SAINTESS [Chapter 48: Winnie VS King Mars]

“It’s been a long time since I have not personally applied Mars' unique tortures on outsiders. This will be a perfect opportunity.” Cantarius' voice was filled with the disdain and cruelty of a superior toward mere insects, as if in his eyes, these two foreigners weren't even human, one was merely an interesting toy, the other, a lifeless puppet to be toyed with at will.

To him, everyone else in the world was nothing more than breathing props.

He squeezed his thick knuckles, producing a terrifying 'crack-crack' sound, while letting out a chilling laugh. Each step he seemed to make the ground tremble, radiating overwhelming pressure.

This wasn't arrogance anymore, it was the natural belief that one was born to be worshiped by all, free to toy with anyone's fate, convinced that he himself was the absolute ruler of this world.

“What a revolting display. Hey you, better stop cracking your fingers like that. Wouldn't want to snap those pig-leg fingers of yours,” Winnie taunted while equipping [Armour Fortress].

Silver light descended upon him, forming a dazzling, majestic suit of armor that assembled over his body like a phantom before solidifying, scattering millions of silver light particles.

Now, the Warlock [Armour Fortress] bore no resemblance to its original version, the standard-issue armor of the ancient Carillian troops. It could easily pass as the armor of a Carillian legion commander.

Golden patterns adorned the deep-blue knight's plume trailing down his back, a crimson battle cloak draped behind him, his helmet now fully metallic with only breathing slits and visor gaps remaining. His boots and many chainmail sections had also been replaced with plate armor.

Compared to a mere armored cavalryman, Winnie now looks more like a knight in full ceremonial regalia.

Seeing this, Isatia's eyes flickered with a hint of surprise.

Of course she recognized it, Winnie's [Armour Fortress] had evolved far beyond the standard scope of ordinary ones.

She quickly realized it must be due to Winnie's increased strength and ascended soul armaments.

But, did the ancient Carillian Empire's [Armour Fortress] ever have the function of changing appearance with strength advancement??

Isatia was certain it didn't. She was confident her memory was flawless.

If regular [Armour Fortress] could evolve to this extent, its sheer aesthetic appeal would've made millions of people choose it, especially since it only requires a one-star magical aptitude.

That clearly didn't make sense. There was only one possibility left: Winnie's compatibility with the [Armour Fortress] soul armament was extraordinarily high, so high that the soul armament itself grew stronger as he did.

‘Could it be… Winnie didn't choose [Armour Fortress] out of desperation, but on purpose??’

“Oh? An unfamiliar foreign armor design. Is this the armor of your people? How did you instantly equip yourself?” Cantarius said mockingly.

Isatia clutched the gemstone in her hand, struggling to pick up the scattered documents beside her, refocusing her attention back onto the parchment to increase her [Structural Attainment] of Mars' civilization.

She knew what she needed to do now. Although Winnie was a modern mage whose magic possessed a vast technological gap over the ancient Mars people, capable of overwhelming the opponent through that gap,

Still, the opponent was the King of Mars, whose magical talent and affinity must far surpass Winnie's.

Moreover, despite the outdated magic of ancient times, Winnie's [Armour Fortress] was originally a mass-produced soul armament from the early Carillian Empire's military, an era still considered low-magic. In terms of technological gap, it wasn't that far ahead of Mars' own era, since the Carillian Empire's age was quite close to that of Mars.

Therefore, she didn't expect Winnie to defeat the resurrected ancient Mars king, Cantarius. She simply hoped he could buy her some time, delay the king long enough while ensuring his own safety.

If it came to the worst case, and Winnie couldn't withstand the pressure or fell into danger, she'd have no choice but to act with her current [Structural Attainment].

Cantarius advanced with overwhelming presence, clearly intending to crush his opponent's morale first, letting them suffer in despair. Thus, he slowly slowed his pace, his red hair fluttering behind like a lion's mane.

This excessively massive, dark-skinned man truly radiates the aura of a lion.

The wind fluttered Winnie's cloak. The armored figure standing firm with his ice spear resembles a seasoned knight facing a ferocious, enraged beast.

As Cantarius approximately, Winnie seized the timing, planting his feet firmly.

“Pig head, take my Flying Sand Kick!”

[Annihilation Stomp]

The ground beneath Winnie's feet shattered. He launched himself into the air with full force.

Cantarius, seeing this, skillfully sidestepped, clearly an experienced combatant.

However, he had clearly underestimated the gap in magical technology, relying solely on personal experience to judge his opponent's move.

