“How could this be…?”
One step, two steps, three steps.
With every step Arlette took, the friction and impact against the ground produced a roar of grinding steel.
The rolling tongues of flame scorched large, blackened marks onto his massive heavy armor. The fire seeped through every gap, completely engulfing Arlette within.
Yet, it failed to hinder his advance in the slightest.
The flames and thick smoke seemed to part for him as if they possessed a will of their own.
In this scene, Arlette looked like a vengeful spirit returning from the depths of hell.
At this moment, even the announcer, who had been exuberant throughout the match, felt like something was stuck in his throat. He stood frozen in place, unable to speak for a long time.
Everyone had seen it with their own eyes.
Just moments ago, the heavy knight’s armor had been corroded by his opponent’s item, causing it to crack and break.
Immediately after, the flames had surged into that breach, rushing toward the unprotected flesh beneath.
Truth be told, at that second, only one thought occupied everyone’s mind—
It’s over.
This heavy knight, who had exceeded all expectations and shocked the crowd time and time again, earning the cheers and applause of a massive audience…
He was about to perish right here.
Humans aside, even many monsters with high defense couldn’t withstand the high-temperature flames spat by a Fire Rock Beast.
If the armor were intact, he might have been able to endure it.
But with direct contact against the body, no matter how high one’s physical toughness was, it was impossible to survive.
Unless his body was as fire-resistant as stone.
But how could that be possible?
And yet, Arlette had done exactly that.
He had achieved it right in front of the several hundred people in Dice Town.
The way he looked now was nothing short of a demon amidst the fire.
“Hey, hey! Look!”
While the audience and the announcer were immersed in shock, one spectator finally noticed a clue.
“Look inside the breach in his armor! It doesn’t look like a normal hand in there. There’s an inner layer of protection!”
As soon as those words were spoken, the crowd snapped out of their daze and followed his gaze.
It was exactly as he said.
The outer layer of Arlette’s armor had been broken open by the Iron-Eroding Sand, and the reinforced under-suit beneath it had been completely burned through by the flames.
By all logic, only the most vulnerable flesh should have remained.
However, beneath that was a crystal-clear, jewel-like protective layer.
His feat of crushing two Fire Rock Beasts in a row was already astonishing enough.
But now?
This rare heavy knight had once again shattered everyone’s preconceptions.
“It’s… it’s some kind of special Secret Art!”
After regaining his senses, the parrot announcer immediately raised his microphone.
“In the nick of time, the heavy knight used a special Secret Art to create a defensive layer over his skin!”
“With the help of this barrier, he successfully resisted the fire damage and turned the tables!!”
“Was the fatigue he showed earlier real, or was it a disguise used to lure the enemy in deep?”
“Perhaps he really can pull off the feat of soloing an entire team!”
“Friends in the audience watching via the light screens, do you think he can do it?!”
Following the string of high-spirited commentary, the parrot youth suddenly turned and spread his wings toward the audience below the booth, interacting with them to further heat up the atmosphere.
“I see. This little guy actually succeeded, hoot.”
Looking at the quartz protection layer on Arlette’s skin, Branch President Owu the owl relaxed his brow, showing a hint of satisfaction.
Tonight, Arlette was undoubtedly the star of all the adventurers.
A rare class, powerful combat strength, a deep reservoir of knowledge, and mysterious trump cards.
One moment, everyone was lamenting the disparity in power.
The next, the entire town began to cheer and shout for his comeback.
“He even knows Secret Arts? Is this really the number of abilities a heavy knight should have?!”
“Hell yeah!”
“Go for it! Wipe out that shitty team!”
Suddenly, the emotions of the entire audience were projected onto Arlette.
It was as if their own unfulfilled passions and dreams were now entrusted to this heavy knight.
And Arlette did not disappoint them.
With his next shield bash, the last Fire Rock Beast shattered.
“Boss, he’s… he’s coming over here, meow! It’s so scary, meow!!”
