King of Titans and Dragons
Chapter 973 - 973 961 Minions Descend

Chapter 973: Chapter 961: Minions Descend Chapter 973: Chapter 961: Minions Descend The Star Armor Master who came to rescue Muria, through the external armaments on her body, was identified as one suited for ranged combat. However, she now drew her melee weapon, usually reserved for emergencies, and engaged the monster in close combat.

Clearly, something had provoked the Star Armor Master, but even as she fought at a disadvantage, the monster she faced was beaten into helplessness.

Just because floating cannons are meant for long-range attacks doesn’t mean they can’t be used in close combat. In fact, a floating cannon that retains its power over tens of kilometers would be even more lethal at close range.

In under five minutes, the chest of the monster that had intended to easily kill Muria was pierced through, and its head was severed. Yet, the engaging Star Armor Master felt that wasn’t enough.

She gathered her floating cannons around her and turned the monster’s corpse into ash before it even hit the ground, leaving no trace behind.

After dealing with the monster, the Star Armor Master’s gaze quickly fell upon Muria who stood on the ground. She maneuvered her massive star armor to land in front of Muria.

The immense weight of the star armor crushed the ground beneath it. However, its operator clearly didn’t care about that, as her attention was solely on the child who was quietly watching her.

“Jelos, you’re not hurt, are you!” The heavy and magnificent star armor, standing three meters tall, disassembled, revealing a perfectly shaped woman emerging from within, her face marked with urgent concern as she embraced Muria.

“I’m fine!” Muria replied somewhat helplessly, having been hugged countless times in the past few years. The Star Armor Master who had come to his rescue was his mother, Susanna.

A genius with a Star talent reaching 68.75%, that was also the fundamental reason she had come to meet Aux and step into the hall of marriage.

Otherwise, how could the daughter of a rural nouveau riche possibly marry a member of the Empire’s most elite clan? Even if that member didn’t have the qualifications to disclose his identity publicly.

“It’s good you’re fine, it’s good. These monsters are getting bolder. Looks like I need to have my family sweep through this city thoroughly!”

Relieved that her son was unhurt, Susanna let out a sigh of relief. But soon her eyes filled with a threatening sharpness as she spoke, her aura murderous. Ever since her divorce, she had become much lazier, unwilling to deal with too much.

But whenever the city’s chaotic creatures affected her son, even posing a potential threat to him, she changed completely.

“Mother, what’s the origin of that monster that attacked me just now?” Muria, who had repeatedly asked his mother for information about these non-human monsters, took the opportunity to ask, feeling she would not avoid his question this time.

“That was a Flame Hell species! A higher-tier Different Species of monsters! It’s rare to see these higher-tiers! I didn’t expect one to appear in our small city!”

Hearing Muria’s inquiry, Susanna shook her head and replied, a hint of surprise in her voice.

“Higher-tier Different Species? What are those?” Muria continued to press, seizing the rare opportunity to get clear answers.

“You should know about the rankings of Star Armor Masters, right?”

“I do!” Muria nodded. Star Armor Masters were rated based on the star armor equipment they operated and fused with, crudely classified from 1 to 10 ranks, with the title of Titled Star Armor Master after the tenth rank!

“Higher-tier Different Species are classified according to the strength of Star Armor Masters. Their strength generally corresponds to that of Star Armor Masters of 7th to 9th rank! The Flame Hell species I just killed probably had the strength around the 7th rank!”

“But, Mother, I remember you are also a 7th-rank Star Armor Master. How come you could easily defeat that Different Species?” Muria asked. The battle had been completely one-sided; the Different Species was merely on the receiving end the whole time.

“My star armor is the most advanced in the Federation, of course it can easily handle such monsters!” Susanna said proudly in response to Muria’s question, but afterward, her expression suddenly turned wistful.

With her own identity, she certainly had no rights to the Federation’s most advanced star armor equipment. The equipment she possessed was obtained through marriage to Aux, taking advantage of the Douglas connection.

Now that she had severed all ties with Aux, the Douglas Clan hadn’t taken back her star armor equipment. There was no need, and it would be too much trouble.

“Ahem, Mother, you should quickly notify Grandpa to handle this incident, so it doesn’t escalate!” Realizing he had touched a nerve, Muria quickly spoke up to divert Susanna’s attention.

