Chapter 392: Eternal Titan Zero — 50.00%!

After the blinding radiance disappeared, a deadly silence settled across the hundreds of kilometers devastated by Luke's final attack.

The forests that had once covered the region were almost completely gone, leaving behind shattered mountainsides, deep craters, and stretches of blackened earth, while fires continued burning among the surviving trees, threatening to spread for days unless a powerful existence intervened.

Even the ordinary sounds of nature had disappeared, since nearly every living creature caught within the explosion, from insects and birds to the millions of Orcs gathered beneath the ancestral dome, had perished.

Only the three A-Rank Orc leaders remained concealed above the devastation, silently observing the ruined battlefield while waiting to see whether anything had survived.

Then, amid that silence, a violent cough suddenly echoed.

"COUGH! COUGH!"

The coughing continued, accompanied by a painful groan that sounded as though its owner was struggling to remain alive.

"Ughhh! Even Vorthar can feel this much pain?"

A weak voice followed, its owner apparently attempting to joke despite the terrible condition of his body.

Inside one of the craters lay Luke's seventy-foot Vorthar form, covered in blood and terrible injuries, with golden-red liquid continuing to flow from the wounds scattered across his damaged torso.

Anyone familiar with Luke would have been astonished by the unusual color of his blood, which appeared golden with traces of crimson, although his current physical condition was even more shocking.

Both of his arms and legs had disappeared, leaving him with little more than his upper body, while portions of his remaining flesh were torn open and burned from the destructive force of his own attack.

"Huff... Hahh..."

Luke struggled to breathe, his enormous chest rising and falling unevenly as he tried to endure the pain spreading throughout his body.

'Damn it...'

He wanted to move, but the moment he attempted to shift his shoulders, a sharp pain traveled through his damaged torso, immediately forcing him to stop.

'This hurts more than I expected.'

Even with Vorthar's extraordinary physique, the injuries were severe enough to overwhelm most beings, and Luke understood that he was only maintaining his Titan transformation through sheer willpower.

Fortunately, the enormous Titan body could still endure injuries that would have been fatal to his ordinary humanoid form.

'At least I didn't die.'

He attempted another breath, only to cough violently.

"COUGH!"

Golden-red blood spilled from his mouth, flowing down his chin before dripping onto the scorched earth.

However, as Luke glanced toward the System screen floating at the corner of his vision, his pained expression gradually changed.

A familiar number was displayed there.

[50.00%]

"..."

For a moment, he simply stared at the notification.

Then his bloodied lips curled into a smile.

"Hahaha—COUGH! COUGH!"

"Damn it! Can't I even laugh properly?!"

Luke immediately stopped laughing as another coughing fit shook his body, although he couldn't hide his satisfaction upon seeing the result of the battle.

'Fifty percent!'

After spending more than a month hunting Orcs and destroying their outposts, he had struggled to accumulate even a small portion of the Blood Essence required for his Eternal Titan Zero reconstruction.

Yet the destruction of the Zhurkhal army had brought his progress all the way to fifty percent.

'Halfway to C-Rank...'

If his body hadn't been in such a terrible condition, Luke would probably have celebrated immediately.

Unfortunately, merely remaining conscious was already proving difficult.

'Hah... I almost killed myself for that.'

He lowered his gaze toward the places where his arms and legs should have been, noticing that golden-red blood was still escaping from the exposed wounds.

His physical and mental strength had been almost completely exhausted during the final attack, while the Cosmic Heart he had assimilated earlier had already reverted to normal.

Even the remaining energy within his body was barely sufficient to sustain his Vorthar transformation.

'First, I need to stop this bleeding.'

Luke attempted to gather enough energy to activate the Seal of Closure, but the moment he tried concentrating, an intense headache made his vision blur.

"Ughhh..."

He immediately abandoned the attempt.

Fortunately, someone else could help him.

"Kiki... come out."

VMMMM!

A faint crimson glow appeared above Luke's chest, gradually condensing into a small coffin approximately one foot tall.

Compared to its previous twenty-five-foot form, Kiki looked rather insignificant, although summoning even this much had already consumed a considerable portion of Luke's remaining energy.

"Kiki?"

The little coffin tilted its body, seemingly confused by the terrible condition of its master.

"Yeah, buddy... see these wounds?"

Luke glanced toward his missing arm before looking back at Kiki.

"Close them for me. I can't keep bleeding like—COUGH! COUGH!"

