Episode-566
Chapter : 1111
"Fire affinity. Transcendent-Class," Bingyu analyzed, her voice flat. "High-yield destructive output. Low precision. Relies on overwhelming thermal energy, a brute-force method with significant energy leakage and no capacity for subtlety. Conceptually… crude. A hammer."
A low, dangerous growl rumbled through Lloyd's bond with Iffrit. The demon king did not appreciate being called a crude hammer, especially by a newcomer. A plume of black smoke puffed from the vents on his horned helmet in silent, volcanic indignation.
Bingyu's gaze then shifted to Fang Fairy, who stood with a poised, predatory grace, her silver-grey form crackling with subtle arcs of azure lightning.
"Lightning affinity. Transcendent-Class," Bingyu continued, her tone unchanged. "High-velocity, surgical strike capability. Excels at single-target neutralization but possesses negligible area-denial and sustained-control functions. It is a clever scalpel, but one that is easily overwhelmed by multiple threats or conceptually resilient defenses."
Fang Fairy's golden eyes narrowed. The silent, professional critique was, in its own way, more insulting than a direct taunt. The air around her began to hum with a higher frequency, the sharp scent of ozone becoming noticeable.
Finally, Bingyu's gaze returned to Lloyd. "A master who wields a hammer and a scalpel. An unbalanced arsenal. It is no surprise your previous engagements against a regenerative, area-of-effect opponent resulted in mission failure."
Lloyd blinked. He was being debriefed. By his own newly acquired weapon. The sheer audacity of it was breathtaking. She hadn't been here for five minutes, and she had already assessed his entire strategic situation, insulted his two most powerful allies, and declared his leadership a failure. He found himself caught between a rising tide of irritation and a profound, grudging respect. She wasn't just a spirit; she was a strategist.
"The objective," she continued, her voice cutting through his thoughts, "is the neutralization of the three life-draining, regenerative entities on the ninth level. Your previous strategy of overwhelming force was a predictable failure. A new protocol is required."
She began to pace, her movements as fluid and graceful as a flowing river of ice. "The primary threat is their regenerative capability, fueled by the ambient life-drain. A direct assault feeds them. Therefore, the new protocol must be one of containment, suppression, and systemic nullification."
She stopped and looked at Lloyd, her sapphire eyes pinning him in place. "My primary function is control. I will enact a wide-area stasis field, a blizzard of Absolute Zero that will suppress their regenerative faculties by arresting their biological and spiritual processes. However, this action requires a significant and continuous expenditure of energy. It is not an attack; it is a siege."
She then turned her gaze back to the two other, still-simmering spirits. "During this period of suppression, your other assets will be required. The hammer," she said, nodding towards Iffrit, "will provide sustained, high-energy strikes to tax the entities' weakened defenses. The scalpel," she added, her gaze falling on Fang Fairy, "will perform surgical strikes on any branches that breach the stasis field. It will be a battle of attrition."
Lloyd listened, his irritation completely evaporating, replaced by the cold, clear excitement of a commander hearing a brilliant plan. She had, in less than a minute, devised the exact strategy he had been fumbling towards. Contain, suppress, destroy.
"It's a solid plan," Lloyd admitted. "But a battle of attrition is still risky. The longer it goes on, the more of a toll the aura will take."
"Correct," Bingyu replied without missing a beat. "Which is why the final phase of the protocol requires a single, decisive, overwhelming blow. An attack of such definitive force that it can shatter the contained, frozen targets before they have a chance to thaw and regenerate. A power your current arsenal does not possess. The hammer is strong, but it is not a mountain-breaker."
She was right. Even with the trees frozen, he wasn't sure Iffrit's fire or Fang Fairy's lightning had the raw, kinetic power to shatter all three before the stasis field failed. Her perfect plan had a fatal flaw: they lacked the finishing move.
As Lloyd wrestled with this new problem, a slow, predatory smile touched his lips. Bingyu's plan was brilliant, but it was predicated on his current arsenal. And his arsenal was, as of this moment, wonderfully, secretly, and about to become, incomplete. He had just the thing.
Chapter : 1112
The new plan was a beautiful, elegant machine with one missing part: the piston. Bingyu, the Ice Queen he had summoned, had designed a perfect engine of war—a strategy of containment and suppression that would neutralize the Unbeatable Orchard’s greatest strengths. But as she had so clinically pointed out, they lacked the final, concussive force to deliver the killing blow. A mountain-breaker.
