Chapter 355: Weapon Enlightenment — Last Part

The green shadows from the pole flooded the sky. The more Sila tried to follow the pole’s movements, the more blinding the move seemingly became, rendering him clueless as to how to dodge the barrage of incoming attacks. He quickly circulated qi, clad his arm with it, and calmly parried the strikes.

After a dozen exchanges, he felt his arm growing numb, and noticed faint green lesions forming on his skin.

“The pole is poisonous?” Sila exclaimed and hurriedly activated Unblemished Aqua to eject the poison from his body, releasing it through his sweat glands.

Zero rushed to help by interrupting Ramidas’ attack. Cladding his wrist with Shadowless Soul Qi, his Shadow Reaper Hands flew gently yet quicker than a gust of wind. It took an instant for his claw to strike at the goblin king’s body.

—Crack!

An unpleasant sound for Zero rang out. Upon showing the might of his signature move, the sound that was supposed to ring out was that of his opponent’s flesh being torn apart. This time, however, a feeling of pain ran through his arm, his finger broken. Zero had to retreat, circulating qi to heal his hand.

Regardless, thanks to Zero’s brief interruption, Sila managed to have a moment to breathe and then plan out his counterattack. Focusing on the pole’s peculiar movements, he finally spotted a small gap within the series of attacks. He drew his hand in a circle, manifesting a wall made of qi to block the attacks while firing a powerful Yizichan into the gap. The qi bullet flew toward Remdier’s chest.

This move used to be called Moon Block—one of the moves in the Dual Generating Attributes series. The current Sila could exert its power with ease, finding it hardly different from punching and kicking. It could be said that his mastery regarding martial move utilization had grown several levels since he created the move.

Sila’s current art was not Formless Martial God or Five-Attributed Cloud Qi, nor was it Flaming Cloud Qi or Tiger Dragon Qi. The Flame Part of Flaming Cloud Qi acted as a giant furnace, constantly melting and refining both his inner force and all of his available profound arts into something of the same essence. It was this trait that led to a vast, complete difference in power foundation between Flaming Cloud Qi’s practitioners, even between a teacher and a disciple with a single generation gap—Zenga-Mora and Mora-Sila included.

The art he was currently using was what he had dreamt it to be in the past. Thanks to the increase in his proficiency at qi handling, together with Fowl’s lessons regarding the principle behind using in-game skills, Sila successfully adapted all the knowledge he had learned to reinvent his arts.

His original qi art—Five-Attributed Cloud Qi—basically centered around changing the user’s elemental affinity to have the advantage. Its next stages—Dual Attributes and Triple Attributes—were of higher, more creative levels where he combined two or three elements together.

Sila had been acting under the assumption that he had already thought outside of the box. However, he recently discovered that sometimes the box is within another box, and that he could think outside of that box as well.

For Sila, the five elements represented different colors, while he was a painter who mixed colors to create new ones. Contrary to his former beliefs, however, he didn’t have to mix them with an equal ratio like he had been doing. Technically, he could mix three parts of the wood element with seven parts of the fire element, or two parts of the water with eight parts of the earth. The number of attributes started at five, but they could branch off infinitely.

Sila would later call his new art “Million Clouds Qi Technique” based on the fact that he could manipulate his qi as freely as the shape of the cloud. Several years from now, the art would be recognized as one of Five Crown Jewels the next time people voted on which five arts should be crowned.

In the past, even Mora—who wasn’t proficient at using the Flame Part—had managed to come up with “Nine Sun-Melting-Fists”, a powerful offensive profound art that received heaps of praise, allowing him to become known as the strongest Elder of his generation. Likewise, Sila—his disciple—would do the same in the future, coming up with an art that impresses the entire martial world.

However, that is a story from an era that has yet to arrive. Back in the present, Sila’s qi bullet that flew to Remdier’s body suddenly disintegrated upon contact, dealing zero damage.

Before Sila had time to feel surprised, Ramidas’ Phantom Elephant Maul was bearing down on him from the left.

The distance was not enough for Sila to block or dodge the incoming strike. Defense wasn’t his forte either way. Confident in his offensive capability, he aimed to strike back in order to force Ramidas to defend. His left side became as heavy as a mountain and as hard as steel. Using the step-in technique of Nine Sun-Melting-Fists, Sila used his whole body as a human hammer, bashing the opponent.

—Bang!!

An intense crashing sound exploded. As if he had been stomped on by a great elephant, Sila’s body heavily hit the ground. On the other hand, Ramidas came out unscratched. Sila felt like his previous body slam connected with nothing but thin air despite being sure that he should have hit Ramidas properly. The misuse of his power caused him to suffer more from the backlash of qi deviation. Though what confused him the most was that Ramidas’ attack came from above, not from the left as he had anticipated.

