Xavier wasn’t stupid.

At least, he liked to think he wasn’t.

Facing down four D Grade Denizens when you were only E Grade—and low E Grade at that—made it seem as though he had an absolute death wish. And the more he thought about it, standing across from them, the more he wondered if he was making a grave mistake by not intending to escape.

Defeating the Lord of the Endless Horde had been something impossible. Doing this… Well, it sounded even more impossible.

But he’d gained a lot since he’d faced the Lord of the Endless Horde. For one, he’d gained all of the titles defeating the lord had given him—titles that no one else in the entire Greater Universe had ever achieved.

Then there were the tower titles. The title for returning home before any other Champion from Earth except the other members of his party. And, of course, his most recent dungeon titles.

Then there’s the fact that levels aren’t everything. Isn’t that what being a True Progenitor is all about? Being powerful beyond one’s level?

The problem was, even with all that, he had no idea if he would stand a chance against these enemies.

God, I wish I had some way to measure just how powerful they were, not just their level.

Unfortunately, there was no magic formula to this.

All he could do was start fighting and hope he was strong enough.

The man in the silver robes tilted his head back and laughed. “You’re warning us?” He wiped a tear from his cheek. “Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve had a good laugh.” His expression changed, turning blank. “But I haven’t got time for your jokes, not when I have to clean up the mess you’ve made.”

All four D Grade Denizens were poised and ready to attack. Their muscles were as taut as a bowstring about to be loosed. The portal-maker whimpered weakly. Xavier almost felt bad for the woman.

Almost.

Before they could all attack, Xavier moved, doing several things simultaneously. He sent a mental command to the two soul puppets he’d animated. They moved fast—faster than he’d expected—but not fast enough to matter to a D Grade. Not that he’d thought they would do them any harm. He just wanted them to be a distraction.

With a push from Heavy Telekinesis, Xavier threw the portal-maker straight at the man in the silver robes. As he couldn’t have the woman creating any portals and interfering with the fight, he took her head off as she flew forward.

Xavier Soul Stepped to one of the dead archers. In the same instant as he materialised, he cast Spirit Break and Core Burn on the gladiator-woman, as she was the lowest level of all four of them. God, he wished he was able to use Willpower Infusion. That spell had been the main reason he’d been able to kill the Lord of the Endless Horde in the first place. Without it… this fight would be a hell of a lot harder.

Maybe I can find the device cutting that spell off.

His spells hit. Agony was unleashed on the woman’s face. Which took him by surprise. Spirit Break had actually worked against her. He hadn’t even infused any souls into the attack—he wanted to test his spells before enhancing them.

The spell cut straight through her defences, just like he knew it would. He saw the woman move as though to clutch her stomach with the hand holding her shield, but through gritted teeth she seemed to resist the urge.

Core Burn’s going to wear off, fast. Too much to hope it would be strong enough to kill a D Grade Denizen in one go…

The moment he’d cast the spells, several things happened at once.

The soul puppets he’d created were destroyed. The man in the silver robes cast a spell on them, something Xavier hadn’t seen before. It appeared to boil them alive before they exploded into… nothing, as though they’d been ripped apart at an atomic level.

Two arrows were already soaring his way from the woman wielding the bow, her face still the picture of absolute rage. Apparently, this woman had cared deeply for her subordinates, something which he’d take a moment to admire if he weren’t in the middle of a life and death battle.

He slipped out of the way of the arrows.

At least, he tried to.

One clipped his robes, slicing straight through them. Another got him straight in the foot, pinning him to the roof and stopping him from moving.

The gladiator woman and the hammer-wielding tank man sprinted and barrelled toward him respectively. They were fast. Faster than he’d expected. The gladiator loosed a war cry, the hammer-wielder a loud shout.

Another set of dual arrows were already nocked in the archer’s bow and the silver-robed mage was now facing Xavier, his metal staff aglow with power—ready to cast the atom splitting spell on him, no doubt.

I need to get some breathing room.

Though Xavier was unable to sense the auras of any of the enemies he’d encountered on this world, what he could sense were people’s souls—at least, after those people had died, and their souls were sitting inside their corpses free for the taking.

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He could see the souls even through the walls and floor of the fortress he stood upon, the small points of white light hovering in the distance. Each one of them was an escape route. Somewhere to which he could teleport himself if he should wish.

A small, whispering part of his mind told him this would be the perfect opportunity for him to run. That if he could make it down there, away from the party of D Grades, then he could make home, too.

But he’d already committed to this fight.

To create some distance between himself and his enemies, he Soul Stepped down to one of the soldiers he’d killed down on the battlefield.

He winced, hissing as he looked down at his injured foot. The damned arrow was still through it, but he’d left the arrowhead behind, still stuck inside the stone of the roof.

Xavier was getting rather familiar with pulling arrows out of him. He yanked this one out with his free hand and dodged to the left.

Thunk, thunk!

Another two arrows had been loosed at him. The archer had gained knowledge of his position and re-aimed her shot incredibly fast. He hadn’t even realised why he was dodging until the arrows already passed him by.

Evasion has reached Rank 12!

A moment later, all four D Grade Denizens were standing on the battlefield. They’d teleported down, and the silver-robed man’s metal staff was glowing white. The same white light glowed around every member of the party, slowly dissipating.

