novelraw Chapter 553: Mantle of Death
Chapter 553: Mantle of Death
"If you use your beast's skill on that core, it'll take this bird's form, won't it? Now that is a real treasure," Artemis said.
Luke glanced at the serpent.
"It would be useful having a flying Spectral Beast… but I'd rather use this to strengthen her." He stored the core away. "Once she reaches Rank E, she'll unlock the option to absorb D-Rank cores."
"Still, keep it as backup. You can always replace your serpent form with the bird afterward."
"I thought about that while I was hunting near Camlann, when you stayed with Charlie and Angie. I don't think it works that way. It has to be immediately after I kill the beast. The more time passes, the worse it gets. Maybe the leftover soul residue fades from the core. I don't know."
He looked at the corpse of the bird. "Letting the core sit in a pocket dimension and then trying to use Form Devourer later doesn't work. It has to be recent."
Artemis considered that. "Makes sense. You need the new beast's soul to blend into yours so you can subjugate it. If it died too long ago, what remains inside the core is just mana, not will."
She stepped beside him and looked upward. "If you climb the walls here in the center, you can reach a rope that leads to an island high in the sky. There are three treasures scattered up there. I think you'll find them useful. Consider it my challenge."
"And what will you be doing while I'm up there?"
"I'll be right here. Resting. Enjoying my vacation."
***
Luke sprinted through a forest toward a massive fortress, and the skeletal inhabitants spotted him immediately. Arrows shrieked through the air. With Sariel's Eye, he picked out archers repositioning long before they released their shots.
Arrows hit the ground around him as he wove between them. Then a ballista bolt slammed into the dirt ahead, forcing him toward the treeline. Flaming stone spheres began raining down through the canopy. He shifted the range of his vision constantly, from near to far, snapping from target to target as he calculated his route. Launching off a tree trunk, he hurled several knives at the stone watchtowers.
[Shadow Mana Explosion activated]
The towers detonated, collapsing in cascading bursts of rubble and dust. He kept advancing, flicking knives at skeletons lining the battlements. Each blade struck the center of a skull, and the bones collapsed. With another knife in hand, he flooded it with mana and threw. The impact against the fortress gate erupted into a blast, blowing open his path. Luke moved through the smoke at full speed.
A creature waited inside the courtyard. It roared and charged.
[Bone Colossus – Lvl 86]
The giant skeleton slammed its massive hammer down, and Luke slipped to the side. Ballista crews inside the courtyard swiveled toward him and fired. The colossus towered over him, grotesquely bulky, with only a single hollow eye socket like a cyclops carved from bone.
Luke responded by firing [Shadow Ball] toward the wooden towers, igniting them as he dodged the hammer swings. One kukri in hand, a throwing knife in the other, he dashed across the courtyard. He launched the knife at the creature's leg.
It exploded, staggering the giant. Luke didn't hesitate.
He leapt.
[Crimson Fang activated]
The impact split the colossus's skull, launching the head across the courtyard. Luke immediately followed with another thrown blade, empowering it with [Burst Throw].
[You have slain a Bone Colossus – Lvl 86]
He walked across the courtyard, firing off [Shadow Ball] to shatter wandering skeletons, then stopped at the entrance of the fort's main hall. He pointed a hand at the ground.
[Teleportation Circle I activated]
The doors groaned open. Inside, the place was dark and dust-choked, the air heavy with the smell of old stone. Signs of collapse lined the walls, and a long, faded red carpet stretched toward the center of the chamber, where a treasure chest waited.
"Finally."
Luke advanced with the Sariel Eye's [360-Degree Vision] active. It didn't have the range of [Long-Distance Sight], but in tight spaces it was invaluable.
He reached the chest just as something detached from the ceiling. Luke dashed backward, barely avoiding the impact. A scythe slammed into the floor where he had been standing.
[Fort Reaper – Lvl 97]
A black, floating figure wrapped in tattered veils hovered above the ground, gripping its weapon. It lunged at him with unnerving speed. Luke ducked beneath the sweeping blade, only for the scythe's haft to stretch unnaturally toward him. He dropped low again, rolled aside, and hurled knives. They slipped through the creature harmlessly.
Intangible?
He sharpened his focus with [Long-Distance Sight]. The veil wasn't reacting at all. The knives hadn't missed, they'd passed straight through because there was nothing under that dark mantle. The scythe carved through the air again. Bones across the chamber jerked to life, reassembling into skeletal archers who snatched up bows and began firing.
Luke dove into a nearby shadow.
He emerged behind the reaper and launched a knife with [Burst Throw]. The creature deflected it with its scythe. Luke threw another and sprinted, weaving between arrows that thudded into the rugs and rotted wood. The reaper surged toward him.
