Chapter 461 Titan’s Body, To the West! (2/2)

Red-black aura—as if flames burning in the abyss, light shining in the darkness and rich red-black lifeforce—began to gather like a tidal wave with Joshua at its center. In the very next moment, a huge titan thus simply appeared before the titan.

Ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters, a hundred meters, a hundred and fifty meters—though the height of the titan formed from all the lifeforce within the Azurite was dwarfed by the four-hundred meters tall water vapor titan, this gargantuan body was completely condensed from the warrior's lifeforce. The two eyes of six-armed titan were also twinkling with a dazzling crimson radiance, dyeing the Xayar Mountains in a soft-red layer.

Combat Aura Steel Armor!

A Legendary-class fighting technique that emulated powerful beings, acquiring their power in turn!

Though Joshua had never learned the skill before he acquired it, his combat instincts told him that this was the most ideal learning method. As long as he could use his lifeforce and emulate the titan's body construct, it would mean that he too would get part of the power of titans!

Then, the vapor titan spoke with a supremely solemn tone that echoed heavily, mystical and indistinct as if it came directly from the clouds.

”Warrior, the ascension of titans comes in two forms.” It explained. ”The first form is to root their bodies in to the land, enlarging their bodies gradually into a titan of the mountains like me.”

”The second form is to condense their own bodies, increasing the intensity within and finally becoming an indestructible and eternal physicality.”

”I chose the first, but I believe the latter means more to you—that's why I'll show you later.”

Right now, the combat aura steel armor that Joshua created was rapidly copying every important energy node and bodily construct at an unimaginable speed.

Thick streaks of energy pulse were assembling within the combat aura steel armor, which had been empty apart from the lifeforce it contained. It was also mimicking the titan's flesh, veins as well as energy nodal movements, filling those copies across every corner within the steel armor.

Eventually, the combat aura steel armor that appeared to be absolutely hollow gradually grew bones, flesh, veins, and nerves—becoming a solid body construct. Two out of the lifeforce titan's six arms now appeared incomparably sturdy. It had once been a phantom formed from pure vigor, but now it carried a hint of metallic luster. Unsurprised, Joshua became aware that a punch with that fist would crumble an entire peak, shattering it into shards strewn across the skies!

It was at that very moment when the vapor titan in front of him bellowed thunderously.

Instantly, multifarious blue-green lightning blew out of the endless vapors that formed the titan's body. These dancing bolts sparkled erratically within Urbandy's body, and quickly turned into a glinting thunder titan.

However, the thunder titan's body gradually shrank while the bolts of lightning became more solid until it was a hundred and fifty meters tall—exactly the same size as the lifeforce giant Joshua had formed.

Then, the bolts of lightning over Urbandy's body slowly vanished as it returned to its vapor form. However, the vapor that constructed the titan's body was no longer transparent, but a black translucent liquid that was so dull it resembled the seawater of the depths.

”I'm not so proficient in the second form. Learn whatever you can…”

Urbandy stopped speaking once more. There was no telling how many times the titan had paused mid-sentence today, but this was not the time to mind such things—the titan seemed to have seen something inconceivable from Joshua's lifeforce giant.

Like the titan, it could shrink too!

The monumental lifeforce giant was as if a mountain in itself. But after the warrior witness the titan's compressing and shrinking of its own body, it appeared to gained a certain epiphany—or conceivably like finding a piece of the puzzle that was missing all along.

With a silent laugh, Joshua's eyes became filled with passion—he knew that was what he wanted!

Boom!

With a sound of thunder, the lifeforce titan began to shrink wildly too. Furthermore, apart from lifeforce, Joshua could tether the surrounding mana elements too just by watching the titan's first form where it collected the vapors around it for its own purpose. Whether it was earth, wind, air or fire elements, all energy adrift around the warrior began to stream towards his body endlessly as if being swallowed by a black hole.

A hundred and fifty meters! A hundred and thirty meters! A hundred meters! Fifty meters! Twenty meters! Ten meters!

Now, the lifeforce giant had actually been compressed to just ten meters—true to the name of 'combat aura steel armor', the six-armed giant stood over the land, its red-black appearance glistening with a metallic luster. Its body was tremendously heavy, so much that the stony ground below it was crushed into streaks of fissures resembling radioactive waves. Incredible force rippled spreading beside it, churning the rocks and soil around it and levitating them and causing them to orbit around the warrior like satellites.

