I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

After all, a living legend is more valuable than a dead one.

Not to mention Steven, who holds the title of "Magic Machinery Master".

Just from the endless extraordinary equipment and tools he possesses, one can see how wealthy this guy is.

Hmm?

Lis suddenly thought of something and began searching around.

Soon, he found a golden ring in a crevice near Steven.

This was the ring Steven wore on his right hand earlier. Unlike other rings, it wasn't damaged at all, even after taking a direct hit from the Elemental Divine Power.

Lis played with the ring in his hand, feeling a faint yet noble aura emanating from it.

This must be Steven's storage ring. I didn't expect this guy to have a half-god artifact ring.

At this moment, Steven was quite weak, and the spiritual imprint left in the ring was unable to resist Lis.

-----------------

Ding~

[You have acquired the half-god artifact "Nicolo's Hope" (damaged)!]

[Half-God Artifact "Nicolo's Hope"]

Description:

A powerful ring left behind by the demigod mage Nicolo Berg countless years ago, but now damaged by the ravages of time, losing most of its power.

Equipment Effect 1: "Nicolo's Gift"

The ring contains all the knowledge mastered by the demigod mage Nicolo, especially his proud insights in magic machinery forging technique.

Equipment Effect 2: (Damaged)

Equipment Effect 3: Dimension Backpack

Inside the ring is a hidden special storage space capable of holding an entire city.

Equipment Effect 4: (Damaged)

...

Equipment Effect 7: (Damaged)]

...

[Through fierce battle, you defeated the Legendary Mage Steven, limited-time challenge task completed!]

[Starting task reward evaluation!]

[Evaluation: Solo Challenge... Evaluation succeeded, rewards increased!]

[Evaluation: All-out Combat... Evaluation succeeded, rewards increased!]

[Evaluation (Hidden): Complete Overthrow... Evaluation passed, rewards increased!]

[Evaluation completed, task completion rate 180%, rewards being issued...]

[You gained 1.8 billion Experience Points!]

[You gained the specialties "Legendary Equipment Master", "Steven's Casting Insights"!]

[You gained the milestone "Danerlo Legendary Battle"!]

[You gained the skills "Limit Breaking Enhancement", "Steven's Meteoric Fire Meteor"!]

...

[Specialty "Legendary Equipment Master": Your technique in using extraordinary equipment and tools has reached its peak. When using equipment and tools, power increases by 30%, effect duration increases by 30%, cooldown time increases by 30%, ignoring the precondition of using extraordinary equipment and tools below legendary level]

[Specialty "Steven's Casting Insights": Insights and reflections of "Magic Machinery Master" Steven Brueg over the years in creating extraordinary equipment, also includes many unique casting techniques of Steven himself!]

[Milestone "Danerlo Legendary Battle": The legendary battle outside Danerlo Port City ended in complete victory for Lis Kain, marking another Legendary Strongman's emergence on the stage of the Fanor Continent. Reward: Continent Legend Level +1!]

[Skill "Limit Breaking Enhancement": When using extraordinary equipment and tools, increases damage done by equipment and tools by 100% as at the cost of damage, for 10 seconds.

(Note: Extraordinary equipment and tools below Legendary Level cannot be repaired after "Limit Breaking Enhancement" effect takes place)]

[Skill "Steven's Meteoric Fire Meteor": Exclusive spell of Legendary Mage Steven Kruger, summons fire meteors at enemies based on consumed magic power, each meteor causing (5000 + 50% Intelligence Attribute) damage, with a chance of inflicting additional 100% crush damage (based on Intelligence and Strength gap)]

-----------------

Lis glanced at his system panel at the gains from the legendary battle, nodding with satisfaction.

The rewards are really not bad!

Although he didn't get Steven's unique specialties, since Steven was also a Legendary Mage, the benefits gained this time were very aligned with Lis's abilities.

The specialty "Legendary Equipment Master" was likely the core ability supporting Steven's incessant use of extraordinary equipment and tools, which made Lis unable to do anything in the previous battle at first.

And that was with Steven's complete defense, so in frontal combat, it could be even more useful, which was quite a nice enhancement for Lis, making it the most valuable gain this time.

The specialty "Steven's Casting Insights" represents Steven's insights in creating extraordinary equipment, which was one of the most precious pieces of extraordinary knowledge held by Steve, and also included the opponent's casting skills and insights, which are quite useful for Lis.

Furthermore, it seems that this guy should also have insights into making extraordinary tools. We'll see if there's an opportunity to get that later.

The milestone "Danerlo Legendary Battle" is quite reasonable, just like before, giving Lis a bit more Continent Legend Level.

The skills "Limit Breaking Enhancement" and "Steven's Meteoric Fire Meteor" are also useful, as they are likely part of Steven's combat technique set, though now all possessed by Lis.

Besides that, the half-god artifact "Nicolo's Hope" was somewhat unexpected for Lis.

Being able to withstand the blast of Elemental Divine Power and remain intact suggests it is indeed valuable.

However, after examining this golden ring, Lis couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

This half-god artifact "Nicolo's Hope" is almost entirely damaged, with only 2 out of the 7 equipment effects remaining usable.

It's not much different from a space ring now.

Since it's a remnant of the demigod mage Nicolo Berg and not a half-god artifact created by a divine being dividing its power, even if the ring was intact, it would still be ordinary among half-god artifacts.

However...

Lis toyed with the ring in his hand, finding it could further familiarize him with the operation of divine power, as well as allow him to absorb more knowledge regarding casting.

Moreover, although most of the extraordinary equipment and tools in the ring were consumed by Steven during the battle, a significant amount of extraordinary materials were left, presumably collected by Steven, whereas there were relatively few gold coins.

Not bad!

Lis unreservedly confiscated the ring, then grabbed Steven and headed back to the Sky City.

Since he had captured Steven, all of the opponent's belongings were his spoils of war.

...

No one knows how much time had passed before Steven regained consciousness.

But soon he wished to fall back into unconsciousness, as the excruciating pain from every part of his body was somewhat exaggerated, as if every cell, every muscle, and every bone was groaning.

This time, seduced by the allure of the Floating City, he recklessly fell into Lis's hands.

Now slightly awake, Steven noticed he was lying on a soft big bed, but his limbs... three limbs were locked with chains made of magic power, and he couldn't mobilize his magic power at all.

"Awake?"

A somewhat familiar voice came from in front of him. Steven struggled to lift his head and saw Lis sitting on a chair, smiling at him.

"I lost, huh~"

Feeling somewhat dejected, Steven lay on the bed like a salted fish.

Lis looked at Steven and smiled, saying:

"How do you feel? Admitted defeat yet?"

"...No."

Steven replied stubbornly, but though he had been subdued by Lis, he couldn't lose verbally.

That's his life mantra!

"Oh?"

"Still not admitting defeat?"

Lis smiled at the lazy Steven, not surprised at all.

In communication with Steven among players from the previous generation, it was already apparent that this guy was something of a shut-in like Risa, with a bit of a screw loose.

Aside from creating extraordinary equipment and tools, his only proactive action was an attempt to seize Risa's Azela Floating City.

He not only failed miserably but also suffered a great deal!

Strictly speaking, his attempt to take over the Floating City was merely in pursuit of a more comfortable lair.

"Originally, if you admitted defeat and behaved, I wouldn't have minded letting you stay in the Floating City..."

Lis said regretfully.

Upon hearing this, Steven immediately perked up.

"I give up, I give up!"

What life mantra?

I never had one!