novelraw Chapter 102 - 101 – A Fourth-Rank Lord
Chapter 102 - 101 – A Fourth-Rank Lord
He stood among all of us… and no one moved. He was powerful… to an overwhelming degree.
Not a single one of us had any idea how to face him.
And me?
Flat on the ground like an idiot…
My thoughts… refused to settle on anything, suffocated by a crushing pain.
My absolute trust in my weapon made me fail to realize one simple truth—
weapons have limits.
And my accumulation?
"How did it run out like this…" my thoughts clashed violently.
Yes… it wasn't large. But it wasn't small either…
Did his strike really cut through accumulation to that extent?
Suddenly—
"It's time," the Lord's voice came out heavy.
"I'll give you one last chance… If you don't surrender now… I'll eliminate you all."
His voice sounded different… serious.
He… wasn't bluffing.
Damn it…
Would I sacrifice everyone for the sake of my pride?
Is it time to surrender?
I don't know…
And who said he would keep his word and spare them?
Three years…
Three years of continuous training…
What did I achieve?
I still can't face someone just one rank above me?
Why did we have to endure all that hardship…?
Why didn't we just build our city in peace…?
"Silence." A voice whispered inside me.
It wasn't unfamiliar… yet it wasn't my inner voice.
"You collapsed the moment you lost?" The voice of the Deception Beast roared deep within me… it was angry.
Since when was it angry? I don't know.
"Training was useless," I said.
"Three years of suffering… worthless."
"Silence…" the voice roared again.
"You're escaping reality because of despair… A fighter does not surrender while even one trick remains."
What do I have left?
Nothing…
Nothing…
No… not that.
If I do it… the backlash will be immense.
I might die.
I'm not afraid of death… but…
If I'm still alive… I can negotiate… protect everyone.
Yes… protecting everyone comes first.
Me?
Since when…?
Since when did surrender become something acceptable in my mind?
Am I really… thinking of surrender?
No.
Aaah—
I raised my head with difficulty…
A sharp pain struck me instantly… completely preventing me from moving.
Everyone stood ready to fight… even those who didn't have the ability.
"Everyone…" I whispered.
"Everyone is trying… except me…"
Three years of training…
They weren't meaningless… no, they weren't.
"Give it to me!" I shouted inwardly.
A loud laugh came from the other side.
Then—
I felt it.
The point cube.
It appeared in my mind like a vivid memory.
Inside the cube… several glowing points existed.
The moment I gave the thought… the cube's lid opened.
Suddenly… the system's light shone.
{Available Development Points = 65}
{System}
{Character}
{Strength = 60
Speed = 60
Stamina = 60}
{Ding… Ding… Ding}
{You have obtained 5,000,000 Accumulation Points}
What—?
{Ding… Ding… Ding}
{Fourth-Rank advancement requirements fulfilled}
{Fourth-Rank Advancement Conditions:
5,000,000 Accumulation Points
Sacrifice an Ancient Weapon
Possess an Ancient Weapon
Defeat a Mid-Level Calamity Beast}
{Ding… Ding… Ding}
{Do you wish to advance?}
When I reached the Third Rank…
possessing the White Flower and an Ancient Weapon caused a massive reaction in my body…
Even so… the damage was small compared to what it should've been.
Now…
What would happen?
I swallowed.
"Yes…" I whispered after hesitation… fear had completely taken hold of me.
Suddenly—
The Fourth-Rank Lord turned sharply. His smile disappeared completely.
He jumped instantly… retreating dozens of meters.
Suddenly, the pain and numbness disappeared.
I saw him retreat…
I turned toward the others… raised my hand…
I shouted—
"Run!"
Everyone jumped… they didn't understand, but they moved quickly.
Then—
My vision disappeared… I could no longer see anything.
I was inside a black void…
Floating in space…
Then—
In front of me…
Two massive beasts appeared.
My vision wasn't clear… but their silhouettes were.
One… enormous like a mountain… spewing blazing fire… its body like red rock… filled with dozens of rivers of lava.
The other… pure white… with a long tail and massive wings…
Two large horns on its head.
Suddenly—
A roar echoed loudly.
I didn't know which beast it came from…
But it was painful… extremely painful.
"Aaaaaah!"
I screamed violently…
I raised my hands to my ears… but I couldn't block the sound.
A dark pain suddenly appeared in my head…
It wasn't a headache… it was something I couldn't even define… an immense pain.
Aaaaah…
What is this…
Aaaah—
The white beast charged forward… my eyes began to see it more clearly.