Another mouthful of golden blood escaped his lips, interrupting his words.

"Kiki!"

Understanding the command, Kiki immediately extended its small spider-like legs and began climbing across Luke's enormous body.

Upon reaching the exposed wound near his shoulder, it released thin golden-white silk threads that spread across the damaged flesh.

FSSSH! FSSSH!

The threads quickly began weaving together, covering the open wound before tightening and sealing its surface.

Kiki continued moving across his body, carefully closing the injuries one after another, including the places where his limbs had been destroyed.

Although the ability couldn't restore his missing arms and legs, it prevented further blood loss and gave his damaged body an opportunity to recover.

"Hahhh..."

Luke released a relieved sigh as the bleeding gradually slowed.

"Good job, buddy."

"Kiki!"

The little coffin responded cheerfully before continuing its work, while Luke raised his head toward the smoke-covered sky.

'Now... how am I supposed to restore these limbs?'

His thoughts naturally drifted toward the Epitaph Titan's Final Record, which possessed the extraordinary ability to restore destroyed existences from their recorded states.

'Final Record might help.'

If he could use it to restore his missing limbs, he wouldn't have to depend entirely upon his Titan body's natural restorative properties.

Unfortunately, the ability required considerable concentration and energy, both of which he currently lacked.

'I'll deal with that after recovering some strength.'

He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping to ease the headache pounding through his consciousness.

However, the instant he relaxed, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion nearly caused him to faint.

'Shit!'

Luke immediately forced himself to remain awake.

His mental energy had fallen so low that he could barely maintain his thoughts, and he finally understood why none of his Titan spirits had appeared after the explosion.

Their manifestations outside his body also consumed mental strength, so with his remaining reserves almost completely depleted, all four spirits had withdrawn to rest within him.

Luke sighed, then remembered something important.

'That's right. Emberlyn was inside the dome too.'

'I have to find her.'

Luke attempted to look beyond the crater, but the thick smoke and dust covering the region made it difficult to distinguish anything.

"I have to find Emberl—"

"Well, well, the puppet of the traitor god is still alive."

A rough, mocking voice suddenly interrupted him, causing Luke to turn his head toward the sky.

'Who?!'

He hadn't sensed anyone approaching, although considering his current condition, that wasn't particularly surprising.

With almost ninety percent of his body injured and barely one percent of his strength remaining, even detecting nearby energy fluctuations was becoming difficult.

FWHOOOSH!

Three figures slowly descended through the smoke, their powerful auras making the surrounding air feel heavy despite being deliberately restrained.

Each Orc stood approximately fifteen feet tall, possessing an intimidating physique that immediately distinguished them from the ordinary warriors Luke had fought earlier.

Luke became alarmed as he watched the three approach.

'How the hell did they survive that explosion?!'

However, when he managed to sense a faint portion of their strength, his expression changed completely.

'Wait...'

The pressure radiating from them was far beyond anything he had experienced from the Peak B-Rank commanders.

Luke felt his throat tighten.

'They're A-Rank!'

GULP!

He swallowed the blood gathering inside his mouth, while the three Orcs continued descending toward his crippled body.

Their expressions were filled with hatred, making it obvious that they wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.

Two minutes earlier...

High above the devastated battlefield, Gorzak, Kroghar, and Vradok stared down at the destruction that had claimed almost ninety percent of the Zhurkhal Tribe.

Their eyes were bloodshot with fury, since the army they had gathered to capture a single D-Rank Hero had been nearly annihilated by that same Hero.

Worse still, they believed that Luke had probably perished in the explosion, meaning they had also lost the valuable reward they intended to obtain by capturing him.

"This..."

Gorzak opened his mouth, but for once, the bald Orc Chieftain couldn't find the words to express his anger.

He stared toward the ruined territory, his fists trembling as the veins along his muscular arms bulged beneath his skin.

"That damned bastard destroyed our entire army!"

His furious voice echoed through the air, although Kroghar remained silent beside him, examining the devastation with an equally unpleasant expression.

"Calm down, Gorzak, and think carefully," Vradok finally said, his own crimson eyes filled with anger. "The Hero didn't appear suicidal during the battle, so there's a possibility he prepared some method of surviving that attack."

Gorzak immediately turned toward him.

And Even Kroghar nodded.

"The Great Shaman has a point. He was deliberately gathering power for that attack, and someone with so many strange techniques might have prepared a way to endure the consequences."