Floating Island - Triple S Talent-Chapter 530: Efan battle, 360 bursts

"Huh... damn chains," Efan hissed between ragged breaths, his face covered in sweat and dust. His eyes flicked back nervously. A long, blood-stained chain shot after him through the air, following his every movement like a living creature.

Efan soared through the sky at high speed, piercing clouds and leaving trails of wind in his wake. He zigzagged through air currents, dodging the pursuing chains that lashed out, trying to slice him from every direction.

For two days straight, he'd been fighting non-stop against a Grandmaster from the Maledictus Sect—a masked man infamous for his cruelty and relentless pursuit. Efan had only survived this long thanks to his quick thinking and a wide array of high-grade combat gear. But his stamina was running low. His breath was heavy. His heart pounded. And still, the enemy showed no signs of giving up.

He pushed forward once more, then suddenly dove straight down. Wind whipped across his face, but Efan didn't care. Far below, sensor nodes he had planted earlier began to light up in his helmet's vision panel.

"Now," he muttered.

The moment he passed the designated altitude, the sound of metal scraping erupted from all directions.

Chk! Chk! Chk!

Dozens of chains shot out from the ground like living spears, writhing through the air and wrapping around the masked man chasing him. The man was dragged down, caught in the trap of chains Efan had laid in advance.

Efan stopped mid-air, quickly turned around, and in one smooth motion, pulled a long energy rifle from his back. He took aim. The rifle's scope lit up automatically, locking onto the target with its signature beep.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Target locked.

"You're not getting away now," he whispered calmly.

Bang!

The energy bullet shot out like a blue meteor, slicing through the air and heading straight for the masked man still struggling to break free. The man looked up, eyes widening behind the mask as he realized what was coming.

BOOM!

The explosion shook the air. A shockwave scattered the clouds. Thick smoke billowed upward, swallowing the sky.

Efan floated backward, hovering steadily as he stared at the heart of the blast. "Did I get him…? Is he dead?" he muttered, breath still uneven. He didn't lower his guard—battle instinct had taught him to never relax after the final blow.

Then suddenly…

"Ahahaha..."

A sharp, furious laugh tore through the air. From within the dense smoke, the masked figure emerged once again. His clothes were shredded, the iron mask cracked. Black blood oozed from the gaps in his armor, but his eyes... they still burned with rage.

"You almost killed me, you bastard," he croaked, voice laced with cold laughter. His twisted grin revealed broken teeth. But that wasn't what made Efan tense up.

The light around them suddenly dimmed.

The air grew thick, like a heavy fog pressing down from all sides. From the sky above, strange liquid began to drip—greenish-gray slime, viscous and foul-smelling.

Efan instinctively backed away, heart pounding faster. "So… this is your true form?"

Reacting swiftly, he pulled a lantern-shaped device from his equipment belt. The moment it activated, golden-white light burst out, illuminating the darkness around him. The glow sliced through the fog and sticky slime, revealing the masked figure once again—now standing with both hands raised.

Dozens of chains rose from his body, floating and writhing in the air. In an instant, they shot toward Efan like starving serpents eager to tear him apart. Efan leapt backward, but his movements slowed—the thick slime clung to the air and ground, dragging time itself down.

"This won't do," he muttered, pulling a small artifact from his sleeve.

A black disc appeared—Vortex Plate. Once activated, his body vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the sound of cracking wind.

Short-range teleportation triggered repeatedly. Every time a chain was about to strike, Efan vanished, reappearing at a different point in the battlefield. But he wasn't just dodging—with each jump, he scattered small devices throughout the area. Traps. Some buried in the ground, others latched onto surfaces or suspended mid-air.

After several jumps, Efan stopped atop a floating metal platform. Calmly turning around, he drew a close-range energy weapon—sleeker, built for rapid fire.

"Let's see how tough you really are," he whispered, pulling the trigger.

Brrrrrrt—

Hundreds of energy rounds spewed from the barrel in just seconds, forming a storm of light that hammered the area where the masked man stood. But the enemy didn't budge. With swift, precise movements, he spun his chains into a makeshift shield. The hail of bullets deflected and scattered, smashing rocks and metal surfaces nearby.

