Battle Intent Eruption: The Killing Blow (Combined Chapter)

It's true that they're two ranks apart, and their equipment is indeed quite outdated.

My armor is still in the second job advancement stage, and it's the A-grade light armor I got from the Technology City.

When facing the attacks of the 17th-tier Quasi-Hegemon mother body, especially after entering the second stage of burst, the physical attacks from the simple arthropods are not too bad.

The deadly part is the toxin attached to those limbs; that's the mother's true, fatal attack.

This toxin is a true poison that targets the soul, but fortunately, all its negative effects are currently negated by his passive ability.

"Clang~ Clang...!"

Seeing the Mother Soul Spider's attacks continue, Roland finally came into play and turned the tide of the battle.

The yellow flash collided with the mother soul spider dozens of times in just a few seconds.

Only Roland, a light-elemental ability user, could barely keep up with the speed of the mother body.

Unfortunately, Roland's single-target damage is average; he relies more on light and shadow to sense and deprive opponents, slowly inflicting wounds.

However, under the current conditions of the mother body in its second phase, the actual damage dealt is not as fast as her recovery speed.

"Toxin Attack -227 points,..."

As the toxins gradually weakened, Lister briefly withdrew from the main battlefield to deal with the approaching offspring soul spiders.

With a single, decisive slash, all the soul spiders surging into the depths of the cave were wiped out.

The blade's edge was eventually swallowed up by the spiderwebs on the rock face.

The cave inside this mountain was able to withstand the battle between three Quasi-Hegemon mainly due to the properties of the spider silk attached to the rock walls.

Its energy absorption and damage immunity effects are extremely strong, making it a decent material for armor forging.

As Lister turned back to rejoin the battle, countless small soul spiders emerged from the mother's abdomen.

"Boom!"

The small gray spider exploded as soon as it got close.

The explosion itself caused no harm, but the toxins that splattered from the body were terrifying; they caused real damage.

Roland's entire body was stained.

Even a photon-based body cannot be immune to the corrosive effects of these toxins.

His breath was rapidly weakening, and his life force was rapidly approaching the point of death.

Fortunately, Roland also had a life-saving skill; a black barrier opened around his body.

The Lightless Prison enveloped itself, instantly silencing him within its current range.

Lister never expected this skill could be used in this way. As Quasi-Hegemon, he had many skills and means of survival.

He now had a general understanding of Roland's strength: he lacked single-target and extreme damage, but his area-of-effect damage was top-notch, Quasi-Hegemon with extremely strong functionality.

Its attack speed and movement speed are top-tier, its support abilities are above average, but its defensive capabilities are somewhat lacking.

Based on a rough assessment, the opponent's actual combat strength is not even as good as Lieutenant Colonel Weiss's.

Among the Quasi-Hegemon, they belong to the weaker group.

If it remains at this level, it will definitely not become Hegemon after the Fourth Advancement.

Seeing that the black barrier hadn't disappeared, he should be able to hold on.

As soon as Roland's aura disappeared, all the little spiders naturally spread and attacked Lister, their new target.

Being confined to the cave, these self-destructing spiders Lister, had no room to hide and were inevitably contaminated with venom.

"Damaged: Suffered poison damage... Immunity 49.7%, Poison damage -22219 points."

When the child's skills are used by the mother, their strength increases dramatically.

Lister's health also dropped rapidly until it reached a certain critical point.

A powerful Fighting Spirit surged from the bottom of his heart.

"Notification: Battle Intent Potential has taken effect, entering the Battle Intent Eruption phase: Additional total combat power increased by 758.8%, damage reduction trait gained, enhanced by the stacking effect of Robust Soul, damage reduction effect increased to 95.9%, attack absorption recovery effect increased by 18.9%."

An even more powerful force surged from within him, as countless energies within the cave converged into his body.

A more than 7-fold increase in overall combat power, and nearly 96% overall damage reduction.

The poison's damage to him plummeted; the damage per second, which had been tens of thousands of points, instantly dropped to a few hundred.

The crisis has been averted, Lister's health points are currently at 20%.

Although the situation is not optimistic, the maximum increase in combat power in the second stage is sufficient.

Combat potential becomes increasingly apparent as Fighting Spirit grows.

At this moment, the mother body appeared flawed to him, and his movements slowed down.

With a light tap of its hind foot, it stepped over the exploding spider that had just approached.

The force was controlled perfectly, without crushing the little spiders at all, and the momentum propelled them forward before they could even react.

He stepped on countless exploding spiders, his movements incredibly fluid, his aura completely locked onto the mother body.

"Pfft!"

Small spiders kept self-destructing, but unfortunately, they were all a beat too late.

A large amount of venom erupted from its body and splattered, but it didn't touch Lister at all.

Seeing him get close, the mother quickly withdrew her "Soul-Splitting Spider Swarm" skill.

