Chapter 77: Storm of Blades Unleashed
Tomas Moreau raised his hand again as magical ripples from the paralysis magic began to appear in his hand. At the same time he repeated in a robotic way. "My name is Tomas Moreau, and here, on July 18, I have begun the biggest project of my life, much bigger than any of my research so far, because it is directly related to me and my son..."
'No, it's not working! This guy has recited a speech again!' Lann was quick to think and yelled the second sentence angrily: "Damn Moreau, I am a witcher!"
Tomas Moreau did not flinch. “When I was young, I was attacked by a monster in the forest. A witcher stepped in to help me, and at the time I didn't know that the price of his help would be my son's future."
"The day the witcher took my son, I swore to restore my son to his original state..."
Trying to disturb Tomas Moreau's mind through hatred didn't work either. At this moment, the light in his hands solidified, about to release magic.
There is only enough time to say the last words. This is the last chance. It is really a last resort!
Lann called out affectionately: "Father, I am Jerome!"
In an instant, the wind pressure that enveloped Lann's body suddenly dissipated. Lann, who was pressed against the wall, fell heavily to the ground, and the clear sound of his heavy armor echoed as it hit the ground.
The paralysis magic in Tomas Moreau's hands slowly dissipated, his incomplete brain struggling to function. “Jerome?”
Lann raised his hands in the air under his scrutinizing gaze and approached with awkward steps. One magic prop after another was stepped on under his feet like a stepping stone.
These magic props only need to make partial contact with the body, and the system can determine whether they are the Source of magic power, even if they are stepped on the soles of the feet.
[Source of Magic Detected]
'I found it!' Lann stopped his steps and absorbed the magic. A surge of magical energy instantly entered his body.
Tomas Moreau began to think with difficulty. If he were in the form of a specter at this time, he might not be deceived. Unfortunately, while the sorcerer's deteriorating body gave him magical abilities, it also restricted his thinking.
"No... Jerome and I share the same hair and eye color, you..."
The blond Lann explained seriously: "This is not important, this is the mutation caused by your experiment! Although the mutation changed the color of my hair and pupils, it also reversed my witcher symptoms. Now I am human again!"
He shouted in an almost recitative tone with great emotion: "Father! Your experiment was successful!"
Lann felt that the flow of magic in his body had been completed, and the system issued a timely alert.
[Ability Point +1]
He accessed the system panel, assigned the ability point and upgraded the [Whirl] ability.
[Whirl]: Spinning attack that affects all nearby enemies with the weapon in hand. Continuing the attack consumes one or more of various energies, including stamina, adrenaline, and magic, and the energy cost decreases with skill level.
The strength rose. This was the attack power bonus of the Combat Abilities branch. The strength increase of tier 3 abilities was much greater than before, making Lann's physical fitness officially move away from mortals!
Meanwhile, Tomas Moreau looked at Lann for a moment and then turned around.
In the center of all the glass culture tanks in the room is a huge metal container with obviously superior technological content. Judging from the shine of the surface, it is made of at least a variety of metals, including copper, dimeritium, and meteorite ore.
Densely packed metal conduits are connected to it. Through a palm-sized transparent observation window on the surface of the container, a brown-haired man can be seen immersed in the dark mutant culture liquid. He has a painful expression, struggling softly as if he is tormented by a nightmare.
“No, Jerome... is there!”
Tomas Moreau finally realized something was wrong. He turned around and saw Lann rushing towards him with a lion-headed silver sword. He would be close to him in three more steps!
The blue protective shield was immediately erected. Tomas Moreau hid behind it and skillfully began to control the chaotic energy in the air. The fluctuations of magic gathered in mid-air again.
At the same time, a Dimeritium bomb exploded in the air and the cloud of dimeritium splinters caused bursts of static electricity in the air, as if sharp blades had pierced the magic shield.
A storm broke out in the laboratory, and the dimeritium chips were carried away by the wind. Lightning crackled and crackled everywhere.
In the midst of the storm and lightning, Lann rolled out, as if he was just feeling a gentle breeze on his face.
Tomas Moreau raised his hand again, and Lann did the same. At this moment, they were only one step away from each other. One had waves of condensed magic in his hand, while the other held an alchemical bomb with the safety bolt removed.
This is the last dimeritium bomb.
The dimeritium bomb exploded almost in front of his face, instantly covering Tomas Moreau's entire body. He vanished the magic he was preparing into the air.
Furthermore, a large amount of splinters were absorbed by him, causing his body that had a large amount of magical energy to suddenly become heavy and slow.
Tomas Moreau coughed violently, and his decomposing body continued to shed pieces of flesh and bone. He was frantically waving his arms and legs, as if he wanted to remove the magical prohibition zone that prevented him from moving.
Lann would naturally not let go of the opportunity he had finally created. He raised the lion-headed silver sword high and used the strong wind to cut through the green smoke, splitting Tomas Moreau's body in half from head to toe!
Then, he continued to rush forward, venting all the impact on the tattered flesh in front of him.
[Splash!]
A shower of foul-smelling blood spilled out, and an ethereal figure wrapped in a tattered robe emerged from it, immediately fading into hiding.
Tomas Moreau lost his physical body, finally facing Lann as the malevolent specter he truly was.