Efan didn't look frustrated. If anything, his gaze was calm. Focused. He murmured softly, "Now."

At that exact moment, a glowing pattern emerged from underground. A complex diagram of circles, lines, and arcane symbols lit up beneath the masked man's feet, forming a massive magical array.

The man glanced down, brows lifting slightly. "What's this? You think I'll panic just because of your little toy?" he said in a low voice, mocking—but still alert.

Seconds passed. There was no explosion. No energy surge. No burst of magic. The diagram simply glowed, quiet and still, like a painting of light.

The masked man hesitated. "There's no energy flow…?"

"Just wait," Efan replied, a faint smirk curling at his lips, almost teasing. He pulled a round object from his chest pocket—a small metallic orb that fit perfectly in his palm. Its surface gleamed, and a red line blinked softly across it.

Casually, Efan began tossing the orb into the air and catching it, juggling it lazily. "What do you say? Wanna bet?"

The masked man didn't respond, but Efan could feel his focus. Outside the magic array, his chains had started slithering back toward Efan, like invisible hands creeping up for a silent strike.

"If you can survive this bomb, I'll surrender," Efan said plainly, his tone light but razor sharp.

The masked man stared at him, then gave a slight nod. "Fine. Do it."

He looked confident. His chains were already nearly behind Efan, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Efan smiled. "Then... take it."

With a powerful throw, the orb sailed through the air, passing directly over the center of the diagram. The symbols under the masked man's feet began to spin. Strange markings lit up, connecting in intricate patterns.

And then—

BOOM—

A massive explosion erupted within the masked man's black domain. The blast echoed, shaking the ground and rippling through the air. Thick smoke spread, obscuring everything from view. Efan stood firm outside the blast radius, his face calm—almost expressionless—as if the devastating attack he'd just unleashed hadn't affected him at all.

But as the smoke began to dissipate and visibility returned, Efan saw a sight that didn't surprise him—the masked man was still standing, completely intact. His body was now tightly wrapped in dozens of gleaming chains, coiled around him like a fortress, shielding him from every direction.

"Impressive chains," Efan muttered as he gave a slow, deliberate clap, sounding genuinely impressed.

The masked man laughed freely. "Hahaha! So, how about our little wager?" he asked, voice brimming with satisfaction. He continued to clutch his chains, not rushing to strike. His eyes narrowed, waiting for Efan to admit defeat.

Efan slowly raised both hands, showing his open palms.

"I surrender," he said calmly, without the slightest trace of frustration in his voice.

Just as those words left his lips, a beam of light suddenly shone from far above the dark domain. Then, from beyond the domain's boundary, came a barrage of thin rays—extremely powerful and deadly lasers—firing in from every direction. Not just one or two, but over 360 beams converging on a single point: the masked man's position at the center of the glowing diagram.

Ning—

A faint hum accompanied the lasers, like the buzz of mosquitoes slicing through the air. But none of those sounds could be taken lightly. In a split second, the beams pierced through the black domain, slicing past the sturdy chains and striking the masked man directly.

Cracks spread through the air—the dark domain began to collapse, its protective layers crumbling like shattered glass. The battlefield's original landscape was revealed once more. And with one final flash of light, all the beams vanished.

Efan stared at the impact zone, his expression tinged with something close to awe. "Deadly lasers," he murmured. He reached into his gear pouch and pulled out a strange-looking device—shaped like a sun tree, with an eye at its center, watching the world with piercing intensity.

"How fortunate…" he whispered, gently brushing his fingers against the tiny leaf-like plates around the eye. Each leaf bore a small sword symbol, indicating the device's offensive nature.

"360 bursts…" he continued, scanning the surroundings. "Each stack boosts destructive power by 25%. No wonder it killed a Grandmaster outright."

Of course, placing 360 laser nodes wasn't a task anyone could do easily. Beyond technical precision, it required something more abstract—luck.

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Fortunately, Efan possessed a rare talent—the Eye of Fortune. With this ability, he could sense spots on the battlefield with the highest probability of success—locations blessed with subtle fluctuations of good fortune, imperceptible to most. Over the past two days, he had scanned the area one section at a time, arranging the laser network with supernatural precision guided by his instincts.