Chapter 109: Colossus - 2
The eyes were as large as Leoâs entire body, and just as heâd suspected, they were redâthough far less so than the wolfâs. Where the wolfâs eyes had been completely crimson from sclera to pupil, these massive ones were only faintly red, the colour clinging to the borders of the iris like a thin, unsettling ring.
It was as if the same drug had been used on it as the wolf, but diluted by its sheer size. The effects were weaker, yet still unmistakably presentâ
A wave of pressure rolled off the creatureâs eye, and Leo staggered as the dagger in his hands suddenly shuddered. His eyes widened. The chipped blade meltedâliterally meltedâsliding off the bony handle like molten wax. The liquified metal hovered in the air for a moment, swirling like some metallic slime, though its sharp glint made it feel far more dangerous than its texture suggested.
A heartbeat later, the floating mass twisted violently, forging itself into a spiralling blade with a needle-fine tip. It whirled at blurring speed and shot straight for Leoâs chest.
"Damn!" Leo cursed, throwing his forearm in front of him. The impact punched through his arm, the blade drilling halfway through and poking out the other side.
"Hssâ!" Leo hissed, his breath sharp. Pain flared hot and raw, but he kept his arm fixed in place, tightening his muscles to trap the metal. The spiralling blade vibrated furiously, trying to burrow through flesh and bone to reach his heart.
Thenâanother vibration, this time near his chest.
Leo froze. His stomach dropped, pupils contracting in dread.
"Shit! The trial metal plate!"
Heâd kept the plate strapped to his chest, afraid storing it in his spiritual space might break whatever link allowed the corpses to teleport back. So he had pinned it inside his front pocket like a badge.
He regretted that instantly.
The metal burst from his chest pocket, shredding his shirt as it liquefied mid-air, reformed into a sharp, surgical-looking tool, and lunged for his heart. It moved so fast he didnât even have time to reactâ
Butâ
Shingâ!
A translucent blue barrier flared to life like a second layer of skin, stopping the attack inches from his chest. The sharp point denting due to the barrierâthen the barrier spider-cracked and shattered like brittle glass.
Ding!
High-Blue-Tier Spirit Armour â 0/3 uses left.
Recharge 1 use by using 2000 mana units.
"F-fuck... that scared me to death," Leo muttered, cold sweat dripping down his spine as he sucked in a shaky breath. His respect for Brant skyrocketed in that instant.
Even if the armour had triggered in previous situations where he might have survived regardless, this one was different. This one had to be fatal. And he had no intention of finding out whether a pierced heart was something he could recover from his regeneration or healing.
Thankfully, heâd recharged the armour once after that three-cored golemâs slap. Otherwise, today wouldâve been the end. It had already activated twice beforeâonce when he was launched by the sudden repulsive force, and once when heâd crashed into the boulderâand now this.
Which meant this single colossus had forced three Spirit Armour activations within minutes.
A terrifying thought.
An idea suddenly clicked. With a sharp thought, both the metal lodged in his arm and the dented needle stuck against his chest vanishedâpulled straight into his spiritual space. He swept his senses through it immediately, searching for any other metal pieces.
Unequipping his spirit armour, he sent it back. Couldnât risk it if it even a tiny speck of metal in it.
Thankfully, heâd thrown away the rest of the broken armour long ago, compelled after the very first day of the trial when he took the beating while trying out different techniques with his skill on beasts. If he hadnât, things couldâve gone very wrong just now.
As soon as the metal disappeared, the wound in his arm began knitting itself together, the familiar warm tingle of healing crawling up his skin. The colossal eye still stared at him, unblinking, as if searching for another weapon to animate. Then, finding no metal nearby, the ground began to tremble.
"Doesnât even give time to breathe!" Leo spat.
He thrust his hand toward the unconscious wolf, focused on his Primordial Beast Taming Talent, and a crisp system chime echoed in his mindâtaming successful. He didnât even look at the notification. With a single thought, he sent the wolf into his spiritual space, making sure her familyâs corpses remained on a different island heâd created previously out of boredom. He only kept the Shadow Wolfâs body closer, in case the pup someday needed to vent her rage.
Shyra, whoâd been momentarily stunned by the bizarre behaviour of the daggerâs metal, snapped herself out of it. She stared directly into the Colossusâs enormous eye without a trace of fear.
The ground shook harder.
"Shyra, jump high!" Leo shouted as he vaulted onto her back.
Shyra exploded upward, leaping nearly twenty meters into the air. The moment they left the ground, the terrain behind them eruptedârazor-sharp earth spikes bursting upward like spears.
"Metal, Earth... what else do you have motherfucker? Show me!" Leo growled, guiding Shyra to land on the massive thirty-thousand-square-meter hill-like back of the beast.
She touched down only to leap again instantly, claws barely brushing the Colossusâs rocky surface. It clearly sensed their exact position on its back and kept trying to impale or crush them.
"Hmph," Leo snorted, teeth clenched.
"Keep dodgingâstraight for the head!"
He summoned Niri.
Both he and Niri activated [Solar Beam] simultaneously, golden energy gathering in front of their extended hands as Shyra carried them in wild, erratic arcs across the Colossusâs back. They only needed to buy time for the charge.
A minute dragged by, and Shyra danced through a deadly stormâearth spikes, heaving boulders, even sharpened projectiles. But with her trait, Feline Agility, she moved like a streak of living lightning, twisting and springing with impossible grace. Every attack missed her by inches, but none came close.
Feline Agility: Blessed with extreme flexibility, speed, and reaction time. Even as a cub, its balance and reflexes outclass most Low-star beasts.
Still, the Colossus wasnât dumb. Every tactic it used aimed to force Shyra away from its head.
Leo focused. Heâd already made up his mind.
No matter whatâhe would tame this thing. If not for its strength, then for that metal manipulation technique... and the fact that it was basically a walking fortress and house.