About how long until she gets her memories back? Either chapter-wise or time-wise.
That''s hard to estimate considering my rather instinctive writing style, but probably somewhere in book two or three. Likely in book 2.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I was wondering where you see her character going emotionally towards her family?
She gradually gets closer to her siblings, but she won''t forgive her parents. Although she will get over her trauma and will be able to interact with them in the future.
Is she only able to assimilate the skill trees of intelligent species or can she Assimilate from unintelligent creatures such as plants?
Ashley can assimilate from anything so long as it''s considered alive by the System. And anything considered alive by the System has skills.
Additionally, yes, this includes plants. And she has taken skills from plants before but discarded them.
The reason why will be explained in the future along with what mutation skills are.
Do some beings in the universe have the exact same Skill Trees?
No one has the exact same Skill Tree. At all. However, some beings may have the exact same skills in their Skill Tree, just either under a different Skill Tree name or with a different setup for the branches with the skills located on different branches.
Does Ashley actually take their Skill Tree away or does she copy it?
She just copies it. She doesn''t steal it. So if someone is resurrected they still have their Skill Tree without any signs of Ashley having it now too.
And the next question is one that is answered directly in the story but some people skip over or forget before asking about in the comments:
If two beings have the exact same root skill, can Ashley take a different skill from them?
No. This was shown before when it directly stated no skills were unlocked back in the tutorial when she was killing hounds. That the only thing that happened was that new skills were added to the end of the Skill Tree she already had that would still need her to purchase them in the future to have them.
B1 | Chapter 55
Ashley
After allocating my free points, I go ahead and open the win streak rewards.
|
Congratulations! You have won first place for ten games in a row while at Class E!
You will now be given two hundred Skill Points!
|
Nice! More Skill Points are always nice.
I go ahead and claim my reward for that Official System Event as well, giving me a couple extra potions along with another one hundred Skill Points for having won the event.
Then I open my Skill Trees to look at the new one from that prince.
And just the first skill in it makes the corner of my lips quirk ever so slightly upwards.
{Silver Strike ¨C Allows the user to summon forth powerful silver spikes that are immune to acids and flames.}
Oh, wow. Didn¡¯t use acid or fire against them, but wow.
I look at the six different skills branching from the root and find each one to be interesting. To the point that I actually buy one of them right away with one hundred Skill Points.
{Silver Barrier ¨C Allows the user to summon forth powerful silver barriers that are immune to acids and flames.}
Good.
Now I have a physical barrier as well as a lightning one.
I go ahead and check the number of Skill Points I have remaining.
{You currently have 321 Skill Points.}
Right as I¡¯m about to go unlock another skill, though, a surprising message appears in my vision. One that gives me pause.
{NOTICE --- SUCCESSOR HAS ACHIEVED THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO UNLOCK A NEW SUCCESSOR SKILL --- NOTICE}
Nice. Not sure what I did to meet the requirements, but cool.
Let¡¯s check that now.
{Unchained ¨C As the Successor to Chaos, you may not be bound by anyone or anything. Not even Chaos himself.}
{Torrents of Chaos ¨C Once a week you can draw chaos energy directly from nature itself, refilling your chaos energy reserves to full.}
{Chaotic Surge ¨C Allows the user to send chaos energy through their body in a rampant surge, increasing their physical capabilities and granting random effects to all of their attacks. Both magical and physical.}
{Chaotic Source ¨C Locked ¨C All True Damage that would harm the user will be reflected at a random being the user views as an enemy. However, this skill only works against thirty instances of damage a day and must be recharged either by waiting until the next day or through using one unit of Chaos Energy to refill ten charges.} ¨C [Spend 300 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
Oh. That¡¯s¡ I don¡¯t know what that is.
What¡¯s True Damage?
¡°True Damage is damage that ignores all defenses, immunities, and resistances to directly harm the target,¡± Chaos answers right away. ¡°You should get the skill. It¡¯s incredibly rare for someone to get a True Damage defensive skill.¡±
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Hmm.
I stare at it for a few seconds before eventually going ahead and unlocking the skill. Then I close out of my Successor Skills and open the System Forums to research True Damage. And it¡¯s just as Chaos said.
True Damage ignores any and all defenses, resistances, and immunities except for a very rare few powers meant to directly defend against True Damage. Most of which are all Successor Skills given by Primordials to their Successors. Like this one.
As for attacks that actually cause True Damage? There are very few of those. And generally the only things that have attacks like that are Successors, people who usually end up reaching Class S in the future if they aren¡¯t already, with Skill Trees that have thousands of skills in them including a True Damage skill near the end of it, and one more.
Unique Monsters.
I frown at that before returning to Val as I continue reading the Forums about the True Damage. But I can¡¯t help but feel curious about the Unique Monsters thing.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about them for now,¡± Chaos says, making me glance away from the forums for a moment. Then I just shrug and decide to listen to him.
Mostly because he sounded a little stressed and worried when he said that.
I can always just research them later on anyways. They sound special so I doubt I¡¯ll be seeing any soon.
For now I keep reading about True Damage as I lie down on my bed in my room.
Overall, True Damage is a rather frightening thing. Although it does often have at least some form of limitation.
Like a Class S hunter known around the universe as the Plague Doctor. He can directly cause a form of necrosis to anyone touching something physical he is touching. So he can directly kill off cells in their body, albeit at a slow pace. And there¡¯s nothing anyone can do to stop it so long as he¡¯s touching something they¡¯re touching.
It has to be a physical object, though. It can¡¯t be a gas or a liquid. It has to be solid.
So like the two of them touching the same tile of a floor. Or touching the same single layer wall.
Even just touching a barrier over someone¡¯s skin works.
He can just skip past the barrier to kill off cells inside of their body.
Other True Damage skill users have similar restrictions on their skill, so it¡¯s not omnipotent.
But I am quite glad to have a skill to defend against them now at the very least.
Well, now¡¯s as good a time as any to take a nap.
So I close my eyes and fall asleep.
Somewhere in the Universe
Chaos smiles as he sees Ashley falling asleep.
For a moment he was terrified, thinking she would figure out what he had warned her about earlier. Since if someone is warned about a Unique Monster spawning and they realize what they¡¯re being warned about, it has been known to summon the UM nearby if the approaching UM hasn¡¯t already spawned yet.
At the same time, he couldn¡¯t help but give her a warning. Because she will die if she enters the Gate of a Unique Monster¡¯s Domain.
Chaos has even started making preparations to bring her with the Tower of Chaos off of the planet in case the UM spawns on Val. Whether she wants to or not.
Because he will not lose her.
When he first met the girl, she was nothing more than a curiosity to him. But as time went on, and he watched her more and more, he¡¯s grown to care for her whether he wished to or not.
For the first time in his entire life.
He¡¯s cared for another person.
How this came about, he isn¡¯t sure. He¡¯s never cared about anyone else other than himself and his own amusement for the billions of years he¡¯s been alive.
All the way back till the dawn of the universe itself.
But now he truly sees her as his daughter, and he won¡¯t let her die even if it means having the Tower of Chaos personally drag her out of that world against her will if the UM spawns there.
The UM can destroy the entire world and everyone else on it for all he cares.
He teleports right next to her bed before kneeling down by it, reaching over to brush some of her hair out of her sleeping face. And after several seconds of watching her sleep, he teleports away, into the void.
Where he finds Nyx floating in her true form right near where he appears.
Chaos averts his eyes from her form. One that is capable of twisting someone¡¯s mind just from a glance. Even if he, as Chaos, is immune to it.
After all, just because he¡¯s immune to the mind-twisting effect of her abomination of a true form ¨C one covered in nothing but faces, tentacles, scales, and any other sort of twisted thing someone can imagine ¨C it doesn¡¯t mean he wants to look.
¡°Your words, they mean there¡¯s an item attracting the UM¡¯s spark to this solar system?¡± Chaos asks for clarification with his eyes narrowed.
¡°Yeeeeeeeesssssssss,¡± Nyx hisses, her voice echoing throughout the void in a much more twisted voice than the one she has in her humanoid form.
¡°Then help me find it,¡± Chaos states, feeling more and more in a rush with every passing second.
But to his surprise, Nyx says, ¡°Noooooooooooooo.¡±
He turns his gaze onto her, a scowl appearing on his face as he asks, ¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Ruuuuuuuuulllllleeeeeeessssssss,¡± Nyx replies before her form gradually fades away like a ghost. Until there¡¯s nothing left of her here.
Damned abomination.
He grits his teeth, holding back his anger as he closes his eyes and begins to sense around for the item in question.
But no matter how hard he tries, he can¡¯t find it.
So he glances at Ashley with a sad expression on his face.
¡°I may not be able to talk to you for a bit, so stay safe while I¡¯m gone,¡± he says to her despite her not being awake to hear him.
Then he gets to work trying to find the item.
Before it¡¯s too late.
B1 | Chapter 56
Ashley
Several days pass by in a bit of a blur as I go from one Domain to another, clearing my territory of a couple dozen Gates in the process and leveling up one time after another. Gradually getting up to level thirty-nine. All while taking a large number of Skill Trees from the monsters in the process.
Mostly because these Gates have gotten a lot easier to deal with thanks to some of the passive skills that aren¡¯t obvious to the viewers. And the bosses are easy too since I can just pause the livestream and wipe them out with the more powerful skills I got from the guy in the council and the elf prince. Who of which has contacted me since and I¡¯ve actually spoken to through messages a bit.
At the rate we¡¯re going I may even invite him to Val.
Maybe.
Just because of Chaos¡¯s comment about me needing connections.
Speaking of Chaos though, he¡¯s been gone since I woke up after my tenth Official System Event.
Not sure where since he never said. And he isn¡¯t responding when I try to ask him questions.
Probably busy or something.
But I find a rather unexpected surprise when I leave my latest Domain. One in the form of a twin brother standing outside, having clearly shooed away the reporters and fans.
The two of us end up staring at each other for several seconds in an awkward silence.
Then I just give him a nod of my head, no longer feeling as anxious around him as I used to. Probably because of that memory leak that happened in the council meeting. Even if I don¡¯t remember the memories that leaked through.
Just something about us being close before my memories were lost.
¡°Ashley,¡± he says with a smile, taking a tentative step forward.
I don¡¯t move. I just watch him, glancing at his feet before looking at his face.
He takes another step.
I still watch.
And another step. Then another.
I only move out of the way when he tries to hug me, making him pause and pull back. Seemingly rather dejected.
But after a few seconds, I decide to reach my hand out for a handshake.
His expression brightens and he accepts my hand as he says, ¡°Would it be alright if we started over? From scratch, I mean.¡±
The man ¨C my twin ¨C looks rather awkward. Like he isn¡¯t used to talking to me like this.
I stare at him for several seconds before eventually nodding my head and letting go of his hand. Then I flap my wings and fly away, leaving him grinning after me while waving. Albeit not pushing any further to chase after me.
Which is good.
Not really sure what I¡¯d do if he tried to chase.
I continue flying while thinking about him for a bit, only to eventually turn my thoughts towards Chaos. Who I¡¯m kind of curious what is doing right now.
The last time we spoke I¡¯d just gotten my True Damage reflection skill. The one called Chaotic Source.
Actually, now that I think about it, I never did research the Unique Monsters.
Since I have nothing else to do right now as I¡¯m searching for the next Gate, I go ahead and open the System Forums before researching Unique Monsters.
And what I find is actually quite interesting.
Unique Monsters are incredibly rare and incredibly powerful. They spawn once every thousand or so years somewhere in the universe as the boss of something called a Unique Domain with their own special Gates. Meanwhile they have a full set of entirely unique skills not found anywhere else in the universe.
Incredibly powerful skills at that.
They also are a completely unique species not found anywhere else either, and only have static skills. Skills like Assimilate that only have a single level to them and can¡¯t level up.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Although they have rather large Skill Trees despite that.
Overall, only around a dozen or so Unique Monsters have ever been defeated. With the Primordials not helping kill them personally for some reason.
And the Unique Monsters who were slain were all killed by entire parties of Successors.
Teams of six different Successors.
Anyone else who tried just plain died.
Even groups of six Successors were killed in an attempt at killing Unique Monsters.
Suffice it to say, they¡¯re dangerous.
Although they¡¯re also a bit more specialized. Specifically in the manner that their powers are all built with different focuses in mind.
Kind of like different specialists in a team.
Tank, damage dealer, glass cannon, healer, and so on.
So if their specific specialization and powers are a bad matchup for you, you have no chance to kill it at all. But if a UM ¨C as Unique Monster is shortened to ¨C is a good matchup for you, then you¡ still don¡¯t have much of a chance. But you have a better chance, at least.
Oh, and the UMs apparently have a sort of karmic attraction to people who know they¡¯re going to spawn soon.
Which is¡
My thoughts come grinding to a halt as I stop flying.
Wait a second.
I think back to when Chaos mentioned for me to be on the lookout for Gates with strange colors mixed in and a unique name.
The same things these Unique Monster Gates have.
I hear a strange shattering sound akin to glass as reality around me seems to fracture and an even stranger crimson thread appears connecting me to something.
Shit.
Now I understand why he said that I didn¡¯t need to know about it now.
He wasn¡¯t telling me it wasn¡¯t important to know about right then.
He was telling me to not learn about it.
Then a warping sound fills the area as a large Gate rushes straight through the fractured reality, entering the skies right next to me. Following which I feel myself being pulled into the Gate.
And right before I¡¯m yanked inside, I see the Domain¡¯s name filling my vision.
? Class E Gate: The First and Last Hell of the King of Destruction ¨C Recommended level: ? ?
Well that can¡¯t be good.
When I regain my vision, I find myself inside of the Domain. A place that is¡ not very pleasant, to say the least.
I¡¯m standing in the middle of some ruins, with several strange blocks of stone arrayed around me. Meanwhile there is a massive volcano in the distance, along with what appears to be dozens of fortresses scattered across a vast and barren plains. One covered in ash and monsters.
Oh, and a bunch of glowing crimson cracks all over everything. Whether it¡¯s the ground, the sky, or the fortresses.
Even the monsters have them.
Monsters that vary in appearance from humanoid to what look kind of like dinosaurs. Sorta.
Okay, a bunch of reptiles. I¡¯ll keep it at that.
The humanoid monsters are also reptiles, with some of them looking like short walking lizards, others like little humanoid dinosaurs. The only difference being the intimidation factor between them.
I go ahead and identify the various monsters I see nearby.
? Level 46 Destruction-Touched Kobold ¨C 183 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Level 49 Destruction-Touched Drake ¨C 241 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Level 44 Destruction-Touched Lizardman ¨C 150 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Level 42 Destruction-Touched Lizardman ¨C 142 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Level 50 Destruction-Touched Dracoraptor ¨C 284 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
My mouth starts hanging open in silence as I look through the stones at the monsters, none of whom seem to notice me. Yet all of whom are elite monsters.
I continue identifying more monsters all around for as far as I can see, but every last one of them is an elite monster.
What. The. Fuck?
Not only are they all elite monsters, but they¡¯re elite monsters who are all higher leveled than me¡
My thoughts are cut off when I hear a very loud roar. One that shakes the very ground and makes the monsters flee towards different hiding spots. Whether it¡¯s inside of caves, behind large boulders, or inside of fortresses.
Then the volcano erupts, shooting out things that are very much not magma or what should normally come out of a volcano.
Instead it¡¯s strange bolts of deep crimson energy that arc and crash into the ground, making more and more of those crimson cracks appear before whatever they strike turns into naught but red ash. Whether they¡¯re monsters or inanimate objects.
With the only things staying in one shape being the fortresses, some of the caves, and some ruins just like the one I¡¯m in right now.
And with one last roar from whatever the hell is inside of the volcano ¨C probably the unique monster ¨C the little crimson missiles stop firing and everything returns to normal again.
Just for the Domain quest to appear in my vision.
?¨C The King is Dead, Long Live the King! ¨C?
You have heard the Unique Monster of the Unique Domain. The following objectives have been unlocked.
Complete Objective 1 to conquer the Unique Domain.
Objective 1: Kill the King of Destruction
Objective 2: Conquer all twenty-four fortresses
Objective 3: Survive
Objective 4: Slay the five Grand Lords of Destruction
I feel my legs give out from under me as I fall to the ground on my rear, genuinely beginning to wonder if I¡¯m going to survive this.
Vacation Notice
As it states in the title, I''m sort of going on vacation. I say sort of because I''ll still probably be writing chapters during my trip out of state but I may miss some as it''s not a priority during my trip.
Today included as I will be preparing for my trip today and won''t be writing any chapters at all today.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Other than that, as I''ve already stated in the author''s notes, Ascension of Chaos is now down to the regular 1 chapter a day. And while it might drop to the same schedule as my other several stories eventually, with them being three chapters a week, that likely won''t be for a while.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
B1 | System Forums 6
Planet Val Successors Discussion Thread #51
After Ashley¡¯s tenth Official System Event
- [VladCat147] ¨C {And she¡¯s won again! No surprise there lol}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {Yeah}
- [Antbob23] ¨C {Was there ever any doubt?}
- [Chaos_Deciple2456] ¨C {Our Princess will never lose, that I assure you.}
- [VladCat147] ¨C {Ugh. Tower of Chaos fanatic in the chat.}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Hey, what¡¯s up with her potential skills?}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {You mean how they always seem to go up whenever she kills something?}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Yeah. It¡¯s hella suspicious.}
- [Chaos_Deciple2456] ¨C {There¡¯s nothing suspicious. Chaos¡¯s Successor Skills are superior. That¡¯s all.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {No, I highly doubt that it¡¯s just Successor Skills. Otherwise she¡¯d be far stronger by now.}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {True, she only uses weaker skills. Until lately, at least. But even the ones she¡¯s started using recently are still just mediocre skills.}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [TartTartPillowTart7] ¨C {I highly doubt Successor Skills are that weak.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {So what do you think? Are those rumors actually true?}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {You mean the ones about her having a skill to take others skills or some bullshit like that? Of course not. That¡¯s just not possible.}
- [TartTartPillowTart7] ¨C {You have to wonder though. It could be true for all you know.}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {I refuse to believe a skill that powerful exists.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {I think there may be some truth to them.}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {You can¡¯t be serious?!}
- [TartTartPillowTart7] ¨C {If we¡¯re speaking hypothetically, if she did have a skill like that, wouldn¡¯t the Class S organizations be sent into a frenzy?}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [VladCat147] ¨C {If that did happen it would definitely fit her role as Successor of Chaos lol}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Yeah, if she did have a skill like that, half the Class S organizations would likely put a hit out for her head. And the other half would try to get her to ally with them.}
- [Chaos_Deciple2456] ¨C {If someone ever put a hit out on our Princess then they will face the wrath of the Tower.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Right, the Tower. Then there¡¯s also the protection period on the newly initialized worlds.}
- [TartTartPillowTart7] ¨C {They wouldn¡¯t be able to attack for a century. Not outside of the Official System Events at least.}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {Fine, if we¡¯re speaking hypothetically, yeah, all that would likely happen. Although some places would likely be too scared of Chaos to do anything to her.}
- [JayJay1727] ¨C {I still remember the time Chaos ate a world just because the king of the world got on his nerves once.}
- [Boatlo289] ¨C {And the time Chaos swapped the locations of two worlds in different galaxies because their war amused him, causing major problems in their atmospheres}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Didn¡¯t he also eat a sun once? One that was responsible for two inhabited worlds?}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {Suffice it to say, a lot of people will avoid attacking just because of Chaos. Hypothetically, of course.}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {Damnit John, say something other than yep!}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Will you shut up with the yeps already!}
- [TartTartPillowTart7] ¨C {How long is he going to keep that up?}
- [TinyJohnn2] ¨C {Yep.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {¡}
- [TartTartPillowTart7] ¨C {¡}
- [Pinaplepear4] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯m leaving. Have fun with Mr. Yep over there.}
Planet Val Successors Discussion Thread #51
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.Not long before Ashley¡¯s fall into the Unique Domain
- [JacobJUJI17] ¨C {So does anyone know who currently has that cursed skeletal horse? Or no?}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {What cursed skeletal horse? Am I missing something?}
- [IU596OCatLover] ¨C {He probably means the horse named Lucy that¡¯s been making the rounds in the betting area. Generally involving bets related to Ashley.}
- [Doggy789456132] ¨C {Didn¡¯t that skeletal horse end up with some curse put on it? Something about it having been cursed by the Primordial of Sin to give bad luck to the owner, with the only way to get rid of it being gambling it and losing?}
- [JacobJUJI17] ¨C {Yep. I was just curious who currently has it.}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {How the fuck does a random skeletal horse get cursed by the Primordial of Sin?}
- [Doggy789456132] ¨C {I think the Primordial of Sin was amused by it and decided to curse the horse after seeing one of the people who had just won it preparing to toss it away or something.}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {Oh, wow¡}
- [Doggy789456132] ¨C {So now it¡¯s just become a game of not getting it and then losing a bet if you do}
- [JacobJUJI17] ¨C {So, uh¡ is anyone going to answer me?}
- [Gambler02Amber] ¨C {FFUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!! ASHLEY JUST ENTERED A UNIQUE DOMAIN!!!!!!!}
- [Doggy789456132] ¨C {The fuck?}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {Huh? Why?}
- [VladCat147] ¨C {Shit¡ well, there goes the money I put on her winning her next event¡}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Guess the conversation from a week ago doesn¡¯t matter anymore¡}
- [IU596OCatLover] ¨C {What conversation?}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {The one about whether or not the Successor to Chaos can take the skills of those she defeats.}
- [IU596OCatLover] ¨C {As bullshit as that sounds, she¡¯s dead now. There¡¯s no way someone can solo a Unique Domain. Not even her.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {That¡¯s why I said it didn¡¯t matter anymore.}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {No, seriously. Why is she in a Unique Domain?}
- [Gambler02Amber] ¨C {This is fucking bullshit. From what I¡¯ve been able to uncover, at least, according to witnesses who put the information on another forums, the girl was dragged into the Gate the moment it appeared. She didn¡¯t have a fucking choice.}
- [Doggy789456132] ¨C {Damn¡}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {oh¡ that¡¯s bad¡}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Yep. She¡¯s dead. I get the feeling this particular thread and the other threads for Val will be a lot emptier in the coming days. After she dies.}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {It¡¯ll probably have more people in here until then. Just to talk about a Unique Domain.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Yeah, there hasn¡¯t been one in my lifetime at least.}
- [JacobJUJI17] ¨C {So, uh, about Lucy?}
- [Gambler02Amber] ¨C {Screw your fucking Lucy! I¡¯m just expected to sit here and watch my favorite die?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Oh, shit. It looks like someone else has joined the Domain too. So she¡¯s not alone.}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {Wait, really? Who was dumb enough to do that?}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Another Successor.}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {¡}
- [Doggy789456132] ¨C {¡..}
- [IU596OCatLover] ¨C {¡.}
- [Gambler02Amber] ¨C {ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! NOW THIS HAPPENS?!}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {What, were you his fan too?}
- [Gambler02Amber] ¨C {What? No. I just won one of my bets and got a fucking cursed skeletal horse! Who the hell considers that a prize?!}
- [JacobJUJI17] ¨C {Oh, hey! It¡¯s Lucy! Thanks for letting me know who has her!}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {¡}
- [IU596OCatLover] ¨C {¡..}
- [SpaghettiUEat7] ¨C {¡}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Well, at least I get to see what a Unique Domain looks like.}
- [VladCat147] ¨C {I¡¯m gonna bet on the slim slim chance she actually survives.}
- [TechWiz489] ¨C {Yeah, you do that. I¡¯m just gonna go bet on her dying. But before that, let¡¯s see what a Unique Domain is.}
B1 | Chapter 57
Somewhere in the Void
Minutes before Ashley falls in to the Unique Domain
Chaos continues searching desperately for the item, knowing very well that the arrival of the UM is getting closer and closer. Too close for his liking.
Then, out of nowhere, he feels a pull from Aether, bringing his attention to the usual meeting place of the Primordials. Where he sees the other Primordials gathered.
So makes a clone and sends it over to join them while focusing his main consciousness on the void in order to continue his search.
But before the meeting can even begin, he feels the presence of the item. Instantly raising his hopes.
Just for them to crash back down as he arrives to see the Gate to the Unique Domain rushing straight through a fracture in reality.
At Ashley.
He rushes right after it to pull it back, but the Gate manages to make it through the fracture and envelop Ashley before he can stop it. A thread of karma clearly having been visible tying them together.
¡°ASHLEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!¡± Chaos roars, his voice echoing throughout Earth, the void, and the meeting with the other Primordials.
Chaos sees red in his gaze as he almost loses control of himself and destroys the void around him, along with the planet it¡¯s connected to. Until Nyx tosses him out of the void, into the meeting with the others. Each of whom all help to suppress the Primordial of Chaos.
¡°Calm down, Chaos,¡± Justicar states, a grimace on his face.
¡°Chaos, if you don¡¯t calm down, I will have to-¡± Aether begins, only for Chaos to let out a loud cawing sound as his form morphs into a large raven. One that grows larger and larger and larger. All the way until he is large enough to perch on top of a planet.
And throughout the change, he doesn¡¯t stop cawing, his voice echoing throughout the entire galaxy they¡¯re currently in.
Then he turns his glowing crimson eyes straight towards the world holding the Unique Domain.
¡°Stop, Chaos,¡± Chronos declares, appearing amidst the others. ¡°If you have any desire to see your daughter again, you must stop before it¡¯s too late.¡±
Chronos¡¯s words halt Chaos immediately as he freezes time. But crimson cracks begin to appear on the Primordial before he breaks free of Chronos¡¯s time lock after a few minutes.
And without hesitation, he begins to streak across space back towards Val again.
Only to be stopped this time by Etheria, who enlarges herself as well and casts millions of spells at once to hold him back. Both offensive and defensive spells, along with enormous chains that grapple onto Chaos¡¯s wings to hold him down.
She holds him in place for several minutes straight before she freezes in place, a look of horror appearing on her face as she turns to face Val herself and mutters, ¡°No¡¡±
Then she repeatedly shakes her head, murmuring, ¡°No, no, no, nonononono¡¡±
¡°Shit, not her too,¡± Erebos mutters while the symbol of Wrath flashes in his eyes, ¡°the softies are getting way too fucking worked up over this shit.¡±
¡°You¡¯re too coldhearted,¡± Lux scolds him while raising her hands and making a gentle golden glow shine out to calm the two down. Meanwhile Gaia does the same thing with a gentle green light.
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Both of them having spent several minutes preparing the strongest calming spells they could.
But right before the spells hit the two, Etheria¡¯s face grows cold, and a wave of spells washes out from her in a flood. The Primordial of Magic clearly having lost control as well.
Then the calming spells hit them, and everything freezes all at once.
After several seconds, Chaos slowly begins to shrink back down until he returns to his humanoid form with an expressionless and nearly dead look in his eyes. Meanwhile Etheria just stares at Val, wondering why she had to pick a Successor like that.
But deep down she also realizes that it was part of why she picked him.
A tiny, almost nonexistent part, since she mostly just wanted to train a talented mage, but still a part.
The part of her Successor that genuinely loves his twin sister with all of his self.
Enough to jump into a Unique Domain after her without hesitation.
Leaving the Gate to eventually seal itself off behind him, with their parents only arriving not long after it had already sealed itself away. Both of them also growing enraged, just like Etheria and Chaos. Meanwhile the Successor of Magic and Chaos¡¯s other two siblings arrive a couple minutes later, also finding themselves late.
Then immediately shouting at the parents, venting their anguish on them simply for being there to vent on.
Eventually Justicar just turns to look at Chronos and Aether before muttering, ¡°Well, this has gone as badly as it could possibly go.¡±
Both Primordials just nod their heads in agreement.
Val
Minutes before Ashley falls in to the Unique Domain
Blake feels elated at his recent encounter with Ashley. Because she is finally starting to let him in, even if it¡¯s only a little!
And that¡¯s enough for him for now.
He¡¯s been constantly fretting over whether or not he would ever be able to be her younger brother again. After what happened to her with the accident in the past. After he wasn¡¯t able to save her.
And after she woke up without a single memory of him.
When he saw the look in her eyes when she saw him the first time, he felt heartbroken, even if he realized that she at least subconsciously recognized him a little.
So now he feels happy enough to walk on air.
Which is a metaphor that doesn¡¯t work all that well when he can literally walk on air with his magic.
He skips along in the forest, feeling reluctant to go home even if he can¡¯t really go see her now that she¡¯s already left him behind. But he¡¯s just so happy and misses her that he finds it hard to return.
All of his thoughts come to a grinding halt, however, when a loud shattering sound echoes throughout the area. One followed soon after by the sound of a Gate appearing.
A very loud and strange Gate.
With a shattering sound akin to glass that shouldn¡¯t be there.
Blake gets a bad feeling based off of his instinct alone. An instinct that¡¯s never failed him thus far.
So he flies into the air and rushes over towards where the sound came from. Which also happens to be the direction Ashley went.
And on his way, he makes sure to check the System Forums for any news. Because he sees a notification on the corner of his screen telling him that Ashley entered a System Event around the exact same time the strangely loud Gate appeared.
But what he finds on the System Forums sends a chill down his spine as tears begin to form in his eyes.
Not again.
He flies faster in the direction of the Gate.
Not. Again.
Blue flames begin to shoot out from behind him, acting as a propulsion to move him faster.
¡°Not again, not again, not again¡¡± he murmurs over and over again as he goes faster and faster, proving to anyone on the ground seeing him fly by why he is considered the greatest mage on the planet.
And when he arrives at the Unique Domain¡¯s Gate, he stops for a single second to read the message that appears upon identifying it.
? Class E Gate: The First and Last Hell of the King of Destruction ¨C Recommended level: ? ¨C Users Inside: 1 ?
¡°I will not lose her again!¡± Blake shouts out loud before rushing straight inside of the Gate without a hint of hesitation.
Only to find himself appearing in a ruins, surrounded by a bunch of strange stones, without a single monster in sight outside of the ones on the fortresses. And after a looking around, he spots several other ruins like the one he¡¯s on, along with caves, and the fortresses. Finishing with the large volcano.
But he doesn¡¯t find Ashley.
Are there different starting points?
He glances at the stones around him before looking at the other ruins with the exact same formation of stones.
There are probably different starting locations within this Domain, and we¡¯re at different ones.
He clenches his fist as anxiety fills him. Both for himself and for his twin.
Because the monsters he does see on the fortresses are far too powerful.
What¡¯s important now though is to find his sister and work with her to survive.
That¡¯s all that¡¯s important.
B1 | Chapter 58
Ashley
So the very first thing I do after I climb back to my feet is to get a better read on my surroundings. Which is to say that I focus on what monsters seem to stay where, what levels each of the species of monster are, and the general land around me.
Not that there¡¯s much land, considering most of it is nothing but red ashes.
But still.
One thing I note is the massive size of this Domain. It is just plain enormous. So big that if it weren¡¯t for it being completely flat, I could see myself getting lost in it.
Although I can¡¯t see what¡¯s on the other side of the volcano.
It¡¯s probably the same as what¡¯s on this side, so I don¡¯t really care. Not to mention that the boss is in the volcano itself.
Now then. First thing¡¯s first.
Chaos? You there?
Silence answers.
Either he¡¯s still missing, or our connection is blocked within the Unique Domain.
Putting that matter aside for the moment, I ¨C ignoring the significantly rising number of followers in the corner of my interface ¨C move around the ruins a bit. Slowly getting closer to the edge of it, only to pause when I see some of the monsters peeking their heads out of the fortresses and caverns and other sorts of cover. As if they¡¯re checking to see if the boss¡¯s rampage is over.
I narrow my eyes for a bit before coming to a decision.
Right. If I plan on surviving here, then I¡¯m gonna need to see how strong these monsters really are first.
Also, I¡¯m going to have to decide if keeping my Assimilate skill a secret is more important than staying alive. Because there is no fucking way I¡¯m going to keep it hidden if I want to live through this.
I have to go all out against the boss at the very least.
So what¡¯s most important right now is deciding if I should go all out right now, or later.
Hmm.
Well, I can decide that after or while battling a monster to evaluate its power.
With that in mind, I slowly move to the edge of the ruins before looking around at the closest monsters. Which include some of those lizardmen who are scurrying away from some rocks nearby. Three of them in total, each around level 42. Then there¡¯s two strange spiders that I see peeking out of one of the caves. Really large ones at that. And those are level 40.
All Destruction-Touched.
I take a deep breath before letting it out and focusing solely on the spiders.
One of the spiders heads back inside when a dracoraptor approaches. With the monster looking kind of like a velociraptor from prehistoric times mixed with some sort of flying lizard that has wings.
So it¡¯s just a velociraptor with wings.
The creature turns towards the spider that didn¡¯t head inside before opening its mouth, letting out a loud screech, and breathing a deep crimson flame at the spider that makes the spider screech. Before it turns into naught but red ash.
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Then the dracoraptor just turns and moves away, leaving me kind of petrified over here as I hide behind a stone.
Right.
So velociraptor with wings that breathes destruction-affinity flames.
Got it.
I kind of want to leave.
For obvious reasons.
But since I can¡¯t, I just wait for a bit longer until the other spider returns to the entrance of the cavern. Then it goes back down again upon seeing the ashes, along with the dracoraptor that is still nearby even if it¡¯s leaving.
I breathe in a deep breath before letting it out again.
A few seconds more pass as I wait for the dracoraptor to get far away, following which I tense up to run straight for the cavern. Deciding it to be the safest place with the weakest monsters.
Only for a flood of a dozen spiders to rush out, making me stop before I even start running.
The spiders rush straight towards the dracoraptor in a stampede of meter-long spiders. And when they reach the thing, it opens its mouth, screeches again, and breathes out more flames.
But this time the flames only torch two spiders, letting the others go around to attack the dracoraptor from the side. Biting it here and there and causing venom to visibly creep through past the scales covering its flesh.
I feel slightly anxious and panicked for a moment before eventually deciding to just go through with it and send a single feather straight at the dracoraptor¡¯s undefended eye as it sits there buried under the spiders. Piercing through it after I activate Assimilate.
It doesn¡¯t pierce all the way through, though. Not to the brain.
But that doesn¡¯t matter as it starts to mutate a little.
Until it dies to the spiders, and I get some messages myself.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Dracoraptor}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction Breath, is now unlocked for your usage.}
I don¡¯t get any time to focus on the messages, though. Because one of the spiders instantly turns towards me after I help kill the dracoraptor. Making me instinctively hide behind the stone.
Then I hear movement beginning to approach my location from that spider. Followed by even more movement from the other spiders.
After a really quick decision, I begin to move.
I use gravity magic to drastically decrease my weight, followed by Energy Blade to summon two small blades of energy in my hands that I use to stab into the stone and climb up it. And by the time the spiders arrive, looking around the stone in a swarm, I find myself damn near panicking at the top of the stone.
I pretty much hold my breath until the spiders lose interest and head back inside of their little cavern. Letting me breathe out in relief.
Fucking hell this is stressful¡
If these were just regular monsters, I¡¯d be perfectly fine with their levels.
But elite monsters are generally at least around twenty-five to fifty percent stronger than their levels would imply. In terms of monsters.
And these monsters are all already higher level than me.
Albeit not by much.
Right as I¡¯m about to calm down and check my Skill Tree, though, I sense something approaching from behind through my Enhanced Perception skill. Something that makes a chill run down my spine as I jump down on instinct, flapping my wings once to turn around as I do so.
Making me just barely avoid having the talons of a large drake tearing through me.
Will this place ever give me a break?!
As if mocking me, the spiders that had started heading back to their cavern turn around and see me.
Well, shit.
I flap my wings and fly up into the air to avoid the spiders. Which proceeds to give the drake an opportunity to send a wave of deep crimson flames behind it that shoot it forwards, letting it dig its talons into my wings and pick me up like a damned mouse. A winged one.
Until the blood in my wings begins to mutate its talons, making it unable to hold onto me anymore since it no longer has talons.
The drake lets out a roar of pain as I fall down to the ground face first. My wings not working right now because of the gaping wounds on them that go all the way through.
Meanwhile the spiders all rush over to where I¡¯m landing, and a dracoraptor joins the chase as well. Only to get into a fight with the spiders right when I¡¯m about to crash amongst them.
But my wings manage to heal just enough mere seconds before I am about to land, so I flap them again to shoot me to the side, where I crash into another cavern. At which point I don¡¯t give a shit about keeping my secret anymore. Because this is going too far.
So I turn my attention to the ceiling of the cavern and use Silver Spike to slam into the ceiling of the cavern.
Bringing it all down in front of me and sealing me inside of whatever cavern I just got stuck in for now. Until I break my way out later on, that is.
I pant in exhaustion as I finally take the moment to catch my breath.
Just to turn around and find a bunch of glowing ants marching my way.
¡°Oh come on¡¡± I mutter out loud, no doubt shocking everyone again with my actually speaking. If they aren¡¯t more shocked by the sight of Silver Spike, that is.
This is getting ridiculous.
B1 | Chapter 59
Ashley
I quickly identify the ants as they march my way.
? Level 38 Destruction-Touched Antine Drone ¨C 122 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Oh? Actually, I could¡
I count how many there are.
¡not take that many of them on.
So without hesitation, now that I¡¯m no longer bothering with hiding my stolen skills, I go ahead and let loose. First by activating Destruction Breath on them, making my mouth open wide before a powerful jet of deep crimson, almost black flames shoot out at the ants. Turning the closest ones to ash as I get new Skill Trees from them thanks to Assimilate still being active. Then I proceed to use Silver Spike to summon a bunch of spikes out of the air and ground to impale the ones behind them.
And after my breath attack runs out, I go ahead and summon a Silver Barrier between me and the ants to block them from reaching me.
Because the damned flood of ants didn¡¯t even take a dent from that attack. Despite me killing what must be nearly a dozen of them with that onslaught.
Although¡
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x11
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Antine Drone} x11
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Bite, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Destructive Bite is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Antine Drone.] x11
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 40. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 41. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
Oh, uh, wow.
These things give a lot.
Both in EXP and in Skill Points.
This place may actually be a goldmine for those two things.
But¡
The ants repeatedly charge at the wall, causing one dent after another to form as the what must be hundreds of ants try to push on. With even more ants behind them.
¡yeah, not worth the gold in this mine.
And looking at my current mana and Chaos Energy reserves, I won¡¯t last much longer. Because those attacks I just did drained a good third of my mana simply to kill a dozen of the hundreds of ants.
So I quickly begin to look around for some sort of way out. Only to not find anything.
I would just break out of here, but that¡¯ll take longer than this barrier will hold.
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Instead I turn back around and begin by raising my hands and spraying ice cold water over the wall at the ants. More and more water, making the water begin to run down the other side and cause some of the ants to slip. Then I proceed to cast several lightning bolts that strike at the ants, running through the water and electrocuting all of the ants.
But I don¡¯t get a single System Message about killing them. Which is rather disappointing.
What I do find is that they are all at least temporarily paralyzed, with occasional sparks coming off of their collapsed bodies.
Even if some of them are beginning to make attempts at standing again.
Guess their shells are too thick.
I go ahead and spew forth some more destruction flames into their numbers, killing off another dozen or so before turning around and using this extra time to dig my way out.
With Nature¡¯s Wrath.
I use the skill to create vines and roots and the like in the soil and around it to dig through and gradually make a small entrance for me to crawl out of. A process that takes a few minutes to pull off, giving the ants time to recover by the time I start crawling through said hole.
But I manage to make it outside again. Just to find myself faced with the sight of a swarm of two dozen spiders dragging a few dracoraptors into their hive. All of which pause at the sight of me.
Then more drakes come flying down from the sky as I hear the ants marching their way through the entrance I made, clearly angry at me for more reasons than one.
Can I just go home now, please?
¡°Ashley!¡± I finally hear Chaos¡¯s voice echoing in my head at a rather poor time.
Not now.
I quickly begin running for my life, only to turn back to find the ants colliding with the spiders that had started chasing me. Making the two change targets.
But that¡¯s not the case for the drakes who continue chasing after me, occasionally swooping down in their attempts to catch me.
In a situation like this, I would normally go with Dark Howl or Sonic Screech. But I can see more monsters in the distance along with a fortress filled with kobolds, none of whom are currently focusing on me. And if I used those skills, it would just attract their attention and possibly their aggro.
So I do the simplest things I can do while running.
I conjure Silver Barriers to block breath attacks from the drakes, use Shadow Step to teleport away when they swoop down to grab me, and occasionally use Silver Spike to attack them when they¡¯re least expecting it. Occasionally knocking one down from the air, but only killing two of them during the entire chase.
All the way till another loud roar echoes from the volcano, and more of those missiles fire from out of it.
Immediately making the drakes give up their chase without hesitation to go find shelter. Just like all the other monsters in the area.
But by now I¡¯m panting in exhaustion, my sweat dripping down my still-dry clothes, my mana down to just around fifteen percent remaining, and gashes all across my wings and shoulders that are still healing from the drakes¡¯ talons occasionally catching me. Tearing through my clothes a bit in the process.
Fortunately the clothes repair themselves, otherwise I could very much see myself ending up damn near naked in here from my clothes being destroyed.
Thank Chaos for self-repairing clothes.
Literally, since he gave them to me.
But more importantly, I try desperately to find a cover, only to end up being stuck at a little overhanging cavern with no tunnels connected to it. With a bunch of lizardmen crouching down inside of it.
Sorry fellas, but this is my cover.
Without hesitation, I use up some of my remaining mana to fire destruction flames in their way, torching a couple of them before the last two run straight towards me around the flames. But I stop them as well with Silver Spikes mixed with Silver Barrier. Blocking them from proceeding first then piercing through them after.
Then I take cover in the back of the cavern while the boss¡¯s attacks fire down all across the Domain.
Saved by the Unique Monster.
How ironic.
I almost let out a chuckle at that thought, but I hold myself back.
Anyways, now¡¯s as good a time as any Chaos.
¡°Ashley! Are you okay? Do you need any items? I can send you some basic stuff if you need anything! New clothes, maybe? I can¡¯t send anything powerful unless you do a feat impressive enough that the System and Justicar agree, but maybe something to wash yourself with? Oh, and about the Unique Monster, you should avoid it at all costs until you¡¯re at least the same level as it! And-¡± Chaos immediately lets loose a barrage of words that has my head spinning. As if he were some overprotective and worried father or something.
And his words honestly make a very faint warmth spread through me.
A warmth that is not the rather warm temperature of this Domain.
But one of compassion.
I think.
¡°Oh, I forgot to mention, but your twin jumped into the Domain after you,¡± Chaos comments after spending the entire barrage of the Unique Monster¡¯s attacks talking away nonstop without giving me any sort of time to respond.
Wait, what?
¡°Yeah, Blake¡¯s in the Domain as well,¡± he confirms. ¡°Although he seems to be on the opposite side of the Domain as you.¡±
The fuck?
B1 | Chapter 60
The Class S System Hub
One person appears after another within the Class S System Hub as more and more people learn about the current events on Val. The events revolving around the Successor of Chaos.
And her skill that has now finally been discovered publicly.
But the King of the Sil Gray Kingdom simply stands at the very back of the hub with his arms crossed as some of the other top Class S rulers quietly discuss amongst themselves about the Successor.
¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that rumor was true?¡± ¡°This will be a problem.¡± ¡°How close do you think Chaos is to her? Do you think he would care if she were killed?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a threat.¡±
But King Arnos Sil Gray just flips through the System Forums as he looks at the reactions of the public. Just glancing at one particular System Forums thread.
- [LukeSk459] ¨C {This is crazy. It¡¯s fucking crazy. How could someone with a skill like that even exist?!}
- [Art12Lex4] ¨C {At least it explains why Chaos chose her as his Successor.}
- [UrlStar7] ¨C {True.}
- [DawnPawn8] ¨C {Yeah}
- [LukeSk459] ¨C {But I wonder how the people whose skills were taken by her feel if they saw?}
- [Ninja_Stick8] ¨C {Do they keep their skills after?}
- [LukeSk459] ¨C {Obviously. Unless they died for real, of course. Otherwise the Sil Gray Kingdom would¡¯ve already declared war on the Successor of Chaos by now.}
- [Ninja_Stick8] ¨C {Right, forgot one of the people she took the skill from was a prince.}
- [UrlStar7] ¨C {How likely do you think it is she¡¯ll be hunted down by Class S hunters?}
- [LukeSk459] ¨C {Unlikely. Not with Chaos and the Tower of Chaos supporting her.}
- [DawnPawn8] ¨C {True.}
- [Art12Lex4] ¨C {No, it¡¯s more unlikely for her to even get out of that Unique Domain alive to be hunted down in the first place}
- [Ninja_Stick8] ¨C {Well some people will hunt her down regardless of Chaos, and others may just convince themselves Chaos won¡¯t retaliate.}
The king raises his head when some of the Class S hunters approach him, with one of them asking, ¡°How do you feel, King Arnos? It was your son whose root skill was taken.¡±
He looks around at the Class S hunters all around the hub who have now gone silent, just waiting for his response. Some of whom include the rulers of the most powerful non-Primordial related nations and organizations in the entire universe, and others the de-facto leaders of the organizations under the Primordials.
Eventually he focuses on the person who asked him the question as he answers, ¡°Should she survive her ordeal, I will be allying with the Successor of Chaos and sending my son to Val to work with her.¡±
Silence fills the hub.
¡°But aren¡¯t you angry that she took one of your family¡¯s special skills?¡± the Class S ruler of the world known as Alvaria asks, the man narrowing his glowing purple eyes at Arnos.
Arnos just shakes his head and states, ¡°If she could claim the skill by slaying my son, then she may keep it.¡±
It would be a different matter if the duel killed him for good.
Emperor Vlad Crow Alvaria looks a little surprised for a moment before nodding his head and stating, ¡°In that case, would you care to put me into contact with the Lady herself?¡±
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Arnos doesn¡¯t show any surprise as he nods his head in agreement.
Meanwhile everyone nearby shows surprise at their interaction. None of them having expected Arnos¡¯s reaction to the current events.
But not everyone in the hub agrees with their sentiment. Soon leading to a third of the Class S hunters in the room mutually deciding to avoid anything related to the Successor of Chaos, along with a sixth of the Class S hunters agreeing to target her in the Official System Events.
And when Arnos hears the few people in the room who decide to target the Successor of Chaos directly after the protection period on Val is gone make their declarations, he just silently shakes his head. Already knowing full well how the Primordial of Chaos will react to that.
Because his own world has a Successor of Magic on it as well, and that Successor has clearly informed him of just how much Chaos cares for his new daughter.
A fact that many of the other Class S hunters here currently believe to be impossible simply because of the man¡¯s psychopathic actions ever since the dawn of the universe. The Primordial acting for no reason other than his own amusement.
He opens a personal chat window on his interface using a special feature given to him when he reached Class B on the System Classifications to send a message to all of the important individuals of the Sil Gray Kingdom.
- [King Arnos Sil Gray] ¨C {Prepare for the destruction of several key powers within the universe. I will send the exact powers soon.}
Then he closes out of the chat window again without reading their responses.
This is going to turn into a mess.
Ashley
After Chaos¡¯s little revelation about my twin being here, I feel more than a little stunned. To the degree that I just kinda blankly stare forwards.
Until the monsters begin coming back out of their hiding places. At which point I come to a decision.
I am going to make this little cavern my home until I feel confident enough leaving this place. Even if it takes the entire month before the Gate breaks to do that.
¡°Unique Domains last for two months before breaking,¡± Chaos corrects me.
Even if it takes the entire two months before the Gate breaks to do that.
Not that I can see it taking that long.
¡°Chances are the Unique Monster will leave its volcano long before that,¡± Chaos says, making me tense up a little. ¡°Unlike most other monsters, Unique Monsters actually have sapience to a degree. Even if it is very limited and sealed away by the System.¡±
That¡¯s¡ sad.
And I¡¯m not particularly happy about the idea of the King of Destruction leaving his volcano.
But that¡¯s a problem for later. For now I go ahead and quickly get to work building up walls around the cavern, blocking off the entrance from anything else. With the exception of a single hole I leave closer to the top of the cavern entrance for me to fly out of and into.
From what I saw, the only monsters here who use these small, wide open caverns that have nothing more than a single rounded inner wall along with a ceiling for cover are the lizardmen.
The kobolds stay in their fortresses.
The ants in their nests
Spiders their hives.
The drakes go wherever they go. Not sure, actually. But it¡¯s not these alcoves, that¡¯s for sure.
And the dracoraptors hide in some other caves that I didn¡¯t get a good look at.
Although the process of making this little bunker for myself ends up taking almost the rest of my mana. Leaving me completely drained.
But it was worth it as I don¡¯t sense any monsters outside trying to get in with my Enhanced Perception skill. And the ones that get close all turn away after sniffing at the metal plates making up the wall.
Fortunately it wasn¡¯t exactly difficult to figure out how to make the walls in the first place.
I collapse onto the ground in a sweaty heap, just staring up at the ceiling as I breathe in and out. Wondering what the hell I¡¯m going to do from here on out.
At the very least, food and water won¡¯t be an issue.
Water I can just get with my magic. Simple as that.
As for food, it doesn¡¯t really matter what I eat. With Incorrigible Appetite that I got from the zombies out of one of the Gates on Val I can eat anything and be fine.
I could even eat rotten meat if I wanted to and not have any issues.
Other than gagging to death.
Because it probably doesn¡¯t taste very good.
On that note, you able to send any food, Chaos?
¡°Unfortunately not,¡± he answers, crashing any hopes I had of not eating poorly cooked monster meat down the drain. ¡°I¡¯m only able to send System recognized items through the Successor Menu. And that doesn¡¯t include food.¡±
Damn.
Guess it¡¯s cooked lizards, spiders, and ants for me then.
But for now, it¡¯s time for a nap.
I don¡¯t think I can keep my eyes open for much longer, and Enhanced Perception should make me instantly aware of any monsters trying to sneak in.
So I let my eyes droop closed before I fall asleep.
B1 | Chapter 61
Ashley
I wake up as I sense a drake beginning to enter my bunker, making me shoot up to my feet from pure instinct alone before turning towards it. Finding the thing sticking its head inside and looking around the incredibly dark cavern. Eventually finding me and letting out a roar.
The sight of the monster makes me grit my teeth before I quickly breathe out a wave of destruction flames straight at the drake. Catching it off guard.
Then I flap my wings, sending several of my sharpened feathers at it. With me following after through the air, with both of my blades drawn.
Just as I expected, after the destruction flames clear up to reveal the drake again now missing quite the number of scales, it swipes its wing from its place perched on my barrier and sends my feathers flying. But it doesn¡¯t manage to block or avoid my blades that I use gravity magic to make heavier the moment they are about to hit its missing scales. Leading to my blades cleaving straight through its unprotected flesh as the drake lets out a roar of pain.
I activate Assimilate without any hesitation, and follow it up with another wave of feathers that pierce into it as the drake falls to the ground.
But it doesn¡¯t die just yet. So I follow it down there before grabbing both blades and driving them straight through its neck. Since I have no idea where its heart is, and its brain is still covered by its skull. Something I doubt I could pierce with my strength.
Then I get the System Messages I¡¯m looking for.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drake}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Mid-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Mid-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drake.]
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 44. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
My mind nearly blanks out when I read the System Message about the mana manipulation.
Right. I didn¡¯t actually read the messages that I got from killing the other two drakes.
Was a little busy running for my life.
Or rather, flying for my life.
I actually feel rather relieved about not having to hide my skill anymore. It makes things so much easier.
On that note, how is everyone outside of the Domain taking my reveal, anyways?
¡°Not well,¡± Chaos answers right away, the guy practically watching my every move in here like an overprotective father. Which I guess he kind of is now. Sorta. ¡°And I am more than just ¡®sort of¡¯ your ¡®overprotective father¡¯, I am! Do you know how shocked I was when I learned you¡¯d ended up in this Unique Domain?! I lost control and nearly destroyed a galaxy!¡±
I blink at that before glancing upwards at the ceiling of the cavern as if Chaos were there.
You what?
¡°Oh, uh, forget I said that,¡± he says, dismissing his previous words as I struggle to not raise a brow. ¡°The universe is split, but over half of the people are either wishing to ally with you or deciding to ignore you entirely.¡±
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Wait a second, go back to what you said before. You lost control and nearly destroyed a what?
¡°Right, so let¡¯s move on from the whole ¡®lost control¡¯ part, shall we?¡± Chaos says, making me blink for a second as I realize he¡¯s worried about me realizing he lost control. Not about the ¡®nearly destroying a galaxy¡¯ thing. ¡°Why would I care about a random galaxy?¡±
I just kinda stare at the ceiling for a few seconds, my attention locked on that tone of utter confusion in his voice. Like he has no idea why there would be anything wrong with wiping out a galaxy and everyone in it.
Right. Primordial of Chaos.
Almost forgot about a bunch of the things he did in the past.
¡°Why should I care about a bunch of random mortals?¡± he asks, once again sounding confused.
I guess you have a point. Although killing them yourself is a bit¡ brutal. Even if unintentional.
Well, whatever.
That¡¯s your life, not mine.
¡°Right, so back to what I was saying before,¡± Chaos says, clearly moving on from the topic. ¡°Most of them won¡¯t be a problem, and a minority of them will likely target you but only inside of Official System Events. So you don¡¯t have to worry much about them.¡±
That¡¯s good.
¡°As for the last tiny minority that are actually plotting to kill you if you make it out of the Unique Domain alive?¡± Chaos continues, sending a slight chill down my spine from his tone. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them either. They seem to believe that I don¡¯t care about you. Likely because of my past of not caring about anyone. So I¡¯ll go ahead and play with them a bit.¡±
Another chill runs down my spine at that, but I just nod my head without saying a word.
Let¡¯s just move on from that.
I turn my head to look at the entrance of my little cavern, which was damaged a little bit by our battle. So I go ahead and repair it with new barriers. A process that ends up being a little bit more complicated than the process of making said barriers in the first place. Of making the barricade.
Then I go ahead and begin preparing to fly out of my cavern to hunt a bit, only to pause when my stomach growls. Hungry for food.
I pause, glance outside of the cavern once more, then turn my head towards the drake¡¯s corpse.
Well, guess I¡¯m eating drake today.
I let out a light groan as I fly up to the entrance of my cavern, not exactly happy about my dinner. A dinner of burnt and incredibly tough drake flesh. Flesh that made me gag from eating it.
But my body can consume anything perfectly fine thanks to that skill meant for zombies, so it¡¯s fine.
Fine.
Right. Totally fine.
¡°You should learn to cook,¡± Chaos comments.
Shut up.
¡°Shutting up,¡± Chaos comments again, sounding amused this time.
I take a deep breath while trying to wipe the memory of my meal out of my mind. Then I focus on the surroundings of the cavern, where no monsters are within sight. Strictly because the king just had another fit.
Alright. The monsters with the lowest level here are the ants, followed by the lizardmen and spiders. Then the kobolds. With the dracoraptors and drakes at the top of the food chain.
¡°This is likely the outskirts of the Unique Domain, so the monsters will grow in level as they get closer to the center,¡± Chaos explains, surprising me with facts I wish I didn¡¯t know now. ¡°All Unique Monsters spawn at the highest level of whatever Class they are in. With the monsters of the Unique Domain gradually growing stronger to around the same level by the time you get close to the UM.¡±
Right. So these are the small-fry of this place.
Gotcha.
Anyways, since I allocated my free point while eating, I go ahead and search for a spider nest. Because those seem to be the easiest for me to handle.
