The battlefield was once more a scene of utter chaos. The five parties of D Grades that had come had been turned into a scattered mess as the Spirit of Vengeance tore into them.
The massive ethereal dragon swooped down from on high and sunk its sword-long teeth into the body of a mage who’d been standing too far ahead of the pack.
The woman’s screams were muffled by the dragon’s roar, but Xavier could hear them. The screams were cut off as the Spirit of Vengeance’s jaw clamped down and she was ripped in two.
The dragon, being some kind of spirit, was somewhat translucent, meaning Xavier could see every detail of the woman being bitten in half.
What have I unleashed?
You have defeated a Level 225 Human Violet Storm Mage!
You have gained 350 Mastery Points (D Grade).
Congratulations, you have reached Level 107
Your health has been regenerated by 70%!
Your Spirit Energy (E Grade) limit has increased by 30!
You have received +10 Strength, +10 Toughness, +10 speed, +15 Intelligence, +15 Willpower, and +20 Spirit.
You have received +40 free stat points!
All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown!
Another level? That’s insane!
Once more, Xavier felt the rush of new attribute points flooding in, and with it, another rush—the rush of battle. Like he hadn’t felt since he’d been facing the Endless Horde.
Men and women were panicking after the first death, and the second death only made their panic worse. Xavier was using that panic to his advantage. Or trying to. Each party looked to be rather traditional in the way it had been put together—every single one of them had a tank, and a few of them had healers, unlike that first party that he’d encountered.
The panic hadn’t lasted long.
Though these Denizens had been taken by surprise, they were still professionals, fighters who likely had decades of battle experience. It would take more than the death of two of their own to ruin their resolve.
The tanks were making a line, tower shields raised, their respective barrier spells activating. But he could see that their faces were pale. He could see that each one of them was holding back their fear.
Before everyone was protected by the barriers, Xavier had cast Willpower Infusion as he ducked an arrow whistling over his head, and dodged a fireball that threatened to engulf him in fiery pain. Less attacks had been aimed his way since the Spirit of Vengeance, that massive ethereal dragon from the Otherworld, had arrived, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still coming.
As of yet, the D Grades hadn’t figured out a way to actually damage the dragon.
Xavier now had three of the D Grade enemies under his control. His hold on them was tenuous at best. It would likely only last few a couple of seconds. But those few seconds would be enough.
As the last of the barriers rose, Xavier had those he controlled attack. A woman who looked like some sort of samurai slammed her curved sword into the back of one of the tanks. It wasn’t enough to kill the man, but it sowed the seed of chaos back amongst the enemies ranks, setting fear and confusion back into them once more.
Another cast an Ice Lock spell on one of their comrades—much like the spell that was currently hindering Xavier’s movement, making those ducks and dodges all the more difficult.
The last Denizen was an archer. He had her loose her arrows at the same tank who’d been attacked by the samurai, further weakening the man.
“Stop this madness!” one of the tanks shouted, and Xavier couldn’t help but recognise the voice. It was the man who’d called out to him to surrender. “His Imperial High—”
The man’s shouts were cut off by the Spirit of Vengeance’s roar as the dragon swooped down at the barriers. A part of Xavier wanted to just stand there and watch what the beast was about to do, but he had work that needed to be done.
A tank’s barriers were strong protections, ones that did a prodigious job at protecting those they fought with, but they weren’t protective against everything.
Few things could stop soul damage from doing its work, and Xavier’s reserve was still close to full. He didn’t know how much damage he would be able to truly cause against these people, but now that he had the chance…
He cast Soul Strike on the man who’d been speaking. The man who appeared to be their leader. For a moment, he hadn’t even thought to use Soul Strike. He’d already used it, against the silver-robed mage, and it should have still been on cooldown.
But he’d gained several levels since then, and each level had reset his cooldowns, meaning he didn’t need to worry about that at all. He’d been so used to not gaining levels lately, that fact had fallen away from being second nature.
He checked his timer—nine seconds remaining.
Time flies. And it’s almost time for me to go.
Bolts of white lightning shot froth from Charon’s Scythe. Xavier hadn’t held back. With his soul keeping reserve being almost full but for the Soul Blocks he’d used since these new D Grades had appeared, he’d put two thousand souls into the attack.
And he’d aimed the attack at a single target.
