Chapter 170 170-Soul Fusion
Chapter 170 170-Soul Fusion
If even Rick had been led away, it meant Cameron\'s actions were part of a well-thought-out plan, and a major battle seemed inevitable.
Fortunately, Cameron was also harboring doubts and didn\'t strike immediately.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on Howard and asked coldly, "As far as I know, my son had no significant connection with you, even assisting you through a dungeon. Why would you hide your strength and strike so ruthlessly?"
"Do you have some scheme against my Bartel family?"
Through the recent pursuit, Cameron had discerned Howard\'s exceptional strength.
He didn\'t believe that Howard had made such tremendous progress in a short time and naturally assumed that Howard had been concealing his real power.
Hearing Cameron\'s words, Howard was momentarily taken aback, then cracked a smile, "It seems you don\'t quite understand your own son."
After that, Howard fell silent. Explain? Even if he proved his self-defense, would Cameron give up his pursuit?
Impossible. It was a vengeance for his son\'s death, after all.
Understanding this, Howard didn\'t waste his words.
His eyes continuously scanned the surroundings, assessing which elemental skill would be most effective.
Logically, Cryo and Geo skills would be most suitable. Those skills wouldn\'t be countered by Cameron\'s Pyro skills.
However, given the vast gap in attributes between Howard and Cameron, even triggering an element counter might not be effective.
Only by using Draconic skills, or once again merging with the Oriental Divine Dragon and entering that special state, did Howard stand a chance against Cameron.
Thinking of this, Howard fervently called upon the Oriental Divine Dragon in his mind.
"Ah... Indeed, regardless of the reason, you and I are bound by a fight to the death!" Cameron observed Howard carefully, remarking, "At such a young age, to possess this strength and courage. Had you not killed my son, I might have even considered marrying my daughter to you, perhaps even passing on the title to your offspring!"
Howard\'s eyes widened in shock upon hearing this unexpected statement.
What was happening?
He had killed Cameron\'s son, and yet Cameron was saying such things?
In the moment of Howard\'s surprise, Cameron\'s gaze turned icy.
Stamping on the ground, he burst forward like an arrow released from its bow, brandishing his fiery red spear and viciously thrusting it towards Howard\'s face.
Clearly, Cameron\'s previous statement was nothing but a ploy to disturb Howard\'s focus.
Howard wasn\'t naive. He quickly realized the intent behind Cameron\'s words, feeling a sense of admiration.
Indeed, this was a man who had earned a title in times of peace.
Regardless of his strength, his cunning strategies and combat attitude were astonishing.
It was important to remember the vast difference in strength between Howard and Cameron.
Cameron was not only giving his all but even employing psychological tactics.
With these thoughts in his mind, Howard\'s hands moved swiftly, retrieving a protective amulet given to him by Norris Coody from his Storage Bag.
Simultaneously, Cameron\'s fiery assault swept towards him. The intense flames exploded like a tidal wave, crashing over Howard.
Now that it was night, Howard\'s equipment triggered its effect, rendering him immune to the wave of fire.
Noticing this, Cameron snorted coldly.
He twisted his wrist, and the flames on his spear instantly became more ferocious, relentlessly assaulting and burning Howard.
The specific effect of the equipment was to immunize against a certain number of attacks under moonlight, unrelated to the damage inflicted.
Therefore, the continuously scorching flames quickly broke through Howard\'s immunity shield.
It was only then that Cameron thrust his spear forward vigorously. The sharp blade of the spear pierced directly towards Howard\'s chest.
This remarkable display of combat talent caused Howard\'s brow to furrow slightly.
In just a fleeting moment, Cameron had figured out how to counter the immunity shield - too astute!
Howard had initially thought to use the immunity shield to buy himself time, but it seemed now he had to rely on the protective amulet to ensure his safety.
With a metallic ring, the protective amulet was activated.
Just as the sharp blade of the spear touched Howard\'s chest, a powerful force burst forth, halting Cameron\'s attack.
However, while the amulet could block a lethal attack, it couldn\'t stop the force behind it.
Howard felt as if his chest had been struck by a massive hammer, and his entire body was sent flying backward.
