"Crack, crack, crack...!"
That was the sound of the asphalt road cracking apart.
The great hero named Karna still had both feet firmly planted on the ground. His entire body slid backward under the astonishing impact, plowing through the asphalt road as though solid steel had raked across it, continuously shattering the surface.
Only when two plowed trenches appeared in the asphalt road did Karna finally stop retreating.
"Mm...!"
Karna clutched his struck chest.
Intense pain pulsed from there.
Feeling that pain, Karna's expression finally changed slightly.
"The armor... didn't work...?"
The murmur slowly escaped Karna's lips.
Legend had it that when Karna was born, his mother had asked Surya, the Sun god and his father, to protect her son.
Surya had transformed the sun's radiance into golden armor and earrings, fusing them with Karna to protect him forever.
Now, that armor had also become a Treasure Tool and remained fused with Karna.
Its effect was to weaken all concepts that interfered with Karna's body, whether physical attacks, magecraft attacks, curses, poison, or anything else. It reduced the damage Karna suffered to one-tenth; even an A+-rank Treasure Tool strike would not affect his ability to act.
Yet in that instant, a Treasure Tool with such astonishing defensive power had failed.
The impact on his chest had shaken Karna's internal organs, sending blood surging up his throat. If he had not suppressed it with his formidable willpower, it would not have been strange for him to cough up blood.
Damage of that degree could not possibly have been reduced to merely one-tenth.
Even Karna could not help but be stunned.
Until the Saintess's voice answered him.
"It's useless."
Jeanne raised the Holy Banner and pointed it at Karna. As if she had completely entered a combat state, she explained in a