At this time, Lann had barely stabilized himself after the fierce attack, he took out the Moon Dust Bomb but had lost sight of the enemy.
The green figure flickered in the room, spirit-type monsters had an innate short-distance teleportation ability, making Lann have difficulty following the figure.
He only had two Moon Dust Bombs left, and without having complete certainty, he could not recklessly launch into the attack.
Lann took a deep breath. He remembered the most classic method of dealing with this kind of skill: catching the opponent the moment he attacks.
Fortunately, the attacks of specters are mostly physical attacks. Tomas Moreau, as a research sorcerer, probably wouldn't be as familiar with combat skills.
In the room, an empty echo resounded: "Lann Lannister! How dare you destroy my body! Invade my laboratory, destroy my experiments, and destroy my body!"
"I will sew your body into that of a drowner, making sure you experience each stage of change as you watch your body crumble into agonizing screams."
After getting rid of his body, Tomas Moreau in the specter state became much more awake and his speech became more coherent.
The sound came from all directions, making it impossible for Lann to determine the other party's position. He chuckled and said: "Dear 'Father', how can you continue doing experiments without a body? Why don't you give up and die?"
"If you haven't achieved your dream before you die, it simply shows that you don't have the ability. Don't bother continuing to torment yourself after death; it would be better to release your son soon."
"Oh, by the way, do you hide everything you do to your son from your wife? What was her name? Dear Lydia, perhaps?"
“Stop! Lannister! You don’t understand my love for them!”
A green phosphorescent flame lit up next to Lann. It was the teleportation of the specter. The figure of Tomas Moreau emerged from the flames, and his claws rubbed Lann's armor, producing sparks on the surface.
The force of this scratch was incredibly strong; Lann felt his armor deform slightly, and he could clearly feel the uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed by the deformed metal on the side of his body.
Just as Lann was about to pull out the latch of Moon Dust bomb, the other party's figure shrewdly disappeared again. The specter's speed was surprisingly fast, and Lann was unable to react in time. Now, Lann felt like he was the boss of a game waiting for the players to slowly cut him down.
"Turtle shell...but it's not that hard." An ancient voice rang through the air, and the markings on Lann's armor suggested the strength of the opponent.
Professor Tomas Moreau might not be an expert in hand-to-hand combat, but the Specter might be different. Although he did not understand combat skills, he possessed the inherent strength of a magical creature.
Lann's heart suddenly changed. It was unrealistic to take advantage of the opponent's attack to fight back at the moment, and his own reaction could not keep up. He had to find a way to actively lure the opponent out.
Lann thought for a while and suddenly shouted loudly: "Moreau! Does your love for your son mean locking him in a cage and doing experiments for hundreds of years? What kind of love is this! Wouldn't it be better to release him?"
After saying these words, Lann prepared for the response, his left thumb already passing through the safety ring of the Moon Dust bomb.
It's a pity that Tomas Moreau, who is in a specter state, is no longer so easily fooled, and the provoking method does not work on him.
The empty room contained only the sound of Lann's own breathing and the sounds of various cultivation chambers operating.
It seemed that just talking about it was no longer enough. Lann turned and saw what Tomas Moreau was looking at before, the advanced all-metal cultivation chamber.
The man inside is Jerome Moreau, the witcher who has been tortured by mutation experiments for hundreds of years, and the source of obsession that turned Tomas Moreau into a specter!
"Since you don't do it yourself..." Lann chuckled, "Let me help you."
Lann ran towards the metal cultivation chamber, pointing his sword forward.
“Stop!” A deafening scream caused the glass to break, finally attracting the specter's attention, unable to ignore this attack.
Lann gritted his teeth and took out the [Moon Dust] as he ran, and let the alchemical bomb explode in the palm of his hand!
Silver dust instantly enveloped Lann, and green phosphorus fire ignited in the void around Lann at the same time. As soon as the specter appeared, it was covered in silver shavings and lost the ability to become virtual.
...The time for close combat has come.
It is a good time to test the newly acquired ability. Without a second's hesitation, Lann only had one thought. As if he was awakening dormant abilities in his muscles, his body began to move naturally, his steps began to rotate naturally.
[Whirl]!
Lann previously learned this skill that witchers used through his own imitation and Geralt's guidance. It was an advanced technique for dealing with multiple enemies, but it had its drawbacks. Firstly, fast attacks sought speed rather than strength, resulting in less forceful blows than a normal attack. Lann could only use it to create space in surrounded combat or to engage unarmored enemies.
Secondly, the skill's spinning moves, accompanied by strong inertia, left significant openings, making them difficult to control and leaving Lann vulnerable for a time after performing the moves. He had already experienced this when facing three drowners before, where he had to make two complete turns before attacking them and another to deflect the momentum.
Now, the ability [Whirl] brought by the blessing of the system has a completely different effect.
Lann felt that he could start with any position and stop with any position. Each spinning blow was as strong as a full power blow, and he could attack any corner around him with the sword's blade or hilt.
At that moment, facing the enemy's attack, Lann easily blocked the specter's claws, while turning and lowering his head to dodge the opponent's next attack, and then...
His body generated a storm of blades around him!
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