SSS Grade Saint Knight - Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Armor-Piercing Combo! Instant Kill!

TL: Etude Translations

“Argh!!”

“Roar!!!”

“……”

Within the dungeon, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. Golden flames merged into a sea of fire, burning incessantly.

In just five or six seconds, many Bear Monsters were incinerated under the terrifying elemental onslaught.

The remaining Bear Monsters let out anguished howls, venting the pain coursing through their entire bodies.

Inside the grand hall of the castle, none of the Bear Monsters charging at Zhou Yi managed to breach the 50-meter perimeter before collapsing.

However, unlike the Bear Monsters encountered in the second level, these creatures did not flee in fear. Instead, they grew even more frenzied, rushing at Zhou Yi like a surging black tide.

Amidst the Bear Monsters, one stood out—a colossal Bear Monster over six meters tall!

Bear Monster Leader!!

Watching its kin fall at the hands of the human ahead, it roared furiously and accelerated its charge!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each massive step caused the ground to tremble slightly.

Screech!!

Boom!!

Lightning and flames surged toward the Bear Monster, but it didn’t even attempt to dodge. Instead, it instinctively activated its innate skill, “Earth’s Protection”!

Buzz~~~

Earth elements swirled, and a thick armor formed entirely of condensed earth enveloped the Bear Monster’s massive body.

Sizzle~~~

Lightning and flames struck the Earth Armor, but failed to penetrate it!

“Roar!!”

At this moment, the Bear Monster Leader’s face twisted into a disturbingly human-like grin, clearly pleased with its defense.

Enduring the elemental barrage, it charged rapidly at Zhou Yi.

The Bear Monster did not wield any weapons, for its body itself was the most formidable weapon!

Standing over six meters tall and weighing at least 10,000 kilograms—10 tons—its massive frame was further reinforced by knotted muscles.

Any collision or strike from it would inflict damage akin to being hit head-on by a speeding truck.

This confidence in its strength made the Bear Monster Leader fearless. It exhaled thick streams of air through its nostrils, and its blood-red eyes gleamed with bloodlust, as though it could already see the human before it crushed to death.

“Elemental suppression, huh…”

Watching the lightning and flames merely dance across the surface of the Earth Armor, Zhou Yi’s expression remained calm as ever.

Among all elements, earth possessed the strongest natural defense.

The Earth Armor was inherently insulated and could withstand high temperatures.

Coupled with the Bear Monster Leader’s massive and heavy frame, even Holy Storm was unlikely to sweep it away.

In essence, this Epic-grade Bear Monster Leader was like a tortoise with an impenetrable shell, completely countering Zhou Yi’s current elemental attacks.

“This is just like when I faced the Flame Demon back then. Only now, the roles are reversed.”

The reason Zhou Yi could inflict such high damage on the Flame Demon was largely due to the elemental suppression of Holy Light against darkness.

This allowed his attacks to easily bypass the Flame Demon’s defenses.

Now, however, the roles had flipped. The Bear Monster Leader, wielding earth elements, was the one with the advantage.

“In that case, let’s strip away that shell of yours first.”

Zhou Yi’s gaze sharpened. A golden battle axe gleaming with radiant light was already gripped in his hands!

This weapon had a slightly peculiar design.

The battle axe measured about 1.9 meters in length. Its handle was forged from heavy black mystic iron, inscribed with intricate mysterious runes.

The front of the axe blade was razor-sharp, tapering into a spear-like point at the very tip—extremely piercing.

[Weapon: Army Breaker Battle Axe]
[Quality: Gold ☆☆☆]
[Level Requirement: Level 18]
[Attributes: Strength +32, Constitution +34]
[Race Restriction: None]
[Profession Restriction: Warrior, Knight, Berserker]
[Effect: During combat, each attack increases physical penetration, stacking up to 30%.]

Compared to warhammers, battle axes typically struggled to pierce through heavy armor.

Thus, Zhou Yi had chosen a weapon specifically designed to enhance physical penetration.

After careful deliberation at the school store last night, he had selected this level 18 Gold-tier weapon, the Army Breaker Battle Axe.

Now, it was the perfect moment to put it to use.

“Roar!!”

By now, the Bear Monster had closed to within 10 meters of Zhou Yi!

While ordinary Bear Monsters possessed intelligence comparable to that of a 12- or 13-year-old human child, the Bear Monster Leader’s intellect was nearly on par with a human adult.

So, even though it wished to tear the human before it to shreds immediately, the cunning Bear Monster Leader still chose to halt its steps.

Then, it raised its right foot high!

“War Stomp!!”