Does he have some sort of group teleport ability? Just my damned luck…

Xavier teleported away again, flicking a swift glance at his soul keeping threshold, which he’d put in the top right corner. With the rank ups he’d been gaining in the Soul Shatter spell—he’d taken it from Rank 25 to Rank 35 during the battle on the ground, simply because he’d been facing enemies in the E Grade—and in the Soul Puppet spell, which had only gained a few ranks, he’d boosted his soul keeping threshold.

He’d also gained a few ranks in Soul Strike when he’d used it against the amassed soldiers when he’d first arrived, bringing it up to Rank 55. It was the first time in a long time that the spell had actually ranked up. While his skills had heavily ranked up in the fight against the Lord of the Endless Horde, his spells hadn’t, something which had irked him for a while.

No, that’s not true. Willpower Infusion gained tons of ranks against him; it was just my other spells that didn’t. Maybe because Willpower Infusion was the only spell that really harmed him.

Another reason for him to find the device that was cutting off his ability to use that spell—it was, after all, his highest ranked, most powerful asset against people like this.

And his higher ranked spells never ranked up against the weaker foes he’d been facing back in the tower or on Earth.

Now’s my opportunity to really move forward. Assuming I actually survive, of course.

With the ranks he’d gained in Soul Shatter, Soul Puppet, and Soul Strike, his soulkeeping threshold was now at 2,410—and it was full. He’d been replenishing as he’d fought, not bothering to use Soul Harden with any souls left in reserve, as the spell hadn’t moved since Rank 50 either.

Which meant he still had a few thousand dead enemies on the battlefield with souls that hadn’t been consumed. Batteries for his power—or escape routes with Soul Step—scattered over the grass.

“That’s right, you weakling fool,” came a sing-song voice, “keep running!” It was the silver-robed man’s voice that called out. He had a broad smile on his face. He tilted his head back and laughed.

“I’m plenty good with a moving target!” the archer yelled, rage still lining her voice.

Thud, thud, thud.

Three arrows lodged themselves into the ground where Xavier had been but a fraction of a second ago. Where they landed were now just small holes left in the dirt, as though they’d tunnelled straight down to the centre of the world.

Where is that damned device?

Xavier sprinted across the battlefield, evading one attack after the other. A few times, when he glanced back, he saw parts of where he’d just been utterly destroyed. The very ground had been taken away, leaving nothing more than a crater behind.

Xavier hated running away from an enemy, but it was all a part of his plan. It wasn’t a good plan, mind, but it was the only one that he had. As he ran, his gaze panned around the battlefield. To his pursuers, it would look as though he was trying to find a way to escape.

Good. Let them think I’m running scared. It will make them less sure of my power. Less likely to take me seriously.

He’d been underestimated before, by the Lord of the Endless Horde, and the man had paid with his life for it.

As he ran, he cast Soul Puppet, raising more and more of the corpses around him. As Soul Puppet used a soul from his reserve, he could cast it on a corpse that he’d already harvested a soul from—which meant every corpse here was a potential meat shield.

Xavier tried to cast Willpower Infusion. It was blocked again, just like he knew it would be. He felt a sharp twinge in his head, something he hadn’t felt before, as though a warning telling him not to use the spell.

Where did that warning come from?

As arrows fell around him, and craters formed behind him—the silver-robed man’s atom-destroying spell, no doubt—Xavier concentrated. He could hear his soul puppets being ripped to shreds, taken down with arrows, or turned to less than dust. And he could hear the thud, thud of heavy boots and light shoes. The tank and the gladiator respectively, trying to engage him in melee.

He could also hear the frustration in their breath. He was proving to be more difficult than they’d expected, wasn’t he?

That made him grin.

All the while, he attempted to cast Willpower Infusion again. Felt that twinge of pain, though this time it was more of a stab.

Each time he tried to cast the spell the pain intensified—but each time, he felt as though he was able to peer through it, to pinpoint where the block was coming from.

Perhaps these devices aren’t as powerful as they seem, if they can be detected…

The tenth time he’d cast the spell he finally felt where it was. A smile bloomed on his face, but in his distraction he failed to evade another arrow that had been coming his way. It slammed straight into the back of his knee so hard that he went straight down, slamming into the grass beneath him.

Xavier swore within his mind. He’d grown too complacent. Evading their attacks had become more like a game to him, that grin even forming on his face as he’d ran. He’d gotten so used to facing opponents weaker than him that he’d taken these ones for granted.

I shouldn’t have done that.

The instant he hit the ground he used Soul Step. Or rather, he tried to use Soul Step.

You have been afflicted with an Anti-Teleportation Status Effect. You will not be able to teleport or travel through a portal for one minute.

Xavier’s eyes widened. He rolled sharply to the left, just as a warhammer had been about to slam into his spine.

Evasion has reached Rank 15!

The warhammer slammed into the ground instead. The pain in his leg was intense, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from standing. He could already feel the wound healing, even if it was healing around the arrow.

A full minute?

Xavier had never encountered a spell like that before. He hadn’t even known they could exist! Not only did it stop him from teleporting around the battlefield, it also stopped him from going through a portal.

Even if I wanted to escape, it’s no longer an option.

Xavier now knew exactly where the device was. He could feel it. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was able to feel it, but attempting to use his Willpower Infusion spell over and over again had paid off.

The only problem was, he wasn’t sure how the hell he was going to get to it.