Lloyd stood in the center of his sanctuary, the three most powerful beings in his service arrayed before him like a council of war. Iffrit was a silent, smoldering volcano, his magma armor still pulsing with a faint, resentful heat from Bingyu's "crude hammer" comment. Fang Fairy was a coiled spring of azure lightning, her golden eyes watching the newcomer with a predator's cautious curiosity. And Bingyu herself stood as a monument of glacial calm, her sapphire gaze fixed on him, waiting for his contribution. She had presented the problem; it was his duty as the Nexus to solve it.
"A mountain-breaker," Lloyd mused aloud, a dangerous glint in his eye. "You're right. We need a final move of absolute, overwhelming kinetic force."
He closed his eyes, shutting out the physical world and retreating once more into the star-filled void of the System 2.0 interface. The Administrator's synthetic voice chimed in his mind, ever-present, ever-patient.
[Awaiting command.]
"Access the Shopping Tree," Lloyd instructed. "Category: Void Power. Sub-category: Personal Enhancement, Physical Augmentation."
His previous upgrades had all been external—new spirits, new weapon skills for his Steel Blood. But now, he needed something different. He needed to upgrade the operator, not just the tools. He needed to become the mountain-breaker himself.
The holographic menu swirled into existence, a catalog of esoteric arts and forbidden bloodline techniques. He browsed the top-tier options. [Titan's Blood], a permanent enhancement that granted tenfold strength but required a year of painful genetic re-sequencing. Unsuitable; he needed power now. [Kinetic Siphon], the ability to absorb the energy of enemy attacks and unleash it. Intriguing, but reliant on the enemy; it wasn't a proactive solution. He needed to be the source of the overwhelming force, not a reactor to it.
He refined his search. "Filter for: High-yield, short-duration abilities. Keyword: Force Multiplier."
The list narrowed. A few intriguing but unsuitable options appeared. [Berserker's Rage], which offered a massive power boost at the cost of all tactical thought. Useless. [Juggernaut's Charge], a powerful forward momentum attack that left the user completely exposed from the flanks. Too risky. Then, at the bottom of the list, almost hidden, was an ability so strange, so counter-intuitive, that it seemed like a joke. The description was a paradox.
[Void Power: Lazy Sage's Secret Art]
Rank: C (Scalable to A)
Description: An esoteric physical augmentation technique developed by the legendary Sage of Mount Inertia. The user enters a state of absolute physical stillness and meditative focus. For every five minutes of uninterrupted stillness, the user's base physical power is doubled. This effect is cumulative, reaching a theoretical maximum after thirty minutes.
Activation Cost: Moderate, continuous drain on Void reserves.
Warning: During activation, the user is completely immobile and vulnerable. Any physical interruption, including significant jostling or direct damage, will immediately reset the amplification process. High risk, high reward.
Lloyd's eyes flew open, a slow, predatory grin spreading across his face. It was perfect. It was insane. It was the most beautifully reckless idea he had ever encountered. A power that rewarded doing absolutely nothing. It was a power custom-built for an ambush, a trap, or a perfectly orchestrated siege. It was the piston for Bingyu's engine.
"Administrator, purchase [Lazy Sage's Secret Art]," he commanded.
[Confirmation required. This ability's core principle is paradoxical and may conflict with aggressive combat styles. User must possess exceptional mental discipline to maintain the required state of stillness under duress. Do you wish to proceed?]
"Confirm."
[Command confirmed. Deducting resources… Initiating integration protocol.]
Unlike the violent upheaval of a new spirit summoning or the painful rewiring of his [All-Seeing Eye], the integration of [Lazy Sage] was a quiet, insidious thing. It felt like a cold, heavy blanket settling over his soul. It was a power of stasis, of inertia. It felt like the very concept of stillness was being tattooed onto his spiritual core. He felt a sudden, profound urge to simply sit down, to cease all motion, to let the universe flow around him. It was a seductive, dangerous feeling, the call of a power that rewarded sloth with the strength of a god. He had to mentally fight it off, reasserting his own will over the new, lazy current in his soul. The integration was complete. He now possessed the secret of the sage.