A single soul apparition appeared, an amalgamation of all the souls he’d taken, a twisted visage of a human Denizen. It charged through the air, directly at the tank. The man who was no doubt their leader.
The man held his ground, grit his teeth, a look of rage etched upon his face, eyes boring into Xavier.
Then the soul apparition hit. It went straight through the barrier. Two thousand souls, and over nine thousand points in Spirit. The strongest Soul Strike he’d ever used.
The damage made the man take a step back. Made his eyes widen in fear. He fell to his knees.
But he did not die.
The bastard is tougher than he looks.
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The Spirit of Vengeance slammed into the barrier. Though the beast was in some way incorporeal, it was apparently solid enough to bite into its enemies.
And solid enough to be stopped by one of the barriers.
The dragon raged. It opened its mouth in another massive roar that drowned out all noise except for its own, then it faced its maw at the barrier. Something glowed at its throat. A mixture of red and blue. Then two streams shot forth from its mouth. A gout of fire and a beam of ice. They slammed into the barrier, and Xavier saw the barrier flicker.
It wouldn’t last much longer.
Xavier glanced back at the doorway. He wanted to stay. Watch the fight. Keep killing D Grades. Keep gaining levels. But every second he spent here was another second the enemy might decide to send in more reinforcements.
Or worse. They might send a Denizen strong enough to put him down in a split second. These people had been tasked with taking him alive, to be judged by the emperor—or at least, that’s what they appeared to want him to surrender for.
But they would only have so much patience, especially if he kept on killing them.
Xavier gritted his teeth. He abandoned the battle. Running from a fight wasn’t in his nature. He was a hell of a lot better at running toward fights, even ones he had no right winning.
But sometimes doing the right thing feels wrong, but you have to do it anyway.
Xavier released a growl of frustration, then he turned and ran for the archway. An itch on the back of his neck made him dodge to the left. His back was still stiff from the ice spell he’d been hit by, and his leg still felt like it weighed a ton, but that didn’t stop him from being fast enough to get out of the way—he’d exhausted his soul keeping reserve, now, and couldn’t use Soul Block.
An arrow whistled by his ear.
He leapt, made it through the archway. He should be out of the line of fire—
Xavier gasped. Pain engulfed him. For a moment, he didn’t understand what was happening, then he looked down and found a blade sticking out through his belly. A curved blade. The mental control that he’d had over the samurai had snapped.
She must have teleported to me.
Xavier felt as though he couldn’t breathe. Like he was suffocating. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself off the blade, grunting in pain. The wound hurt, but he’d been through worse. Endured worse.
Your health is at 50%.
What? 50%!
It had been a long while since he’d taken so much damage. The roar of the dragon was still as loud as ever. Perhaps it had drowned out the noise of the woman’s arrival. His Evasion skill hadn’t done a damned thing—he hadn’t received any gut warning for the attack at all.
Something tells me I’m not going to be able to outrun a teleporter.
He needed to get down to the basement, or dungeon, or whatever the hell they called the place where the portal was at the bottom of this fortress.
Xavier threw a look over his shoulder. The woman was directly behind him, running faster than he was, and about to stick him with her sword once more.
His health was already regenerating, but he knew it wouldn’t regenerate fast enough. He could survive one more hit, assuming that was her most powerful attack, but then he’d be far, far too close to death.
With a flick of his scythe-staff he cast Heavy Telekinesis on the woman. The spell flung her backward. She shouted in frustration as she flew back through the archway. He glimpsed the barriers beyond. It looked as though the Spirit of Vengeance was almost through them.
But something was wrong—the spirit had faded. Though it had always been translucent, now it was getting harder and harder to see.
It must be losing its connection to this world. The spell can only last so long, and when it fails…
For the first time since the D Grades had come through the portal, Xavier felt true fear overtake him. A shiver ran up his spine. Fingers grasped his heart. He’d been playing a very dangerous came. Balancing on a knife’s edge, fighting this many D Grades.
He knew they’d be able to damage him, he just hadn’t realised by how much.
This game is even more dangerous than I’d thought.
That woman’s attack had eaten away half of his health.
Half!
He had to get the hell out of there. Had to get back to Earth.
I think they’ve gotten the message. And if I spend any longer here, I’m definitely going to die.
And so he ran. Bolted down the hall. Fast as his stiff shoulders and heavy leg could take him. Every moment he could he sent a Heavy Telekinesis behind him. He didn’t know if anyone was there. Didn’t know if it was helping. But it made him feel slightly reassured.