He had never seen magic of this form before. Thus, he assumed Winnie was simply trying to jump and kick him. He didn't realize Winnie's target wasn't him, but the ground beside him.

Winnie jumped like a missile. The instant his feet struck the earth, hundreds of rock fragments exploded outward, flying in all directions. Simultaneously, dust burst into the air, spreading widely.

Not only that, a swirling sandstorm erupted across the ground.

Correct. The added sandstorm vortex, designed to restrict and hinder enemy movement, was something he had grasped during his encounter with the earlier sandstorm.

Cantarius was caught completely off guard. Pierced by flying rock shards and blasted into the air by a powerful surge of earth-element energy, he was then sucked into the vortex, repeatedly shredded by the violently expanding earth-element fragments. His golden silk robes were torn beyond recognition, and even the mask on his face was blown away.

As the beast-like figure crashed to the ground like a broken kite, Winnie stretched his limbs.

“You call yourself King of Mars? I just ripped your mask off! Time to slap that face hard!”

“I thought you'd be something special. All that 'King of Kings' talk? That's it?” Winnie mocked.

Isatia, watching from behind, narrowed her eyes. Although Winnie's earth-element magic was impressive, she sensed things weren't so simple.

Winnie clapped his hands, eyeing Cantarius lying motionless on the ground. He also felt the situation was too smooth.

Even if earth-element magic wasn't particularly offensive, spells of this level could easily kill with a single graze, especially since the target had no elemental resistance items or gear, just wearing a royal robe like some primitive savage.

A direct hit should've blown his body into thousands of pieces.

Yet, despite the magical gap, wasn't this guy supposed to be a famous ancient Mars king?

No backup plans at all??

Was the quality of resurrected beings this poor??

Soon, reality gave its answer.

Cantarius' corpse was swept up by a strange energy, floating into the air. The remaining “body fragments” also levitated, reassembling themselves mid-air under that mysterious force.

Cantarius revived.

“Hah… hahaha.” He suddenly laughed coldly. “Death, I've experienced it once already. I don't mind experiencing it a few more times. After all, I'll always come back.”

“Damn it.” Winnie couldn't help but curse. “Are you a damn cockroach??”

“I'll make you regret that!” Winnie swung his spear in a horizontal slash.

[Frost Moon Slash]

With Winnie now at the Warlock rank, [Frost Moon Slash] had significantly increased in power. It carved faint traces of blizzards through the air, leaving behind a silvery comet-like trail as the spear swept across, freezing Cantarius into an ice sculpture.

“You can just stay here and rot!” Winnie said.

Winnie somewhat realized this, after all, they were inside a dungeon shaped by the divine authority fragments of [Eternity] and [Continuance]. Perhaps everyone inside was immortal, meant to eternally remain in a state of [Eternity] and [Continuance].

So, if you couldn't kill him, freezing and sealing him, rendering him immobile, should at least work, right??

That was Winnie's thinking. But the next second, the ice sculpture emitted several creaking sounds, then shattered instantly. Cantarius stepped out unharmed, the fatal frostbite wounds on his body visibly healing at an alarming rate.

“Nothing but a minor irritation.” This clearly didn't stop Cantarius. He continued advancing toward Winnie and Isatia.

“Foolish foreigners, today you shall witness the miracles of Mars.”

“I now stand upon the land forged by my achievements and greatness, stronger and more magnificent than I was in life!” Cantarius spread his arms wide. “I am immortal.”

“Immortal my ass??” Winnie's face transformed into a grotesque ice demon mask, unleashing a furious blast directly at Cantarius.

[Frost Snow Flame]

This time, Cantarius was blown apart completely, turning into burning ice particles and dust.

Yet, even so, the next second, he reappeared before them, unharmed.

“You've gotta be kidding me.” Even turned to ice dust, he still revived. Winnie could only laugh bitterly in frustration.

He'd just barely kicked open the door to the Warlock level, joining the ranks of the strong, and his first battle was against this invincible mechanic monster? What kind of crap was this??

“Foreigners, feel fear.” With that, Cantarius pulled down the terrifyingly massive spiked club from his back and swung it down towards Winnie.

“Did I give you permission to act tough, you old bastard? Want me to make you fly??” Winnie hastily dodged. This weapon was clearly designed to break armor. Even if it likely lacked magic, he didn't want to get hit, because it'd definitely hurt like hell.

Winnie was a classic dual-output fighter, his hands never stopped attacking, and neither did his mouth. Unfortunately, Cantarius was completely immune to trash talk.

