The appearance of the Fire Spirit stunned Iron Fang, who had caught up.
"He's just an Honorary Elder. Did Zero Wing really hand over a Tier 3 Primordial Species to someone like that for their protection?" Iron Fang stared at the blazing flame dragon before him, awe and envy warring in his heart.
He had never even heard of an item that could summon a Tier 3 Primordial Species.
Just a Tier 3 summoning scroll was something every major power desperately wanted to get their hands on, and his Sin Domain guild had only managed to obtain eight so far—all used as ultimate trump cards, never allowed to be deployed casually, not even against critical field bosses.
That showed just how precious a Tier 3 summoned creature was!
And the Tier 3 Primordial Species Shi Feng had summoned was on a completely different level—even more precious than those summoning scrolls. For a guild like Sin Domain, this was the kind of item they would never use unless the guild itself faced an existential crisis.
The only reason Iron Fang had been allowed to bring out the Steel Puppet was because it could be used repeatedly, requiring only Magic Crystals as fuel. If it had been something like a summoning scroll, he would never have been permitted to carry it along to deal with Shi Feng.
The members of Sin Domain stared at the roaring Fire Spirit, and one by one they began to retreat.
It wasn't just because the Fire Spirit was a Level 80 Tier 3 Primordial Species—it was the overwhelming aura it radiated, growing more oppressive by the second, making them deeply uncomfortable. That was why they backed away.
Moreover, with the Fire Spirit's arrival, the ground within a thirty-yard radius around it had transformed into a hellscape of molten lava. The scorching heat radiating outward could be felt clearly even a hundred yards away, and players with low Fire Resistance were actually starting to lose hit points...
The situation forced every player present to fall back.
Only Iron Fang, sitting inside the Steel Puppet, was unaffected.
"Go! Kill him!" Shi Feng pointed at the Steel Puppet and commanded.
With the order given, the Fire Spirit let out a furious roar, spread its wings, and lunged directly at the Steel Puppet.
"You really think a Tier 3 Primordial Species can take on the Steel Puppet, Night Razor?" Iron Fang watched the Fire Spirit charge toward him, contempt filling his gaze, and immediately maneuvered the puppet to meet the attack head-on.
Monsters were still monsters. The only reason they could threaten players was their overwhelming base stats. Piloting a Steel Puppet was different. Though difficult to control and unable to bring out the full capabilities of the pilot, it could still channel a meaningful portion of their skill.
For an expert of his caliber—one who had achieved Insightful Mastery—even a fraction of his combat ability was far beyond what any monster could match. Combined with the puppet's equal strength and speed, it was no different from an expert player fighting a same-tier, same-level monster. Winning would be almost effortless.
Instantly, two of the four war blades surged to intercept the Fire Spirit's claws, while the other two slashed directly at its head and neck.
But just as the four blades were about to strike, the Fire Spirit's movements shifted abruptly. Its claws swept upward, deflecting two of the blades while simultaneously positioning them to block the other two incoming strikes—skillfully neutralizing Iron Fang's attack in a single motion.
And while it was deflecting the assault, the Fire Spirit's tail had already whipped around, leaving Iron Fang, still controlling the Steel Puppet, no time to mount a defense.
BOOM!
The scalding dragon tail smashed into the Steel Puppet's body with a muffled impact. The puppet stumbled back a step, a scorched mark now visible on its torso, its durability having taken a direct hit.
"This..." Iron Fang stared at the burn mark on the puppet's chest, shock surging through him.
As someone who had fought countless experts in the Divine Realm, Iron Fang might not have been able to judge a fighter's skill level just by watching, but he could discern their caliber through direct exchanges.
After this brief clash, he could confirm that the Fire Spirit before him possessed combat skill no inferior to an expert player's—and not just an ordinary expert either. It was roughly at the late stages of the fifth floor of the Trial Tower. That was a terrifying realization.
After all, with him piloting the Steel Puppet, the puppet could carve through enemies with devastating force, yet its combat capability was only at the early fifth floor—solidly expert level. That was what allowed the Steel Puppet to dominate in battle. Even several peak Tier 2 experts fighting together would meet their end against it.