The arthropods behind him attacked Lister again.

"Clang~ Clang~ Clang..."

Sharp segments sliced across the ground, sparks flying.

All six attacks from the six arthropods grazed past Lister's body.

With his combat power maximized, Lister not only dodged the attacks, but also moved with elegance and fluidity, making it a visually stunning and artistic spectacle.

After several missed attacks, by the time they reacted, the opponent had already closed in completely.

Lister's blade moved slowly and steadily toward the mother's lower abdomen.

The Soul-Devouring Spider naturally wouldn't let him succeed so easily, and its lower abdomen suddenly contracted, pressing against the ground.

Taking this opportunity, the mass of rotten flesh on the upper body tried to get closer, wanting to continue close combat with Lister.

This was exactly what Lister wanted, and he smoothly withdrew the knife from his hand.

The next moment, a familiar Knee Strike landed.

The crimson pupils within the rotting flesh visibly relaxed considerably, and the lurking mouthparts even attempted to gnaw at Lister's knee.

But when the two collided, his scarlet pupils immediately contracted.

The intense, soul-piercing pain immediately made her realize that something was wrong.

"Boom!"

The powerful Knee Strike was no less devastating than a typical neutron cannon strike, shattering the concealed mouthparts.

"Attack: Deals -141 damage, -27998 true damage. The Robust Soul tier effect has been applied; opponent's immunity is ineffective. Knockback, stun, and immobilization effects have been triggered..."

The mother's enormous body instantly rose into the air, and Lister's figure followed like a ghost.

Countless unexploded spiderlings piled up beneath him, intending to explode and attack him.

Finally, Lister swiftly and precisely inserted a knife into the human-faced figure in the mother's transparent lower abdomen.

Attack: Deals -6307 damage, ignores defense -213342 damage, true damage -32233 (Execute!)

"Thump!"

Lister ended up practically riding on the mother's corpse as he crashed to the ground.

Countless tiny gray spiders also turned to dust the moment the mother died, dissolving on their own.

Battle Intent Eruption, his strike could even instantly kill a fully healed Mother.

Unfortunately, the opponent's health was too low, and the true damage couldn't inflict much more damage.

Only after the battle ended did the dark barrier around Roland begin to unfold.

He was already extremely weak, and with an embarrassed expression, he forced himself to stand in front of Lister.

I wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out, and I felt ashamed.

Although he activated the barrier to save his own life, he inadvertently drew all the danger onto Lister.

It took him a long time to finally manage to apologize.

"I've let you down in this operation!"

"I didn't expect this mother body to be even stronger than I imagined."

"No need, we agreed to fight together!"

"Let's get the Soul Crystal first."

Seeing that Lister remained calm and showed no sign of blaming him, Roland felt much better.

"It's fortunate you were here this time, otherwise Lord Hoffman's plans might have been delayed by me."

"Don't worry, we've renegotiated the ratio of Soul Crystals we'll allocate this time."

Lister had already experienced the frustration of teammates being unable to help.

Compared to Lieutenant Colonel Weiss, who could at least provide some support, Colonel Roland ultimately played virtually no role in the battle.

Of course, in a battle of this level, coordination is actually quite difficult.

The two were complete strangers, neither knowing the other's true intentions or methods, nor possessing any level of trust.

Fortunately, Roland is quite experienced in collecting Soul Crystals.

Even though the mother spider was dead, its enormous abdomen was still swollen to an astonishing degree.

The photon-transformed arm instantly pierced through the interior like a blade.

It sliced through the middle with a clean, decisive cut in an instant.

A grayish-brown liquid flowed out and quickly spilled onto the ground.

"These aren't liquid Soul Crystals?"

"No, Soul Crystals only exist in two states: solid or gaseous free form after activation."

"These are impurities from the Soul Crystal purification process. They weren't expelled by the mother body and simply mixed with the nutrient solution inside the Soul-Devouring Spider's abdomen."

Roland had an intimate understanding of the Soul-Devouring Spider's internal structure, having likely dissected many parts during the process of cultivating its offspring.

The hand chop was fast, smoothly dismembering some organs without any mistakes.

Only when he got close to the strange face pattern did his movements slow down slightly, and his expression became serious.

Carefully remove an exquisite piece of machinery you've never seen before; one end is connected to a slender leather tube, and the other end is connected to a specially made reagent container.

Lister recognized the container; it was the same container used to carry the special resources in the recruit camp.

[Pierre's Energy Guidance Converter (Class S): Can refine various special, precious, or ethereal energies into a accessible form.]

[Whiteman's Energy Container (S-Class): The inner wall of the container is synthesized from the skin of nobles of the Whiteman Civilization, capable of isolating most biological senses and mechanical signal detection, and blocking over 99% of Energy Transfer.]

