the air the moment it left the bow, accelerating past the speed of sound. A sonic boom cracked behind it.
At level 49, with his stats heavily boosted, Soren’s S-rank skill Aether Shot was already devastating even without GAP amplification.
Now, pushed to its limit, the arrow’s power far surpassed the one he had fired at Evan earlier.
*Bang!*
And yet, it still didn’t land.
Evan’s blade moved with effortless precision, deflecting the arrow before it could reach him. Even when Soren twisted its trajectory mid-flight using his Concept, Evan adjusted and evaded without hesitation.
’Heh... so you’ve already awakened your bloodline.’
Soren didn’t find it odd, though, as his eyes focused on the faint golden aura surrounding both Evan’s body and his sword.
Although others might have thought it was due to his skill, he knew it was the first form of his bloodline, Golden Edge. freewebnøvel.com
As the protagonist of the Dating Sim, Lover’s Labyrinth, Evan, of course, didn’t only have SSS-rank skills at his disposal.
His identity as the heir of a hero family, Alarion, gave him a unique bloodline from birth.
To be honest, Soren was a bit surprised to see Evan’s state right now, as in the game, he had awakened it much, much later.
But considering the plot going haywire recently, he didn’t find it odd.
’No wonder he didn’t flinch a bit when I said I am level 49.’
Soren felt a bit sour about the protagonist’s ridiculous ability to leapfrog and battle above his level.
No matter the world, the protagonist always seemed to defy the world.
Well, come to think of it, his bloodline seemed a bit ridiculous, too, as unlike the different forms Evan had, all he needed was to form a Crimson Bond and activate the Scarlet Dominion.
Even without the link feature from the system, his stats could stack multiple times if he wanted to.
*Swoosh!*
This time, too, Soren fired a blue arrow at full strength, making sure Evan couldn’t get close.
Although he had Elise’s skill set for close combat, it was still risky to allow a melee fighter to close in.
*Bang!*
Of course, Evan once again easily deflected it, but for how long?
Soren knew that bloodline forms couldn’t be maintained all the time, not to mention the strain they put on the body.
"Sigh... Soren... if you’ve tested me enough already, how about you take me a bit more seriously now?"
Sure enough, Evan also realized his condition and gave an awkward look. He already understood that he wasn’t a match for Soren.
Sure, Soren was higher in level than him, and it made sense for him to lose. But he was also using his bloodline form.
Not to mention, Soren hadn’t even stepped outside that circle he had created.
He had been countering him again and again with just a single skill, while using that strange movement technique that looked more like an assassin’s style than an archer’s.
To be honest, he realized now that it wasn’t Soren who was being cocky, but him. Of course, that didn’t mean he had already accepted defeat.
"Oh? Haha... okay then. You have a protective artifact with you, right?"
Soren understood Evan’s intent and laughed.
"Yeah, don’t worry. Even if you land a blow on me by accident, I won’t die."
Evan quickly nodded while readying his sword, pouring mana into Grimspire. His expression turned solemn.
Then, simultaneously, he activated the unique effect of his new sword: Resonance Form.
*Swish!*
The moment he did so, he felt an unprecedented connection with Grimspire, unlike anything before.
It was as if the sword itself had come alive in his grasp, responding to his will on a deeper, almost instinctive level.
Soren even saw it tremble on its own, its blade humming softly as a thick golden aura wrapped around it completely.
"Okay then."
Clearly, Evan wanted him to use his true skill. The same skill he had seen in the dungeon before.
’System, use 1 Point of GAP stat on my skill: Artemis Grace.’
If that was what Evan wanted, then Soren would give it to him.
Of course, there would be some twist as Evan wasn’t the only one whose weapon held a unique form.
---
Ding!
[You have decided to use 1 GAP point in your Active Skill.]
[Congratulations! Artemis Grace (S-rank) has evolved into Helios Piercer (SS-rank).]
---
The moment the system prompt appeared, Soren felt Dragonpiercer vibrate violently in his hand, releasing a strange, resonant hum that echoed through the air itself.
At the same time, an immense volume of mana surged out of his body, pouring into the forming arrow in an instant.
But before it could fully condense, Soren pulled off the bowstring, activating Stringless Form.
*Swish!*
The instant the string vanished, he nearly lost his grip. The bow trembled even harder, as if it were on the verge of collapsing under its own power.
Fortunately, ThornScale’s frame held firm. Its spine remained rigid, resisting the overwhelming strain.
