Chapter 77: Weapons

A towering Titan, wielding a war hammer, clashed fiercely with the legendary Serpent Demon. With a loud "boom!" the robust Titan was sent flying backwards, crashing into a small mountain of rocks which was leveled by the impact.

In the air, pale golden blood was scattered; it was the Titan's blood from his torn hand caused by the brute force of the attack. The war hammer was sent flying by the Serpent Demon with a single slash, landing near Muria amid thunder and storm.

"Boom!" The hard stone ground was smashed into a huge pit by the falling war hammer, sending shards flying around, pelting Muria with debris. Covered in rock fragments, Muria looked enviously at the weapon that had landed before him.

"Electrum, mountain copper, meteoric steel." Muria struggled to identify the materials used to forge the weapon using the knowledge passed down in his heritage. "All legendary metals. How much of these metals were used to make such a massive weapon?"

Muria, shocked by the sight of the hammer, which had a fifty-meter-long handle, then turned to Helen Herman with a pained expression. "Is this the Titan's exclusive weapon?"

"Of course," Helen Herman nodded.

Hearing Helen Herman's reply, Muria felt his heart tighten. He remembered why Helen Herman was teaching him martial skills—because his father would pay her enough legendary metals to forge an exclusive weapon as a reward.

Before, Muria had no idea how much legendary metal was needed to forge an exclusive weapon for a Titan. Now, seeing the hammer on the ground, he understood and felt even more stifled. Did his father really need to be so extravagantly generous?

As Muria lamented bitterly and his face showed his sadness, in the distance, the Titan, who had been sent flying by the eight-armed Serpent Demon, stood up again. His torn hand had already healed. He reached out and called the massive war hammer back to his hand, which flew into his grasp as Muria watched in astonishment.

"Is this what an exclusive weapon looks like?" Muria observed the scene carefully. The Titan did not use any magic or magic-like abilities; it seemed as if the war hammer, as if having a life of its own, actively responded to its master's call and returned to his hand.

"A Titan's exclusive weapon is an extension of their limbs, a part of their body," Helen Herman explained simply.

Ignoring Helen Herman's explanation, Muria was thinking about something else. If his father had given enough legendary metals to Helen Herman to forge an exclusive weapon, how much did he have left?

Legendary metals were strategic resources, rare treasures not easily found. Muria doubted his father had much left, considering Titans did not hoard wealth like dragons.

What if his father didn't have enough left to forge his exclusive weapon? This thought worried Muria. Having witnessed the magic of a Titan's exclusive weapon, he desperately wanted one.

But forging an exclusive weapon required a significant amount of legendary metals, and the only place to find such materials would be to ask his parents. His dragon mother was wealthy, and her crystal castle was filled with weapons mixed with legendary metals, including a massive "Gundam" that Muria vividly remembered.

However, Muria hadn't forgotten a crucial fact: his mother was a dragon who valued her treasures above almost everything else. Getting enough legendary metals from her to forge an exclusive weapon seemed like a pipe dream. Thus, Muria could only hope his father would help.

But his father didn't seem very wealthy. Muria felt that, given the nature of Titans, a large portion of his father's wealth might have been taken by his dragon mother. So, after paying enough to forge an exclusive weapon, Muria was seriously concerned that his father would end up penniless.

"Hey, let me go," the Seraphim girl, Michalella, who was tightly bound by chains, suddenly spoke up. Helen Herman glanced at her and then looked away, obviously uninterested in intervening.

Muria, startled by the girl's outcry, was about to act when he noticed Helen Herman, intently watching the battle, and decided to do the same, quietly observing the legendary battlefield.

"Boom!" "Bang!"... Muria grimaced as he watched each attack surrounded by countless rings of soul intent. The Titan and the Seraphim, armed with eight curved blades, exchanged blows with the eight-armed Serpent Demon. Each swing of the demon's blade sent a Titan or Seraphim flying.

"Helen Herman, can they really kill this legendary demon?" After watching for a while, Muria couldn't help but express his doubt. Although the battle had just begun, the Titan and the Seraphim had not gained any advantage; their attacks were completely blocked by the Serpent Demon, who remained unscathed so far.

"They can," Helen Herman answered confidently.