“Oh, yes!” Hearing Muria’s words, Susanna, immersed in her somber emotions, immediately snapped out of it. She shook her head to cast aside some memories from her mind.

…

Soon, as night fell, Muria had returned home and made a request to his mother, “May I take a close look at your Star Armor?”

“Of course, you can!” Muria’s mother, Susanna, happily agreed and then led him to a basement he had never entered before, to see the Star Armor being maintained by some special equipment.

“This is the high-grade Star Armor that I had custom-made through the Douglas family’s channels from the Empire’s top Research Institute, ‘Instant’!” Susanna said, introducing her luxurious Star Armor to her son, “Its overall performance surpasses the standard Zijing Federation’s Type VI Black Knight Star Armor by more than 30%!”

“That much?” Hearing this data, Muria couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows slightly; the Black Knight Star Armor was a very famous high-grade standardized Star Armor in the Zijing Federation.

However, this caliber of Star Armor was only equipped by the army, and ordinary small clans had no chance of obtaining this level of Star Armor. Yet, this kind of armor could occasionally appear in the black markets of the Federation’s major cities, where it would ignite a frenzy each time it appeared.

To the average person, who could only gaze at pictures of such armor, this was regarded as junk by some of the Federation’s top clans; they wouldn’t even consider it. Clan members who were high-ranking Star Armor Masters were all equipped with custom-built Star Armors, which generally crushed the Federation’s standard issue in performance.

And his mother, evidently, had also enjoyed the benefits of the top-tier clans of the Federation through his father.

“If it can’t crush standard Star Armors, then what’s the point of having it custom-made?” Susanna smiled and then patted Muria’s head, “If you become a high-ranking Star Armor Master, you can also have a Star Armor custom-made just for you through the Douglas channels!”

“Mhm!” Muria nodded, unable to resist stepping forward to carefully examine the magnificent Star Armor in front of him. This piece of Star Armor, just its main body, weighed over a ton, and if you included the external armaments, its total mass could exceed five tons.

Yet, despite such bulky equipment, his mother could easily wear it and fly through the sky; this was the fundamental ability of a Star Armor Master, made possible by the Star talent.

The metal from the stars that could be manipulated by the Star talent, Star Gold, wasn’t actually of high-quality material. Thus, using pure Star Gold to forge armor and weapons would be very foolish.

But Star Gold possessed a very special property; it was incredibly compatible. In other words, it could be fused with other metals to create a new alloy with new or enhanced properties!

As long as the alloy contained more than 10% Star Gold, a Star Armor Master could manipulate it, wielding it as if it were an extension of their own body, with complete ease. This was also one reason why the profession of Star Armor Master was so prevalent in this world.

After all, although Star Gold was a regulated resource, it was abundantly produced. And everyone had Star talents, varying only in their degree of compatibility.

…

In the night, Muria lay awake in his mother’s arms, used as a pillow, having been disturbed by the day’s attack and unable to fall asleep for a long time,

“Now that the world has bared its fangs at me, it’s time to prepare some strength to protect myself. I can’t always rely on others; those bodyguards are absolutely unreliable!”

Muria recalled the fate of the bodyguards who protected him today—three dead, six injured; these grievous losses were caused by the minions of an upper-class Different Species that had attacked him.

“But in my current state, it’s naturally not possible to attract any strong Star Armor Masters, so I will have to think of other methods.”

Muria turned his head to look at Susanna, who was holding him and deeply asleep, “It’s a pity, if she could personally protect me, there wouldn’t be much of a problem with my safety. But she is my mother, not my bodyguard!”

“I’ll have to try a more unorthodox approach. I wonder if my method will work!”

…

“Young Master! Here’s the Black Scaled Puppy you requested!” A bodyguard with bandages visible on his bare hands bowed and smiled at Muria, holding a small cage, which contained a puppy sedated with anesthetic!

“Hmm!” Muria nodded upon seeing the puppy, “Good, put the thing down and leave.”

“Please be careful, Young Master, and don’t open the cage. Don’t be fooled by its size; it’s actually very vicious when awake.”

“I know.”

“I wonder if my method will be successful!” After the bodyguard left, Muria stood in the empty room, crouched down to look at the puppy in the cage, and then reached out his palm toward it.

Meanwhile, the true being that slept in his heart, coordinating with his actions, struggled to open a single eyelid…