—Bang!!

The stomp came a second time before Sila could get back on his feet. Ramidas mercilessly hit him again using the Phantom Elephant Maul.

Out of reflex, Sila brandished the dagger in his hand as an attempt to counter, which caused Ramidas to step back so he wouldn’t get hit.

Zero suppressed the pain from his hand, exerting himself by forcefully throwing his chakram to stop Remdier from coming at Sila. To avoid the humans’ attacks, the two goblin kings finally took several steps back.

The chakram returned to Zero’s hand. Sila quickly got up and regrouped with his comrade.

The first round of the battle had passed within a span of a few seconds. Sila and Zero felt like they had been at a disadvantage the entire time.

“Our attacks were totally ineffective despite them not resisting in any way. Maybe it’s the result of their skills.” Zero tapped Sila’s shoulder and transmitted his qi to the man, speeding up Sila’s rate of recovery.

Sila accepted Zero’s qi to heal himself faster. “No, I think it’s because of the domain. We heard ‘The Grim Sanctum of Weapons’ before we got here, right? While our attacks were useless, my dagger and your chakram could make them wary. This means...”

“...We can only fight using these weapons.” Zero came up with the same answer.

Remdier smiled as he noticed that both Sila and Zero had finally learned some of the rules regarding the Grim Sanctum of Weapons, though not completely.

“You got it right. We can only inflict damage to others by channeling power through a weapon or using the weapon’s abilities.”

“Enjoyable, right?” Ramidas grinned as he lifted the maul above his head, cladding it with intense white psychic power.

Sila moved his gaze between the Spider Pole and the Phantom Elephant Maul. He quickly conveyed his thoughts to Zero via sound transmission.

“Remdier’s pole can generate tangible shadows. Given his attack speed, the number of shadows can encircle you like a spiderweb. His fighting style goes far beyond a traditional pole art. His attacks also come with poison that causes paralysis. It’s non-lethal, but your speed will fall if hit by it repeatedly. Please be careful. About the maul... I thought for sure I could have blocked it. No idea how I was hit from above.”

Zero had watched the situation from a distance, so he witnessed the exchange of blows clearer than Sila, who had been facing it head-on. “The name is Phantom Elephant Maul, right? Just now, upon contact, I noticed that the elephant hammerhead became blurred temporarily as if it had disappeared. My guess is that it’s a weapon that can shift the angle it’s swinging from. It will be hard to defend against it.”

Normally, the most effective way to defend is to clad only the part that receives the attack with energy reinforcement since it minimizes the energy consumption rate. Doing so, however, it will naturally make other parts of their body relatively unprotected.

Previously, in addition to qi deviation caused by his attack missing the target, Sila was also hit in a spot he wasn’t defending. As a result, he received much more severe injuries than expected.

“We can’t afford to keep defending. We have to be on the offensive,” Zero suggested.

The two looked at the weapons in their hands: the old dagger with its entire blade covered in dust, and the shabby chakram with several nicked blades. Injecting qi into them, the objects emitted faint qi aura. Both would work as weapons as long as they continued to strengthen them with qi.

Fortunately, both Sila and Zero were skilled players. They could gauge the level of power that the weapons could endure, maximizing their attack power without breaking them. Given the durability of the weapons, they would fall apart even with the tiniest error.

Through the use of Shadowless Soul Qi, Zero’s body instantaneously vanished and reappeared behind Ramidas’ back. Zero estimated that Ramidas would be an easier target due to the nature of the goblin’s heavy weapon. He flung the chakram upward, grazing the brave goblin’s body from his stomach to his shoulder.

There was no wound, however. Only a faint, long red mark appeared on his body.

Ramidas ignored Zero’s attack. He smashed the ground using his maul. The land shook, sending a shockwave to damage Sila and Zero’s ankles. The two men had no choice but to jump, fleeing from further impact.

Remdier had been waiting for them in mid-air. The shadows from his pole bombarded the two. Changing the course of travel in mid-air was a difficult feat for qi-types. Fortunately, both Sila and Zero were mixed-types. They enveloped their bodies with magic power, evading the attacks by moving sideways.

“You’re capable of using magic? What a surprise,” Remdier said, though his tone hardly contained excitement. His body split into two. The two of them kicked one another at their feet, one jumping toward Sila while the other lunged at Zero.

Out of the two bodies, one must be the result of Remdier’s Psychic Body, meaning the weapon in their hand must be a fake. With that idea, Sila took a deep breath, then opened his mouth.

Racial Skill — Slime’s Roar.

The Remdier who was charging at him dispersed. Since the Psychic Body was born from a skill, it could naturally be destroyed with a skill.

It appeared that both Ramidas and Remdier had neglected Sila and focused on Zero. Sila now realized that their separation was a part of the goblins’ plan, and they had fallen right into their trap.

