Have You Always Been This Brave?

The instant the armor covered his entire body, the seven water chains arrived.

The first water chain lashed his left shoulder, its body exploding into a shower of spray.

The second lashed his right ribs, snapping into three segments. The third lashed his heart, shattering so thoroughly that not even a fragment remained.

The remaining four struck the joints of his limbs simultaneously, all disintegrating at the exact same instant.

Korlo's pupils reflected the shattered water chains.

Three shields of light pressed down from above and both sides.

The moment the runes along the edges of the shields made contact with the surface of the Thorn Blood Armor, they began to disintegrate.

The disintegration spread from the edges to the center, the runes extinguishing one after another.

The bone spike of the Sword King Fish warrior slammed into Ethan's chest.

The bone spike snapped.

Starting from the tip, it shattered inch by inch.

The fragments shot out in all directions, embedding themselves in the stone walls and dome of the altar with a dense barrage of dull thuds.

The Sword King Fish warrior looked down at his empty shoulder blade, his lips trembling slightly.

Four streams of dark green venom splashed onto the surface of the armor. The venom trickled down through the gaps in the wooden thorns, but the moment it made contact with the underlying fibers of the armor, it was absorbed, decomposed, and evaporated.

The Eight-Claw Giant Crab strongman's tentacles froze in midair, the suckers at their tips still contracting in vain.

The five light cones of the Echinoderm Starfish tribe struck simultaneously.

The light cones exploded into a shower of eerie blue points of light.

The electric net of the Electric Eel youth descended.

The net collapsed on its own half an inch away from the surface of the armor.

The electric arcs flickered weakly a couple of times in the air before dying out completely.

The water needles of the Silver-Fin Merfolk slammed into the surface of the armor, shattering into a fine mist.

Then came the counterattack.

The poison-coated wooden thorns on the surface of the armor shot outward at the exact same instant.

Thorns an inch long detached from the armor's surface, accelerating in midair to speeds too fast for the naked eye to track.

Korlo looked down to find seven gaping holes clean through his chest.

Under the corrosive effect of the wood poison, the flesh around the edges of the holes turned a grayish-white at a visible rate, the decay spreading rapidly.

His mouth opened, squeezing a few muffled, gurgling sounds from his throat.

A large hole was blasted through the shell on the back of the Giant Clam elder.

A wooden thorn pierced through the hole, skewering straight out of his chest.

He stared down at the smoking hole in his chest, his lips trembling slightly, before toppling backward.

The shell on his back crashed against the stone floor, shattering into countless pearlescent fragments.

A small hole appeared right between the eyebrows of the Sword King Fish warrior.

The hole pierced clean through his skull, exiting from the back of his head.

The four tentacles of the Eight-Claw Giant Crab strongman were pinned through simultaneously by the wooden thorns.

The thorns impaled the suckers at the tips of his tentacles and tore out through the base of his carapace, dark red blood trickling down the wood.

His body swayed twice before crashing heavily to the ground.

The tall, thin figure from the Echinoderm Starfish tribe was struck in five joints simultaneously.

The wooden thorns pinned the bases of his fingers with absolute precision, snapping all five of his highly flexible fingers.

The golden patterns on the cheeks of the Electric Eel youth were pierced by a wooden thorn at the exact same instant.

The electric arcs within the patterns flickered one last time, then extinguished along with his life.

The Silver-Fin Merfolk were pinned to the stone walls of the altar by the wooden thorns.

Their tattered seaweed cloaks swayed slightly.

The entire sequence had taken less than a single breath.

【Life Energy +3,250,000+, Current Life Energy: 3,250,000+】

Boulder stood at the entrance of the passage.

Ethan stood in the center of the altar.

The space between them was littered with corpses and crystal shards.

Boulder raised his hands.

“Clap. Clap. Clap.”

Three slow claps echoed through the hollow altar.

“Who would have thought that a tiny place like Blood Bone Tower could produce such a powerful First-Tier Wizard?” Boulder lowered his hands, his tone like someone evaluating a mildly interesting toy. “It seems this prince truly misjudged you.”

Ethan's brow furrowed slightly.

Something was wrong.

Over a dozen elite Sea Race guards lay dead before him, yet this Sea Dragon prince didn't run, show anger, or panic.

He was just standing there, clapping?

Only one thought crossed Ethan's mind: He has a trump card.

For a Three-Thousandth Prince of the Sea Race, traveling without a Tier 3 guard was abnormal enough. But to remain this calm after all his guards were dead? Suppressing the rising alarm in his chest, Ethan spread his mental power in all directions.

It swept over the dome of the altar.

It swept across the shattered crystals on the walls.

It swept over the stone floor beneath his feet.

It swept down the passage behind Boulder.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

There were only two living beings inside the altar—himself and Boulder. Not even a single insect was present.

Boulder took in the shifts in Ethan's expression, the smirk on his lips curling a fraction higher. “Heh, little wizard, don't bother looking. This prince is working on a secret, grand operation. How could I bring so many people with me? In this place, there are only the two of us.”

Ethan stared into Boulder's pale blue eyes, remaining silent for a brief moment.

“Have you always been this brave?”

Boulder tilted his head, his dark hair falling forward to cover the small horn on one side of his forehead. “Ha! Brave? Little wizard, do you even know what bravery is, or what true confidence looks like?”

As his voice fell.

Boulder gently flicked his right index finger.

A tiny speck of invisible mist shot from his fingertip.

The mist was formless and colorless, far too minute to be caught by the naked eye. It carried no energy fluctuations, made no sound, and did not even stir a single ripple in the air.

Yet, at that exact moment, Ethan's Combat Instinct flared with extreme danger.

The Thorn Blood Armor automatically manifested, blood-red woody fibers welling up from beneath his skin to weave into shape over his body.

The moment the armor finished covering him, the mist arrived.

There was no explosion, no roar, and no blinding light.

The instant the mist struck the chest of the armor, the plates woven from incredibly resilient, blood-red woody fibers dissolved like thin paper dropped into strong acid, disintegrating right from the point of contact.

The rate of decay was too fast for the eyes to track.

A dense network of cracks webbed across the armor's surface, spreading along the grain of the wooden fibers. It expanded from his chest to his shoulders, from his shoulders to his arms, and down to his legs.

The basic defense of three hundred thousand degrees failed to hold for even half a second.

The poison-coated wooden thorns on the surface of the armor shot outward at the exact same instant.

Thorns an inch long detached from the armor's surface, accelerating in midair to speeds too fast for the naked eye to track, flying toward Boulder's vital points.

Boulder casually flicked his left hand, sending a few droplets of seawater flying from his fingertips.

The droplets stretched into ultra-thin lines of water in the air, striking every single incoming wooden thorn with perfect precision.

The moment the wooden thorns were hit by the water droplets, the poison on their surface was washed away, and the thorns themselves exploded into splinters in midair as if struck by heavy hammers.

After shattering the armor, the mist dispersed on its own, leaving Ethan completely unharmed.

Ethan stood in place, his pupils contracting slightly. He had finally confirmed one thing. “No... you aren't a First-Tier lifeform. You're Second-Tier?”

The smirk on Boulder's lips curled up even further. “Heh, who ever told you I was First-Tier?”

He pulled a small pearl from his robes.

The pearl was only the size of a thumb, entirely deep blue, with watery patterns rippling across its surface.