A massive dragon… no smaller than the other mountain-like beast.
It surged forward… like a force pushing the air like thousands of storms at once…
Even the dark void screamed under its movement…
It opened its mouth…
Massive white fangs… aimed at me.
I shut my eyes—
Aaaaaah!
A massive collision echoed.
I slowly opened my eyes…
The volcanic beast was restraining the dragon… binding it with dozens of lava rivers… preventing it from reaching me.
Then—
Distant points of light began approaching… rapidly.
Thousands… millions… perhaps more.
They rushed toward me.
My body trembled…
A strange feeling invaded me suddenly…
Like sudden hunger…
Then—
The first white point struck my body.
Suddenly—
It felt as if I were eating something delicious…
More points came…
The sensation intensified…
My body began absorbing them.
Then—
Without realizing it…
Understanding formed within my mind of what was happening.
I didn't know its source… but it was there.
Those white points…
Were the aura of the Fourth Rank… gathering inside my body and settling within it like a home.
And that white dragon…?
It was the White Flower… trying to attack my body, which couldn't withstand its power.
The raging red mountain restraining the dragon…
Was my weapon…
Flame Art.
In that space…
My body stood absorbing the power of the rank…
While at the same time enduring the weapons I possessed.
At that moment…
Luck was on my side.
Instead of both the White Flower and Flame Art attacking me…
They were clashing with each other instead.
And in their midst…
I was the feast they fought over.
And in their midst…
I was absorbing the power of the Fourth Rank.
The more I absorbed…
The higher the quality of my rank became.
Finally…
Something good had begun for me.
Yet—
The sound was extremely painful…
Then a strong headache began to take hold of me…
That state of understanding returned again…
My body absorbed thousands of power points… and began reaching its limit…
Ahead…
The dragon opened its mouth… it expanded as if it would split open…
Then from between its teeth… a massive storm surged out.
Its size was enormous… its rumbling sound threw my heart into hell.
The storm rushed toward the lava river… swallowing it in an instant…
The lava scattered into space… and the entire river exploded.
The red mountain roared… its massive crater opened… and millions of blazing lava streams surged from within.
The lava clashed with the massive storm…
The storm howled… the lava scattered…
The bound dragon opened its mouth…
Released another storm… then another…
The endless void filled with storms and lava…
My eyes could barely believe what they saw…
These beasts… if they were real… the world would be completely destroyed by them.
Aaaah—
A powerful pain struck me suddenly…
The headache became even more intense…
I couldn't endure it…
Aaaah!
I screamed violently…
But the sound never even left my mouth before fading…
I was smaller than an ant before those colossal beasts and the burning void…
The pain became suffocating…
Tears flowed…
Accompanied by pain…
I felt like my head would explode…
"Stop!" I screamed…
I wanted the points to stop coming…
They didn't…
My body kept absorbing them…
The pain continued…
Aaaah—
Then—
The dragon broke free…
Thousands of storms surged toward the red mountain…
They began tearing into its body…
Then—
The dragon turned toward me…
Its eyes… shining white…
Its gaze wasn't savage…
But its mouth said otherwise…
It opened—
The pain was unbearable… I couldn't focus at all…
My eyes opened and closed from the intensity…
Filled with tears, my vision of the beast was blurry…
It was getting closer…
Closer and closer…
Then—
Slowly—
I opened my eyes.
The haze quickly cleared.
My thoughts began to return…
The headache disappeared.
I looked at my wounds…
My body was whole.
Then—
A feeling of calm spread through my body… as if I had just come out of a massage session.
In truth… I had never experienced such a session in those specialized places…
But I felt that the body would be extremely relaxed afterward…
The same feeling… came over me.
My accumulation… was full as well.
In the sky, the Fourth-Rank Lord stood… his eyes unable to believe what had happened.
At the sides… everyone stood in shock.
I smiled.
Now…
I am that hero…
The one who arrives at the decisive moment to turn the situation.
But…
Even after advancing to the Fourth Rank…
Can I still stand against a highly experienced Fourth-Rank Lord like the blond one?
I don't know.
But what I do know…
Is that my entire body…
Is screaming for me to attack.
I extended my hand…
I summoned Flame Art.
Crimson threads of flame wrapped around my hand.
"Beautiful…" I whispered in admiration.
The energy of Flame Art was incredibly dense.
Then—
There were whispers… inside my mind.
Something… was calling me.
I turned to the side…
"Heh… so that's how it is."