His foot hit something carved into the floor. A sigil.
[Teleportation Pentagram activated]
Luke vanished mid-stride. The reaper paused, thrown off for a fraction of a second, and that was all he needed. Luke reappeared high above, yanked downward by a wire attached to a knife lodged in the ceiling beam, and dropped like a guillotine. His twin kukris tore straight through the floating veil.
The creature screamed as a chorus of dissonant voices, the black cloth shredding into dozens of drifting scraps. They aged in seconds, crumbling into ash before they hit the ground.
[You have slain a Fort Reaper – Lvl 97]
The skeletons collapsed instantly.
**Your class [Demonic Predator] has reached Level 82!**
**Your class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 60!**
[You have unlocked a Second Class Skill]
"At long last, I'm done hunting on this damn island."
He approached the chest and lifted the lid. Inside lay a dark, folded cloth.
[Fort Reaper's Mantle (Ultra-Rare);
Description: A black cloak that shrouds the wearer's face in darkness when the hood is raised, concealing identity completely.
Enchantments:
[Lightweight (Rare)]: The user becomes physically lighter, increasing agility.
[Soft Descent (Rare)]: Falling from great heights slows before impact.
Bonus: +20 Toughness, +100 Agility.
Requirement: Level 70+ in Assassin Class.
Figures, reapers are a type of assassin.
Luke swung the cloak around his shoulders.
"Shame I had to take off the haori," he muttered.
The cloak settled like a second skin.
He left the ruin and sprinted through the forest that covered the floating island. This archipelago drifted high above the stratosphere most of the year, descending only during specific seasonal cycles, something Artemis had explained to him. At the island's edge, he looked down. Far below, another floating isle hung like a stone suspended in the sky.
"Time to test this mantle," he said.
Luke jumped.
He plunged straight down toward the floating island, the wind tearing past him in a deafening rush. Only when the ground surged up dangerously fast did he trigger the cloak's power. His momentum softened at once, the fall bleeding away into a gentle drift.
He touched down lightly. The place was… bleak. Mostly mud and packed earth, with only a few scraggly patches of vegetation clinging stubbornly to the terrain. No real trees, no shade, nothing that looked remotely alive. Luke started walking, boots sinking slightly into the wet soil. As he moved deeper across the barren island, he pulled up his system interface.
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Name: Luke
Level: 78
Race: Half-Demon
Rank: E
Core: [Spectral Beast (Rank F)]
Class: [Demonic Predator (Lvl 82)]
2nd Class: [Arcane Witch (Lvl 60)]
Profession: [Guardian Botanist of Mother Freya (Lvl 77)]
Titles: [Dark Lord]
Bloodline: [Bloodline of the Dark Demon]
Health Points (HP): 7945/8700
Mana Points (MP): 8359/10500
Stamina: 5142/6100
Soul Fragments: 661/1000
Stats:
Strength: 620
Lethality: 1146
Agility: 1002 (1112)
Dexterity: 462
Endurance: 610
Vitality: 870
Toughness: 400 (420)
Perception: 918 (928)
Wisdom: 1040 (1050)
Intelligence: 982
Willpower: 810
Free Points: 18
Class Skills: [Advanced Blade Handling (Uncommon)], [Advanced Knife Throwing (Rare)], [Twin Blade (Common)], [Basic Dark Dash (Rare)], [Crimson Fang (Ultra-Rare)], [Predator's Mark (Rare)], [Demonic Blade Dance (Rare)], [Force Infusion (Rare)], [Advanced Stealth (Rare)], [Assassin's Tracking (Rare)], [Mana Infusion (Rare)], [Basic Archery (Common)], [Demonic Predator Hands (Epic)], [Demonic Predator Throwing Knife (Epic)], [Burst Throw (Epic)], [Stealth Critical Strike (Rare)], [Shadow Dive (Rare)]
Second Class Skills: [Advanced Magic Conjuration (Uncommon)], [Teleportation Pentagram (Legendary)], [Shadow Ball (Common)], [Weak Telekinesis (Uncommon)], [Witch's Gaze (Uncommon)], [Cursed Weapon Throw (Rare)], [Telekinetic Impulse (Rare)], [Telekinetic Pull (Rare)], [Witch's Thread (Rare)], [Despair Aura I (Rare)], [Clear Mind (Ancient)], [Shadow Mana Explosion (Ultra-Rare)]
Profession Skills: [Herbology of Mother Freya (Ancient)], [Precise Extraction (Common)], [Advanced Potion Crafting (Uncommon)], [Corrupted Plant Growth (Rare)], [Plant Sensor (Uncommon)], [Botanical Bond of Mother Freya (Rare)], [Seed Conversion (Rare)], [Plant Manipulation of Mother Freya (Rare)], [Corrupted Blood of Mother Freya (Ultra-Rare)], [Thorn Mutation (Uncommon)], [Soil Analysis (Uncommon)], [Botanical Purification (Uncommon)], [Acid Blood Arrow (Epic)], [Soil Guardian I (Ancient)], [Vegetal Respiration (Common)], [Stomach of Mother Freya (Ancient)]
Race Skills: [Identify (Common)], [Demonic Perception (Uncommon)], [Dark Blood (Uncommon)], [Advanced Meditation (Uncommon)], [Demonic Endurance (Uncommon)]
Rank Skill: [Soul Infiltration (Rank F)]
Bloodline Skill: [Servant of the Dark Lord (Unique)]
Servants: [Unavailable], [Unavailable]
Familiar: [Unavailable]
Luke scrolled through the new Witch skills that had just unlocked. All of them were epic. Then one in particular made him pause.
