Chapter 294: The Battle Between Two Early B-Rank Beings Begins!

"Well, that’s good." Luke looked straight into Ivar’s white eyes, the corners of his lips slowly curling upward.

"I’ll make you the test subject for my new power."

As soon as those words fell, his body began to change.

His human figure rapidly expanded, transforming into the towering form of Caelith, the Cosmic Heart Titan. Brilliant golden light radiated from his twenty-foot body, while long strands of starlight-purple hair flowed behind him. A small halo formed behind his head, made entirely from condensed cosmic energy rather than floating above him as it had before.

But Luke wasn’t finished yet.

The fourth ability of the Faceless Titan activated.

’Titan Fusion.’

In an instant, the power of the Cosmic Heart Titan began merging with that of the Void Titan, Nyx.

The transformation was far more dramatic this time.

Luke’s twenty-foot golden body stretched upward until it reached forty feet, while his previously powerful build changed into a perfectly proportioned, lean physique. His skin turned light purple, and even his face was altered by the fusion, taking on a somewhat feminine beauty with the cold, deadly features of an assassin.

Luke immediately followed with his true Titan bloodline.

The fused power of his four bloodlines surged through his body, suppressing the changes he didn’t want.

The light-purple color gradually faded, replaced by his original fair skin.

Even his altered facial features shifted back into the familiar face of Luke.

Only now, that familiar appearance had been magnified to the scale of a forty-foot Titan.

Luke looked over his new form and nodded with satisfaction.

"This feels good."

He finally didn’t have to worry about what strange appearance Titan Fusion might produce.

No matter how much the fusion altered his body, he could now use his true Titan bloodline to suppress those changes and return himself to the appearance he wanted.

It wasn’t because his Titan bloodline was superior to the titan form, state.

The real difference was that Luke could finally give those bloodlines a direction.

Earlier, even after entering his Titan form, the bloodlines would act according to their own instincts rather than truly listening to him. He could use their power, but he couldn’t completely control how they expressed themselves.

Now, however, they were beginning to listen.

Not perfectly, but enough for Luke to guide their changes instead of simply accepting whatever form they produced.

After all, those four bloodlines belonged to him.

Other than himself, there was no one else in his bodoy, who could truly control them.

Meanwhile, both Ivar and Isaria stared at Luke in shock, but Ivar was clearly the more shaken of the two.

Everything he had previously learned about the Hero of Light had described a completely different person. There had been no mention of a transformation like this, nor of an appearance that could change so drastically.

Worse, Ivar couldn’t shake the feeling that something else had just happened.

’A fusion...?’

He couldn’t be certain.

Yet whatever had occurred was enough to send an unpleasant premonition through his heart.

His gaze slowly climbed toward Luke’s head, and what he saw there made his expression stiffen.

There were now two halos rotating behind Luke.

The inner one was small and pitch-black, while the outer halo was slightly larger and radiated brilliant cosmic light. Both took the form of rings, revolving steadily behind his head, with the black ring positioned inside the cosmic one.

That sight alone made Luke seem completely different.

He no longer looked like a mere mortal.

’But a god...’

The thought made Ivar’s heart pound.

An ancient memory surfaced in his mind.

According to the myths, only Gods possessed halos.

Not even Demigods were allowed to have them.

But why?

Because a halo wasn’t merely a symbol of divinity.

It represented absolute mastery.

Mastery over one’s elements, one’s laws, one’s authority-in fact, mastery over everything connected to one’s own path.

That was what made a halo so terrifying.

And now, Luke had two.

The next moment, however, Ivar forced those thoughts out of his mind.

Luke couldn’t possibly be a god.

That was simply impossible.

"Yeah... it’s impossible."

He muttered the words quietly, almost as though he were trying to convince himself rather than anyone else.

Meanwhile, Luke had already begun calculating his current strength.

’Mhmm... it’s the same as before. The strength of both Titans is added together.’

His ordinary Titan transformation gave him a 5x multiplier to all his stats. Now, with two Titans fused together, each possessing that same enhancement, their respective strengths were being added on top of one another.

In simple terms, his previous Titan transformation had raised his strength to the equivalent of 500 Peak C-Rank beings.

And to reach the Early B-Rank level, he needed the equivalent of 1,000 Peak C-Rank beings.

’So now I have two sets of 500 Peak C-Rank strength...’

That’s a total of 1,000.

Luke’s eyes brightened slightly.

’Which means my raw strength, without even using armor, has reached Early B-Rank.’

He slowly tightened his fist.

BOOM!

A small shockwave burst outward from his hand.

Luke glanced at it before shaking his head.

’Nah.’

It’s not just ordinary Early B-Rank strength.

His attacks could reach an even higher level.

With the foundation he had built, Luke could already unleash attacks powerful enough to reach the Mid-B-Rank level.

’Not bad.’

After finishing his calculations, Luke finally shifted his attention back to Ivar.

The playful look that had remained on his face was gone.

"Kiki, protect her."

After saying that, Luke took a single step forward.

And in the same instant, Voidfang materialized in his right hand.

Because, Paragon’s Judgement was too weak for this battle and it would break with just one clash.

"This much power is enough for you, so come."

Luke raised Voidfang and pointed its blade straight at Ivar, his voice calm and confident.

A good distance behind him, Isaria and Kiki had already moved away from the battlefield. Neither of them wanted to be caught in the aftermath of the clash, and both watched the two men confrontation.

"I don’t know how you increased your strength to Early B-Rank when you only able to make Peak C-Rank before."

Ivar slowly drew his sword.

Clang!

The metallic ring echoed through the pathway as his gaze remained fixed on Luke.

"But it doesn’t matter."

The moment those words fell, Ivar’s Early B-Rank aura erupted from his body without restraint.

BOOM!

A violent shockwave blasted outward as though an huge cannon had been fired. Dust and debris left behind from Luke earlier battle were swept away, while the force was strong enough to shatter boulders and destroy ordinary houses.

Yet the maze didn’t even tremble.

The massive walls remained untouched, and not even the ground beneath their feet showed a single crack.

But neither of them paid any attention to that.

Ivar’s grip tightened around his sword as darkness began gathering around his body.

"Grave Spearfall."

He raised one hand.

Instantly, the darkness above him churned violently before thousands of ten-foot-long spears began materializing in mid-air.

In only a few breaths, the entire space above Luke was filled with darkness spears, their razor-sharp tips all pointing toward him.

"Die!"

Ivar finally brought his hand down.

WHOOSH!

Every spear descended simultaneously.

The attack moved with such terrifying speed that a Peak C-Rank being would see nothing more than hundreds of blurred streaks flashing across the air.

Only a B-Rank existence could properly perceive their trajectories.

But seeing them was one thing.

Surviving their combined destructive power was another.