I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1420: The Dark Knight

When Vida landed on the wall, a deafening thud tore through the entire landscape, along with a shockwave that slammed against the already violent wind created by Annette’s pillar of flames.

The soldiers all looked distraught, their faces momentarily carved with uncertainty as they observed the thing that had landed amidst them.

Then slowly, the creature wreathed in eldritch darkness straightened.

With hands that extended into five brutal claws, Vida bent slightly and carved out the eyes of one soldier. The eyeballs swung out with minimal effort.

For a moment, she slowed. This was simply because of the startling ease of movement she felt. Since she had to go into battle quickly, she had not had the luxury of testing the armor. So this was practically the first time she was using it.

However, Northern had told her not to worry because it was going to work as her normal body.

Even though she respected Northern so much, she had doubted the possibility of that. This was simply because of her experience with armor.

It was the same reason why she had simply decided to depend on her bare body, wear lightweight clothes, and not use armor so often. It was all because of the speed of her muscle movements.

Her Vagrant ability, which was the ability she gained when she became a Master, allowed her to reinforce her body to great lengths. And because of how frightening that reinforcement could be, even armor was a hindrance to her speed and power.

They restrained her movements, and at worst, the impact generated from them ended up destroying the armor before a monster did.

Except she was able to get an item above Lord-rank, which had never happened to her before in her entire life. Yet here she was, using Ancient-rank armor and dealing devastating blows with it.

It worked as an additional reinforcement, aiding her movements instead of restraining them.

The claws of each of her fingers retracted when she folded her hand into a fist and revealed themselves the moment she straightened her hand.

She moved like a whirlwind of darkness, far faster than she had ever felt. She did not need to deal twice the blow to any soldier. As fearsomely stalwart as each and every one of the Empire’s soldiers was, she was an odious wind of disaster amidst them.

The line she was meant to scatter, in fact, was torn apart by her attacks.

She grabbed a man by the helmet, her razor claws tearing into the metal with savage ease. Then she flung the man over like a piece of wet cloth, slapping him against the ground. The soldier bounced off the stone floor, shards of debris spraying upward with him. In that moment, Vida blurred into darkness and lunged a straight kick into the man’s midsection.

The kick hurled him away with brutal force and slammed him into the comrades pooling around her.

Many others flanked her, all of them already using their abilities the instant they registered the immense threat she was.

One moved with mist that solidified into extra hands, trying to catch her by the lower body. Another could tear metal from his skin, his body hardening to withstand any blow. There were other diverse talents activating around her, each altering their bodies for close combat.

But Vida did not falter one bit. In fact, this was good. The soldiers were removing their attention from the real threat, and secondly, Northern had told her about the second ability of the armor.

Her hand shot out as she dodged the metal rod that lunged directly toward her face. To the soldier’s surprise, a web of cracks appeared across his torso the moment the fearsome dark knight’s fist connected with it. A violent gust of impact exploded from behind his back. He spat a mouthful of blood and slowly collapsed to his knees.

Everyone around him saw this and trembled for a moment.

Meanwhile, Annette smiled with disbelief.

’It really is as he said!’

She did not allow herself to waste another second. She caught the man whose mist had solidified into hands and clenched her claws around the metal, crushing it into his skull with impossible strength.

Then she hurled him the other way, slamming him against others. Pikes shot forward, but with the calmness of the sea, Vida guided them out of her way and slammed her fist forward, brutalizing the line of soldiers with explosive force that rent their bodies apart and hurled them away like useless, broken dolls.

’Amazing! This is unmatched!’

Vida felt her entire body tingle from the way she moved. Her movements were furious and frightening, yet when she calmed her mind, unnecessary thoughts and distractions no longer hindered the fluidity of her motions.

But she did not need to worry about those things in this armor. It reacted like a second body, and despite its intimidating dark steel, the armor clung tightly to her frame.

Annette smiled while suspended midair, two pillars of flame extending from her legs as she tried to melt down the wall.

The wastage that splattered on the ground left searing grooves in it, melting their way deep into the earth and leaving several holes around the foot of the wall. But the wall itself was unaffected.

Annette studied it for a moment. It barely had any scratches, and there were no signs of melting, no matter how subtle.

She laughed in guarded fright.

’The legends must be true... it really has to have been built from a Leviathan’s bones to withstand my flames.’

Annette thought back to the last time something similar had happened—during the incident at the academy.

’Now this is getting infuriating... why is everyone suddenly gaining resistance to my flames...’

Well, not suddenly. The threats had always existed; she had just never thought that one day she would have to face them. The Crimson Sea, and now the Indestructible Wall of the Empire. This was the true terror the Wall of Luinngard had been fashioned after. That one... was only a mimic.

This one, however...

Annette’s expression turned stern.

”Whatever... I just have to destroy it. And I will destroy it.”