There are fewer of them than the ants, and they¡¯re still a relatively low level. Not to mention that their silk may be flammable, and I haven¡¯t managed to kill any of them yet. So I don¡¯t have their Skill Tree.
And I just want a skill from them.
It would help if I got the Skill Trees of every monster in the area before I moved on. Just to help prepare me for the higher leveled monsters.
Especially since I¡¯m not hiding Assimilate anymore.
Although, as I fly through the abandoned skies towards one of the nests, I can¡¯t help but wonder.
Do the people outside know exactly what my skill does?
¡°They do not,¡± Chaos says, sounding rather pleased. ¡°All they¡¯re assuming is that you take one skill from your enemies. No one believes you¡¯re taking the entire Skill Tree as they¡¯ve yet to see you use any later skills from the Skill Trees you¡¯ve taken.¡±
Nice. Some secrecy still remains after all.
¡°Ashley?¡± Chaos asks.
What?
¡°Be careful when you get closer to the UM,¡± he says, sounding genuinely worried. ¡°Unique Monsters let off a frequency that will cut off our mental connection for a time. So when you get close enough, we won¡¯t be able to talk anymore.¡±
Okay.
On another note, I wonder how Blake is doing?
¡°He¡¯s currently fighting to take over a fortress from the kobolds inside,¡± Chaos casually mentions, almost making me stop flying from the shock. ¡°Do remember that you can spectate other users¡¯ System Events even while inside of one yourself. So long as it¡¯s not an Official System Event you¡¯re in, that is.¡±
He¡¯s what?!
And¡ I didn¡¯t know that.
B1 | Chapter 62
Ashley
Huh. He really is just trying to take over a fortress from the kobolds.
I can¡¯t help but stare in some shock at the screen as I fly through the air towards a nest I just found. Because on the screen shows Blake as he casually uses his strongest magic, spatial magic, to tear the kobolds to shreds. And I can¡¯t help but admire the efficiency he does it at.
But I guess that¡¯s just par for the course with him. Especially with his Perfect Spatial Mana Manipulation.
The highest class of mana manipulation skill that gives every rune in existence, including the ability to discover and even make your own runes.
In fact, the System Forums mentioned that having a Perfect Mana Manipulation skill was a requirement to be even considered for the position of Successor of Magic by Etheria.
I close out of the screen when I reach the nest, finding some spiders peeking outside of it already. Then I take a deep breath and close my eyes, focusing on the new runes I can sense in my mind. The runes attached to my Mid Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation skill.
Of the runes, there are the usual five that I got in the previous Low Stage Mana Manipulation skills, along with five new ones. One new one that lets me coat my body in destruction mana to act as a personal barrier, one to coat my body in destruction mana to destroy the concepts of gravity and allow me to float in the air, one to create semi-solid structures of destruction mana that I can control, one to create bullets that can shatter runes before a spell is cast so long as I use more mana than the caster of the runes, and one that lets me send out a pulse that targets a single thing and doesn¡¯t damage anything else.
Overall, some rather nice runes.
But the one I use right now summons forth several arrows of destruction mana around me. Following which I open my eyes, activate Assimilate, and launch them straight at the two spiders leaving the nest.
And when they hit them, the spiders let out loud screeches as parts of their bodies begin to disintegrate without a trace around where the arrows strike. Not being anywhere near as strong as the UM¡¯s Domain-wide attacks, but still proving rather useful.
I smile as I convert more mana into destruction mana before creating more arrows and sending them flying at the spiders until both spiders are dead.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x2
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne} x2
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction-Touched Silk Creation, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction-Touched Silk Creation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Destruction-Touched Silk Creation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne.]
Before I can celebrate the new skills, I feel a major wave of pain assault me from my mid-section. Warning me very immediately that this is a mutation skill. A skill that requires physical traits from the source to use.
So I don¡¯t hesitate before erasing the Skill Tree.
Because I am not going to let myself be mutated into a spider lady.
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The first time this happened was when I accidentally killed grass of all things while Assimilate was active back at the park. Where the grass gave me photosynthesis as a single-skill Skill Tree. And tried mutating my flesh to give me bark skin and leaves.
Then the mutation went away after I removed the skill, returning me to normal. And showing me that I very much do not want to mutate.
It just feels wrong when I do.
Although I guess some mutations may be okay. If the skill is powerful enough, and it doesn¡¯t have too weird a look.
¡°The Unique Monster will likely have a root skill tied to a physical trait as well, so if you want its Skill Tree should you manage to kill it, you¡¯ll likely end up with one of its physical traits,¡± Chaos comments, surprising me. ¡°And you may want to keep that trait, since the root skills of UMs are always True Damage dealing skills.¡±
Well, yeah, that is definitely a skill I can see myself keeping.
I just hope the mutation isn¡¯t bad.
Fortunately, most skills are tied to magic and not the user¡¯s physical form. So I¡¯m good for most Skill Trees.
I also already have wings, so wing related mutation skills won¡¯t be a problem either.
In fact, Feather Shot is probably one of those very wing related mutation skills. But I didn¡¯t mutate because I already have wings.
On another note, I can¡¯t help but frown at the nest now, briefly wondering what to do. And after a few seconds, I let out a sigh and just mark the spiders mentally as creatures that I don¡¯t want to assimilate. Which worked when it came to natural plants.
Then I head inside of the nest.
And immediately end up attacked by three more spiders, prompting me to send three arrows of destruction mana at them before jumping up into the air and flapping my wings to send feathers at them while they¡¯re distracted by my bolts of mana. But it doesn¡¯t prove to be that easy as they manage to dodge the mana before striking at my feathers with their claws, knocking them away.
I feel the corners of my lips tilting down in a frown while I fly around them, only for silk to suddenly shoot out of their spinnerets with a faint, glowing crimson light to it. Silk that immediately homes in on me and wraps around my person, pushing me up against the wall and tying me up.
But when the spiders turn around to move over and finish me off, a whirlwind of crimson, purple, and black chaos energy begins to shoot out of me, ripping apart the webbing and shocking them.
As Unchained finally proves useful here.
And while they¡¯re surprised, I rush forwards with my blades raised before slicing straight through the front-most limbs of the closest spider that it rushes to raise in order to block my blades. Following it up by stabbing straight down into the spider¡¯s head, killing it.
Then the other two spiders rush at me, with five more coming out from deeper down their nest. Making me begin to feel a little cramped here.
But I quickly cast a couple more arrows of destruction mana at the two spiders here, followed by another blade to the skull for one of the spiders, then a wave of destruction breath at the approaching five spiders. Torching the front two in the process before the other three simply crawl over the red ashes remaining of their brethren.
I grit my teeth a little as I sense my mana beginning to get close to half full. But I keep pushing as I send feathers out at all of the spiders while raising my blades to block the claws of two of them. Only for their claws to knock one of my blades out of my hand with the sheer force behind it. Making me realize this particular spider is a higher level than the others.
Despite that, I just take the stab by moving my wing in the way, letting it stab my wing instead of my arm. Mutating its leg in the process as it screeches.
Then I use a different destruction magic rune to send out a burst of destruction mana all around me in a wave. One that knocks the spiders a couple meters away while disintegrating some of their legs that try to block most of it.
And in the process of doing that, I decrease my remaining mana even more. Because those bursts cost quite a bit more than making a small arrow does.
I glance at my wing to find it regenerating before I focus on the spiders, each of whom amongst the survivors try to web me up again. With that failing just like the first time and giving me another opening in the confusion to rush away, grab my lost blade, and send over a dozen Silver Spikes down on their heads like an avalanche.
Half of the remaining spiders die from that, leaving the other half injured, the spikes having missed their heads.
But now I have breathing room.
Literally, in the sense that I send a destruction breath their way, finishing off the other half that¡¯s too injured now to move fast enough to get out of the way.
Leaving me in silence once more while panting in exhaustion and down to about a quarter of my mana.
I begin to dismiss my blades back into my ring, only to hear more spiders beginning to approach. No doubt attracted by the noise.
So I fly up into the air and begin to leave their nest. Only to find drakes filling the skies and lizardmen and kobolds running around on the ground. With the kobolds for some reason holding bows and arrows now.
Fuck.
B1 | Chapter 63
A World known as Tra¡¯la¡¯Van
The Class S general of the standing military of Tra¡¯la¡¯Van stands at a salute as he addresses his king and ruler, ¡°I believe we should go on the assault the moment the Successor of Chaos leaves the Unique Domain, Your Majesty!¡±
Whispers run through the room. And for good reason, the general understands.
Because at the center of the room shows the livestream of Ashley currently struggling to run for her life from a wave of drakes, lizardmen, kobolds, and even drachne. All of which are chasing after her with the intent to kill, each sending out their own attacks at the Successor and threat. Whether that be through destruction affinity silk, deep crimson fireballs of destruction mana, arrows from the kobolds, and, well, nothing from the lizardmen. Since the lizardmen don¡¯t have a ranged attack.
The girl continuously dodges their attacks only barely each time, with her occasionally getting hit and having to quickly heal it through her health and whatever possible regeneration skill she may have. Since she heals too fast for it to be nothing but her health.
But it¡¯s clear that she is struggling massively with merely surviving against the weaker monsters in the Unique Domain. So the general can understand the nobles¡¯ and his king¡¯s skepticism.
¡°Explain,¡± his king, King Van de LiLanio, declares, the man sitting on his throne with his cheek resting against his fist as his short black and purple hair shines in the light of the red sun over their planet.
¡°Of course, Your Majesty,¡± General Travaleji states with a bow of his head before standing up straighter. ¡°My skill known as Divine Instincts is warning me that the Successor of Chaos may be the most dangerous threat in the entire universe. And I believe it best to stamp out the threat before she grows any more should she survive the Unique Domain.¡±
He then goes on to explain more of his thoughts, eventually leading up to showing recordings with traces of the girl¡¯s growth since she woke up from her coma. He also goes into the details of how Chaos has always acted, personally believing that the Primordial would never care about a single Successor.
Not the known psychopath everyone in the universe has come to know who only cares about his amusement.
So he truly believes that so long as they put on an amusing show for the Primordial, Chaos will not bother them.
And after nearly half an hour, the king declares, ¡°Very well. You may give the order to the forces we have on Val. If they should see this girl, they are to force her off of Val and into our arms to be dealt with as swiftly as possible.¡±
¡°As you wish, Your Majesty,¡± General Traveleji responds with a light bow of his head. ¡°I¡¯m certain we won¡¯t be the only ones acting, but so long as she is-¡±
He is cut off when the light of their sun vanishes from the sky, and everyone begins looking around in confusion.
¡°You may not be the only ones, but you are the first, and you¡¯ll set a fine example,¡± a familiar voice echoes across the entire planet, confusing all of the people living on it while frightening the people inside of the castle.
Chaos??! What¡¯s he-
¡°This whole misconception of me not caring is getting oooolllldddd,¡± Chaos drawls out as the people in the castle quickly move towards the balcony to look at the skies. Only to find a terrifying sight greeting them.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The sight of an enormous raven blocking out their entire sun, its size possibly greater than that of their planet itself.
¡°Now, I very much understand why everyone believes this is true,¡± Chaos¡¯s voice continues to echo across the world, with all of the people of the world coming out to watch. If they hadn¡¯t already fainted out of fear and shock. ¡°I genuinely didn¡¯t care about anything before.¡±
The massive raven¡¯s eyes narrow.
¡°But things are different now.¡±
Eerie black, crimson, and purple mist begins to spread across the world.
¡°For those of you who aren¡¯t aware, most of the monsters in existence are born from chaos energy, even if most of them don¡¯t keep any sort of affinity with chaos energy afterwards,¡± Chaos continues as the mist slowly makes its way down towards the surface of the planet. ¡°One of the many reasons why we have System Events and Gates in the first place is to keep these monsters from rampaging across the universe. Because no one, not even me as the Primordial of Chaos, can stop the generation of this chaos energy.¡±
When the mist reaches the ground, the general begins to feel chills running down his spine, his instinct immediately warning him to get as far away from their planet as possible. But when he tries to open a portal, nothing happens. No portal opens.
And he¡¯s not the only one as everyone else in the king¡¯s throne room who tries to open a portal finds the exact same result.
Then the mist begins to split up, with patches of slowly forming orbs emerging all over the planet, including inside of the throne room.
¡°Not many people realize this, but anyone with Perfect Chaos Mana Manipulation can, in effect,¡± Chaos pauses as the orbs all across the world pop and tens of thousands of different types of monsters burst out of them, immediately going to assault anyone nearby, ¡°create their own monsters.¡±
Chaos immediately fills the world in the literal and figurative sense. But the Primordial of Chaos doesn¡¯t stop there.
¡°As punishment for even considering scheming against my beautiful and lovely daughter,¡± Chaos continues in a pleased tone of voice that, despite that tone, sends shivers down the spines of everyone listening as they either run from or fight the monsters, ¡°let me have a little snack.¡±
Then Chaos vanishes.
Along with their sun.
Leaving them on a planet filled with billions of monsters with no way to teleport off of its surface.
Ashley
I pant in exhaustion, covered in sweat as I lie down face first in my cavern. Having only barely made it back alive.
The fucking monsters kept chasing me around for hours nonstop, and even when some of them would branch off to attack each other, more of them would join in the chase. At which point I¡¯d already long since run out of mana.
And I was not going to go in up close to use my blades.
Honestly, at this point I might just use that damned bow. Because I really need a non-magic based method of attack.
Feather Shot barely costs any mana to use, but every single arrow of destruction mana costs a good third or so of a unit of mana. And I only have so many units of mana.
With the bursts being even worse at costing three entire units of mana to do.
At this rate my best bet may just be going through my Skill Trees in an attempt to find a skill that increases my mana regeneration speed. Because if I can¡¯t get a handle on this, I won¡¯t last a week.
The only upsides I can see about this whole situation are the numerous level-ups I¡¯m getting, the new and powerful Skill Trees I¡¯m assimilating, and the significant number of Skill Points this place is giving me.
Three Skill Points per kill.
Probably because every last monster is an elite monster.
And at this rate I¡¯ve already killed at least a few dozen monsters, netting me over a hundred Skill Points from my day and a half in this place.
But I can only use all of this if I survive.
Which will prove difficult considering how I can¡¯t even get up right now.
I continue panting on the ground, strongly happy about the fact that my clothes are one hundred percent waterproof and can¡¯t absorb liquid at all. Making it so that the sweat doesn¡¯t soak into them.
Otherwise this would be even more unpleasant.
And while I was at first worried about how to wash myself off without flashing the livestream, I realized that since my clothes don¡¯t soak the water up, I can just wash myself without even taking my clothes off.
Saves my modesty from the bunch of stalkers watching me struggle for my life.
Eventually my eyes begin to droop closed again as my exhaustion forces me to sleep. Which should be safer this time around since I sealed off the entrance other than some small cracks for air.
So no drake wakeup calls this time.
My eyes continue to droop until they shut entirely, and I fall asleep.
B1 | Glossary 2 and Chapters Caught Up
Alrighty! Ascension of Chaos is finally caught up with the public chapters it had before I started posting on Royal Road! So if you had read Ascension of Chaos before it went to Royal Road, the next chapters after this post are all new content to you!
I hope you enjoy!
No chapter today btw. Just this glossary.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Also, Ascension of Chaos has been gradually growing in followers still after leaving the Rising Stars list and is almost reaching what I consider the bare minimum for one of my stories nowadays for me to be satisfied. So that''s good.
Other than that, there''s an updated glossary. I hope you enjoy.
Click here for Glossary 2!
B1 | Chapter 64
Ashley
Not long after I wake up and have my disgusting breakfast of more burnt drake at the cost of another annoying comment from Chaos, I find myself blankly staring at my inbox. Something I only noticed when I checked out the hub menu to go spectate Blake again.
And it¡¯s¡ uh¡ full.
Hundreds of thousands of messages full.
Why is it full? Why are people messaging me so much out of nowhere?
No idea.
Not many people are really stating the reason in the few messages I check.
Other than them profusely apologizing for something that I didn¡¯t even know about.
With some of them even begging me to spare their lives.
I just kinda stare at it for several seconds before eventually closing out of it, deciding to act like I didn¡¯t see it.
Then I get up and stretch a little bit, having rested up a bit and restored some of my health. And after that, proceed to open up the way out of my little cavern.
To find myself staring at a few dozen kobolds, each with bows trained on me. Not to mention standing just outside of the range of my Enhanced Perception skill.
I blink. They fire.
I duck down behind my barriers, only for a good number of arrows to slam into my barrier as a bunch of vines and other types of spells similar to them, like tentacles of shadow and chains of light, all try to wrap around me and stop me. Without any success thanks to Unchained. Letting me stay safely under my cover as I cover up the hole again with another barrier.
What. The. Fuck?
Why were they just standing there? Was it an attempt to ambush me?
Actually, how do they even know the span of my Enhanced Perception skill anyways?
And why are there so many just sitting out there?
I move to peek through one of the other holes, finding them still hammering away at the wall, with a particular focus on the place I sealed off. But it doesn¡¯t take long for them to see me peeking through, at which point they start focusing on the hole.
Then a thought comes to mind.
Huh. That could work¡
After all, I know the general structure of the fortresses thanks to Blake¡¯s livestream. Assuming they¡¯re designed similarly.
And if he can try taking over a fortress, so can I.
Ignoring the fact that he¡¯s been pulling back and taking days to do his assault rather than taking it over in a single day.
Probably because of mana problems. The same as me.
Wait a second¡
The corners of my lips twitch downwards before I activate Assimilate and go ahead and look outside of the cavern again. Then I go ahead and fire off two destruction mana arrows to kill one of the kobolds.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Minor Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.}
Who and the what now?
Destruction Resistance?
An arrow almost takes me in the face, quickly making me move back behind cover again.
Without hesitating, I check the description of the new skill before grinning.
Okay, that¡¯s nice.
{Minor Destruction Resistance ¨C Grants the user a minor resistance to destruction. All attacks that cause damage to the user¡¯s body will be resisted based on the level of this skill.}
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Although not as nice since the level is only level six. But still nice.
Resistance to being destroyed basically.
It would explain why these kobolds are out here in rather large numbers using weapons rather than any sort of magic. Other than the magic they used to restrict me. They likely don¡¯t have as many offensive capabilities as the other monsters here and group together to fight them off using their resistances.
And now that I think about it, the kobolds did seem oddly resistant to Blake¡¯s attacks when he was assaulting their fortress. Plus the glowing red cracks on their body shined with crimson light every time they took a hit.
I glance at the barrier as their arrows continue to strike at it, each of the arrows seemingly infused with a bit of mana. Slowly deforming my barriers and breaking their way into my cavern.
Well, shit. Goodbye home, I guess.
At least they waited for me to come out after a good night¡¯s rest. It let me restore almost half of my health, and most of my mana and Chaos Energy.
Right when one of the barriers completely break inwards with a few arrows flying through it, I push my way straight out of that barrier before flying into the sky and sending a wave of destruction breath at the kobolds. Then I follow it up with dozens of arrows made of destruction mana that I send flying at the kobolds still aiming at me.
And after killing over a dozen of them like that, taking a couple arrows myself in the side that has me gritting my teeth, I fly away from them as fast as my wings will carry me.
Straight towards the closest fortress.
The fortress I¡¯m guessing these kobolds are from. Especially considering the walls that aren¡¯t manned as strongly as I¡¯ve previously seen.
I dodge one arrow after another as I fly towards the fortress, not even stopping after I make it to the walls. Instead searching around the walls for the mechanism for the gates to the fortress.
A process that isn¡¯t particularly easy considering the kobolds still here shooting arrows at me. Not to mention the few larger kobolds I notice charging at me with strange looking swords.
But I ignore them all as I rush through, only countering, blocking, and dodging attacks as I go straight towards the gate lever. Something I can only find thanks to my Enhanced Hearing skill that lets me clearly hear the lever as it¡¯s being pulled in order to open the gate to let the kobolds chasing me outside of the fortress inside.
Once I make it to the lever, I find one of those larger kobolds pulling it.
So I finally identify the creature.
? Level 54 Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsman ¨C 241 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Shit.
I immediately form several barriers in front of the door to the room behind me to block any of the chasing kobolds from entering. Then I tighten my grip on my blades that I¡¯d summoned at some point during the chase and focus all of my attention on this guy.
At an estimate, I should have somewhere around two minutes before the majority of those kobolds outside chasing me here arrive at the fortress.
Two minutes to fight this big fella in armor with those two strange, curved swords and close the gate again.
Thankfully this place only has one gate. Probably because of the dracoraptors that I¡¯ve seen charging at that one gate from time to time. So that they only have to defend one gate.
The guardsman lets go of the gate lever, making the thing begin closing the gate on its own, before it turns to me and draws its blades from its sheaths.
It lets out a hiss at me, startling me for a moment as it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard a kobold make a sound. Then it rushes at me with the blades raised, proving itself to not actually be that fast.
Although when I dodge the blades and they slam into one of the stacked barriers behind me, leaving large dents in them, I realize he is quite strong. And he¡¯s not alone either, as I hear more slamming sounds of metal hitting metal on the other side of the barriers, where the other kobold guardsmen are no doubt attacking.
And it¡¯s at this point that I¡¯m starting to question my decision to come here.
Because these guardsmen are even more dangerous than the kobolds outside.
Even if a good chunk of their forces are, in fact, outside. Not in the fortress.
Wait¡ why should I even bother with this guy if he¡¯s slow?
I ignore the guardsman as I flap my wings, flying straight towards the lever.
The guardsman lets out an angry sounding hiss, but I ignore him as I swipe both of my blades straight at the large, wooden level. Making them both heavier in the process.
Then my blades pierce straight through the lever at the very bottom of the contraption. Making it pretty much impossible for anyone to lift that gate anymore.
And without pausing, I quickly run to the window of the room before jumping out while spinning around. Just barely avoiding one of those blades flying straight at me that now goes over me instead, mere millimeters from piercing my head.
I feel a cold sweat form as I flap my wings to stop myself from falling. Because that was close.
Way too close.
I spin around before flying up towards the top of the wall again, leaving the kobold guardsman sticking his head out from the window and throwing his other blade at me.
Which doesn¡¯t really work out well for him since gravity kind of makes it go back down to almost split his face in two.
Actually, I take advantage of that to send multiple destruction arrows at him along with some feathers. And since he¡¯s sticking his body half out a window while frantically moving to avoid being scalped by his own blade, he doesn¡¯t dodge my attacks.
Not that my attacks actually do that much alone.
But with Chaotic Surge activated throughout this whole fiasco? And him still leaning out over the window?
Even with my attacks only doing some minor damage to his armor and the skin beneath, he ends up slipping and falling while choking because of one of the effects that were placed on him. All the way till he slams hard into the ground below. Somehow still alive.
I stop flying away, feeling more than a little surprised at that.
Wow. That kobold just survived falling several stories while feathers were stuck about an inch into his skin while mutating the surface of his flesh, parts of his armor were disintegrated with some of his skin along with it, and several effects including some poisons were ravaging him.
Talk about sturdy.
I purse my lips a little, my eyes lingering on the glowing crimson cracks across his body as a thought comes to mind. The thought that this fella may have an improved version of the other kobolds¡¯ minor destruction resistance.
And that thought makes me want to capitalize on this.
I glance at the other kobolds, finding them still probably a minute and a half or so away. Then I look at the ones now sticking their heads out the window from that room, clearly not happy despite also clearly having broken my barriers.
Hmm.
Well, if I¡¯m gonna survive here, I¡¯m going to have to take risks.
Time to kill that guardsman.
B1 | Chapter 65
Ashley
I start off by creating a barrier of destruction mana around my own person. One that¡¯s just directly above my clothes, surrounding me entirely like another layer of skin. Except above my clothes. And crimson in color.
The reason why I haven¡¯t done this before now is the massive drain on mana. Which is an important substance to me since I have a limited amount of it.
But now, as I¡¯m being fired at by arrows from the distant kobolds along with more from the kobolds on the walls, it¡¯s necessary.
So now with the destruction mana barrier up disintegrating most of those arrows except some of the mana infused ones. The stronger mana infused ones. I go ahead and begin sending one arrow of destruction mana after another at the kobold guardsmen who is currently trying to stand up.
The creature raises his arms to block my shots, but even just that applies more effects to him. Making it so that it grows more and more difficult for the kobold to keep going with as much ease as it is.
And while it¡¯s focusing on blocking my arrows, I go ahead and teleport straight down to my shadow on the ground before grabbing the kobold guardsmen¡¯s weapons and stashing them into my ring. Then I quickly flap my wings and fly back up into the air again while sending feathers to attack the guardsmen right when he swings his fist at me in anger.
Despite my speed and my feathers, though, the fist still manages to hit me. But all it does is break some ribs in my gut and send me higher into the air, making it easier for me to get away.
So thank you for that, guardsmen.
Now if you would just die, that is all I ask of you.
I continue feeling arrows hitting my barrier while occasionally moving with my wings to avoid the more dangerous mana infused ones. With my broken ribs slowly repairing themselves through my health and Minor Regeneration skill while I also send more feathers and arrows of destruction down at the guardsmen in the process.
But the brute just refuses to die for some reason.
¡°At this point he¡¯s just being rude,¡± Chaos comments, and I can¡¯t help but agree.
I¡¯m actually starting to pity the thing. Because it can¡¯t be comfortable being pummeled by attacks while getting one affliction after another piled onto you.
Not my fault he won¡¯t die though.
My mana slowly drops more and more as I grit my teeth, starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not.
But then it finally happens.
The kobold guardsmen stops moving entirely while his face is planted in the ground, and I get the System Messages I¡¯ve been waiting for.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsmen}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Moderate Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 48. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 49. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
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I let out a sigh of relief while the corners of my lips raise ever so slightly. Then I rush straight over to other side of the fortress, where I sneak in through a window and begin making my way through the fortress looking for somewhere to hide. All while avoiding any kobolds I see through my Enhanced Perception skill.
Of course, I don¡¯t leave the walls. Because the livestream I saw from Blake showed that the kobolds only get stronger the deeper in you go.
And I¡¯m not strong enough to take on a kobold guardsmen alone without any sort of advantage like I had earlier, so there¡¯s no way I can take on the others I vaguely remember him fighting.
Actually, I should go ahead and review his fights when I find a nice place to hide.
It ends up taking me a good half an hour of running around the fortress walls while occasionally almost having a heart attack when a kobold nearly catches me, but I manage to find a nice hiding spot. One in the form of a storage shed filled with¡ actually, I¡¯m not sure what it¡¯s filled with. But no one ever comes in here.
The shed is right inside of the wall, and I saw it through a window when passing at one point. So I did the reasonable thing and jumped through the window and into the window of this shed.
There aren¡¯t really many things inside of this shed, to be honest. Just a strange shrine. And some crates.
Out of curiosity, I crack open one of the crates. Quietly, of course.
Then I find some¡ weird¡ gunpowder? I think?
It¡¯s gunpowder that has a faint crimson glow to it.
The uniqueness of the stuff in appearance makes me identify it. Just in case it¡¯s an item.
And lo and behold, it is.
Gunpowder of the King of Destruction
Description: A special type of gunpowder created from the ashes of those killed by the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze. This gunpowder is incredibly potent and will kill any who touches it should they be less than one entire Class above the King of Destruction.
Affects: True Death to those below Class C
And then I proceed to very carefully close the crate again.
Because yeah.
¡°It shouldn¡¯t harm you,¡± Chaos comments as I carefully walk away from the crate, only to pause. ¡°True Death is a type of True Damage. And if this was created by his gaze, then that means his True Damage skill must be connected to his eyes.¡±
Oh.
Wait, so does that mean if I take his Skill Tree, I¡¯ll be getting my eyes mutated?
¡°That¡¯s what you found important about this?¡± Chaos asks, sounding amused. And even more so when I nod my head. ¡°It is most likely true. If the King of Destruction¡¯s True Damage skill truly is attached to his eyes, you will be gaining said eyes yourself.¡±
Right.
On that note, how is this sort of skill fair? True Death? Seriously?
¡°It likely isn¡¯t as dangerous as the flavor text makes it out to be,¡± Chaos says, making me almost raise a brow. ¡°No, seriously. If I had to guess, someone would have to bathe themselves in this gunpowder for the actual untouched gunpowder to kill them. And the King of Destruction would likely have to gaze at someone for an extended period of time to kill them. It most likely simply applies True Damage of the destruction affinity constantly while he is looking at them.¡±
Okay, that makes more sense.
Still unfair though.
¡°It¡¯s a Unique Monster,¡± Chaos states as if that explains everything. ¡°It does explain everything. Unique Monsters are generally considered impossible to take down without an entire team of people with True Damage resistance or immunity skills.¡±
Oh.
And I¡¯m stuck in here on my own¡ or rather, with one other Successor.
Actually, does Blake even have-
¡°He does have a True Damage resistance skill, albeit a weaker one than you,¡± Chaos answers. ¡°His is a simple barrier that blocks it, unlike yours which reflects it towards a random enemy. A skill I¡¯m rather proud of.¡±
Hmm. That¡¯s good then.
I move to sit down next to the shrine, leaning my head against it.
So what are the chances I¡¯ll die against the Unique Monster?
¡°If you fight the King of Destruction alone, you will die,¡± Chaos states simply and with more than a little distaste and worry about that in his voice. ¡°If you fight the King of Destruction with your twin, you will have a four percent chance of victory should you remain as you are now albeit with a higher level.¡±
That doesn¡¯t sound good.
Wait, if I remain as I am now? Do you mean if I don¡¯t unlock new skills and take more Skill Trees?
I feel a sense of pride coming from him through that annoying bond as he answers, ¡°Yes. Your chances against the King of Destruction will rise depending on what skills you¡¯re able to take from the elite monsters of this Unique Domain, and what skills you¡¯re able to unlock with the influx of Skill Points you will obtain here.¡±
Good.
So there¡¯s a chance.
A chance I can live.
And so can Blake.
B1 | Chapter 66
Ashley
I end up spending several hours just sitting inside of the little storage shed while regenerating my mana and Chaos Energy. And in the process I almost end up nodding off a couple times while leaning against the shrine.
Until I identify the shrine and realize it¡¯s a shrine meant for the King of Destruction.
Not to mention the fact that apparently touching it means you¡¯re stuck to it forever. Or until the King of Destruction dies.
Meaning that if I didn¡¯t have Unchained¡
After that I moved away from the shrine to rest elsewhere. All the way until I feel confident enough about my mana to head back out again.
Throughout my resting, though, I heard quite a bit of activity going on within the fortress. And lots of shouting kobolds saying random gobbledygook that I can¡¯t understand.
What¡¯s important is that I can sense their presences when they¡¯re close by. Not to mention that I can smell them and hear them.
So their positions aren¡¯t exactly a secret from me.
The more difficult part is sneaking up on them without them noticing me. Because they do have senses stronger than humans.
In fact, this was probably the only real place I could hide in the entire fortress. Since this gunpowder has a rather strong smell.
A smell that is completely covering up my own scent.
Although it wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad scent. Hence why I could almost nod off.
Anyways, I wait for an opportune time before leaving out the window of the shed. Following which I jump into the window of the fortress wall.
Then I proceed to move through the fortress until I get close to a weaker kobold, at which point I quickly use several skills at once.
Nature¡¯s Wrath to bind the kobold¡¯s legs, hands, and muffle its mouth to dampen sound.
Mid-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation to send arrows of destruction mana straight at its throat.
Memory Call to make it hallucinate that something else is attacking them and not me. Something they¡¯re terrified of.
And last but not least, Minor Gravity Mana Manipulation to increase the weight of my weapon as I rush forwards and pierce it straight through the kobold¡¯s heart from behind.
The kobold immediately crumbles down to the ground, with me leaving the roots in his mouth as I use destruction breath on his corpse to disintegrate him entirely. Leaving nothing behind.
Not even ash.
Then I quickly rush up the stairs as I hear a couple kobolds beginning to approach the area I was in. Albeit with the two still being too far to have heard or smelled anything.
I don¡¯t wait for them and instead begin searching the second floor for my next target.
Because it¡¯s time to hunt.
Somewhere else in the same Unique Domain
Blake pants in exhaustion as he finally teleports out of the fortress and into the hole in the ground that he found and claimed for his own. Having blocked off the entrance entirely with earth magic to make it so no monsters could possibly find it while still leaving him his ability to teleport into the cavern.
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And without further ado, he collapses to the ground flat on his back and proceeds to stare up at the ceiling of the cavern while still panting.
He¡¯s been pushing himself as hard as he can to grow stronger so that he can go search for Ashley. Because he¡¯s seen her livestreams, and how much she¡¯s struggling in them. How many times she¡¯s very nearly been killed.
Not that he¡¯s one to talk about near death experiences in the Unique Domain.
When he first assaulted the fortress, he believed as he always did back on Val that his magic could handle most threats.
It worked when he fought in the Tutorial, letting him kill all three of the mini bosses on his own without any help. And it helped in every Official System Event he¡¯s participated in, letting him sweep through the events with ease.
So he was certain he could at least sweep through the low level kobold fortresses here to take one for his own and make into a basecamp.
But he was wrong.
The kobolds were easy enough to deal with, and so were the kobold guardsmen. But when he got to the kobold knights, he started struggling a little bit and his mana began to drain dangerously low.
After the start of the third day attacking the fortress, however, he met the kobold lord.
And didn¡¯t even bother trying to fight it.
The thing didn¡¯t just let him run, though, leaving him having barely escaped as he stares up at the ceiling.
But he doesn¡¯t regret a thing. Because he¡¯s gained numerous levels and Skill Points from his assaults on the fortress. And for that, he is glad for his decisions.
¡°You might want to check on your twin¡¯s livestream,¡± Etheria comments, sounding intrigued for some reason.
Blake immediately opens the menu for the livestreams before navigating to his sister¡¯s livestream, feeling his anxiety growing by the minute.
Is she being chased again?! Almost dead?! No, I need to-
His thoughts come to a halt when he sees the livestream appear, with her sneaking up to kill a kobold inside of a fortress without letting it make a single sound. Then she utterly annihilates its body before moving away from the scene of the crime. After which she repeats the process.
Once.
Then twice.
A third time.
Over and over again.
Blake just awkwardly stares at the screen.
¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve taken an approach like your twin?¡± Etheria comments. ¡°Your magic could certainly work for it. Spatial magic is extraordinary in the stealth aspect. You could¡¯ve teleported in and slowly killed them off one by one. Or you could¡¯ve-¡±
The man grimaces as Etheria goes over one possible way he could¡¯ve done his attack after another. Each one leagues above his original plan of just rushing the place and bombarding it.
Blake watches his twin¡¯s livestream for hours as his Primordial and teacher of magic lectures him nigh-endlessly. Meanwhile said twin just assassinates one kobold after another.
All the way until she begins to go after the bigger fish in the fortress.
Starting with a kobold guardsmen that she finds doing his business off of the wall. A sight that is censored on the livestream but makes Blake scowl anyways. Simply because it wouldn¡¯t be censored for his sister.
Until he sees his sister casually fly outside of the window the kobold is doing it out of, letting her shadow cover part of the window. Then she teleports into the room right behind him and kicks the kobold guardsmen off the wall after using five arrows of destruction mana on its throat. Destroying the throat entirely and leaving the creature to be wordlessly screaming throughout his fall.
After seeing that, Blake can¡¯t help but smirk a little.
Only for his smirk to turn into a grimace when he sees dozens of silver spikes pointing upwards on the ground where the kobold lands, piercing into numerous places.
¡°Brutal,¡± Etheria says, sounding not the slightest bit disturbed by that sight. ¡°Seems like she does take after Chaos at least a little bit.¡±
Please don¡¯t say that. Not with what Chaos just did to that planet.
¡°What, and you would¡¯ve done differently?¡± Etheria asks, sounding a little surprised.
Yes, I would have.
A hint of disbelief flows through his bond as he sees Ashley go out the window and send a couple dozen more arrows of destruction mana at the already-nearly-dead kobold guardsmen. Her arrows and attacks in general being a lot stronger now than they were before. Thanks to the assassination spree she had been on for the past hours that raised her level by at least five levels.
And without the kobold guardsmen making even a single audible sound, he dies. Just like that.
I would¡¯ve just killed them all and been done with it.
The surprise flowing across their bond turns into exasperation as Etheria mutters, ¡°Right. Of course you would.¡±
Both of them watch Ashley as she rushes down the hall, having already cleared out a large majority of the kobolds on that wall. Including the ones that were in the position to see the kobold guardsmen and what she did outside the fortress.
¡°She is quite smart, taking the kobolds by surprise even for the ones she is easily strong enough to kill without any form of surprise,¡± Etheria says, making Blake nod with more than a little pride for his older twin. ¡°And attacking the stronger one while he had his guard down was a brilliant idea as well.¡±
That part makes him grimace again, but he still agrees.
¡°It¡¯ll also likely be-¡± Etheria begins, but Blake cuts her off by saying, ¡°Please don¡¯t say it.¡±
I don¡¯t want to hear about how the Forums will likely have clips of that scene all over it soon¡
B1 | Chapter 67
Ashley
I spend pretty much several hours of the day assassinating kobolds and ¨C after gaining several levels ¨C kobold guardsmen before eventually returning to my little hidey hole shed. Mainly due to not having an infinite amount of mana. But the process ends up raising my level all the way to level 57. To the point that I¡¯m actually a few levels above those kobold guardsmen now.
They¡¯re still tough to kill though, simply because of Moderate Destruction Resistance.
Then I begin the arduous process of shopping.
Shopping for skills with my new Skill Points.
{You currently have 443 Skill Points.}
And I mean a lot of Skill Points.
Enough for at least three or four new skills.
I sit down next to my trusty shrine before just searching through my many different Skill Trees.
The first skill I need should be something to help me sneak around. So maybe something to cover perception of me or something.
I search through all of them for a while before settling on four specific Skill Trees. Each one I got from either other users in Official System Events or monsters from those same events.
One of them is a skill directly after the root skill in one of the branches, with the root skill itself being a skill that makes it harder to lose your balance.
{Silent Step ¨C Allows the user to mask any sounds that would be made from their footsteps.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
With the majority of that Skill Tree seemingly being meant for ease of movement mixed with silent movement. Not necessarily for hiding your presence alone, but that is included in some of the skills.
Then there¡¯s the next Skill Tree, whose root skill is Shadow Step. A skill I¡¯ve used quite a few times over the course of my battles.
There are two skills in it right after the root skill that look useful in my situation.
{Shadow Stretch ¨C Allows the user to stretch their shadow out and connect it with other shadows, expanding it so that they will have a larger shadow to step to.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Shadow Masking ¨C Allows the user to mask any sounds, scents, and movement they make from others for two seconds after using Shadow Step.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
And last but not least, a more all-rounder skill connected to a Skill Tree whose root skill gave me minor divination resistance, making it harder for something to divine my location.
{Concealment Veil ¨C Allows the user to use two units of mana or one unit of Secondary Energy to conceal their presence from others for one minute or until the user makes physical contact with another being.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
Honestly, the skills are all good in their own ways.
Silent Step is a permanent one that will always be in effect, but it¡¯s only for footsteps.
Shadow Stretch and Shadow Masking would make a great pair with Shadow Step, both expanding my teleportation capabilities ¨C especially in places with lots of shadows ¨C and making for better assassination.
And Concealment Veil would make for a great overall concealment power, even if it¡¯s only temporary and costs energy and mana.
If I¡¯m being honest, I kind of want all of them.
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But I don¡¯t have the Skill Points for that now.
Or, rather, I do, but I want to be a bit more generalized overall. Not just specialized in¡
¡°You realized, didn¡¯t you?¡± Chaos comments after my thoughts trail off. ¡°You¡¯re already rather generalized overall in every area except for stealth.¡±
I purse my lips as I lean forwards a bit.
You¡¯ve got a point.
I have multiple skills to increase my resistance, including but not limited to Resilient Structure, which decreases the damage I take depending on how much health I have, Moderate Destruction Resistance, which just lets me resist anything that would damage me, and multiple other skills like ones that increase the toughness of my skin and bones.
Then there are the defensive skills I¡¯ve gotten now like Silver Barrier and the mana barrier in Mid-Stage Destruction and Lightning Mana Manipulations as well as the many different offensive attacks I have.
I¡¯ve even gotten one massive area of effect attack that targets a very wide area from that idiot who I killed in the council meeting. Even if I¡¯ve yet to use the skill.
And I¡¯ve got several different perception skills.
I have regular support related skills from the basic Mana Manipulation skills for water and fire, and even Minor Regeneration for keeping my healing going even after my health is gone.
The only things I don¡¯t have are stealth related skills.
¡°You are still inside the Unique Domain anyways, so it won¡¯t take long to get that many Skill Points again inside this place,¡± Chaos adds, stating a rather good point.
So I go ahead and buy all four of the skills.
And since it took a lot less time to decide than I expected, I just kind of sit here waiting for my mana and Chaos Energy to regenerate afterwards.
A couple hours later I start browsing through the System Forums in my boredom. Only to find some threads about Chaos¡¯s recent¡ um¡ actions.
Specifically how he turned one of the Class S worlds in the universe into a hellhole, eventually leading to the deaths of over half their people including their king and the Class S who was most likely targeted by some specific boss monsters.
Well, guess I know what those apologies and the begging was for.
On that note, I¡¯ve got even more messages than before. All saying the same things.
Right. Gonna continue ignoring those.
Although I don¡¯t ignore the message from the Sil Gray Kingdom, which is strongly wishing me luck in the Unique Domain.
Nice fellas.
¡°They were the first ones to support you after your skill was exposed, both publicly and in private,¡± Chaos says, sounding like he approves of them as well.
Wait, how do you know they supported me in private too? Do you have ties to them or something?
He answers rather casually, ¡°Oh, we Primordials can always hear when someone says our names. No matter where it is in the universe.¡±
I stare forwards for several awkward seconds.
And¡ do people realize that? Also, how is that even possible?
¡°Most people don¡¯t realize it. Only around half of the Class S powers realize it, and they tend to keep quiet so that most other nations don¡¯t find out, nor do their people,¡± Chaos says, sounding as if he¡¯s shrugging while talking. ¡°Something about people not liking the idea of us knowing everything when they say our names. And we know because of the System. We did make it after all.¡±
Right. You mentioned that at the start of the Tutorial.
But¡ if you made the Tutorial with the other Primordials, why are there so many restrictions on you Primordials?
This time when he responds, he sounds a lot less pleased, ¡°Because of Justicar.¡±
I open my mouth as if I¡¯m about to respond, only to close it again without saying anything.
That makes sense.
So the System is rigged to notify the Primordials whenever someone speaks their name¡ wait, doesn¡¯t that mean-
¡°Yep, whenever someone so much as says the word ¡®chaos¡¯ I know about it,¡± Chaos says, sounding proud of himself for some reason. ¡°Even if they¡¯re not speaking about me directly.¡±
Wow¡ how do you even keep up with all of that?
¡°I leave it to my clones to deal with,¡± he says, reminding me of his clones. ¡°I don¡¯t even remember the last time I went somewhere in my real body other than for Primordial meetings.¡±
That gives me pause.
Wait, but didn¡¯t you go to that world in your real body?
¡°What?¡± he asks, sounding confused for a second, only to say, ¡°No, that was a clone.¡±
Excuse me, what?
¡°Yeah, it was a clone,¡± Chaos repeats like it¡¯s nothing.
You pretty much turned a world into hell¡ with a clone.
¡°Yep,¡± he says, a little too cheery.
Just¡ how strong is your real body?
¡°Let¡¯s just say that if someone were to see my real body, they¡¯d probably regret it,¡± he says right away. ¡°Anything could happen, and very little of it is good. There¡¯s just too much chaos energy in my real body.¡±
Oh.
¡°The other Primordials also have too much of their own energies in their bodies, although some of them still go out anyways,¡± Chaos says, his tone going rather dry on that second part. ¡°If someone sees Nyx for example they¡¯re likely gonna go insane.¡±
Remind me not to look if I ever meet her.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll just cover your eyes myself if you do,¡± Chaos says as if that solves everything. ¡°By the way, are you ever going to take a look at the Successor Forums?¡±
I blink at that.
The what?
B1 | Chapter 68
Ashley
¡°The Successor Forums,¡± Chaos repeats. ¡°Y¡¯know, the thing at the top of the Successor Menu.¡±
I stare blankly forwards for several seconds before opening the Successor Menu.
|
Primordial¡¯s Successor Menu
|
|
Successor Forums
|
|
Claim Gift
|
|
Pause Broadcast
|
|
Successor Skills
|
|
Primordial¡¯s Orders
|
Then I stare just as blankly at the option I never paid any attention to before.
Huh.
That¡¯s¡ a thing.
After a brief period of more staring, I go ahead and select the option. Making a screen just like the System Forums appear. Except with far fewer threads and tabs on it. Not to mention what looks like a chatroom off to one side of the screen, with people already talking in it, and a popup asking me if I want to go by a nickname or not.
¡°Surprised it took you this long to notice,¡± Chaos says, sounding amused. ¡°As you can probably guess, this Forums is for Successors only. So no one else is capable of seeing the screen, even if someone else were to look over your shoulder or look through a livestream.¡±
Hmm.
After taking a brief glance at the names and listing of the other Successors, I quickly find out just how pointless it would be to hide my identity. Since even if it does let us use a nickname or regular username, it still lists our Primordial¡¯s domain next to our names.
And I¡¯m the only one who is a Successor of Chaos. So I¡¯d be given away no matter what name I choose.
So I make it simple and stick with my first name.
Ashley.
Then I focus on reading through their current messages.
- [Keeper]{Order} ¨C {What do you think the girl¡¯s doing?}
- [Darkness]{Magic} ¨C {Likely recovering mana}
- [Keeper]{Order} ¨C {No, I mean with the System screens she¡¯s no doubt messing with.}
- [Aria]{Life} ¨C {Maybe something to take her mind off of her frightening surroundings?}
- [Velt]{Magic} ¨C {Unlikely}
- [Rel]{Magic} ¨C {Yeah, Ashley doesn¡¯t strike me as the sort to get overwhelmed by fear.}
Yep. As expected.
They¡¯re talking about me.
Not sure if they¡¯re using their real names or some titles they¡¯ve made up though.
Although it doesn¡¯t matter if they are or not, considering that I don¡¯t even know them. Not a single one of them.
¡°Oh, and just so you¡¯re aware, there is a participants list,¡± Chaos points out, making my eyes narrow ever so slightly right before someone points something on that very topic out in the chat.
- [DramaLord]{Sin} ¨C {Ashley has joined the chat, if anyone wanted to know.}
- [Aria]{Life} ¨C {Wait, really?}
- [Keeper]{Order} ¨C {Says so in the participants list.}
- [DramaLord]{Sin} ¨C {Any bets on if she¡¯ll talk or not?}
- [Doom]{Sin} ¨C {Don¡¯t care about that. More importantly, any bets on if some of the lurkers in the chat will finally speak?}
- [Donovan]{Order} ¨C {If you¡¯re reading this, Ashley, go ahead and ignore the Successors of Sin. Most of them just want to start drama or fights.}
- [Lily]{Life} ¨C {Ashley! I just wanted to say this! Stay safe in there!}
- [Darkness]{Magic} ¨C {Does your skill take just a skill or two from those you kill, or does it take their entire Skill Tree?}
- [Archmage]{Magic} ¨C {Obviously just a skill. The universe wouldn¡¯t be so unfair as to give someone a skill like that.}
- [Jake]{Life} ¨C {Ashley, watch out for the Kobold Lord in the fortress! It is too much for even your brother to handle, so don¡¯t try fighting it for a long time!}
- [DramaLord]{Sin} ¨C {Now why would I ever start drama?! I¡¯m wounded by this insult!}
- [Keeper]{Order} ¨C {I¡¯m not even going to dignify that with a response.}
- [DramaLord]{Sin} ¨C {You just did!}
Yeah, I¡¯m not talking in this chat. Nope. Not happening.
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That thought aside, the chat quickly starts growing with more people joining in after no doubt hearing about my appearance on it. With every person in it being relatively well represented simply by the domain they¡¯re a Successor of.
The Successors of Sin seem to be troublemakers or just plain assholes.
Successors of Order seem a lot more practical, analytical, and logical in their words. With some being helpful and nice to me, and others just arguing with the Successors of Sin.
The Successors of Life are all nice and kind, Successors of Magic are all just asking questions about my powers, and that¡¯s pretty much it for the bunch of Successors in the chat. There don¡¯t appear to be any of the Successors for the other Primordials.
Then again, the other Primordials don¡¯t have all that many Successors in general from what I¡¯ve heard.
I turn my attention towards the forums on the other side of the screen. But there aren¡¯t anywhere near as many threads in this one as the other one. And a lot of them are older.
At most there¡¯s maybe a thread or two every week or so.
And most of them are either by a Successor of Magic detailing a new discovery in magic that they¡¯re taking credit for ¨C new runes and the like ¨C or a Successor of Life or Order spreading news about recent major events surrounding Class S organizations. Or the occasional thread about the current whereabouts of one of the currently living Unique Monsters roaming the universe.
There¡¯s even a couple discussion threads centered around recruiting for and planning to take on a Unique Domain Event in the Official System Events. Which is news to me. About those even existing.
¡°Well, people requested it,¡± Chaos comments in my head. ¡°So Order had me make the event by drawing in a large amount of chaos energy to forcefully recreate the Unique Domain of a previously defeated Unique Monster to give others the chance at defeating it and getting its loot.¡±
Oh.
What happens if the team loses?
¡°The universe will have another Unique Monster on the loose that was previously defeated,¡± Chaos casually mentions as if talking about the morning news. ¡°There isn¡¯t enough chaos energy in the universe to host one of these Official System Events more than once every few decades, though.¡±
Uh huh.
¡°It¡¯s also common for the Successors who lost in one of the Unique Domains before someone else defeated the UM after it left its domain to want a rematch,¡± Chaos continues.
Guess that makes sense.
I pity whoever happens to be where the UM ends up if they lose.
Chaos doesn¡¯t say anything about that.
Which isn¡¯t surprising.
I continue reading through the threads and occasionally glancing at the chat over the course of the next few hours. As I gradually recover my Chaos Energy and mana. And during this time, more Successors enter the chat. With one even being a Successor of Death.
Which surprises the others a lot, even if she ¨C according to the chat ¨C doesn¡¯t speak.
She also doesn¡¯t stay long. Seemingly leaving the chat again after realizing I¡¯m not speaking.
Eventually, when I¡¯m about to close out of the Successor Forums, I finally notice something. The inbox icon in the corner of my interface now has some additional colored numbers beneath it.
Not many, but a few.
I narrow my eyes a little before closing out of the Successor Forums and opening my inbox.
Only to find some new messages in a new tab labeled ¡®Successors¡¯.
Makes sense that some of them would contact me directly. Didn¡¯t realize they could do that just through the forums interaction though.
I look through the messages, and in total, I find eighteen of them.
Seven from Successors of Magic who are asking about Assimilate. People I proceed to ignore.
Five from Successors of Sin who are just being jerks in various different ways. Whether by making fun of my current situation, all the way to one of them who even tries to sexually harass me in a message. All of whom I proceed to ignore just like the ones from Successors of Magic.
Then the rest are from the domains with far fewer Successors, Magic and Sin having by far the most Successors with over sixty total across the universe from what I remember, and the rest having a dozen or fewer.
There are two from Successors of Life asking if I¡¯m okay. And those I actually reply to, because the two seem like really sweet girls from their messages ¨C their real names appearing in the inboxes rather than some username. Although I just answer with a simple ¡®I¡¯m okay¡¯ rather than anything substantial.
Then three more from Successors of Order trying to give me tips and advice for what to do in the Unique Domain. Which surprises me a little since Order is Chaos¡¯s opposite, but I respond nonetheless with a ¡®thank you¡¯ to each.
Not so sure about their advice though, since they¡¯re not fully aware of my skills. For obvious reasons.
But the last one surprises me.
A lot.
¡°That¡¯s¡ unusual,¡± Chaos mutters, sounding surprised as well about the identity of the last messenger.
Because it¡¯s a message from the Successor of Death who entered the chat.
B1 | Chapter 69
Ashley
I quickly open the message and read it after my brief surprise ends.
Hello.
My name is Dhalia Velonna Blight, the Queen of Purgatory and first Successor to Hel, the Primordial of Death.
I will not beat around the bush, the reason I am contacting you is simple.
I wish to be in your favor so that I can make an important request in the distant future, once you¡¯re strong enough. And to that end, I will aid you when I can.
Do not feel like you must repay me for any of the favors I will be granting you.
Simply consider my request when I make it in the future.
To start, I would like to represent Purgatory in creating an alliance between us and yourself.
Please think it over and respond once you are out of the Unique Domain.
Goodbye.
Well that¡¯s¡ unexpected.
¡°Very,¡± Chaos adds, sounding just as surprised as I am. ¡°Hel and her Successors are all famous for their lack of any sort of emotions, whether anger, sorrow, happiness, or love. They are the epitome of pragmatic and work-focused loners, and they also refuse to work with most other nations in any capacity beyond their job of managing the cycle of death and reincarnation.¡±
That¡¯s what I heard on the forums as well.
And, to be honest, I can respect that sort of attitude.
For some reason it makes me trust them more as well. The fact that they have no emotions.
Emotions are a confusing mess and make some peoples¡¯ actions illogical. So someone without emotions is easier to figure out the motivations for.
I think I¡¯ll work with them.
¡°That was a surprisingly fast decision,¡± Chaos says, almost making me imagine him with a raised brow because of his tone.
I just shrug before looking up at the ceiling of the shed, ignoring the movements I hear outside along with the kobold¡¯s little shouting screeches and roars. Noise caused by their continued search for me, which has been ongoing for a little while now.
After they no doubt noticed the signs of my presence left outside of the fortress, and possibly the missing kobolds as well.
There¡¯s only so long they can go without realizing a good third of their weaker forces are missing.
I go ahead and look at the System Forums revolving around Val while I wait for them to calm down again. For them to come to the conclusion that whatever was happening isn¡¯t happening anymore.
And what I find on the System Forums is rather interesting.
There¡¯s a lot of focus on me and what¡¯s happening to two of the world¡¯s Successors, along with what it means for the future after we die ¨C there being quite the number of people assuming we¡¯re already dead at this point ¨C and quite a bit of progress on the world itself. Returning order to it in its entirety, setting up the power structure between the new Spire Lords and Ladies now that territory is distributed and people have access to their Skill Trees, and so on.
I find the corner of my lips tilting downwards a little though when I see the news about how my so-called parents are pretty much on top of it all though. With both of them being the strongest powers there are. Followed shortly after by my older sister and younger brother. Neither of whom I¡¯ve met.
The Black Enforcer even started up a guild of his own, registered with the System and everything. One to manage Gates under his authority. Since he¡¯s the Lord of more than one Spire now.
Not sure why. Something about the others just giving up their authority.
I doubt it was that simple, though.
Don¡¯t really care either. So long as he doesn¡¯t try anything against me.
On that note, everyone has left my and Blake¡¯s territories alone other than some people freely dealing with the Gates in the area that open up. Likely partially due to the pressure from the Tower of Chaos for everyone else to piss off. But the ones dealing with the Gates will likely all flee whenever this Unique Domain starts to get close to bursting.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
In fact, the people in the capital overall are starting to build up some defenses within my territory in some sad attempt to fight off against the UM for when it ¡®inevitably defeats me and Blake and breaks free¡¯.
It¡¯s kind of sad how everyone just assumes I¡¯m going to die.
How pathetic.
Although¡
My mind returns to the Successor of Death who seemed so absolutely sure I would win.
