Demons Within: I level up endlessly

Chapter 66: The Teleporting Arbiter

Daniel checked his back. The burn from the energy whip was still there, but it had stopped stinging.

His high Vitality, boosted by his Divine Warrior class, was already knitting the skin back together. He rotated his shoulder. It was stiff, but functional.

"Good enough," he decided. He brought up the internal map in his mind. The wireframe lines glowed brightly, showing him the path ahead.

The corridor he was in didn’t just lead forward, it led upward. It spiraled up toward the higher levels of the facility, leading to a large, open area marked as a major checkpoint.

"The end of this phase is close," Daniel realized. "I can feel it." He adjusted the straps of his C-Grade Deflector Vest, making sure everything was secure.

He checked his Twin Fang daggers, sliding them back into the sheaths on his thighs with a satisfying click.

He took a deep breath of the sterile air and started to run. He didn’t run like a normal human anymore. With his Agility now pushing past 180, he moved like a phantom.

His boots barely touched the ground.

The corridor stretched out before him, endless and white. The further he went, the cleaner it became. The dirt and dust of the lower levels were gone completely.

The walls here were polished to a mirror shine, and the lights overhead were bright and clinical. It felt less like a dungeon and more like a hospital, or a high-tech prison.

As he ran, his enhanced [Omnivision] scanned everything around him. The range was incredible now, thanks to his high Spirit stat. He could feel the layout of the rooms ahead before he even saw them.

Suddenly, he felt a cluster of signatures.

"Patrol," Daniel thought, skidding to a silent halt. He pressed himself against the wall and looked around a corner.

Ahead of him, the hallway widened into a junction. There were four Verge Custodians patrolling the area. They weren’t just standing still, they were moving in a complex pattern, their red sensor eyes sweeping the floor and ceiling.

These were Hunter Models, just like the ones he had fought, but there were four of them. Daniel calculated the odds. He could fight them. He was strong enough to crush them, especially with his new stats.

As he still had that thought in mind, he saw six more patrolling in another direction. He had to be wise and smart. He could take the four patrolling his position at once , but the fight would be messy.

It would be loud and would definitely attract the other six, and maybe even more he couldn’t see or didn’t know about.

"Naahh, I’d pass this time," Daniel whispered to himself. "I need to save my mana for whatever is guarding the exit."

He remembered Instructor Baldwin’s voice in his head, telling him to be smart. A true Vanguard didn’t just brute force everything, they adapted.

He looked at the walls. He looked at the ceiling.

"Time to test this new trick," Daniel whispered. He activated [Shadowsteps]. His body blurred, becoming semi-transparent and hard to see.

Instead of running on the floor, Daniel leaped. He jumped straight at the wall. His right foot connected with the metal panel.

The [Wall Adhesion] fragment kicked in, gripping the surface for a split second. It gave him just enough traction to push off again.

He rebounded to the opposite wall, gaining height.

Left. Right. Left.

He climbed the walls like a parkour master, moving higher and higher until he grabbed a support beam running along the ceiling.

He hung there, upside down, hidden in the shadows of the rafters.

Below him, the patrol of robots continued their march. They scanned the floor. They scanned the corners. But they didn’t look up. They passed right underneath him, their metal feet clanking softly on the tiles.

Daniel held his breath. He waited until they turned the corner and marched away down a side passage.

As soon as they were gone, he dropped. He landed silently on his feet, his knees bending to absorb the impact.

"Too easy," he smirked. He continued his sprint. He moved through the sterile hallways like a ghost. He bypassed two more patrols, using his speed and his new climbing ability to avoid conflict entirely.

After twenty minutes of running, the hallway finally ended. It opened up into a massive, empty space.

Daniel stopped at the entrance, his eyes widening as he took in the sight. "Sector Transit Hub Gamma," the map in his mind labeled it.

It was a huge, hexagonal room. The ceiling was so high it was lost in darkness. Bridges and walkways crisscrossed the air, connecting different levels of the facility.

But all the walkways led to one place. In the center of the room, there was a large, circular platform. And on the other side of that platform was a massive gate.

It wasn’t a physical door. It was a wall of glowing, solid energy. It hummed with power, blocking the path to the next sector.

"That’s the exit," Daniel said, pointing his dagger at the barrier. But the exit wasn’t unguarded.

Floating in the center of the platform, hovering silently above the ground, was a creature. It didn’t look like a robot, and it didn’t look like an animal.

It was made of floating, shifting crystals. They were shaped like diamonds and pyramids, spinning around a glowing central core.

The crystals were polished and perfect, reflecting the lights of the room like a disco ball made of death.

It was beautiful, but Daniel’s instincts were screaming at him. He raised his left arm and scanned it.

[Sector Arbiter - Series Omega Prime (Level 6 Elite)]

[Stats: High Mobility (Teleportation), Extreme Spirit, High Defense (Phase Shift).]

[Abilities: [Multi-Spectrum Beam Array], [Phase Shift Defense], [Telekinetic Shove].]

[Threat Assessment: Aerial guardian. Immune to physical damage while phased. Can attack from multiple angles simultaneously.]

"Level 6 Elite," Daniel muttered, his grip tightening on his weapons. "And it flies." This was the boss.

Daniel stepped out onto the platform. His boots clanged on the metal, announcing his presence. The crystal creature stopped spinning.

The floating shapes realigned, pointing their sharp edges toward Daniel. A deep, resonant hum filled the air.

"Alright, playtime is over," Daniel said, his voice resonating in the large room. He patched the hole in his armor with a piece of scrap metal he had picked up earlier, using his [Scrap Armor Patch] skill.

It looked ugly, a rough brown patch on his sleek vest, but it would hold.