Eve killed three of the four clay soldiers, leaving only one. “Let's see... Come closer.” The clay soldier walked toward.

“I don't need energy to survive, I can't even use it to heal. On the other hand,” Eve closed his eyes as he placed his palm on the clay soldier. Then, he channeled all of his energy into the clay soldiers—POP!

Eve flinched, frowning as he felt clay splatter all over him. ‘It’s doable,’ he thought. Before the clay soldier exploded, he felt its capacity stretching like a balloon.

‘One more time,’ Eve then tried to summon one clay soldier, but two were summoned instead. Eve noted it in the back of his mind before killing the excess clay soldier.

Placing his palm on the remaining clay soldier, he slowly channeled raw energy into its body. Feeling the energy about to flood over, Eve frowned, trying to hold the rampaging of violent energy.

‘It’s expanding,’ Eve briefly scanned the clay soldier's body, and although it looked bloated, it hadn't reached its breaking point yet. ‘Careful…’

The wind blew from the south, carrying brown leaves that would decay on the ground as Eve spent an hour staying still.

“Good,” Eve breathed out, having run out of raw energy. Looking at the clay soldier, it looked too stiff to move as if its body became rock, yet at the same time it moved like a ballerina when he ordered it to.

“Punch me,” Eve raised his hand, showing his palm to his soldier.. The clay soldier did the same and—PA!

Eve groaned, feeling as though his shoulder was going to melt.

“Enough.”

Massaging his shoulder in pain, he grinned. ‘It’s as strong as me,’ he thought.

“Try merging with me,” Eve said and the clay soldier obeyed. As their hands touched, Eve felt a torrent of warm energy filling every inch of his hand, and then climbing up his arm and entering his torso.

“Urgh—” Eve clutched his shoulder, but to no avail. The clay soldier was absorbed into his hand, and the warm energy wrecked his body like a snake slithering under his skin, tightening around his muscles and shattering his bones.

“Ha,” he gasped, watching as gray vapor exited his mouth. Quickly, he shut his mouth and eyes. ‘This isn't raw energy anymore.’

Focusing on the invasive energy, he tried guiding it, like holding a snake gently to appease it, keep it from crushing and rating itself. His body relaxed, and then tightened, and through the process, the energy slowly merged with every piece of his body instead of running amok like pressurized water through a wobbly hose that was plugged into himself.

“Haaa,” Eve sighed in relief. Raising his hand, he felt like he himself looked like a rock man, if they existed. “I can't summon clay soldiers in this form.”

If he wanted to summon one, he needed more raw energy. “But this is nice,” Eve hopped, jumping higher than he planned. Stomping on the ground, a deep impression was formed as though someone hammered the soil tens of times.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I'm not certain, but it should be twice my original strength,” Eve smirked, when blue energy started manifesting next to him. Felix spoke.

[It's down to the last two hundred players, Eve,] he said. During their second hour, while they did hide and snuck around most of the time, they didn't fear the weaker players that they ran into.

They ran into two players, both of which had no legendary card.

Unfortunately, Eve couldn't kill them as they ran when their Unique Card went on cooldown. Likewise, Eve let them be as he ran out of stamina.

‘If only raw energy could be changed into stamina or physical energy,’ Eve sighed. Thankfully, they weren't penalized as they didn't run.

[After thirty minutes, only 100 players should remain. At that time, the chaos would begin.]

Eve clenched his fists, feeling out his newfound ability. “Just elaborate, stop being mysterious,” he said with a wave on his arm.

[Erm, well, the world would've shrunken ao much that all the remaining players can see each other.]

Eve nodded, when all of a sudden the ground beneath him broke open. Eve looked down—but then a spike shot out!

[Eve!]

Eve cursed, grabbing the spike and the side of his body. With the spike hitting him square in the abdomen, he couldn't do much.

‘A clay body shouldn't feel pain!’ Eve gritted his teeth, grabbing the side of his abdomen and then—SHHRK!

