Chapter 229: ·I Declare This Place Under My Control!
Yet in Rosm’s perception, his mental piercing attack had slammed into an immovable wall of sighs.
Buzz!
The violent backlash left him dizzy. His spiritual power instantly fell into chaos, and even his vision blurred with double images for a moment.
“A will barrier?!” Rosm stared in disbelief. “How is this possible?! You’re barely in your twenties! How can someone your age possess such a terrifying will barrier?!”
He simply could not understand it. The greatest enemy of a spiritualist was never a master warrior, but someone with an unshakable will.
Willpower was the manifestation of the spirit itself. It could only be forged through endless hardship and tempered repeatedly on the edge of life and death. Even if this man had lived like an ascetic since the moment he left his mother’s womb, he should never have developed a will so terrifying that Rosm’s spiritual power could not even breach it.
What Rosm found even harder to accept was that he had deliberately allowed Nolan’s taunts to provoke him, using his own fury to strengthen the intensity of his mental power. Yet all of it seemed laughable before a will barrier.
Such a phenomenon only appeared when the gap in willpower and spiritual strength between two people became utterly overwhelming. It was what happened when the weaker side tried to mentally invade the stronger one.
This monster… was he a dragon in human form?!
Naturally, Nolan could feel Rosm’s futile attempts.
Honestly, it was almost funny. The Patriarch of Decay’s mental corrosion and corruption abilities might have been impossible for others to guard against, but Nolan countered them completely. He possessed the “Sacred Body,” immune to poison and untouched by evil, which fundamentally nullified Rosm’s authority of “petrifaction.”
And beyond that, Nolan was a reincarnator. Bearing the painful memories of a kingdom’s destruction and driven by a clear determination to change fate itself, his will had long since been tempered into something unbreakable. Most importantly, he still possessed a boss template trait inherited from his identity as a player, one that had already fused into his soul.
Lord’s Authority!
Ninety percent reduction and shortened duration against all mental control and movement restriction magic and skills.
From the very beginning, every method Rosm prided himself on had been doomed to fail against Nolan.
Hanging upside down from the dome, Nolan merely said, “Done looking?”
That single sentence snapped Rosm awake. The shock in his eyes was quickly replaced by even deeper hatred. “Why are you ruining my plans?” His voice turned dark and venomous. “What does any of this have to do with you? Are there really idiots like you in this world? You disgust me.” The blue glow of spiritual power deep within Rosm’s eyes flared again. “Listen carefully! Since you’re talented, I’ll give you one final chance! Repent before the great Formless God and submit to Him! Otherwise, you’ll die together with these fools!”
Nolan dismissed both the threat and the attempted recruitment with complete contempt.
You may not know it, but we’ve already been mortal enemies for a long time.
“God, god, god. Your damn god is all you ever talk about. Can you even speak without bringing it up? You asked why I’m interfering?” Nolan slowly raised Mountain’s Resonance, the sword tip pointing directly at Rosm. “Because wherever a Pioneer Knight stands is the territory of Elfin. I, Nolan, lord of Coldsteel and Pioneer Knight of the kingdom, now declare Forest Home under my protection.” He looked at Rosm, whose flesh trembled violently with rage, and let out a cold laugh. “So you just needed a reason before you could die satisfied? Well? Is this reason enough?”
“You ungrateful bastard!” Rosm finally exploded in fury. “Then die! Corruption Flood!”
Before his words had even finished echoing, his intact left hand grabbed hold of his already ruined right arm and tore it off with brutal force.
Rip!
Blood and flesh split apart as he ripped the entire arm free. Corrupted blood erupted like a fountain, gathering into a towering wave of foul-smelling gore that surged toward Nolan with enough corrosive force to consume everything in its path.
Rosm was clever. The target of this flood was not just Nolan. It also included the blood vines pinned to the wall by Romina’s arrows.
Sizzle!
The twenty-one blood vines nailed in place by the emerald arrows were the first to be struck. They could not even struggle. The instant the corruption touched them, they were dissolved into rotten sludge by the horrifying power of decay.
And with their destruction, new blood vines immediately burst forth from the walls once more. This time, there was no wind pressure from Ailindel or arrows from Romina to suppress them. The moment the newborn vines emerged, they merged directly into the flood of corruption like bloodthirsty giant serpents, lunging viciously toward Nolan.
“Regretting it now, bastard?!” Rosm burst into manic laughter, the wound where his arm had been writhing grotesquely with regenerating flesh. “I was only gathering power while generously giving you a chance! Did you really think a few insects like you could suppress someone who has stolen the power of the Foundation of Life?! I’ll turn your rotting corpse into my finest masterpiece and display it proudly across your territory and throughout that pathetic Elfin Kingdom!”
In Rosm’s eyes, this strike was absolute death. There was nowhere to hide atop the dome. No cover. No escape. Even if the knight used the same charging skill from before, he would still have to break through the corruption flood and the simultaneous assault of twenty-one blood vines head-on.
He was only Gold-rank. Absurdly young for his level, yes—but still only Gold-rank. Even if he survived, he would be crippled. It was a dead end.
Soon, Nolan’s figure was completely swallowed by the filthy tidal wave, vanishing without even a trace remaining.
Rosm was just beginning to savor his flawless strategy and preparing to deal with the remaining two elves—
when suddenly, a calm voice spoke behind him.
“Got you.”
What?!
Rosm felt an iron-like hand clamp onto the back of his neck. His eyes moved stiffly as he glanced backward from the corner of his vision.
Nolan!
The human knight who should have been consumed by the corruption flood was standing behind him completely unharmed, still wearing that composed smile.
Nolan had indeed been swallowed by the flood. But what the attack consumed was merely the afterimage left behind when Regicide Assault activated. Using the skill’s instant displacement effect, Nolan himself had crossed all obstacles in an instant and appeared directly behind Rosm.
The reason he had not used Regicide Assault from the start was because he had been waiting. Waiting for Rosm either to flee or unleash a full-power attack like this one, a moment when his focus would be entirely consumed and his mind left vulnerable.
A skill only reached its true potential when used at the perfect moment. And to ensure this cunning enemy could not escape, Nolan had even used the trump card he rarely touched: his Origin Power.
The instant Rosm launched his attack, Nolan consumed two units of Origin Power.
He linked the action “Rosm unleashes a powerful attack” to the result “chaotic instability within his mixed energies.”
Conclusion!
That was why Rosm could not move now.
“When you’re talking to someone, standing up is basic manners, asshole!”
Nolan seized the back of Rosm’s neck as the muscles in his arm bulged violently. With a thunderous roar, the full power of a Gold-rank warrior exploded from his body without restraint.
RIIIIP—!
Amid the horrifying sound of wood and flesh tearing apart together, he forcibly ripped the rotten monstrosity—now fused into the massive tumor-like growth on the dome—straight down from the ceiling.