Cain was seething with rage. Kael gave him the infuriating sense that no matter how hard he struck, his attacks were futile—like punching a bottomless abyss. Every spell he unleashed was weakened by the Darkmoon Divine Armor, leaving Kael unscathed. It was enough to make him vomit blood from sheer frustration.
For now, Kael was safe. The armor ensured that even a ninth-tier mage couldn't threaten his life—at least, not easily.
Of course, if Cain went all out with relentless spellcasting, even the armor's power might eventually buckle. But Kael's Lightning Shield was formidable in its own right, and his mastery of Soaring Sky Art made him agile enough to evade most ninth-tier threats.
But the situation had just changed entirely.
Though Lucian and the others were powerful, their judgment was lacking. They'd squabbled over a single magic crystal staff, blind to the vault's greater treasures. To Kael, their tunnel vision was laughably shortsighted.
Because in this very vault, he'd discovered something far more valuable—
The Arcane Crystal Cannon!
With The Book of Immortality, Kael had an edge in identifying artifacts. The moment he laid eyes on the cannon, its intricate runes and enchantments—so profound they even baffled him—had marked it as extraordinary.
The Arcane Crystal Cannon was a relic of the ancient era, its crafting methods long lost. But Old Ethan had been a mad alchemist, a man obsessed with unraveling such mysteries. Through him, Kael had learned enough to recognize the cannon's significance.
"Brother Idris, we've got this big guy!" Arjun called out, hauling the cannon toward Kael with eager excitement. Though he had no idea how it worked—or what it could do—he trusted Kael's judgment implicitly.
Kael gave a firm nod as Arjun shoved the cannon into position before him.
"What is this...?" Cain frowned, utterly clueless. The Arcane Crystal Cannon was beyond his knowledge. Such weapons were traditionally crafted by the goblin race—a civilization wiped out during the Cataclysm of the Undead Scourge, its people and technologies now forgotten by history.
Lucian, however, was far more vigilant than Cain. A sense of foreboding surged within him.
"Not good!" In an instant, Lucian's figure blurred as he teleported away, putting distance between himself, Kael, and Cain.
"It's been over three thousand years... Who knows if this Arcane Crystal Cannon still works? Guess we'll have to gamble." Kael gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing as they locked onto Cain. A faint glint of killing intent flickered in his gaze.
Kael was not a patient man. Cain's repeated attacks had thoroughly provoked him. Given the chance, he would eliminate this threat without hesitation!
He understood all too well—within the Water Dragon Secret Realm, anyone could become prey in the blink of an eye. If you didn't want to be hunted, you had to be the hunter.
The Arcane Crystal Cannon stood before him, its body gleaming like crimson jade, radiant as blazing flames. Its bizarre design intrigued Kael, but thanks to Ethan's research, he wasn't entirely clueless about its mechanics.
In truth, operating the cannon was surprisingly simple.
Its principle was straightforward: convert monster cores into energy and unleash devastating firepower. This was a pinnacle achievement of the goblin race during its golden age—a lost art long forgotten.
Had it not been for Ethan's notes, Kael would never have recognized it.
"All I need to do is load the cores into the chamber." Moving like lightning, Kael retrieved a handful of monster cores from his spatial ring—fortunately, he had plenty, both from his own stash and Seraphina's.
He pulled out over a dozen cores, wincing inwardly at the cost. These were all seventh-tier or higher, each incredibly valuable. But now wasn't the time to hesitate.
Placing his right hand on the cannon, Kael swiftly opened the chamber and loaded the cores.
Whoosh!
A flash of crimson light erupted from the cannon as flames roared to life around it.The very elements in the air seemed to go berserk, converging violently.
Cain's expression twisted in horror. A bone-chilling pressure bore down on him—as if some primordial beast had just fixed its gaze upon him!
Every hair on Cain's body stood on end as an overwhelming sense of danger gripped him. Reacting instantly, he chanted a defensive spell, summoning a Water Barrier Shield to shield himself.
The Arcane Crystal Cannon emitted a terrifying suction force, pulling the air from a ten-meter radius around Kael into a near-vacuum. Arjun watched in stunned silence, awed by the cannon's might—and even more so by Kael's uncanny ability to unearth such a treasure at the critical moment.
The cannon's frame trembled slightly before—WHOOSH!—a deep crimson flame, thick as blood, erupted from its barrel. The blast was so fast it seemed to teleport, crossing the distance to Cain in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the vault as dust and smoke billowed outward.
"Cough, cough…" The haze did little to obstruct Kael's vision. His sharp eyes immediately locked onto Cain—pale-faced, clutching his chest, a trail of scarlet blood dripping from his lips.
Cain was injured!
With just one shot, the Arcane Crystal Cannon had shattered a ninth-tier expert's defenses and wounded him!
"The cannon's cost is steep… but the results—!" Even Kael was stunned. The weapon's power was terrifying, a testament to the goblin civilization's pinnacle craftsmanship. Though the expenditure of monster cores made his heart ache, the payoff was undeniable.
And Cain was no weakling. Ranked fifty-sixth on the Continent's Wind and Cloud List's Human Ranking, he was a powerhouse among powerhouses—yet even he hadn't escaped unscathed.
What pleased Kael most was the cannon's efficiency—the entire firing process took barely two or three seconds!
This meant that with the Arcane Crystal Cannon and enough monster cores, Kael now wielded firepower rivaling a ninth-tier expert!
Beside him, Arjun stood dumbfounded. Everything had happened too fast for him to process. By the time he regained his senses, Cain was already wounded.
"Holy hell!" Arjun couldn't suppress a curse, his gaze fixed on Kael in disbelief. Had this guy planned everything from the start? No wonder he was shocked—without Kael's swift discovery of the cannon, their only option would have been a desperate retreat.
But now…
The one left in disgrace was Cain himself!
"You damned brat! I'll tear you apart!" Cain had descended into madness. Lucian and the black-armored man, meanwhile, subtly distanced themselves—not just from Cain, but from Kael.
The cannon's devastating power had left them equally shaken. Cold sweat dripped down their backs as they realized this unassuming youth seemed unnervingly familiarwith the Water Dragon Vault's secrets. How else could he have procured such a weapon in mere moments?
Now, they had no choice but to tread carefully.
Watching Cain's frenzy, a glint of icy resolve flashed in Kael's eyes.
Though injured, Cain's mana surged around him like a raging storm. In his eyes, Kael was nothing but an insignificant ant—an eighth-tier nobody unworthy of his attention.
Yet this very "nobody" had humiliated him repeatedly, even drawing blood. The disgrace was unbearable!
As Cain began chanting another spell, Kael moved as well.
The cannon's chamber still held remnants of unused monster cores. Kael replenished them with a fresh batch, his fingers steady, his mind focused.
This time, his goal was simple: obliterate Cain with a single shot.
With everything in place, Kael placed his hand on the cannon's blazing red surface, ready to end this.