Cameron, surprised, exclaimed, "An immunity shield, a protective amulet... truly impressive tactics!"
As he spoke, Cameron forcefully slammed his spear into the ground, chanting under his breath.
Intense flames surged from within him, rolling out like endless, tumultuous waves.
Seeing this unfold, even while airborne, Howard couldn\'t help but show a trace of joy.
His greatest fear was Cameron relentlessly attacking.
Given the disparities in level and equipment, Howard, despite his many fortuitous encounters, simply couldn\'t match Cameron in terms of attributes.
He was bound to be caught up by Cameron eventually.
This situation left Howard unable to cast his skills, consequently stripping him of any chance to escape.
His trump cards were all magical skills!
Unexpectedly, upon seeing Howard\'s array of life-saving measures, Cameron didn\'t persist in his pursuit but instead chose to cast a skill.
This gave Howard an opportunity. He forcibly executed the Blink skill mid-air, but instead of blinking to the side, he blinked upwards!
He had realized that the wave of fire was sweeping in all directions with incredible speed.
If Howard focused solely on fleeing, he would likely get hit.
Once the protective amulet\'s ability to block two fatal strikes wore off, Howard would be like a lamb to the slaughter before Cameron, possibly even trapped.
Under normal circumstances, Cameron\'s response was indeed correct.
He just didn\'t know Howard\'s trump card!
As a result, when Cameron noticed Howard\'s abrupt blink into the air, he revealed a look of shock.
In that instant, a foreboding thought crossed Cameron\'s mind, but he was still in the midst of casting his skill and couldn\'t move, making it impossible for him to strike at Howard.
Even though Cameron quickly made a decision and immediately interrupted his spellcasting to try and leap into the air, it already gave Howard an opportunity.
In less than two seconds, Howard had swung the Soul Nurturer and activated the skill - Icy Touch of Winter Goddess.
In an instant, a piercing cold gust swept through.
Although there were no snowflakes fluttering in the air, the invisible chill seemed to freeze even the space itself, rapidly spreading at an astonishing speed.
Even Cameron, who had just leaped into the air, was caught by the terrifying cold and turned into a statue of ice, rigidly suspended mid-air.
After all, it was an SS-level skill, with a vast range of effect.
Even the cavalry, who had just managed to break free from the skeleton monsters at a distance, were frozen by the cold.
There was no helping it; this was the mechanism of the skill.
A significant gap in attributes at most meant inability to inflict damage and an increased chance of a miss.
The chance of a miss refers to the skill completely failing to take effect, not inflicting any damage.
In this case, where the skill took effect but with insufficient output, it\'s a different scenario.
It seemed Howard was incredibly lucky, as the skill didn\'t trigger a miss this time, and thus Cameron suffered the effects of the skill, getting frozen in ice.
Of course, no damage could be inflicted. Even when the shadowy figure of the Winter Goddess descended, pointing her finger, Cameron remained unaffected.
A tiny damage number appeared above his head.
"-3!"
A single-digit damage made Howard\'s lips twitch involuntarily. Cameron\'s health bar didn\'t even show the slightest change.
Clearly, under normal circumstances, even if Howard deployed an SSS-level skill, it would not inflict significant damage on Cameron.
However, Howard\'s trump card was not an SSS-level skill.
It was Draconic, along with the Soul Fusion skill, merging with the Oriental Divine Dragon.
In this state, Howard\'s attributes would skyrocket, allowing him to break through Cameron\'s defenses.
Only in such a scenario could his skills effectively harm and potentially kill Cameron using Draconic Magic.
Everything hinged on whether the Oriental Divine Dragon would awaken.
As the frost on Cameron\'s body gradually showed cracks, Howard fervently called out the name of the Oriental Divine Dragon in his mind.
Crack -
The crisp sound of ice breaking, like the toll of a bell, resounded in Howard\'s ears, shaking his soul.
"Roar!"
Finally, a resounding dragon roar filled the air, and the voice of the Oriental Divine Dragon echoed in Howard\'s mind: "Soul..."
"Fusion!"
In an instant, Howard shouted, and a dazzling golden light burst forth from within him, radiating brilliantly.