Wait. The system is actually offering something like this?
He chose it without hesitation.
***
His Spectral Beast lunged at a crab, acting freely on autonomous mode. The serpent's paralyzing gaze froze a crab mid-scuttle, and its massive jaws lifted the creature clean off the ground. Bone cracked. Slick, dark blood poured out as the beast devoured it whole.
Good thing I'm not fused with this thing. Would I be out here craving crab meat if I were?
The Abyss King closed its eyes, concentrating.
[Your Spectral Beast has successfully absorbed an E-Rank Mana Core.]
[Rank E Cores: 99/100]
Almost there.
He refused to return until the counter hit one hundred. Calling up the beast's interface, he examined it again.
Core: Spectral Beast
Rank: F
Rank E Cores: [99/100]
Core Skill: [Form Devourer]
Beast Skills: [Spectral Rend (Rare)], [Predatory Sovereignty (Epic)], [Typhon (Mythic)]
Form Devourer: [Abyss King (Rank F)]
Form Devourer Skills: [Neurotoxic Venom (Epic)], [Eye of the Abyss King (Legendary)]
The Spectral Beast had gained one skill at 50 absorbed cores and another at 75, unlocking two new powers.
[Predatory Sovereignty (Epic)]: By devouring the core of a beast and assuming its form, the Spectral Beast absorbs deeper layers of biological knowledge. Movement, survival instincts, predatory behavior, terrain adaptation, attack execution, everything is learned and integrated. Transformations stop being mere shapeshifting and become optimized evolution. A predator that doesn't just imitate… but understands.
It was vastly more effective in autonomous mode, letting the beast fight beside Luke with its own judgment.
[Typhon (Mythic)]: Among the countless abominations born of the Void, only a few carry the Apex's direct seed. This Spectral Beast is one of them. Typhon grants a predatory intelligence far beyond the norm, a hunger with no ceiling, and the instinctive authority to command a colony in the Void. Where other creatures hunt, Typhon leads. Where others devour, Typhon consumes and grows. It is not merely a beast… but a fragment of something greater watching from beyond.
A strange mythic skill.
***
Luke traveled across the island, mulling over the Spectral Beast's limitations. He almost never used it in full combat because of how costly it was to maintain.
A Rank F core barely fuels it. If it hits Rank E, will it stay active longer, or just hit harder?
The ground trembled. He instantly leapt back as an enormous beetle erupted from below, soil flying in all directions. It looked like a rhino beetle crossed with a siege engine, easily the size of a truck. The creature reared out of the earth and barreled toward him.
Luke summoned his Spectral Beast. The Abyss King materialized at his side, surging forward. The serpent sank its fangs into the beetle's armored shell, injecting venom straight through the chitin.
The monster struggled to pull away, but the paralysis spread too quickly. Luke darted in, striking repeatedly until the beast collapsed. When it was over, he stood atop the corpse while his Spectral Beast tore into the carcass, ripping its way toward the core.
[You have slain a Burrower Beetle – Lvl 81]
[You have reached Level 79! Half-Demon (Rank E)] (+2 bonus point to all attributes, +5 free points)
Still in autonomous mode, the serpent carved through the beetle's insides and found the core. It swallowed it whole.
[Your Spectral Beast has successfully absorbed an E-Rank Mana Core.]
[Rank E Cores: 100/100]
Something changed. The serpent's body dissolved into shadow, its form unraveling into a vast black cloud.
[Your Spectral Beast Core (Rank F) is evolving into Spectral Beast (Rank E)]
The cloud expanded, swirling, thickening, rumbling with restrained power.