Watching Arlette slowly move toward them after crushing all the beasts, the cat-kin beastman began to hop around in panic.
“What are you panicking for? Just fight him normally!”
Nolan was also nervous facing the demonic Arlette, but he still drew his blade, preparing for combat.
“You’re quite the tough one… Even though the plan didn’t go as expected, those monsters were just the appetizer!”
Nolan then drew the crescent-shaped longsword from his waist, gripping it with both hands and pointing it directly at Arlette.
“Get it together, Alu. We’re elites. Are the three of us really going to be afraid of one guy?”
The cat-kin named Alu had been feeling cowardly, but upon hearing Nolan’s encouragement, he immediately perked up.
“Right, meow! There are more of us, meow!”
As his enemies conversed, Arlette’s focus was not entirely on them.
When the flames had hit him earlier, Arlette had instinctively activated his recently acquired Quartzification.
Using this ability at the cost of a certain amount of Mana, he had successfully prevented most of the burn damage.
However, his body was already weak, and now he had consumed so much Mana…
The situation was grim.
Even worse, his core and most precious piece of equipment—his armor—had been damaged by their scheme.
‘The armor my lady forged for me…’
Seeing the breach in his beloved armor, Arlette’s mood plummeted to its lowest point.
‘My lady has already walked quite far…’
‘I need to catch up quickly. I have to end this fast.’
‘The order was to clean up thoroughly so she wouldn’t have to see them again.’
‘Then I’ll beat them until they’re incapacitated and force them to withdraw from the competition.’
Next, Arlette surged his Mana, condensing several spheres of water and splashing them onto the debris of the Fire Rock Beasts he had just crushed.
The moment the water touched the stones that were still radiating high heat, they erupted into a massive cloud of white steam, instantly obscuring the vision of the three members of the Monster Hunter team.
“Waaah! Boss! That guy disappeared, meow!”
“Damn it, he’s using steam to hide his tracks!”
Sweat began to bead on Nolan’s forehead.
Though he knew most of the information about Arlette, the one thing he didn’t know was the man’s fighting style.
He had assumed that as a heavy knight, the man would use a brutish, overwhelming offensive to try and break through. Thus, he had been on guard and didn’t dare to attack recklessly.
But clearly, the opponent’s approach was the complete opposite of his guess.
“Damn it… nothing but petty tricks…”
The white mist was extremely thick. For a moment, Nolan couldn’t find any trace of his opponent, nor could he even locate his own teammates.
“Alice! Use magic items! Don’t give him a chance to break through!”
Nolan immediately issued an order to the team’s item master.
However, what met him next wasn’t a response from his teammate, but a dull *thud*.
Nolan didn’t know what had happened, so he could only huddle close to Alu the cat-kin, guarding both sides.
The disadvantage of having a small team became fully apparent at this moment.
Once a member was taken out and a hole was opened in their defense, the team’s combat power would drop exponentially.
In the next instant, a massive black shadow flashed through the already dense fog.
It approached Nolan’s side with incredible speed.
“He’s here!”
He swung his sword violently toward the shadow.
Unable to see his opponent’s position, Nolan could only slash wildly.
The good news was that he seemed to have actually landed several hits.
The bad news was…
His sword snapped.
“What…”
“My sword!”
Only then did the thick fog slowly begin to dissipate.
Alice, the core item master of the team, was already unconscious on the ground, having been knocked out at some unknown point.
And Arlette was now standing right in front of Nolan.
His armor was covered in cracks and scorch marks, and there were even faint traces of crimson blood.
He didn’t look human at all.
He looked like a vengeful spirit that had come for retribution.
In the next moment, he suddenly thrust out an arm completely covered in iron plating, grabbing Nolan by the throat and slowly lifting him into the air.
Then, he slowly turned his head to look at Alu, the cat-kin who was paralyzed with fear.
“Cat-kin. Two choices.”
“Either withdraw from the race, or…”
“I will kill him right now.”