Too Stubborn to Die

Book 3: Chapter 59

Charging down dark tunnels, they’d been running non-stop ever since escaping the queen’s chamber, pausing for nothing. Aaron didn’t even have time to check notifications, not that he was complaining. Surviving was far more important than anything else.

But there was something troubling him. It had started a few minutes ago. He had lost track of the two royal guards. He had been keeping an eye on them with his senses, using [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ]. And yet somehow, even that wasn’t working now.

He had no idea how they were managing to mask themselves from his Skill, but he was fairly certain they weren’t dead.

Worst of all, as long as they were in the depths of the hive, he felt pretty confident that the ants had an advantage.

But escaping was no easy matter. While his map worked within the hive, it was fogged up with a dark shadow over areas he had yet to explore, and all of these tunnels were very much new to them. Still, it did help them avoid getting stuck in loops.

There was something else, too. He could already feel the energy welling up inside of himself. He knew what it was without any confirmation. He could evolve his Class, but he needed some modicum of security to do it. He couldn't afford to rush his Class evolution because he was worried about being attacked. Picking poorly could potentially cause long-term damage to himself. And that wasn’t something he wanted to risk, even if it had the potential to help with this fight.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. If it really came to a life-or-death situation where he had no choice, then sure, he might just quickly evolve. But he wasn’t that desperate, not yet, anyway.

Especially with Sooty back at the camp. He wasn’t going to be getting advice if he completed the evolution down here, and the last thing he wanted was to make a dumb decision. And Talia didn’t know his path well enough to provide detailed support.

“Wait, what’s th–”

Dense and crackling through the air, a burst of energy rippled across the wall, and then in an instant, exploded outward, sending a torrent of rubble gushing out.

From the newly formed hole, energy rushed out, and Aaron’s heart sank.

“Didn’t think you’d escape us, did you?” Hegemony Blanc said, stepping through the hole as he brushed back his silver hair. “Not after what you did to mother.”

“Murderers! Filthy murderers!” Hissed Jigsaw Tyrant as he followed. “Foul defilers, your time has come!"

Talia clenched her fist around her scepter and back stepped as she activated her Skills. “Not good.”

“Really not good,” Aaron agreed.

And then, it went from bad to worse. Unfortunately for the trio, the royal guards had no intention of fighting the way they wanted them to. No, they had their own plans for how their merry meet-up would go.

“Get ready!” Hegemony Blanc said and raised a hand. Swirling blue mana traced around his fingers, and then he swiped his hand through the air, but no attack came.

“What the?”

Aaron felt it immediately. An incredible wall of energy right behind him, and he swung around to see an impenetrable wall of blue that filled the tunnel between him and his companions.

“Screw this!” He roared and pounded into it with [ Soul Shattering Strike ].

He felt his energy canceling Skill ripple through the wall, but after a moment passed, it was still standing.

“What about this, then!”

He sent a pulse of C-grade energy into his fist, but before it landed against the wall, the incredibly fast Hegemony Blanc intercepted, severing his hand with a strike.

The royal guards wasted not a second, the two of them descending upon him and blasting out with their attacks in quick succession. They weren’t playing games.

It was all going to be over very quickly if he didn’t do something. But what could he do? Against one, even the stronger of the two, maybe he could win. If he pushed himself to his absolute limit, ignored his body, and embraced his inner madness, then maybe, just maybe, he had what it took without his evolution.

But this?

This was two D-grade entities, and extraordinarily powerful ones at that, well into D-grade. The gulf between them was so massive that no normal person would have a chance against even one.

And somehow, Aaron had to figure out how to best two?

Impossible.

Even madness and determination couldn’t rewrite the multiverse. This was one step too far, and though he was never one to give up, he already knew its outcome.

In a fraction of a second, the tunnel had already been turned to rubble, and his body was breaking apart.

“I’m going to make this hurt!”

It was a defiant roar, but ultimately, it made no difference. And that didn’t bother him in the slightest.

If he was going to die then and there, he was going to have to do everything he could until that moment came. To make his enemies bleed as much as he possibly could. There was no holding back, and every ounce of effort was turned up to eleven as he went all out, including using most of his new core, dilating time, and reading fate.

And yet, it was all so impossibly hopeless. However, it was a spectacle, and the melee that ensued was one of absolutely epic proportions.

The cave was turned to rubble, and rubble to powder. But even as the environment around them was twisted and turned into something entirely unrecognizable, the wall of energy expanded, filling up the space around it as everything was destroyed.

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The scene was truly chaotic, a struggle to keep up with as the explosions burst out in all directions and the three figures slammed into one another.

This was no place for an E-grade, even one at the very peak ready to ascend into D-grade, and it took every bit of Aaron’s power just to keep himself from falling apart as they fought.

Even the shockwaves of their clashes ripped at his skin, tearing it and opening flesh wounds, and he was forced to pour a good portion of his energy into healing himself just to keep up with the battle. Even when he wasn’t directly being attacked, his body was being pulled apart, and gnarly wounds were opening.

If he were anybody else, he’d have long passed. Yet the outcome seemed inevitable. This was simply one step too far above what he was at this stage.

A truly impossible mountain to climb.