Soren steadied himself and replaced the string with his own Concept, which had become far more malleable in recent days.
With absolute focus, he layered it repeatedly, compressing and weaving it tighter and tighter until it formed a new string altogether.
For a moment, it even exceeded the original in density and tension, as if it had been reforged into something far more refined.
Once Soren was sure it wouldn’t break, and still fully in control, he immediately began reshaping the mana flow, splitting it cleanly into two streams in an abrupt shift Evan couldn’t perceive.
All Evan could see was a small burning core forming at the tip of Soren’s bow, radiating a brilliance far greater than anything he had witnessed in the dungeon.
In fact, it was so bright that the entire forest lit up, as if a second sun had suddenly risen from nowhere.
"Finally..."
But at the sight of such a spectacle, Evan instead felt a surge of thrill as his sword hummed in response to his thoughts.
In an instant, all his golden aura concentrated onto the blade while a sharp intent, invisible to anyone else, radiated outward for the first time.
*SSS-rank Skill: Sword Saint!*
Evan didn’t normally use this skill. Only in moments where he was truly pushed to the edge, fighting with everything on the line, would he activate it.
’Then let’s see if my sword can cut down your sun.’
But today, he intended to face Soren head-on, against a skill capable of erasing half the battlefield in an instant.
"Shoot!"
Just as Evan settled into position, Soren’s sharp command echoed through the entire forest as the arrow was released.
This time, he didn’t adjust its trajectory with his Concept. It wasn’t necessary.
His Helios Piercer carried its own locked-in trajectory, a guiding force that would not miss its target.
Not to mention Evan wasn’t running.
*Swish!*
Without any suspense, a radiant sun manifested in front of Evan in an instant, threatening to swallow everything in its path.
Its brilliance was overwhelming, already eroding the golden aura surrounding him, as if it could not endure its presence.
"Cut!"
And yet a cold, unyielding voice cut through the light.
Then in an instant, a thin but absolute line of force swept outward, dividing the overwhelming brilliance cleanly down the middle.
Soren didn’t need to think to understand what Evan had done.
He could see it clearly now, Evan standing directly in the path of the arrow, cleaving through its radiance.
For a brief moment, it even looked like he had cleaved through his arrow.
As if he had truly split the sun apart.
But such a sight only made Soren smirk playfully at Evan.
There was no doubt that his SSS rank skill was extremely strong. It was at SSS-rank after all.
But his skill, although only SS-rank, was at its epitome. The only restriction was his own mana and level.
*Swoosh!*
Sure enough, although Evan’s sword was impressive enough to carve through the brilliance of Soren’s arrow, the suns were on an entirely different level.
Not to mention, this time, there were two of them.
The moment Evan’s sword energy came near, both blazing arrows swallowed it whole in an instant as if it wasn’t even a match.
"What?"
The sight was so absurd that Evan stood there dumbfounded.
It was already depressing enough seeing Soren capable of firing a literal sun at his enemy, but now there were two of them?
Not to mention, in Evan’s eyes, both arrows carried the exact same overwhelming power, radiating enough heat and brilliance to crush everything in their path.
For a brief moment, Evan froze in shock and forgot to defend himself entirely.
And that was enough as the arrows almost grazed his body, intending to pierce straight through him.
But at that very moment, Soren suddenly saw the silver medal hanging around Evan’s neck shine brightly as a silver barrier instantly wrapped around Evan’s body.
*Boom!*
Even so, the impact was still brutal.
The moment the two arrows landed on Evan, less than a second had passed before scorching flames bulldozed everything around him. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
A massive crater immediately formed at the point of impact, even larger than the ones created by the Terrawolf. Dust and debris exploded outward in every direction.
For a moment, Soren could even hear the girls crying out in the distance, likely thinking Evan had been completely obliterated.
But through the dust cloud, Soren could still see him standing upright at the very center, completely unharmed.
Only...
Evan’s face looked aghast and dejected, as though he still couldn’t believe he had failed to stop Soren’s attack.
’So... he also awakened his Heirloom already? Interesting!’
But Soren wasn’t surprised by Evan’s unscathed appearance, as the moment he saw that silver medallion, he already knew it.
Not only had Evan awakened his bloodline, but he had even awakened his SS-rank Heirloom Artifact, Astral Guardian Crest, this early.
Truly, his appearance had completely derailed the original plotline.
