CHAPTER 252: CHAPTER 198: WEAPON UPGRADE

Rubble and soil flew like a torrential downpour, even gently trembling the stone wall behind the observation platform.

Scarlet flames spread rapidly along the air currents.

The shock wave carved an oval "fire wave arc" on the surface, spreading indiscriminately to slaughter everything around.

The iron chain emitted a painful moan-like wail, rapidly deforming and turning red-hot in the extreme heat, finally breaking with a "clang" and falling to the ground.

The chain broke, but the three bound Ice Wild Boars didn’t escape, instead struggling and roaring continuously in the firelight.

Their so-called "flame immunity" fur quickly started to curl and turn to ash, their Ice Armor shattering and collapsing.

The exposed flesh and skin rapidly charred and carbonized.

Within mere seconds, the boars’ howls were swallowed by the merciless flames.

Only charred remains lay against the scorching ground, like melted sculptures.

From a distance, Louis observed and estimated the damage radius to be about ten meters, effectively and precisely covered.

After the fire wave, a large area was left blackened, lifeless, the embers still burning, while the remnants of the Fire Scale Ointment licked everything like tiny tongues.

Even objects not directly hit, as long as they touched these blazing flames, would be scorched, carbonized within ten seconds, with no chance of survival.

After a few seconds, the fire pillar gradually decreased, leaving glowing embers dancing in the hot air, like the victorious embers after burning everything to ash.

After the explosion, only the hum of residual echoes remained in the eardrums.

After the initial roar, the world seemed to fall into temporary deafness, with only the "whooshing" sound of remnant fire burning in the wind, and the echo of stones falling and shattering.

The air was filled with a compound scent of blood and charcoal, mixed with ashes, floating in the firelight.

The flames gradually subsided, but the smoke lingered, and the people on the high platform remained silent for a long while.

Mike was the first to break the silence, not with words but with a sharp intake of breath.

His eyes widened, staring fixedly at that charred wasteland, even his lips were trembling slightly.

"Can this damn thing really be used on people?" His voice was hoarse, tinged with disbelief, "Even magical beasts... there’s not even a bone left..."

Even as a hard man who had roamed battlefields for ten years, he was now drenched in sweat, his throat like it had been scraped with burnt sand.

Not to mention the craftsmen responsible for monitoring and recording, each pale, as if they just peeked back from the edge of hell.

Although none were literally scared to wet themselves, each forehead was soaked with cold sweat, eyes unfocused, barely able to stand.

"This is my creation..."

Hillco, on the other hand, wore a different expression, arms crossed, with a smile nearly ecstatic in its madness on his face:

"Did you see the moment the fire wave unfolded?! It was truly intoxicating! Ah... I can’t resist wanting to test another one!"

Louis turned his head to glance at him, somewhat speechless at his excitement, but his expression also rarely showed a trace of shock.

It’s not as if he hadn’t seen powerful things before, but this... it indeed exceeded expectations.

"It’s a bit too strong." he murmured.

But merely observing from afar was not enough.

So after confirming the temperature in the blast center had slightly dropped, Louis led Mike, Hillco, and several well-protected knights and recorders, cautiously stepping into the explosion center.

Underfoot was vast scorched earth, the soil completely carbonized, producing a crunchy, cracking sound with each step.

Plant roots and stems were not even a shadow, with the air still carrying the scent of burned flesh.

The few Ice Wild Boars, once hailed as "wasteland tanks" with high fire resistance, now had no intact bodies to be recognized.

The one closest to the explosion point had only half of a collapsed skeleton left, the other parts completely melted, carbonized, ashes blowing in the wind, with even the chain only leaving a scorched red segment.

The second barely left a charred carcass, but all fur and skin were gone, only scorched bones with ember marks embedded, the Fire Scale Ointment still licking and burning on the residual bones, the firelight dark red, eerie in the extreme.

The third, located at the edge, although its torso partially remained, its entire back had cracked open like blooms of scorched flesh torn by the hand of hell, devoid of life.

The surrounding ground within an eight-meter radius was completely cleared, nothing grew, and even the rock surfaces showed carbonization and peeling.

From the miserable state of these three Ice Wild Boars, one could infer the power of this Magic Explosion Bullet.

Within ten meters, direct scorching, full carbonization.

Within twenty meters, high-temperature burns, biological entities surely die.

Within thirty meters, explosion wind impacts shattering, with damage and armor penetration capabilities.

"It’s not just about firepower." Louis squatted down, observed the remains, and slowly said: "The Fire Scale Ointment has adhesiveness when burning. Even if the target’s surface is burnt out, it continues to burn on the bone."

He nudged a piece of broken bone, sparks flared up instantly, nearly igniting his gauntlet.

"There’s also the penetration of the blast wind." He looked at the furthest Ice Wild Boar lying dead on the scorched land’s edge, his eyes showing a trace of gravity.

"Even though it’s twenty meters from the explosion center, the fire didn’t touch it, but look, the skeleton has been shattered, the internal organs ruptured on the spot, bleeding from every orifice."

Mike swallowed hard: "God... if these thick-skinned, fire-resistant Ice Wild Boars end up like this, those heat-fearing bugs wouldn’t just go straight to heaven if targeted."

Louis pondered for a moment, looking toward the distant end of the wasteland.

"Compared to the previous ’Ice and Fire Two Realms’ Magic Explosion Bullet, though it lacks the ice fog and gas parts, this ’High-Purity Magic Explosion Bullet’... has its raw firepower increased at least three to five times."

He squinted as if already seeing the Nest wailing in the flames.

"There are still drawbacks." Louis stood up, brushing off the ashes on his gloves, "The main one being, it’s too expensive."