The splash radius of War Stomp extended to about 20 meters. Any human directly struck by it would enter a stunned state.

By then, regardless of how many other tricks this human had, he would be nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter!

To ensure the skill hit perfectly, the Bear Monster Leader waited until it was within 10 meters before activating it!

“Die, human!!”

With its blood-red eyes gleaming with bloodlust, it stomped its right foot fiercely downward!!

Thud~~

At that moment, a sharp, piercing pain suddenly shot up from its right foot.

The foot, which had been poised to slam into the ground, stopped abruptly just 20 centimeters above it—pinned in place by a glowing spear!

War Stomp was forcibly interrupted!

Impossible!!

A voiceless roar of fury echoed in the Bear Monster Leader’s heart.

It never imagined that its War Stomp could be interrupted by such a tiny, toothpick-like spear of light!

In truth…

Zhou Yi’s Victory Spear, a C-rank skill, was only leveled to LV4.

The reason it successfully interrupted the Bear Monster Leader’s War Stomp lay in Zhou Yi’s exceptionally high four-dimensional attributes.

The Bear Monster was level 18, and so was Zhou Yi.

At the same level, Zhou Yi’s superior attributes naturally triggered the binding effect of Victory Spear, pinning the Bear Monster’s right foot in place.

With its right foot immobilized, the shockwave-based War Stomp could no longer be executed…

Whoosh!

In an instant, Zhou Yi’s lithe figure vanished from sight.

This startled the Bear Monster Leader, which had just freed its right foot from the spear.

“Where did he go?!”

As this thought surfaced, a paralyzing pain suddenly erupted from its calf!

Slash!!!

Its unarmored calf, unprotected by the Earth Armor, was split wide open by a cross-shaped wound.

Bright red blood gushed out like a geyser.

Being an Epic-grade monster, it had extraordinary regenerative abilities and high resistance.

Though the wound appeared terrifying, it inflicted no significant damage.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t even hinder its movements…

However, the paralyzing effect radiating from the calf rendered its entire left leg immobile. The massive creature’s body tilted uncontrollably, losing its balance entirely.

This effect was due to the special skill Zhou Yi had just unleashed—Pure White Blade!!

The cross-shaped light blade not only inflicted light-attribute magical damage but also paralyzed the target, rendering it immobile for a brief duration.

Given the Bear Monster’s towering frame of over six meters, Zhou Yi, standing at 1.85 meters, could only reach its thigh at most.

Thus, Pure White Blade’s paralysis effect couldn’t incapacitate the entire body. It only disabled the Bear Monster’s left leg, causing it to lose its balance…

But that was enough!

Zhou Yi swung his battle axe fiercely toward the Bear Monster!

“Air Slash!”

This basic knight skill was Zhou Yi’s favorite opener.

It lifted the target into the air, setting the stage for a seamless combo.

Even against the massive Bear Monster, it was no exception!

Boom!

The Bear Monster Leader was launched into the air by the swing of the gigantic battle axe!

At that moment, Zhou Yi began his combo!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He swung the Army Breaker Battle Axe relentlessly at the Bear Monster!

No fancy skills…

No flashy maneuvers…

Only textbook-perfect power execution!

At this moment, Zhou Yi relied solely on his overwhelmingly high strength attribute to crush the Bear Monster Leader!

In its airborne state, the Bear Monster could only be slaughtered at will!

10%!

20%!

30%!

Zhou Yi’s attack speed was so fast that in less than a second, he stacked the Army Breaker Battle Axe’s armor-penetrating effect to 30%!

It was at this moment, with a resounding crack, that the Earth Armor, which had encased the Bear Monster Leader like an impenetrable shell, was finally shattered!!

“It’s over…”

The razor-sharp axe blade traced a graceful arc in the air, slashing toward the Bear Monster’s neck at a speed too fast for even its blood-red eyes to track.

Normally, as an Epic-grade Boss, the Bear Monster Leader possessed incredible vitality.

Even without the Earth Armor, its hide and fur acted as natural armor.

Under typical circumstances, an ordinary slash couldn’t even penetrate its fur.

However, the Army Breaker Battle Axe, now enhanced with 30% armor-penetration, coupled with Zhou Yi’s terrifying strength and constitution, was a different story.

Slash—

The blade effortlessly ignored the Bear Monster’s fur armor and resilient vitality, severing its head cleanly from its neck.

Blood sprayed out like a fountain from its neck.

Its massive head flew high into the air before crashing to the ground.

Even in death, its blood-red eyes seemed unable to process what had just happened, still glinting with bloodlust…

…