Members of the goblin race were weapon experts. It took them no time to evaluate that Zero’s chakram had range, so Zero could throw it to help Sila when the latter was besieged. On the other hand, Sila’s dagger was only usable in close quarters. If they ganged up on Zero, Sila would take longer to rescue his friend.

Zero’s rank was merely at Marquis. Surrounded by two Emperor Rank monsters who were locking their Psychic Oppression on him, his body was under immense pressure, refusing to move according to his will. His movements became tardy, bringing him great annoyance. His specialty had always been his speed, but his body was now trapped in mid-air, supported by his unstable magic power.

A thin white line of psychic power established a connection between Remdier and Ramidas. Their bodies suddenly switched places. The maul enlarged, projecting a white shadow of the great elephant which blocked the sky. On the other hand, Remdier stood firmly on the ground, powerfully striking his pole eight times upward in a quick succession.

Sila’s eyes glowed sparkling golden. He activated one of his hidden trump cards.

Lordship of Time — Incarnation of Chronos — Evil God’s Martial Essence.

This time there was no holding back. Through Evil God’s Essence, Sila raised the output of Monster Heir to its very limit, threatening the two goblin kings and suppressing their psychic power.

The goblins’ attacks slightly slowed down. Seizing the opportunity, Zero rotated his entire body like a spinning top. Releasing the chakram from his grip, he controlled it using qi to let it spin around along with him.

The chakram, buzzing around Zero, suddenly emitted strong white light. Inside Zero’s head, he heard a faint sound that would be no different from a soft whisper even if the world fell silent. However, despite the dangerous situation he found himself in, he could hear it perfectly clear like a miracle.

“...Ominous Chakram of the Fallen Angel!” Zero muttered, albeit slightly louder than his normal volume.

The chakram turned pitch-black. Its circular blade became as thin as a dragonfly’s wing, as transparent as glass, as light as bird feather, yet as sharp as a guillotine. Still spinning, it slashed Remdier and Ramidas, leaving numerous wounds on their bodies. Unlike the dull attack that had hit Ramidas earlier, these wounds were deep. It was unbelievable that such attacks were inflicted by a Marquis Rank player on Emperor Rank monsters.

Sila accelerated his speed. From his perspective, he only saw Zero spinning around. Even the wounds on the two goblins had yet to start bleeding. Desperate to rescue Zero, Sila input a part of mana from the Great Flow into the dagger, attempting to unleash the might of Heaven’s Decree.

His action brought an unexpected reaction from the dagger. The rust on its blade peeled off. The sound of rust shedding apart sounded differently to Sila compared to others. Ringing next to his ears was the name of this dagger.

“Seven Strikes Dagger.”

Sila’s consciousness momentarily sunk into the dagger. Appearing in his mind was a tall, muscular man in worn-out wuxia clothes, his hair messy. A huge sword hung on his back while attached to his belt were three metal tags. His left arm was covered in a metal armguard while his right hand was holding the same dagger Sila now held.

The mysterious wuxia man stabbed his opponent—a white-haired man wearing luxurious knight armor—seven times consecutively at a speed that made it seem like his right arm had split into seven. Surrounding the two were various kinds of weapons, broken on the ground.

Receiving the fierce strikes, the white knight fell onto his knees.

Sila’s vision ended. His consciousness returned to the present time.

Sila suddenly spotted red dots on Remdier, Ramidas, and even Zero, seven dots on each. He instantly became aware of what the red dots represented. Holding the dagger, he stabbed his opponents seven times with the exact same motions he had just witnessed. However, since there were two opponents, he had to share the number of his strikes. Remdier was stabbed three times while Ramidas received four.

The two goblin kings coughed up blood and fell down. Meanwhile, finally having some breathing room, Sila and Zero didn’t continue their attacks. They looked at their weapons in daze.

A system notification rang out for both of them.

[You have acquired a special skill: Weapon Enlightenment.]

“Ominous Chakram of the Fallen Angel. One of the three items in the set, each capable of generating shadows of the attacks. This chakram is the second item in the set. Its ability is the power to ignore the target’s defense,” Zero explained without having to open his system window to read the item’s description.

Sila turned to Zero, raised the dagger in his hand, and explained it in the same manner, “Seven Strikes Dagger. While holding it, the user can spot seven ‘lethal dots’ on every living being. When a dot is struck with the Seven Strikes Dagger, the target’s health points will immediately fall by a seventh of their total value.”

Ramidas and Remdier got up. “I didn’t expect to see humans being acknowledged by weapons. It seems not all humans are the same.”