¡°It is my assumption that Hel understands the true power of Assimilate, unlike many of the others,¡± Chaos explains his thoughts on the matter.
That would make some sense, but I¡¯m still curious about her absolute certainty.
¡°Well that,¡± Chaos begins, ¡°would be because the Successors of Death and Hel are the types to put all of their coin on one single gamble for a big win.¡±
So they just put everything on me and aren¡¯t even considering the consequences of if I lose. Is that it?
¡°Pretty much,¡± Chaos continues. ¡°And they¡¯ve never been wrong before, so I¡¯m quite happy about this.¡±
Hmm.
By the way, how are you always available to talk to me like this anyways? Don¡¯t you have work to do as a Primordial?
I¡¯ve been wondering this for a while now.
¡°Work?¡± Chaos asks, sounding genuinely confused for some reason. ¡°Why would I need to work? I can just leave that to my clones.¡±
I open my mouth for a second, only to close it again without making a sound.
That actually makes sense.
I pity the clones though.
¡°No need to do that, I give them all time off as well,¡± Chaos adds, briefly making me wonder what sort of thing the clones of the Primordial of Chaos would do for fun on their time off. But then I realize I don¡¯t really want to know.
Anyways, after hours of waiting, the kobolds finally calm down.
So I peek out of the shed before teleporting to the shadows within the wall near the shed. Something only possible because of the strange black and red sun high in the sky no doubt being on the opposite side of this wall. Which is rather convenient for me.
Even if said sun doesn¡¯t exactly give off much of any light.
Then I quickly use my new skill, Concealment Veil, to hide my presence entirely until I get close to a pair of kobolds on the first floor of the wall. Kobolds I make quick work of by stabbing one through the throat before teleporting to the other through my shadow and doing the same to them.
Not even using up any mana or energy in the process beyond a single unit of each.
And without pausing for a second, I reactivate Concealment Veil and rush to find my next target. And my next. And the next.
And after killing a few dozen more kobolds with several kobold guardsmen mixed in, I proceed to rush back towards my lovely little base within their base. Then I repeat this process over the course of the next day and a half.
Until the fortress begins to have a rather large shortage of kobolds in general. On the walls, at least.
I can sense more kobolds deeper within the fortress.
Stronger ones.
Much. Stronger. Ones.
I purse my lips for a few seconds before opening my newly updated status.
|
Ashley Sinclair *
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33/44 #
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31/31 #
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Level 62
|
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84
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PHY
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|
83
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MEN
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127
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MAG
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Chaos Energy
24/34 #
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Successor of Chaos
|
Overall, some really nice changes. I also gained another 441 new Skill Points during the rest of the kobold hunt as well.
Enough to get a few more skills.
Skills that I won¡¯t make stealth ones this time. Mostly because there isn¡¯t as much stealth that I can do in the inner fortress, what with the monsters there being much stronger than me and ¨C according to Blake ¨C have higher perception as well.
So combat is more important now.
Right as I¡¯m about to return to the shed to start my purchasing spree, though, I begin to hear drums.
What the¡
I stop right outside of the shed window as I sense a large number of the powerful creatures within the fortress heading for the walls. With two of them entering my sight on opposite sides of the shed, both heading for entrances to the walls. And both of whom stop when they see me.
A chill runs down my spine when I identify the first one.
? Level 68 Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight ¨C 384 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Well, shit.
Update
Alrighty, so as some of you may have noticed, there haven''t been as many Ascension of Chaos chapters lately. That''s because I am finally decreasing Ascension of Chaos to the same 3 chapters a week that Wolf of the Blood Moon, Reaper''s Resurgence, and Crimson Eternal get.
Additionally, I am at Dragon Con right now, and I may miss chapters just like when I was on vacation before.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
That said, I didn''t actually miss any chapters last time despite saying I might. So who knows if I will actually miss any chapters or not.
But that''s just a heads-up so you all know.
I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day holiday if you celebrate that and if you''re also at Dragon Con!
B1 | Full Story Art Post
As stated in the title, this is the full story art post for all of the art I have of this story so far.
And before that though, click here to find the post on Patreon for this art in case it breaks. If a single person ever mentions art breaking in this post on Royal Road I will just lock the comments on the story art chapter here.
First up being the commissioned piece from Kart Studio:
Next up is an assortment of Ashley images:
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Next up is chibi Ashley:
Then there is Blake:
Followed by Chaos in his raven form:
And art of a Gate in Ashley''s territory:
Then we got my ads, excluding a couple ads using parts of above images:
B1 | Chapter 70
Ashley
Both of the kobold knights are wearing sets of armor covered in those same glowing crimson cracks, with the armor itself being pitch black in color. They have swords that they both draw the moment they see me, and are bigger in size than the other kobolds, with glowing crimson claws as well, and slit crimson eyes. Albeit non-glowing ones. Rather than the regular slit green eyes the other kobolds have had.
To my surprise, the kobold knights don¡¯t make a single sound as they approach me. As if they don¡¯t care about the other knights across the fortress no doubt hunting for me.
That, along with the wary looks these knights are sending each other, makes me wonder just how independent they are.
Then they surprise me as they instantly move straight towards me, appearing where I am in a flash and just barely missing me with their swords thanks to me teleporting back into my shadow. Swords that also have glowing crimson cracks running through them, just like damn near everything else in this Domain.
But they don¡¯t stop with a single swing. Both of them instantly change directions and swing their swords towards me again without even so much as a single pause between my teleportation and their movements.
Thanks to this I end up letting out a pained grunt when I¡¯m forced to push my wings forwards in order to block the blades from piercing my chest. Making said blades pierce into and through my wings in the process, splashing my blood from my wings out and spraying the kobold knights.
The creatures finally let out grunts of their own as bits of them begin to mutate, but not as much as I would¡¯ve hoped. In fact, it¡¯s little enough that they still ignore it and try to change the directions of their swings again to hit me.
I teleport further away this time. Inside of the shed.
And once more, their blades follow me, destroying the wall of the shed and sending rubble flying everywhere.
But it slows them down enough that I can make it out of the way of their hits while my wings droop at my sides with blood dripping out of them. The crimson, purple, and black liquid just oozing out more like oil than blood.
I grit my teeth, but I don¡¯t let the pain stop me from moving over towards the gunpowder kegs.
Because by now I¡¯ve realized something.
Even with my jump in levels, I am no match for these knights.
At most I might have the slightest hint of a chance if I took one on alone after ambushing it and weakening it.
But fighting two at once? And with me being the one ambushed?
No chance in hell.
Literally, considering the long name of this Unique Domain.
The kobold knights aren¡¯t stupid, though, and they quickly halt their attacks when they see me standing near the gunpowder. Clearly showing that they aren¡¯t going to attack me while I¡¯m standing here. Not with their swords, at least.
Instead, they step back and summon multiple orbs of destruction mana in the air that has me gritting my teeth even harder.
Then they begin sending lasers made of destruction mana straight at me, the first of which tears a chunk out of my left arm.
I let out a cry of pain as I lose my grip on my left blade, but I manage to dodge several of the other shots. Until another one hits my left shoulder, pretty much rendering my left arm useless at this point.
Fuck it.
I activate Assimilate before ripping open the crate of gunpowder and just dipping my hand inside, shocking the hell out of the kobold knights enough that they stop attacking.
And just like that, the gunpowder directly touching my hand begins to explode, sending more of the gunpowder flying through the air and exploding as well. All of it just sending glowing crimson cracks flooding absolutely everything that the crimson explosion makes contact with.
Even the air itself.
But I just get a flood of System Messages covering part of my vision instead of any pain.
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 29/30 charges remaining.}
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{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 28/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 27/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 26/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
Over, and over, and over again. The charges just keep getting used up and replaced and used up and replaced.
Meanwhile the entire shed at this point is just nonexistent, and the kobold knights¡ well, they stopped screaming a few seconds ago. I can¡¯t tell if I got a kill message for them or not though. Because these charge messages are too numerous and are covering everything.
I also can¡¯t see anything other than crimson cracks in everything.
So I try to teleport away multiple times, only to finally get away from the largest source of the crimson cracks.
To find a rather large hole in the wall. A wall I¡¯m now standing outside of.
And a wall that is currently still being blown up by the gunpowder.
Hmm.
I stare at the continuous explosions from that gunpowder for several seconds until it finally begins to die down, leaving my charges to finally stop being used up.
Then I find the System Messages for kills credited to me flooding my vision.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x71
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold} x24
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsmen} x21
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight} x26
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Minor Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Minor Destruction Resistance is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. Skills will now be added to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold.] x24
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Moderate Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Moderate Destruction Resistance is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. Skills will now be added to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsmen.] x21
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C High Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. Skills will now be added to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight.] x26
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 63. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 64. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 65. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 66. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 67. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 68. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 69. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
After all of the messages finally go silent, I find myself blankly staring at the fortress. Just plain shocked by everything that just happened.
Then I remember the fact that every last instance of True Damage I took was reflected at an enemy. So not just the damage that would¡¯ve already hit the enemies from the explosions, but the redirected damage as well.
So many messages.
So many levels.
So many Skill Points.
But before I can feel even the slightest hint of joy for it all, I hear roars and screeches beginning to come from inside of the fortress. And not even seconds later, monsters begin appearing through the holes in the walls.
Every last one being kobold knights who survived the gunpowder.
Except for a single one that steps out from the same area I came out here through. The same hole in the wall.
And this kobold sends a chill down my spine when I identify the creature.
? Level 80 Kobold Lord ¨C 561 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Because it¡¯s a mini boss.
Just like the goliath.
The kobold lord of this fortress.
B1 | Chapter 71
Ashley
¡°Grr sssss grr grr ssskr grrkr sss,¡± the kobold lord states towards me, making me blink in confusion.
What?
I¡ have no idea what it just said.
Although I can tell it¡¯s pissed as hell.
The kobold lord is wearing a fancy set of pitch black armor with the usual crimson cracks running through it, with a helmet on its serpentine head and glowing crimson eyes underneath its visor. The armor covers every single inch of its body, and is rather thick. Thick enough and with so few signs that I honestly can¡¯t tell what gender this kobold even is.
As for how I know it¡¯s mad? The trembling probably has something to do with it.
And the large boulder-sized bits of destruction floating above its head likely imply angry as well.
The kobold lord starts talking again, but just like the first time, I don¡¯t understand a word it says.
¡°He¡¯s saying some things that are probably being censored by the livestream,¡± Chaos says, the Primordial sounding rather upset himself. Especially since he can¡¯t do anything about the kobold with their rules in place and the way Domains work. Something he explained before.
I blink.
Wait. You know how to speak kobold?
¡°I can speak all languages,¡± Chaos replies, sounding rather smug about that. ¡°How do you think the System began translating the languages of users within it for other users?¡±
Huh.
Convenient.
The kobold lord sends all of the boulders of destruction mana at me, making me quickly teleport backwards before jumping and flapping my wings. Just barely dodging most of the attacks, with the exception of two of them that hit my legs. Grazing them both.
Then the kobold lord starts to shout in anger as more and more boulder-sized orbs of destruction mana form around him ¨C according to Chaos¡¯s chosen pronoun at least ¨C before flying towards me.
I fly one way and then another, avoiding all of the orbs of destruction mana. Only for all of the kobold knights to begin rushing straight at me.
And it¡¯s not just them. The kobold lord himself also draws a rather intimidating looking glowing crimson sword with a jagged edge and starts running as well. Kicking up all of the dust in his wake and moving far faster than I am.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
Without any hesitation, I look through my Skill Trees to find something that¡¯ll make me fly faster. And then I purchase the first one I see in an instant, using up 100 Skill Points for one of the skills from that roc boss monster from before. One called Agile Flying.
A rather straightforward name, albeit one I can¡¯t think much on as I suddenly start flying faster and with more ease.
But I¡¯m still slower than the kobold lord and his knights. So I¡¯m forced to send my own attacks down on them, quickly proving my attacks to be a good chunk stronger than before. Strong enough to actually kill some of the knights.
Until they start using barriers. At which point it becomes more difficult to pick them off as I fly.
Our little game of chase continues on and on and on as we cross the lands of the Unique Domain. And if it were just the damned kobold lord and his knights chasing me, things would be tolerable.
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But it¡¯s not just them.
More and more monsters join the chase the longer it goes on.
Dracoraptors start chasing after some of the kobold knights while breathing destruction breath at them. Drakes start flying after me, shooting fireballs. Kobolds from other fortresses jump out and join the chase to support their fellow kobolds at the kobold lord¡¯s call. Ants leave their hives to pick off stragglers on the edges of the parade from all the species. And spiders come out to pick out ants and drag them to their nearby nests.
And within just five minutes of the chase, I find myself leading a massive parade throughout the Unique Domain.
At some point I focus almost entirely on just dodging. Occasionally taking one blow every now and then, but dodging most of the hits without using barriers and using as few attacks as possible.
Because I don¡¯t have any mana to waste, and I don¡¯t have any places to hide anymore. Not with my old hiding spot having kind of blown up, leading to this situation.
One hour passes, with the parade growing larger and larger. And right when I¡¯m beginning to wonder if I¡¯m going to die from this, the King of Destruction lets out a loud roar. Following which he sends his usual attacks into the air, making the monsters in the parade all panic as many of them realize they¡¯re too far from their homes to hide.
I, on the other hand, just rush inside of a random spider nest. Using several bolts of destruction mana to bring down the ceiling before I rush straight inside. Hoping against hope that the kobold lord is lost inside of the mass of monsters.
But, of course, he isn¡¯t. And less than a minute later, I hear an explosion coming from the entrance that I sealed up.
Then the sounds of screeching, screaming, and roaring monsters echo from outside as the ground shakes. The King of Destruction¡¯s attack no doubt slaughtering a bunch of the ones that didn¡¯t manage to find cover.
More importantly though, I find myself rushing straight past a bunch of spiders that quickly grow confused. With each one trying to shoot out webbing at me, hitting me with the webbing, and making a wave of Chaos Energy shoot out from me through Unchained that erases said webbing.
I continue flying straight through the nest while completely ignoring the cobwebs that are all cleared the moment I enter them thanks to Unchained. A very useful skill.
¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Chaos comments amidst the, well, chaos.
Seconds pass as I hear the kobold lord rampaging his way through the nest after me. Then the seconds turn into minutes. And eventually I find myself passing through a large tunnel filled with massive cobwebs on all sides and some stronger spiders. Spiders more on the level of the kobold knights known as drachne warriors.
Then after them, I find spiders on par with the kobold knights. Ones known as drachne high guards. And they I have to work to avoid the hell out of.
Fortunately for me, these damned spiders seem to have the exact same instinct when they see something flying fast towards them through their very large nest.
Shoot silk at it and ask questions later.
Well, if they could ask questions.
Unfortunately for me, the kobold lord very slowly closes the distance. Proving his greater speed once again, especially now that I¡¯m underground and don¡¯t have as much freedom in my movements.
But right around the same time he finally catches up to me, I find a¡ uh¡ new threat.
The kobold lord and I both break out into a large, open area filled with purplish-crimson puddles and webbing like a cocoon all around the walls. With a massive spider in the center of the area.
? Level 80 Drachne Lord ¨C 544 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
And both the spider and the kobold lord instantly lock eyes, albeit with the kobold lord proceeding to focus on me again while keeping an eye on it. Clearly wary of the thing, unlike any of the other monsters in the parade that it treated like nothing but gnats. With the thing literally crushing some of them underfoot.
I ignore them both as I fly straight to the other side of the nest before entering the tunnel there. Then I proceed to move through the tunnels, heading away from the center as I hear a loud and angry screech behind me.
Please start fighting each other.
The ground begins shaking and the walls start to crumble a little, making me glance back to find the kobold lord still chasing after me, with the spider chasing him.
What the fuck.
The drachne lord proceeds to tear through its own nest after the kobold lord while occasionally shooting webbing from its mouth along with the same liquid that was in the center of its nest. Most likely some sort of destruction affinity poison.
But the kobold lord just ignores it as it makes barriers and dodges all of its attacks, still sending attacks my way.
And the parade continues with numerous spiders chasing after us and the drachne lord. All the way till we make it to the exit that is on the other side of the nest. Something I realized would happen just from seeing a spider I damaged in one next leaving through another entrance a little while back.
Then we keep our march up outside of the nest, with the drachne lord chasing the kobold lord for several minutes. The thing even getting attacks in on the thing and weakening it.
Shit. We kind of destroyed its nest, so it looks rather mad.
Even if most of that damage was its own doing¡
And with that, the parade of monsters continues just as it was before the King of Destruction¡¯s rain of hell.
Plus one mini boss.
B1 | System Forums 7
Planet Val Successors Discussion Thread #1
- [Johnnytov1] ¨C {So¡ what the hell is happening right now?}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Dun know}
- [VladCake_7] ¨C {no idea}
- [Darkness1745896] ¨C {A death parade?}
- [LadyHelWorshipper789] ¨C {No, a death march.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {A bunch of stupidly powerful Class Es chasing after a Successor including multiple mini bosses.}
- [Johnnytov1] ¨C {Right, this is great to watch.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯ll admit that I didn¡¯t expect much when I heard she entered a Unique Domain.}
- [_cat_cat_cat_] ¨C {I expected both of them to die right away, but this is becoming really interesting to watch. You can¡¯t help but root for them.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {I just want to see how it ends up.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {You mean how she¡¯ll die?}
- [Flaglag14] ¨C {I¡¯m betting on her surviving.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Really? There¡¯s no chance. Not at all.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Yeah, two lone Successors have no chance at killing a UM. It¡¯s just impossible.}
- [Analyz3r7] ¨C {Unfortunately. But it will be interesting to see how they do until reaching the UM.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {It¡¯s just too bad this UM is a Class E one. Would¡¯ve been much more interesting if it had spawned at a higher Class.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {You mean apocalyptic.}
- [Analyz3r7] ¨C {Apocalyptic or not, it¡¯s still interesting to see new Unique Monsters.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {I can¡¯t see her surviving this little death march, tbh.}
- [Velt7VO4] ¨C {Yeah, it¡¯s slim. Unless she can find somewhere that¡¯ll let her hide from those two mini bosses.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {She¡¯s not even strong enough to take on the kobold lord alone, much less the drachne lord as well.}
- [XTokXWalk7] ¨C {How much you want to bet there will be even more mini bosses who join in on this march?}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Too late for that. A third one just joined in.}
- [slime_decorator] ¨C {wait, really?}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Yep. It was one of those wandering mini bosses that the Successor of Magic found. An Alpha Dracoraptor.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Man, she¡¯s screwed.}
- [XTokXWalk7] ¨C {Yep.}
- [Velt7VO4] ¨C {There¡¯s no chance for her to survive now.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Well, there may be. The alpha dracoraptor is just chasing after the drachne lord without attacking the other two.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Wait, so an alpha dracoraptor is chasing the drachne lord that is chasing the kobold lord that is chasing the Successor of Chaos? What the hell is this? Some circus?}
- [Analyz3r7] ¨C {It¡¯s ridiculous, that¡¯s what it is. But I¡¯m loving it!}
- [LovesBirds101] ¨C {Asshole. She¡¯s in extreme danger right now, and you¡¯re just watching this for your entertainment?}
- [Analyz3r7] ¨C {You bet I am!}
- [Analyz3r7] ¨C {This is the best thing I¡¯ve seen in the livestreams in the past ten decades!}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {He has a point. This is really interesting to watch even if she¡¯s in danger.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Just look at her followers¡}
- [Flaglag14] ¨C {Holy shit, they¡¯re skyrocketing now! She¡¯s already reached ten million followers!}
- [ValorantOrderKnight103512] ¨C {That¡ may just be the fastest someone has hit eight figures in their follower count before.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Yeah, but they won¡¯t stay that way for long. After she dies they¡¯ll automatically unfollow her.}
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
- [ValorantOrderKnight103512] ¨C {Even if that could happen, it¡¯s still a record nonetheless.}
- [XTokXWalk7] ¨C {Any bets on a fourth mini boss joining in?}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {I can see that happening. Especially with all of the ruckus they¡¯re causing.}
- [Flaglag14] ¨C {At this point they¡¯re getting closer and closer to the Successor of Magic. Anyone think they¡¯ll reach him?}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {He¡¯d just be throwing his life away if he tried to help.}
- [exelectricity_7] ¨C {I¡¯m more shocked by the fact that the Successor of Chaos has been flying for several hours now all the way in a massive arc around the volcano to the point that she can even be seen from the Successor of Magic¡¯s livestream.}
- [ValorantOrderKnight103512] ¨C {That is¡ impressive.}
- [Flaglag14] ¨C {Just how much stamina does that girl have anyways?}
- [JadedJadedJade99] ¨C {A lot, obviously}
- [KaboomLover102] ¨C {Is no one going to talk about what she did to the kobold lord¡¯s fortress?}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {You mean the gunpowder blowing up? She obviously has a True Damage resistance skill, so there¡¯s not much to talk about.}
- [KaboomLover102] ¨C {Do you realize just how many levels she got from that? And what about her skill to take a skill from those she kills? Just how many skills did she take?}
- [JadedJadedJade99] ¨C {Are you sure it¡¯s just one skill she takes? Her potential skills rise far more than just one with every kill.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {No one really knows how exactly her skill works, but does it really matter? Only the magic enthusiasts actually care. It¡¯s not like she¡¯ll come out of that domain alive after all.}
- [KaboomLover102] ¨C {Well the Queen of Purgatory sure thinks she will, judging by her recent actions.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {¡}
- [JadedJadedJade99] ¨C {¡.}
- [Flaglag14] ¨C {¡¡}
- [ValorantOrderKnight103512] ¨C {..}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {¡}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Anyways, I¡¯m putting a bet on her surviving this death march.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Wait, didn¡¯t you say earlier that she¡¯d die for sure?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Yep.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Then why are you betting¡ wait, do you have it?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Yep.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {What¡¯s it?}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {The cursed Lucy!}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {¡Lucy? Who is that?}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {It¡¯s a cursed skeletal horse. One that grants her owner bad luck and can¡¯t be gotten rid of outside of losing bets.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {What¡ who would make a horse like that?!}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Well, Lucy wasn¡¯t originally cursed.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Then who¡?}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {The Primordial of Sin.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Oh.}
- [ExcExci4] ¨C {Yeah.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {What if you win the bet?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Just look at her livestream and tell me she¡¯s going to survive that. Then think back to your question.}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {¡}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {You¡¯ve got a point.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Yep.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {There¡¯s no way I could lose! If I lose this bet I¡¯ll eat one of Lucy¡¯s tailbones!}
- [ValeriePC81] ¨C {Gross.}
B1 | Chapter 72
Ashley
Alright. So I don¡¯t know what the hell is happening anymore.
I glance back at the entire fucking death march following me consisting of three mini bosses and a few hundred other monsters, many of whom are elites, and others change out for different monsters every now and then. Mostly from other monsters killing them and taking their place.
The kobold lord is still focused on me while avoiding attacks from the drachne lord, who is focused on him seemingly blaming him for destroying its nest. Meanwhile some other mini boss called an alpha dracoraptor seems to see the drachne lord as its lunch and is chasing the massive spider. Making for a very bizarre sight.
But no matter what, the kobold lord doesn¡¯t stop chasing me.
And it¡¯s infuriating.
What¡¯s next, some mini boss dra-
Actually, it¡¯s best not to jinx it.
¡°I can at least say that you¡¯re carrying the name of Chaos well,¡± Chaos comments, sounding just as bemused as I am. Albeit with more than a little worry in his voice.
My eyebrow twitches at that irritating comment. But I don¡¯t say a word to him in response.
I just continue fleeing for my life. Slowly using up my mana all the way till I¡¯m at just about two-fifths of my capacity remaining.
Ever since hitting half of my capacity, I started using mana less and less while trying to focus solely on just dodging. Even taking hits and using up some of my health just to avoid using more of my mana.
No matter what I do though, the death march just continues to grow larger. And larger. And larger.
Endlessly deadlier.
And I can¡¯t find a good place to stop and hide. Because every place I try to hide or lose them in so far has merely ended up destroyed with the monsters in it joining the chase.
Which isn¡¯t even considering the drachne nest that was destroyed, leading to its lord joining the chase.
I¡¯d rather not bring in any more mini bosses by accident.
I grit my teeth as I continue flying, dodging one attack after another from the kobold lord. Briefly wondering when the hell that bastard is gonna run out of mana himself. Since he¡¯s both attacking me and blocking the drachne lord¡¯s attacks.
But he hasn¡¯t shown any signs of slowing down.
At this point there¡¯s only one thing I can think of doing.
I look at my skills before focusing on one in particular.
{Frigid Tempest Call ¨C Allows the user to summon forth a tempest of ice and wind using twenty-five percent of their mana. The more mana is used in the attack, the stronger the attack.}
Then, after a brief pause, I go ahead and unlock two skills branching from it. Each one empowering that root skill by a good amount. At least, judging by the descriptions of the skills.
{Frigid Temperatures ¨C Further decreases the temperature of the Frigid Tempest summoned through Frigid Tempest Call by a significant margin.}
{Torrential Winds ¨C Further increases the power of the winds within the Frigid Tempest summoned through Frigid Tempest Call by a significant margin.}
But right when I¡¯m about to finally use Frigid Tempest Call as a last resort, I hear a strange warping sound. And right after that, I hear a familiar voice call out from behind me.
¡°Ashley! I¡¯m here!¡±
My eyes widen as I turn around mid-air to see someone I was not expecting to see. Not that I was expecting to see anyone at all.
I feel so shocked by the sight of Blake floating in the air behind me that I stop flapping my wings for a second, leading to me falling a little and getting hit by a destruction mana bolt that tears a chunk out of my leg.
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How far have I gone on this damned death march for us to meet?!
Not long ago
Blake doesn¡¯t waste any time after seeing the screen showing Ashley¡¯s chase. He leaves a connector portal behind inside of his little cavern before teleporting outside of it and immediately flying through the air in the direction that he sees Ashley starting to round the volcano from. Albeit from the edge of the domain and nowhere near the volcano itself.
He wasn¡¯t able to check the livestream recently because of his own problems with the kobold lord nearby him. When the thing nearly killed him, leaving him teleporting back to his cavern before falling unconscious.
And the first thing he sees after waking up?
His beloved twin sister fleeing from a massive death march of monsters and mini bosses. Having already turned a large part of the Unique Domain into pure chaos.
Blake grits his teeth hard as he flies through the air using wind magic. One of his many top-grade mana manipulation skills.
And along his flight, he proceeds to ignore every last monster in the way. Even occasionally teleporting to shorten the distance a bit and lose the monsters on his trail.
Fortunately for him, he¡¯s already largely recovered from his unsuccessful hunt. So he doesn¡¯t encounter many issues.
All the way till he reaches Ashley and immediately calls out, ¡°Ashley! I¡¯m here!¡±
Startling her in the process and leading to her getting injured. But Blake is prepared for that and quickly teleports to her and uses a healing spell on her leg using life magic, restoring the wound without costing any of her health in the process.
An act that causes even more surprise to show from her as she sucks in a breath.
Blake gives a sad smile before he turns to look at the mini bosses that are starting to catch up a bit now that he¡¯s forced her to stop. Then he turns back to her again and asks, ¡°Do you have a way to distract them?¡±
She looks confused for a second, likely because of his sudden arrival, then she eventually purses her lips for a few seconds and nods her head.
¡°Then do it,¡± he says with a nod of his own. ¡°And my apologies in advance.¡±
His last statement seems to confuse her for a moment, but she quickly closes her eyes, just flapping her wings as she focuses on opening her mouth and beginning to chant. Startling him for a moment. Just a moment, though, since he almost immediately moves up to her and hugs her from behind while wrapping the two of them in a spatial cocoon. A process that takes over an entire minute to finish.
And during the start of that minute, he just listens to the chant his twin is speaking.
¡°I call upon the frigid tempests of the north, wrought with ice and snow, wind and storm. Bring the wrath of nature down on my foes and turn this land into a manifestation of Winter.¡±
Blake¡¯s eyes widen a little bit as he recognizes the chant as the one belonging to the enforcer Ashley had killed during the council meeting. The chant his ability requires him to call out. Or skill, rather.
And the moment she finishes the chant, wind begins to blow all around them, sending any of the attacks that were moving their way off course. Then the temperature rapidly starts to drop, and the monsters down below start slowing down and focusing on sending attacks, finally getting closer to them. Specifically the kobold lord.
Blake shivers as he feels the frigid cold of the air around them mixed with the wind, only to see water and rain beginning to appear alongside clouds the moment Ashley¡¯s eyes open with a vivid blue glow to them. A glow that mixes in with the crimson light already shining from her eyes, along with the fading and reappearing crimson veins running through her body from one of her other skills.
Her eyes turn to look at him as he has his chin over her shoulder from behind in their hug, and he can tell that she is incredibly surprised and looks conflicted about his current position. Like she doesn¡¯t feel uncomfortable but feels uncomfortable because she¡¯s not uncomfortable.
Like she believes she should feel uncomfortable but isn¡¯t.
That sight makes a wave of both sadness and relief fill Blake, but he doesn¡¯t focus on those feelings at all.
He turns his attention to the winds and clouds, the snow and rain, ice and cold all around them. To the rapid surge it¡¯s doing outwards, with the two of them at the eye of the storm, where no damage is being received. Other than the cold.
And through the tempest he can see the skill devastating numerous monsters down below, freezing many of them and killing them with ease. The sole exception being the mini bosses who simply dig in and react in their own ways. With the drachne lord sealing itself up in a cocoon, the kobold lord placing multiple layers of destruction mana barriers around itself, and the alpha dracoraptor just attacking back to counter the part of the tempest sent towards it.
The tempest continues raging, turning the area of barren wasteland into a frozen wasteland instead. Truly proving the power of the skill taken from the Tempest Enforcer.
But the tempest slowly begins to die down after nearly an entire minute has passed. All the way till it vanishes entirely, leaving nothing behind but the frozen corpses of monsters, the snow and ice of the newly formed frozen wasteland, and the reemerging mini bosses. None of whom look pleased with Blake¡¯s twin.
Despite their displeasure, they all take a few moments to shake off the effects of Ashley¡¯s attack, following which they need more time to prepare their own attacks.
And right as waves of crimson silk, bolts of destruction mana, and black flames from the dracoraptor begin flying towards them, with Ashley having fallen limp in Blake¡¯s arms, his spatial cocoon finally wraps around the two of them.
Then he and his twin vanish from the area to reappear within his cavern, far away from the mini bosses.
Outside of their range of senses, much less their attack range.
Blake and his twin collapse onto the ground with his sister lying unconscious on top of him, and Blake feeling like he¡¯ll be joining her any second now as his mana is now at rock bottom.
But right before he does, he hears Etheria whisper in his mind, ¡°Good job.¡±
Then everything goes dark.
B1 | Chapter 73
The Tower of Magic
¡°It looks like they¡¯ll be fine for now,¡± Etheria says with a faint smile as she sits on her throne, tapping her finger on the armrest of the throne. And while she doesn¡¯t express her feelings on her face, she still can¡¯t help but feel extreme relief at her latest student¡¯s survival.
The Primordial is in her Seat of Power as always, with it being in the form of a massive, blue tower. One with mana of all colors floating around outside of the open walls of the tower¡¯s highest floor, with one massive throne that she is seated on located at the center of the tower¡¯s peak.
Meanwhile a large orb of energy covered in magical circles revolves high above her grand, blue throne.
She glances at Chaos as the man sits on the floor a little bit away from her throne, having barged into her Seat of Power halfway through his Successor¡¯s death march with so much panic on his face that she felt¡ unsure. It made her feel like he was an entirely different person from what she remembered.
Etheria and Chaos had only spent a mere thousand years together as a couple, but she is still pretty sure she knows him better than anyone else even with that short a period of time with him. Yet now she¡¯s starting to wonder.
Can even Chaos change?
The Primordial of Magic turns her gaze back to the Primordial Livestream in front of her to see both her student and his twin sister, Chaos¡¯s new daughter, lying unconscious in her student¡¯s respite cavern. The one he made and sealed away to keep the monsters from finding his safe place.
Both of the Successors had passed out from exhaustion and the complete draining of all their mana. With neither of them likely to wake up for hours at the least.
¡°This won¡¯t be the last time something like this happens,¡± Etheria eventually says as she looks at Chaos. ¡°So long as they¡¯re stuck in there.¡±
Chaos doesn¡¯t say a word. He just stares in silence at the Primordial Livestream. Not looking away even once.
His silence stretches on for several minutes as the two both watch their respective Successors lie unconscious in the cavern.
Eventually Etheria turns her screen, using her authority to change it to show the mini bosses far away from their cavern. Only to find the three mini bosses having ended up in a brawl with each other. The kobold lord¡¯s quarry having vanished, leaving the kobold lord no one to target, and no outlet to vent its rage on.
Except for the drachne lord that had been chasing it for hours.
And with the drachne lord no longer running after the kobold lord and instead staying in one place, the alpha dracoraptor finally reaches its prey and joins the fight.
Etheria watches for a few seconds before Chaos finally speaks, ¡°She will make it through.¡±
The Primordial of Magic glances at him to find his gaze having finally focused and regained his previous vigor. Only for her to blink in surprise when he turns to look her in the eyes and continue, ¡°So long as she and her brother work together, they will survive.¡±
Silence fills Etheria¡¯s Seat of Power again before she returns her gaze to the livestream and murmurs, ¡°So they will.¡±
Ashley
When my eyes crack open again, I find myself blinking up at the ceiling of some sort of cavern. Feeling hungry as hell and thirsty as well. So thirsty that my throat is so dry that it hurts to breathe.
I use magic to summon water above my head and push it into my mouth to drink. Meanwhile I consider my current situation.
My body is so exhausted that I can barely lift my head, and I can only manage to do it after having that drink. But when I do lift my head, I find the cave so dark that I¡¯m only able to see with my Dark Vision skill. And what I find in it is that the cavern itself is completely empty other than one other person inside of it with me.
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Blake Sinclair.
After seeing him I remember what happened.
I remember when Blake appeared out of nowhere during the chase. When he asked if I could distract the monsters and I responded by using Frigid Tempest Call for the first time, proving the real power it has just based off of the System Messages I see in my vision that I¡¯m putting off for the moment.
Then I remember him hugging me from behind, which confused the hell out of me at the time, until I realized he was wrapping the two of us up in some sort of shell of mana. Spatial mana.
I don¡¯t remember anything after that.
The two of us must¡¯ve fallen unconscious.
Or I did, at least. For all I know he could¡¯ve stayed conscious for a bit longer before going under.
I glance at my status before feeling the corner of my lips twitching upwards a little at the sight of my level. Then I close out of my status after seeing my health full and my mana having recovered as well.
Good.
I finally let the System Messages play out.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x231
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsmen} x32
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight} x26
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne Warrior} x50
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne High Guard} x31
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Delta Dracoraptor} x34
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Beta Dracoraptor} x24
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Lizardman Scout} x34
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction Poison Spray, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Destruction Poison Spray is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne Warrior.] x49
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction Poison Creation, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction Poison Creation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Destruction Poison Creation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne High Guard.] x30
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Fangs, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Fangs, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Destructive Fangs is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Delta Dracoraptor.] x33
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Talons, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Talons, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨CDestructive Talons is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Beta Dracoraptor.] x23
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Sensory Pulse, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Sensory Pulse, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Destructive Sensory Pulse is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Lizardman Scout.] x33
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 70. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 71. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
¡
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 75. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
That¡¯s a lot of new and interesting skills.
I look down at my hand with a frown, though. Because I feel something wrong with it.
And what I find are five black and crimson talons on my finger that are emitting a bit of destruction mana.
But the moment I want them to go away, they retract, turning back into normal fingernails.
I blink in surprise before lying back down again.
Huh.
A mutation skill that isn¡¯t inconvenient.
Interesting.
Might as well check out the other skills too while I¡¯m stuck lying here.
B1 | Chapter 74
Ashley
Unsurprisingly, all of the skills turn out to be very interesting.
{Destruction Poison Spray ¨C Allows the user to shoot out a powerful spray of destruction affinity poison from their mouth. Destruction mana can be used instead of neutral mana at a 2:1 ratio of neutral mana to destruction mana.}
{Destruction Poison Creation ¨C Allows the user to create destruction affinity poison anywhere within a meter of the user¡¯s body and control it within that range. Destruction mana can be used instead of neutral mana at a 2:1 ratio of neutral mana to destruction mana.}
{Destructive Fangs ¨C Infuses destruction venom into the user¡¯s retractable fangs.}
{Destructive Talons ¨C Infuses destruction venom into the user¡¯s retractable talons.}
{Destructive Sensory Pulse ¨C Allows the user to send out a pulse of nearly indetectable destruction mana within a hundred meters of the user that can be used to detect obstructions within the range. Additionally, the destruction mana will automatically erase any magical defenses attempting to block or destroy the pulse.}
Well, except maybe the fangs. Because I¡¯m still not planning on biting anything.
And on that note, I touch my teeth with my tongue to find that my canines have been vastly sharpened. But just like with my nails, they shrink back down to normal again when I wish for them to.
Hmm.
I guess if push comes to shove and I have to bite something, I can.
Anyways, it¡¯s nice to get a new perception-based skill.
As for this poison creation skill¡
I create a blob of destruction poison above my head and proceed to stare at it. Finding it to be the same type of purplish-crimson poison I saw filling the spiders¡¯ nest.
A few seconds pass as I try moving around the blob of poison. Which turns out to be rather easy. So easy I just have to imagine it moving and it does exactly what I want.
I move it around in a circle, but the moment it gets out of the one meter radius, I lose all control of it, and it falls to the floor next to me and forms a puddle. One that begins to disintegrate the ground a bit.
Not bad.
Next up I try to manifest another little blob of the poison above me before shooting it straight towards one of the walls, making it move incredibly fast to splatter against the wall a couple dozen meters away from me. Disintegrating a little bit of the wall in the process before the rest of it slowly slides down the wall to the ground.
Not bad at all.
I focus on my current mana to find that it¡¯s not costing much destruction mana to create this poison. Not much at all.
That¡¯s good.
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Next up is the Destructive Sensory Pulse skill.
When I use it, it costs barely even a fiftieth of a single unit of mana. Which is good, since it¡¯s a sensory skill. And what I get from it is slightly different from Enhanced Perception.
Instead of knowing everything in its range, I just know where physical objects are. Kind of like what I assume a bat¡¯s echolocation would be like. And the sensation lasts for several seconds, letting me know what is moving and what isn¡¯t.
Also, with the skill, I soon realize that there aren¡¯t actually many monsters nearby. Actually, there aren¡¯t any after a few seconds.
By the sounds of it the King of Destruction is going on another rampage and the monsters outside are fleeing.
But no monsters were trying to get in here even before the King of Destruction sent another round of missiles.
I close my eyes and let out a sigh, finally taking a moment to relax now that I¡¯ve fully digested everything.
After a few seconds though, I open my eyes again and turn my head to look at my twin brother, who is still unconscious. At which point I go ahead and identify him.
? Blake Sinclair ¨C Level 68 Human ¨C 2051 Potential Skills ¨C O ?
Nothing new there, other than his level being rather impressive. It¡¯s around the same that my level was before I used Frigid Tempest Call.
Or just one below it, that is.
That aside, he really does have the absolute most potential skills I¡¯ve ever seen of anyone so far. With the sole exception of the Black Enforcer.
The fact that a Primordial chose Blake instead of the Black Enforcer also says something. Or rather, the fact that a Primordial hasn¡¯t chosen the Black Enforcer as a Successor.
I wonder why?
¡°It¡¯s because of his personality and mindset,¡± Chaos answers, reminding me he¡¯s here. ¡°When looking for Successors, the Primordials other than myself look for three different things. Number of potential skills. Power or potential use of the potential Successor¡¯s root skill. And the personality and mindset of the Successor candidate in question.¡±
And the Black Enforcer¡
¡°He cares about nothing but his own family and would betray a Primordial at the first chance so long as it benefits his family, and he would never consider the Primordial who gives him blood to be family regardless of whether they technically would be or not,¡± Chaos continues. ¡°Erebos would sooner kill him than make him an unreliable tool. Gaia would never look at someone like that without anything but some pity. Justicar wouldn¡¯t give him the time of day. He doesn¡¯t use mana manipulation so Etheria wouldn¡¯t care about him regardless of how powerful he is. And the others are no different.¡±
Interesting.
Guess it really is about more than just the pure power of the user.
Although that makes sense when I think about it.
On that note, why did you choose me as your Successor?
Chaos doesn¡¯t respond.
Eventually I just sigh and return my gaze to the ceiling. And after staring for a few seconds, I turn my head to look at my twin brother.
I look at his hair, at his clothes, but when my eyes land on a little keychain dangling from one of the belt rings on his pants, my eyes widen, and memories begin to flood my mind.
Memories of the two of us in some sort of store, with multiple guards stationed at the entrances and one following behind us. We¡¯re both wearing some sort of uniform including blazers, with me wearing a skirt and him wearing pants, and we¡¯re both holding that same keychain of different colors. Each handing the one we¡¯re holding to the other to put on our person somewhere.
A small wolf figurine. Small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.
The ones from my memory were a blue one and a red one. With him giving me a red one and me giving him a blue one.
Then we both walked out of the store with the guards behind us.
But the things that shocks me the most about this memory are the facts that I was smiling during it while looking at the figurine.
And the fact that I feel water falling down my cheek right now.
Originating from my eye.
When I push to reach for my face, I feel it wet and finally realize I¡¯m shedding a tear for some reason.
My mouth opens and closes multiple times as I stare between my wet hand and the figurine on Blake¡¯s waist. Then I turn my gaze on Blake¡¯s unconscious face.
¡°Blake¡¡± I mutter, his name slipping out of my mouth without me meaning to say it.
And, of course, he chooses that moment to open his eyes and meet my gaze.
B1 | Chapter 75
Ashley
¡°Ashley,¡± he says back to me with a smile on his face. One that almost makes me smile in return.
But I don¡¯t. Instead I wipe my tears and ask, ¡°How did you find me?¡±
That has him raising a brow as he replies, ¡°I just had to look for the large army of monsters chasing after you.¡±
My brows furrow a little at that and I almost frown, only briefly noting the fact that I seem to be showing a bit more expression now than before as I wonder just how close to Blake¡¯s side of the Unique Domain I got during the chase. Not that it matters much, considering how we¡¯re both alive now. And that¡¯s all that really matters.
For some reason Chaos sends a wave of happiness through our bond before it instantly cuts off. As if he was instinctively responding to my thoughts just now. Or maybe the more expressions I¡¯m showing.
Not sure which.
Either way, I go ahead and continue, asking Blake, ¡°Why did you enter the Unique Domain?¡±
He blinks at me, seeming surprised for a moment. Then he just smiles and answers, ¡°Because you¡¯re my sis.¡±
That leaves me opening my mouth to respond, only to find that I don¡¯t know what to say. So I close my mouth again. Going silent.
Because I¡¯m his sister¡
His smile fades a little bit as he asks, ¡°How much do you remember¡?¡±
I begin frowning at him, startling him with the display of emotion.
¡°I don¡¯t remember anything, and I don¡¯t want to remember,¡± I answer without a hint of hesitation, startling him in the process.
The two of us stare at each other for several seconds before he gives me a sad smile and says, ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re beginning to express yourself more. Even if just a little bit.¡±
My frown vanishes again as my face turns neutral and I blankly stare at him.
I did notice that I¡¯m starting to express things more, but I didn¡¯t realize it¡¯s enough for others to notice¡
¡°Does it bother you?¡± Chaos asks, making me glance up at the ceiling in silence.
Does it?
I stare for several seconds before sighing.
No, I don¡¯t think it bothers me.
I first noticed it after the council meeting. Like some sort of wall had broken down within me. Then with every interaction with family I¡¯ve had. Especially Blake.
Walls shattering one after another.
Some faint memories resurfacing here and there. None of which had been incredibly major other than some hints of trauma and memories of Blake.
I¡¯ve even seen some chatter about it on the System Forums. About my changes.
Honestly, deep down, I feel like I always knew that this would happen. That the walls I already had built up when I woke up would shatter. That I would gain back my memories.
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Whether I want to or not.
I think I¡¯ve just been avoiding it for as long as I can.
Even my trauma-led social anxiety seems to be fading a little bit. Although I¡¯m not sure if that will ever go away entirely.
¡°It¡¯s possible it could turn into apathy towards those you don¡¯t know as well,¡± Chaos comments. ¡°That¡¯s what happened to me.¡±
My brows furrow at that.
Really? You had trauma in the past as well? A Primordial?
¡°Yeah,¡± Chaos answers while I just lie here staring up at the ceiling with my brother¡¯s eyes having closed, the man falling asleep. ¡°It comes with the territory of being born part monster. Part Unique Monster.¡±
I blink at that.
Wait a second. You¡¯re a Unique Monster?
What about the other Primordials? Are they the same?
¡°No, but they are considered Unique Beings, even if they¡¯re not monsters,¡± Chaos answers. ¡°I¡¯m only part Unique Monster because I am a being who was born within a special spatial vortex known as a chaos vortex. By a regular mother of a non-monster species. Which led to me being infused with so much chaos energy that I¡¯m pretty much more monster than raven shifter.¡±
Wait¡ raven shifter?
¡°Raven shapeshifter was my mother and father¡¯s species,¡± he answers as if it¡¯s not that important before continuing, ¡°but the other Primordials all just evolved to become Unique Beings. Beings that cannot be born as they are.¡±
Interesting.
¡°You Successors are a bit of a mix yourselves, especially you,¡± Chaos says, making my lips quirk downwards a little at his words. ¡°You¡¯re likely going to be an amalgamation of millions of species by the time you¡¯re my age. Including some unique ones.¡±
That¡ is an odd thing to think about.
Also, including some unique ones?
¡°Well, my own blood for one, and if you and your brother kill the King of Destruction, you¡¯ll be assimilating its Skill Tree and mutation skill as well, so you¡¯ll take in some of it too,¡± Chaos explains. ¡°There¡¯s a decent chance you¡¯ll even take its place in the universe as the King of Destruction.¡±
Huh.
Chaos¡¯s tone takes a drastic turn as he says, ¡°Be warned that the entire universe will be focusing on you in one way or another once you do that. You will be a Unique Monster in the form of a user and Successor in their eyes.¡±
Similar to you in a way, right?
I feel more than a little surprise pass through our bond before he answers quietly, ¡°Yes.¡±
Also, you certainly sound like you¡¯re confident I¡¯ll make it out of here alive and win. What happened to that whole, what was it, three percent chance of surviving?
He doesn¡¯t respond.
I raise a brow, but he still doesn¡¯t say anything.
Well, whatever. Not really sure how I feel about being called the King of Destruction, but I¡¯m pretty sure people are already calling me the Crimson Wraith and other such nicknames. So what¡¯s a new one?
That¡¯s too far away to think about anyways.
I send out another pulse of destruction mana to sense the surroundings, finding quite a few monsters in the surroundings in the process. But none of the monsters are very powerful. And none of them seem to sense us either.
Which is good.
I try to sit up again before quickly finding that I¡¯m actually able to do it this time. Albeit with some struggle.
A glance at Blake and the cavern around us makes me realize that Blake was probably in a tough situation of his own before he saved me. Considering how exhausted he looks. Even more exhausted than I am.
And if I was being chased in a massive death march yet he¡¯s still in worse shape, I wonder what happened to him to put him in that state?
¡°He had his own run-in with the kobold lord of his fortress and lost,¡± Chaos answers for me, reminding me that everything in here is being livestreamed for anyone to see.
A thought that has me glancing upwards only to narrow my eyes a bit.
Hey, Chaos?
¡°Yes, dear daughter of mine?¡± Chaos replies immediately.
Would you consider adding a feature to let me turn off the livestreams permanently so that no one can ever watch me again?
¡°I cannot,¡± Chaos replies once more, sounding a little disappointed himself that he can¡¯t. ¡°It would require at least a majority of the Primordials to approve, and the only ones I can see approving it would be Gaia and Etheria.¡±
Well, it was worth a try.
Wait a second¡ why would the Primordial of Magic help?
¡°Because even if we broke up some thousands of years ago, we still dated for a thousand years or so,¡± Chaos answers rather nonchalantly, leaving me blankly staring at the ceiling again. Until I glance at Blake, remembering that my twin brother is her Successor. ¡°Yes, she was absolutely thrilled to hear that she¡¯s pretty much become my step-sister.¡±
I stare at Blake for a few more seconds before muttering out loud, ¡°I doubt that¡¡±
B1 | Chapter 76
Ashley
Blake and I pretty much end up taking turns sleeping for the rest of the day until we¡¯re both fully recovered. Then we finally leave the cavern and turn towards the Northwest. In the direction that the mini bosses were left behind. Where we teleported away.
And to my surprise, they actually still seem to be fighting even now.
¡°Well, you did kind of lead two of their homes to complete destruction, leaving those two nowhere to go,¡± Chaos comments, but I choose to ignore him.
By the looks of it, all three of them are exhausted. So much so that they¡¯re actually trying to find ways out of their battle.
Or, rather, two of the three are exhausted.
The alpha dracoraptor is not. And it¡¯s the reason the other two can¡¯t get away.
Every time the drachne lord or kobold lord tries to flee, the alpha dracoraptor immediately tries to take advantage of the opening they make to attack. Dealing more damage to them and keeping them locked in the battle.
¡°Every bit the predator, that raptor,¡± I hear Blake muttering next to me as we both fly high in the sky looking out at the battlefield extremely far in the distance. With him floating with his spatial magic and me flying with my wings.
I just nod my head in response, not saying anything. Which seems to work well for him in the time we¡¯ve interacted over the past day or so. When we were both awake, that is.
He does most of the talking.
But I do find this to be good practice for talking. So there¡¯s that.
We continue to watch as the mini bosses fight each other. All the way till the King of Destruction starts throwing a fit again, leading to the mini bosses ¨C and us ¨C hiding in the little ruins-like areas. With the mini bosses still fighting even as they are under the ruins¡¯ protection.
A stubborn bunch.
¡°A stubborn bunch,¡± Blake comments at the exact same time I have the thought, leading to me turning to stare blankly at him in surprise. A look that he notices and looks at me in confusion about, tilting his head as he asks, ¡°Something wrong?¡±
After a few seconds, I shake my head and focus on the mini bosses again. Which is harder from the angle we¡¯re at now. Since we¡¯re not high up in the air anymore.
The two of us easily slaughter some of the raptors that attack us as we¡¯re watching the battle. Simply because they¡¯re the lowest level raptors here at the low level 40s. Meanwhile I¡¯m level 75 and Blake is level 68.
And as a few raptors are cut in half by Blake¡¯s spatial blades and more are mutating into amalgamations of flesh and blood by my feathers, we wait for the King of Destruction¡¯s rampage to end once more. Then we fly back up into the sky to get a better view of the fight.
What we see surprises the both of us, though. Because one of the mini bosses actually looks in our direction and narrows his glowing crimson eyes at us.
Then said mini boss ¨C the kobold lord of all things ¨C charges straight at us with rage in its gaze. Taking multiple attacks in the back without a care from the drachne lord and the alpha dracoraptor.
¡°That thing really hates you,¡± Blake comments, making me silently nod my head in response.
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A few seconds pass as the kobold lord charges straight towards us, the thing still being quite a ways away. But we just stare at it while it does so.
¡°Should we run? Or do you think¡¡± Blake trails off, looking at me with a look that says I have the final say on it.
I look at the kobold lord, then at the drachne lord and alpha dracoraptor, neither of whom are chasing it as they¡¯ve started fighting between themselves again now that the kobold lord has left. Meanwhile the kobold lord himself is covered in far too many injuries to be healthy.
At this point I feel like I might even be able to take it on by myself with its weakened state.
Maybe.
Possibly.
Doesn¡¯t matter though, because I¡¯m not by myself.
¡°If it¡¯s just the kobold lord, then let¡¯s fight it,¡± I eventually answer Blake. To which he immediately nods and turns to face the approaching kobold lord.
Then we wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
At some point I decide ¡®why not¡¯ and start shooting out some feathers to land across the ground and form a sort of field of spikes. Of a sort.
Blake takes to my strategy of placing traps as well when I start to see spell circles appearing around him. Something that only generally becomes visible to others when someone is using a more advanced spell. Where the runes appear outside of your body and mind as well.
Of course, I have no idea what he¡¯s doing exactly. Other than likely setting traps.
But after I set up the feathers, I go ahead and toss out some bits of destruction affinity poison as well. Making some puddles of the stuff. Both to test the new skill and because it makes for good traps.
Then again, considering the fact that the kobold lord was just fighting with a drachne lord, it¡¯s probably used to the poison by now. If anything could possibly get used to poison whose main purpose is to destroy.
And just to add insult to injury, I go ahead and use some of the other skills I¡¯ve gotten from competitors in Official System Events that I haven¡¯t really used much.
I place invisible walls near some of the pools of poison and feathers. Walls that are incredibly fragile, but should at least surprise the creature even if it can break it just from walking.
Then there¡¯s some smaller trap skills I¡¯ve gotten that just shoot out things like firebolts and icicles.
And lastly, I place my hand on Blake¡¯s shoulder while activating a support skill that I¡¯ve yet to use thus far. A skill that increases his maximum mana by just a couple units and can only be used on others.
I also follow it up with two more support skills. One that makes his spells a tiny bit more accurate, and one that increases the strength of his spells a little.
Nothing overly much, but any help is good.
Blake looks a little surprised before he no doubt remembers my skill and realizes it would be weird if I didn¡¯t get any support skills by now. Then we both focus on the approaching kobold lord.
Who is still a ways away even now.
One problem that I see building up though is that some wandering kobolds are joining it in its run, even though the kobold lord is so badly injured by now.
But we should still be able to defeat it.
The lesser traps might actually help clear out the little force it¡¯s building up, actually.
Right as I¡¯m about to pull out my blades, though, I hear a ringing sound echoing in my head. Following which a notification appears.
|
Congratulations! You have been granted gifts by the Primordial of Chaos!
Open your Successor Menu to receive them!
|
I blink at that before going ahead and raising a hand to Blake, making him glance at me for a moment, only for him to nod and focus on the approaching enemies. Somehow understanding what I¡¯m wanting.
Then I open my Successor Menu and then the ¡®Claim Gifts¡¯ part.
And just like with when I first started my Tutorial, a crimson orb appears in front of me. One that I move up to and put my hands out beneath so that the gifts aren¡¯t dropped down to the ground.
But when the orb vanishes and drops the gifts in question, I can¡¯t help but feel my eyes widening in surprise.
Because the items are two blades of similar lengths to my current weapons.
Two short swords, each of crimson, black, and purple in color, and with Chaos Energy running through them.
And it¡¯s not just the swords, but two sheaths as well. Making it so I can genuinely carry them around without having to worry about my makeshift sheaths breaking.
¡°I hope you enjoy my gift, sweetie,¡± Chaos says, his voice full of warmth as it echoes through my head.
I feel my lips tilting upwards in the start of a real smile.
Thank you.
B1 | Chapter 77
Ashley
¡°Course,¡± Chaos comments, sounding rather happy.
I go ahead and analyze the new weapons.
Knives of Chaos
Description: A set of knives with an affinity to chaos energy that grants the wearer an extra 25 points to PHY. These knives were personally crafted from feathers of the Primordial of Chaos himself and contain a minor version of the poison contained within Chaos¡¯s blood.
Affects: +25 PHY, Chaos Energy Affinity, Poison of Chaos
¡°They have the same poison that the blood within your wings contain,¡± Chaos explains, making my smile grow ever so slightly.