As soon as Helen Herman's words fell, a Seraphim wielding a sword and shield managed to block the Serpent Demon's strike with his shield. The shield remained intact, but the force was so great that the Seraphim's body was thrown backwards, his fiery aura exploding and his body landing in a distant cloud of dust and smoke.

"This..." Muria watched in disbelief as the Seraphim picked himself up from the crater he had created, picked up his weapon, and rejoined the fight engulfed in flames.

"Muria, legends are not so easily defeated," Helen Herman said calmly. "Moreover, the demon that has emerged this time is not a lesser legend, which is why you see them struggling so much."

"Hmph, no matter how strong this legendary demon is, it can't escape death. We are bound to win," Michalella declared confidently as soon as Helen Herman finished speaking.

"How do you know they are bound to win?" Muria turned his head, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, and asked the exceedingly beautiful Seraphim girl.

"Untie me, and I'll answer your question," Michalella looked at Muria.

"No, answer first, then I'll untie you."

"Hmph, you're such a rookie," Michalella scoffed, looking down on Muria. "You don't even notice the details of the battlefield. Look carefully at their weapons."

Taking Michalella's hint, Muria focused on the weapons in the battle. The participating Titans were equipped with weapons forged from legendary metals, as was typical for such high-stakes battles.

The Seraphim, able to ally with the Titans, also used weapons forged from legendary metals, their armors even more extravagantly crafted from these metals than the Titans' weapons.

However, the weapons of the eight-armed Serpent Demon from the abyss were different. Although also made with legendary metals from the abyss, they lacked proper forging and merely utilized the hardness and near-immortality of the metals. They couldn't compare to the weapons of the Titans and Seraphim.

As a result, each collision between the Seraphim and Titan weapons with the Serpent Demon's curved blades left small notches on the demon's blades.

With Michalella's prompting, Muria noticed the notches on the Serpent Demon's blades and finally understood why Helen Herman and Michalella were so confident in the victory of the Titans and Seraphim.

"Eventually, the Serpent Demon's weapons will break. A legendary close-combat fighter without weapons will surely

 be worn down by the Titans and Seraphim. The Serpent Demon has no choice but to die in battle."

Muria reflected on the battle, which seemed predetermined from the start, with a sense of melancholy. Could the downfall of a legend really be due to the inferior quality of its weapon? The strength of the participating Titans and Seraphim was also crucial, as the Serpent Demon, no matter how frenzied, could only manage to throw them back and injure them; so far, none had fallen or even seemed severely weakened.

The soul-intent level Titans and Seraphim possessed bodies nearly equal to that of legendary demons. As long as their bodies weren't utterly destroyed, injuries like fractures were merely minor setbacks that healed quickly. Thus, although the Titans and Seraphim seemed to be under pressure, they were far from defeated.

The Serpent Demon, whose strength level Muria couldn't ascertain, couldn't even severely wound a single Titan or Seraphim. It furiously slashed with strikes powerful enough to split mountains, but in reality, it was merely a dying struggle.

"Hey, you can untie me now," an impatient voice interrupted Muria's thoughts.

"Hmm?" Muria looked at the Seraphim girl, suspended in the air and wrapped in pure white chains, and touched his chin, suddenly feeling the urge to take this beautiful Seraphim captive.

"What is that look?" Michalella, extremely sensitive to spiritual perceptions, immediately sensed something was off the moment Muria considered mischievous thoughts. "Also, per our agreement, I answered your question, now you should free me."

"That doesn't count," Muria waved his hand dismissively. "You only guided me to notice the problem; you didn't directly answer my question. Answer me one simple question, and I'll set you free."

"You're breaking our agreement!" Michalella looked at Muria in disbelief. She had never expected this Titan to go back on their just-agreed-upon deal. In her experience, creatures always kept their word without trickery.

"Uh! I'm not breaking the agreement, you really..." Muria started to argue but noticed Helen Herman's disapproving look and sighed. "Alright, I was wrong. I'll stick to our agreement and free you."

"Muria." As expected, Muria's actions displeased Helen Herman, who reprimanded him: "A promise made must be a promise kept. It's a fundamental principle of Titan conduct. If you can't keep a promise, don't make one in the first place—just keep quiet."

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