Chizuru Ginbai, who had been in a state of delirious ecstasy just moments before, drooling over Lin Ran with a "haha" sound, now appeared somewhat dazed and pale.
"What's wrong? You look a bit off…"
"Don't tell me you're worried those Heroic Spirits and Dragon Souls will just beat Lin Ran to death?" Tanaka Kenko said, feigning lightness.
Chizuru Ginbai's face was still quite pale. Though he opened his mouth, before speaking, he shot Tanaka Kenko a look, as if he didn't want to explain anything to him.
But whether it was to say something to stabilize morale, distract himself, or find an excuse, he reluctantly responded to Tanaka Kenko's words:
"Oh? Why? Can't you tell?"
"Didn't I just tell you?"
"The beings shrouded in these ancient and mysterious presences are all imbued with the power of the setting!"
"In the original setting, Lin Ran couldn't even dream of causing damage to the Heroic Spirits like he just did – though it wasn't much, it was still damage."
"This is fundamentally a violation of the setting!"
Tanaka Kenko was speechless:
"It was just a tiny bit of damage, why the big fuss?"
"Lin Ran transformed with that Golden Dragon bloodline and pulled out a highly offensive weapon…"
"If he deals a little damage, he deals a little damage. It's not like you expected him to defeat Lin Ran without him even losing a drop of blood, right? That's just wishful thinking…"
"As much as I'd like that, my sanity hasn't completely left me!"
Chizuru Ginbai was already in a bad mood, and hearing Tanaka Kenko's words, his face immediately darkened. He pulled at his cheeks and said:
"Do you even understand?!"
"You idiot! A rotten and stinking old man, you don't understand what I'm saying at all!"
"The important thing isn't how much damage Lin Ran dealt, but that he *dealt* damage!"
"Dealing damage means he broke through the power of the setting, proving he possesses something that can break through this power! That's the key!"
Seeing Chizuru Ginbai like this, Tanaka Kenko felt a sense of unease from events exceeding expectations, but he secretly relished it.
He was quite pleased to see this woman from the Shrine Maiden organization, who had always been so arrogant, forcefully interfering with the competition through connections and insisting on being the host, humbled.
However, considering they were currently united against a common front, Tanaka Kenko pretended to patiently inquire further:
"So? And then what? It doesn't make much of a difference, does it?"
"And if I recall correctly, you previously said that kind of power of setting…"
"'Cannot be countered, cannot be eliminated, forever existing…'"
"'They are the rule-makers, the masters of the universe! The most mysterious and great beings in the entire world!' right?"
"How could such a terrifying existence be bothered by Lin Ran?"
Although his initial intention was to comfort Chizuru Ginbai slightly, his dislike for the woman caused his words to turn mocking as they left his mouth.
Chizuru Ginbai's face turned even uglier, his eyes blazing with anger that threatened to incinerate Tanaka Kenko:
"Are you deliberately picking a fight?!"
"I did say that power cannot be countered, but that's in relation to other, different powers."
"If the opponent also possesses this power, can't it be achieved through accumulating quantity?"
"Sometimes I really wonder how an old man who spouts such idiotic remarks managed to reach such a high rank!"
Upon hearing Chizuru Ginbai's blunt verbal abuse, Tanaka Kenko not only didn't get angry but stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
He's flustered, he's flustered!
Since Chizuru Ginbai was so agitated, and he didn't intend to completely fall out with the Shrine Maiden organization, he naturally chose not to pour more fuel on the fire.
Anyway, he had enjoyed himself enough…
Turning back to the arena.
Lin Ran, now realizing the immense power of these Heroic Spirits, did not continue to be complacent like Gilgamesh. He decisively proceeded to merge his divine artifacts again!
This time, however, he excluded True Gae Bolg from the fusion and instead made the Blade of Undead Slaughter his primary weapon.
With its special attribute of "power to negate immortality," it was undoubtedly the best weapon against these Heroic Spirits and Dragon Souls!
Eat my scythe!
The moment the divine artifact fusion was complete, Lin Ran, whose aura had been raised to its limit, achieving his "strongest state in normal form," launched an attack on one of the Heroic Spirits nearby.
The specific appearance of this Heroic Spirit was obscured by the mysterious mist surrounding it.
The only thing visible was that the weapon it wielded was a long spear.
*Buzz!*
Their weapons clashed, meeting head-on.
However, the sound produced was quite strange, not at all like the clang of metal. It sounded more like the vibration of a special container.
This was understandable, as the opponent's weapon was also formed from soul matter, not belonging to the category of conventional weapons…
What surprised Lin Ran even more, however, was that the special effect of his Golden Dragon Spear's artifact spirit had failed at this moment!
After absorbing the artifact spirit of the Golden Dragon Spear, all weapons Lin Ran used could inherit the absorption effect from the Golden Dragon Spear.
But for some reason, it was now ineffective against the Heroic Spirit before him…
Therefore, his Rinnegan's direct absorption likely wouldn't work either.
Damn it! This is really strange!
Even though they were in soul form, they were not afraid of this move.
Shouldn't they be the most afraid of this?!
Then, how would other skills that were highly effective against soul forms fare?
Tsukuyomi!
As the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun, Lin Ran launched a mental assault on the Heroic Spirit.
But Tsukuyomi, which usually provided instant feedback on success or failure, also yielded no response this time, neither positive nor negative…
This was also useless?
The resistance of these Heroic Spirits was truly frighteningly tenacious…
After Lin Ran completed these actions, the attacks of the remaining six Heroic Spirits also arrived.
Coupled with the two Dragon Souls, one blue and one green, in the air, the offensive had considerable momentum.
Although the effect of Observation Haki was significantly weakened compared to when facing others, Lin Ran, relying on his quick reflexes and the not entirely ineffective Observation Haki, managed to dodge their combined assault and retreated backward once more.
Fine, if fancy techniques wouldn't work, then he would just have to shatter them through sheer, solid strength!