Once again, thank you.
I go ahead and fasten the sheaths to my waist before grabbing the blades and holding them in my hands to test their weight. At which point I quickly find them to be perfectly fitted for me.
And if they have the same poison as our blood¡ then cuts from them should mutate the target.
I turn to look down at the ground, only to find all of the monsters down there already dead from me and Blake¡¯s barrage. Then I turn to look at the still-approaching kobold lord and his forces.
Well, guess they¡¯re good enough test subjects.
¡°If you infuse your Chaos Energy into the knives, the effects of the poison will grow stronger,¡± Chaos says to my surprise. ¡°You can also use the knives for basic chaos magic, which you¡¯ve still yet to learn.¡±
Right. Because Secondary Energy magic is far more difficult than mana-based magic to use.
¡°You should learn it before fighting the King of Destruction,¡± Chaos states without hesitation.
Probably should.
That aside, I do feel stronger simply from holding these knives. A much larger effect than the one my old knives would give.
I look up at the approaching horde again as they finally begin to get a bit closer. Close enough that Blake begins to attack with his ranged spells. Sending one bolt of purple energy after another at them, blasting apart some of the kobolds following the lord.
But the kobold lord himself doesn¡¯t pay even a single wink of attention to his forces. He just keeps glaring daggers at me through the fractures in his armor. Fractures large enough to actually make out his form underneath.
Not that it¡¯s very recognizable though, considering the fact that he¡¯s still covered in wounds beneath his shattered armor.
After a few more minutes, the kobolds end up entering my range as well. So I send my own wave of attacks at them using various different affinities of magic. From fire, to decay, to lightning, and even water.
Then I start launching feathers and dropping silver spikes when they finally get within the range of our traps, joining the traps themselves as they slaughter the kobolds without much issue.
With the exception of the kobold lord who simply tramples over the traps and knocks my attacks out of the way with his bare flesh without a single care in the world.
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It¡¯s not just my attacks either, as the kobold lord knocks away Blake¡¯s attacks as well.
Although our attacks are at least leaving some scratches and dealing some minor damage. But that¡¯s only on the areas of the kobold lord nor covered by armor.
Proving just how durable that armor really was.
At the end of the day, though, I don¡¯t care about my attacks themselves.
What I care about are the effects being racked up within the kobold lord from them.
I find myself rather surprised by the fact that the kobold lord seems to be resistant to some of them. To the point that when I get a paralysis effect that should paralyze him, he just ends up stiffening up for a few seconds before returning to normal. And an effect that should lock down his mana usage shatters almost right away as it¡¯s devoured by his destruction mana.
Most importantly, those damned crimson cracks keep flashing all across the kobold¡¯s body with our attacks. Proving just how strong this guy¡¯s destruction resistance is.
I grit my teeth as I send more and more attacks at the kobold lord. All the way till the kobold lord himself finally makes it to us and jumps straight up into the air.
But none of my attacks prove to do much to him. Barely more than scratches even when I¡¯m attacking his own wounds.
Which honestly makes me a little terrified of just how strong a destruction resistance the King of Destruction himself may have.
¡°Ashley, cover me for a moment!¡± Blake suddenly shouts, drawing my attention to him to find him closing his eyes and beginning to float upwards while murmuring a chant under his breath.
A little bit more of a heads-up would¡¯ve been nice.
I turn towards the mini boss again before glancing at my blades.
Well, now¡¯s as good a time as any to try them out.
I teleport straight to my shadow on top of the kobold lord himself before swinging my blades at a gap in his armor. Pushing my Chaos Energy into them at the same time. And to my surprise, they actually sink into his flesh.
By about two centimeters.
So not much.
But it¡¯s a lot better than what our previous attacks were doing.
Any satisfaction I had from that attack vanishes though when the kobold lord swings his own blade faster than I can dodge at my side and it slams into me through the flat side of the blade. Which only happens because I managed to move a little bit, avoiding the sharp edge.
Either way, the attack sends me flying to slam into the ground over a hundred meters away before coughing out blood. Finding it difficult to get up from the ground.
I push myself to turn and look at the kobold lord, only to find him moving over towards me again. Clearly ignoring Blake despite his chanting.
Guess he isn¡¯t very smart.
Or he¡¯s just blinded by¡
Huh.
¡°Your thoughts are correct,¡± Chaos says as I narrow my eyes at the kobold lord and slowly push myself up a bit with my wounds healing from my health and Minor Regeneration. ¡°That kobold lord is using a berserk skill with you as his target.¡±
Thought so.
I glance at the kobold lord¡¯s left arm, where I struck him with both of my knives. And while the wound does seem to be mutating a bit, it¡¯s not as much as I¡¯d like.
Which also doesn¡¯t prove to be a very good test for the knives, but whatever. My old knives likely wouldn¡¯t have done squat to him.
Might be a good idea to test them on regular monsters after this.
Assuming I survive.
I glance at Blake to find him still chanting. Then I turn back to the approaching kobold lord before pushing myself to stand up rather weakly while raising my blades to block his own raised sword.
Just to teleport back into my shadow the moment he arrives. Leaving him to slash his sword straight into the ground instead before I move around him and slash one of mine into his arm wound again while thrusting the other into his gut.
Then I quickly teleport back again.
The kobold lord stands up straight again and matches my gaze, the crimson energy flaring within his eyes. And after that one brief pause, he rushes straight at me again, making me hurry to raise both of my blades to block his attack. But my blades are forced back towards me, making me teleport backwards again to avoid the rest of the blow even if I¡¯m still sent crashing to the ground due to my imbalance.
Fucking hell, this is stupid.
Why did I even think I could fight him?!
This same process repeats itself several more times, with me occasionally getting my own wounds here and there from failing to dodge or block his strikes. But the only damage I manage to give him is a few more cuts and nothing else.
And right when I¡¯m beginning to wonder if I should just take Blake and retreat, Blake raises his voice, shouting, ¡°And to this one, I call forth chains to bind resistances!!!¡±
Then dozens of purple and silver chains shoot up from the ground to bind the kobold lord. Only for the kobold lord to break them in an instant.
But that¡¯s not all that happens.
Because the biggest change catches my eye immediately.
The glowing crimson cracks on the kobold lord¡¯s body are fading to a very faint light.
My eyes narrow at the implications of that mixed with the end of Blake¡¯s chant.
Okay, I take it back.
It looks like I may be able to kill this thing after all.
B1 | Intermission 3
Somewhere in the capital of Val
The Black Enforcer keeps his eyes glued to the livestream even as he ignores his paperwork on his desk. The man not having left his office since Blake had challenged his kobold lord. Not even when she and Blake were unconscious after her death march, which he also never took his eyes off of.
And he¡¯s not the only one as the White Enforcer has been doing the exact same thing from a couch in his office. Even as rain pours down outside.
More and more, as he¡¯s been focusing on building up their position in the new world, the new society the System has formed for them, he¡¯s been unable to keep his anxiety from affecting him. Slowing down his progress. Making him stop level grinding, and even affecting some of his negotiations with the Guildmasters in their attempts to set up fully functioning Guilds on Val.
Because he¡¯s begun to wonder why he¡¯s doing it all.
The reason he first started to focus on their family, while it had begun to grow foreign to him since, was to protect his family. To build a shield around them that no one could ever shatter.
But if their family has already fallen apart by then, he¡¯s beginning to wonder what the point of it all is.
And that thought has made it harder and harder for him to focus.
Sebastian Sinclair stares at the livestream as Ashley once again attacks the kobold lord with the blades she got from her Primordial. Except this time around she deals real damage to it, cutting inches into its already-present wound and making the kobold lord let out a shriek of pain. Then Blake follows it up with spatial cutter spells, sending one arc of spatial mana after another at the kobold lord while being careful to avoid hitting Ashley.
But Sebastian can¡¯t take his eyes off of each and every wound his daughter receives. Flinching every time she receives a new one from the rampaging kobold lord. Even if they are more often than not healed right away from her health and whatever regeneration skills she most likely has.
Once in a while though, his eyes stray to look at the blades in her hands. Blades he knows are from Chaos.
And seeing those blades reminds him of the visit Chaos made to him not too long ago.
Shortly after Ashley ended up in the Unique Domain in the first place.
Sebastian looks down at his arm where a crimson raven symbol is located on his flesh, marking him and symbolizing the curse placed upon him. But then he looks back at the screen again when he hears Ashley shouting in pain, only for her to quickly turn it around by teleporting behind the kobold lord and slashing at him in return. Even with blood dripping down her wing from the cut in it. The girl no doubt using her wing to block the kobold¡¯s blow.
Those two better make it out alive¡
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He grits his teeth as the worry fills him. But not just because of that. He also knows that he won¡¯t be able to see her afterwards either.
Not unless she herself invites him over.
Sebastian rubs the mark again, only to pull his sleeve down further to cover it.
Just remembering the way Chaos looked at him during his visit makes a chill run down Sebastian¡¯s spine as a cold sweat makes its way to the back of his neck.
Because he knew right then and there that the man wanted nothing more than to slaughter Sebastian where he stood.
Sebastian glances at his wife, who also took in the same curse from the Primordial as he did.
Then he returns his focus to the livestream again, simply praying that the two will come out alive and well.
It¡¯s all he can do after all.
Somewhere else in the capital of Val
Seth Sinclair paces back and forth behind Elizabeth¡¯s desk, in between her chair where she¡¯s sitting and the window, as he watches the livestream with the rain loudly falling outside. But he can¡¯t bring himself to calm down no matter how hard he tries.
He had always looked up to the twins when he was young. Both of them had looked incredibly cool to him after all, both at school and at social gatherings.
One of the twins, Blake, had immense power and talent in magic. Power and talent recognized by everyone. But despite that, he was still fully down to Val and treated Seth well. Even when Seth needed help in one way or another. Whether it was for relationship advice, tutoring, or anything.
Meanwhile Ashley was believed to have been born with no ability. No power. And nothing. Except for her family name, which only added on even more stress to her.
Seth had always believed she was fine. That none of it bothered her.
She powered through like a train, never stopping for anyone or anything.
Her grades, high above average.
Her combat training, excellent.
It was like she had an ability even if they believed she didn¡¯t.
But he couldn¡¯t have been more wrong.
And she paid for it. While he was taken away from their neglectful parents and given a comfortable life from then on, she had to continue pushing through the muck. Through the pain.
And just like everyone else in their family other than Blake, by the time he realized it, it was too late.
The attack had happened, leading to the accident.
And even after she woke up from her coma, looking nearly as young as he is now the same as Blake, he still wasn¡¯t able to do anything.
Not a single thing.
¡°Pacing won¡¯t do anything to help,¡± Liz says, making Seth halt for a second to glance at her. Then he continues pacing anyways.
¡°Say that when you aren¡¯t habitually tapping your finger,¡± he retorts without another look at her.
She doesn¡¯t reply back.
Because he¡¯s not wrong. While he tends to pace when he¡¯s feeling nervous or anxious, she always taps her finger nonstop.
A habit she actually shares with Ashley from way back when.
Meanwhile the battle on the screen continues to rage on as he paces. Ashley and the kobold lord continue to trade blows, with Blake bombarding the kobold lord from above while occasionally healing Ashley.
And to his relief, the battle at least appears to be going the twins¡¯ way.
The kobold lord takes one blow after another, and eventually loses one of his hands and a couple fingers on his other hand.
But then things change.
Seth and Elizabeth tense up when the kobold lord jumps back, his berserk state finally ending. Then he looks around at the many dead kobolds around them, all of the forces he brought having been slaughtered by the traps set up by Ashley and Blake without the two even needing to intervene. And the sight clearly angers the kobold lord as he looks between Ashley and Blake, then at his own missing hand and fingers.
¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡¡± Seth mutters, to which his eldest sister nods her head with a grimace.
Then the kobold lord¡¯s eyes suddenly begin glowing an even brighter crimson with energy leaking out of them like an open flame. Following which a large orb of destruction mana appears around the kobold lord and he begins to float up into the air.
Shit.
B1 | Chapter 78
Ashley
I tense up when the kobold lord regains his sanity and begins some sort of powerful destruction mana attack. One that annihilates any attacks I send at it while it¡¯s in the orb.
Then I back far away with Blake doing the same thing. But something tells me that I won¡¯t be safe no matter how far I back away.
Not with an attack this powerful.
So I call out to Blake, ¡°I¡¯m using it again!¡± And without hesitation, begin the chant to use Frigid Tempest Call again.
After I begin my chant, I hear Blake beginning his own chant as powerful spatial mana begins to swarm around him.
Then the area turns into nothing but the two of us chanting while the kobold lord expands his orb of destruction mana outwards. All of which take several seconds before anything actually happens.
Of the three of us, I¡¯m actually the first to finish my preparation, calling forth my frigid tempest just like before. Turning everything around us into a frozen wasteland again, including our traps.
And my attack quickly begins to combat his own massive orb of destruction mana, pushing it back as I reactivate Assimilate just to make sure I get his Skill Tree.
But as it turns out, my Frigid Tempest, even with the boosts I bought before and with the kobold lord being significantly weakened, doesn¡¯t manage to push back against his orb of destruction. And before long, the orb begins to writhe, with bubbles popping on its surface.
Shit.
Then the orb bursts outwards, sending a flood of destruction mana everywhere, colliding with my tempest and pushing it back without too much difficulty. Albeit not too easily either.
Double shit.
The wave gets closer and closer to me until I activate Frigid Tempest Call once more. Using up almost all of my remaining mana with its 25% mana cost to significantly strengthen my frigid tempest and begin pushing back against the wave of destruction mana a little bit.
But even that slowly fails as my tempest once again begins to run out of steam and the wave of destruction mana rushes outwards, soon to collide into me. No doubt to wipe me from existence.
I let out a sigh.
Then I glance upwards with a faint smile on my face even as I try to fly backwards and mutter, ¡°Thank you, Chaos.¡±
For everything you¡¯ve done for me.
¡°Ashley¡¡± I hear Chaos mutter, the Primordial sounding incredibly emotional and sad right now.
I kind of want to call him father or dad or something, but that just feels wrong.
Because the only Father I know as some memories begin to flood back into me for a brief moment is nothing like Chaos.
Right as the destruction wave is about to hit me and I slowly close my eyes, Blake finishes his chant, making a wave of spatial mana flood out of him as a massive dome of purple appears mere inches from my face. A dome that the destruction mana crashes into with nothing more than some faint cracks forming in it. Cracks that are repaired in an instant every time they emerge.
I stare blankly at Blake before he teleports to me, grabs me around the waist, and teleports us both a few dozen meters away from the dome. Then he lets go of me again and focuses on the dome while beginning to send more spells at the dome, only briefly pausing to toss a mana potion at me. One that I catch on instinct.
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Huh.
I¡ forgot I wasn¡¯t alone this time.
A few seconds pass as he blasts spells through the dome at the wave of destruction mana, beginning to force it back a bit.
Not¡ alone¡
I feel a bit of wetness drip down my cheek at that, but I quickly shake my head and down the mana potion before turning towards the dome and sending my own attack through it.
Bolts of destruction mana, bolts of lightning, my feathers, and so on.
One attack after another, whether spells or regular skills.
And gradually the two of us manage to defeat the wave of destruction mana. Making it finish splashing against the dome while leaving behind a nearly emaciated kobold lord in the center of the dome.
A kobold lord that is pierced through by both of our attacks as he glares at me with a look filled with more hatred than anything I¡¯ve ever seen in my life.
Silence fills the area as Blake and I stare at the dying kobold lord. And as his body slowly begins to disintegrate or simply fall apart from our various attacks.
Meanwhile the wasteland around us is even more of a wasteland now than it was before. With ice coating everything, rain water everywhere, all of our traps ruined and messed up all over the place, and traces of our spells scattered across it all. All with the kobold impaled by large stakes and spikes of ice keeping him stuck in the middle of the air.
We watch for several more seconds before the kobold finally loses all of the light within his eyes and stops moving entirely.
{You have been granted 100 Skill Points for killing a mini boss within a Unique Domain.}
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x81
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Lord}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold} x24
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsmen} x21
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight} x36
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Minor Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Minor Destruction Resistance is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. Skills will now be added to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold.] x24
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Moderate Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Moderate Destruction Resistance is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. Skills will now be added to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Guardsmen.] x21
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C High Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. Skills will now be added to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight.] x26
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 76. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 77. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
¡
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 79. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
So many System Messages now that I finally let through the ones from the other monsters along with the kobold lord¡¯s own death message. Then a thought crosses my mind as I remember that I never actually spent the Skill Points I got from the previous round of monster slaying. Or all of the Skill Points I had before that.
Which means¡
I focus on my total Skill Points.
{You currently have 1126 Skill Points.}
Oh. Wow.
That¡¯s a lot.
Then I remember the new Skill Tree I just got from the kobold lord.
A great place to go spending these Skill Points considering how powerful that kobold lord was.
I glance at Blake, only to blink when I see him smiling at me.
After a second, he says, ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re starting to enjoy this new life of yours.¡±
I blink again and tilt my head.
¡°You¡¯re smiling,¡± Blake explains, surprising me a little. ¡°A genuine smile.¡± His own smile grows. ¡°Makes me happy.¡±
I open my mouth to respond, only to close it again without figuring out anything to say.
And as if on cue, the King of Destruction begins another rampage again. So we¡¯re left fleeing towards his little cavern again.
But as I fly, I can¡¯t help but touch my lips as I think about how it felt to genuinely smile. Not just quirk up my lips or something, but actually smile.
And I find that I don¡¯t particularly dislike it.
B1 | Chapter 79
Ashley
When the two of us make it back to his cavern safely, we both immediately collapse exhausted on the floor. And Blake actually falls asleep right away, clearly showing off how much mana he burnt in that battle.
But I still have a tiny bit left. A few units to be exact.
So instead of sleeping I focus on my new Skill Tree and my next shopping binge.
Only to do a doubletake when I see the price of some of the skills linked to that root skill.
Holy fucking shit¡
There are seven branches connected to the root skill, and half of them cost 250 Skill Points to purchase the skill from. Meanwhile most of the other half costs 100 Skill Points.
Except one skill that costs 500 Skill Points to purchase the skill from it.
Overall making this the most expensive Skill Tree I¡¯ve ever seen.
Although¡
I look at the descriptions of each of the skills.
{High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation ¨C This skill grants the user the ability to turn their natural mana into destruction mana and use the mana to perform destruction magic spells.} ¨C [Spend 500 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Minor Energy Absorption ¨C This skill makes the user absorb a miniscule amount of mana from all the attacks resisted by their destruction resistance.} ¨C [Spend 250 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Enhanced Mana Regeneration ¨C This skill increases the user¡¯s natural mana regeneration speed.} ¨C [Spend 250 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Kobold Lord¡¯s Basic Charisma ¨C This skill grants the user absolute control over a force of ten destruction-touched kobolds.} ¨C [Spend 250 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Increased Hearing ¨C This skill grants the user increased hearing capabilities, expanding their senses.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Destructive Mana Claws ¨C This skill grants the user the ability to summon forth claws of destruction mana over their hands.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Telescopic Vision ¨C This skill grants the user the ability to see incredibly far away.} ¨C [Spend 100 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
My eyes narrow at that last one. The skill that the kobold lord no doubt used to spot me before the other two mini bosses.
As for the first skill? The expensive one?
I already have it¡
Although¡
¡°The kobold lord¡¯s version is most likely at a much higher level,¡± Chaos states my current thoughts.
Yeah. Most likely.
But at the same time, does it really matter right now? I¡¯m not very skilled at using destruction mana or any of my other types of mana right now anyways. So should I waste a chance to get multiple other skills just to raise its level by an unknown amount?
Since it doesn¡¯t even tell me what level the kobold lord had it as at this purchase option.
Which is rather annoying, but whatever.
I¡¯ll leave it for later.
For now I go ahead and purchase Minor Energy Absorption and Enhanced Mana Regeneration right away. Because both of them are very useful to me. And with the remaining 626 Skill Points, I purchase Destructive Mana Claws, since it doesn¡¯t look like a mutation skill with it being summoned mana claws and not actual claws, before looking at the skills these open up to for the remaining 526 Skill Points after that.
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Minor Energy Absorption opens up to two more skills. One of which being a skill that converts whatever mana I absorb from the skill into destruction mana for me. Since I can¡¯t really use other affinities mana.
A skill that I purchase right away for 100 Skill Points. Because Minor Energy Absorption is kind of useless without it after realizing what exactly it does.
And the other skill is just a minor increase to the amount of energy absorbed. Not much, but some.
I look at the skill branching off of Enhanced Mana Regeneration next. A skill that I immediately purchase since it¡¯s rather helpful looking.
With the skill itself being an Enhanced Health Regeneration skill.
Which is obvious what does.
I glance at my Skill Points again to find 326 remaining.
Hmm.
Well, enhanced hearing is useful. So I go ahead and purchase that.
Only to wince when I feel a headache starting to form from the many things I hear now outside of the cavern.
Shit. Didn¡¯t realize it would be this strong of an enhancement¡
Almost wish I could get rid of just one skill from a Skill Tree now, but it¡¯s too late for that.
I let out a sigh. Then I go ahead and spend the last 100 Skill Points on that Telescopic Vision skill, since it could come in handy in the future.
Leaving me with 26 Skill Points remaining. An amount that can¡¯t buy anything.
And now with my spending spree finished, I raise my hand and activate those mana claws. Instantly making black and crimson claws of mana form over my entire hand in a rather eerie display.
Nice. A new close-up attack.
Other than those talons that I did try using during the fight with the kobold lord but didn¡¯t exactly do much.
They couldn¡¯t even pierce its flesh beyond a little in the weakened parts. But getting that close with my bare hands wasn¡¯t exactly a safe idea.
So I didn¡¯t use it much after that.
I open my status and glance at my health and mana before finding them both increasing by one unit. The pace looking like it¡¯s sped up since before.
Too early to really tell though.
I¡¯ll have to check again in a couple hours.
¡°While you¡¯re still awake, you might want to check the Successor Forums for recordings of previous UM battles,¡± Chaos suggests, reminding me that it¡¯s even possible to do that.
So I go ahead and open the Successor Forums and do just that. Finding one almost immediately.
It¡¯s a failed attempt by a group of 6 Successors, each of whom are class E. And way above the level requirement to reach Class D.
In fact, they¡¯re at the maximum level for Class E. Level 175.
Wait a second¡
I blink as a realization comes to me.
Fuck.
For some reason I kept thinking the King of Destruction would be level 100, since level 100 is the level requirement to reach Class D.
But that¡¯s not what Chaos said.
¡°I said it is at the maximum level for Class E,¡± he says again, sounding a little sad for me.
Meaning the King of Destruction¡
The video on the Successor Forums thread starts playing to show a group of six people, each decked out in powerful looking armor, walking up a massive tower¡¯s final stairs to end up atop the tower facing a massive monster. One that is in the form of a bunch of interchanging, purple cubes as it floats in the air with veins of purple energy running through it.
And when I see the identify result through the video, a chill runs down my spine.
? Level 175 Tower Core ?
I grit my teeth as I turn to look in the direction of the King of Destruction.
Fuck.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
What¡¯s even worse is the fact that all six of these Successors are level 175 as well. Yet the thread specifically mentions that they all lost in this attempt, with four of the six dying and the other two fleeing with disabilities.
Despite all being the same level as the Unique Monster, and all being Successors.
Now I understand exactly why everyone is writing me and Blake off as dead.
¡°If you want to have even the slightest chance against the King of Destruction, you will need to prepare,¡± Chaos says as I continue watching the video where the Successors are all tensing up while preparing any potions and last minute items and support blessings they can. ¡°You need to use everything given to you in the Unique Domain. You need to make a strategy to weaken it before the battle even begins. And you have to be the same level as it if you want even the slightest of chances.¡±
Right.
What¡¯s even worse is the sight of the purple cubes letting off a pulse of purple light that shatters everything around it once every few seconds. A pulse that even the Successors are having difficulty defending against, with some taking damage from it.
¡°That is the Tower Core¡¯s True Damage skill,¡± Chaos says, making me wonder if he knows about this creature. ¡°Of course I do. The Tower Core took over an entire three worlds and still kills everything that so much as steps onto the planet known as Towerfall today.¡±
Oh.
So it¡¯s still alive.
¡°Yes, it is,¡± Chaos states before continuing his explanation, ¡°and its True Damage skill is just a mere passive that happens once every three seconds. Where it sends out a pulse that damages everything within range of the pulse with pure spatial affinity True Damage. And it¡¯s a mere passive that is already making it tough on those Successors.¡±
I grit my teeth as I watch the Successors begin charging at the Tower Core.
And I can already tell without even considering the fact that I know they lose that it won¡¯t end well.
B1 | Q&A 2
This is another Q&A, so ask any questions you want about the story. It''s also to celebrate two things. 150k words on Royal Road for Ascension of Chaos, and Ascension of Chaos book 1 completing today on my Patreon. Which is 33 chapters ahead of Royal Road by the way.
And if you ask questions about me personally, I''ll probably answer them, but this is about the story, so I may not answer them depending on the question.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Also, enjoy the wallpaper art. I''m using this for my laptop''s background myself :)
PS: If the art breaks on Royal Road, click here to see the public patreon post for it.
B1 | Chapter 80
Ashley
The Successors all use very powerful skills right off the bat. One of them in the back wearing a priest¡¯s robe uses some golden-green light that coats the others and makes them all begin glowing, no doubt using a buff on them. Another summons dozens of pitch black and rather creepy orbs in the sky that then begin flying towards the Tower Core. A third coats their entire body in powerful yet black flames that melt the ground he¡¯s walking on.
And just like the first three, the other three each charge forwards with their own powerful skills in use. Skills that Chaos confirms are all Successor skills.
But none of them even lay a scratch on the Tower Core as it suddenly flares a purple light from itself while the cubes making up its body warp around, changing the creature¡¯s shape. Following which all of the attacks are wiped out in an instant. Meanwhile the closest two Successors are sent flying into the railing of the tower¡¯s peak, almost leaving them falling off the tower entirely.
The Successors all manage to recover rather quickly though, despite the blow shattering their formation. And they send another wave of attacks at the Tower Core.
Only for the Tower Core to repeat the exact same thing it just did to them. Except this time it sends two of them flying off of the tower entirely.
One of the other Successors manages to catch them by teleporting them back to the tower¡¯s peak, fortunately for them, but by now they¡¯re all looking incredibly apprehensive about the fight.
I continue watching them go through trial and error against the Tower Core, trying one thing and then another. Trying well-laid out plans, simple brute force methods, and even simply trying to load it with a bunch of debuffs.
But the only thing that has even the slightest ounce of effectiveness against the creature is the debuffs. The Successor in the robes spamming one debuff after another at the creature until it¡¯s too slow to retaliate against their attacks.
Not that it helps them much when all their waves of attacks manage to do are leave some light scorch marks on the surface of the cubes.
I feel the slightest hint of a frown forming on my lips as I watch the Successors fail miserably.
The battle continues with each of them putting in their all. And I¡¯m pretty sure a lot of their attacks would¡¯ve killed me before I got High Destruction Resistance. Just from a single blow.
Well, actually, scratch that. All of their attacks would kill me. Seeing as they¡¯re almost a hundred levels above me.
But I mean if they hit me when I reach their level.
Anyways, the only way they manage to deal some real damage beyond some surface wounds is when they find an orb located on the tower and blow the thing up. Making purple lightning strike all around the tower, including the Tower Core itself. Breaking off a chunk of one of its cubes.
It¡¯s not just the Tower Core that is hurt by the broken orb though. Because the lightning strikes two of their own as well.
And one of them dies in an instant.
What I find interesting about the orb though is that the lightning looks kind of like some of the Tower Core¡¯s own energy.
¡°Your guess is correct,¡± Chaos states, breaking me out of my stupor that I¡¯d entered while watching the video. ¡°Those orbs were scattered around multiple towers in the Unique Domain, and they were all charged with the Tower Core¡¯s own spatial lightning. Just like the gunpowder in the Unique Domain you¡¯re in.¡±
Huh.
Interesting.
I continue watching as the Tower Core slowly kills off three more of the Successors before the last two flee with the Tower Core chasing after them. All the way till the Unique Domain¡¯s Gate breaks and the Tower Core is freed to roam the universe.
Wow.
¡°Watch more videos,¡± Chaos suggests. ¡°It should help prepare you a little bit for what you can expect fighting the King of Destruction.¡±
Sounds good.
The next video I watch starts off with five Successors moving through an underground tunnel filled with cobwebs that are giving off a faint green mist that looks rather toxic before they enter a large cavern filled with puddles of green liquid. Then they begin facing off against a massive black and green spider named the ¡®Matriarch of Spiders and Poisons¡¯.
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This one has a lower defense than the Tower Core, but it still only ends up losing one eye and two legs by the time it slaughters all five of the Successors. Killing them mostly through ranged poison attacks.
Then in the third video I see six Successors roaming around some sort of underground maze before ending up in a massive chamber with floating blocks everywhere and a massive body of water at the bottom of the chamber. And the UM quickly shows itself as a massive snake jumping out of the water and flying through the air using a path it¡¯s made out of water and wind magic. With it identifying as the ¡®Devourer of Worlds¡¯.
Although I¡¯m not sure at first why it¡¯s named that. But it becomes rather apparent when the thing rapidly grows in size and an entire fucking mountain bursts out from the body of water, shattering the maze around them. With the snake then wrapping itself around the mountain before slowly turning to look at them. The thing so large at this point that it could swallow all six of them whole in a single gulp.
I also get the feeling it may be able to grow even larger. Which I confirm by reading some more of the thread. That the thing grows large enough to go around eating worlds after it gets out of its Unique Domain.
But this one kills the first Successor simply by turning them to stone in the first instant it sees them. The Successor most likely not having a True Damage blocking skill that could deal with a status type of True Damage.
Then it ends up eating the rest while only losing a few dozen scales around its neck.
The fourth UM I see ends up being a massive amalgamation of claws, tentacles, and flesh that Chaos informs me is some sort of void monster. And it makes the first Successor who sees it go insane in an instant.
The fifth UM is a massive mix between a squid and a crab in an even more massive ocean that crushes the Successors with water pressure.
And the sixth is actually a tiny little parasite. One that latches onto the first Successor and forces him to kill half of his team before they realize what¡¯s going on.
¡°Try to watch one where the challengers win,¡± Chaos states after I finish watching the sixth video. ¡°It should help you plan a bit better than watching the failures. Seeing what they did.¡±
Okay.
I search for a successful Unique Monster hunt, and I find that only ten Unique Monsters have ever been defeated. And only three of those were in their original Unique Domains. With only two of those having videos.
The other video was cut out by mutual agreement by all of the Primordials apparently.
After briefly pondering over that, I focus on the first of the two videos that are in Unique Domains and have the Successors winning.
But before I even start it, I find in the description that half of the Successors still died in the process of winning.
Also, one of the ones who survived wasn¡¯t even a Successor. Which is surprising.
I¡¯m further surprised by the start of the video. Because they¡¯re nowhere near a place that would look like the home of a UM.
Instead they¡¯re all in different rooms spread across some sort of massive spaceship, each with their own livestreams shown in different parts of the video screen. And each one is facing some sort of orb of energy located at the center of their chambers between two lasers.
Some sort of high-tech engine or reactor core or something? I¡¯ve seen some science fiction movies in the time since I returned to Val. While I was waiting for my energy and mana to regenerate.
Anyways, whatever it is, they all set up some sort of devices around both bases holding the lasers that they seem to link to devices on their wrists. Then they flee from the rooms they¡¯re in and head towards a large room at the front of the spaceship.
The bridge.
Where they find a strange creature sitting atop the commander¡¯s chair within the bridge. One that has a triangular head, multiple tentacles stretching out of his back, and is wearing some high tech armor that also looks like a uniform. And the UM just spins around in his chair and stares at them for a few seconds.
Until the alarms all begin to blare within the ship and the UM opens its mouth into three triangular segments and hisses.
? Level 175 Supreme Commander of the Stars ?
Then laser guns begin to appear from the walls and ceiling of the ship directed right at the Successors. And the random dude.
But they don¡¯t attack the UM. Instead they all run away, seemingly angering the UM as it gets up from its seat and begins to float after them. Only for the six to split up and head towards those reactors they were in before.
The Supreme Commander of the Stars only has one body though, so while he does fire off lasers through the ship at the others, he follows one of the Successors. All the way till he reaches the reactor.
At which point the Successor in question fades into shadows and flees the room while activating the devices, blowing up the lasers and the reactor itself. An act that sends a shockwave throughout the ship from the room, followed by a massive wave of radiation that the other Successors block while protecting the reactors in their chambers. With the radiation likely being its True Damage skill.
But the UM takes the blast head-on, genuinely wounding it in the process.
Not enough to be anything but a relatively big injury though. Nor is it enough to stop the UM from quickly catching and slaughtering the Successor who set off the trap.
Then it proceeds to head for the next closest Successor, after which the same process repeats itself. With the reactor blowing up, damaging the UM further, before it kills the Successor.
And again for the next one.
But when the fourth one comes around ¨C the random dude who seems to be some fancy Class S hunter now according to the thread ¨C the guy manages to escape without being killed. All thanks to how wounded the UM is.
And the same goes with the next two, who have it even easier.
Eventually they all meet up and begin fighting the UM in earnest back in the bridge, with UM so battered at this point that its armor is falling apart.
But while it is wounded, it¡¯s still moving without showing any signs of pain or exhaustion. And it¡¯s not missing any body parts either beyond a few tentacles.
So it still puts up one hell of a fight before the remaining trio finally finish the thing off.
And that¡¯s only after they use some little bottles of that radiation once in a while as bombs to strike at the creature with.
Using its own True Damage against it to give them a chance at victory¡
I glance at Blake after finishing the video before looking at the wall of the cavern.
In the direction of the closest fortress.
Where the gunpowder is located.
B1 | Chapter 81
Ashley
I go ahead and watch the other video of a successful Unique Monster hunt within its domain, but it¡¯s largely the same. With the team that defeats the UM using the UM¡¯s own leftover True Damage skill to kill it. The items created from the skill and filled with its power that are scattered through the Unique Domain.
And after watching that video, I go ahead and watch some of the videos for the people who defeated Unique Monsters outside of their domains. After they¡¯ve already broken out and taken over a world.
But every single one of those is useless to me, since the people fighting the Unique Monster in those cases aren¡¯t at the same class as the UM in question at all. In fact, some are multiple classes above the UM. And some are even using entire armies of people above it in class.
Yet they still struggle. Hence just how powerful a Unique Monster is.
Especially after they break out of their Unique Domains.
Because Unique Monsters only have static skills, and they don¡¯t have as many skills as other creatures. Generally just a hundred skills. It makes it easier for them to get all of their skills.
Something I didn¡¯t know about monsters is that they also get Skill Points. But their only sources of Skill Points are other monsters in their Domains, killing humans, and breaking their Gate.
With their biggest source by far being breaking their Gate.
Since they apparently get ten thousand Skill Points for breaking their own Gate.
Or to be specific, the boss or mini boss ruling over the domain in question gets the Skill Points.
So the Unique Monsters drastically increase in strength after breaking out of their Unique Domains. But at the same time, they¡¯re only open for a very brief period of time for someone to even enter the Gates. Making it so that most of the time no one who can actually deal with them before they break actually manages to get inside to deal with them in the first place.
As for the few Successors who actually managed to defeat Unique Monsters? They are currently the most powerful Successors in the universe. With some of them, according to the Successor Forums, having the potential to become ¡®True Successors¡¯, whatever that means.
I hear a murmur coming from my brother, making me glance at him.
¡°Ashley¡¡±
My eyes widen a little before returning to normal. Then I feel a faint smile stretching across my face.
¡°About True Successors¡¡± Chaos mutters, making me blink before looking upwards. ¡°It¡¯s too early to tell you everything, but just know that Successors are called Successors for a reason.¡±
Called Successors¡ for a reason¡
I narrow my eyes a little bit.
That alone is enough for me to understand just what he means.
You¡¯re raising a generation of Primordials to replace you?
He doesn¡¯t answer.
But why would he? He said it¡¯s too early to tell me, so he likely won¡¯t.
I look down at my hand before clenching it and slowly climbing to my feet.
Without giving me a chance to take a step though, I hear Blake muttering, ¡°Ashley?¡± Making me turn to find him now awake and staring at me.
I give him a nod in response.
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He smiles back and climbs to his own feet.
¡°Good morning,¡± he eventually says after a brief silence.
I stare at him for a few seconds before glancing at the cavern wall, where I can¡¯t see the outside. Not that I¡¯d be able to see whether it¡¯s day or night anyways from that. Then I glance back at him.
¡°How do you even know it¡¯s morning?¡± I mutter in confusion while tilting my head a little.
Silence returns for a few seconds.
Then he starts chuckling while covering his mouth.
Why¡¯s he laughing?
I frown a little, feeling even more confused now.
Was it some sort of joke that I¡¯m just not getting?
He just keeps chuckling, confusing me more and more in the process. But eventually I just give a mental shrug and ask him, ¡°Did you get any gunpowder?¡±
That makes him stop chuckling as he asks in return, ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve watched the recordings?¡±
¡°Seems he¡¯s watched them as well,¡± Chaos says, not sounding surprised in the least.
I nod my head in response to Blake¡¯s question.
¡°Good,¡± he answers, only to glance at the wall of the cavern in the direction that I sense some of that gunpowder. The direction of what is most likely the closest fortress.
Before he says anything else though, I get a surprising notification from the system.
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Primordial System Notification
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The System Broadcast is now disabled within Tutorial #10002 for ten minutes.
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I blink at the sight of the notification. One I wasn¡¯t expecting.
But then Blake continues talking, instantly making me realize why he paused the broadcast, ¡°I can¡¯t touch the gunpowder myself. It¡¯s just too volatile, and my skill can¡¯t handle it.¡±
Oh.
He¡¯s giving me information about his skills.
He turns back to me again and says, ¡°My True Damage protection skill is just a simple barrier. And it¡¯s not a permanent one either. So it¡¯ll shatter after touching the gunpowder for more than several seconds.¡±
Hmm. Unlike mine that is always active.
Mine also reflects the True Damage entirely instead of just defending against it.
I glance between Blake and the ceiling of the cavern a few times, where I imagine Chaos watching me from. Regardless of if he¡¯s watching me from that spot or not.
Yeah, Chaotic Source is much better.
I immediately hear Chaos¡¯s laughter. But to my surprise, I hear it out loud. Making me look behind me to find a tiny orb of crimson, purple, and black energy. One that Blake apparently sees too.
¡°Of course Chaotic Source is better than True Barrier! Chaos is the best energy in existence after all!¡±
Then another voice that I don¡¯t recognize fills the cavern ¨C a female one this time ¨C making me glance towards Blake to find a blue orb floating next to him.
¡°Calling an amalgamation of all the energies in the universe mixed with an unknown factor the ¡®best energy in existence¡¯ is the same as calling a raven the same thing as a human just because they¡¯re both living creatures.¡±
The voice sounds both cold, exasperated, and irritated.
I glance between the two as Chaos retorts.
¡°Oh, is that right shorty? Energy is energy, regardless of how it came about. And you, little miss bookworm, shouldn¡¯t be able to disagree with that.¡±
And the other voice retorts back.
¡°If you call me that one more time, I will blow up that black hole you love so much.¡±
Blake and I end up bobbing our heads back and forth between the two orbs as they go back and forth at each other like an old married couple.
¡°Ooo, my sweet daughter called us a married couple! What d¡¯ya think, shorty?¡±
¡°We are most definitely not an old married couple!¡±
I blink for a moment, wondering if the other voice could hear my thoughts. Then I realize from Blake¡¯s face that he seems to have had the same reaction.
Wait, did we think the same thing?
¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you dated for a thousand years?¡± Blake asks, crossing his arms with a brow raised. ¡°That¡¯s longer than most married couples stay together.¡±
I glance at him.
It¡¯s longer than most married couples stay alive¡
Wait a second, dated for a thousand years? That rings a bell¡
My eyes widen as I realize just who this blue orb must be.
The Primordial of Magic, Etheria.
But¡ how are they here?
¡°We¡¯re not actually here,¡± Chaos answers my thoughts, making me glance back at him as Etheria starts lecturing Blake for some reason. ¡°We¡¯re just taking advantage of the paused broadcast to send a wisp of our consciousness to the Unique Domain. But we can¡¯t do anything beyond talking to you.¡±
Huh.
Not sure why they bothered if all they can do is talk.
Unless they just wanted to share a conversation with all four of us involved?
I feel a sense of smugness from Chaos, pretty much confirming my thoughts there.
Why¡
Chaos and Etheria quickly begin arguing again when Chaos takes a shot at her magic study and how long it took her to figure out my skill. With Blake looking rather shocked and amused by the whole interaction. Which I have to say is rather amusing and childish for Primordials.
¡do I feel like he just wanted to argue with her and shatter whatever image she had in front of Blake?
B1 | Chapter 82
Ashley
The two Primordials end up bickering like an old married couple for the entire ten minutes of the disabled broadcast before they vanish. And for some reason I get the feeling that they continue their arguing even after they leave. Just in person instead.
After they leave, Blake and I are left to discuss our plans going forward. Along with what we¡¯ve learned from the recordings.
Which generally comes down to all of the successful hunts using the items infused by the True Damage skill of the UM, the territory of the UM slowly shrinking throughout the span of its two months of being open, and the progression of the monsters¡¯ strength through the domain.
The first part of the plan is to go after the two mini bosses that were part of the death march. The drachne lord and the alpha dracoraptor.
Since they are probably almost dead by now. If they¡¯re not.
At the very least, one of them should still be alive.
I hope.
Then the second part of the plan leaves the two of us quickly planning attacks against various different fortresses. So that we can gather the King of Destruction¡¯s gunpowder and put it in special storage rings that Blake learned how to create through Etheria¡¯s teachings. Something I¡¯ll have to do myself.
And the third part of the plan is to hunt down mini bosses from other parts of this outer territory. Since we should be strong enough to fight them with the benefits from the last mini boss and these next ones we plan to hunt.
After getting the plans all decided upon, Blake teleports me out of the cavern before we use his tracking spell to head towards the drachne lord first. And the very fact that the tracking spell works in the first place proves that it¡¯s still alive.
Except, the moment we make it a few dozen meters from the cavern, the King of Destruction chooses to go on a rampage again. Leaving the two of us taking shelter in a ruin until it blows over and we continue traveling towards the drachne lord.
The trip ends up taking an entire hour before the spell leads us to a large cave. One of the larger caverns that isn¡¯t an actual spider or ant nest.
I share a glance with Blake, then we both nod and enter the cavern.
What we find are a bunch of spiders and webs in the cavern, implying that the drachne lord is rebuilding a new nest instead of fixing its old one. But it¡¯s still too early for them to be a threat against us. So much so that, when I test my new High Destruction Resistance on the spiders, the basic ones can barely even scratch me. At all.
One of the lowest ranking spiders at around the mid-level forties that tries to slash its claw through my shoulder but doesn¡¯t do more than a tiny little scratch. Startling the creature in the process.
And when I test it on a level fifty-something spider, the thing manages to do a small cut. Bigger than the last one but still not very large.
I find myself rather pleased with every flash of the crimson cracks that emerge across my body the moment the attacks land, only to fade again seconds later.
Something else I managed to learn before from studying my skills is that skills of the same type don¡¯t stack. So Minor Destruction Resistance, Moderate Destruction Resistance, and High Destruction Resistance all end up with just one of them actually working. Just the highest ranking one.
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But High Destruction Resistance in and of itself is quite nice. It¡¯s also much higher level than the other destruction resistances.
Probably because it was a mini boss who had the skill and not a regular elite.
Although I¡¯m not sure how regular an elite is, but whatever.
The two of us travel through the caves removing the spider infestation inside of it. All the way until we begin to get close to the last room. By which point I can personally sense the drachne lord with Destructive Sensory Pulse.
We slow down a little and tense up as we get closer to the final cavern. Only to pause when we reach the opening to the cavern and find the drachne lord.
With the mini boss itself struggling to climb to its feet while covered in wounds across its entire body. Not to mention the missing limbs and eyes.
The spider mini boss has half of the carapace on its back torn off, exposing flesh beneath. It¡¯s missing three legs, five eyes, and one of its pincers. And it looked like it was trying to breed spiders to fill its nest when we arrived. Considering the eggs beneath it.
Blake and I share a glance before nodding. Then he teleports up into the air and spreads both of his hands out while spell circles appear around them. Meanwhile I activate multiple skills at once. Transforming my hands into talons, summoning forth my mana claws, creating spikes of silver above the spider, summoning dozens of bolts of destruction mana, summoning vines to grab the spider and hold it in place, and even sending feathers from a single flap of my wings at the creature.
And at the same time as half my attacks hit the drachne lord, Blake slams his palms together along with the magical circles, making a second image of the drachne lord appear from it before he teleports forwards and slams his fist into the image. Shattering it in an instant.
The already-wounded drachne lord screeches loudly in pain from the attacks hitting it as its blood pours out in a purplish green goop.
I rush forwards as well and stab my mana-claws-coated talons into the open wounds of the drachne lord. Gripping them around whatever random organ I grab onto before ripping it out.
Blake and I attack one after another, over and over again, in a constant rush of attacks that leave the drachne lord unable to respond. Albeit largely due to its already-present wounds.
At some point I activate Assimilate, then the creature finally collapses a couple minutes later.
I feel rather surprised by how many attacks it¡¯s taking to kill the drachne lord even with all of its wounds. But it eventually gives in a few minutes after collapsing to the ground.
Finally dead.
{You have been granted 100 Skill Points for killing a mini boss within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne Lord}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Cocoon of Destruction, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 80. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
I quickly allocate my free points before opening the description for the new skill.
{Cocoon of Destruction ¨C Allows the user to surround themselves with a cocoon made purely of destructive mana in a special way to the destructive-touched drachne lords. This cocoon is self-regenerative and destroys everything that touches it except for the user of the skill.}
Not bad. Not bad at all.
¡°Get something good?¡± Blake asks, making me glance at him before nodding.
Both those one hundred Skill Points and the new Skill Tree.
Actually, on that note, I look at the skills branching from the root of the tree. And immediately find the corners of my lips quirking upwards a bit in the barest hint of a smile.
One of the branches is silk generation and I get the feeling that it¡¯s going to be a mutation skill, so I¡¯m going to avoid that branch entirely. But the other three branches are good.
There¡¯s a skill branching off of the root skill that is an improved version of the poison that the other drachne gave me. A skill that is the usual High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation. And a new skill that is actually called Mana Vision.
One that lets me directly see the mana within a person along with their aura.
Too bad the skill is five hundred Skill Points.
So I can¡¯t afford it right now.
Which is unfortunate.
I sigh at that before looking at Blake and asking, ¡°Next?¡±
He nods his head, and after we dump the drachne lord¡¯s body into a storage ring, we leave the caves and begin heading towards the dracoraptor through another tracking spell.
But I can¡¯t help but glance at Blake as we fly.
His spells sure are convenient¡
B1 | Chapter 83
Ashley
While we fly in the direction of the other mini boss, the thought of asking Blake to let me kill him in a System Event that will let him resurrect briefly crosses my mind. Just to get his rather convenient skill set. Until I realize that it wouldn¡¯t work anyways.
Not with the fact that they¡¯re spells in the first place. And spells aren¡¯t just something you can instantly get the skill for mana manipulation and use well. Especially for a perfect manipulation skill.
Especially since I¡¯m sure a lot of his spells that he¡¯s using are personalized ones he himself made. Whether through combining his mana manipulations or using his perfect mana manipulation skill.
Not to mention the fact that I¡¯d end up with higher level skills if I waited.
So I don¡¯t say anything about it, and we eventually find the alpha dracoraptor.
But unlike the drachne lord, the alpha dracoraptor is still in relatively good shape as it charges after a force of kobolds with a small pack of regular dracoraptors charging with it.
I narrow my eyes at the creature, just studying it to see what shape it¡¯s in.
The creature is missing one of its short hands, along with several patches of scales across its body. Some of which seem to be tainted with a purplish-crimson color implying the alpha was poisoned by the drachne lord.
Other than that though, it¡¯s just missing one eye, with no significant injuries that leave openings to attack like the drachne lord¡¯s rather exposed organs. Clearly showing who won their little battle.
And if I had to guess, the only reason the drachne lord got away was because of its poison.
The poison is clearly spreading. But why it hasn¡¯t spread all the way through its body by now is beyond me.
At least, until I see the alpha chomping down on a kobold, making the poison retreat a tiny bit. As if the creature¡¯s process of eating something heals it.
I stare at it for several seconds before glancing at Blake and giving him a nod.
He nods back and we both quickly move up towards the alpha from the air as it¡¯s focusing on tearing the kobolds to shreds.
I want this thing¡¯s skills.
A healing skill would be very helpful after all.
Not sure how I feel about the idea of needing to eat creatures for it to work though. But I¡¯ve got all these bite skills, so maybe I should¡
Whatever. I¡¯ll see what happens when I take its skills.
I activate Assimilate again.
{You have activated Assimilate. The skill will last for ten minutes, and you will gain the ability to permanently unlock the Skill Trees of anything you kill during this time.}
Then I quickly begin to activate numerous skills at once. Just like I did against the drachne lord. Meanwhile Blake does the same.
But instead of attacking a wounded drachne lord, we attack a distracted alpha dracoraptor.
And our combined attacks prove to stagger the creature and worsen some of its wounds a bit, even with the creature noticing us long before the attacks strike. With the creature doing nothing to block it and instead just trying to dodge. Likely implying it doesn¡¯t have defensive skills.
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Despite our attacks though, the creature¡¯s wounds don¡¯t actually worsen all that much. Even with half of our attacks landing directly, and me even directly slashing at its poisoned area with my claws.
All I do is cause some cracks on its wound, with Blake making it drip some blood from its mouth.
Before it opens its mouth wide and lets out a loud screech as a ball of black and crimson flames emerges in front of it.
A ball that instantly makes me back away as quickly as I can, with Blake teleporting away himself.
I don¡¯t move quickly enough though, and am forced to create several Silver Barriers in front of me along with barriers of destruction mana. But the ball of destruction flames shoots out in one powerful jet straight at my barriers, shattering one after another without even pausing.
Shit.
I grit my teeth as I continue flying backwards while making more and more barriers to block the shot, but every barrier is destroyed without hesitation.
Even when Blake forms spatial barriers in front of me to help out, they¡¯re shattered just as easily.
And right when the jet of destruction flames is about to reach me, I finally activate the skill I took from the drachne lord.
Cocoon of Destruction.
A skill I really wasn¡¯t expecting to need so soon.
Just like with the drachne lord when I used Frigid Tempest Call before on it, a large cocoon of crimson thread appears around me. Then the cocoon begins to tremble when the destruction breath hits it, rapidly tearing away at the cocoon.
But unlike the previous barriers, the cocoon constantly repairs itself, fighting back against the breath.
Seconds pass as the breath continues to wear away at my cocoon.
All the way until the breath finally stops along with a screech of pain from the alpha itself.
When my cocoon slowly fades away from my canceling the skill, I look beyond it to find the dracoraptor missing a leg. Right where the poisoned portion of its body was.
I glance at Blake to find him panting in exhaustion, the man clearly having managed to sever the alpha¡¯s leg where the poison weakened it. Likely stopping its breath attack at the same time.
Then I turn back towards the alpha as I draw my blades and fly straight down, blasting flames behind me through fire spells to speed me up before I slash both of my blades straight into the alpha¡¯s head when it turns to look at me.
But even with my speed, with Chaos Energy flowing through my weapons, and with its own weakened form, the alpha opens its mouth and strikes back with its large fangs against my blades. With energy shooting out from our clash.
I tighten my grip on my blades as I continue pushing into the creature, with Blake using his spatial magic to hold back the alpha¡¯s remaining paw that it tries to strike me with during our clash.
Seconds pass as the energy radiates out from our clash, sending the other raptors who just happen to be here yet are too weak to do anything flying.
Slowly the alpha¡¯s teeth begin to crack, surprising me a little with just how durable these blades are. Until I remember that they¡¯re made from a part of Chaos.
Then the cracks expand until the alpha¡¯s teeth shatter, and my blades push straight into the alpha¡¯s mouth, cutting it open. Albeit without killing it.
Not yet at least.
I narrow my eyes as I fall to the ground on top of the alpha, only for the alpha to let out a loud screech that hurts my eardrums so bad that I feel blood dripping down from them with my vision growing a little hazy. Meanwhile I see soundwaves floating through the air outwards from the alpha¡¯s mouth. All in crimson colors.
The haziness in my head grows worse and worse before I slowly begin to lose consciousness.
But right when everything is about to go fully dark, a large barrier appears around my head, blocking my view. And the sound vanishes in an instant, leaving me panting in exhaustion and pain.
Not long after that, another ringing sound echoes out in my head, making me wince before a System Message appears in my still-hazy vision.
{You have been granted 100 Skill Points for killing a mini boss within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Alpha Dracoraptor}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Alpha¡¯s Breath, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 81. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
I feel the corners of my lips quirking upwards, only for me to wince at the ringing still running through my head right now. Then the barrier vanishes again, leaving me finding myself lying on top of the alpha dracoraptor with a spear made of spatial mana piercing through its mouth and up into its head. No doubt into its brain.
My gaze slowly moves over towards Blake to find him rushing towards me.
Until the last of my consciousness begins to fade, leaving me with one question that I can¡¯t help but wonder.
How many times am I going to fall unconscious in this place¡?