Winnie avoided Cantarius' attack and, seizing the opening in his follow-through, thrust his spear at Cantarius' side.

However, while Cantarius was clearly outclassed in magic due to the technological gap, his actual combat experience far surpassed Winnie's.

Cantarius instantly reacted, grabbing the spear and preventing Winnie from pulling back [Frost Fang]. Then, with one hand, he raised the spiked club and brought it crashing down toward Winnie's skull.

Winnie now faced two choices: abandon his weapon and dodge, losing all initiative and any chance of counterattack; or take the hit head-on.

Winnie chose the latter.

[Ice Steel]

“Clang! Clang!!” The spiked club slammed into Winnie, who was covered in ice armor. The armor shattered into hundreds of sharp ice pieces that flew at Cantarius, slicing and freezing parts of his skin. Winnie then released the ice armor, spun his spear, and slashed Cantarius across the neck, making blood spray out right away.

“Hah… hahaha!” Yet, even with his vocal cords nearly severed, Cantarius still emitted a torn, rasping laugh, radiating a sense of hysterical madness.

This guy must've long descended into some form of insanity, right??

It didn't end there. He grabbed the shaft of [Frost Fang] and violently yanked Winnie forward, slamming him hard into the ground.

The earth cracked open, forming a massive crater. Winnie was buried deep within.

What monstrous strength! Was this guy even human?!

Dazed and battered in the crater, Winnie couldn't retrieve [Frost Fang], it was stuck in Cantarius' neck. This human-shaped beast had an extremely thick neck, with muscles so developed and hard that even after the spear sliced through skin, shattered bones, and severed half his throat, it still couldn't kill him.

“Cackle-cackle-cackle!” Cantarius laughed maniacally. Half his mask lay on the ground, revealing Winnie his flushed, coarse face.

Could it be… the shattered bone fragments were stuck in his throat??

And yet, even under such agony, he could still laugh??

This… was truly a monster!

Just as Cantarius began casting magic to finish Winnie off, Isatia clenched the eagle-claw crown gemstone in her hand.

At this critical moment, Winnie erupted with explosive strength. Weaponless and buried in the crater, he launched [Frost Chain] from his palm, binding Cantarius' hands as they rose to cast magic. Then, using the chain as leverage, he pulled himself toward Cantarius.

Using the momentum, Winnie delivered a powerful kick, not at Cantarius' body, but at [Frost Fang].

He added another kick, driving [Frost Fang] deeper into Cantarius' neck.

Cantarius finally reacted, flailing his arms wildly in pain and excitement, reaching desperately for Winnie.

Even at this point, this guy still hadn't lost his combat ability.

Winnie knew he couldn't retrieve [Frost Fang]. After landing, he smashed the crimson, viscous alchemical potion given by Aesphyra directly onto Cantarius' face.

This was a highly recognizable concoction, its churning crimson hue clearly indicated its potency.

An explosion of fierce flames erupted instantly, engulfing Cantarius' entire body.

Winnie watched as Cantarius writhed in the inferno, turning to ash, before retrieving [Frost Fang] from the pile of remains.

Now, the alchemical potions given by Aesphyra were nearly exhausted. He was injured, exhausted from carrying Isatia for so long, having no time to rest before fighting the King of Mars. His accumulated fatigue had only worsened.

His stamina was now completely drained. He had given it his all, killing Cantarius multiple times, yet he still faced the same Cantarius, emerging once more from the ashes, unharmed and refreshed to peak condition.

Winnie was at his absolute limit, while Cantarius remained as affected as when he first entered the chamber.

Was Cantarius strong?

Not really. Thanks to the magical gap, Winnie had killed him several times. But Cantarius could afford infinite mistakes, while Winnie could only make one. And unlike Cantarius, Winnie's condition couldn't be restored.

Isatia, observing Winnie from behind with subtle attention, felt a degree of surprise at the strength he had displayed.

In her original plan, Winnie would barely hold off Cantarius for a short while before she'd have to intervene. But now, Winnie had delayed Cantarius for an impressively long time, killing him multiple times. Were it not for the rules set by the divine authorities of [Eternity] and [Continuance], the ancient Mars king Cantarius would've been no match for Winnie.

Winnie's performance today had far exceeded Isatia's expectations. At this moment, among first-years, Winnie could probably easily rank within the top ten.

But clearly, Winnie was nearing his limit now.

Isatia glanced at the parchment beside her. There was still quite a bit left.

Perhaps… she couldn't afford to wait any longer.