When he reached the stairwell, he felt a bit safer with walls on either side of him, less exposed to the enemy.
He remembered the way through here perfectly, and it was just a matter of backtracking until he made it to the portal.
God, I hope that portal is still open. If they’ve closed it…
But no, he couldn’t think on that. If they’d closed it, he would make one of his own, even if it meant leaving a Portal Stone behind.
It would be worth it to save my life. And besides, either way I need to keep running.
You have defeated a Level 230 Human XXXX!
You have gained 400 Mastery Points (D Grade).
Congratulations, you have reached Level 108
Your health has been regenerated by 70%!
Your Spirit Energy (E Grade) limit has increased by 30!
You have received +10 Strength, +10 Toughness, +10 speed, +15 Intelligence, +15 Willpower, and +20 Spirit.
You have received +40 free stat points!
All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown!
XXXX? Xavier thought. Why won’t it better show their class?
The Spirit of Vengeance must have finally broken through that barrier. Xavier grinned at gaining another level. He felt reinvigorated. The pain from the attack he’d just endured was gone.
The part of him that loved the thrill of the fight, that craved a challenge, that was addicted to the feeling of gaining more and more levels, wanted him to stop running. To turn around. To keep fighting.
Think of all the levels I’d gain, if only I were able to kill all of them!
But he silenced that part. Once he returned to Earth, ensured it was safe, he could finally build up the fighters there. He could gain more first-clear titles from dungeons.
And he could venture out, to other worlds, to train on them in… less dangerous situations.
Assuming I know which worlds to go to.
A roar sounded. Close by. For a moment he thought it was the Spirit of Vengeance roaring, but it sounded nothing like that. No. This was something else. It was human, even if it didn’t sound entirely human.
Then a voice rang out, the words clear, “You killed my husband!” He glanced behind him. At the top of the stairwell, a woman stood. The samurai that had ran him through with her sword.
Her husband? Which one had that been?
He shook the thought away, and cast a spell.
Willpower Infusion!
The tendril of purple mist flowed up the stairwell with great speed. It entered into the woman before she had a chance to get away from it, and once more, she was under his control.
Protect me, he said with a mental command.
Then he kept running. On impulse, he dumped 40 of his free attribute points into Speed, and felt the jolt of energy. At the same time, the spell affecting his leg dissipated. The weight lifted. The stiffness in his shoulder, too, disappeared.
He could finally run free.
He was a second away from reaching the large hall where the portal had been.
Almost out of here.
When he turned the corner and reached the hall, the portal stood exactly where it had when he’d arrived. He couldn’t help but feel a great wave of relief at the sight of it. He was almost there.
Almost home.
That’s when he felt something hit him—or rather, leave him. It felt like… a great loss. It took him a split-second to realise what that was.
The Spirit of Vengeance, leaving this world.
He brought up the cooldown information.
Summon Otherworldly Spirit currently has a cooldown of 1 week. It cannot be used for another 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.
One week, Xavier thought. That’s a long time. Assuming I’m not able to gain another level before then.
Which reminded him—he could once again use his Otherworldly Communion spell. In fact, he’d been able to since he’d reached Level 102.
That’ll come in handy. But not here.
He kept sprinting toward the portal. He was a split second away. The timer on that teleportation lock spell was finally gone. How only a minute had passed in that time, he had no clue. His entire concept of how swiftly or slowly time moved had been severely warped by the level of his Speed.
It feels like I’ve been on this planet for hours, not minutes, and I’m E Grade, my lifespan already extended far beyond that of a normal, pre-integrated human. What will it be like when I’ve been alive for thousands of years, and my Speed is unimaginably higher?
Will it feel like millions of years have passed, or will it all happen in a blink of an eye?
Someone appeared directly in front of the portal. Another obstacle.
It was the tank. The one Xavier had assumed was the leader of these people. He’d thought he’d slain this man—thought that had been who the “XXXX” person had been.
But that must have been someone else.
“You will not pass!” The man raised his shield, raised his sword. He looked like a noble knight of old.
Xavier stopped himself from making a Lord of the Rings reference the man would clearly not understand. Instead, he grinned, and didn’t stop running. Looking at the man, the portal right behind him, Xavier knew exactly how he was going to kill him.