B1 | System Forums 8
Planet Val Successors Discussion Thread #1
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯m starting to wonder if I should stop betting on Ashley to get rid of this damned horse.}
- [cakeloverone2one] ¨C {What horse?}
- [Z3phyr$Kyte99] ¨C {You mean Lucy?}
- [m00nR@1n_B0w] ¨C {Damn, you have Lucy?}
- [TwistedVibe15] ¨C {What¡¯d you bet on?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {First I bet on Ashley surviving the death march. Then I bet on her and her twin defeating the kobold lord after that. And then I bet on her and her twin beating both of the other two mini bosses as well. All to get rid of that fucking skeletal horse.}
- [m00nR@1n_B0w] ¨C {Damn.}
- [TwistedVibe15] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯ve learned by now not to bet against her.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {But didn¡¯t he technically bet on her, not against her?}
- [TwistedVibe15] ¨C {Same thing in this sense.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {I did at least bet some actual credits on this last one.}
- [ChaoticSoul55] ¨C {Oh, really? Decided to put a little on the chance you won?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {How much did you get?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {I got ten thousand credits.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {¡}
- [ChaoticSoul55] ¨C {¡}
- [WarPath90] ¨C {¡..}
- [Gl@c1@lSp!rit] ¨C {Moving on, is it just me, or is the Successor to Chaos gradually becoming more expressive?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {Yeah, she really is}
- [Cyb3rP@th] ¨C {I think so too}
- [Luminous^SkY] ¨C {I still have the picture of her smiling saved in my System Storage}
- [Gl@c1@lSp!rit] ¨C {Creepy.}
- [Luminous^SkY] ¨C {Nah, it¡¯s normal for people to do that for celebrity hunters.}
- [Gl@c1@lSp!rit] ¨C {I still find it creepy.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {If you think that¡¯s creepy then look at the group of people belonging to the Tower of Chaos that¡¯s been recording every single important moment on her journey and making a temple and museum out of them.}
- [Gl@c1@lSp!rit] ¨C {¡}
- [Cyb3rP@th] ¨C {Yeah, that¡¯s¡}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {She¡¯s going to die soon anyways, so why would they bother?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {It¡¯s the Tower of Chaos.}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {¡}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {Okay, somehow that actually makes sense if it¡¯s them.}
- [Tr1bal_W@rr1or] ¨C {I¡¯ve also heard the Tower of Chaos is managing the Successor of Chaos¡¯s territory on Val while she¡¯s in the Unique Domain.}
- [A1pha_Wolf!] ¨C {What do you think will happen to the territory after she¡¯s dead?}
- [Tr1bal_W@rr1or] ¨C {Probably gonna go to one of her siblings or her parents, tbh.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {It¡¯ll go to whoever can claim it first. And with the Tower of Chaos there, it¡¯ll probably be them.}
- [N1ght_H@wK] ¨C {Is anyone going to say anything about the sheer number of potential skills Ashley has?! She fucking has over five thousand!!!}
- [BinaryMage15] ¨C {Yeah, at this point I¡¯m numb to it.}
- [1IronCladHero2] ¨C {Yep}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {Totally numb to it.}
- [9MagicStar21] ¨C {I¡¯m more interested in what the twins were discussing when the broadcast was paused not too long ago.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {Probably their skills.}
- [9MagicStar21] ¨C {You think so? I wouldn¡¯t think the Successor of Chaos would trust anyone. Even if he¡¯s her twin.}
- [BinaryMage15] ¨C {True. She does still have amnesia.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {But isn¡¯t she opening up a bit?}
- [KraZy4You] ¨C {I personally like seeing her smile. It makes her even cuter.}
- [BinaryMage15] ¨C {How many skills do you think the Chaos Successor will steal from the mini bosses by the time she leaves that place anyways?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {A lot.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {At the rate she¡¯s going, she might take enough to survive the Unique Domain and leave. Assuming she doesn¡¯t try fighting the UM.}
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- [9MagicStar21] ¨C {Unlikely. Most of the people who enter Unique Domains end up being forced towards the center of the Domain eventually.}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {If I had to guess, that volcano is probably going to erupt and destroy the rest of the domain eventually. So they have no choice but to face it.}
- [13EtherSky] ¨C {What do you think the King of Destruction actually is anyways?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {A dinosaur?}
- [13EtherSky] ¨C {There are lots of raptors around.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {Lots of reptiles in general.}
- [A7rcaneT1ger] ¨C {What about a dragon?}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {Maybe.}
- [A1pha_Wolf!] ¨C {I just want to see its True Damage skill in action.}
- [CelestialGuard5] ¨C {Hey, I¡¯m just throwing out random thoughts here, but what if Ashley actually beats the UM and takes its True Damage skill?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {That¡}
- [A7rcaneT1ger] ¨C {Uh¡}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {No, that won¡¯t happen. She¡¯ll die before she even gets the chance to hurt it.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {You sure about that? She¡¯s been studying up on Unique Monsters, so I reckon she at least has a chance to put up a fight before losing. It¡¯s more than I thought before at least.}
- [CelestialGuard5] ¨C {But, just hypothetically, what if she won? What if she beat the Unique Monster and took a skill or two from it?}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {Well¡ she would be fucking overpowered, that¡¯s what.}
- [N1ght_H@wK] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯d rather not consider it.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {From what we¡¯ve seen with that gunpowder, the UM¡¯s True Damage skill is probably related to its eyes. So that would be terrifying.}
- [N1ght_H@wK] ¨C {Imagine dying from being looked at lol}
- [A7rcaneT1ger] ¨C {No ty.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {I¡¯d rather not imagine it thank you very much.}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {Well, who cares about what-ifs. There¡¯s still no way she¡¯ll win. Even with her twin¡¯s help.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {Best she can do is survive afterwards if she works together with the Successor of Magic. And that¡¯s still a stretch.}
- [CelestialGuard5] ¨C {It would be rather terrifying if she does make it out alive. With all the skills she¡¯s racked up.}
- [DigitalMarauder13] ¨C {Some people are also assuming she may be stealing entire Skill Trees too, judging by her total potential skills.}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {I still refuse to believe that. I don¡¯t care about the proof that says otherwise.}
- [NeonScribe28] ¨C {Same here.}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {It could just be a mixture of the skills she¡¯s stealing along with Successor Skills.}
- [Ch@0tic$0ul55] ¨C {Yeah}
- [G8Pixelated] ¨C {Damnit, I just got Lucy!!!}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {Wait, I thought someone else here had it?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Yep. Just lost it by betting on some random bet about the Successor of Order.}
- [G8Pixelated] ¨C {Didn¡¯t this fucking horse only have one curse on it?! Why are there two now?!?}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Wait, there¡¯s another one? Must¡¯ve been added after I lost it. Which is good for me.}
- [G8Pixelated] ¨C {Fuck you. Now I have to deal with this skeletal fucking horse taking ten of my credits a day?! What fucking horse needs credits?!?!??!?!?!}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {¡}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {¡}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {¡}
- [N1ght_H@wK] ¨C {lol}
- [Erebos] ¨C {Lucy does. That¡¯s who.}
- [G8Pixelated] ¨C {¡.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {..}
- [Astr0_Ph@ntom] ¨C {¡..}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Did¡ the Primordial of Sin just¡?}
- [CrazyCatLady22] ¨C {He did.}
- [Josephthegreat789652] ¨C {Wow.}
B1 | Chapter 84
Ashley
When I wake up again, I find myself back in Blake¡¯s cavern. Which I¡¯m growing used to by now.
What I¡¯m not used to is seeing Blake sitting in a corner practicing his spellcraft with his eyes closed and multiple runes and spell circles flashing around him. Since I¡¯ve woken up before him every time up till now.
I leave him be though. After all, I have my own things to deal with right now.
Like checking out my new mini boss sourced Skill Tree.
So I open my Skill Trees before navigating the mess of hundreds of Skill Trees to find the one I¡¯m looking for. A process that turns out harder than I would¡¯ve liked.
But any irritation from that search vanishes the moment I read the description for Alpha¡¯s Breath.
{Alpha¡¯s Breath ¨C Allows the user to instantly expend all of their destruction affinity mana in a single powerful blast of destruction affinity flames from their mouth.}
That would explain why its breath attack was so powerful. It probably had a massive amount of mana converted to destruction affinity mana and blasted it all out at me at once.
This skill though¡ it¡¯ll be very helpful to me.
Very, very helpful.
Since I can adjust the amount of mana I put into the attack by converting a certain amount of mana into destruction affinity mana. Making the attack only use up said destruction affinity mana and not any of the other mana I haven¡¯t converted.
I can make it use up all of my mana to attack, or just a small portion.
I could even make it just use up a single unit of mana.
It may even end up being a stronger finishing attack than Frigid Tempest Call.
Actually, on second thought, it most likely is stronger than that. Especially because it¡¯s focused into a single breath attack instead of being spread out in a wide area like the tempest is.
I glance at Blake to find him still practicing his spellcraft, then I focus on the Skill Tree again. Just to look at what skills are offered branching from the root skill.
The first skill I see ends up being that very skill I saw the alpha using before. The one to heal from devouring other things nearby.
Which could synergize rather well with Incorrigible Appetite, which lets me eat anything. Not to mention all of my bite skills that are still piling up, what with the second skill branching from the root being a destruction affinity bite skill.
Either way though, I¡¯m still not a fan of eating monsters. So it won¡¯t be very pleasant to use.
But I¡¯ll use it.
The universe seems intent on making me bite and eat things, so I might as well use the powers given to me.
Doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll have to like it though.
It¡¯s also five hundred Skill Points to purchase. So expensive.
More expensive than the two hundred Skill Points costing biting skill.
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Then the third skill branching from the root is a skill that is actually quite interesting.
{Alpha¡¯s Target ¨C Allows the user to mark a target as prey. Doing this will make the target outline in red for the user at all times, no matter what obstructions may be in their path. It will also increase all damage done to the target by twenty percent. However, the user will also feel an instinctive drive to hunt down the target.} ¨C [Spend 300 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
From the looks of it, it¡¯s a form of berserk skill. One that basically makes it incredibly difficult to lose the enemy, makes my attacks stronger against only them, but also makes it hard to focus on things other than said marked enemy.
I purse my lips a little as I remember how the alpha was chasing after the drachne lord and just the drachne lord. Not looking at anything else during our death march.
Guess this skill would explain that.
But how did the drachne lord get away if that¡¯s the case? Unless there are limitations or maybe a time limit on the skill for its effects to wear off or something?
Probably.
The fourth skill branching from the root is the usual destruction mana manipulation. Albeit only a lower stage one than the kobold lord¡¯s.
So not something I can see myself purchasing.
Unless it¡¯s to see what¡¯s beyond it in the Skill Tree, that is.
And the fifth and last skill branching from the root in the Skill Tree. A skill just like the kobold lord¡¯s skill for controlling minions.
Except instead of kobolds, it¡¯s dracoraptors.
I also wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the drachne lord has a similar skill later on down its Skill Tree. Considering the fact that it was leading its brood.
Now then.
At this point, after killing a bunch of the drachnes along with some dracoraptors and the alpha and the drachne lord, I have a little over three hundred Skill Points. Which isn¡¯t enough to get the skill I¡¯m wanting at the moment.
That skill being Mana Vision, which costs five hundred Skill Points.
Because I know I could sense things through walls and the like with a skill to see mana. Which would be rather helpful.
Depending on their level of mana, that is.
And considering the fact that I¡¯m in desperate need of as many powerful skills as I can get right now, I should probably go ahead and buy something with these three hundred Skill Points.
It won¡¯t likely take too long to get five hundred Skill Points again after that anyways.
¡°If people outside of this Unique Domain heard that they¡¯d cry tears of blood,¡± Chaos comments, but I ignore him.
Because that¡¯s a them problem and not a me problem.
Chaos chuckles at that thought.
So my choice in the end is Alpha¡¯s Target.
Since I need something to help me more in one on one battles against something strong. Plus for tracking purposes.
And I can use this skill rather well against a mini boss.
I just hope the berserk part of it isn¡¯t too bad.
With that thought, I raise my head to find Blake with his hands held out in front of him and multiple spell circles with numerous shifting symbols and script flowing through them above said hands. All of different colors, albeit with a lot of purple mixed into each one.
They spin and shift over and over again before splitting off into twice as many circles and then just moving into the center in a single warping sound. Making all of them vanish in an instant.
Then I watch with my eyes widening a little as space begins to warp a little above his hands, just stretching to make the distance there look longer than it really is. Or than it should be.
Meanwhile bits of water and flame rush through it as if trying to attack something.
And for some reason, seeing this makes a rush of memories flood into my mind.
Memories of me sitting in some fancy bedroom in a high-rise far above the streets below, with Blake playing with far simpler magic in front of me as I clap my hands with a joyous smile on my face. My emotion quickly carrying over to him as he smiles proudly at his work and my reaction to it. To the fountain of water he made in the air along with the dancing wolves and ravens.
And that¡¯s not the only memory, because numerous other memories of me spending time with him as he played with his magic throughout our childhood flood into my mind. Just bits and pieces here and there, with little other memories attached to them besides some broken emotions.
Emotions that¡ leave the joy from remembering how we played back then beginning to fade a little bit.
When I finally return my focus to the present again, I find Blake smiling at me from where he¡¯s working before he gets up and begins walking over to me.
¡°You ready to begin collecting gunpowder?¡± he asks while reaching his hand out to me.
I blankly stare up at him for several seconds, but he just keeps holding his hand out to me with a patient look in his eyes.
So I eventually mutely nod and accept his hand, letting him pull me to my feet.
Then we teleport out of the cavern and begin heading over towards the closest fortress to begin gathering gunpowder.
But despite that, I just can¡¯t get those memories out of my head.
And it¡¯s¡ really¡
I don¡¯t¡ actually know how I feel about them.
B1 | Chapter 85
Ashley
The first fortress we hit up is the one Blake has been hammering away at since he entered the Unique Domain. And the place looks like a mess with half of the fortress walls completely destroyed, half of the buildings inside of the place turned to naught but rubble, and the other half partially destroyed as well.
Fortunately, the shack with the gunpowder is one of the few buildings left standing. Probably on purpose, considering the fact that the whole place would¡¯ve blown up if that shack had been destroyed.
Just like the fortress I blew up.
Blake and I both quickly arrive at the shack itself without alerting any of the kobolds to our presence. Including the rather angry looking kobold lord at the center of the mess of a fortress. Then we walk up to the crates of gunpowder before he hands me the special storage rings he created, and I get to work carefully picking up the crates of gunpowder.
A process that goes¡ uh¡ not very well.
Since the crates weren¡¯t made especially well, the gunpowder easily leaks out through cracks in them, instantly ending up with it touching me and blowing up.
But instead of the massive explosions that were caused by my sticking my hand in the gunpowder before, this one is very tiny explosions that instantly vanish the moment they begin, and my System Messages play out in my vision.
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 29/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 28/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 27/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 26/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
Then Blake and I hear loud shouts of pain coming from outside the shack alongside small explosions.
Blake and I share a glance, only for me to quickly move the crate into the storage ring¡¯s storage space. Following which we move to the window of the shack to find a bunch of the kobolds out there crying out while collapsed on the ground with bright crimson cracks shining around the edges of holes blown up into their bodies.
We share another glance as the explosions slowly begin to decrease in number from me no longer touching the crate. All the way until they stop entirely, leaving the kobolds looking around in confusion. With a good chunk of them dead at this point.
The kobold lord, on the other hand, does understand where the source of these explosions is. Even if he likely doesn¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening.
I can tell that because I can sense his gaze directed straight towards here as he begins to march towards us.
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So Blake and I hurry up the process of storing the gunpowder, once again leading to the kobolds around the shack blowing up. Including the kobold lord himself as he marches over here, slowing him down a bit.
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 8/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 7/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 6/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 5/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
¡
And the moment I finish storing the rest of it, Blake immediately teleports us far away from the fortress.
I glance at my energy for a moment before frowning a little at the sight of my energy having drained by about two-fifths of my maximum energy.
¡°I should have enough energy to do that once more without running out,¡± I tell Blake, turning my gaze back to him to find him nodding while looking down and rubbing his chin.
¡°In that case¡¡± he mutters without looking up, ¡°we should take the gunpowder from one more fortress before hunting the roaming monsters until your energy regenerates.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± I state with a nod after he looks at me.
So the two of us quickly move on to the next closest fortress and repeat the process. With me redirecting all of the damage from the gunpowder¡¯s explosions to the kobolds in the fortress, pissing them all off in the process.
But, surprisingly enough, this fortress actually proves easier to steal from than the first one.
Probably because it¡¯s not a complete wasteland already and has a bunch of buildings and walls around the shack obstructing the kobolds and the kobold lord from even seeing the shack from where most of them are.
And by the time I finish snatching the gunpowder from this fortress, I find my level to have increased by two levels. On account of the numerous kobolds slain through Chaotic Source.
Then we both leave the fortress just like the first one before beginning to hunt random monsters roaming around the wastelands. Only occasionally rushing for cover when the King of Destruction goes on a rampage.
The two of us gradually begin to level up through this method as we spend days upon days doing this, albeit with me leveling faster thanks to the kobolds blowing up from the gunpowder being counted as my kills.
All the way until the point where around two weeks have passed since the opening of the Unique Domain when things take a turn.
Blake and I grit our teeth as the King of Destruction goes on a rampage, shooting out endless missiles from the volcano. Far more than it was shooting out before.
So many more that it begins to destroy the outer edges of the Unique Domain that we¡¯ve been in.
It even begins to crack the barriers on the fortresses and other safe locations.
Without hesitation, Blake and I immediately rush off closer towards the volcano. Finally leaving the edges of the Unique Domain.
Not long after we pass the last fortress, entering a completely barren wasteland with a faint crimson haze running through it, we both stop and turn around at the sound of something shattering.
Followed by an explosion.
And what I find greeting my gaze sends a chill down my spine.
The barriers covering the different safe areas are all beginning to shatter, with the fortresses turning into massive balls of destructive flames. No doubt partially because of the gunpowder we weren¡¯t able to take from them.
Then more and more explosions begin to ring out across the edges of the Unique Domain as the area itself is completely destroyed.
Blake and I share another glance, only to instantly turn around when I feel a powerful and dangerous presence gaze over us.
But I don¡¯t see anything even after turning around. So I begin flapping my wings just in case, flying up into the air.
Which turns out to be the correct move when a large worm shoots up out of the ground at me and I fly further out of its range. Following which it falls back into the ash-covered ground below, burrowing back down until the enormous thirty-meter-long black and crimson worm is gone.
And the sight of the worm sends a chill down my spine.
Not because of its size.
But because of what I see when I identify the thing.
? Level 100 Destruction-Touched Wyrm ¨C 457 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
It¡¯s level one hundred.
B1 | Chapter 86
Ashley
I stare at the enormous and slightly draconic looking worm until the very last part of its crimson-crack-covered body vanishes beneath the ash. Ash that honestly reminds me of a regular desert except with ash instead of sand. Even with ash floating in the air amidst the crimson haze.
Then me and Blake share a glance before more warning bells ring in my head, forcing me to instinctively fly as quickly as I can to the side.
Just barely allowing me to dodge a large drake¡¯s fireball that ends up flying right past me to eventually slam into the ground.
My eyes narrow a little on the drake that shot the fireball, only to widen a bit when I identify it as well.
? Level 98 Destruction-Touched Ashen Drake ¨C 420 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Then three more fireballs fly at us from other ashen drakes in the sky, with me and Blake having to rush to create a barrier in order to block them. But their destructive fireballs shatter our barriers with ease before more of them fly at us, making us dodge the hell out of them.
My eyebrow twitches as I find myself being reminded of my first day in the Unique Domain.
Especially when two more wyrms jump out of the ash down below with their large, circular mouth filled with razor sharp teeth spinning in circles as they soar towards us through the air. Making it even harder to dodge the fireballs.
And it doesn¡¯t end there either, as more new monsters begin to show up.
Large, walking skeletons with glowing crimson cracks running through their bodies that are wearing rather torn up cloth and sending spells at us. Also level 100.
Elementals made out of the destruction-touched ash on the ground blowing about like a mini tornado of crimson-crack-covered ash while hunting down said skeletons. Also level 100.
And even giant vulture-like birds that seem to flock towards any dead bodies they can find. Except the skeletons, of course.
Also. Level. 100.
As more and more of the powerful monsters attack us, Blake and I find it harder and harder to dodge them all. Eventually leading to us taking more and more hits directly as they break past our barriers.
But after flying through the chaos of tornadoes chasing after skeletons chasing after us while giant wyrms jump out of the ash and drakes shoot fireballs at us from a distance for over an hour, we finally find something that could give us a break. A large pit in the ash.
Right when we¡¯re about to enter the pit though, I see multiple wyrms moving around down there. Clearly implying that the pit is the wyrm¡¯s little nest.
So the two of us turn away and begin making distance between us and the pit. Resuming the new death march that we¡¯ve made.
Although I¡¯d say this death march isn¡¯t as bad as the last one simply because I¡¯m a heck of a lot stronger now than before.
Even if these monsters are stronger too.
We continue flying through the air, slowly growing more and more tired while using up our mana and energy. All the way until we find the next possible hideout.
Blake and I share a glance before nodding.
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Then we fly straight to the top of a massive pyramid where the skeletons are walking in and out of before breaking straight through the ashen structure without bothering with an entrance. With the monsters chasing after us all hesitating as we do so. As if they¡¯re wary of trespassing directly upon one of the other monsters¡¯ turfs.
Well, except the skeletons. I sense those things just waltzing right on inside of the pyramid¡¯s entrance.
Seeing as they own the thing.
Our death march doesn¡¯t end here though, because what we¡¯re greeted by inside of the pyramid are more skeletons. Skeletons that begin chasing after us while lobbing spells our way just like the ones outside.
I grit my teeth as the two of us charge straight down one corridor after another made of ashen blocks until we arrive at a dead end. With the skeletons all chasing after us.
And if it weren¡¯t for the fact that they have no lips, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be smiling right now at the sight of us cornered.
At least, until I activate Assimilate and convert half of my remaining mana into destruction mana and activate Alpha¡¯s Breath after pulling Blake behind me. Shooting out a powerful breath attack from my mouth that envelops the entire corridor along with the skeletons.
The walls of the corridor quickly begin to shake with ash coming down from the ceiling, meanwhile I continue shooting out the breath attack.
One second passes.
Three seconds.
Five.
Ten.
It isn¡¯t until an entire fifteen seconds have passed that I finally get a System Message that gives me a bit of relief.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.}
I instantly feel disappointment at the skill that I unlocked. Because it¡¯s one I already have.
Then my next feeling is fear.
Fear that these skeletons ¨C of which I¡¯m pretty sure are the weakest of the skeletons in this pyramid ¨C have High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation. Making me wonder just what the stronger skeletons here have.
It takes a few more seconds before another System Message plays out.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x2
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion} x2
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion.] x2
I continue launching the breath attack at them for over an entire minute. All the way till my destruction mana begins to very nearly run out and the walls and ceiling of the corridor around my breath attack is beginning to crumble.
Then a surprise arrives in the form of another System Message. Right after a message about three more Ashen Centurions dying and not giving me any root skills.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Moderate Mental Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.}
I blink at the sight of an occurrence I haven¡¯t seen since the tutorial. Where a monster can have more than one root skill.
¡°There are quite a few monsters across the universe that can have more than one root skill across their species,¡± Chaos says right as my breath attack finally runs out, and the ceiling caves in front of us. Trapping Blake and I between it and the dead end. ¡°We just specifically design the Tutorial to include plenty of those rarer species for more variety.¡±
Huh.
Both for what he said and our current situation.
I glance at Blake to find him collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. Then I look back at the rubble again, taking in a breath of air, only to realize that Blake is making air himself through magic so that we don¡¯t suffocate in here.
Well, guess we found our place to rest.
So with that thought in mind, I collapse flat on my back myself. Feeling my exhaustion finally sweep over me.
Then I go ahead and open the new skill that I just got to see what it is.
{Moderate Mental Destruction Resistance ¨C Grants the user a Moderate resistance to destruction of the mind. All attacks that cause damage to the user¡¯s mind will be resisted based on the level of this skill.}
It¡¯s pretty much just the mind version of the regular destruction resistance then.
That¡¯s good.
I feel my eyes beginning to droop closed.
That¡¯s very good.
And with that, I fall asleep, giving into the exhaustion.
B1 | Monster Art
And as stated in the last chapter''s author''s note, here is some monster art.
As always, if the art below breaks, click here. If you say anything about the art being broken in the comments I will lock the chapter''s comment section. Please do not message me either just because the chapter is locked.
Not that saying this will help if you''re skipping over this anyways, but I thought I would because why not.
Alpha Dracoraptor:
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Kobold Lord in armor:
Drachne Lord:
Wyrm:
B1 | Intermission 4
Somewhere in the Capital of Val
¡°Now that we¡¯re all here, let¡¯s get this meeting underway,¡± the Successor of Order, Cedric Arran, declares with his arms crossed as he sits at the end of a long table looking at the dozens of other guild representatives sitting all across the table. Each of whom lead a different guild. ¡°As we¡¯ve decided in the previous meeting, every guild will manage the territory belonging to the Spire Lords and Ladies within their guild. No user will be allowed to enter a Domain outside of the first ten minutes unless they have the explicit permission of the guild managing that territory. All users who somehow manage to circumvent these rules will be punished by the guild whose territory they invaded. All users are allowed to slay monsters as they please on Val itself outside of the Domains. And users must be represented by a guild in order to have a say in this council.¡± His eyes narrow. ¡°The council of the capital.¡±
The guild representatives ¨C each leading a hunter¡¯s guild of their own making on the world with the permission of the Hunter¡¯s Guild itself ¨C all give their own forms of confirmation as Cedric watches them.
Over the course of the time that¡¯s passed since the Tutorial ended, all of the guilds formed by the strongest users of Val ¨C both new faces and old ones from before the System ¨C took full control over Val. Whether it¡¯s through its economy, through the Gates, or even through sheer brute force power.
And it¡¯s left Cedric¡¯s desire for order fulfilled.
However, his gaze still turns sharp when it comes to two of the representatives.
The Black Enforcer, and his eldest daughter, the Winter Storm.
The Successor of Order has never thought much of the Sinclair family. And he thought even less of them after hearing about their drama. About how the Black and White Enforcers neglected their kids and didn¡¯t even realize it until after their second eldest was in a coma.
He doesn¡¯t care one way or another about the youngest two siblings, but the eldest sibling, who remained oblivious despite what was happening to the twins, and the parents, who neglected them all?
Cedric doesn¡¯t like them.
As for the Successors to Magic and Chaos?
He feels pity for them.
But not enough for him to change the way he treats them.
For he is the Successor of Order, and he will treat everyone the same regardless.
With equal fairness that fulfills his sense of order.
¡°The first item on this meeting¡¯s agenda,¡± Cedric declares as the guildmasters look his way. ¡°Deciding the right course of action regarding the Tower of Chaos and their recent actions regarding the Successor of Chaos¡¯s territory.¡±
¡°We should push them out of the world,¡± the Guildmaster of the Arvan Guild declares as the gruff man crosses his arms and frowns at the other guildmasters. ¡°There¡¯s nothing more to it than that. Kick them out.¡±
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¡°I¡¯d like to see you try,¡± the Guildmaster of the guild neighboring Ashley¡¯s territory, the Raldan Guild, says with a snort as she leans back in her seat and glances at the larger man with a brow raised. ¡°I¡¯ll just be sitting on the sidelines watching you fall apart.¡±
¡°The Tower of Chaos is a major power within the universe for a reason,¡± Cedric states, bringing both of their attention to him while the other guildmasters focus on the other two notable people in the room. Neither of whom have said anything just yet. ¡°Whatever we decide, we need to make the decision quickly. And I don¡¯t think I need to warn you about what they may do if a decision is not made.¡±
¡°Decide what you want,¡± the Black Enforcer declares with a cold expression on his face. ¡°Know that the Twilight Guild will be siding with the Tower of Chaos regardless.¡±
¡°And the Winter Guild will also be aiding the Tower of Chaos,¡± Elizabeth Sinclair, the Winter Storm, declares without even opening her eyes to look at the other guildmasters.
Every guildmaster in the room looks at them, completely unsurprised by their declarations since it¡¯s the Successor of Chaos they¡¯re talking about.
And even if their family is filled to the brim with drama, there is one thing they all share at this point in time.
One obvious thing to everyone else.
The desire to do whatever they can for the Successor of Chaos.
Although Cedric isn¡¯t sure if it¡¯s due to guilt over the past or genuine care for their daughter or sister.
Most of the guildmasters fall silent at their show of support for the Successor of Chaos, but a few of them still express their desire to attack the Tower of Chaos. Specifically the factions who are trying to overthrow the Black Enforcer¡¯s influence and become the new strongest on the planet after finding their new skills in their Skill Tree thanks to the System.
A new way to grow stronger and surpass the strongest family of the planet.
But no matter what they say, the Black Enforcer and Winter Storm both ignore them without saying a word. With the Black Enforcer simply staring at Cedric as if waiting for him to move on to the next topic, and the Winter Storm keeping her eyes closed as if she doesn¡¯t care about the meeting.
Cedric looks around after the resisting faction finally finishes speaking before declaring, ¡°As the majority of the guilds have remained neutral or supported the Tower of Chaos, nothing will be done about them by the council.¡± He turns to look at the ones who spoke out their desire to destroy them or kick them off the planet. ¡°Those of you who spoke against the Tower of Chaos may do as you please to them, but the council will not aid you.¡±
After seeing them grow irritated from his words, with some of them even standing up and marching out of the room in anger, Cedric turns to the rest and declares, ¡°Now onto the second topic of the meeting.¡± He glances outside the window at the end of the room, where he can see a large, crimson Gate floating high in the sky above the largest park of the city. A Gate that has grown larger since Ashley and Blake had first entered it. ¡°How we will deal with the breaking of the Unique Domain, The First and Last Hell of the King of Destruction.¡±
¡°If it comes down to it, I will personally handle protecting my daughter¡¯s territory,¡± the Black Enforcer declares, implying that he doesn¡¯t care about anyone else¡¯s territory so long as Ashley¡¯s is safe.
Cedric also quickly realizes another implication behind his statement.
An implication that makes him understand that the Black Enforcer isn¡¯t even considering the possibility of his daughter and son dying within the Unique Domain.
¡°I will as well,¡± the Winter Storm declares, still without opening her eyes. Implying the same things as her father in the process.
After that, numerous guildmasters declare their willingness to help keep a border around either the Unique Domain or the Successor to Chaos¡¯s territory itself.
Cedric feels a little relief at that, since he knew he wasn¡¯t going to be able to hold the Unique Monster¡¯s forces at bay on his own. Much less the UM itself.
¡°My opinion stands,¡± Justicar declares, the Primordial of Order still just as insistent on Cedric simply leaving the world to its inevitable destruction instead of risking his life on a world with a UM.
I refuse.
Why he¡¯s refusing, he¡¯s not entirely sure.
But something in him leads him to believe that there may be a chance to save Val.
B1 | Chapter 87
Ashley
I¡¯m woken rather abruptly from my slumber when the entire pyramid begins to shake, knocking some of the rubble over off the pile in the process. Meanwhile a bright crimson light begins to shine from the walls as me and Blake shoot to our feet.
Only to find ourselves being sent somewhere else in the pyramid by what¡¯s no doubt some sort of teleportation magic.
And considering how I don¡¯t see Blake at all when I appear in a large chamber, I¡¯m guessing we were both sent to different locations.
I grit my teeth as worry for my twin flashes through me, but it doesn¡¯t last long before that worry turns itself back around onto myself when I see what¡¯s in the chamber with me. Namely, dozens of cloth-covered skeletons. Each of whom are preparing destruction magic spells while standing on balconies surrounding the platform I¡¯m standing on.
Without hesitation, I begin to flap my wings to fly upwards, only for all of the spells to fly straight at me before I manage to move even two meters. With over half of the spells slamming into me and sending me back and forth like a damned punching bag.
But High Destruction Resistance finally proves its worth when it keeps me from taking anywhere near as much damage as I would¡¯ve taken when I first entered the Unique Domain.
Although it still hurts.
A lot.
Even when I use Cocoon of Destruction on top of it, with some destruction magic barriers as well. Their attacks just punch holes through the defenses, treating them like paper thanks to these monsters¡¯ higher levels.
I manage to fly off of the platform though, and as I do so, I begin the chant for Call Frigid Tempest. Instantly making all of the skeletons throwing spells at me speed up.
But I don¡¯t stop chanting. No matter how much damage they do to me.
And by the time I finally finish my chant, and the tempest appears, I find myself covered in wounds from head to toe. My wings with holes torn through them that for some reason aren¡¯t interrupting my flying. Entire chunks ripped out of my legs, arms, and back. And holes covering my clothes that are rapidly repairing themselves.
None of that makes me stop though.
I just fly straight through my tempest towards the entrance I sense through my destruction pulses. All while System Messages from the skeletons my tempest is killing flood my vision and ears.
But that¡¯s not all I hear.
I also hear loud crashes echoing throughout the pyramid while I sense something beginning to approach through my pulses.
Something I soon find to be a rather enraged and worried Blake when he damn-near almost flies into me as I¡¯m about to leave the tempest-filled chamber.
¡°Ashley!!!¡± Blake shouts as he quickly stops and pulls me into his arms before flying us both towards a different entrance. Letting me give my health some time to finish healing my wounds.
I glance behind him with a frown at the swarm of skeletons chasing after him, many of whom have wounds of their own covering them. Only for the things to get caught in the tempest as well when they flood into the chamber.
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Then Blake and I enter a different corridor, and I raise both of my hands with a little difficulty thanks to the wounds still covering them before summoning one Silver Barrier after another. Eventually clogging up the entire corridor with multiple walls going from the floor to the ceiling.
All while System Messages continue to flood my vision and ears.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x2
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion} x2
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C High-Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion.] x14
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Moderate Mental Destruction Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.} ¨C [ERROR ¨C Moderate Mental Destruction Resistance is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Centurion.] x8
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Ash Blizzard, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 90. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 91. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 92. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 93. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
My eyes lock onto the new skill that I got. A skill that gives me a rather bad feeling as I look back down the corridor at where we came from.
What greets me though isn¡¯t the sight of the barriers.
It¡¯s a strange crimson ash bleeding through them before rushing towards us through the corridor.
I quickly pat Blake¡¯s shoulder and nod back, making him look to see it as I jump out of his arms and begin to fly myself. My wounds having healed enough by now from my health and Minor Regeneration skill to not slow us down.
While we fly through the corridor, occasionally running into more skeletons in the process and ignoring them, I open up the new skill that I got to check what it does. What with it still chasing after us and all.
{Ash Blizzard ¨C Allows the user to summon forth a blizzard of destructive ash that directly seeks out a target designated by the user. This skill uses up all of the user¡¯s mana and is more powerful the more mana the user has upon use. The blizzard will not fade until it runs out of mana, whether through tracking the target for too long or being blocked.}
I open my mouth to explain to Blake what the skill does, only to pause when I see something rather¡ unpleasant¡
Some of the skeletons in the corridor that we pass by are adding to the ash blizzard with their own. Making it even more powerful and no doubt last for a longer period of time.
Shit.
I quickly move closer to Blake as we fly before explaining the skill to him. After which he nods his head and we both use gravity magic on ourselves to speed us up in our escape.
We continue flying through the corridor for who knows how long until we finally end up at a dead end. But instead of stopping at the dead end, Blake and I just charge straight through it. Completely destroying the wall with his spatial fracture spell and my two blades, both infused with Chaos Energy and coated in destruction mana.
Then we continue flying through the chamber on the other side of the wall, ignoring the skeletons inside all the way through the chamber and into the next corridor. Until we eventually end up at another dead end and repeat the process, blasting through the walls over and over again.
Eventually we make it out of the pyramid, with the ash blizzard still chasing after us at even more strength than it originally had due to the ashen skeletons repeatedly making it stronger.
So what do Blake and I do to deal with it?
We charge straight towards the wyrm den nearby.
Let¡¯s see if these wyrms can deal with an ash blizzard this large.
B1 | Chapter 88
Ashley
The ash blizzard continues following us all the way through the distance between the pyramid and the wyrm den. And even when we enter the den, it still continues to follow us.
It isn¡¯t until the two of us move around several wyrms that are going from one wall of the den to the other that the ash blizzard finally gets interrupted. With the blizzard slamming into more than one of these wyrms as the things get in the way.
Blake and I pause near one of the den¡¯s walls to look back at the wyrms as they roar in anger. Only to find the monsters all rushing out of the den one after another. With even more of the wyrms bursting out of the den walls to leave as well.
I share a glance with Blake before we both turn to look at the wyrms again. Many of whom are attacking the ash blizzard with large rays of destruction mana from their mouths. And others are literally swallowing the ash whole.
¡°Looks like the wyrms are taking that ash blizzard as a full-on assault by the skeletons,¡± Blake mutters, making me nod my head in response.
The two of us watch as the wyrms rush out of the den, seemingly ignoring us in the process. Probably because we¡¯re so tiny in comparison to them and haven¡¯t attacked the monsters yet either.
A few seconds pass while the wyrms both attack the blizzard and rush out of the den before Blake and I leave the den to look out over the wasteland between us and the pyramid. Where we find a small army of a couple hundred skeletons marching in our direction.
An army that soon clashes with the wyrms. With the wyrms flying down to gobble up the skeletons, meanwhile the skeletons blast away at the wyrms with destruction magic.
Hmm.
Guess we started a war.
I glance at my status to look at my energy and mana, only to frown.
Not enough mana or energy to fight.
I look at Blake to find him nodding at me, seemingly understanding what I¡¯m wanting to say. Then we both fly out of the den and head off in the opposite direction as the pyramid.
And as we fly, Blake begins to speak quietly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry about earlier. I missed the spells attached to the pyramid walls and it almost got us both in trouble.¡±
I turn to look at him as we fly before facing forwards again. Not saying anything in response.
If there were spells on the pyramid walls, those are probably what led to us being teleported.
¡°I wasn¡¯t able to study them well, but it looked like those spells were traps linked to a single being within the pyramid,¡± Blake continues, making me understand what he¡¯s left unsaid.
That it was most likely the mini boss in charge of the pyramid that activated those traps and split us up.
Meaning the pyramids are not a place we can rest in.
We continue flying through the sky, simply searching for a new place to rest. Which ends up taking over two hours to find in the form of a large sand whirlpool things, with sand falling down seemingly without end into a dark hole in the center of the thing.
I¡¯m not really sure what they¡¯re called personally. In fact, for all I know, they could literally be called sand whirlpools.
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But I doubt it.
The only reason we know there¡¯s even anything down there are the strange creatures occasionally jumping into the thing. Creatures covered in cloth all over without a single shred of their flesh revealed. To the point that all I can see are the barest hints of glowing crimson light leaking from the cloth and bandages.
I frown a little when I see the result of their identify.
? Level 102 Destruction-Touched Mummified Ash ¨C 520 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Yeah, no idea what these things are. Unless they¡¯re just destruction touched mummies?
Maybe?
Probably.
Anyways, Blake says he senses entire catacombs down beneath the sand whirlpool, so we both head down after the latest monster. And just seconds later we find ourselves in a rather dark catacombs whose walls are made of sandstone with crimson cracks running through the blocks.
And the mummified ash that we see after arriving immediately attacks us.
Using the cloth and bandages beneath said cloth as their weapons by sending them flying off of their bodies towards us.
Blake teleports out of the way and I flap my wings to push myself backwards. Causing all of the cloth and bandages to slam into the ground where we were just standing.
Making bolts of crimson lightning course through the cloth and bandages to strike at the sandstone floors.
A faint grin stretches across my face before I activate Assimilate and spread both of my arms outwards while summoning dozens of bolts of destruction mana above my head. All of which I send flying at the mummies in front of us, with Blake attacking the ones behind us.
All of the mummies begin whipping the bandages and cloth from their bodies around, sending crimson lightning along with them as they block my and Blake¡¯s attacks. But I just use more and more different types of attacks to counter them.
Whether it¡¯s sending vines at the bandages, launching silver metal spikes at the creatures, throwing bolts and blasts of different types of magic at them, or sending feathers flying through it all at them.
I find myself being rather surprised though when my attacks don¡¯t do much.
Or, rather, most of them don¡¯t do much.
Almost all of my attacks are deflected by the bandages with ease.
With the sole exception of my feathers, which pierce straight through the bandages with ease.
Even all of Blake¡¯s spells are deflected as if the monsters were just slapping away pebbles.
Until Blake seems to realize what¡¯s going on and changes his attacks to physical ones. Attacks where he enhances his physical strength and summons a sword from his storage ring before striking at the mummies with the blade.
And this time around the blade actually pierces through and starts cutting apart the mummies.
My eyes narrow a little before I focus entirely on just my feathers and claws, finding that the claws work as well.
Because these creatures seem to be incredibly resistant to any sort of non-physical attacks. Sort of.
I¡¯m still not fully sure what they resist, but I can tell that at the very least, biological parts and weapons seem to work.
The monsters also seem to be rather hard to kill. Because even after I mutate half of one of the mummies and cut off its arms and legs, the thing just refuses to die.
Until one of my feathers strikes it square in the face, mutating half of its head until a fireball explodes inside of its head through an effect. And I finally get a System Message.
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Mummified Ash }
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Crimson Shock, is now unlocked for your usage.}
I frown at the sight of the skill, feeling a little disappointed that it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s the skill that gives them that resistance. Or their incredible toughness.
But my disappointment fades a bit when I open the skill¡¯s description.
{Crimson Shock ¨C Allows the user to naturally generate lightning of the destruction affinity and expel it through their skin.}
And right around the same time as I finish reading the skill, I notice a slight change to my skin. Specifically, some very tiny and hard to notice sparks of crimson lightning running across my skin.
I look at the lightning for a few seconds before returning my attention to the mummies.
Mummies who are only growing in number by the second as more of them find us while we struggle to actually kill the things.
Fortunately for us though, other than their lightning, they aren¡¯t very strong.
Physically they¡¯re far weaker than the two of us, and magically all they have is that crimson lightning which they seem to need those bandages to use. And even with the bandages and cloth, the lightning isn¡¯t very focused or well-aimed.
I spread both my wings out fully before flapping them multiple times in a row, beginning to send feathers as quickly as I can at the creatures. Aiming specifically for their heads in the process.
Time to see if these things have more than one root skill too.
B1 | Chapter 89
Ashley
As it turns out, they do not have more than one root skill. Unfortunately enough.
In fact, I don¡¯t find any skill branching from their root skill that has anything to do with endurance either. So their endurance and resistance to non-biological ranged attacks may not come from a skill. It may just be a biological factor of their species.
Meaning I likely won¡¯t be able to get the skills.
A major pity, but whatever. I¡¯ve already gotten their crimson lightning. Even if I can¡¯t really control it with just their root skill.
After slaughtering our way through a decent chunk of the catacombs, finding these monsters to be the easiest to deal with out of all of the monsters in this section of the Unique Domain, I¡¯ve learned more about the Crimson Shock skill.
For one, the skill is pretty much a mutation skill without any visible changes. It makes my body generate the crimson destruction affinity lightning naturally like an eel¡¯s body generates electricity. But I currently have no control over that lightning other than to expel it all out at any particular moment and with no direction.
In order for me to gain some forms of control over it, I need to unlock the later skills in the Skill Tree.
One example of the skills to control the lightning is the bandages skill that these mummies all seem to have unlocked. The one that lets them send the lightning through any sort of object in contact with them regardless of if it can conduct electricity or not.
Probably some sort of staple skill unlock that they all get on instinct.
Other than that, there¡¯s also a skill that would let me grow some sort of spike out of any part of me I want that I can shoot the lightning out of. And a skill that lets me expel the lightning into the ground through my feet.
Then there are skills to increase the efficiency of the lightning itself in different ways. Whether increasing the amount that generates or how powerful said lightning is.
Eventually though I just buy the skill that lets me send the lightning through anything regardless of conductivity with the Skill Points I get from these things. Because it makes it course through my swords, further increasing the power of my chaos knives.
Which pretty much lets me cut these things apart like tofu.
Until we find the next rank of these monsters deeper in the catacombs.
? Level 121 Destruction-Touched Mummified Corrupted Ash ¨C 710 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
At which point we turn around and run the hell away.
Because these mummified corrupted ash are literal beacons of crimson lightning, with so much of it coating them that it¡¯s striking at the corridor all around them and making it impossible to get around them. And the moment it sees us, it fires off all of its current built up lightning at us in one powerful railgun shot that Blake and I both have to work together to block.
But even with us working together, it shatters all of our defenses and slams into my arm, taking a large chunk out of it in the process.
Fortunately for us though, the monster doesn¡¯t chase after us after firing off the blast. So we manage to get away without any issues other than the hole in my arm.
We both flee until we find a chamber inside of the catacombs to rest. And we just stay in that chamber for several hours to recover our mana, energy, and health.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Except this time Blake makes sure to check it thoroughly for any spells or traps to make sure the same thing as last time doesn¡¯t happen again.
Fortunately, he doesn¡¯t find anything. And nothing ends up happening during our rest.
Probably because these monsters don¡¯t seem to even have mana manipulation. So they can¡¯t set up those intricate traps like the skeletons did.
I frown as I lie down in the corner of the chamber next to a sarcophagus, just staring at my status. Where I focus on my energy slowly rising and my current level. Which is still far too low for my liking, if I''m being honest.
My energy and mana are both almost full again, but my health is a different story entirely. With it being about three quarters of the way full still. Missing an entire quarter.
I lean my head against the sarcophagus and my shoulder as I let out a sigh.
It would be great if one of these annoying monsters were to give me a regeneration skill, but that might be too much to ask for. What with them all being of the destruction affinity. And destruction magic isn¡¯t exactly known for regeneration.
Still. A higher ranking and more effective regeneration skill would be really nice right about now.
I feel my eyes beginning to droop closed from my exhaustion. Exhaustion that¡¯s filling every inch of my body thanks to our constant running and fighting.
My eyes close, following which I feel a hand on my head as I hear Blake saying, ¡°Get some sleep Lee.¡±
I feel my eyes furrowing ever so slightly at the name ¡®Lee¡¯, but soon enough I fall asleep. With all my worries vanishing for the time being.
And when I wake up, I slowly crack my eyes open, still feeling that I¡¯m resting my head against something. But it doesn¡¯t take me long to realize that I¡¯m not resting it against the sarcophagus anymore. Instead I¡¯m resting my head on Blake¡¯s shoulder, which briefly makes me wonder how I got into this position.
Then I notice that either something was draining the crimson lightning from me, or I just don¡¯t generate crimson lightning while I was asleep. Because I don¡¯t have much built up. And if it was continuously growing while I was asleep then Blake would¡¯ve been shocked when he touched me. Literally.
I blink a few times, still feeling half asleep. Then I just close my eyes again for a few more minutes of shuteye, ignoring the fact that I¡¯m resting my head on his shoulder.
Until he shakes me a little and says, ¡°Lee? We should get moving if your health is full again.¡±
I open my eyes again and glance at my status, finding my health to be full again. So I sit up straight, still feeling tired as I climb to my feet and stretch my arms over my head.
That was a good nap.
¡°Why are you calling me Lee?¡± I ask, turning to look at him after stretching and waking myself up a bit.
He blinks before shrugging and saying, ¡°It¡¯s what I used to call you before the accident.¡±
I stare at him for a few seconds.
Then I hum, ¡°Hmm,¡± while turning away. Without saying anything.
¡°Should we continue hunting the mummified ash in here to get some levels? Or do you want to try taking on the corrupted ones?¡± Blake asks out of the corner of my eye.
¡°Let¡¯s level a bit before we take the mummified corrupted ash on, and we can search to see if there¡¯s any gunpowder here while we¡¯re at it,¡± I answer without looking at him as I draw my blades and begin walking towards the entrance of the catacombs chamber.
¡°Sounds good,¡± he answers, following along behind me.
And with that, the two of us proceed to make our way through the catacombs once more. Just searching for more of the mummified ash.
But something¡¯s bothering me.
The fact that none of them attacked us while I was sleeping. Or while we were resting at all.
And even now as we search for them, we can¡¯t find a single one.
Time passes.
One minute. Five minutes. Half an hour. Two hours.
But the only thing that happens is that the walls of the catacombs occasionally shake. And the crimson cracks on the sandstone seem to be glowing a bit brighter.
Eventually me and Blake share a confused glance before he suggests we go up to the surface to see if something¡¯s happening.
I suggest in return to just keep searching for a bit more.
Until another ten minutes pass without a sign of monsters down here, leading me to give in and let him teleport us back to the surface.
Where we find a rather shocking sight.
A loud roaring echoes across the entire wasteland as puddles and ponds of deep black and crimson liquid cover large expanses of the ash desert, with some of it even dripping down from nearby pyramids and falling into the wyrm dens. Meanwhile all of the monsters are out in the open instead of hiding for some reason.
But I get my answer for why that is soon enough when the various structures around us all suddenly begin blinking out before teleporting away. Just mere seconds before a massive explosion comes from the volcano, firing out missiles much larger than the ones that hit the outer region of the Unique Domain. Missiles that look like small meteors instead of glowing balls of crimson.
And just one of those meteors ends up hitting a pyramid before the thing can teleport away.
Causing the entire pyramid to come crumbling down as crimson cracks quickly spread throughout the entire thing, turning it into dust that joins with the ash desert.
My jaw drops open at the sight.
Well, shit.
B1 | Glossary 3 with Updated Skills
This glossary is mostly to help me keep up with Ashley''s important skills. So most of what has changed in it is that a bunch of skills that many of you likely forgot she even had have been added to the glossary with their descriptions, some of which were never explained or had their descriptions shown. It also has Chaos''s blades in the glossary now too.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Click on the following link for the glossary:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YYghcONJnUJbcYug229MAJ6cjYsMRFsN8PzSuFfL0ns/edit?usp=sharing
B1 | Chapter 90
Ashley
Blake and I end up staring at the remains of what once was a large pyramid for three seconds before we both rush to avoid any of those meteors as if our lives were on the line. Because they were.
And it¡¯s not just us either as the monsters all seem to be panicking as well. Whether that¡¯s the wyrms splashing around the ash desert, the skeletons marching away from any place that looks like a meteor is heading to, the drakes flying circles in the skies, or even the half a dozen fucking mini bosses I see running with them.
Each of the species has their own mini boss.
A massive wyrm spanning over a hundred meters in length that could swallow me and Blake whole with ease named the wyrm broodmother.
An enormous drake spanning the size of three of the other drakes in just wingspan alone with a much more ravenous and angular head that¡¯s named draken.
The floating mummy wearing the clothes of a pharaoh with the name ashen pharaoh.
Then there¡¯s the greater ashen elemental, the skeleton wearing black robes with the name lich lord, and even the strange monster that I don¡¯t see leading anything else. Some massive shark called an ashalodon that¡¯s swimming through the ash desert like it¡¯s the mini boss¡¯s home.
Which it probably is.
Yet despite all of the monsters, not a single one of them pays any mind to us.
Not even the mini bosses.
Because everyone ¨C including us ¨C is focused solely on surviving the King of Destruction¡¯s rampage.
The meteors and other smaller missiles continue to fly down from the sky as the King of Destruction¡¯s roars grow louder and louder in volume. Gradually killing off dozens upon dozens of the monsters in this region.
Monsters that all turn to ash just like the structures upon being hit.
Making it blatantly obvious where this desert originated from in the first place.
And what the ash is.
Something I notice though is that the brighter red the meteors are, with the more power in them, the less ash there is after the monsters touch them.
But I only notice that in passing as Blake and I run for our lives.
I grit my teeth as I worry more and more about the fact that the King of Destruction is just amassing Skill Points right now. Skill Points it¡¯s no doubt spending on powerful skills.
What¡¯s worse than this though, is how I¡¯m sure this isn¡¯t the last region of the Unique Domain. Not when the mini bosses of this region are only level 140, whereas the level cap here is level 175.
And even more so because of the massive volcano I still see at the center of the Unique Domain. A volcano that I can barely see cave entrances all over the sides of.
Just how strong are the monsters in the volcano? Can we even fight them?
And what about the mini bosses in there?
The thought of it sends a shiver down my spine.
Blake and I continue fleeing from the meteors and missiles one after another, only very nearly getting hit about half a dozen times in the process. But each time it was by a smaller missile, and we managed to get out of the way without getting hurt.
Mostly because the missiles are rather slow. All they have going for them is their size, and even that¡¯s limited to just the meteors and not the smaller missiles.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Even the ones in the outer region were more dangerous since they were far more numerous. For the smaller missiles at least.
The large ones are too big to dodge.
But despite the smaller ones not being fast, they¡¯re still strong. And we don¡¯t get any second chances as they shatter any and all defenses we put into place the moment they touch them. No matter how much mana we put into the defenses.
Nearly ten entire minutes passes, with the two of us running for our lives nonstop until the roaring finally begins to settle down.
And what we¡¯re left with after the King¡¯s rampage is a savaged desert filled with massive meteors and smaller rocks. Each of whom are slowly turning into that crimson liquid.
All of the monsters quickly begin to rush back inside of their homes now that the threat has passed, meanwhile Blake and I move up closer to the closest body of crimson liquid. Where we both analyze it.
King of Destruction-Touched Magma
Description: A special type of magma created when rocks and lava are seen under the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze and then launched out of the volcano through the King of Destruction¡¯s power before liquifying upon hitting ground covered by crimson ash. This magma is incredibly potent and will kill any who touches it should they be less than one entire Class above the King of Destruction.
Affects: True Death to those below Class C, Instant True Death to those below level 150
Instant True Death? What¡¯s that?
¡°It¡¯s what it sounds like,¡± Chaos answers, the Primordial not having spoken in a while. ¡°True Death is an affliction that will eventually bring on death through True Damage unless healed, whereas Instant True Death will instantly kill anyone afflicted by it the moment it is brought upon them.¡±
Huh.
I turn my attention to the massive meteor that¡¯s still melting down into the magma before analyzing it as well.
King of Destruction-Touched Pyroclast
Description: A special type of pyroclast created when igneous rocks are seen under the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze and then launched out of the volcano through the King of Destruction¡¯s power. These pyroclasts are incredibly potent and will kill any who touches it should they be less than two entire Classes above the King of Destruction.
Affects: True Death to those below Class B, Instant True Death to those below level 175
Well that doesn¡¯t look safe.
I glance at one of the pyramids that was turned to ash. Then back at the large pyroclast and the ever expanding magma beneath it.
Magma that is rather weird in the fact that it¡¯s not bubbling at all. It just looks like a regular crimson liquid. One that isn¡¯t even that hot.
Or at least, it doesn¡¯t radiate heat.
I¡¯m not willing to touch it just to see if it¡¯s hot or not.
For obvious reasons.
After studying the magma for a few more seconds, I soon come to realize something and pull on Blake¡¯s sleeve, making him glance at me. Then he glances at where I¡¯m looking.
At the barren desert around us.
And more importantly, at the lack of any monsters. At all.
Not a single one.
Then we hear loud roars coming from the volcano, followed by the ground beneath us shaking a bit while the sounds of something charging across the ground comes after the roars. Making us turn to look, only to find a parade of what look like dinosaurs charging out of the caves around the volcano.
What surprises me the most though is when said dinosaurs ¨C each of which looks to be of a different species ¨C start to drink up the magma.
Blake and I immediately run for one of the sand whirlpools nearby before hopping in as we realize why all of the monsters here are gone the moment I see the identify result of the newcomers. Each of whom have the same species name despite their appearances.
? Level 153 Destruction-Fallen Revalta ¨C 732 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Well, shit.
Guess the question of what¡¯s in the volcano was answered sooner than I expected.
But¡ why are they drinking the magma? Isn¡¯t that dangerous?
And why were the glowing crimson cracks across their bodies glowing brighter the more they drank?
Most importantly though, what does that magma taste like, and if it¡¯s good, will I be able to drink the magma myself if I took their Skill Trees? Because eating dead monster corpses has been rather unpleasant over the past days.
I hear an amused sigh coming from Chaos, but I ignore him.
Hey, I can¡¯t help it. Blake isn¡¯t any better a chef than I am.
His laughter echoes in my head without the Primordial saying a word, making me pout ever so slightly before turning to face Blake while wiping the look from my face.
¡°That pout is already being posted on the forums,¡± Chaos comments, making me stiffen up ever so slightly as I glance at the enormous number of followers I¡¯ve gotten ever since entering this second region of the Unique Domain.
A strong billion followers.
A number that¡¯s still rapidly growing by the second.
¡°I should charge them for it¡¡± I mutter out loud, making Blake snort in amusement despite his previously having been focused on checking our surroundings in the catacombs to make sure we¡¯re safe.
B1 | Chapter 91
The Grande
¡°Weeeelllcoooooome everrryyyyoooonnne!!!!!! To the very first showing of our little Princess of Chaos!!! The Crimson Wraith, Skill Thief, and twin of the Successor of Magic!!!¡± An avian shapeshifter shouts at the top of his lungs as he flies high above a stadium seating millions of people on the planet of The Grande. The largest planet known solely for its massive stadiums meant to show off and commentate on the livestreams of popular hunters. ¡°My name is Varse Vixaren, and today we say welcome to the Successor of Chaos, Ashleeeeyyy Siiiiinclaiiiiiirrr!!!!¡±
Right when the commentator finishes speaking, two different showings of the livestream begin to play out within the stadium. One massive showing plastered across the entire floor of the stadium, and another one shown in a massive sphere high in the air. Both of which have enchantments on them so that anyone can look at them from any angle and they will see the screens as if they were seeing it from the correct angle.