As expected, it involves the extraction of Soul Crystals; even the intermediate equipment and the containers used to hold them are all S-grade.

What's particularly striking is that this container is stored in the same way as the "Planetary Catalyst," using the skin of the Whiteman nobles.

Lister carefully observed the scene being filmed.

On one side of the abdomen of the strange face, there was only one swollen tumor.

Roland, with a solemn expression, repeatedly rubbed and pressed the "tumor" to make a judgment.

Only after the location was determined could one end of the catheter be precisely inserted into the bloody, fleshy tumor.

Instantly, the energy-guided converter reacted.

The instruments on the equipment spun wildly, while a faint gray mist appeared in the empty container.

Under the perception of the Killing Intent Wave, a special energy did indeed enter the test tube container through the tumor.

However, the sarcoma did not change its condition; instead, the gray fog inside the container continued to deepen.

As far as the color is concerned, it is already more concentrated than the special resources in the recruit camp.

It's clear that the extraction will take time, and I don't need to do anything myself.

Roland then took the initiative to explain to Lister.

"This is a method that Lord Hoffman taught me."

"There is a special conversion port on the underside of the Soul-Devouring Spider's abdomen, which is also the key for their species to collect and convert soul energy."

"This is my first time trying this too, so I don't know exactly how many Soul Crystals I can extract."

A dozen minutes later, the gray fog inside Whiteman's specially made container condensed to its maximum, and then began to condense on its own.

Until it transformed into twelve hexagonal crystal pillars.

At the same time, the energy converter instrument began to return to its initial state, and the extraction of the Soul Crystal was completed.

"Lister, this battle was entirely thanks to you."

"Of the twelve Soul Crystals, six are for Lord Hoffman, this one that remains unchanged."

"Let's split the remaining six 50/50, including the residue in this reagent, that's yours too, okay?"

After years of nurturing and researching, we have acquired such valuable resources, yet we only receive the smallest share of the rewards.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't heartbroken, but when I thought about the strength that Lister had displayed...

The fact that a level 15 being could defeat a level 17 Quasi-Hegemon mother still made Roland take notice.

Having already become Quasi-Hegemon, he was well aware of the vast gap between Quasi-Hegemon, the difference in potential and strength being worlds apart.

Judging from Lister's current combat performance, although he is only a martial arts Hegemon, he is actually one of the best among the Quasi-Hegemon of the same level.

Even Lord Hoffman at level 15 might not have had his strength.

This fully demonstrates that Lister had enormous potential.

Roland himself dared not hope that after four evolutions, he could truly become the Hegemon.

Even Lord Hoffman is in danger, which is why they pursue Soul Crystals – to enhance their potential and continue accumulating for the fourth evolution.

But the Lister before us is different. Judging from the strength he has shown so far, which far exceeds that of ordinary people, he truly has the opportunity to become a true Hegemon!

Out of respect for Hoffman, and also because of his own high regard for Lister, this was considered an investment.

"No problem."

Since the other party brought it up, Lister naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony.

After the distribution was completed, I took the container from Whiteman and was about to open it when Roland interrupted me.

"Unless you're using it right now, don't open it now, the Soul Crystal energy drains very quickly."

Upon hearing this, Lister finally suppressed his curiosity.

Suddenly, the Jiji on my shoulder reacted again today.

They started to analyze the "tumor" that had already appeared.

The "tumor" was visibly hardening at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The system notification sounded only after the outer layer of dry, hardened flesh had been pried open.

"Congratulations, you have discovered the 'Spirit-Devouring Pearl'."

[Spirit-Devouring Pearl (S-Rank): Possesses extremely strong conductivity to soul energy; may be used for forging weapons and equipment; can provide additional enhancements to mechanical lifeforms.]

Not again?

Lister's expression was somewhat complicated.

I thought the main gain from this Zerg would be Soul Crystals.

Who knew that Jiji had discovered this new loot, especially the description of this S-grade material, which was related to soul energy and also provided additional enhancements to mechanical lifeforms...

Jiji continues to develop like this, could it really become a mechanical life form, and even a brand new Zerg civilization!?

"This thing...?"

Seeing that Jiji had already placed the bead in Lister's hand, Roland was not interested in the item, immediately said politely.

"I didn't expect there to be this in here either. Since you found it, it's naturally yours."

"As for the rest of the things here, the soldiers can come and clean them up later."

"These spider webs are good material; let's distribute them between our two ships later."

"No problem!"

Back in control room A73.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him enter the house.

"The mission is complete?"

"Yes, the mother is dead."

"There are many rare materials inside the cave, Gwent. Why don't you accompany the sergeant?"

Ordinary soldiers might not recognize the value of such war trophies.

It would be better to send Logistics Department personnel, especially Minister Gwent, who is in contact with all kinds of rare resources every day and is more knowledgeable about them.

"No problem! I'll lead the team there right now."