Remdier clapped his hands, praising Sila and Zero. “This game is actually a traditional ritual for worshipping Lady Igsia. It is a form of entertainment, so there is no winning or losing. Only goblins who have overcome this ritual will be recognized as mature. You two are now not different from adult goblins. Your words deserve our attention.”

Receiving acknowledgment from the two goblin kings, the atmosphere seemed to turn for the better. They acted friendlier toward Sila and Zero.

The two humans intended to return the weapons, but Ramidas shook his head.

“They are the rewards for goblins overcoming a ritual. You can keep them. Just know that they will be no different from ordinary items outside of the Grim Sanctum of Weapons unless your related weapon mastery skill is at Level 100 or transcendent rank.”

Sila started to understand something. “Could it be that... the weapons you people sold to humans in the past were like these?”

Remdier nodded. “Our weapons are always high-quality. In the hands of unworthy people who don’t try to polish their weapon proficiency, however, they will disguise themselves as D-grade weapons.”

“So it’s all a misunderstanding.”

The weapons sold by goblins, while expensive, were of excellent quality. Their value is even higher than their prices since A-grade items can’t easily be obtained. Most shops in cities often sell high-quality items in limited quantities, and they are mostly stuck at B-grade.

A-grade items are commonly found from elite monsters. Well, the obvious exception is Siaferia City’s laser-based weapons. While they are indeed A-grade, they have no unique options and their energy consumption rate is high. The other exception is Zeref’s weapons, though the queue is long and the buyer has to bring their own ingredients for the creation. On the other hand, goblin’s weapons were easily obtained. All the players need to do is increase their weapon mastery skill level. Sadly, no one had their weapon mastery skills at level 100 during the initial stage of the game, so this secret went undiscovered.

“The Weapon Enlightenment skill helps you fully understand the weapon, including how to unleash its maximum potential,” explained Remdier.

Sila thought that the skill was similar to Mamon’s. Well, Weapon Enlightenment didn’t just let the user inspect the weapon, but it also helped them understand it—including knowing its durability and how to maintain it. The expression ‘A weapon is an extension of the body’ couldn’t be more fitting.

“Can it even allow the user to have a vision?”

Ramidas shook his head. “That’s not it. What you saw is what I also experienced when I held the dagger for the first time. It’s unrelated to Weapon Enlightenment. The vision showed one of the past battles of the King of Thousand Weapons, Maximus. Have you ever heard of his name?”

“I think I heard it from somewhere...” Sila was sure he had come across this name. Either someone had mentioned it to him, or he had read it from someplace.

“He is the Emperor of Magical Objects. Anyway, this Psychic Weapon Recording is not his skill. Only a few people know that he—the King of Thousand Weapons—has lost once in a weapon duel. What you just experienced was the result of the skill that belonged to the person who defeated him that day. It’s the skill that lets him record his knowledge into his weapon. You could say that it’s a weapon manual that you don’t need to physically read. The Seven Strikes Dagger once belonged to him. In fact, there are many weapons here that used to be his.”

“You must mean the man in wuxia clothes. Who is he?” Sila was curious.

“You live in Colossia City, don’t you? How come you don’t know about the Ten Heroes?” Ramidas frowned.

Remdier interrupted, “I actually don’t want to meddle in your conversation, but your goal is to negotiate, right? Let’s save this talk for later.”

Ramidas, who had gotten sidetracked, recalled this upon being reminded. “That’s right! You must hurry! Otherwise, it will be too late.”

“Too late for what?”

Remdier explained with regret, “We’re merely Psychic Bodies—a trap to lure you in. For you to start a negotiation, you have to go and meet our real selves who are hiding on the east side of Colossia City. They are preparing to raid the city. No, maybe they have already launched the attack.”

‘Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west.’ It is one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. The goblin race lined up a fake army and unleashed walls of psychic power on the west side in order to make the Shadow Army focus their defense toward that direction. Then, their real army would deliver attacks from the opposite direction.

Remdier handed Sila a piece of paper. “We can’t leave this place, so we can’t go out and personally relay a message. However, you can give this to our real selves. They will understand everything once they read it.”

Sila stored the paper in his sleeve. Remdier clapped his hands twice, and the landscape returned to normal. The Seven Strikes Dagger in Sila’s hand reverted to an ordinary D-grade dagger since he didn’t have the Dagger Mastery skill. Likewise, Zero’s chakram reverted to a simple metal chakram.

As soon as he came back, Sila noticed that the sky had already turned dark. The smoke from flames swaying inside the city covered the night sky, blocking the light from the moon and stars.

The raid had already started. If they were late to return, the fight might escalate and their hard-earned friendship would be for naught. Sila and Zero couldn’t spare any time to say goodbye to the goblins’ Psychic Bodies. They exerted their maximum speed, running back to Colossia City. Their presence represented two rays of hope cutting through the dark sky of conflict.