Chapter 247: Bazett's new title is "The Slender She-Ogre"
[Onimusha: Enhanced Protagonist Template, based on "Jacques Blanc," one of the dual protagonists from Onimusha 3. Jacques Blanc, from modern France, was chosen by the power of the Oni and transported from the Arc de Triomphe, which was invaded by the Genma, to Yamato five hundred years ago. To return to his own era and see his son again, Jacques Blanc accepted the Oni power and became an Onimusha. Together with the two Samanosuke Akechis, who were in the past and present respectively, he defeated the Sixth Heaven Genma King, "Oda Nobunaga."
When you choose to load the "Onimusha" template—
You will simultaneously acquire the template-exclusive armaments "Oni Gauntlet" and "Oni Whip."
You will simultaneously acquire the template-exclusive skills "Oni Armament," "Oni Binding Art," "Tactical Shell," "Oni Transformation," and "Isshen."
The enhancement project is to remove "Stiff Knees."
In the current instance, this template will temporarily be unable to be uninstalled.
[Under the influence of the Game Expert, the Demon Factor has been overwritten and replaced by the Oni Transformation ability. You will not be affected by the Demon Factor. At the same time, some abilities of this template will have their release conditions changed, and permanent changes will occur due to linked item effects.]
[Your inherent skill, "Hundred Demons' Night Parade," has also undergone certain effect changes.]
What appeared out of thin air on Cheng Tian's right hand was the same Oni Gauntlet held by "Jacques Blanc," played by "Jean Reno," and as a derivative armament, the Oni Whip also appeared with it.
Compared to the dual sword and greatsword techniques, which he could only try to learn remotely by watching videos and still lacked any real system, Cheng Tian, having successively loaded two vampire slayer templates, had already imprinted a portion of various whip-wielding techniques into his muscle memory, even without retaining the "Whip Mastery" skill.
Both the previously loaded Ghost Rider template and the Jacques Blanc Onimusha template loaded this time also came with a portion of chain and whip usage techniques, which gave Cheng Tian a familiarity with the Oni Whip in his hand comparable to that of a Chariot Master with a chariot vehicle.
Towards the peerless battle maniac before him, who exuded a strong "Lu Bu" aura, Cheng Tian was strategically dismissive but tactically serious.
He knew he couldn't win in a close-quarters brawl; Cheng Tian even suspected that the opponent's Strength and Agility were both above 40. However, this didn't mean Cheng Tian was afraid to fight.
If things got desperate, he'd just activate his Ghost Rider transformation!
But at this moment, Bazett, who had been standing behind Cheng Tian, stepped forward, coming in front of Cheng Tian amidst the slightly puzzled gazes of the others. She looked directly into the eyes of the momentarily stunned battle maniac Kishugar and said,
"Master, please don't steal your dedicated bodyguard's job."
Bazett, who refused to use a lighthearted-sounding name like Aoko in front of a group of outsiders, raised her hands, adopting a close-quarters combat stance, ready to fight at any moment.
A captivating aura, utterly mismatched with her slender appearance, began to brew.
And as soon as she adopted this combat stance, all the members of the Dark Clan, except Thor, couldn't help but look solemn.
As members of the Dark Clan, their professions were all Mage and Magic Swordsman, and both of these professions fell within the scope of Bazett's "Sealing Designation Enforcer" against magic-related professions.
In other words, all of Bazett's attack damage inflicted on them would receive an additional 20% final amplification, equivalent to a permanent 1.2x damage multiplier.
Additionally, among the equipment Cheng Tian provided for Bazett, there was a rather special set of gear: her gloves, or more accurately, a pair of gauntlets whose appearance had been permanently modified to match her usual gloves.
These were equipment dropped by the Twin Cyclops in the previous Makaimura instance, named "Left Hand of the Twin Cyclops" and "Right Hand of the Twin Cyclops." They were a blue excellent quality set.
[Left and Right Hands of the Twin Cyclops: Blue Excellent / Lv7, Gloves / Gauntlets, Set Combination. Equipment Requirement: Strength 32. Attack Power 30 ~ 35 * 2, Durability 72 / 72.
A special set that can only be dropped if the Twin Cyclops die within 10 seconds of each other. Requires simultaneously occupying the glove and main/off-hand weapon slots.
Left and right hands combined provide Strength +6, Charm -4.
Set Effect—
When both the Cyclops' Left Hand and Right Hand are equipped, the user's raw Strength attribute passively increases by 20%. (Lv7 numerical enhancement, originally 5%).
When both the Cyclops' Left Hand and Right Hand are equipped, your normal attacks will carry a fire attribute, dealing damage equal to half of the user's Spirit attribute. (Lv4 additional enhancement)
The wielder can consume 50 MP to actively activate "Cyclops' Rage," increasing raw Strength and Agility attributes by 20% and gaining 50 points of Super Armor for 1 minute. After the effect ends, raw Strength and Agility attributes decrease by 20% for 1 minute. Skill cooldown is 5 minutes. (Lv7 additional enhancement)
Rune enchantment has been applied, further improving durability and impact resistance.]
[Additional Comment: If you don't spend money to modify the equipment's appearance, two humanoid hands that completely replicate the Cyclops' hands and even smell a bit. It truly takes some courage to actively wear them...]
Previously, Cheng Tian didn't have much money, so funds could only be prioritized for himself.
But when his funds exceeded 200,000, he decisively invested a portion of the money into his servants, followers, and battle mounts.
Although Bazett's gloves were only blue quality, as a set, their enhancement potential was quite good. More importantly, they had excellent synergy with Bazett.
Bazett, who had already allocated her free attribute points to Strength at Cheng Tian's suggestion, had her Strength attribute rise to 44 points with the enhancement of these gauntlets, successfully surpassing Cheng Tian, the tanky spellcaster, in both Strength and HP.
And on this basis, if she were to activate the Cyclops' Rage added at +7, Bazett's Strength attribute would immediately reach the extreme value of 50 points.
Cheng Tian had figured it out: the attribute cap for NPCs at Black Iron and C-rank difficulty was 50 points.
To break through this extreme value, it probably couldn't be achieved by simply adding attributes.
After confirming that Bazett truly intended to fight him, the battle maniac axeman was silent for a moment before speaking to Cheng Tian, who had surprisingly chosen to step back two paces and yield the combat position to Bazett.
"Are you a coward who only hides behind women?"
"I didn't expect Your Excellency to be someone who, deep down, looks down on female warriors like me... How disappointing!"
However, before Cheng Tian could even speak, Bazett retorted directly and unceremoniously, causing Kishugar to freeze for a moment. But in the next second, his eyes sharpened, and he held the long-handled battle-axe horizontally in front of him—
What followed was the crisp sound of metal striking metal.
Without any fancy moves, Bazett simply charged forward with a direct punch, smashing it onto Kishugar's axe handle. But the terrifying force that caused his feet to leave two friction marks on the ground immediately made the man's eyes widen—
What power!!!
With just one punch, the man acknowledged that Bazett was worthy of being his opponent!
But at this moment... "You, don't waste time. Go quickly and find the Goddess and the Black Pearl."
The cold voice of Dares, leader of the Dark Clan, suddenly filled the entire space.