Chapter 105: The Dead End

Heracles the Fearless’s face remained dark. The greater the danger, the calmer he became.

He violently leaped, dodging an Inferno Missile that fell from the sky. Then, in an almost impossible move in mid-air, he used pure core strength to stop his upward momentum.

He stopped his ascent and violently sprang forward.

While Heracles the Fearless showed off his martial skill, dodging the increasing number of tracking Inferno Missiles, Ace manipulated the illusion to interfere with his vision and mind, continuously attempting to weaken him with successive will checks. Simultaneously, the cowlick on Ace’s head violently swayed, frantically recording and analyzing the Fearless One’s supernatural combat technique.

Heracles demonstrated exquisite supernatural combat techniques, skillfully using the black broken blade in his hand to shatter the tracking infernos. He maneuvered and rotated, performing an incredible dance of strength and danger in the air, guiding the remaining Inferno Missiles to converge in one spot.

Boom!

The Inferno Missiles collided, producing a fierce roar and shockwave!

Heracles’s hair tips danced in the shockwave. A few drops of sweat fell from his dark forehead.

On the other side, the cowlick on Ace’s head finally stopped swaying. The Spirit of the Book had completed the recording of Heracles’s supernatural combat technique and began to understand and internalize it.

Ace looked at the supernatural martial arts data simultaneously backed up in his Grimoire, and a smile appeared in his eyes.

“Everything exquisite about you will eventually become mine and make me stronger!”

Heracles vigilantly scanned his surroundings. His hair stood on end with fury, and he leaped into the air with a bang!

“Scum in the shadows, you filthy desecrators! Do you think you can take down Grandpa Heracles by hiding and being sneaky? I already know where you are. Wash your necks and wait!”

Heracles’s keen intuition had sensed the source of the Inferno Missiles. He moved in a curved trajectory, preparing to observe the area.

Despite his anger, he possessed normal combat intelligence and did not plan to recklessly charge the launch site of the inferno. Instead, he intended to observe carefully from the perimeter.

Ace watched Heracles’s curved leaps, continuing to use the Illusion Barrier to influence his thoughts. The best way to manipulate the emotions of an enemy, especially one with stronger mental power, is to go along with them.

Heracles felt his rage intensifying as he leaped. He easily dodged and destroyed the incoming Inferno Missiles. He closed his eyes, sensing with his intuition.

A sense of irritation and restlessness arose inexplicably. An illusion suddenly appeared before him: the scene of his father’s death and his nightmares from childhood followed him like a shadow.

He tightly gripped the black broken blade. The blade emitted a soft starlight that slowly calmed his irritated emotions. Heracles opened his eyes and said:

“Thank you, Father! I will use both wisdom and strength to teach this gang of sewer rats a lesson.”

At this moment, Ace realized the illusion could barely affect Heracles’s mind. The mental power gap, plus the protection of the black broken blade, allowed Heracles to regain his calm.

Relying on his inborn talent as a descendant of the God of Combat and his terrifying combat intuition, he charged toward Ace’s hidden location.

“I found you, you filthy rat!”

Ace was not flustered. He used a strange cadence in his mouth, injecting a portion of his Inherent Mana into the slightly sluggish magical rhythm.

Ace opened his arms and shouted at Heracles: “Reinforcement · Seven-Layer · Freeze · Mana-Crystal Prison!”

Crack! Crack!

A thick, irregular layer of Mana Crystals, carrying a chilling aura, completely froze Heracles.

The Mana Crystals then grew, eventually forming a giant sphere of ice!

Ace knew the sphere of ice could not hold Heracles for long. He activated Flash Teleportation and fled quickly.

He intentionally avoided the Inferno Missile launch site and headed toward the center of the steel city.

The steel dome of the underground city flickered increasingly, and the scorching sphere of fire shook violently from time to time.

Heracles, trapped inside the sphere of ice, tracked Ace’s movement with his eyes. His muscles twitched rhythmically. The entire sphere of ice trembled with his movement. Crack!

The ice sphere cracked from the inside out.

“Boom!”

The entire ice sphere burst, shattering into pieces of debris.

Heracles was covered in ice shards. He ignored them. He leaped hundreds of meters with a bang. After a few leaps, he was about to catch up with Ace. As he drew closer, Ace suddenly looked back and gave him a strange smile. Heracles’s heart seized up.

Ace, instead of fleeing, charged directly toward him and embraced him. Boom!

It was an Imperfect Transformation Glycerin Magic Tube!

“Disgusting bug! Do you only know one trick?”

On the other side, Ace’s host body had leaped up to the vicinity of the steel dome.

“Float! Mana-Crystal Guard!”

Accompanied by his strange cadence and the sluggish operation of Mana, Ace immediately injected a portion of his Inherent Mana. He floated in the air, a layer of Mana Crystal membrane guarding his entire body.

Heracles, on the ground, searched the ruins of the high tower but found no trace of the enemy.

Ace, near the steel dome, continued to gather Mana, injecting Inherent Mana, and chanting in a strange cadence while mentally visualizing the Sound Rune.

“Super · Potent · Infrasound Resonance!”

Boom!

An invisible vibration gradually matched the frequency of the steel dome. Accompanied by the resonance, the entire steel dome, especially near the scorching sphere of fire, began to shake violently!

As the shaking grew more intense, Heracles heard the booming resonance.

He looked up and saw Ace in the air.

Just as he leaped up, flexing his core in mid-air for a second jump to strike Ace, the vibration of the steel dome reached its maximum. A tremendous grinding sound came from the vicinity of the scorching sphere of fire.

Accompanied by the roaring, the scorching sphere of fire plunged!

Heracles, mid-air, saw the devastating sight. His eyes widened in shock. He furiously used his core strength. Supernatural Mana surged through his blood. Boom!

In the nick of time, he successfully redirected his momentum, flying sideways.

But he was still a little late. The edge of the scorching sphere of fire grazed Heracles’s body, engulfing his entire torso below the waist!

The sphere then hit the ground, exploding in a massive mushroom cloud!

Heracles, now only half a body, was overwhelmed by rage. His body’s Mana rapidly depleted, and his lower half regenerated.

He fell to the ground, panting heavily, his eyes full of fury!

The black broken blade emitted faint starlight, but it still could not soothe his overwhelming resentment.

“You rat in the gutter! You filthy desecrator! Do you dare to face Grandpa Heracles in fair combat? I will tear you to shreds and roast your soul!”

Ace, overlooking the scene from the air, let out a scornful laugh.

“You want a fair fight? Then follow me! You foolish Fearless One! You can’t even touch a single hair on my body!”

Using the Illusion Barrier, Ace’s voice resonated from all directions toward Heracles.

“How dare you—how dare you scorn me! You must pay the price for your arrogance! Unforgivable!”

The arrogant Heracles, having been so manipulated and scorned, felt his rage explode. He furiously chased after the voice of Ace.