Chapter 15: Versus The Gatekeepers (2)

Given Sheathed Pride’s enhanced stat bonuses, it was more advantageous for Blake to disarm the gatekeepers rather than execute them one by one.

In immersive virtual reality, enemies could be subdued through countless methods—several of which Blake could easily perform as a beta tester with nearly two years’ experience beyond what other players had.

As he swept through the gatekeepers, their hollow helmets rattled in his wake, followed by the dull crash of their armored bodies collapsing onto the floor.

Those distant echoes trailed behind him as he darted toward his next targets, drawing crescent-shaped arcs that claimed their heads in a single, fluid motion.

Each slash carved a silver crescent streak accented with a crimson sheen. These luminous arcs hovered briefly above the falling gatekeepers, as though gazing down at them on Blake’s behalf.

This vivid display proved that Blake had been using his katana’s second skill—Crescent Pride (Rare).

Combined with The Executioner’s End Enchantment, this skill transformed Blake into a genuine whirlwind of devastation. He not only annihilated his foes but remained entirely unimpeded.

He managed this feat because he had discerned the mechanics of the hall.

The blue and red lights rippling across the room, along with the strings affixed to the gatekeepers’ helmets, were all interlinked. These lights alternately revealed and concealed the strings, each strand betraying a gatekeeper’s move before its armored shell could fully react to Blake’s approach.

During his very first clash with the gatekeepers, Blake verified his hypothesis by reading these subtle shifts. In the following encounters, he matched each sway to the gatekeepers’ attacks and stances, remembering all patterns.

From that moment forward, Blake not only redirected the gatekeepers’ spears but also provoked those with exposed strings into lunging at him.

After shedding all the rust from his year-long hiatus, Blake no longer needed to abide by the hall’s constraints—he confronted the gatekeepers on his own terms.

“…unbelievable,” Vargar murmured under his breath.

In spite of all the stat boosts, the old dwarf could easily discern the intricate nuances behind Blake’s technique and cunning.

Admiring how adeptly the young player wielded his katana, Vargar analyzed Blake’s approach, which ranged from exploiting the trial’s mechanics to relentlessly testing the gatekeepers’ limits.

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“I have no doubts now,” Vargar said, clenching his hands and grinning broadly as he witnessed the one-sided carnage. “He’s The Supreme Blade, The Main Head of The Cerberus—the one who inflicted the most wounds upon the leviathan a century ago!”

Players were entities that the inhabitants of this world would inevitably have to adapt to—much like the world itself already had.

It would be sheer folly to sever ties with them, and even more so to refuse cooperation.

That said, not every player warranted attention. Despite their endless potential and capacity to return from death, some could never capitalize on those advantages.

Yet the player who had torn through The Lost King’s trial…

<50/51>

…was undeniably someone the world would remember.

Vargar harbored no doubts about that.

“He truly showed me that the third objective is the easiest! Haha!”

No sooner had the old dwarf exclaimed those words than the beacons burst into countless shards, plunging the hall into total darkness. Nothing remained visible, and only the delicate clinking of glassy fragments meeting the floor punctuated the silence.

Sol let out an endearing squeak as the darkness overshadowed his moment of enthusiasm.

Shifting from excited thrashing to a sullen pout, the sun elemental rose to the challenge. He forced his apple-shaped body to radiate even more warm sunlight, chasing away the oppressive darkness.

Blake smiled as he again glimpsed his own hands and the gleam of his katana’s ridge. “Thanks, Sol.”

Sol hummed softly. His eyes, twinkling with pride at having aided his Master, soon dimmed as a surge of blue and red light spilled over them both, cutting his moment short.

Half of the hall now glowed crimson, while the other half was awash in sapphire radiance. Vargar stood within the blue glow, while Blake and Sol remained firmly in the red sector.

“I expected this, considering the counter has stalled at fifty,” Blake said.

<50/51>

A new system message came into view:

A voice swept through the hall:

“The Supreme Archer shall live on!”

A sharp whistle hissed through the air.

BANG!

Out of nowhere, an arrow punched through Blake’s left pauldron, cleaving the steel and slicing into his flesh.

<-104 HP!>

Grinning broadly, his eyes widening with anticipation, Blake murmured, “The Supreme, eh?”