He tore the side of his body, freeing himself from the spike. Seeing the surface of the spike distorting, Eve growled and jumped off, just in time for another protrusion to nearly impale him!

“Who's there?!” Eve looked around and saw another avatar. The avatar was gold-colored. Eve opened his mouth when the ground beneath the avatar started turning into lava.

‘This feeling,’ Eve thought in horror, feeling as though the sun was rapidly descending from the sky. He didn't even notice that his torn abdomen was healing rapidly, though his strength was decreasing back to his normal state.

“Creanous!” Eve yelled, summoning two clay soldiers and merging with them instinctively. He didn't even feel any strain, only his rapidly beating heart and his boiling blood.

ROAAAR!!!

Eve held his breath, feeling like his body was being dragged down by the roar. The earth shook, cracks appearing on the ground as a gigantic head tore through the molten ground. Its scales glowed crimson, its reptilian blood-red eyes burning with fury and golden flames as he roared in rage at the sky!

“God Fenrir,” the dragon turned to look at the golden avatar, his voice heavy and deep like a bass. “Why have you summoned me again?!” The dragon spat a flood of fiery breath, engulfing the avatar and the ground but otherwise not doing any harm to it.

Seeing everything get engulfed in flames, Eve chuckled helplessly.

[Crimson Dragon, kill that legendary card,] Fenrir, the golden avatar, said, and suddenly, the crimson dragon head turned to look at Eve.

“How… dare you… command me…” The crimson dragon tried to glare at Fenrir but couldn't turn away from Eve. Seeing the mighty dragon head struggling against some unknown bindings, Eve burst into laughter.

“Creanous, You look like a dog!”

“YOU?! KEEP THAT BASTARD'S NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!!!” The Crimson Dragon bellowed, spitting out a torrent of fire that engulfed Eve. Eve tore off his grin and curled like a shrimp on the ground, helpless against the flames. Choking back his screams, he felt his body hardening and rapidly going numb.

Eve opened his eyes, stumbling on his feet as his body wobbled. No, it was like his strength suddenly disappeared. Looking up, he saw a rock filled with cracks and a dozen kneeling clay soldiers.

“I… didn't die?” Eve patted his body but found himself in one piece. Looking at the clay soldiers, he had an idea.

“You two, merge,” he pointed, but as two clay soldiers tried hugging each other, nothing happened.

Frowning, he closed his eyes and tried feeling the raw energy inside his body.

‘It’s gone.’

He breathed deeply. “Sapphire?” Eve called out, looking at the sky. Nothing happened.

“...Felix?”

Nothing happened.

“Ha-ha-ha,” grinning to himself, he yelled aloud. “Was it all an illusion?!”

Clutching his head, he fell to his knees, feeling as though the whole world was spinning in a circle.

“Is it a god of illusion?!” He yelled. Gasping for air, his mind felt cool and his thoughts cleared up before they went awry.

Breathing slowly, he stood up and placed his hands on the rock. “I’m back…”

Eve smiled, his eyes wide open. Gripling the rock—CRUMBLE…

As pieces of rock fell to his feet—BANG!

A punch shattered the rock, sending dust and debris all over the small clearing.

“I'll be back,” Eve stood up straight. “I'll play your games, and I'll ruin it.”

+

[GAME OVER]

Felix sighed. “Another loss, I'm done for.”

He leaned back on the chair, when another prompt appeared on his screen.

[Notice: The last Legendary Card has been chosen.]

[Notice: —]

[Notice: —]

“Hm? Did the game bug?” Felix frowned, leaning toward his monitor. All of a sudden, his chair started vibrating and a faint rumbling filled his ears.

He squinted, and the apartment he lived in started to shake!

“An earthquake?!”

Through his wireless headphones, a robotic voice echoed in his head.

[Humans of Earth, Domination—]

Felix tore his headphones off and stood up, only to slam on the wall as the building shook violently—BOOOM!

[—Begins.]