[A Form Devourer Skill Slot has been unlocked]
***
Luke had returned. His race level was edging close to 80; he could feel it in his bones.
At level 50, I extended my lifespan by 100 years. Now, after gaining 29 levels in E-Rank since then, I've extended it by another 290 years.
He would live at least around 400 years at that point, even if he never gained a single, miserable level again. But now, he was closer to reaching level 100 than he had been when he first began his journey through the New World at level 50. Even so, he still didn't consider himself strong enough to face the Dragon Queen.
All the training had sharpened his control over the Eye of Sariel in combat. The difference it made was unreal. And the thought crept in again: I'm not even an actual archangel. It made him wonder just how far beneath the true archangel from the tutorial he really was. If that creature hadn't been sick and dying, Luke never would have stood a chance.
"I'm back," he called.
Artemis was crouched beside the carcass of a slain beast, cleaning her blade. Luke visited her in person from time to time, even though she could speak to him easily through the necklace.
"We're heading out," she said. "You managed to grab the treasures in time."
"Yeah. A cloak, a shirt, and some sort of mantle. Should be useful for the big Fifty-One."
"Let's hope."
They packed up camp and began hiking through the labyrinth pathways.
"Any tips about the Fifty-One?" he tried again.
"It's an event."
"I know that much. But nothing else? No extra hint?"
"Sometimes it's optional, sometimes it's mandatory." She shrugged. "Your universe is in a prime cycle for events. That's all I can tell you, Mister Suicidal."
They talked the whole way, mostly about Earth, its cities, its people, its ridiculous habits. Luke realized he'd been feeling oddly light for days now. Ever since Samael had given him the letter, really. Some massive weight had slipped off his shoulders. Even without reading it, even without knowing exactly how his mother died, he felt like he was closing the chapter that had pushed him into accepting the System in the first place.
By the time they reached the city, they headed straight to a military outpost. The moment Artemis flashed her identification, every soldier in sight froze. Men dropped to their knees, trembling as she walked past.
"These guys are idiots," she whispered. "Should I make them duel to the death to earn my attention?"
She burst into laughter before he could answer.
At the teleportation hall, they stepped onto a glowing circle. Artemis shifted in an instant, her skin turning pale, her hair shining a brighter gold, her height increasing slightly. The plain clothes dissolved, replaced by an elegant white gown crowned with woven leaves. Her bow vanished as well. She stood again as the goddess he had first met.
She lifted his chin with two fingers.
"Still going to reject the love of a goddess?"
"Stop messing with me."
And the light swallowed them both.
***
Luke returned with Artemis to the palace rising out of the sea. Technically, the entire planet belonged to Azazel's dominion, but this region was reserved for generals and those close to the throne. He was eager to see the true kingdom one day, to meet the Originals themselves, but Artemis had been blunt: dealing with generals was already dangerous enough. The Originals were another scale entirely.
And on top of that, Luke wasn't supposed to be seen by the important outsiders currently visiting the realm.
"There's a god there?" he asked.
"A few," Artemis replied. "Ever since the sovereign went to find you in that rift, a handful of gods and Primordials have shown up. Sycophants and the curious, you know how it is. Old Samael and the Originals are busy in meetings."
Luke was led into a massive hall with a single door at the end.
"This part is all you," Artemis said.
He walked forward as the door shut behind him. The room beyond was dim, almost pitch black. Two figures sat at a table, calmly playing cards.
"Well, look at that. My dear nephew finally shows up," Asmodeus said with a grin.
Azazel's eyes met Luke's. "Now we can speak some truths without the system listening in."
***
Serena sat alone in her Washington apartment, replaying in her mind the moment she'd met Luke Moon in the military facility elevator. She had entered intentionally. There were only a handful of people in the world who possessed the Hero class, and she was one of them. Her sword was bound to her soul, forged with a singular purpose: to warn her of danger. When it glowed, it meant she was near a threat. The brighter the gold, the greater the danger.
Standing next to Luke Moon, the blade had glowed like a newborn sun. There was only one possible conclusion: Luke Moon was, or would someday become, a catastrophic threat to humanity. That was what the sword had declared.
Heroes weren't chosen out of luck. They were a balancing mechanism of the system itself, bestowed on a select few across an entire universe, champions meant to counter the darkness that could emerge from the system's gifts.
She had investigated him thoroughly. No criminal record. Ordinary background. And, somehow, a friend of Eleanor's. A threat of this magnitude should be reported to the other heroes. That was the protocol. That was the duty. But what was she supposed to do? He hadn't committed a crime, not one she could find. He hadn't shown any intent to harm anyone. And yet the sword had judged him.
He posed no direct threat… so why had her blade marked him as a danger to humanity itself?