¡°For those of you who aren¡¯t aware, the Princess of Chaos has earned her many titles through the skills she¡¯s shown off so far, such as her recent stealth skills and her penchant for taking a less brute force manner of killing enemies,¡± Varse shouts above the roaring crowd as Ashley and Blake are shown in the livestreams fighting against mummified ash inside of a catacombs. ¡°But her title of Princess of Chaos has been given to her by the many people who have born witness of Chaos¡¯s fatherly affection, and what that affection has done to affect the universe!¡±
Namely wiping out an entire Class S nation, but I won¡¯t mention that live.
The commentator keeps his thoughts off of his face as he smiles brightly and sweeps both of his arms to his sides and declares, ¡°It has now officially been a little over a month since the world of Val was initialized and Ashley woke up from her coma, and she¡¯s only been improving with every single moment! For those of you who don¡¯t know, our little princess started out incredibly weak. So weak that she probably only would¡¯ve barely survived a combat event if she tried one at that point. But now! Look at her now!!!¡±
As he states this with a smile, Ashley tears apart one mummified ash after another with her chaos knives coated in crimson electricity and Chaos Energy. The woman having been doing this near endlessly for days on end now, only barely stopping to rest every once in a while.
The audience roars its approval before Varse continues speaking, ¡°Born as the only person in the universe to ever have the power to take the skills of others, our little princess immediately got to work swiping skills one after another after being made into a Successor and waking up from her coma! She is also the youngest person in existence to ever enter a Unique Domain, alongside her twin brother.¡±
His eyes narrow a little bit as he flies up towards the large screen floating in the air and says, ¡°Which brings us to the dark truth of the matter. We all know there is little to no chance of her or her twin surviving the Unique Domain.¡± The audience quickly falls quiet at that. ¡°But maybe, just maybe, the Princess of Chaos might be able to succeed in proving everyone wrong. And that, along with seeing and preserving her journey, is what we are here for!¡± He raises a single fist into the air and shouts, ¡°So who is with me! Who will preserve the memory of the sole Princess of Chaos!!!!¡±
Shouts and applause echo out from the stadium as the millions of people all scream their hearts out, with half of them having stood up part-way through Varse¡¯s speech.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Meanwhile Varse just smiles as he sees it all. Then he turns to look at the screen while the audience continues to roar their feelings out.
The Class S council in charge of the world of The Grande were originally uninterested in hosting a live show focusing on the Successor of Chaos. Especially after she entered the Unique Domain. But after she and her twin managed to survive for so long, the possibility began to grow in their minds. Partially because it was starting to look like she would survive all the way till she eventually fights the King of Destruction, and partially because of the number of followers she was amassing.
So in the end, they decided to roll with it and host a live show focused entirely on her.
Well, her and Blake.
Not as many people are interested in Blake thanks to the fact that there are already quite a few Successors of Magic in the universe. Whereas there¡¯s only a single Successor of Chaos.
But at the end of the day, all Successors are big-time money makers for them.
The only reason the Class S council was initially uninterested in the Princess of Chaos was because of how stupidly weak she was at the start of the Tutorial.
After they saw her rapidly grow on Val to finally start breaching the powers of the elite there, even if she still wasn¡¯t at the top of the powers, they grew a little more interested. And now that she¡¯s taken the skills from the elite monsters of a Unique Domain, she has no doubt grown to be in the top powers on their world of Val. If not at the very top thanks to her levels alone.
Since all of the other users on Val are still at around level 60 at their highest. And all with far fewer Skill Points than the twins.
Although he isn¡¯t sure who is stronger between her and her twin brother, Blake. Because he has to admit, that boy is a genius mage. The most talented mage he has ever seen in his life.
Varse looks back at the roaring crowd again as Ashley reaches level 99 on the livestream, making them roar out their applause even louder. Then he smiles even wider.
The commentator was more than pleased when he was assigned the position of MC in Ashley¡¯s live show. Since he just has a feeling that there¡¯s something about the girl that will surprise everyone.
Whether that¡¯s how she may escape after the Unique Domain or how well she¡¯ll do against the King of Destruction before she escapes, he isn¡¯t sure.
But he is sure that he¡¯s having a blast.
At this rate the twins are catching up with the lowest level monsters of the Unique Domain¡¯s inner region and aren¡¯t at such a large disadvantage anymore against them. Which makes it far easier for the two of them to move around the catacombs without ending up in too much danger.
The two of them also seem to have grown used to the new pattern from the King of Destruction¡¯s rampages.
Even if Varse is pretty sure Ashley wants to kill one of those monsters from the central region for their skills. Judging by the way he keeps seeing her look at them when they come out of the volcano.
His thoughts come to a halt when the King of Destruction¡¯s roar echoes out from the livestreams and into the stadium.
¡°And the King of Destruction is back at it again!!! Just imagine how terrifying the Unique Monster must look from that roar alone!!! I wonder what the beast must look like?! And if you have already seen the bets on the subject, then you know I¡¯m not the only one!¡± Varse shouts, his voice barely echoing out over the roar thanks to the stadium¡¯s amplification magic. Then he grins as he says, ¡°I personally have my bet on the UM being some sort of dragon.¡±
All across the stadium the audience begins shouting out their own bets at once and all over each other.
Not that Varse can understand most of them thanks to there being millions of people. But it worked to raise the excitement in the stadium even further, and that¡¯s all that matters to him.
And whether or not he wins the bet.
He put in multiple bets just in case. One on the King of Destruction being a dragon, another on it being a rex, and another on it being a mixture of the two.
I should at least win one of those bets¡
Varse shakes his head at the thought and continues commentating on the livestream.
Job first, gambling later.
B1 | Chapter 92
Ashley
Over time, Blake and I grow used to surviving in the inner region of the Unique Domain. With the new pattern of our hunting becoming fleeing the catacombs we hunt into the surface whenever the ground begins to shake before running around to avoid the meteors and pyroclasts. Then going back down to whatever catacombs is near us, resuming our hunt after the King of Destruction¡¯s rampage is over.
And after an entire week of doing this over and over again, I finally get the System Message I¡¯ve been looking for.
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 100. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
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Primordial System Notification
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Congratulations, you have now reached the minimum required level to ascend to Class D!
Analyzing other requirements¡
Requirements analyzed.
User has won 10 Official System Events with a 100% win ratio.
All requirements have been met to ascend to Class D.
Please travel to a Spire and place your hand upon its core in order to ascend to Class D.
Until then, your level cap has been set at level 175.
|
And, of course, it¡¯s a disappointment. Because I can¡¯t exactly leave the Unique Domain right now to return to my Spire.
If I could do that then Blake and I wouldn¡¯t be in this mess after all.
I glance at Blake as we stand in the corridor of one of the catacombs before telling him, ¡°Looks like we can¡¯t ascend until we make it back to a Spire.¡±
He frowns and simply nods his head.
¡°I could¡¯ve told you that much,¡± Chaos says, making me blink at the realization. ¡°The Spire cores are needed to push a user past their limit in order to ascend. So without them, users can¡¯t ascend.¡±
Not that it helps much now.
¡°If it helps, you do get a small bonus if you reach the maximum level of your Class before ascending,¡± Chaos points out, interesting me a little bit. ¡°The bonus is mostly just a random item the System believes could help you and some Skill Points, but it¡¯s something.¡±
That¡¯s nice. I guess.
¡°Oh, and some Free Points,¡± he adds as if an afterthought, making my eyes narrow a bit.
Now that could help.
¡°Yeah,¡± Chaos says before growing serious as he says, ¡°but putting that aside, do you remember when I said our connection would grow weaker as you approach the center of the Unique Domain?¡±
I furrow my brows and nod my head.
¡°After you enter the central region of the Unique Domain, we won¡¯t be able to talk anymore,¡± Chaos states rather bluntly. ¡°So make sure to ask any questions you may have before the first month of the Unique Domain¡¯s opening has ended.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The first month? Do you mean the inner region will collapse by¡
My thoughts return to the current situation above-ground. To the ashen and magma-covered wasteland and all of the now-missing monster lairs up there.
Right. At the rate things are going, there won¡¯t be any monster lairs left by the time a month¡¯s passed.
I quickly share what Chaos just said with Blake, following which the two of us move to a secluded chamber within the catacombs to bring up a list of subjects to ask them about.
¡°We¡¯ve already learned quite a bit about the way Unique Domains work from the recordings,¡± Blake states with a frown on his face. ¡°Like how the Unique Monster generally leaves the central chamber they have been in the entire domain when there are about one to two weeks left of the Unique Domain before it breaks. Or how the rest of the Unique Domain begins to fall apart for one reason or another all the way through the time it¡¯s open.¡±
¡°The monsters vary in level from Unique Domain to Unique Domain, so we can¡¯t ask about them¡¡± Blake mutters, his frown growing deeper as he looks down at the ground while seated cross-legged on the floor. ¡°We already know about the gunpowder and the other things with traces of the King¡¯s power in them, and we know that the Unique Monsters each have their own specialized methods of fighting that are generally unique to them.¡±
We both just sit in silence as we think.
After several minutes, I raise my head and ask, ¡°What about that loss of connection thing? Will that just be with you, or will it disconnect us from anything else?¡±
¡°The central region of the Unique Domains will cut you off from the System Forums and the Successor Forums, but that is all,¡± Chaos explains, and judging by Blake¡¯s face, Etheria is probably talking to him as well, answering the question. ¡°You will still be able to level up and use the System as usual outside of your own capacity to receive any sort of communication from others. But others can still watch your livestreams.¡±
Great. Kind of wish they were cut off too.
But we can¡¯t have things that convenient, now can we¡
Then again, those recordings wouldn¡¯t have been possible if they were cut off. So I guess it¡¯s a mixed bag there.
¡°How many skills would you say the Unique Monster is likely to have unlocked by the time we fight it?¡± Blake asks the next question.
Chaos answers immediately in my mind, ¡°If you were to fight it a month before the end of the Unique Domain ¨C which I don¡¯t recommend based on your levels alone ¨C you would find it with around a quarter of its skills unlocked. And if you fight it soon before the end of the domain, you¡¯d find it with around half of its skills unlocked.¡±
Oh. That¡¯s not good.
¡°It¡¯s an automatic death sentence for you if you try fighting it below the maximum level for Class E, so don¡¯t even think about it,¡± Chaos adds after a brief pause.
Right. Not doing that.
¡°Do you think we¡¯ll have to deal with any minions during our fight?¡± I ask while glancing up at the ceiling, thinking about those destruction-fallen Revalta that were eating up the magma.
¡°Unique Monsters treat the monsters in their domains as food,¡± Chaos states without hesitation. ¡°They would sooner eat the monsters to get some more Skill Points than order them around.¡±
That¡¯s good at least.
Sorta.
Good that we will be fighting it on its own, not so good that it¡¯s getting more Skill Points.
¡°Let¡¯s gather a list of everything we know about the UM so far,¡± Blake says, making me nod my head in agreement as my twin grabs a stick and starts writing in the ash over the sandstone beneath us. ¡°We know it¡¯s most likely some sort of reptile judging by all of the monsters in the Unique Domain, and its True Damage skill is related to its vision. So most likely an eye mutation skill.¡±
¡°It can launch the pyroclasts out of the volcano even after affecting them with its gaze, so it might have some sort of skill to do that,¡± I add while leaning forwards with my legs coming to meet together at the bottoms of my feet in front of me and my knees bent outwards. ¡°And since the analysis said that the rocks were ones affected under its gaze, I doubt it¡¯s shooting them out of its own body. So maybe a telekinesis skill of some sort, or something to throw them out of the volcano.¡±
¡°Based on what I¡¯ve seen of the UM so far in its rampages and its affinity, there is no way it is anything but a combat specialized Unique Monster,¡± Chaos comments, of which I repeat for Blake¡¯s sake since he can¡¯t hear Chaos. ¡°That means it¡¯ll most likely have a bunch of combat skills. But something you need to watch out for the most is it¡¯s True Damage skill.¡±
I frown at that as I finish repeating his words to Blake.
¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Blake says with a frown of his own. ¡°If the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze really is linked with its True Damage skill, and its gaze repeatedly applies the True Damage, then you will need a lot of mana.¡±
Before giving me any time to think about that, Chaos continues his explanation in my head, ¡°Chaotic Source will continuously drain your mana and Chaos Energy so long as the King of Destruction is looking at you. This means you¡¯ll be running dry very quickly. Your brother should be fine since it sounds like a slow paced True Damage skill, meaning his barrier should hold up against it. But you need something to replenish your mana and energy.¡±
Something to replenish my mana and energy? You mean potions?
How am I going to get those here though?
¡°That¡¯s simple,¡± Chaos says, sounding rather smug for some reason. ¡°I¡¯ll just teach you how to make them with your lovely new Successor Skill aiding the way.¡±
I blink at that before realizing that I did get a message about a new Successor Skill that I didn¡¯t notice before.
So I open my list of Successor Skills to see the new one.
And immediately find the corner of my mouth quirking upwards ever so slightly when I see it.
{Chaos Infusion ¨C Locked ¨C Allows the user to infuse and compress Chaos Energy.} ¨C [Spend 500 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
B1 | Chapter 93
Ashley
¡°Chaos Infusion is a skill I have that lets me directly compress and infuse my Chaos Energy into things, whether that¡¯s an object to make a Chaos Energy item like your knives, a liquid to make a Chaos Energy restoring potion with about the amount you infused into it being the amount you recover drinking it, or even air and other people,¡± Chaos explains, making me instantly unlock the skill with some of the Skill Points I¡¯ve built up from our hunts. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t recommend you compressing it into the air or other people yet. Unless you¡¯re fine with making monsters that¡¯ll likely attack you without any other skill to control them.¡±
Yeah, no making monsters for now.
¡°If you want a chance against the Unique Monster with Chaotic Source draining away your Chaos Energy reserves, you¡¯re going to need to stock up on a lot of Chaos Energy Potions,¡± Chaos states in a serious tone of voice. ¡°So you should get started right away.¡±
Okay, so how do I do that?
¡°Get any sort of liquid and use the skill to infuse some of your Chaos Energy into it,¡± Chaos says rather matter-of-factly. ¡°It¡¯s not a very hard process.¡±
Right.
I use Silver Barrier to create a small enclosure before using water magic to fill it with water. Then I place my hand in the water and activate the new skill.
Chaos Infusion.
And the moment I activate the skill, I see the same glowing crimson veins that light up my skin when I use Chaotic Surge appearing. Except with them pulsing in the direction of my hand. Like the Chaos Energy inside of me is moving towards it.
Once the energy reaches my hand though, it leaves it and begins to color the water an evil-looking black and deep crimson color. With sparks of crimson lightning occasionally bouncing around inside of said liquid.
¡°Keep infusing your Chaos Energy into it until you have infused about five units of Chaos Energy into it,¡± Chaos directs as I continue doing just that. All the way until I¡¯ve put five units in and cut off the skill, taking my hand out right afterwards.
Then I analyze the result of my efforts.
Chaos Energy Potion (Five Units)
Description: A special type of potion created by the Successor of Chaos herself with five units of her own Chaos Energy. Anyone who drinks it will gain the five units of Chaos Energy inside of it. But beware to those without the secondary energy of Chaos, for should you drink this, unpredictable effects may occur.
Affects: +5 Units of Chaos Energy to those with Chaos Energy. ??? to those without Chaos Energy.
Not bad.
¡°Yes, but the amount you made is a bit much,¡± Chaos says, sounding rather awkward. ¡°Keep in mind that the more liquid there is that you¡¯re infusing, the further out the Chaos Energy spreads. So to get the entire five units restored, you¡¯ll need to drink all of that water.¡±
I raise my head to stare at the air above me, then back down at the rather large tub of water-turned potion in front of me.
Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this earlier?
¡°Because I made the same mistake when I first started and thought it would be best if I wasn¡¯t the only one,¡± he says rather proudly, making my eyebrow twitch in irritation.
Well that¡¯s just petty.
¡°I¡¯m sorry¡¡± Chaos mutters, sounding like a wounded puppy. Which only makes me frown. ¡°Aaaannnyyyyways, you should try to keep it to small amounts of liquid. Oh, and there¡¯s nothing wrong with making a potion and then drinking it down right away to make another one with the same Chaos Energy. It makes for good practice that way.¡±
Uh huh¡
I turn my frown down to the potion again before glancing at Blake, who looks rather interested in the potion itself.
Then I sigh and begin chugging down the potion.
This might take a while.
Over ten minutes pass as I chug down the potion, only managing to do it thanks to the fact that the potion doesn¡¯t actually end up going to my stomach or anything. It just dissolves the moment I drink it, turning entirely into Chaos Energy.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Because that would be rather uncomfortable if it did go to my stomach. Even if there is a bathroom feature in the Domains.
Which I still find to be rather out of place even if it¡¯s necessary so that people aren¡¯t just watching the hunters go to the bathroom.
Anyways, after drinking all of the potion and getting my Chaos Energy back, I proceed to have Blake make small little bottles using his earth magic before I fill them with water and start making several potions. Each restoring five units of Chaos Energy.
Then I pause to check my status when I¡¯ve used up about half of my Chaos Energy.
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Ashley Sinclair *
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43/59 #
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34/41 #
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Level 100
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141
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PHY
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140
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MEN
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203
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MAG
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Chaos Energy
24/44 #
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Successor of Chaos
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I¡¯ll leave it at that for now.
Also, it looks like I should be getting more Chaos Energy and mana soon.
From what I¡¯ve seen on the forums, after you reach 50 points in each stat, it starts to alternate in how many points of mana, health, and Secondary Energy you receive based on how many points you have in the stat.
Every fifty points except for the hundred intervals equate to a 5 point increase in mana, a five point increase in Chaos Energy, and a four point increase in health. Meanwhile every hundred interval is a ten point increase for all three.
With PHY affecting my health, MEN affecting Chaos Energy, and MAG affecting mana.
So another nine points to PHY and ten points to MEN should see me getting more health and Chaos Energy respectively.
I raise my gaze after storing the five potions I made into my storage ring, leaving the remaining twenty-four points untouched so that I can still fight as another thought comes to mind.
How does someone make a health potion if this is how Secondary Energy potions are made?
¡°That can vary based on the person,¡± Chaos says with what feels like a shrug in his voice even if I can¡¯t see him. ¡°Health potions can be made through many different ways. Some people use their own health to make the potions while others use their mana infused into certain herbs. It just depends on their skills.¡±
Right. That makes sense.
¡°A healing potion and a health potion are two different things though,¡± Chaos points out, surprising me a little bit. ¡°A health potion will restore your points of health, while a healing potion will immediately set to work healing your body without affecting how many points of health you have.¡±
Interesting.
There are a lot of different types of potions, aren¡¯t there?
¡°Too many,¡± Chaos mutters. ¡°But there are only a couple dozen skills that can create Secondary Energy potions. And they¡¯re all skills from us Primordials, like the one you just got.¡±
So the vast majority of the people in the universe that can make Secondary Energy potions are Successors?
¡°Yep,¡± Chaos says, sounding a little proud of that fact.
Certainly explains why they¡¯re so rare and expensive.
Wait, does that mean¡
¡°Yes,¡± Chaos answers without my even finishing my question. ¡°You are the only person aside from me in the universe who can make Chaos Energy potions now.¡±
Before I get happy or anything by that fact, how many people in the universe even have Chaos Energy?
He pauses for several seconds.
When he finally answers, he does it rather hesitantly, ¡°A few hundred at most. And you¡¯re the only one with a purely Chaos Energy Skill Tree.¡±
So it¡¯s not worth as much as it sounds.
¡°To most people? No,¡± Chaos states as I glance at Blake to find him furrowing his brows while staring at the ground and rubbing his chin in thought. ¡°To the couple hundred Class S hunters that do have Chaos Energy? Yes. They will most likely pay a fortune for each potion.¡±
Oh.
That¡¯s nice then.
A chuckle resounds in my head as Chaos says, ¡°Nice is an understatement. You could get rich off of these potions when you leave the Unique Domain.¡±
Probably.
On another note, I still haven¡¯t converted my Val currency to System Credits yet.
I should probably ask Blake to get whatever money I had on Val before losing my memory. What with me having no idea where it is.
It wasn¡¯t possible before since I was avoiding my family, but I¡¯ve grown used to being around Blake now.
So it¡¯s fine.
I feel the corners of my lips quirking upwards ever so slightly at that thought before I lie back down again and rest my eyes.
Time for a bit more rest.
Then we can continue the planning session.
B1 | Chapter 94
Ashley
Our planning session gets interrupted before it can even continue when crimson lightning begins to spread throughout the chamber we¡¯re in. Completely blocking us off from leaving the chamber. And the lightning itself just continues traveling along the floor, walls, and ceiling of the chamber, gradually creeping over towards us while occasionally sparking into the air and linking with the lightning on other surfaces.
Blake and I hurriedly look at each other while rising into the air, him through magic and me through my wings. Then I try to use my own crimson lightning to fight against it, since I¡¯ve managed to get a couple skills over the past days to control my crimson lightning a little bit at the very least.
But it doesn¡¯t do anything at all to the approaching lightning. It¡¯s just batted away like a tiny bug.
And when Blake tries to block the lightning, the lightning just turns everything he tries to block it with to ash.
We both grit our teeth before Blake begins casting a teleportation spell. One that requires a longer preparation time thanks to his not knowing exactly where we¡¯re ending up. Since I¡¯m sure he¡¯s planning on teleporting us outside of the catacombs to dodge this.
I on the other hand begin making one silver barrier after another while also using destruction magic to block and delay the crimson lightning. Not really amounting to much, but at least delaying it a tiny bit.
But even with that delay, it still rapidly approaches and will clearly make it to us before-
My thoughts are interrupted when the entire catacombs begins to shake and a loud roar echoes throughout the Unique Domain. One that immediately makes the crimson lightning halt its approach.
Then the lightning slows down rapidly as the monster who is causing it no doubt begins to flee to the surface as it continues its attack.
And it¡¯s thanks to that alone that I¡¯m able to delay the attack long enough for Blake to finish his spell, sending us straight to the surface.
Before we can feel any sort of relief from this rather convenient timing though, a mummy wearing the clothes of a pharaoh bursts out of the ash on the ground with crimson lightning coating its entire body and running through its crimson eyes.
? Level 140 Ashen Pharaoh ¨C 1001 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Damnit, the worst-case scenario.
The monster that was attacking us was the mini boss itself.
And it still wants us dead even after we were all forced out of its catacombs.
Blake and I immediately begin to fly away from the site of the catacombs, dodging the King of Destruction¡¯s pyroclasts as we go.
But it doesn¡¯t take long for a massive meteor to strike where the catacombs is located, destroying the catacombs in the process and further enraging the pharaoh that is chasing us.
The two of us continue flying as quickly as we can away from the pharaoh, but the monster proves itself to be just as fast as we are. Making it so we can¡¯t gain any ground on it.
In fact, it¡¯s a little faster than us.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
We only manage to slow it down a little by moving towards other monsters that it ends up accidentally attacking with its lightning and making join the chase with us. That and the King of Destruction¡¯s attacks that we¡¯re all dodging.
So once again I find myself in a death march. Except this time with Blake alongside me.
And the death march only grows in number as we pass by more and more monsters, with the occasional mini boss joining.
The only bright side to all of this is that none of the monsters seem interested in Blake or me. They¡¯re all after the pharaoh that accidentally shocked them while passing by with its largely uncontrolled crimson lightning.
Which is perfectly understandable. I¡¯d be upset too if something flew past me while shocking me with lightning.
We fly all the way through the King of Destruction¡¯s rampage and continue flying even after the King settles down again, with the monster parade behind us still trailing behind. But at the very least, we¡¯re able to avoid the pharaoh¡¯s attacks. Simply because the pharaoh is busy avoiding the other monsters¡¯ attacks.
I grit my teeth as I remember my earlier death march. But this one should be even worse.
After all, the mini boss chasing us is level 140. So it¡¯s 40 levels above me, and even more above Blake. Unlike the kobold lord that had chased me before that wasn¡¯t even a full twenty levels above me.
And it¡¯s also a much stronger monster in general as well. Even if it lacks control over its powers.
But the sight of it turning a lot of the monsters chasing us to ash on accident is enough to prove its power.
The crimson lightning barely seems to affect the lich lord or the draken. And it doesn¡¯t affect the greater ashen elemental at all.
So there¡¯s that at least.
Although the sight of the lich lord summoning skeletons from the ash-covered ground below and the greater ashen elemental using said ash to create more elementals isn¡¯t a pleasant sight.
It doesn¡¯t matter that they¡¯re chasing after the pharaoh and not us.
And I¡¯m sure the System Forums are having a ball with this death march, just like they were last time.
I¡¯m starting to wish that I could bet on myself from inside of a System Event.
Suddenly the crimson lightning begins to get further away, surprising me and Blake enough that we glance back at the pharaoh, only to find it having suddenly halted its chase. Instead hugging its legs to its chest and curling into a ball mid-air with crimson lightning crackling all around it.
Lightning that continues to grow.
And grow.
And grow some more.
And when the other monsters catch up to the pharaoh, it opens its eyes and sends a massive wave of crimson lightning out all around it. Marking Blake and my own cue to fly away as fast as we can.
So we fly as far away as possible without so much as looking back until the sound of the lightning begins to fade. At which point we find the pharaoh chasing us again, leaving behind a bunch of ash that¡¯s falling to join the rest of the ash on the ground. With none of the monsters previously near it remaining except for the mini bosses that simply continue chasing after it.
Meanwhile the pharaoh itself¡
? Level 141 Ashen Pharaoh ¨C 1001 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
¡leveled up.
Blake and I share a concerned glance before we speed up to go even faster. Trying as hard as possible to flee from the rampaging mini boss.
But the mini boss just continues to close the distance between us, proving itself a lot faster than before now that most of those monsters are dealt with. Even if they¡¯re quickly regrowing in number again.
And right as the pharaoh begins charging up a large railgun shot in our direction, an equally massive ball of black and crimson flames slams into it, knocking its attack off course and making it slam into a nearby wyrms¡¯ den.
I blink as a slightly awkward silence fills the area with the only sounds being that of the monsters trailing the mini bosses.
Then a rush of wyrms leave the den with their own mini boss trailing after them. Heading straight towards us and the mini boss that just accidentally attacked their nest.
Further growing the number of mini bosses currently present in this death march.
¡°Ashley,¡± Blake says, making my gaze turn towards him, only to see a certain look in his eyes. A look that I¡¯m not quite sure what means. ¡°Protect me while I cast, okay?¡±
He¡¯s going to cast a major teleportation spell now? While we¡¯re being chased like this?
It¡¯s not like the last time where I could at least stall them a bit. These monsters are a lot stronger than those were in the last death march¡
I meet his eyes as we continue flying, but something about the look of determination I see in them leaves me sighing.
Well, it¡¯s not like we have another choice.
So I nod my head in agreement, and he immediately stops flying to start casting his spell. Leaving me to catch him and fly with him in my arms.
It¡¯s time for death march escape number two.
B1 | Chapter 95
Ashley
After he begins casting, I go ahead and use Assimilate before throwing my own attacks out behind us. Just to delay as much as possible. And to possibly get some new Skill Trees while I¡¯m at it. Meanwhile my follower count in the corner of my interface continues to skyrocket the longer we flee. As if the viewers are enjoying watching us.
I feel my brows furrowing at that in more than a little irritation.
Seriously. They really should remove this whole livestreamed aspect of the System.
Or at least take it away from the domains and leave it in just the Official System Events.
I throw one spell after another attack after another down at the monsters below us and even the ones above us. But it takes a little while for them to really start killing any of the monsters.
When I do start killing them though, it¡¯s back to back. Numerous monsters all in a row, making me glance back behind me just to see that my attacks had ended up leading a bunch of the monsters to be unable to dodge or block attacks from some of the mini bosses chasing us. Which seems to have given me a lot of the credit for those kills.
At least enough to get their Skill Trees.
And as for the skills themselves? I open several of the new ones right away while still sending attacks down at them and carrying Blake in my arms as he casts.
Starting with the skill I got from the ashen drakes. Then the ashen elementals, the wyrms, and a higher rank of the ashen elementals.
{Molten Ash Shot ¨C Allows the user to shoot out a powerful beam of ash with a molten and destructive property to it that disintegrates whatever it comes into contact with.}
{Volcanic Surge ¨C Allows the user to send out a wave of ash and lava all around them in a powerful surge that disintegrates everything it touches.}
{Ashen Scales of Destruction ¨C Grants the user powerful and retractable scales of ash over their skin.}
{Ashen Blizzard ¨C Allows the user to create a blizzard of ash all around them with the properties of destruction.}
All the skeletons end up giving me are a bunch of mana manipulation skills that are just repeats of the Destruction Mana Manipulation I already have, and I don¡¯t manage to kill any of the higher ranking drakes or wyrms. Probably because they have much stronger natural defenses.
As for the other monsters? They all have Destruction Mana Manipulation later on in their Skill Trees. Just not as the root skill.
And speaking of natural defenses, the Ashen Scales of Destruction skill immediately activates on its own, covering me in what is more like an armor of hardened yet cracked with glowing crimson cracks ash. Albeit in the shape of scales.
I let out a quick sigh of relief as I find it not literally giving me scales as a body part. Because I know that would¡¯ve hurt.
Looking down at Blake again makes me find him still probably about halfway through his chant judging by how far the spell has spread across my body. With it almost covering all of me yet not covering any of him yet. Then I focus on using the new skills I just got to attack the monsters down below.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Starting with Molten Ash Shot, which ends up launching a powerful beam of ash and lava straight down at anything my head is facing. Immediately killing half a dozen monsters that weren¡¯t expecting it in the process.
Which, coincidentally, gives me another skill. One from a higher ranking drake.
{Ashen Bite ¨C Allows the user to coat their fangs in potent destruction-touched ash.}
Not helpful.
Although at this rate I should just start biting people. Considering just how many different biting skills I have.
¡°Lee,¡± Chaos says, surprising me for a moment by his use of that nickname Blake called me once. ¡°Look at Blake and yourself.¡±
I frown at that before looking down at the man in my arms, only to finally realize something.
¡°Blake!¡± I shout at him, but he just smiles up at me and finishes his chant. Making the little cocoon that had wrapped around myself and only myself flash with a purple light.
Then I find myself teleporting far away from the death march. So far away that I can¡¯t even see where we were anymore.
Shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiit¡
I try to look around for him, but find nothing. So I try to sense around for him with Destructive Sensory Pulse. But I still find nothing.
It¡¯s like the damned idiot sent me to the other side of the volcano from him.
But why? Why didn¡¯t he come with me?
¡°He seemed to be running low on mana,¡± Chaos states, making my anxiety rise even further. ¡°Knowing Etheria, he most likely has at least one way to get out of his situation. So don¡¯t worry about him for now and just worry about yourself.¡±
Wait¡ worry?
I blink at that.
¡°Yes, you seem worried about him,¡± Chaos says rather flatly. ¡°At least, that¡¯s the impression I got.¡±
Worry¡
Huh.
I shake my head before beginning to fly through the air in a large arc around the volcano, heading in the direction of the other side of the volcano. But no matter how long I fly, I can¡¯t even get within sight of that death march.
Although I do hear a rather loud explosion ringing out from somewhere.
Where exactly it came from, I have absolutely no idea. But somewhere.
¡°Stop panicking and think,¡± Chaos says, which is rather ironic coming from the Primordial of Chaos. ¡°You can see his livestream, remember?¡±
That gives me pause before I immediately open the livestream to see what he is doing. Then I quickly let out a sigh of relief at what I find.
Blake seems to have gotten out of there himself, albeit with quite a few injuries.
I go to check the replays on the Forums, ignoring the comments about how chivalrous he was for ¡®sacrificing himself to save his twin¡¯ and all as I watch them.
On the replays, right after Blake sends me away, he starts up another loud chant. But instead of using up his mana, his own blood begins to leak from every pore on his body before wrapping him in a large bubble.
Several monsters take advantage of the fact that he¡¯s stopped moving to do this and attack him, including the mini boss chasing him, but their attacks end up being rather weird. Specifically in how small spouts of blood repeatedly start to shoot out of his arms and legs with every attack. As if their attacks are just forcing his blood out of him instead of damaging him directly.
And it¡¯s not just that, because the blood spouting out of him is joining the orb and making it grow larger.
Then the orb just shoots off straight into the distance while literally burning, losing the blood in the orb at a rapid pace to keep up the speed.
All the way till he finally loses sight of the monsters himself.
¡°That skill is a self-sacrificing skill that only works on a single person,¡± Chaos explains for me why he had to send me away for us to survive.
But one thing is bothering me throughout all of this despite what he did.
He never asked me about any of it. Never discussed it with me.
Not once.
Just sent me away and used that skill to escape.
Almost immediately after having that thought, flashes of memories flood through my mind.
Blake always shielding me from our parents whenever we met. Him trying to shield me during the parties when he could. Shielding me at school, whenever we left the house, all the time.
I feel a sad look spreading across my face as I fall down to the ground from the sky, landing on my feet.
¡°Judging by your memories, he¡¯s probably used to doing things like this to save you,¡± Chaos says in a quiet tone of voice. ¡°And he probably isn¡¯t used to you having power of your own now either.¡±
Yeah¡
I feel a bit of wetness moving down my face, but I just wipe it away, take a deep breath, and fly back up into the air again.
Right. I can set him straight when I see him again, but for now, I ought to just survive on my own.
Wherever I am.
B1 | Chapter 96
Ashley
It doesn¡¯t take me too long to find a convenient monster hunting ground. Specifically, another catacombs. But this time I make sure never to go as deep into it as we did in the last one. Not to mention to leave before killing off too many of the monsters within it.
I¡¯m not sure what exactly made the mini boss of the previous catacombs go berserk after all.
For all I know, we could¡¯ve just gotten too close to it, or we could have killed too many of its underlings.
So it¡¯s best to be safe rather than sorry.
On another note, Blake also sent me a message through the System. Something I forgot was possible.
Although the message was very fuzzy and had a bunch of errors and glitched parts all across the screen. Which was rather annoying.
Anyways, Blake¡¯s message made me feel enough relief to continue marching forwards as I hunt one monster after another over the course of several more days. All because his message stated that he was fine and would recover soon.
And that I should just hunt on my own for now.
That we¡¯re too far apart to rejoin each other before the domain¡¯s next event happens.
When the central region begins to fall apart as well.
So I hunt. I hunt monsters one after another, leaving the underground and going back down over and over again with each of the King of Destruction¡¯s rampages for days. Slowly gaining levels and rising up to level 124 in the process. With the leveling process itself becoming faster with each new skill I have in my possession.
And I am getting quite a few new skills. Both through Skill Points and from killing monsters with new root skills that the ones I had killed before didn¡¯t have.
I get skills for attacking, skills for defense, and everything in between. Stealth, general resistance, flat magic boosting skills, and even a new regeneration skill from the wyrms. Because they can apparently regenerate a body part if they have enough mana.
It¡¯s some sort of active use only skill that lets me regenerate using mana instead of health, but only when I want to. So it isn¡¯t always active.
And after a full month has finally passed within the Unique Domain, it finally happens.
Once I leave the latest catacombs ¨C one that I had actually struggled to even find in the first place with the precious few ones remaining by now ¨C it is completely destroyed by the King of Destruction¡¯s rampage. And I can¡¯t find another one after it.
Not a single monster lair at all.
No catacombs, no pyramids, no wyrm dens, and no elemental homes.
Nothing.
Not even drake nests, which I eventually found a while back but never found again.
Which, of course, leads to another death march.
Because there are a lot of mini bosses and other monsters that are now homeless.
But even that problem goes away after the King of Destruction lets out another roar and shoots out far more pyroclasts and meteors than he did before. Sending the death march scattering and slaughtering a good portion of it in the process.
I let out a sigh of relief at the sight as I continue flying away, only for me to tense up again mere seconds later.
When the entire domain begins to tremble.
At first it¡¯s just a single quake that lasts for a few seconds, with the ground trembling down below. Then it¡¯s another. And another.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
And gradually, these quakes occur more and more frequently. After which I begin to hear loud explosions coming from the volcano, where I see a flood of black and crimson ash and flames shoot straight out of its mouth. Meanwhile the quakes continue to occur even while the ash and flames spill forth.
I narrow my eyes as the ash and flames begin to flood outwards from the volcano all around it before crashing into the ground and moving downwards like an eruption of magma. But without the magma.
Shit.
I fly higher and higher into the air in order to avoid it, but I feel my attention locking back onto the volcano¡¯s peak again when the tremors come to a halt.
And something peaks its head out of the volcano.
Something that sends a chill down my spine just from the sight of its terrifying eyes. Eyes that are a glowing crimson in color with an appearance similar yet different to my own eyes. With the monster¡¯s eyes being slit with a glowing white light shining at the center of a pool of liquidy crimson.
But that chill turns into genuine fear when I identify it.
? The King of Destruction, Azrathos ¨C Level 175 ¨C 100 Potential Skills ?
I feel myself freezing in place, unable to move any more than simply flying in place as I stare at the creature¡¯s head. A head spanning several meters in size alone and clearly reptilian.
And everything the King looks at immediately begins to be covered by glowing crimson cracks before simply falling apart and turning to crimson ash. Only for said ash to fall apart as well and simply vanish. As if wiped from existence.
The King of Destruction looks around at the central region of the Unique Domain for a few seconds, its gaze slowly trailing along and destroying everything it meets. But when it is about to see me, I hurriedly remember Chaotic Source and activate Assimilate. Just in case.
An act that I am very thankful for when the King¡¯s gaze finally lands on me, and I find myself flooded with System Messages.
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 29/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 28/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 27/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 26/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
Over the span of a mere fifteen seconds of the King staring at me, I end up using nearly a hundred charges of the skill. And through that reflect his True Damage to the monsters nearby, slaughtering quite a few of them and giving me levels and Skill Points back to back as a reward.
I continue to stare at the King of Destruction though, not taking my eyes off of him even after the unique monster took his off of me. Almost like it grew bored of me or something.
It already stared at me for a lot longer than it looked at anything else, probably because I wasn¡¯t being affected by its gaze. But my level is too low to matter to it right now, so it must¡¯ve marked me in its mind as weak and moved on.
But while I¡¯m looking at the creature, a thought comes to mind. A similarity in appearance.
The monster looks kind of like a T-rex. Sort of.
Like a strange mix between a T-rex and a land dragon.
My staring comes to an end though when I hear the pained screams of the monsters down below, making me look down to find the ash and flames from the King having reached the central region. Where it is currently torching every monster in sight.
Except the drakes, who are flying above it all without a care.
And when I turn my gaze back to the peak of the volcano again?
The King of Destruction is already back inside of the volcano, out of sight.
But the image of the unique monster will stay burned into my mind for a long time to come.
B1 | Chapter 97
Ashley
The ash and flames pours through the central region, destroying absolutely everything in it with ease. All the way until the ash and flames stop pouring out of the volcano and gradually leave the volcanic region. Just to create a massive ocean out of the central and outer regions of the Unique Domain.
I narrow my eyes at the ocean of black flames and ash, only for the ash to all settle at the bottom with the flames filling everything else.
Then I find a rather¡ unpleasant¡ surprise surfacing from the flames.
Large serpents made out of black flames just jumping out of the ocean of flames.
I don¡¯t get any results when I identify them though, which implies that they aren¡¯t alive. Just some sort of skill of the King of Destruction¡¯s.
After a brief hesitation spent staring at the ocean of flames beneath me, I eventually begin rushing in the direction of the inner region of the Unique Domain. The volcanic region itself.
As I fly, I can¡¯t help but feel tense. Because I know the monsters in this region are even stronger than the mini bosses of the central region. Mini bosses that I couldn¡¯t even defeat with Blake yet.
Once I enter the inner region, I stop moving to look around. But I don¡¯t find anything inside of it beyond the volcano itself.
Not a single thing.
There are no monsters, no living things at all, and just a bunch of barren land filling the entire region.
Where¡
Right when I¡¯m about to wonder about the lack of monsters, numerous large holes suddenly begin to slowly open up in the ground with what looks like barriers made of destruction mana. Holes that were previously partially filled with the flames.
Guess the caves just took longer to clear up than the rest of the region.
I slowly lower myself down towards the ground, only to pause when I see monsters beginning to leave some of the caves through the barriers. With many of them including the same monsters I saw before from the inner region.
But there are also monsters I haven¡¯t seen before. Some of which are enormous drakes, others massive serpents, and there are even some of the monsters from the outer region. Except all higher ranking ones. And all much higher level than the ones in the outer region.
What¡¯s got some chills running down my spine though is the sight of the mini bosses wandering around amongst them.
Numerous mini bosses.
There are kobold knights and kobold lords wandering around, all wearing armor. Massive serpents called basilisks of destruction that are mini bosses too. And even a couple mini boss ranked drakes.
And the mini bosses are all level 160. Or in that area.
I feel my fists clenching a little at my sides, but before I can give much thought to the monsters and their power, I find myself receiving a priority message in my inbox. A feature that I¡¯ve found recently and am rather fond of, since I get way too many messages nowadays. And this feature lets me set someone as a priority contact so that I¡¯ll actually get notified of the message when it arrives unlike the others.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
After a brief pause, I open my inbox before checking the message, ignoring the other millions upon millions of messages I have sitting in there being ignored as I do so. Possibly even billions of messages. It¡¯s hard to tell since the number is too large to show up on the icon.
When I read the message though, I find myself feeling rather surprised. Because of just what the message has to say.
It¡¯s from Blake for one, and the message itself¡
Hello Lee, I wanted to share an idea I have for a plan to survive this hellhole.
At our levels and skills, there isn¡¯t any way to survive in the inner region of the Unique Domain without simply running away and not fighting anything.
So the only way we can level ourselves up is through secondhand kills.
But this will all be up to you, since you have more of the gunpowder than I do.
I frown at the message, along with the plan he details in another message after it.
The plan is a very simple one. He intends for us to run around the entire volcano setting up explosives using the King of Destruction¡¯s gunpowder. And we can do one of two things. We can either just toss out the gunpowder at the monsters to blow them up, leveling us up and getting me their skills in the process.
Or we can go around and set rigged explosives up all across the volcano to blow up the entire volcano.
Doing the former will be very dangerous as it would require us to, well, not be blown up. And to not be killed by other monsters who rush to me after the explosions.
And doing the latter will make it so we only get the levels and skills at the end. We may also have to deal with the monsters themselves accidentally setting off the explosives.
So either way has its downsides.
The former also has the issue of Blake not having anywhere near as good a skill to use the gunpowder than I have. Thanks to the constant applications of the gunpowder¡¯s effect.
Overall though, I prefer the latter plan. So I send Blake a message stating that very answer.
Because the latter plan will be safer for us, what with us being able to sneak through the place instead of fighting everything and being chased in another damned death march. Not to mention safer for Blake since he doesn¡¯t have to worry about his resistance skill for True Damage.
I frown for a few seconds before shaking my head and searching through my Skill Trees for new skills. Specifically stealth focused skills, along with skills that would be great for escaping.
The number of Skill Points I have right now is enough to buy around three or four skills, which is a pretty good number. But since I¡¯m in a rush, I just go ahead and purchase the best two of the first ten stealth and escape centered skills I find. Each of which are actually rather expensive but also really good.
{Ashen Dispersal ¨C Allows the user to disperse their bodies into ash and reform within three hundred meters of yourself.}
{Ashen Coverage ¨C Allows the user to create a thick mist of ash around their body to cover themself.}
I go ahead and test out the second skill in particular to find that it barely costs any mana to use, but when I go to use the first skill, I quickly realize it takes a good chunk of mana. Just on instinct alone before I even manage to activate it.
A chunk so large that it¡¯s probably around ten units of mana for one dispersal and reformation three hundred meters away.
And since mana is a precious resource right now, I leave testing that till I need it.
For now I go ahead and activate the other stealth skills I have before moving down towards the cave entrances while reading more of the message from Blake. Because apparently those storage devices he made weren¡¯t just for storage. They also have a feature that lets me use them as bombs.
Although I kind of wish he had told me before about that, seeing as I¡¯ve been carrying them around with me for a while now.
They even have a feature for me to set a timer so that they blow up at a certain time. And a feature for me to use a sort of remote control.
Or for Blake to use one, since he has the ¡®remote¡¯ ring.
I can just set up the explosives for him to blow up.
Anyways, I sneak into the caves past the monsters, surprisingly finding them unable to sense me. But it doesn¡¯t take me long to come to a realization that almost has me pausing mid-step.
The realization that I don¡¯t feel Chaos¡¯s presence in my mind anymore.
He¡¯s just gone.
I grit my teeth, only to sigh and continue walking through the caves.
Guess I¡¯m truly on my own this time, except for my messages with Blake.
B1 | Intermission 5
The Class S System Hub
King Arnos frowns as he stands near the back of the Class S System Hub, simply watching the large screens near the center showing the two twins as they charge through the center of the Unique Domain. And the longer he watches, the more he gets irritated by the comments from the other Class S users in the hub. Because they¡¯re all chattering away making bets on how long they¡¯ll survive from here and how they¡¯ll die.
It¡¯s par for the course with them, but still¡
The king has already made more than a few agreements behind closed doors to prepare for the Princess of Chaos¡¯s miraculous rise out of this Unique Domain.
Personally, he doesn¡¯t believe she or her brother can kill the Unique Monster. But he is close to certain by now from what he¡¯s seen that they should at least be able to survive.
His current plan with the Tower of Chaos and the Mage¡¯s Tower is to evacuate the twins as far away from the planet as possible and let them grow in the home worlds of the two towers. Getting them far away from the King of Destruction the moment they make it out of the Unique Domain.
Regardless of whether they kill the Unique Monster or not, both siblings have already surpassed every single person on their planet in level by now. And the Princess of Chaos has managed to claim dozens of powerful skills from Unique Domain monsters as well, making her a powerhouse amongst her own level at this point.
A real contender amongst the Successors, even if she¡¯s still not at the top.
King Arnos narrows his eyes a little at the screen as both twins run for their lives from waves of monsters chasing after them, occasionally getting hit by destruction magic and other sorts of attacks along the way. Only to regenerate from most of the attacks.
Not all of them regenerate though, since they¡¯re being hit too frequently for them all to have the chance to heal.
But they just keep running, occasionally tossing a ring into a corner after infusing some mana into them.
And even without knowing their exact plans, the king can pretty much guess what they¡¯re doing. Since he remembers seeing the twins putting the gunpowder into those rings.
They¡¯re planning on blowing up the entire volcano along with all of the monsters within.
The king rubs his chin in thought as the other Class S users discuss their current actions, but most of them don¡¯t seem to believe that the twins can pull it off before they die. Or they¡¯re assuming they¡¯ll also be killed in the blast when the explosion is finally set off.
Some of them are even rooting for that to happen, because they know the Unique Monster will also be weakened from the blast. And if they can get rid of two birds with one stone, the ruthless Class S users are perfectly happy with the outcome.
King Arnos turns to look in the direction of a few outliers amongst the crowd. One of which is the Queen of Purgatory. A Successor of Death and another potential ally for the pro-Ashley side.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Then there are the Successors of Life who are all grouped together in another corner, clearly looking worried about the twins. Which is normal for the caregivers of the universe.
After them are the other nation leaders. The King of the Winter Fae Court, King Oberon, who is strongly supporting the Princess of Chaos. Although King Arnos hasn¡¯t seen any interest in the Successor of Magic from the calculative Winter King.
The Emperor of the Phoenix Dynasty, who seems to be interested in the Successor of Chaos in a different way than most others. As a potential candidate for empress or concubine to be exact, in a clear attempt to get her skill stealing skill added to their imperial bloodline. With, once again, no interest shown towards the Successor of Magic. Beyond his use for getting closer to his sister.
King Arnos turns to look at the three Sages of the Holy Mountain, who haven¡¯t said anything outright but have shown clear interest in the Successor of Magic. With no interest shown towards the Princess of Chaos.
Then he focuses on The Order, and the Justices currently stationed inside of the hub.
His brows furrow a little at the sight of them. None of the Justices have shown any inclinations of swaying to either side. The side supporting Ashley or the side against her.
Par for the course for Justicar¡¯s subordinates. Neutral on all topics and only caring about keeping order in the universe.
Right now the only thing he¡¯s seen The Order focusing on is the aftermath of when the King of Destruction breaks out of the Unique Domain. On controlling and trying to organize a force to wipe it out and hopefully save the world from destruction.
A pointless fight in many of the other Class S users¡¯ opinions, King Arnos¡¯s included.
The king finally turns his gaze towards those on the other side. The anti-Ashley forces.
The Queen of the Summer Fae Court, King of the Fallen Kingdom, Chairman of the Renerian Republic, and the Chief of the Wandering Tribe. All of whom have strong ties to other Primordials even if the Primordials don¡¯t support their decisions. Making it so that Chaos himself can¡¯t attack them directly and shielding them in the process.
Amongst the anti-Ashley faction, King Arnos is pretty sure the Summer Fae Court is only siding with their faction to oppose the Winter Fae Court. Since they are always in conflict no matter what they do, and no matter what ruler they have.
It¡¯s just set in stone in the universe that they will always be on opposing sides of a conflict.
The same goes for the Spring and Fall courts.
But the King of the Fallen Kingdom¡ he is someone King Arnos despises with all of his heart. And some part of him is happy that he has an excuse to collide with them.
If his spies are correct, the king is only participating because he wishes to see what sort of undead the Princess of Chaos would make and nothing more. But his public reason is for the safety of the universe and revenge for those whose skills were copied.
As for the Republic and the Wandering Tribe? King Arnos has no idea why they¡¯re participating. Since both of them tend to be neutral on most matters.
His gaze returns to the screens at the center of the chamber.
It¡¯s been nearly an entire week since the twins entered the inner region of the Unique Domain, and they¡¯re starting to get tired. That much is obvious. Especially since they¡¯re not being given any time to rest.
They¡¯ve been trying to use as little mana and energy as possible, with both of them chugging potions throughout the entire time there.
The fact that they¡¯re both able to make potions and made a rather large stock before starting their bomb planting mission is amazing enough, but the king is more amazed by how persistent both of them are in surviving.
Now, though, things are starting to come to a climax.
The king¡¯s eyes narrow a little at the screens as the two begin to run low on rings.
If they plant too many more then they won¡¯t have any for the King of Destruction, so¡
Just like he expects, both of them soon stop planting the rings and begin flying away from the inner region with trails of monsters following behind them.
Let¡¯s see how this plan of theirs finally plays out.
B1 | Chapter 98
Ashley
Shit, this hurts.
I grit my teeth as I fly straight through the tunnels of the volcanic region while being chased by monsters aplenty. So many in fact that I can¡¯t block or dodge every last attack and end up taking at least one attack every several seconds.
Fortunately for me, my destruction resistance skills manage to minimize the damage taken by the attacks. But the damage is still building up.
And it fucking hurts.
Especially when I¡¯m trying to fly while my wings are literally full of holes.
Ignoring how that¡¯s even possible in the first place, of course.
I shoot a glance behind myself to see over a dozen different mini bosses chasing after me. Mini bosses ranging all the way from minor destruction-touched dragons to kobold kings. A rank of kobold that¡¯s apparently even higher than kobold lord.
And all of the monsters behind me are throwing attacks of all kinds at me.
Breath attacks, destruction magic in every form imaginable, massive bolts no doubt made from some skill, webs, and so on. They all fly at me with abandon, tearing holes in me and my defenses easily.
Because all of these monsters are far stronger than I am.
But I manage to continue flying through the tunnels without pause. Even when I let out a scream as my left arm is torn off entirely, and when a chunk of my calf is ripped off by an alpha dracoraptor¡¯s fangs and poison begins to spread through me.
I just keep flying.
Keep flying and everything¡¯s good.
Keep flying and I will survive.
I repeat these thoughts over and over again in my head as I fly, getting new injuries one after another. Even though I still haven¡¯t managed to kill even a single fucking monster in the inner region of the Unique Domain. Because every last monster here is far stronger than I am, even with my skills. And they¡¯re all grouped together as well.
Not to mention that I don¡¯t have Blake¡¯s support here like I did in the central region.
Speaking of Blake, when I briefly glance at his livestream, I find him struggling even more than I am. Simply because he doesn¡¯t have as many evasion or defensive skills as I have.
He does have better healing skills though, so we end up being about even in our fleeing.
Meaning we¡¯re both just as injured.
But the biggest problem right now is that I can¡¯t head in the direction I remember. Because the monsters are chasing me away from the exit.
And deeper in to the volcano.
At this rate I could very well end up accidentally entering-
My thoughts come to a grinding halt when the very possibility that I was just thinking of turns into an actuality. Even as Blake makes it out of the volcano on the screen floating next to me.
But I don¡¯t pay that screen any mind anymore.
Not as I freeze in place high in the air inside of the chamber I just entered.
A chamber that none of the other monsters dare to enter, with all of them just stopping at the entrance and some even whimpering before running away.
Because the chamber I just entered is not a chamber at all.
It¡¯s the crater of the volcano.
And sleeping at the center of said crater is the largest monster I have ever seen in my life.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The King of Destruction.
I narrow my eyes a bit while holding some of my injuries, taking this brief moment of respite to let them heal as I look over the king.
The Unique Monster is nearly two hundred meters from snout to the tip of his tail, and he is currently sleeping at the center of the crater, half submerged in lava. It has the appearance of a massive tyrannosaurus rex mixed with some sort of land dragon, with two legs and two small arms, a massive triangular head with its eyes closed. Meanwhile everything inside of this crater is covered in glowing crimson cracks that, when analyzed, return similar results to the gunpowder and magma. All stating that it is charged with the True Damage of the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze.
I wipe the sweat forming on the palms of my hands on my pants as I slowly fly upwards, hoping against hope that the King of Destruction doesn¡¯t wake up. And when I¡¯m about halfway up towards the peak of the crater, I get a message from Blake telling me that he¡¯s made it out of the inner region.
Despite that, I don¡¯t respond. Because not only can he see for himself what is going on through the livestream, but I just can¡¯t right now.
When I make it three quarters of the way out of the crater without the King of Destruction waking up though, I pause as a thought comes to mind.
Hmm.
It¡¯s worth a shot.
I fly back down a little bit and begin setting up some of my remaining rings inside of the crater itself. Then I continue flying up towards the exit up top.
Only for the King of Destruction¡¯s eyes to flash open out of nowhere before turning to me. Instantly making System Notifications flood my vision and ears while screams echo out from the monsters down in the caves.
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 29/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 28/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 27/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 26/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
The King of Destruction lets out a loud roar as I immediately turn off the System Messages to get them to stop covering my vision and fly as fast as I can right over the edge of the crater. Then I continue flying down, even while I hear the King roaring his anger and climbing the sides of the crater.
I grit my teeth before flying up into the air instead of down the side of the volcano.
Well, shit. I don¡¯t care anymore, and Chaotic Source should protect me.
¡°Activate it!!! Activate it now!!!¡± I shout in the hopes that Blake will hear as I activate Assimilate.
But nothing happens for several seconds.
Right as I¡¯m beginning to wonder if he decided not to activate it while I¡¯m too close or if he¡¯s not watching the livestream, a white sound fills the area. Following which explosions echo out across the volcano as the ground and volcano itself are all torn to pieces, filling the air with crimson ash and making it impossible to see.
