CHAPTER 287: STALWART SHIELD EQUIPMENT

"Io:oI o!"

[Login successful, esteemed Council Member Candidate]

Instantly, a massive sea of exchange options appeared before Carlos.

He ignored them for now, taking out the prepared Ersbah ancient gold coins.

"Submit!"

Mysterious fluctuations swept by as boxes of Ersbah ancient gold coins slowly vanished.

[Current Merit Points: 4002]

After all the ancient coins got recorded, Carlos said seriously:

"Request to exchange for a legion shield set!"

[Authority verification in progress... Verification passed!]

Within moments, four light gold exchange options appeared before Carlos.

[First Legion: Fearless Shield Equipment... Remaining: 0 sets...]

[Second Legion: Stalwart Shield Equipment... Remaining: 36 sets...]

[Third Legion: Valiant Shield Equipment... Remaining: 36 sets...]

[Fourth Legion: Fortress Shield Equipment... Remaining: 36 sets...]

Carlos had a clear target in mind and continued:

"Exchange for Second Legion: Stalwart Shield Equipment!"

[Consuming 3600 merit points, Second Legion: Stalwart Shield Equipment exchange successful!

Please exit to collect!]

Carlos immediately pulled back his right hand.

The next second,

Before him, a full 36 golden shields slowly materialized, their surfaces carved with battling golden falcons, radiating sharp aura that made your spine tingle...

Even though this was his second time swapping shield equipment, Carlos’s heart still surged with excitement.

[Stalwart Shield Equipment!]

[Powerful spirit gear forged by the Ersbah United Kingdom using massive amounts of rare metals for the Second Legion.]

[Quality: Light Gold]

[Durability: 49]

[Special Bonuses:

(1) Ersbah Shield Strike Level +3

(2) +10% durability when using Ersbah Shield Strike

(3) Shield of Stalwartness.]

[Equipment Requirements: Spiritual Essence 30, Ersbah Shield Strike Level 10, Ersbah Second Legion Member, Strength 25.]

Same durability as the Fearless Shield Equipment, enough to hold off Controller-level attacks.

As for the first two special bonuses, Carlos glanced briefly—they weren’t important. The core was the third special bonus: Shield of Stalwartness.

[Shield of Stalwartness: Unyielding stalwart will can absorb enemy psionic attacks, briefly build up then unleash psionic beam counterattacks!

Each Constitution point sustains for 10 minutes.]

Carlos’s eyes lit up. It could absorb psionic attacks, store energy and hit back—especially nasty against ranged attacks.

This ability was exactly why he’d picked Stalwart Shield Equipment for his second exchange.

In a few months, the first dark mist layer would blow up in a new round of old vs new monster wars. All major fortresses would definitely get caught up in the battle, with monsters packing ranged attack abilities being super common.

With Stalwart Shield Equipment, the various fortresses’ defenses would be rock solid. Even high-intensity psionic strikes would get shut down.

"Time’s running out. New Black Knights... the remaining fortresses gotta be finished within the planned timeframe..."

Carlos stashed away the 36 Stalwart Shield Equipment pieces and put his hand on the golden exchange orb again.

"Exchange complete!"

Golden light swept by as Carlos got booted out of the ruins...

Just days after Carlos split, a girl with scorched black hair climbed up the stone steps, gasping for breath.

"I’m dying!!! How long are these damn steps!!!"

Demi was about to cry. Looking up, the steps seemed endless, and above her head, a cross-shaped special life form started issuing warnings...

...

After snagging the Stalwart Shield Equipment, Carlos didn’t immediately head back to the first dark mist layer but found a nearby valley rarely visited by humans.

Summoning several Black Knights to stand guard outside, he took out formation liquid and first drew a Skeleton Shield Guard sublimation ritual circle.

Soon, pale flames kept rising in the valley as tall Silver Sword Orchid Shield Guards appeared throughout.

Carlos briefly scanned the Silver Sword Orchid Shield Guards’ stats, then had them fall back to the valley entrance.

No need for detailed checking now—he could look after sublimating them into Black Knights.

After resting briefly, he started drawing the Black Knight sublimation ritual circle.

Carlos’s technique was slick as hell, but even so, the complex steps still ate up considerable time.

Soon, a complex, massive ritual circle appeared in the valley—big patterns containing small ones, outlining weird halos.

"Done!"

Carlos stretched, resting while double-checking to make sure he hadn’t screwed anything up.

Then he gave the order. A Silver Sword Orchid Guard from the valley entrance stepped into the formation, stopping at the sublimation ritual circle’s core position.

Carlos effortlessly summoned a Phantom Dark Horse, placing it at the secondary core position.

Next, tons of monster corpses filled the sacrifice positions. The Black Knight sublimation ritual’s prep stage was complete.

Carlos concentrated as Death Herald energy instantly lit up the Black Knight sublimation ritual circle. Cold flames rose and churned, dyeing the entire sky red in the blink of an eye.

"&&**...##...&&&"

The corpse fuel at sacrifice positions kept melting and merging, providing endless juice for the ritual.

Seeing the timing was right, Carlos immediately chucked rare precious materials into the flames.

"Bang!"

Like fire meeting oil, pale flames howled and boiled. The entire valley got completely swallowed in a sea of flames, with only Carlos’s whispers echoing...

As the ritual neared its end, in the vast sea of fire, a Black Knight stood. The next moment, countless flames poured into the Black Knight’s body as extremely powerful aura shot skyward, scattering the clouds.

"A brand new Black Knight!"

Carlos looked over eagerly.

This Black Knight transformed from Silver Sword Orchid wore pitch-black bone armor with strange Silver Sword Orchid patterns covering its entire body. Threads of lightning coiled around it, faintly producing thunder sounds!

It carried a golden shield on its back with a proud, wild golden falcon that seemed to cry out.

The lance in its hand, transformed from a Silver Sword Orchid Clan Sword, looked like it was built from lightning, radiating incredibly amazing thunder power. Even its Phantom Dark Horse had gained a proud aura.

[Silver Sword Orchid Black Knight]

[Health: 400 (Constitution x50)]

[Strength: 28]

[Constitution: 8]

[Speed: 3 (foot combat state)/40 (cavalry state)]

[Skills: Silver Sword Orchid Enhanced, Silver Sword Orchid Cavalry Tactics (1+3) Level]

The stats stayed as powerful as other Black Knights. Carlos focused on the skills.

[Silver Sword Orchid Enhanced: Powerful talent born from the fusion of Silver Sword Orchid Clan Sword, Ersbah Second Legion Stalwart Shield Equipment, and Phantom Dark Horse essence

(1) Silver Sword Orchid Cavalry Tactics Level +3

(2) +10% damage and +10% defense when using Silver Sword Orchid Cavalry Tactics.

(3) Bond: Stalwart Silver Sword Orchid!

Silver Sword Orchid Black Knights resonate during combat. Each additional one bumps up the wielder’s Strength by 1 point and lightning trigger probability by 8.5%. In this state, can absorb enemy psionic attacks and unleash psionic beam counterattacks after brief buildup (each Constitution point sustains for 10 minutes)

(4) Umbral Iron Bone Armor: Massively increased defense, can absorb Umbral Iron or bones to heal wounds.

(5) Ghostly Flame: Soul-targeting cold flames with seriously increased soul damage.]