Urbandy looked on as the human mimicked the two giant ascension forms down to the last detail. It did not respond, for it could not come up with the words.

Nonetheless, Joshua was still not satisfied.

”Not enough!”

Watching with the corner of his eye as his energy output level leaped to fifty-seven percent and closing in to the threshold of sixty, an epiphany flashed through Joshua's heart.

The meaning of energy output level isn't my former strength, but just the depth of potential within my body! If I bring my body's potential power completely to bear and perfectly grasp Steel Strength, I would arrive at hundred percent—the moment I ascend into legendary!

Though the power output level was only sixty percent, Joshua's combat prowess now was comparable to when he was at his peak. Still, he felt that he had space to improve himself by a notch! He could completely recall the lifeforce titan that had assimilated all the elemental energies surrounding it within his own body in its entirety!

Exhausting all his control and compressing the construct once more, the lifeforce giant that was a dozen meters tall begin to shrink again with a clear sound as if glass was broken. Now, as the giant became less than ten meters tall, the warrior's body became entirely black, while the outer shell reflected silver-crimson radiance as if it were genuine metal.

”The homeland of the Evil God of Air… The method those vapor lifeforms compress their own bodies!”

Remembering the memory of the Evil God of Air he saw back in the ruins within Moldova, Joshua quickly recognized that it was the method of energy compression he needed. The beings that were composed of pure energy and gas was similar to the warrior's combat aura steel armor on the outset.

When those lifeforms had shrunk themselves, they made themselves capable of penetrating the gigantic storm that was swirling over their gaseous planet, and was so terrifying it would consume entire stone planets. Undoubtedly, this was the most perfect and most powerful energy compression method in this world!

Kr—aaack!!!

The sound of twisted metals echoed throughout the mountains. All of Joshua's own aura and lifeforce steel armor, as well as the endless external energies adrift that were assembled began to shrink bit-by-bit inwardly. It was an extended process—it took several hours for that layer of immeasurably solid outer aura shell to completely sink within the warrior's body.

It was already late night. The dim blue moon illuminated the land since Urbandy's body had absorbed the ever-present rain and vapor.

After a long time, the warrior opened his eyes. He looked unbelievably tired, as if he had fought seven or eight champions as strong as Herlas.

”How does it feel?” Urbandy asked. It had already reverted back to its treant form, staring at Joshua with a curious gaze as it stood before the warrior.

”… Really not bad, thanks.” Joshua nodded lightly. Before his eyes, the energy output level checkpoint had reached sixty percent. He now understood what remained of his path.

Compressing his own power was now largely achieved, what next was for him to learn how to fuse other elements while honing his own body. The warrior felt that shrinking and binding the incredible energies within his body was only the first step for his ascension into Legendary—what he needed was to learn how to freely control his body's form.

He must become capable of transforming into a hundred-meter giant or revert back to his original state at will, with no pauses in between, much less like he did just now—requiring a few hours just to mostly revert into his original form.

Steel Strength was the origin energy of all things, and reaching the initial energy benchmark was meaningless. What comes after was for Joshua to quickly empower his physicality and refine it into a form that could match this energy, with absorbing the energies within Jewel Seeds being amongst the shortcuts that could rapidly raise his body density and bulk of his power.

Suddenly, Joshua looked up at Urbandy.

”By the way, those Death Shade commanders should carry Jewel Seeds with them, right?” he asked.

”… Of course.” The treant quickly replied after a brief pause; he smiled stiffly as he understood the warrior's intentions. ”That Death Shade spellcaster's three crystal puppets had one each, as well as one itself—so that's four in total.”

”Is that so.” Joshua nodded contentedly, his gaze filled with fervor.

One who hunted the heir of the fourth Sage's Legacy, a bounty posted by the titan and possessed so many Jewel Seeds.

More importantly, all the commanders were champions—indubitable former heroes and legends of this world.

Would he let the chance to fight them pass him by?

The warrior could not come up with a reason to decline.

Behind him, as if sensing their master's heart, the weapons hummed softly.

It was night at the moment.

The warrior bid the titan farewell, and headed along to the west.