I¡¯m also hit by some of it, but it is just reflected. The same as the King¡¯s own gaze was.
The number on the icon in the corner of my screen denoting my current list of System Messages instantly shoots up at a rapid pace. No doubt counting all of the kills I¡¯ve made along with Blake through this maneuver. Not to mention the skills I¡¯m getting from said kills.
And amidst all of this, I hear the King of Destruction letting out an incredibly loud roar of anger and some pain.
But I just keep flying high into the air as the crimson ash chases after me at an equal pace.
I fly higher and higher and higher. All the way until the ash finally slows down and I pull ahead, letting me finally turn around to look at the destruction below.
Only for the ash to be too thick to see anything.
So I glance at Blake¡¯s screen to find him perfectly safe while flying over the lava of the central region, not even being anywhere near the inner region anymore. Even if he¡¯s still covered in wounds.
I turn back to the volcano as I wait for the ash to settle.
And when it eventually does?
I¡¯m left staring at a complete wasteland filled with patches of lava here and there, with the volcano itself nowhere to be found.
And an incredibly pissed off King of Destruction glaring at me in the center of it all.
B1 | System Forums 9
Successors Discussion Thread #1
- [Skyline_88] ¨C {IT¡¯S FINALLY BEGUUUUUN!!!!!}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Looks like the first Successor of Chaos will finally be meeting her end soon.}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {I have my money on her surviving and getting out of the Unique Domain.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Seriously? That¡¯ll never happen. There¡¯s nowhere for her to hide now that the volcano has been blown to smithereens.}
- [ByteCraze_99] ¨C {Well, do remember that there¡¯s still her twin. He¡¯s currently rushing back to the inner region of the Unique Domain. And if there¡¯s anyone that can figure out a hiding place for the two¡}
- [IronClad_86] ¨C {Don¡¯t they still have more gunpowder to use? What if they set up a trap for the UM with that?}
- [CyberFalcon07] ¨C {They have to if they even want a chance at survival. It¡¯s just how Unique Monsters are. There isn¡¯t any other way to weaken them without an army.}
- [Astra_Nova17] ¨C {If anyone has Lucy right now you better bet on her surviving. It¡¯s a simple and easy way to get rid of the cursed horse.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {That horse again? Didn¡¯t someone end up cursed by the Primordial of Sin when they ate the skeletal horse¡¯s tailbone?}
- [CyberFalcon07] ¨C {Why would someone eat a skeletal horse¡¯s tailbone¡?}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Because they made a promise on the System Forums and the Primordial of Sin took them seriously enough to force them to do it. Saying that they would eat Lucy¡¯s tailbone if Ashley survived one of those death marches.}
- [CyberFalcon07] ¨C {What did the curse entail?}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {They now have to pay the Primordial of Sin one credit every three days for the rest of their life.}
- [CyberFalcon07] ¨C {¡}
- [IronClad_86] ¨C {¡.}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {¡}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {Yeah, I still have my money on the twins surviving. I¡¯m even betting a small amount on them beating the Unique Monster. Because why not.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Good way to waste money.}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {It¡¯s not a waste to me. I believe in Ashley! And, more importantly, I believe in hedging my bets.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Well good luck with that.}
- [IronClad_86] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯m not seeing any chance she can survive.}
- [ByteCraze_99] ¨C {Looks like Blake just got there though, so she might last a bit longer.}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {Really?}
- [ByteCraze_99] ¨C {Yeah, he just blasted the King of Destruction in the head to throw the king¡¯s attack away from the Princess.}
- [GrimXShade] ¨C {Good timing I guess. Last I saw she was about to be vaporized by the King¡¯s attack.}
- [OmegaXen] ¨C {I heard all of the Class S nation leaders all across the universe are currently tuned into either her livestream or her twin¡¯s livestream right now.}
- [ByteCraze_99] ¨C {Makes sense. Everyone wants as much information as they can about the Unique Monster. Both on how to fight this particular one for when it breaks out of the Unique Domain and for how to fight future ones.}
- [ByteCraze_99] ¨C {There¡¯s not much information on UMs after all.}
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
- [OmegaXen] ¨C {I¡¯ve heard the Primordials are all watching as well. And that Chaos can¡¯t even contact his Successor this close to the UM.}
- [ElectricWolf@92] ¨C {Well that much was obvious from his current rampage. He¡¯s initialized five new worlds and tossed them all to the flames without so much as a single word of explanation in their tutorials since she entered the inner region of the Unique Domain.}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {Talk about taking his frustration out on others¡}
- [Astra_Nova] ¨C {will those worlds be okay¡?}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t really care either. I just want to see what happens with this UM fight.}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Did anyone hear about what¡¯s happening on Val?}
- [Xeno_Prime4] ¨C {What¡¯s Val?}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {It¡¯s the world these Successors are from. Keep up, will ya?}
- [Xeno_Prime4] ¨C {Why would I care about their world? I only started following Ashley because of the Unique Domain. And she won¡¯t be leaving the Domain alive.}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Well you¡¯re entitled to your opinion. Even if it¡¯s wrong.}
- [Xeno_Prime4] ¨C {Oh, yeah, asshole? So immature.}
- [AlphaOne][Moderator] ¨C {If you don¡¯t drop it you will be banned from this forum thread.}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Well, anyways, the world of Val is already getting up there in the individual game rankings. They¡¯re in the top thirty for the latest few hundred initialized worlds. I¡¯m honestly excited to see how they do in the Planetary System Events.}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {And this is with two of their strongest not competing thanks to being stuck in the Unique Domain.}
- [ElectricWolf@92] ¨C {Most of them seem to be waiting to ascend from what I¡¯ve heard, just so that they can participate in the Planetary System Event that¡¯s coming up for their world.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {What about the Unique Monster? Aren¡¯t they worried that it¡¯ll destroy their world when it gets out?}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Apparently several of the off-world powers have plans in place to deal with it. So the people of Val are focusing on their own issues right now.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Off-world powers? Like which ones?}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Purgatory, to name one.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Oh.}
- [NeonWave$32] ¨C {I forgot the Successor of Death formed a partnership with the Successor of Chaos.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {But won¡¯t that partnership be null and void when the Successor of Chaos dies?}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Apparently the Queen of Purgatory is convinced she won¡¯t die.}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {¡}
- [ElectricWolf@92] ¨C {¡.}
- [Xeno_Prime4] ¨C {¡}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {I¡¯m just gonna go put a small bet on her surviving. Just in case.}
- [ElectricWolf@92] ¨C {Yeah, me too.}
- [Xeno_Prime4] ¨C {Yep.}
- [NebulaX!] ¨C {Seriously?}
- [QuantumFox01] ¨C {Seriously.}
- [WildFlameH] ¨C {FUCKING HELL! I JUST GOT LUCY!!!}
B1 | Chapter 99
Ashley
Silence fills the remains of the Unique Domain as the King of Destruction and I have a stare down. With the exception of the System Messages flooding my little message box due to the simple fact that the king is staring at me.
The King of Destruction is actually rather beaten up right now after what I pulled. He has cracks throughout quite a few of the scales covering his body, and even has a couple of cracks on his claws. Both the claws on his hands and his feet.
Other than that though, the giant, wingless lizard doesn¡¯t have any actual injuries. Just damage to its claws and defenses.
After a few more seconds, the King of Destruction finally opens his large mouth and makes a massive orb of power form in front of its teeth.
I grit my teeth as I try to fly away from the attack, but the king¡¯s head just follows me with ease. But moments before what I¡¯m assuming is a breath attack is about to shoot out of its mouth, a large, purple fist suddenly appears out of nowhere. Following which it slams into the King of Destruction¡¯s head, smashing some sort of screen that appears on it and sending the king¡¯s head turning away from me the moment before the attack fires.
And what an attack it is. It¡¯s a breath attack just as I expected but it is far larger than I was expecting. So large that the beam is at least twice as wide as my body is tall, and it¡¯s made of pure destruction mana. Enough of it that the attack clears the sky of clouds and ash everywhere it passes.
Then I finally spot Blake flying nearby while covered in sweat and panting as if he¡¯d just run the marathon of his life.
I feel some of my anxiety fading away at the sight of him. And at the same time, I begin sending my own attacks flying at the King of Destruction while flying towards the ground and nodding at Blake.
Blake nods back and he goes to the ground as the king is focused on the attacks we both send flying at him.
Once I reach the ground, I immediately get to work setting up large silver barriers using a certain prince¡¯s skill. All large enough to block the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze for some brief periods of time. Simply so that we can, or rather, so that Blake can get away from the True Damage skill.
It¡¯s not a big issue for me, since my skill is perfectly fitted for the King of Destruction¡¯s True Damage skill with my damage reflection. But it is for Blake¡¯s, since his skill is a flat barrier that can only take a set amount of damage.
After I finish setting up the barriers, the King of Destruction turns his gaze back down to the ground and begins looking for us. Proving that he doesn¡¯t likely have any real sensory skills.
Which I guess makes some sense. What with the king having only been born a month and a half ago, and him being named the King of Destruction and all.
And Unique Monsters always have limited skill sets to specialize in certain areas.
Even with that though, it doesn¡¯t take the king too long to find us.
We are the only living beings left in the Unique Domain other than the king after all.
And I¡¯ve confirmed that simply by the sight of the king¡¯s own scales beginning to show more glowing crimson cracks when the king¡¯s gaze reaches me. Proving that his gaze is being reflected back at him.
A fact that the king doesn¡¯t seem particularly pleased about, making him blink and turn his gaze towards Blake instead. Seemingly being smart enough to realize what was causing the problem.
Then something happens that surprises me.
I lose track of Blake. And I¡¯m not the only one as the king begins to look around in confusion the same as me.
The hell?
My confusion doesn¡¯t last long though. Not after I see a message sent to me by Blake. One telling me his current plan.
Oh. Interesting.
In that case, I go ahead and activate several skills at once. Starting with Ashen Coverage, in order to spread a cover of ash all throughout the entire volcanic region. Then I activate a couple other cover skills and even use some of my recent Skill Points from the massacre I got to purchase a couple more.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
And without hesitation, I activate these new cover skills to spread more ash and some illusionary flames and other such things throughout the volcanic region to make it harder for the king to see. Following which I proceed to activate Frigid Tempest Call, whispering the chant as I finally let my System Messages flow. Cutting off the annoying ones about the True Damage not long after they start, of course. And with repeat messages about repeat skill trees hidden.
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 7/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 6/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}
{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}
¡
{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x828
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Lord} x21
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Kobold Knight} x140
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Ashen Drake} x171
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Minor Dragon} x10
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Fallen Revalta} x342
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Fallen Terra} x14
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Fallen Magma Digger} x101
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Fallen Molten Fang} x7
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Fallen Drachne Queen} x1
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne Lord} x20
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Fallen Elemental} x1
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Dragon¡¯s Destructive Breath, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Charge, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Terran Wings of Destruction, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Stomach, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High Magma Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, High Poison Resistance, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Amorphous Body, is now unlocked for your usage.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 130. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 131. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
¡
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 175. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached the maximum possible level for Class E! To continue leveling any further, please head to a Spire and ascend to Class D!}
I gloss over most of the messages and just begin to read the skill descriptions for the skills I got, only for another wave of words to appear in my vision on top of it all. A wave of words that give me pause.
Because I forgot there were objectives to complete for the quest.
B1 | Chapter 100
Ashley
My eyes narrow at the words.
Objective 2 complete! You have participated in the conquering of all twenty-four fortresses! Now bask in your rewards!
|
All twenty-four Fortresses of Destruction have been conquered!
Contribution will now be analyzed¡
Analysis complete.
The following are the ten users and quest goers who have contributed the most to the completion of the conquering of all twenty-four Fortresses of Destruction:
Ashley Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Chaos ¨C 56%
Blake Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Magic ¨C 44%
The randomized benefits for the user are as listed below:
Amulet of Destruction ¨C An amulet filled with destruction mana belonging to the King of Destruction himself. When used, the mana will be released in a large burst originating from the user to destroy everything around them within a twenty meter radius.
Ring of Destruction Resistance ¨C A ring that grants the wearer the following skill while the ring is worn: High Destruction Resistance.
Sword of Hell ¨C A blade granted to those deemed worthy by the First Hell itself that grants the user 40 PHY. All users of the blade may coat the blade in the destructive energies of hell and the unpredictable energies of chaos. They may also alter the form of the blade as they please.
|
Objective 4 complete! You have participated in the slaying of the five Grand Lords of Destruction! Now bask in your rewards!
|
The five Grand Lords of Destruction have been slain!
Contribution will now be analyzed¡
Analysis complete.
The following are the ten users and quest goers who have contributed the most to the completion of the slaying of the five Grand Lords of Destruction:
Blake Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Magic ¨C 60%
Ashley Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Chaos ¨C 40%
The benefits for the user are as listed below with one item given out per Grand Lord of Destruction slain by the user:
Ring of the Fallen Drachne Queen ¨C A ring that grants the wearer three temporary skills that may be used once a day each. The first skill grants the user the ability to temporarily summon forth a swarm of drachne high guards that will be absolutely loyal to the user. The second skill grants the user a temporary buff applying the drachne queen¡¯s own destruction magic to every one of the user¡¯s attacks. The third skill grants every single attack made by the user a chance of applying venom to the target.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Gauntlets of the Fallen Destruction Elemental ¨C A pair of gauntlets made from the hardened remains of the fallen elemental of destruction¡¯s body and core. They grant the wearer three temporary skills while worn. The first skill makes the wearer¡¯s melee attacks deal additional destruction damage to everything hit by them. The second skill allows the user to charge up a concentrated burst of destruction mana that they can release in a single beam. The third and final skill allows the user to slam their gauntlets into the ground, releasing a devastating shockwave that sends destruction mana through everything in a one hundred meter radius once a month.
|
?¨C The King is Dead, Long Live the King! ¨C?
You have conquered all twenty-four fortresses and slain the five Grand Lords of Destruction!
Complete Objective 1 to conquer the Unique Domain.
Objective 1: Kill the King of Destruction
Objective 2: Conquer all twenty-four fortresses
Objective 3: Survive
Objective 4: Slay the five Grand Lords of Destruction
Before I can even finish reading everything, only managing to skim over a lot of it in the process, I am interrupted by the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze finally landing on me. But I manage to finish the chant for Frigid Tempest Call moments later as well, making the frigid tempest appear right on top of me, with me inside of the tempest¡¯s calm region. Blocking out the king¡¯s gaze in the process.
Except that I can see some of the outer regions of the tempest beginning to fall apart and turn to crimson ash, only to vanish entirely. Proving that the king can even erase things like a tempest just with his gaze.
I grit my teeth before reaching out and grabbing the items that appear in an orb in front of me.
The rewards for the two objectives Blake and I completed.
Then I go ahead and store the Ring of Destruction Resistance in my storage ring before putting the Amulet of Destruction and Ring of the Fallen Drachne Queen on. Only to quickly follow it up by quickly putting on the Gauntlets of the Fallen Destruction Elemental and frowning at the Sword of Hell in my hand as I analyze it, still taking advantage of the tempest that¡¯s slowing the king down to do so.
Because any little advantage is necessary in a fight like this. And if I¡¯m being given these items, I will use them.
Sword of Hell
Description: A blade granted to those deemed worthy by the First Hell itself that grants the user 40 PHY. All users of the blade may coat the blade in the destructive energies of hell and the unpredictable energies of chaos. They may also alter the form of the blade as they please.
Affects: +40 PHY, Chaos Energy Affinity, Destruction Energy Affinity
It gives more physical strength than the blades Chaos gave me, but¡
I try to infuse my Chaos Energy into the blade only to find it far less efficient than Chaos¡¯s blades. So I dump it into my storage ring as well. Finding Chaos¡¯s blades to be superior.
Which makes sense. Those blades were made from Chaos¡¯s feathers after all.
I turn my focus back to the king right when he¡¯s about to finally break through my tempest. Then I go ahead and let myself fall straight towards the ground the moment the king pierces through my tempest. Bringing both of my gauntlets together and slamming them into the ground the instant I arrive.
And with that, a powerful wave of destruction mana slams outwards from the source of impact and manages to actually push the King of Destruction back a little bit.
Although that¡¯s all it really manages to do. It doesn¡¯t even pierce the cracked scales on his body, nor does it crack them any further.
It just pushes the king back.
But even that I¡¯m fine with. Because all I need to do is distract it and keep its attention locked onto me.
And distract it is exactly what I did as another message comes in from Blake, making me prepare one last measure against the king.
I raise my hands in front of me and activate another new skill I just got from those items. One that charges up a powerful orb of destruction mana in front of my hands before sending a powerful beam straight at the king.
So even when the ground around the King of Destruction begins to crumble and my twin flies straight out, the king doesn¡¯t pay him any mind. Instead focusing on charging up its own breath attack and sending it back at mine in return.
Unfortunately, the king¡¯s attack easily pushes back against my own. Which was to be expected.
But that doesn¡¯t matter.
Not when the ground all around the King of Destruction begins to explode as gunpowder no doubt sets alight beneath him.
A smile stretches across my face before I activate my new skill, Terran Wings of Destruction, and coat my wings in pure destruction mana. Enough that I easily manage to send myself flying into the sky to avoid the king¡¯s attack.
Right as the king is enveloped in the exploding gunpowder, roaring its own anger out at the Unique Domain and everyone watching this livestream.
I pant in exhaustion as the ash, dust, and smoke filling the air after the explosions slowly begins to clear up. And I sense Blake flying up next to me as well, with the man looking far less exhausted than I am but still exhausted.
We just wait, the both of us unsure of what the king¡¯s current status is.
Until the ash and dust finally clear, revealing the king staring directly at us with pure hatred in its gaze. Hatred that grows even deeper when its gaze¡¯s damage is reflected back at it from looking at me.
I both feel relieved and a little disappointed at the king¡¯s current status though.
Its scales still aren¡¯t shattered all across its body after all. Only some locations have shattered scales.
And those locations aren¡¯t ones covering important areas.
I share a glance with Blake before we both nod our heads and turn back to the king as we chug our own potions.
One last shot.
100 Chapter Celebration Q&A Post
As stated in the title, this post is to celebrate the 100 chapter mark for Ascension of Chaos. Not including System Forums posts and the glossary and non-chapters.
Go ahead and ask anything about the story and I''ll most likely answer it. Whether they''re questions about book one or where the story will be going after the Unique Domain.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Also, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate that!
B1 | Chapter 101
Ashley
Blake and I both carefully take out a large box from our storage rings. A metal box that immediately begins to show faint, glowing crimson cracks across it. Then we toss the box at the King of Destruction as the king himself begins preparing another breath attack.
And without any hesitation, Blake teleports the two of us backwards over and over again. Not sending us very far with each teleportation, but still building up distance. Meanwhile I create numerous barriers of destruction mana along the way.
Making as sure as I possibly can that we¡¯re protected from the blast. Because the bits of pyroclast in the boxes are the only bits that me and Blake could safely gather up and keep before the rest of the central region was turned into a lava pool.
Not to mention the breath attack that should be firing any-
My thoughts come to a grinding halt when a loud explosion sounds out mixed with a roar. Meanwhile a bright crimson light shines all over amidst the explosions and roars, blinding both me and Blake.
And on top of it all, I feel pain spreading across my entire body, and hear Blake grunting and coughing from his place holding onto me with his arm around my side.
The explosions continue one after another as the many pyroclasts inside of the boxes no doubt explode in contact with the king¡¯s breath attack.
Then everything goes silent all at once. Leaving the blinding light to slowly fade until I can see the aftermath.
Or mostly see it, considering the smoke and ash filling the skies.
From what I manage to make out, the remaining ground of the Unique Domain that isn¡¯t covered by the lava is terribly damaged. So badly that it¡¯s just a bunch of craters now with the occasional small pools of crimson liquid, lava, and what looks like blood splattered everywhere.
The sight of the blood instantly brings my gaze to the King of Destruction, where I soon find the ash and smoke clearing enough to reveal the king.
Without any scales left.
He¡¯s now completely scaleless.
A faint smile spreads across my face. Only for that very smile to vanish when I turn to look at Blake and find him unconscious with his own wounds covering him.
Shit.
I quickly search through my skills for a healing skill that works on others, but the only one I find is so bad that it doesn¡¯t even heal his scratches. Something from a low level human I fought in an Official System Event.
Because apparently most monsters, especially destruction affinity ones, don¡¯t have healing skills.
Fuck.
Instead of a healing skill I look through his ring real quick and grab a couple of his healing potions. Then I pour them down his throat to get the healing process a nice boost, since I thankfully still see his natural regeneration at work. Meaning he still has health. Even if he is covered in wounds all over the place and is unconscious.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
I begin to look around as the king begins to recover from the damage, trying to take advantage of its current disorientation to find a place to put Blake.
But the king manages to find us first. And with Blake unconscious right now?
He doesn¡¯t put up his barrier.
My eyes widen in horror at the sight of crimson cracks beginning to spread across Blake¡¯s body. Then I move as quickly as I can to spread my wings out before wrapping him in my wings to cover him so that the king can¡¯t see him. Expanding the size of my wings in the process through one of my many skills.
But the damage is already done, and his wounds are now even more severe than before.
I find myself falling down to the ground since I¡¯m using my wings to cover Blake, meanwhile flashes of memories with my twin flood my mind. Memories of his protecting me during the social parties hosted by our parents. Of him shielding me from the other top enforcers and the media.
Memories of him teaching me how to fight. Teaching me magic spells even though I couldn¡¯t use magic myself. Just because I asked him to when we were kids as a form of escape from our lives.
One memory after another floods my mind. Everything connected to Blake. But only the memories connected to him, which leaves my mind filled with holes still.
Tears begin to leak out of my eyes as I hold Blake to my chest while falling towards the ground, repeatedly seeing the System Message count in the corner of my interface growing thanks to the king¡¯s attention on me.
¡°I¡¯m sorry¡¡± I mutter out loud into his ear as I hold him and fall. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡¡±
He went through so much to protect me all through our lives. And I just¡ tried to forget everything.
I hear another loud roar coming from outside of my wings. A sound that knocks loose my focus and makes me think of the pain I¡¯m in right now. Of the pain I spent my childhood in. The things my parents did. Or rather, didn¡¯t do.
I remember how said parents acted during the Planetary Council Meeting despite all of that.
And everything slowly builds up a fire inside of me.
A rage.
Rage at my own family. Rage at everything both Blake and I were put through. Rage at the enforcers who put us through it, and our family who didn¡¯t do anything besides push it even further with their fucking ignorance.
And rage at this damned lizard that is still sending me System Messages about its gaze being reflected back at it.
My eyes harden, my tears dry, and right as I¡¯m beginning to grit my teeth, I feel a hand touching my face, making me open my eyes faster than I¡¯ve ever done before. At which point I find Blake looking up at me through half lidded eyes with a faint smile on his face and his hand on my cheek.
Then a purple light spreads across him just like the teleportation spells he¡¯s used before. And just like the spells I remember him showing me in the past.
¡°You can¡¡± he begins, only to cough out some glowing bluish red blood with golden runes on it onto my chest, ¡°¡win.¡±
The hatred growing inside of me halts in an instant before he vanishes from my arms, having teleported himself away. Hopefully to a safe place. Because I have no idea where he is anymore, even when I try to use Destructive Sensory Pulse.
I finally open up my wings and flap them, halting my fall mere seconds before I¡¯m about to hit the ground. Then I fly up into the air and turn my glare onto the King of Destruction once more.
And what I find looking back at me through the now clear air is an enraged King of Destruction covered in open wounds and without a single scale on his body. He¡¯s also missing a few fangs, and several claws spread across his hands and feet.
But most importantly, he seems to be missing half of his tail. As if he tried using his tail to protect his face, which was closest to the blast judging by the severity of his wounds closest to the face.
Although that makes sense considering we tossed the boxes at the king¡¯s breath attack. An attack formed in front of his mouth.
I grit my teeth and narrow my eyes at the monster while remembering the different types of runes that Blake taught me as a kid. Numerous runes and arrangements of them that will work for destruction magic the same as they worked for his spatial magic. Albeit with different effects.
¡°You¡¯re a dead lizard,¡± I mutter out loud, my voice echoing across the hellscape around us. And as if understanding my words, the King of Destruction lets out a hissy growl. Like he¡¯s angry.
Good.
Be angry.
Because you¡¯re not the only one.
B1 | Intermission 6
All Across the Universe
One person after another tunes into the livestream belonging to the very first Successor of Chaos as the first battle with a Unique Monster in centuries truly begins. And as the Successor of Chaos herself finally loses her composure for the very first time since she emerged on the livestreams.
Whether they¡¯re a Primordial, a Successor, or even just a regular user within the System, quadrillions of people all across the universe watch the livestream. Easily breaking the record for the most viewers a Class E user has ever had in the history of the Primordial¡¯s System.
But the Princess of Chaos¡¯s loss of composure sends surprise throughout the majority of the viewers in the know about the princess¡¯s actions up till now. About her complete lack of emotion and social interactability.
Meanwhile various different reactions spread out from those with the most invested in the Successor of Chaos.
In the middle of a domain on Val, The Black Enforcer drops his sword, letting monsters hit him until his allies kill the monsters. With the man himself not being able to take his eyes off of the screen even while the monsters were attacking him. His shock proving too much to bear.
The White Enforcer freezes in place before everything in the city streets around her and the domain in front of her begins to grow covered in frost. Making all of the people nearby the woman back away or prepare defenses against her emotional outburst. But she doesn¡¯t say a word or show any expression on her face throughout the freeze going on around her.
Both of the Successor of Chaos¡¯s siblings back on Val break down and begin crying, shocking those around them in the process even as they try to make up for their two strongest team members¡¯ sudden lack of participation in the boss battle they¡¯re currently in.
And within the bounds of Purgatory, the Queen of Purgatory herself simply taps her finger once on her throne and nods her head without a word. Having already expected something like this to happen.
The King of the Sil Gray Kingdom grimaces as he watches, also having expected an outcome similar to this. But unlike the Queen of Purgatory, who sees this as nothing but another step forward for her potential business partner, he finds it to be a dark affair. One that could¡¯ve been avoided if a multitude of different events hadn¡¯t happened.
Like the actions of the Void Primordial, who didn¡¯t take the item responsible for the Unique Monster¡¯s arrival on Val away from the planet when she could have. Or the actions of the Primordial of Erebos, who was responsible for the item ending up there in the first place due to his throwing the item into the void before it coincidentally ended up near Val.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
And the System Forums shows no sign of slowing down as billions upon billions of forum threads open up about the battle. Each with more vigor than the last, and precious few believing Ashley has a chance at victory.
Leaving the betting on the battle significantly one-sided, with one hundred to one odds that Ashley dies while facing the King of Destruction. With it having been even worse at a thousand to one odds until the Queen of Purgatory herself bet on Ashley¡¯s survival.
But amongst the people within the universe, the ones with the most significant reactions are the ten Primordials. Each of whom are at their usual meeting location.
Every last one of them. Including the usual Primordials who never show up to the meetings.
Yet, despite being there together at a place to meet and discuss matters, most of the Primordials are there to hold back Chaos as he tries to kill Erebos. Destroying entire nearby solar systems as aftermath from his blocked attacks without a thought.
Meanwhile Erebos just laughs, ignoring the attacks thanks to the other Primordials¡¯ successful attempts to restrain Chaos.
Until one of the attacks manages to finally land on him. A poisonous attack that was hidden amongst the others and deemed less dangerous because of it.
Then the symbols in Erebos¡¯s eyes switch to wrath and he begins sending his own attacks back at Chaos.
¡°Will you two please calm down?!¡± Justicar shouts, his voice echoing out through the entire solar system. But as the other Primordials expected, neither of the two least predictable Primordials listen to the usual voice of reason.
A voice that is often ignored.
Eventually Chaos gets sick of it all and flies backwards, out of the restraints and away from the other Primordials. Then he narrows his eyes on Erebos and declares for all the Primordials to hear, ¡°If my daughter doesn¡¯t make it out of the Unique Domain alive, I will be declaring war on the Primordial of Sin. And I will wipe out every last planet under the control of your little cult!¡±
And without a moment¡¯s hesitation, the Primordial of Chaos turns into crimson mist as he dispels the clone he had attending the meeting. Only for his true body, that of a massive raven perched on top of an even more massive sun, to begin shedding tears as he watches the sole person in the universe that he cares about fight with her all. With everything she has, both emotionally and physically.
And when the tears touch the sun, they immediately begin altering and mutating the sun at random until the sun can no longer take it and explodes into millions of different pieces, all with different forms after being mutated.
But Chaos doesn¡¯t pay it any mind as he keeps watching the livestream with tears running down his avian head.
¡°Ashley¡¡± Chaos mutters, his voice echoing around his own personal plane. The one place he can be himself without entire worlds around him turning into mutated balloons that spread who knows what throughout the universe just from his making contact with them. ¡°Please, win this.¡± More tears begin to flow as the enormous raven Primordial tightens his beak. ¡°You have to.¡±
B1 | Chapter 102
Ashley
The only runes Blake was able to teach me when we were young were the more basic ones. Seeing as he was so young at the time himself. But he taught me enough to know how to create a mist out of dispersal runes, infusion runes, and enhancement runes. Infusion runes to infuse destruction mana into the air, dispersal to disperse it all over the place, and enhancement runes to empower the mana-infused air.
So I do all of that, spreading the mist around and immediately damaging absolutely everything left in this barren wasteland. Except for the ground, since I don¡¯t know where Blake is hiding down there.
After that I begin making one spell after another form all around the King of Destruction blasting various different types of magic at him.
Bolts of lightning, blasts of water, spears of ice, waves of flames, and even splashes of poison.
But I find myself stiffening up a little when none of them do even so much as a scratch to the King of Destruction. Following which the king himself simply lets out a loud road along with a shockwave made of destruction mana that blasts away all of the attacks that hadn¡¯t hit him yet.
My scowl keeps its place on my face as I stare at the king, just looking around his badly damaged body to see if there¡¯s any damage from any of the types of magic I used. Even a single one. Just one weakness.
And right when I¡¯m about to give up attacking with my spells, my eyes zero in on a single spear of destruction mana that causes some very minor scratches into the open wounds of the king.
Destruction magic is the King of Destruction¡¯s only weakness? Or are my other mana manipulation skills just too weak for those affinities of magic to harm him?
Either way, destruction magic is the way to go with this bastard.
So I immediately stop using any of the other types of magic I have to focus solely on destruction magic and my own skills. But before I do that, I down a Chaos Energy potion of my own making to restore five units of Chaos Energy. Since the king¡¯s gaze is still decreasing my energy supply. Even with the king¡¯s gaze being blocked a bit by the mist I¡¯m spreading around.
I take in a deep breath before beginning to activate my first skill.
Only for the king to let out a loud roar as waves of black, gray, and crimson ash rush out of the king¡¯s mouth in the form of an enormous pyroclastic wave. One that spreads out and then envelopes the air all around it while pushing back against my mist.
All the way until it eventually reaches me and shatters its way straight through half a dozen barriers of destruction mana that I set up. Not to mention numerous other defensive skills.
Even Cocoon of Destruction.
I flap my wings using my new skill, Terran Wings of Destruction, to coat my wings in destruction mana, sending me backwards as quickly as I can. But the pyroclastic flow suddenly begins to move differently, condensing down into a single spear that rushes towards my chest and pierces straight through my heart.
Then the flow just freezes, and I continue moving backwards. Following which it begins to dissipate. As if the attack had lost its strength at last.Stolen novel; please report.
It¡¯s too late though. The hole directly through the center of my chest ¨C through my heart ¨C proves that much.
Until the hole begins to heal over at a slow pace, and I remember one of the new skills I got.
{Amorphous Body ¨C Makes the user¡¯s body amorphous so that the user doesn¡¯t need any particular organ to survive so long as 50% of their body is in stable condition.}
I feel the corner of my lip twitching up a tiny bit, but I quickly focus on grabbing a healing potion and downing it to heal the rest of my wound. Because while I won¡¯t die from losing my heart now, it still isn¡¯t pleasant nor is it easy to move like this.
After drinking the healing potion with some difficulty, the healing of the hole going straight through my chest to the other side out my back immediately begins to hasten at a visible pace. Meanwhile the remaining pyroclastic flow in the air continues to dissipate until the King of Destruction is finally visible again. Without any of my destruction mana mist in the air anymore.
I find myself panting in exhaustion as more System Messages go through about the King of Destruction¡¯s gaze. But the sight of my own status sends a faint wave of despair through me when I see my mana nearly empty already. A wave that I crush immediately.
Fucking hell.
I quickly down the potions Blake made. But he didn¡¯t have time to make all that many mana potions thanks to the king¡¯s fit that destroyed the central region, so at this point I¡¯m down to just half a dozen or so mana potions left. Each of which restores five units of mana.
Not even enough to fill my mana pool once.
I grit my teeth after finishing off the last potion, then I cut off all of my spells that I still have bombarding the king of destruction. None of which do much more than some scratches, despite my focusing them on the king¡¯s neck.
Thanks to those potions, my mana is back up to about 80% capacity. Although my Chaos Energy is fine and at 90% with more potions to spare. But I¡¯ve mostly just been using my Chaos Energy for Chaotic Source and for Chaotic Surge.
Despite everything though, I think¡ I might have a chance.
My scowl slowly turns into a grin as I notice it. The king¡¯s weakness.
The King of Destruction may visibly be strongly lacking in wounds right now, but what leaks beneath the surface is a different matter entirely.
Because he¡¯s been accumulating effects one after another throughout this entire battle from Chaotic Surge.
And the ending of that pyroclastic wave attack is likely a result of that.
Out of nowhere, the king lets out a snarl before leaning down a little bit and then jumping straight through the air to headbutt me. Sending me flying straight out of the inner region of the Unique Domain, across thousands of meters and hundreds of kilometers. All the way until I crash into the magma below.
The magma doesn¡¯t hurt much or do much damage though, no doubt thanks to High Destruction Resistance and my High Magma Resistance skills. So I fly straight out of the sea of magma before narrowing my eyes at the King of Destruction, who is currently charging like mad in my direction.
Through the magma. Just kicking the magma into the air as he runs.
I look down at my rapidly reforming chest that was completely caved in, along with most of the rest of my torso. Then at my arms that were bent in the wrong directions from the attacks.
Finally I turn to the king again while my wounds rapidly heal myself. Simply downing another healing potion as I keep an eye on my health, which has fallen to about a quarter of my maximum health now.
It¡¯s hard to get a clear read on the king, but he is slowing down with every passing second. Even if he is charging through the magma sea like a mad dinosaur.
I narrow my eyes before taking in a deep breath and flying high into the sky.
Guess it¡¯s now or never.
Destruction magic through direct mana manipulation won¡¯t help me anymore. And none of my other skills will do either.
But there are two finisher attacks that I got from our blowing up the entire inner region that may just work.
The King of Destruction has numerous effects on him that are all decreasing his resistances, slowly weakening him, draining him of stamina, mana, and health, and trying to slow him down. He is completely missing all of his defenses thanks to his scales being gone, and he can¡¯t deflect with his tail.
The Unique Monster is even in a sea of magma ¨C although I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s lava or magma, but I don¡¯t care at this point ¨C so his movements are slowed.
So I activate both Destructive Charge and Dragon¡¯s Destructive Breath at the exact same time.
Just to see the King of Destruction stopping out of nowhere and opening his own mouth as a breath attack of his own begins building up in front of his fangs.
Time to finish this.
B1 | Chapter 103
Ashley
Following my activation of the two skills, a deep crimson and black orb of flames appears in front of my mouth, along with thick bolts of black and crimson lightning that begin to move along my arms. With both attacks growing larger and larger by the second, at the same time as the breath attack from the King of Destruction grows.
I make sure to put in half of my remaining mana into both attacks. Half of it into the Dragon¡¯s Destructive Breath and half of it into the Destructive Charge.
And it shows. Because the breath attack continues to grow larger and larger until the orb in front of me is nearly a meter in diameter, and the bolts of lightning jumping back and forth across my arms grow so numerous that I can¡¯t even see my arms anymore beneath them.
Then, as if timed specifically to happen, all of the attacks launch at the same time.
My breath attack shoots out in one powerful blast straight at the King of Destruction¡¯s own breath attack, and the bolts of lightning on my arms fire off on either side of the breath attack. With the bolts revolving around the breath attack in two different spirals on opposite sides of the attack.
And all of the attacks collide halfway between the King of Destruction and me, sending a powerful shockwave through the area. One that completely wipes out all of the lava around us while sending me flying up into the air after I activate the skill Ashen Scales of Destruction for more defensive power with the last shred of mana I saved and regenerated as the King of Destruction is sent into the ground.
But after the initial shockwave, the visibility in the area instantly plummets as black and crimson lightning sweeps through the air mixed with flames of the same color. Meanwhile, amidst the chaos, I hear the king roaring out in pain.
Before I can feel any happiness about that though, I feel my own pain flash through me as a couple smaller jets of the king¡¯s breath reach me and burn straight through both of my arms and some of my wings. Leaving me armless with large holes in my wings as I begin to plummet down towards the ground with the scales having been completely shattered almost immediately. Deactivating the skill in the process.
I try to fly anyways, but I can¡¯t feel my wings anymore. So I eventually crash into the ground as my vision begins to go dark.
The sounds of the king¡¯s continuous roaring repeatedly echoes in my ear through the pain. The pain of my now-missing arms and what I¡¯m pretty sure are completely broken legs and some incredibly large holes in my wings. All while the aftermath of our attacks¡¯ colliding still plays out through the area.
But even that slowly begins to die down, eventually leaving the area barren of anything except for me. With the King of Destruction being too far away to see through the ash and debris scattered throughout the air.
Time passes, and the king¡¯s roaring grows quieter and quieter.
I look at my status when I glance at my wounds to find them pausing in the middle of their healing to find my health completely depleted, the same as my mana. Leaving me with my wounds largely patched up but still without any arms. Although the king¡¯s breath attack seems to have cauterized the wounds, so I¡¯m not bleeding. And I should still have more than half of my body left, so my life isn¡¯t currently in danger.
Currently being the key word.
Especially when I begin to feel the ground tremble once in a while with what feels like footsteps.
I push with my wings against the ground to climb up to a sitting position as the last of the ash and debris clear up in the air. Revealing the King of Destruction as he slowly marches over towards me. At which point I see the crimson light in his eye glowing brighter as the System Messages about the True Damage being reflected begin arriving again.
The king himself isn¡¯t in very good shape either, but he is clearly still in better shape than I am in.
He is missing both of his arms, the same as me, with large holes running through his body, and chunks ripped out here and there. And what was previously nothing more than half a tail is now just a stump, with all of the king¡¯s fangs in his mouth completely gone.
But most importantly, the king is now missing an eye.
I use my wings in the place of my completely missing arms to push myself up to my feet, only to lose my balance and fall to the ground again. Then I try it once more, pushing myself to my feet before falling again.
And one last time. With me finally making it to my feet and using my wings to keep my balance.
Everything around us is just a completely barren wasteland, and the king is repeatedly blinking his remaining eye closed at this point. Until it eventually just leaves it closed permanently. As if the Unique Monster is trying to make sure its own attack isn¡¯t just reflected back at me.
Which leaves my remaining Chaos Energy free for use in combat.
I grit my teeth before summoning a healing potion right in front of my mouth, finally letting my fangs out for the very first time, and chomping straight down on it to make half of the healing potion break inside of my mouth. Making stumps grow in the place of my missing arms.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Then I repeat that process three more times until I completely run out of potions, healing myself up just enough to fully grow back my arms. Even if there are still holes throughout my wings and the rest of me.
So I down my remaining Chaos Energy potions to bring my Chaos Energy back to nearly full capacity, after which I reach for and draw both of my swords, which are still completely unharmed despite all of the damage I¡¯ve taken. Probably because they were made by Chaos himself.
I grit my teeth before charging my blades with all of the Chaos Energy in my arsenal. Every last unit of it. All the way until massive blades of energy form around my swords that shoot straight up into the sky far past the end of the swords themselves.
The king pauses for a second, only to continue stumbling towards me in uneven steps. Most likely sensing where I am through my scent or something since his eyes are either closed or destroyed.
I grit my teeth again before beginning to run at the King of Destruction one last time with both of my blades crossed as I jump straight up towards the largest wound on its body.
The wounds on its neck.
And when I reach it, I swing both of my blades straight at the wound, only for a powerful barrier to appear in front of its neck while it tilts its head down and begins charging another breath attack at me.
¡°Another?!¡± I grunt out through gritted teeth, but I don¡¯t stop my attack. Even as my blades clash against its barrier.
It¡¯s so close!
The breath attack charging above my head continues growing larger with what is most likely the King of Destruction¡¯s last bits of mana. Meanwhile cracks slowly begin to appear on the barrier. But I¡¯m not even sure if my blow has enough strength to finish it off after breaking the barrier.
Then a skill that I have never used flashes in my mind for the first time since I got it.
Not that it¡¯ll be much use to me with the-
A loud ripping sound echoes out through the area before I see Blake appearing near us and clapping his hands together. Making an orb appear around the breath attack, after which it, too, vanishes. Only for an explosion to echo out from somewhere else.
Then Blake collapses to the ground, albeit not without giving me a nod and a look of confidence and determination.
Like he¡¯s absolutely certain that I will win this.
I find myself genuinely smiling at him and even letting out a light giggle before shaking my head at the small sliver of doubt I had. And without hesitation, I activate Torrents of Chaos.
The Successor Skill that instantly refills my entire pool of Chaos Energy.
Then I activate Assimilate one last time, having been activating it over and over again throughout the battle, and push all of the remaining energy straight into my blades, over doubling the amount of Chaos Energy that¡¯s inside of them. Instantly making them push against the barrier with an enormous amount of power, making one crack after another appear on the barrier.
And finally, it all happens at once.
The barrier shatters. My blades and I push forwards to meet with the king¡¯s neck.
And when they meet the king¡¯s flesh, they cleave straight through the many wounds. Through the very small amount of flesh remaining around the king¡¯s windpipe.
And finally sever the king¡¯s head.
Leaving me falling down to the ground.
But after landing, I quickly begin to turn around towards the King of Destruction, only to pause when a large Primordial System Notification is displayed in front of my vision. One that leaves a smile on my face as I just flop down to sit with my right leg on the ground in a half circle in front of me and my left leg held up to my shoulder with my foot on the ground.
Then I place my left hand on the volcanic ground around me and the other on my right knee as I read the notification.
|
Primordial System Notification
|
|
Attention all users of the universe.
The Successors of Chaos and Magic, Ashley Sinclair and Blake Sinclair, have slain the Unique Monster known as the King of Destruction.
Therefore they have both earned the Titles of Unique Slayers.
|
Nice.
Immediately after seeing that notification ¨C one which was sent throughout the entire universe according to what¡¯s said on it ¨C I feel a burning and stabbing pain in my eyes as System Messages force their way into my vision. A pain so bad that I can¡¯t help but scream out in pain and only barely even register what the System is saying as it reads the messages, much less read them myself.
{You have been granted 10000 Skill Points for killing the Unique Boss Monster of a Unique Domain.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: King of Destruction} ¨C ERROR ¨C As the user is not the original holder of the Unique Skill Tree, the Skill Tree¡¯s skills shall now change their names to accommodate the new user.
{Processing¡}
{You have now unlocked the Unique Skill Tree: Queen of Destruction}
{You have unlocked a new Unique Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Unique Skill Tree, Gaze of Destruction, is now unlocked for your usage.}
Numerous other messages appear as well, but the pain grows so severe that my mind simply doesn¡¯t register them.
Then, all at once, the pain vanishes, leaving me gasping as I suddenly find myself still sitting in the same position as I was before. With one more universal Primordial System Notification on top of the first one that pushes its way over the messages.
|
Primordial System Notification
|
|
Attention all users of the universe.
The Successor of Chaos has officially assimilated the skills of the former King of Destruction. Therefore the System is now declaring the user, Ashley Sinclair, as a new Unique Being.
As the new Queen of Destruction.
|
But I don¡¯t pay it any mind.
Instead I just quietly mutter, ¡°That¡ hurt¡¡± as I stare at the fallen king¡¯s corpse.
B1 | Chapter 104
All around the Universe
The moment the Primordial System Notification is sent out to every user within the System, it¡¯s as if time has completely stopped for that brief moment. Then all hell breaks loose as everything happens all at once.
Those who had no hope in the two Successors to actually achieve victory in this Unique Domain immediately begin following both of the Successors while discussing what will happen on Val. Meanwhile those from Val who had written them off already quickly begin to change their plans after an even longer period of shock. Readying everything for their return to Val.
The allies that were made by the Successor of Chaos begin their preparations to meet Ashley when she leaves the Unique Domain that is starting to crumble, and the enemies grow cold in their fear of the new Unique Being that they have already declared as their enemy.
But unlike the majority of the populace, the Primordials all let out a collective sigh of relief when Chaos immediately stops showing Erebos any attention and focuses everything on the livestream. Calming down the very instant the notifications were sent out and finally letting Erebos leave, even if it is now as an enemy.
On Val itself, every single person living inside of the domain covered by Ashley¡¯s spire let out cries of relief as the guillotine hanging over their heads in the form of the Unique Monster is finally removed. And many of them even begin cheering out Ashley¡¯s name as their savior.
But no matter where they are, everyone thinks the same thing as they look at Ashley sitting on the volcanic ground while panting in exhaustion and with her clothes looking disheveled.
As they look into her new eyes.
Eyes that used to be pure orbs of crimson light mixed with magma but are now slits of the same. Except with a single point of white in the center that flashes with a faint black shimmer whenever her eyes meet something. Making whatever she looks at begin to glow with even more crimson cracks than before.
Everyone realizes full well that she now has a True Damage dealing skill.
Despite only being Class E.
The very first Class E in existence to have a True Damage skill.
A Tower on Val
The Black Enforcer finds himself staring blankly at the livestream with relief as he sits behind his office desk, unable to move a muscle. Just feeling too relieved to move. And he sees his wife in a similar position on the guest seats further away from his desk.
Neither of them can say a word for several minutes.
Sebastian was even sure at multiple points throughout Ashley¡¯s battle with the King of Destruction that he was going to have a heart attack. Just out of worry.
But he didn¡¯t. And his twin daughter and son are both still alive and well.
He smiles as he looks between the two livestreams in front of him. One showing his daughter and one his son.
Neither of whom seem too injured to move.
After a few more minutes of silence, he finally opens the System Forums to see how the universe is responding. At a very popular forum meant for national discussions where only high ranking members of society can even look at it. And where all members are required to hold anonymous usernames to keep anonymity.
Even Sebastian is only able to look at it thanks to his position on Val and his alliance with the guilds.
And the very first thing he sees is the forums blowing up with messages of all kinds as everyone in the universe goes wild.
- [JadeSlinger101] ¨C {SHE DID IT??!?!?!!?}
- [CatLover2] ¨C {HOW?!?!?}
- [BXBUIL882] ¨C {WHAT?!}
- [HolyBird999] ¨C {It¡¯s the birth of the first Class E Unique Beeeiiiinnnnggg!!!!}
- [ChaosTowerGrunt1] ¨C {Celebrate her! All hail the Successor of Chaos!!!}
- [CatInTheBag8] ¨C {DO YOU FUCKING KNOW HOW MUCH I BET ON HER DYING?! DAMN YOU PRINCESS OF CHAOS!!!!}
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
- [11Undying11] ¨C {how¡ why¡. Is the universe coming to an end¡?}
- [XBlackKnightX] ¨C {This looks like it¡¯ll be interesting.}
- [Dark_Looter] ¨C {I wonder just how much hell she is going to bring back to Val and the Official System Events after this?}
- [BlazeBard] ¨C {Oh Chaos no¡ please don¡¯t let me ever be matched up with her in an Official System Event¡}
- [VortexViperX] ¨C {You¡¯re right¡ that would be hell¡}
- [TwilightTitan89] ¨C {Quit yer whinin¡¯. She may have those skills but who says she can use them well?}
- [BlazeBard] ¨C {Say that to the King of Destruction¡¯s corpse.}
- [Circuitage_1] ¨C {my credits¡ I lost¡ so many credits¡}
- [Astralchemy999] ¨C {Sucks for you! I hedged my bet and won big!!!! HAAAAAA}
- [No1Mongoose] ¨C {I wonder just how much money the people who bet on her surviving won¡?}
- [QuokkaQQwack8] ¨C {It was an enormous gambling pool, so probably a lot.}
- [Astralchemy999] ¨C {MONEY!!!!}
- [NebulaNinNinx2] ¨C {Seriously? I got Lucy from losing the bet? Are you fucking kidding me? Who even bet Lucy on her survival anyways?!}
- [PxPixX8] ¨C {Someone who knew she would survive?}
- [YesWoman2] ¨C {Probably.}
- [LoverOfDeath9] ¨C {I told you! I told you all! The Queen of Purgatory¡¯s predictions are always correct!!!}
- [YesWoman2] ¨C {It¡¯s sad how true that is¡}
- [KnightOfLandOfCats] ¨C {I should¡¯ve trusted Her Majesty¡}
- [LMAO2Cat1] ¨C {I just want to see the faces of everyone on Val who had already written her off lmao}
- [VladmirVonCat] ¨C {This¡¯ll be fun.}
- [VelvetVoyagerX2] ¨C {Anyone want to make the next bet on who will end up facing Val in the Official Planetary Game? And if LeeLee will be entering it?}
- [Knight_of_Gales] ¨C {LeeLee?}
- [VelvetVoyagerX2] ¨C {Yes. It¡¯s a nickname I made for her based on what Blake called her.}
- [Knight_of_Gales] ¨C {Oh, right. He did call her Lee, didn¡¯t he?}
- [VelvetVoyagerX2] ¨C {Yep!}
- [Knight_of_Gales] ¨C {Regardless, the entire universe is now invested in her.}
- [Willow_of_Life] ¨C {Right. She¡¯s going to have everyone¡¯s eyes now.}
- [VelvetVoyagerX2] ¨C {I believed in her from the start!!!}
- [Knight_of_Gales] ¨C {Sure you did.}
- [NebulaNinNinx2] ¨C {Maybe I should just bet Lucy on Ashley losing something now¡ because she never seems to do that¡}
Sebastian blinks before frowning in confusion.
What¡¯s a Lucy? And I understand that there are a lot of young successors in this forum thread, but where are the adults? Or does everyone outside of our planet just talk like that nowadays?
His frown grows for a second, only for him to shake his head and ring the bell on his desk. Calling for his assistant to enter the room.
For now I need to get things ready for her return.
Within the Successor of Sin¡¯s System Hub
¡°Is that true?¡± Vlarch de Vera asks as the woman lounges around on a large chair amidst the dozens of other Successors of Sin. Each of whom are currently expressing different Sins in their eyes, just like how their Primordial¡¯s eyes show his Sins.
¡°Yes, Vlarch,¡± the highest level Successor of Sin amongst them, Artemir VerMere, states, his voice echoing around the hub. ¡°We are now at war with the Successor of Chaos and the Successors of Magic.¡± The man with stark white skin and several tattoos moving across his skin floats up into the air and sweeps his arm out as he declares, ¡°All Successors of Sin who are in Class E and Class D, prepare for combat with the Successors of Chaos and Magic! Everyone else, prepare to combat the Successors of Magic in the higher Classes!¡±
Reactions of all kinds ring out from the many Successors of Sin gathered in the hub.
Some let out cat calls at the thought of meeting the beautiful Successor of Chaos. Others of whom have no humanoid form growl out their pleasure at being able to fight with the latest Successor of Magic.
Some shout out their joy at the chance to fight a Unique Being, and others begin crying at the harsh job they find ahead of them.
But no matter who they are or which nation they¡¯re from, each of the Successors of Sin submit to the order given to them by their Primordial.
Because that¡¯s how the Primordial System works.
And what it means to be a Successor.
Except for the one exception that is the Successor of Chaos.
Now known as the Queen of Destruction.
B2 | Glossary
Just like with my many other book series, I''ll just be posting the link to the Google Doc post that I''ve made for the glossary.
So if you want to check out the glossary, click here to see it!The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I hope you enjoyed book one of Ascension of Chaos :)
It was actually the longest single book I''ve ever written out of any of my series by a decent margin. With the only one coming anywhere near close being Wolf of the Blood Moon Book 1.
B2 | Chapter 1
Ashley
I continue to stare at the corpse for several seconds before I realize that the corpse is slowly being covered in glowing crimson cracks. Only for small parts of it to begin disintegrating when the cracks grow too numerous in any particular location.
Then I finally blink and turn my attention to the remaining System Messages I got that were covered by the last universal notification thing.
Including the quest completion messages.
Objective 1 complete! You have slain the King of Destruction! Now bask in your rewards!
|
The King of Destruction has been slain!
Contribution will now be analyzed¡
Analysis complete.
The following are the ten users and quest goers who have contributed the most to the completion of the slaying of the King of Destruction:
Ashley Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Chaos ¨C 66%
Blake Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Magic ¨C 34%
The benefits for the user are as listed below:
Crown of the Ki--- ERROR
Analyzing¡
Error source found.
Finding alternate solutions¡
Solutions found.
The benefit/s for the user are as listed below:
Crown of the Queen of Destruction ¨C A crown serving as the symbol of the Queen of Destruction herself. The newest Unique Being of the universe. While wearing this crown, the Queen of Destruction and all she has equipped on her is completely immune to all destruction affinity magic, and all destruction affinity magic the queen casts shall be doubled in power with half of the mana cost. The crown itself is made of the scales, claws, crystalized heart, and magical core of the previous King of Destruction of whom the Queen of Destruction has usurped the throne from.
|
Objective 3 complete! You have survived The First and Last Hell of the King of Destruction! Now bask in your rewards!
|
Now that the King of Destruction has fallen, the Unique Domain has come to an end, and you have survived!
Contribution will now be analyzed¡
Analysis complete.
The following are the two users and quest goers who have survived:
Blake Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Magic
Ashley Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Chaos
The benefits for the user are as listed below with one item given out per Grand Lord of Destruction slain by the user:
Ring of the Survivor ¨C As the survivor of a Unique Domain, you are given the full authority to leave any Domain you wish once a month without fulfilling the required objectives.
|
To all the participants of the quest, The King is Dead, Long Live the King, the quest has been updated!
?¨C The King is Dead, Long Live the King! ¨C?This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
You have slain the King of Destruction!
Thanks to the King of Destruction¡¯s death, the Unique Domain will now come to an end.
Objective 1: Kill the King of Destruction
Objective 2: Conquer all twenty-four fortresses
Objective 3: Survive
Objective 4: Slay the five Grand Lords of Destruction
|
The quest, The King is Dead, Long Live the King, has been completed! Contribution will now be analyzed¡
Analysis complete.
The following are the two users and quest goers who have contributed the most to the completion of the quest:
Ashley Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Chaos ¨C 54%
Blake Sinclair, Successor to the Primordial of Magic ¨C 46%
As the user with over half of the contribution put forth towards completing the Unique Quest, you shall be given one bonus reward.
The following are your rewards:
Armaments of Destruction ¨C A set of gear designed to change with the user to fit their preferences in appearance. These armaments may be infused with destruction mana to increase the user¡¯s physical strength, constitution, speed, and resistance. They also amplify any destruction resistance skills and work together with the skills.
Horn of the Horde of Destruction ¨C A horn that one who has cleared the quest, The King is Dead, Long Live the King, may use to summon forth a small army of Destruction-Fallen Revalta that will follow their every order. Those summoned by the horn will only stay for one hour, and the number summoned is dependent on the amount of destruction mana used in the summoning.
