Arcane Era-Chapter 60: Final Showdown (Part 2)

Of course, the Mercenary King had to possess this level of speed.

His movement-type Armament was of the Regal Grade, after all. Even though Theo’s Standard Grade bracelet provided speed that surpassed most Armaments of the same Grade, with the sacrifice being limited mobility and application, it still couldn’t match the effects of a Regal Grade Armament.

This made Theo begin to question if his blade could even cut through Gerald.

’His body is being enhanced right now, no doubt. That could be the effect of an Imperial Grade Armament, which ought to offer him incredible defense.’ He gulped. ’His mask could be some kind of observation-type Armament, and as for Healing, Storage, and Miscellaneous... I’m not sure.’

Gerald’s ring summoned the sword he was using, so that could be considered as a kind of Storage-type function which also doubled as an Attack-type. Theo also guessed that the cloak was his Mobility-type Armament.

The armor set offered defense, the necklace provided an enhancing glow that could be interpreted both as Defense and Attack types.

It could even have healing effects, for all Theo knew.

’He wasn’t lying...’ Theo sighed, still trying to figure out the Arcane Abilities of all the Armaments his opponent wielded.

’Is he truly invincible?!’

"Why don’t I help you just this once?" Shen’s voice echoed once more, this time having a lot more seriousness than what one would expect from his casual remarks.

"That mask is an observation-type Armament that allows him to see through regular obstacles such as walls and ceilings. He could already see you when you traveled through the walls and ceiling, so there was no way you could have sneaked in to save me." He continued calmly. "As for the others, his cloak allows him to preemptively avoid attacks at the slightest hint of danger—sort of like automatic evasion."

At this point, even Gerald was stunned by Shen’s words.

’H-how did he know?!’ He wondered silently. ’Could it be that he can use his Arcane Instruments in there? No! That can’t be! The mechanism is perfect! Plus, if he could use Armaments, why wouldn’t he have already escaped?!’

"The armor offers him defense, but it’s quite heavy... which makes him slow. Not that it matters, since he’s constantly being enhanced by his Imperial Grade necklace, which grants him three different kinds of buffs: speed, strength, and durability. Then, that ring of his is also of the Imperial Grade, and it allows him to summon any weapon he envisions in his head, but if that weapon is destroyed... he can’t ever summon it again. Of course, every summoned weapon is immensely durable—as durable as a Regal Armament."

Shen went on to list the weaknesses and strengths of each of Gerald’s Armaments, causing everyone in the hall to fall into deathly silence.

’Most of my guesses turned out to be true, but with this information I have a better idea of what I’m dealing with.’ Theo smiled in relief. "Thank you, Lord Shen."

"I should be the one thanking you. You’re trying to save me, right? My cooperation is only to be expected. I’m more surprised that Gerald over there didn’t interrupt me or try to kill you while you were distracted by my words." Shen smiled, almost nonchalantly as he turned his gaze to the stupefied Mercenary King.

Once Gerald noticed that all eyes were on him, waiting for his response, he grunted and scoffed.

"Hmph! Why would I need to interrupt? Is there really any need to worry, even if he knows of my abilities?"

"Well, there’s that too." Shen sighed loudly. "Theo only has one weak Regal Grade Armament, one Standard Grade Armament, and two Junk Grades."

"H-hey—!"

"Aah, sorry... I got too carried away."

Theo instantly understood what Shen did, and he felt immensely impressed by it.

’I actually have two Regal Grade and two Standard Grade Armaments, but he lied about them to make my opponent underestimate me.’

One of the weaknesses of Gerald’s observation-type Armaments was that it couldn’t see through Armaments or special kinds of obstacles. This could also be exploited as some form of strength, as he could easily detect the Armaments in a person’s possession simply by counting how many things he couldn’t see through.

Fortunately for Theo, Gerald couldn’t tell the Grades apart.

As such, while he knew Theo had four Armaments in his disposal, he didn’t know anything else.

’If Lord Shen had lied about their number, he would have been able to fact-check this with his Armament’s limitation, but by lying about their Grades, he made his lie more believable, able to misdirect the enemy.’ Theo smiled to himself, a bead of sweat falling down his face.

It was just as the rumors said.

The Supreme Lord of Tyranny was one of the greatest minds in the world.

’I wonder who’s smarter... Lord Shen or the Supreme Lord of the Stars? No, I can’t afford to lose focus right now!’ Theo shook his head and narrowed his gaze on his enemy. He cleared out every distracting thought, eliminating every other variable.

The only thing that existed was him... and the Mercenary King.

’Let’s go!’

WHOOOSH!

Theo pushed his legs to their limit, no longer restricted by the caution that came from not knowing the cards of his enemy. He trusted Shen Ak’ashi’s words, so his body acted accordingly as he activated his Armaments to improve his strength.

He refused to activate his saber of light.

—Not yet.

Closing the distance between himself and his enemy in a flash, thanks to his mobility-type scarf Armament, Theo drew an arc in the air.

However, as expected, the Mercenary King’s cloak allowed him to easily escape the harm.

Theo brought out his second Regal Grade Armament at that moment and shot several bullets in many directions. As he did this, he kept slicing his blade through the air, watching as the Mercenary King moved in all manner of directions... flawlessly avoiding his attacks.

This kept happening until—

SKKRR!

—Theo felt his weapon scrape something.

Gerald didn’t seem to have noticed this, as the blade merely brushed past his dense armor, so it was of no concern to him. To Theo, however, this meant everything!

’I can do this! I can land a hit!’