There was no denying that it was sad to see it all end here. But that was the multiverse, he had come to realize. It wasn’t just strength that gave someone the opportunity to rise to the top, but also chance.

A great warrior could be crushed beneath the heel of an even greater warrior, potential be dammed. Meanwhile, others of relatively mediocre skill might keep climbing, gifted with luck. Never being forced to fight something that was simply too far ahead of them.

These were the opportunities that provided someone the chance to reach the peak, but no matter how strong they were, there was always a chance of flying too close to the sun.

And as much as he hated to admit it, this was the end of his road. These two extraordinarily powerful enemies were simply too much when they ganged up against him. Each one of them was far stronger than he was and only balanced by a combination of pure skill and a few lucky traits.

Sorry, Yendal.

Then again, it wasn’t really luck, was it? The fact that he even had his true core was his own skill and hard work. The System had reminded him time and time again that he was a natural at controlling the energy of the multiverse, and that was the reason he was where he was.

Those thoughts brought a thin smile to his face as it was destroyed and reconstructed amidst the carnage of the battle. He was proud of what he had done, but pride didn’t win fights.

Blood filled his broken mouth as he gritted his teeth and continued to throw down against impossible odds.

His adipose reserves were sucked dry, and he was drawn down to a skeletal warrior, skin wrapped tightly around bone, and limbs hanging from tendons and ligaments as wounds built up. Even healing within seconds did little, as his wounds were torn straight back open.

But this was Aaron Dober, and pain was something he had long ago learned to ignore.

Roaring, he fought through the incredible pain as he died, and was brought back to life with a rush of aether, throwing himself straight back into the maelstrom of battle without hesitation.

At the very least, he hoped that Talia and Zero would take this moment to escape, and without the queen, Dober would find a way to overcome the ants.

If his life was to be snuffed out saving his friends, then he couldn’t complain too much. There were worse ways to go, after all.

But he wouldn’t make it easy for them, and the back and forth continued relentlessly. He was thrown from side to side like a piece of meat, and still, he found a way to recover and countered his enemies with furious strikes, finding an opening even under the stupidly lopsided conditions.

But it was entirely unfair. Landing a few strikes here and there simply wasn’t enough to turn the tide of the battle, no matter how well he did it. But despite all of this, somehow he found the energy to laugh.

Not that madness was new to Aaron. This was something he lived. Something that gave him power. And despite facing down true damnation for the first time without any hope, a manic grin formed on his mad, pupilless face.

“I’M NOT DONE YET!” He roared, pulling on aether and C-grade energy as he blasted back at his enemies, and despite the gap between them, he opened some decent wounds on both of them.

But the moment his attack was over, they hit back, and he was slammed into a wall and turned to meaty gelatin.

Even that wasn’t enough to end the madman, though. And a burst of aether brought him back, his body still trying to pull its broken parts back together with crackling lines of blood and energy as he threw back into the fight. Punches were thrown from fists of ground meat, blood splattering his surroundings with every gory attack he sent his enemy’s way.

Holes littered his body, and he weaved in and out of death in seconds, his remaining dribble of aether drying up and becoming nearly empty.

He could see the light now. It was blinding, and by the second, it was growing nearer.

But boy, was it one hell of a bang to go out on.

*Beep!*

*Beep!*

Aaron’s twisted form was barely that of a man, somehow held together by aether as he heard the sounds reverberating through his broken consciousness. The sound had caught him mid-attack, calling him to it. Screaming at him somehow enhanced beyond what it was. It was calling him back, like a hand reaching out to grab him and save him from the void of nothingness.

It was deep and primal. An instinct which he couldn’t ignore. And within the madness that had consumed him, and less than a second from death, he saw something.

It was a System message.

WARNING!

Communal Dungeon Open!

00:59:59 until Dungeon entrance closes!

It was a truly strange feeling. It was as if he were somewhere between life and death. His thoughts were twisted, not like those he had once had. But he clung to just enough of himself to know that this was important.

What followed were not thoughts in the sense that normal humans could understand. Instead, something closer to an impulse. Something deep and instinctual within him was telling him to accept.

And that was exactly what he did.

It all happened in an instant. The moment he accepted the prompt, System energy swirled around him, dragging him through the void and away to somewhere distant. Somewhere beyond the means of mortals and even gods.

This was the travel of the System itself, and within the blink of an eye, he was somewhere else entirely.

He was in the dungeon.

That said, he was also essentially a pile of shredded meat. He hadn’t even the aether to resurrect himself. It was just his soul clinging to what had once been Aaron Dober.

But as the seconds passed, and the defiant soul hung onto what was left of the mutilated man, his body gradually began to repair itself.

He had pushed himself to a new limit, and the damage he had done to himself wouldn’t be easily healed.

But as consciousness returned, a smile formed on his face.

“Ha. System messages. Sick.”

Bonus Experience rewarded for killing beasts of a higher level than yourself!

Title Upgraded: Leviathan Slayer

Slay a denizen of the multiverse that is at least 100 levels higher than yourself.

Reward: +15% All Stats

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

94 → 101

Class Evolved to D grade!

Evolutionary paths available!

Was this how he had wanted the fight to play out? No. But it certainly could have been worse.

As he felt power rush into him from his evolution, his core thudded once more, and he passed out on the titles, his gory form building itself back together bit by bit.