Ring of Reptilian Dominion ¨C A ring that grants the user the passive skill Reptilian Dominion, which makes all reptilian monsters of the same Class or lower as the user completely passive and unwilling to attack the user.
The Unique Domain will begin falling apart in one hour, and all users within it will be teleported out of the Unique Domain at that time.
Should the users both leave the Unique Domain before the hour ends, the Unique Domain will fall apart upon their departure.
Select the icon in the corner of your interface to leave early.
Congratulations on successfully slaying a Unique Monster within its own Domain at Class E, Queen of Destruction.
May you live up to your new Title.
And reign.
|
Seconds later numerous red orbs appear in front of me. And when I reach out to touch them, items begin falling down to the volcanic ground.
Amongst the items are a crown that looks very sinister and clearly made of scales with a single blood red gem at the center and numerous scales on either side slowly growing smaller as they go to the sides of the crown. Each with their sharp sides pointed upwards. Along with two rings, one of which is pure silver and is labeled as the survivor ring, and the other also has scales of the King of Destruction used in its construction.
Then there¡¯s a single horn. One meant for someone to blow into to call out a loud sound, not an actual monster horn. And it is also made out of scales. Followed by a full set of clothing that is labeled as the armaments.
Clothing that is actually not too much different from my current outfit.
It¡¯s just a single t-shirt with a wide but not too wide collar, a jacket, pants, a belt, and some boots. All of which are black in color except the jacket which is black with a crimson inner lining.
The only special looking thing in the armaments is the single glowing crimson crystal at the end of a necklace.
But the benefits the armament gives are incredible despite its plainer appearance.
Then again, that appearance is probably because that¡¯s the type of clothes I prefer.
Because armor sucks to wear.
My thoughts slow down as I realize the armaments seem to be taking some damage just from me looking at them.
Shit. There better be a way to turn off this gaze mutation.
I quickly reach out to grab the crown and put it on my head, following which I grab the armaments. And the moment I do, they stop taking damage and actually begin to repair themselves. Even with me still looking at them.
Good. That full immunity from destruction magic does seem to work for my True Damage skill as well.
So with that thought in mind, I avoid looking directly at the other items as I grab them all and equip them. Since I¡¯m pretty sure some of them don¡¯t have that repair feature that my armaments apparently have.
Also, there¡¯s another issue.
All of my previous rings and my gauntlets and bracelets?
They were all destroyed in the King of Destruction¡¯s attacks along with my arms at the time.
The only things that survived were my blades.
So rest in peace over half of my gear.
Before I look for Blake, I open the description of my Gaze of Destruction skill and begin to test it out as a System Message matches my pulling up its description.
{As the first user to obtain a Unique Skill and a Unique Skill Tree at Class E, you are now rewarded with 10000 Skill Points. A Unique Skill is special in that no one else in the universe has the same skill nor any skill that does the same thing as it. And all beings with Unique Skills are classified as Unique Beings by the System as there can never be another just like them in the universe.}
{Gaze of Destruction ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C Makes the user¡¯s eyes deal out True Damage of the destruction affinity to all that is gazed upon by the eyes of the Queen of Destruction.}
My eyes narrow a little bit at the message and the skill¡¯s description.
Yeah, doesn¡¯t look like I can turn it off. Interesting to know exactly what Unique Skills are though. And that¡¯s a second set of 10000 Skill Points I¡¯ve received.
At this point I have over twenty-thousand Skill Points saved up.
Enough to unlock an enormous number of skills.
Or probably just some of the Queen of Destruction Skill Tree¡¯s skills.
Anyways, before that, I need to figure out what is up with Gaze of Destruction. Because I don¡¯t want to end up hurting Blake when I go to him.
Fortunately I can sense him right now even if I¡¯m not looking, so I know he¡¯s at least alright.
But I¡¯d rather go check on him in person.
So time to start testing the skill.
B2 | Chapter 2
Ashley
It doesn¡¯t take much testing to figure out a few fundamental details about my new Unique Skill, Gaze of Destruction. With the first and foremost detail amongst them being the obvious ¡®I can¡¯t turn it off¡¯ thing. Which is annoying as hell.
Other than that, I also can¡¯t block it by looking through a medium like glass as it just destroys whatever I¡¯m looking at on the other side. And in some cases, destroys the glass. Nor can I do anything to lower the amount of True Damage that¡¯s dealt out.
The only thing I can do to stop the damage is to close my eyes. And I would find that rather annoying to fight while doing.
All that said, there are a few things I found work a little bit.
For one, the damage is centered in one single point. The spot where my gaze directly looks at. With the True Damage spreading out from there.
So everything in my peripheral vision is safe from harm.
Which means I won¡¯t be destroying everything and can still use my eyes without harming people all the time. Even if it will be difficult to get used to.
As for the Official System Events though, I don¡¯t really care about holding back there. If the people are in it then they¡¯re my enemy anyways, so they can take the damage for all I care.
And with that in mind, I quickly go searching very carefully for Blake. Making absolutely sure as I do so to be careful with where I¡¯m looking.
Fortunately for me, when I find him, he¡¯s just asleep and inside of a large crater somewhere in the Unique Domain. And while it¡¯s hard to tell without looking directly at him, he doesn¡¯t appear to have any fatal damage on him. Probably because the Unique Quest¡¯s clearance healed the two of us, just like all the other quests I¡¯ve completed have done.
I let out a sigh of relief before looking away from him for now. Now that I know he¡¯s safe.
Then I focus on the new Skill Tree.
The Queen of Destruction Unique Skill Tree. One meant for me and me alone.
And to my complete surprise, it¡¯s actually very different from every other Skill Tree I¡¯ve ever seen.
For one, the root skill branches off into five different skills in a star formation around it. For two, the Skill Tree is pitch black in color with a blood crimson border to every skill. And for three, each of the skills are of the highest quality just from the appearance of the nodes in the trees alone.
But the biggest difference is that I can actually see the basic descriptions of each of the skills in the Tree up to about the first twenty-six skills.
Five skills in each branch along with the root skill.
After that the branches split again into two different branches and I can no longer see the descriptions of the skills.
And what I find at the end of one of those five branches is a skill that I realize I must have right away.
{Visual Focus ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C Locked ¨C Your eyes gain the ability to lock onto specific objects and directly control the amount of True Damage that object receives from Gaze of Destruction.} ¨C [Spend 8000 Skill Points to unlock this skill.] ¨C LOCKED FOR PURCHASE UNTIL THE PREREQUISITE SKILLS ARE UNLOCKED
Unfortunately for me though, I can¡¯t purchase it right away. Not even with the over twenty-thousand Skill Points I have saved up.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Because of just how expensive the skills are in this Unique Skill Tree.
The first skills of each branch are one thousand Skill Points, followed by the second that is three thousand five hundred Skill Points, then the third that is five thousand Skill Points, and the fourth that is another six thousand five hundred Skill Points.
So if I want to unlock Visual Focus, I¡¯ll have to spend¡
Twenty-four thousand Skill Points just to unlock the skill.
Almost four thousand more Skill Points than I currently have.
What¡¯s more is that I¡¯ll have to go all in on this one branch without purchasing a single one of the rather useful looking skills in the other branches that I can already see.
I let out a sigh at that before looking at the first four skills in the branch. The ones I can unlock now.
At least every single Unique Skill in this Unique Skill Tree is incredibly useful and powerful. So it¡¯s not like it¡¯s a waste or anything.
{Perfect Destruction Mana Manipulation ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C Locked ¨C This skill grants the user the ability to turn their natural mana into destruction mana and use the mana to perform destruction magic spells of all kinds. Additionally, the user may experiment and create new runes of their own for spell-crafting purposes.} ¨C [Spend 1000 Skill Points to unlock this skill.]
{Fangs and Claws of the Queen ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C Locked ¨C This skill grants the user retractable fangs and claws that are filled with pure destruction mana from the Queen of Destruction herself.} ¨C [Spend 3500 Skill Points to unlock this skill.] ¨C LOCKED FOR PURCHASE UNTIL THE PREREQUISITE SKILLS ARE UNLOCKED
{Royal Perception ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C Locked ¨C This skill enhances every last aspect of the user¡¯s vision-based perception, granting them the ability to see various different spectrums with their eyes alone.} ¨C [Spend 5000 Skill Points to unlock this skill.] ¨C LOCKED FOR PURCHASE UNTIL THE PREREQUISITE SKILLS ARE UNLOCKED
{Indestructible Fangs and Claws of the Queen ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C Locked ¨C This skill makes the user¡¯s claws and fangs completely indestructible.} ¨C [Spend 6500 Skill Points to unlock this skill.] ¨C LOCKED FOR PURCHASE UNTIL THE PREREQUISITE SKILLS ARE UNLOCKED
Every single one of them looks useful. Especially the Perfect Destruction Mana Manipulation.
Other than that, I quickly notice that the skills in each branch seem to share similarities with each other.
This branch for example seems to focus on three things. Miscellaneous skills like the mana manipulation one, my fangs and claws, and my vision. Meanwhile the top branch ¨C this first branch having been the top right branch ¨C seems to focus directly on enhancing my magic even though the mana manipulation skill is in the other branch. The top left branch focuses on breath and energy based attacks, with the breath attack the King of Destruction used against me being included amongst their number. And the bottom left branch focuses on defenses like scales and even wings at the end. With the wings no doubt not having been purchased yet by the King of Destruction.
Finally, the bottom right branch focuses on my physical strength.
If I¡¯m being honest, the first branch and the last branch are currently the ones I¡¯m most interested in. Since the miscellaneous branch is no doubt going to have some very useful skills.
I can¡¯t see any sort of destruction resistance amongst the skills, so if the King of Destruction has a skill for it, it¡¯s likely much further down the line of skills. Probably in either the defensive skill set or the miscellaneous one.
Considering how mana manipulation was in the miscellaneous one though, I¡¯m betting that branch has it.
Which also means that the King of Destruction didn¡¯t have any Destruction Resistance skills. Yet I still couldn¡¯t so much as crack his scales without using his own True Damage to do it.
That realization makes me feel rather pitiful, if I¡¯m being honest with myself.
Anyways, I think the best plan to go with right now is to buy all four of these skills to unlock up to the one I need. Then to spend a thousand or two thousand Skill Points on the first skills in a couple other branches. Just to branch out a little bit.
Because I really do want that physical strength upgrade along with the scales for defense.
They would help a lot.
And both are only a thousand each. Which would leave me with a little over two thousand Skill Points left that I can put aside for the Visual Focus skill.
My mind comes to a halt when I hear a voice echoing in my head.
¡°Ashley!!! Congratulations sweetheart!!!¡±
I blink once. Then twice.
Then a smile stretches across my face, and I mutter out loud, ¡°Hello again to you, too. Chaos.¡±
And as if that wasn¡¯t enough, I hear rustling coming from next to me, making me turn my gaze over a little while still being careful not to look at him directly. At which point I find Blake starting to sit up, having woken up from his slumber.
¡°And you as well, Blake,¡± I finish with my smile growing wider.
B2 | Chapter 3
Ashley
Before I can say anything else to Blake, he just blinks once, then twice, and finally says, ¡°Hello.¡± Then blinks again. ¡°We should head to your Spire. Now.¡±
I blink at that myself before it clicks in my mind.
Right. We just cleared the Unique Domain, and the longer we stay in here, the more people will be waiting outside of the Gate for us to arrive.
Not to mention that anything we say here will be broadcast to everyone in the universe.
I nod my head, after which I focus on the icon in my interface to leave this place. Then I find a blinding light shining in my eyes before I appear falling in the air downwards from the Gate. Which closes mere seconds later with Blake appearing in its place.
And a quick glance at the ground below us ¨C and more importantly, the people down there ¨C tells me to not go to the ground. Albeit with that glance being a very careful one and through squinted eyes so as to not hurt people.
So I carefully catch Blake in my arms like a princess before flapping my wings and flying straight towards my Spire.
Not bothering with the people down below.
Both for their safety, considering my eyes, and my sanity.
But as I¡¯m flying, I notice some people flying through the air towards us from different directions. Some of whom are coming from the ground, others from the city around the park.
Of the people though, my eyes immediately lock onto two of them in particular. Making glowing crimson cracks begin to spread across their body at a slow pace when I do so.
After a couple seconds of looking at my biological parents on purpose, causing them to stumble mid-flight, I continue flying towards the Spire. And once I land, I simply carry Blake inside of the Spire before placing him down when I reach my living quarters within it.
Then I close my eyes. Because I¡¯ve been trailing along crimson cracks across everything I¡¯ve looked at while in my Spire. And I¡¯d rather not destroy my own Spire.
¡°Is it¡ can you turn it off?¡± Blake asks from the chair I placed him down on.
¡°Not yet,¡± I answer while using my enhanced perception skill to move through my living quarters to one of the sofas. ¡°With my current plan, I¡¯ll need six thousand more Skill Points to purchase the skill I need to stop destroying everything I look at.¡±
He doesn¡¯t say anything for a moment, and a small part of me tells me that he probably just nodded without thinking. Well, that and my enhanced perception.
I open up that skill¡¯s description and smile a little at it.
{Enhanced Perception ¨C Your senses expand, allowing you to gain a vague sense of awareness of everything in your immediate surroundings.}
Yeah, this skill will come in very handy until I can get the other skill to control Gaze of Destruction.
¡°That¡¯s¡ going to be difficult,¡± Blake says, making me nod my head in agreement. ¡°Until then, do you want to take a break and rest here, or do you want to ascend to Class D now?¡±
Oh. Right.
I forgot about that.
¡°Let¡¯s rest for a little bit before going to the Spire Core,¡± I tell him as I lie back on the sofa.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
¡°Roger that,¡± Blake answers right away. Following which I sense him relaxing as well.
And I have no doubt he¡¯s doing the same thing I am about to do now.
Chaos? You still there?
¡°Of course, sweetie,¡± he responds, still just as affectionate as ever by the sounds of it. ¡°Thank you for surviving.¡±
I almost blink my eyes open and closed in surprise at that, but I barely manage to stop myself. Since that would cause damage to whatever I¡¯m looking at.
Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you for the weapons you made me.
Probably wouldn¡¯t have survived without them.
¡°Thank you for surviving,¡± Chaos repeats himself, confusing me even more in the process. ¡°I would have lost my sanity if you¡¯d died.¡±
Wait¡ what? Why?
Didn¡¯t we only meet a few months or so ago? I can¡¯t be that important to-
¡°But you are,¡± Chaos states, interrupting my thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±
I just sit here in silence for several seconds, trying and failing to understand him.
¡°You are my daughter, Ashley,¡± Chaos declares with a rather stubborn note in his voice. ¡°My only daughter. My precious child.¡±
I continue sitting here for a while, not really knowing what to say in response to that.
¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything,¡± Chaos says in response to my thoughts again. ¡°Oh, and I cursed those genetic material donors of yours.¡±
That gives me pause before I let out a giggle, only to cover my mouth before looking around despite my eyes being closed. Feeling more than a little awkward and embarrassed by that.
Then the whole ¡®cursed¡¯ part registers in my mind.
Wait a second, you cursed them? With what?
¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that,¡± he says, a rather¡ dark¡ tone replacing his previous tone as he says it. ¡°What you need to worry about are the Successors of Erebos, the Primordial of Sin. Because we¡¯re now at war.¡±
Wait, what?
¡°The war will only exist in the Official System Events, so don¡¯t worry about it outside of those,¡± he continues without much worry. ¡°For now just worry about growing stronger. And about the Class D trial you¡¯ll have to take soon.¡±
Oh. Right. I forgot about there being trials to ascend in Class.
What are even in these trials anyways?
¡°Speaking of the trials is forbidden for those who have already passed them,¡± Chaos answers, disappointing me for a moment. Since I was kind of hoping for tips. ¡°But I¡¯m a Primordial, and I¡¯ve never passed them. So I¡¯ll go ahead and tell you.¡±
That almost makes me giggle again, but I stop myself this time.
Damn. That¡¯s been happening more and more since I got some of my memories back.
Maybe it¡¯s because the majority of the memories I got back were better ones of Blake and not a lot of the bad ones? Probably?
¡°You got some of your memories back?¡± Chaos asks, sounding rather surprised and reminding me that he was MIA when that happened. ¡°Right, is that why you started using more advanced spells during your fight with the King of Destruction?¡±
Trial first, okay?
¡°Okay,¡± he answers immediately. ¡°The trials are all Official System Events that each allow ten participants, all of whom are trial goers trying to ascend to the next Class. But only half of the trial goers can actually pass, and it is the only Official System Event that is not broadcast to the entire universe.¡±
A slight frown touches my face.
Another System Event?
I let out a sigh.
Well, at least it¡¯s not broadcast.
¡°It is broadcast,¡± Chaos says, correcting and confusing me at the same time. ¡°I said it wasn¡¯t broadcast to the entire universe. It is still broadcast to every user above a certain Class. To every user who has taken the trial before.¡±
Oh.
Damn.
I was kind of hoping I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with that annoying livestream anymore.
¡°With your strength, the trial will be easy,¡± Chaos states rather bluntly. ¡°It should be over in less than half an hour.¡±
Good to know. But what is it exactly?
¡°All trials are solo combat focused, and all of the Class D trials center around a maze where the trial goers must kill half of their number for the trial to end and the survivors to pass,¡± Chaos explains, making me frown a little more. ¡°But all trials allow resurrection afterwards, so death is not permanent, and users may try again in half a year if they fail. Although the exact penalty period where trial goers can¡¯t try again is longer the higher the Class the user is in.¡±
Huh.
Not as brutal as I was expecting.
¡°So what¡¯s this about your memories returning?¡± Chaos asks immediately after what I¡¯m guessing was him finishing his explanation. ¡°Yeah, that was all. So. Your memories?¡±
I feel the corners of my lips quirking upwards at that as I stare at the ceiling with my eyes closed.
He sure seems more talkative now than before¡
Anyways, I go ahead and begin describing what happened while he was gone.
B2 | Chapter 4
Ashley
After we finish catching up, over an entire hour has passed. And thanks to potions of all sorts, I¡¯m fully refreshed once more. So I leave Blake to continue catching up with his teacher ¨C the Primordial of Magic ¨C as I head down to the shops below.
I¡¯ve collected a massive amount of monster parts from the Unique Domain, and there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to use all of them.
There¡¯s so many filling my storage rings that I literally don¡¯t have any more space.
Of course, I made sure to cut off some parts of the King of Destruction himself as well before I left. Because I¡¯m sure those will be very usable if I ever find a smith able to work with the parts. But I won¡¯t be selling those parts.
That would be stupid if I did after all. Not only would it decrease the material I have to work with for when I want gear made for myself ¨C if I ever do ¨C but it will give other people a way to defend better against destruction magic. Which at this point is one of my specialties.
If not my main specialty, since it¡¯s the only magic that I have a perfect mana manipulation skill for ¨C or will have after I purchase it right before attempting the trial. Not to mention a Unique Skill Tree for.
¡°Technically Assimilate is a Unique Skill as well,¡± Chaos comments offhandedly as I continue walking down the Spire, making me pause for a very brief moment before I just resume walking.
Didn¡¯t think about that.
Guess it is.
Although I didn¡¯t get any sort of Title for it like I got for Queen of Destruction.
¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s just a single Unique Skill,¡± Chaos explains. ¡°A Title isn¡¯t given out by the System unless you get a Skill Tree with the usual one hundred Unique Skills. But your natural Skill Tree only has one Unique Skill in it, so it doesn¡¯t count.¡±
Hmm. Makes sense.
What¡¯s your Unique Skill Tree called anyways?
¡°Chaos,¡± Chaos answers rather obviously.
Okay, that was¡ forget I asked.
¡°Forgotten,¡± he states right away, almost making the corner of my lips raise a little.
After I reach the shop area of the Spire, which literally has shopkeepers here assigned by the System as another potential job to avoid having to participate in System Events, I go ahead and walk over towards the self-service counter. Specifically so that I can avoid the people behind the counters who probably look rather eager to speak with me. Even if I can¡¯t see their faces right now with my eyes closed.
None of them are allowed to leave their counters into my Spire without my permission though, so they¡¯re just kind of stuck there unless they teleport out after clocking out of their hours.
Overall, it must be a rather boring job being stationed in my Spire.
I might open up the first floors of my Spire to other people eventually, but right now I¡¯m not planning on doing that. Because I need to focus, and having people flooding the first few floors of my Spire ¨C and I know that¡¯s going to happen if I do it ¨C would be annoying.
Although there¡¯s also the issue of my eyes. Since I¡¯m walking around with my eyes closed and only using Enhanced Perception to move around. And if I invited a bunch of people to the lower floors of my Spire, that would be¡
Bothersome.
Anyways, when I reach the self-service counter, I go ahead and dump monster bodies on the counter without hesitation.
One, five, ten, fifty, a hundred, and more. With each corpse just disappearing after dumping them.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Eventually I run out of corpses I¡¯m willing to sell, leaving me the corpses and body parts that I want to keep. Along with a lot of empty storage rings.
It¡¯s rather unfortunate though. I would¡¯ve had more, but the storage rings I had on my fingers when I was fighting against the King of Destruction were kind of¡ vaporized.
So I lost a lot when that happened.
I still had plenty of extras in my jacket pockets though, and those actually transferred over to my new jacket when I got my new armaments.
After making sure I have everything in the counter, I focus on the icon in the corner of my vision stating sell with a credit symbol. Giving me a rather large sum of credits all at once.
Unfortunately, you can¡¯t really sell most regular monsters. Or rather, they sell for such an abysmal amount that you¡¯d have to sell an entire Domain¡¯s worth of monsters just to get a small amount of coin from it.
So generally it¡¯s not worth it to take monster corpses. Assuming the dungeon in question even lets you, since some don¡¯t.
But it¡¯s different for Unique Domains.
Those give a lot of money for the corpses. What with them being unique and all.
And with these credits, I immediately purchase dozens of mana and health potions.
But that¡¯s all I purchase for now. Since there aren¡¯t really any items that I want now anyways, what with my new gear.
I open my eyes and glance upwards in an attempt to see the crown on my head, only to fail miserably when all I can see is my own hair. Following which I immediately close my eyes again when crimson cracks begin spreading on the wall and ceiling where I looked past my hair.
Yeah, that¡¯s going to get old real quick.
At least I won¡¯t have to worry about it during Official System Events though.
And speaking of those, I turn around and begin heading straight back to my living area. Where I find Blake already waiting for me.
¡°You ready?¡± he asks, almost making me frown a little as I wonder what sort of expression he has.
I really miss being able to see without having to rely on Enhanced Perception¡
¡°Yeah,¡± I answer him before beginning to make my way up towards the top of the Spire with him following next to me.
How long do you think it¡¯ll take to build up the Skill Points necessary to purchase Visual Focus?
¡°Most likely a couple months at the least,¡± Chaos answers, making me grimace a little. ¡°You might be able to save up enough for it if you¡¯re labeled the MVP of the Planetary Official System Event though.¡±
Oh? Interesting.
Then I¡¯m in.
I want to be able to see again. And to actually see what expressions people have when I¡¯m talking to them.
Blake and I continue walking until we reach the top of the Spire. Then I tell him that I¡¯m going to be purchasing the skills from my new Skill Tree, after which he goes ahead and enters his trial.
We don¡¯t want to be in the same trial after all. Because then we¡¯d end up in a fight against each other.
And while we could theoretically team up, some events make that harder to do. Even if they¡¯re all generally similar according to Chaos for the trials. Plus I would have to be careful with my eyes again.
More importantly though¡
My eyes narrow as a slight smirk stretches across my face the moment I purchase several new skills, making a slight pain radiate through my body from the adaption process. With me pulling up the skills¡¯ descriptions afterwards to reread through them.
{Perfect Destruction Mana Manipulation ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C This skill grants the user the ability to turn their natural mana into destruction mana and use the mana to perform destruction magic spells of all kinds. Additionally, the user may experiment and create new runes of their own for spell-crafting purposes.}
{Fangs and Claws of the Queen ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C This skill grants the user retractable fangs and claws that are filled with pure destruction mana from the Queen of Destruction herself.}
{Royal Perception ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C This skill enhances every last aspect of the user¡¯s vision-based perception, granting them the ability to see various different spectrums with their eyes alone.}
{Indestructible Fangs and Claws of the Queen ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C This skill makes the user¡¯s claws and fangs completely indestructible.}
{Physique of a Ruler ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C This skill passively significantly increases the physical strength, constitution, and dexterity of the user.}
{Scales of a Ruler ¨C UNIQUE SKILL ¨C This skill grants the user retractable scales befitting the Queen of Destruction.}
More importantly, if I ended working with him in the trial, it would mean one less person in the trial for me to take the Skill Tree from.
And I want more Skill Trees.
Specifically a Skill Tree that lets me see more than just Enhance Perception gives me without opening my eyes.
On that note, once the adaptation of my body finishes and the pain fades, I take a deep breath and reach out to touch the Spire. Making a System Message play out in my vision.
A bold and crimson one.
Would you like to attempt the Trial to reach Class D?
Yes/
No
Without hesitation, I select Yes, making a bright flash of crimson light shine from the Spire. After which I find myself appearing inside of one of the usual pre-event rooms for an Official System Event.
Officially marking the beginning of my first Official System Event in over a month.
B2 | Story Art
As always, if the art below breaks, click here. If you say anything about the art being broken in the comments I will lock the chapter''s comment section. Please do not message me either just because the chapter is locked.
Not that saying this will help if you''re skipping over this anyways, but I thought I would because why not.
Lots of new story art this time.
First up is art of Ashley that I can''t remember if I''ve shared or not.
Then there''s art of Chaos in his humanoid form with different hairstyles and outfits and moods: Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Then there''s art of the Black and White Enforcers:
And yes, there''s a reason Ashley''s biological parents look younger than they should.
B2 | System Forums 1
Random System Event Discussion Thread
- [ShadowHunter23] ¨C {So has anyone heard yet? About the¡ change?}
- [Pixel_Mage] ¨C {Change to what?}
- [QuantumZ] ¨C {Are you talking about the idiot complaining about his skeletal horse?}
- [SilentWolf#89] ¨C {Wait, did something new happen with Lucy?}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {Don¡¯t tell me it was another curse¡}
- [ShadowHunter23] ¨C {It was.}
- [Cosmo*Ranger] ¨C {Again?}
- [Frostbite000] ¨C {what is it now?}
- [Phantom&Shade] ¨C {Was it the Primordial of Sin¡¯s doing again?}
- [ShadowHunter23] ¨C {No, actually. Not this time.}
- [Phantom&Shade] ¨C {Wait, who did it then? I thought the Primordial of Sin was just playing around with that¡ wait, please don¡¯t tell me another Primordial is jumping on the horse wagon?!}
- [ShadowHunter23] ¨C {Another one is, indeed, jumping on the horse wagon.}
- [Phantom&Shade] ¨C {Which one?}
- [SilentWolf#89] ¨C {Yeah, who was it this time?}
- [Cosmo*Ranger] ¨C {Was it Chaos?}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {It was Chaos, wasn¡¯t it?}
- [ShadowHunter23] ¨C {Yep. It was Chaos.}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {Thought so.}
- [Cosmo*Ranger] ¨C {Yeah, if one of them were to do anything I¡¯d expect it to be Chaos.}
- [Phantom&Shade] ¨C {What was the curse though?}
- [StarryEyed67] ¨C {HOLY SHIT GUYS LITTLE LEE IS COMPETING IN A TRIAL OFFICIAL SYSTEM EVENT!!!!}
- [ChaosWalker!] ¨C {WAIT, FOR REAL!?}
- [Inferno%Core] ¨C {All hail the great and beautiful Princess of Chaos and Queen of Destruction!!!}
- [GrimReaper09] ¨C {The Queen of Destruction has descended, and she is already destroying the lobby with her new True Damage skill lol}
- [Zenith#Infinity] ¨C {Wait, really? I didn¡¯t know the lobby could be destroyed¡}
- [ShadowHunter23] ¨C {It can be, but only through True Damage. And it repairs itself instantly, so it¡¯s not punishable or anything.}
- [Nightwing!200] ¨C {Looks like her twin is participating in a different Trial Official System Event at the same time.}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {Oh, really? I¡¯m surprised they¡¯re not in the same one after everything we¡¯ve seen in their grand Unique Domain campaign.}
- [Nightwing!200] ¨C {They don¡¯t need to work together. There¡¯s only one other person in her event that¡¯s the same level as her. Everyone else is somewhere between levels 120 and 150.}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {Well, that makes sense. Not many people wait till the very last level to ascend.}
- [Nightwing!200] ¨C {True.}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {And with her True Damage skill, I wonder if she¡¯ll even have to fight?}
- [Nightwing!200] ¨C {Imagine her just winning by looking at the other competitors lmao. I feel so bad for them.}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {Uh, guys? Something¡ just happened¡}
- [Pixel_Mage] ¨C {What?}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {Is it another curse? Oh, and did anyone ever say what the curse on the skeletal horse was?}
- [SilentWolf#89] ¨C {No one did.}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {Who cares about the curse! Something far more important happened!}
- [NebulaNinNinx2] ¨C {Fuck you! I just got Lucy not too long ago so I fucking care!}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {Well you have Lucy, so you know what the curse is. So it doesn¡¯t matter to us. What¡¯s this important news?}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {Two new Successors were just chosen from the new planet, Val!}
- [CrystalLynx2021] ¨C {wut?}
- [Iron$Fury] ¨C {huh?}
- [VelvetMoon_89] ¨C {bruh, why?}
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
- [FirebirdXXXXXXXXXX1XXX] ¨C {Just how many Successors are going to be on this planet¡}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {And there¡¯s something more important than that.}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {More important¡ than two new Successors?}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {The new Successors¡ are the parents of the Successors of Magic and Chaos from Val.}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {¡}
- [VelvetMoon_89] ¨C {¡.}
- [Iron$Fury] ¨C {...}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {Okay, I¡¯ll admit, that does sound more important.}
- [Zenith#Infinity] ¨C {I wish I was born in their family.}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {No you probably don¡¯t.}
- [V!perX_09] ¨C {Yeah, I¡¯ve heard their family has had a lot of drama. And I mean a lot.}
- [OrbitRaven007] ¨C {What Primordial chose them?}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {The Primordial of Virtue chose both of their parents.}
- [OrbitRaven007] ¨C {Of¡ Virtue? Lux? Why the¡ huh?}
- [DarkMatter13] ¨C {Okay, why would the Primordial known for blessing only those who are pure of heart make those two into her Successors? That just doesn¡¯t make any sense¡}
- [V!perX_09] ¨C {It makes perfect sense to me.}
- [DarkMatter13] ¨C {How?}
- [Ne0n_Panther] ¨C {Yeah, how?}
- [V!perX_09] ¨C {Well, from what I¡¯ve heard in the drama threads related to their family, their parents made a lot of mistakes while focusing intensely on protecting their kids.}
- [DarkMatter13] ¨C {Aka, they neglected them. And the idea of there being drama threads on the topic of their family is disgusting.}
- [V!perX_09] ¨C {That it is, but still. It¡¯s interesting to say the least.}
- [DarkMatter13] ¨C {You¡¯re disgusting.}
- [V!perX_09] ¨C {Maybe. Anyways, Lux tends to think of people by their intentions and not their actions. That and she hates the Primordial of Sin no matter how much she tries to show otherwise. And those two are parents of people the Primordial of Sin is directly at war with.}
- [Ne0n_Panther] ¨C {Oh. When you put it like that, it does make sense.}
- [DarkMatter13] ¨C {Yeah, but I still don¡¯t like it. I don¡¯t like the idea of the one who neglected my beautiful Princess and Queen to be rewarded like that.}
- [Ne0n_Panther] ¨C {I don¡¯t like it either.}
- [CrimsonXOracle] ¨C {At least Ashley probably won¡¯t care one way or another.}
- [YLunarBreezeX] ¨C {I wonder how Chaos took it? Doesn¡¯t he genuinely love his sole Successor like a blood-related daughter?}
- [Nova_#Streak] ¨C {Yeah, just look at the curse. He was probably venting.}
- [FirebirdXXXXXXXXXX1XXX] ¨C {Speaking of that curse, I heard it got on a lot of people¡¯s nerves.}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {What was it anyways? And yes, you can speak now.}
- [NebulaNinNinx2] ¨C {Fuck you. And the curse makes it so I can only bet on Ashley winning to get rid of the horse if she loses.}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {Oh, wow. So she has to actually lose something for you to get rid of Lucy now? That¡¯s brutal. Good luck with that.}
- [SilentWolf#89] ¨C {Yeah, I can¡¯t see you getting rid of that skeletal horse for a little while.}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {Well, he could always just bet on stupid things. If he can find a gamble for it.}
- [Phantom&Shade] ¨C {This is hilarious.}
- [Nightwing!200] ¨C {Chaos probably decided he only wanted people betting for his precious daughter to win lmao.}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {That¡¯s funny.}
- [NebulaNinNinx2] ¨C {NOT TO ME IT ISN¡¯T!!!!!}
- [Chaos] ¨C {:P}
- [NebulaNinNinx2] ¨C {¡}
- [XMidnightBlazeX] ¨C {LMFAOOO}
- [Phantom&Shade] ¨C {LLMMMMAAAOOO}
- [ElectricVo] ¨C {LOOOOL}
B2 | Chapter 5
Ashley
I find myself more than a little surprised when I hear the MC talking even after I turn No Interviews on. Until Chaos speaks in my head mentioning that trials are different. That while I can turn on the no interviews feature, it won¡¯t mute the MC.
Because apparently the MC actually has some important things they need to say for the competitors.
¡°LOOOK WHO WE HAVE HEEEEERE!!!! OUR FINAL COMPETITOR IS THE BEAUTIFUL YET DEADLY QUEEEEN OF DESTRUUUCTIIIOOOON HERSELF!!!!¡± the MC immediately shouts upon my entry, not wasting even an ounce of time to announce my arrival. ¡°AND SHE¡¯S ALREADY DESTROYING THE LOBBY AS I SPEAK!!¡±
That leaves me blinking once before I realize that what the MC is saying is actually true. The walls made out of some sort of blue stone with water leaking from them are actually getting covered in the usual glowing crimson cracks and vanishing, just to reappear again as the lobby no doubt repairs itself.
I glance at the other competitors to find them grimacing whenever my gaze goes over them, with the same crimson cracks appearing on them as the walls. Following which their damage fades away as the System probably heals them.
Putting my gaze aside for the moment, I feel like everyone in here is looking at me in terror.
No, they¡¯re definitely looking at me with terror in their eyes.
Am I really that terrifying?
¡°You¡¯re a Unique Being with the True Damage skill of a Unique Monster and a Successor at the same time who is dozens of levels above them,¡± Chaos explains rather blankly with a hint of amusement unsuccessfully hidden in his voice. ¡°You tell me if these people should be afraid or not.¡±
Oh. Right.
I¡ didn¡¯t really think about all of that.
¡°Now that we¡¯ve got everyone here, let us begin with the rundown of today¡¯s Trial for D Class!!¡± the MC shouts, her voice echoing all throughout the chamber as I glance up at the little portal thing on the ceiling showing the crowd. One that is rapidly growing at an exponential pace. To the point that there are soon more people than there are seats, with thousands upon thousands of people appearing in the air flying above the bleachers. ¡°To start the ball rolling, our Trial this time is once again a Free For All Death Match between the ten competitors! And only the five last standing survivors will pass the Trial and move on to Class D!¡±
All stuff that is perfectly normal. From my view at least, thanks to Chaos¡¯s intel.
¡°The map for today¡¯s Trial will be an underwater temple, where the competitors will all be traversing their way through the temple towards the center of the map,¡± the MC continues, catching my interest with this part. ¡°There the competitors will find various special buffs that activate depending on who makes it there first.¡±
I finally catch sight of the MC herself. A beautiful woman who looks rather obviously like a mermaid with long black hair and glowing golden eyes.
Guess a mermaid MC fits with the map being an underwater temple.
¡°And, as always, there will be special monsters traveling through the map hunting the competitors,¡± the MC continues with a grin on her face, showcasing a mouth full of sharp fangs that kind of destroys that aforementioned beautiful image. ¡°Meet our lovely little piranhas!!!¡±
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I blink at that before looking over at the floating image of a piranha that appears in the audience portion of the stadium. But at this point I¡¯m starting to get a little irritated by the fact that the stupid portal I¡¯m looking through keeps getting covered in glowing crimson cracks from my gaze wherever I¡¯m looking. Which makes it difficult to actually see through it without constantly moving where I¡¯m looking.
That¡¯s annoying.
I can still see the piranha though, just like how I saw the mermaid. And the thing is mostly dark blue and white in color, with azure eyes and a mouth filled with razor sharp fangs. Multiple rows of them.
The MC also goes and describes the thing to us as well, detailing it as a meter-long creature that has water magic and can chomp through almost anything at Class D and below. With the exception of some powerful skills and the like.
She also mentions that they travel in groups of three.
Then she goes and starts trying to hype up the audience a bit as I glance at the other competitors to analyze them. All the way until the MC eventually spreading both of her arms out and declares, ¡°And now this Trial shall officiiiiaaaalllyyyyy begiiiiiiin!!!!!¡±
The floor of the lobby falls before I find myself being teleported somewhere random within the temple. Inside of a corridor with about three-inch-high water covering the floor and cracks on the blue stone both in the walls and floor. With water leaking out of the cracks on the walls and water from within the corridor itself leading down into the cracks on the floor so that the corridor doesn¡¯t flood.
Of course, my simply looking at anything begins to cause more damage and make more water flood in or out depending on where it is I¡¯m looking. Which makes things a little awkward.
But it¡¯s fine either way. I can breathe underwater after all.
Got a skill for that a while ago.
So I just ignore the glowing crimson cracks forming in the corridor walls, floor, and ceiling, along with the holes that appear along with them and the water that leaks out as I flap my wings and begin flying through said corridor. And after just a few minutes of flying, I run into some piranhas. But before I can even draw my sword or extend my claws, I find the piranhas beginning to grow covered in glowing crimson cracks before falling apart and plain vanishing.
To the point that two of them end up dead out of the three before I even get within range of attacking them. Leaving me feeling a little¡ awkward¡ when I do.
What¡¯s more is that these piranhas are only level 150. So I just grab the thing by the head when it tries to bite me before crushing it with my bare hand.
Hmm. Well then.
After mentally shrugging to myself, I begin flying through the corridor again. Deciding that the piranhas won¡¯t be of consequence to me.
All while Chaos¡¯s words about how easy this Trial will be flashes through my mind.
I let out a sigh, not really sure if I should feel bored or happy with this. What with how stressful and difficult the Unique Domain was to fight in leaving me rather mentally exhausted.
But at the same time, it feels rather anticlimactic.
After all, when you think about some fancy Trial to ascend, you think that it¡¯ll be difficult.
I blink as I sense someone nearby, following which some fish man appears from around the corner. Then immediately turns around and begins swimming the other way in terror after seeing me.
Without hesitation, I activate Assimilate.
{You have activated Assimilate. The skill will last for ten minutes, and you will gain the ability to permanently unlock the Skill Trees of anything you kill during this time.}
And at the same time as my activation of the skill, their fins begin to crack and fall apart while under my gaze. And I then follow it up by opening my mouth and breathing out a wave of destruction breath at them.
Turning them into a pile of crimson ash that falls into the water, only for it to begin vanishing as well as System Messages play in my vision.
{You have been granted 2 Skill Points for killing a fellow competitor within System Event #1,389,430.}
{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Wave Crasher}
{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Tidal Call, is now unlocked for your usage.}
I yawn a little while continuing to fly through the corridor without paying much attention to the small bits of crimson ash that¡¯s still fading from existence.
Yeah, this Trial is looking like it¡¯s going to be really boring.
At least the corridor is a nice change of pace from the boiling hot volcano that was the Unique Domain.
B2 | Chapter 6
Within the Trial¡¯s Audience Dimension
Dhalia Velonna Blight, the Queen of Purgatory herself, watches silently from high above the stadium and the clouds beneath it as the image of the Queen of Destruction shifts to show her from the perspective of another competitor. A competitor who is fleeing for their life while slowly being covered by glowing crimson cracks and shattering. As if their mere reality was erased.
Like they were deleted from the world.
¡°And it¡¯s just like everyone expected! The Queen of Destruction is absolutely slaughtering every last competitor in the trial!¡± the MC of the trial exclaims, clearly excited about having had the luck of the draw of being the MC for the Queen of Destruction¡¯s very first Trial. ¡°Just how much longer will this Trial continue?! Not much longer if she keeps finding more prey!¡±
The Queen of Purgatory just crosses her arms and watches without a word. Not letting a single person see her either thanks to the veil of death energy she has set up around her killing off the vision of anyone who looks her way. Creating a type of black spot where no one can see anything.
And while this has drawn some attention her way due to the random black spot in the sky, she doesn¡¯t care.
Looks like we were right.
She doesn¡¯t show even an ounce of emotion as she watches the Queen of Destruction absolutely destroy both the map for the Trial and the other competitors within it. All with ease and sometimes even on accident.
¡°As expected,¡± Hel responds without any emotion in her voice either. ¡°No matter what it takes, you must become an ally of the next Primordial of Chaos. Whichever of you manages to become the closest ally of hers shall be named my current True Successor.¡±
For the first time since entering this Trial¡¯s audience, the Queen of Purgatory¡¯s face moves ever so slightly in the form of a single twitch of her jaw. One so small that very few onlookers would even notice.
Understood.
The Queen of Purgatory thinks back to the other two Successors of Death. Neither of whom are on good terms with each other or her. Simply because they are all rivals for the sole title of True Successor that Hel will hand out.
But all three are rulers of their own nations.
The Queen of Purgatory.
The Lord of the Netherworld.
And the King of Dragons.
¡°You have the advantage for now since you got into contact with her early, but do not rest on your laurels,¡± Hel declares, her voice resonating in Dhalia¡¯s head. ¡°Your brother Successors are both preparing to contact her as we speak.¡±
That isn¡¯t a surprise to the Queen of Purgatory, seeing as she¡¯s been expecting them to make contact with her for a while now.
And this Trial only cemented the Queen of Destruction¡¯s power for the universe to see post-Unique Domain.
It would be stranger if they didn¡¯t contact her by now.
The question is whether the Queen of Destruction will enter into negotiations with them or not.
The Queen of Purgatory lets out a faint sigh as the MC of the Trial goes on and on complimenting the Successor of Chaos. Clearly trying to get on her good side just as much as the Queen of Purgatory is.
Dhalia watches the Trial run for a bit longer until it ends with the Queen of Destruction slaughtering four of the five necessary deaths herself. Netting herself more Skill Trees in the process.
A small part of Dhalia wonders what it would be like to be able to take the Skill Trees of others. But she knows she would never be able to have a skill like that. Nor would she be able to use it well.
Not when her own Skill Tree costs so many Skill Points already just to unlock skills for.
Even more than a Unique Being¡¯s Skill Tree costs.
¡°Power comes with a price,¡± Hell states, making Dhalia nod her head in silence. Following which she feels the presence of her Primordial and sole mother-figure leave her now that the Trial is complete, and the Successor of Chaos is already leaving the event dimension.
So without further ado, Dhalia leaves the event dimension as well before sending one single message to the Successor of Chaos while appearing in front of her own Gate. With a large force of undead behind her.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Let¡¯s see how the game plays.
Ashley
Through that Trial, I managed to get a total of four new Skill Trees. None of which are particularly useful to me right now. Not considering how powerful I became thanks to my Unique Skill Tree.
I also didn¡¯t really get to test out my new skills much. Since the only one I managed to use a lot was Gaze of Destruction.
What with that being passive.
I let out a sigh as I reappear next to the core at the top of my Spire. At which point I have several System Notifications appearing in my vision.
|
All requirements for Class Ascension have been completed.
Class Ascension to Class D will now commence.
Prepare for evolution.
|
Right. There¡¯s more to Class Ascension than just requirements being lifted. The System also infuses you with power, letting you evolve.
Generally humans become a species known as high humans, but Successors tend to vary and become more like the Primordial whose blood they obtained. With the blood spreading through more of their body.
I wonder what will happen to me? Considering all of the Skill Trees I¡¯ve-
A flood of pain fills me, knocking me down to my knees. But I manage to hold on despite it, merely gritting my teeth.
For some reason though I suddenly feel Chaos sending an imaginary image of him cheering me on by punching his fists into the air and shouting my name and things like ¡°you can do it!¡±. Which is bizarre as hell.
Although the bizarreness of it may actually be helping a bit, ridiculously enough.
I feel my wings beginning to grow a little bit while more glowing crimson spreads throughout them in terms of color. Meanwhile I can feel Chaos¡¯s blood spreading through my body instead of just my wings now. Something tells me though that it¡¯s just in my torso and not my arms and legs.
Mostly.
But after Chaos¡¯s mutations are finished, I feel a ripple spread all throughout my body. One from directly in my bones. As if all of my bones suddenly ripple, turning a little, dislocating, and then relocating again.
And because of this ripple, I find myself blacking out in an instant.
After screaming, of course.
But when I regain consciousness and find myself lying face-first on the floor, I find the sun being in the exact same position as it was before. And when I ask Chaos, he says no time had passed. That I was only out for a few seconds at most.
Although he sounds rather¡ upset. For some reason.
Probably the pain I just went through? Maybe?
Not sure.
|
Class D Ascension complete.
The user now has hints of the following evolved species:
Unknown.
Queen of Destruction.
Successor of Chaos.
Additionally, the user¡¯s level cap has risen, and their System Access expanded.
|
Unknown? That¡¯s¡ unnerving.
Well, whatever.
¡°The pain at least came with a benefit,¡± Chaos states, making me narrow my eyes a bit. ¡°Look at your Successor Skills.¡±
Wait, did it unlock another Successor Skill?
¡°See for yourself!¡± Chaos says rather gleefully, pretty much answering the question in the process.
I humor him anyways with a faint smile on my face.
{Chaotic Surge ¨C Allows the user to send chaos energy through their body in a rampant surge, increasing their physical capabilities and granting random effects to all of their attacks. Both magical and physical.}
{Chaotic Source ¨C All True Damage that would harm the user will be reflected at a random being the user views as an enemy. However, this skill only works against thirty instances of damage a day and must be recharged either by waiting until the next day or through using one unit of Chaos Energy to refill ten charges.}
{Chaos Infusion ¨C Allows the user to infuse and compress Chaos Energy.}
{Form of Chaos ¨C Allows the user to shapeshift into two different forms. A form unique to the user, and a form inherited by Chaos.}
Wait, I didn¡¯t have to purchase this one?
¡°Correct!¡± Chaos answers with a chuckle. ¡°Some Successor skills are more biological than anything else and are unlocked after ascending to a certain Class. But I am a little surprised that your Unique Skill Tree seems to have altered it a little bit.¡±
Altered.. interesting.
Well, now¡¯s as good a time to try it out as any, I suppose.
So with that thought in mind, I activate the skill while thinking of using the inherited form.
B2 | Chapter 7
Ashley
Unlike what I was expecting, there isn¡¯t any actual pain involved with using the skill itself. For some reason I was convinced it would hurt like hell to use. Just like that ascension to Class D did. But nope. Not even a hint of pain.
Although it does feel a little weird. And by the time the transformation is finished, I find myself a decent bit larger than I was before.
Although nowhere near as a large as I¡¯ve seen the videos of Chaos being. But I look almost just like his raven form. Except far smaller.
Whereas Chaos is larger than a planet in his raven form, I¡¯m just about four or five meters tall. Somewhere in that range.
It¡¯s kind of hard to judge myself without a mirror or something.
I have the same mostly black and crimson coloring as Chaos with bits of purple mixed in, four talons on my raven feet, and my wingspan is quite a bit longer than I am tall. And when I bring out a reflective item from my storage to look at myself, I notice two things.
For one, I can still access my storage rings despite not having any fingers right now for said rings to go on.
And for two, I have different eyes from Chaos. With mine being the slit versions that I have in my regular form.
Oh, and the item I use to look in my reflection kind of cracks and falls apart because of my gaze.
So rest in peace item.
It wasn¡¯t important though so it¡¯s fine.
Guess it¡¯s both good and bad to know that Gaze of Destruction still works even in this transformed state. The next thing to try though is to fly into the air.
So I do just that and flap my wings, flying up into the sky. And I immediately find it easier to do than it was before transforming.
Probably because the human body ¨C or a humanoid body in general since I wouldn¡¯t exactly call myself a human anymore ¨C isn¡¯t as designed for flying as a raven¡¯s body is.
I fly around for a bit, feeling a rush go through me as I do so. Almost as if flying is just natural and freeing to me or something.
Maybe some sort of instinct that comes with the transformation?
I glance down at the ground to find the rather large crowd waiting at the base of my Spire all staring up at me. Whether they¡¯re people lined up at the entrance for some reason or people literally living in a tent who are standing at the entrance looking up. Even some of the people who made fucking houses in front of my Spire are standing on a balcony or at the entrance looking at me.
Why the hell people made houses in front of my Spire is beyond me.
They better not damage the park. I rather like this park after all.
Interestingly enough though, from what I can see, the majority of the people who made homes down there look to be public figures that I actually recognize. Famous enforcers mostly.
Out of nowhere everyone begins panicking and running inside of their homes or furiously looking away for some reason.
It doesn¡¯t take me long to figure out why though. Not when I hear Chaos¡¯s voice echoing from around me.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
And not in my head this time.
¡°They¡¯re all trying to join your unestablished faction and benefit from it,¡± Chaos states, making me turn around to find him literally just floating in the sky in his humanoid form. Looking just as laidback as always.
The man has the same hair as me for the most part. Black with crimson and purple highlights mixed in. And it¡¯s long enough to reach his lower back at least. Meanwhile his eyes are pools of liquid crimson that make it difficult to tell where he¡¯s looking, and if it weren¡¯t for his face that shows rather clear amusement, how he¡¯s feeling.
As for his clothing? This time around he¡¯s wearing clothes that look a lot like mine. A black jacket over a black shirt and black pants with a red inner lining to the jacket and boots. All with a belt as well.
¡°This a clone of yours?¡± I ask while tilting my raven head.
¡°Yep!¡± he exclaims while giving me a thumbs-up and a grin. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to kill everyone down there just from arriving after all.¡±
Right.
¡°And why are you here?¡± I ask, feeling the urge to cross my arms as I do so only to realize I don¡¯t have arms to cross right now. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were even allowed to come here this soon after the initialization.¡±
¡°Oh, I can do whatever I please, sweetheart,¡± he says with his grin growing even wider. ¡°But to the point of your question, Justicar doesn¡¯t care so long as I don¡¯t do anything.¡±
Okay then.
¡°Is there any sort of time limit for how long I can stay transformed?¡± I ask while looking away from Chaos at my transformed body.
¡°You can stay transformed for as long as you have the mana and energy to do it,¡± Chaos explains as he begins to just float around without even flapping his wings. Which briefly makes me wonder why he has those wings in the first place if he¡¯s not even using them. ¡°This transformation can be sustained with just a single unit of Chaos Energy every ten or so minutes. So it¡¯s not a very costly transformation.¡±
That¡¯s good.
I glance down at the ground again to find some of the people there looking up at us only for them to look away when I see them. Of course, with me, as usual, only looking between them and not at any of them in particular.
Wouldn¡¯t want to kill them on accident after all.
That would be awkward.
Also, there seems to be quite a few Class D users down there. Which is a little surprising.
Especially considering that they¡¯re all so much lower level than me despite that.
I look at the Spire again before flying to it and landing on top of it at the same time as when Blake appears there. Clearly having just finished his trial.
His own evolution starts without giving him so much as the chance to look at me though, so I just return to my regular form. Of which I appear in while wearing the same outfit I was in beforehand.
Right. That could¡¯ve been awkward.
If I appeared naked or something.
¡°I would¡¯ve warned you,¡± Chaos says as he floats down to land on the top of my Spire next to me.
Hmm. Right.
I look down at Blake with a slightly worried expression on my face. A face that I¡¯m not really used to making. To the point that it feels a little uncomfortable on my facial muscles.
But out of nowhere, I feel arms wrapping around me, startling me into jumping a little in place. And when I look behind me to see who it is, I find Chaos hugging me from behind and putting his chin on my head.
A wave of confusion fills me as I wonder just what the heck he¡¯s doing.
Then I hear him mutter, ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re okay¡¡±
I freeze for a moment before relaxing and deciding to just let him do what he wants as I look back down at Blake.
What would his mutations look like anyways? I actually don¡¯t know what the Primordial of Magic looks like.
¡°Most likely just some additional spell circles and runes in his eyes,¡± Chaos mutters while sounding only half focused on what he¡¯s saying. ¡°Maybe some glowing veins too¡¡±
Interesting.
Then again, guess he would know. Considering he and the Primordial of Magic were apparently an item.
Chaos doesn¡¯t say anything in response to that, so I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s just out of it now. At which point I turn my attention to the other form the skill mentioned having.
If I had to guess, this form most likely has something to do with one of two things.
Either my status as the Queen of Destruction. Or something to do with Assimilate. Like maybe it is a form that fuses together aspects of all of my different Skill Trees or something.
Well, I won¡¯t know until I try it out.
Right as I¡¯m about to activate the skill again though, I realize a certain Primordial is still clinging onto me. So I just sit back and wait.
But as I do that, I feel my eyes beginning to droop closed for some reason.
Why does this feel¡ so relaxing? Like I¡¯m being hugged by the parent I never had¡ or something like that. Maybe.
I hesitate on that feeling for a moment, only to shake my head and finally ask out loud, ¡°Would you mind letting me go?¡±
My words snap Chaos out of his little stupor as he backs up, giving me the space to finally activate the skill.
Let¡¯s see what this thing does.
B2 | Chapter 8
Ashley
To my surprise, unlike with the transformation to Chaos¡¯s little raven form, my other transformation hurts. A lot.
But only for a split second. Then it surprisingly feels weirdly liberating. Like I was freed or something.
Other than the pain though, I find myself¡ a lot larger than before. To the point that I¡¯m larger than I was in my raven form as well.
I think I am probably around seven or eight meters tall.
When I look down at myself, I find that I seem to be¡ some sort of mishmash of other creatures. Although the predominant one does appear to be reptilian. Specifically kind of like those dinosaurs from the Unique Domain.
Other than that, I still have my wings on my back, except with them being even larger than they were in my raven form. Meanwhile I obviously have my Gaze still considering the damage it¡¯s doing to my Spire¡¯s roof. Which I¡¯ll need to get repaired at some point.
My overall form seems to be a little similar yet different from the King of Destruction¡¯s form. With slightly longer arms and legs and a bit more of a draconic appearance than it had. Which is good because its arms were tiny.
Then there¡¯s a couple other oddities.
For one, I have armor on. Black and crimson in color and a little similar to the armor that the kobold lords were wearing. And for two, I have deep crimson scales with glowing crimson cracks running through them.
But the oddest part are the random patches on some of my scales. Some of which are just slightly different color scales, others of which are very differently colored. Like blue colored instead of crimson, even if they still have the same glowing crimson cracks.
Overall, I look odd yet intimidating.
I¡¯m also pretty sure it shouldn¡¯t be possible to look at your own back like I¡¯m doing, but I¡¯m doing it anyways. So I guess I¡¯m flexible, since my neck isn¡¯t too terribly long or anything.
Oh, and my claws are coated in poison.
¡°It looks like our assumptions were correct,¡± Chaos declares as he walks around me in circles, studying my appearance. ¡°It would appear that this form is influenced by the skills and Skill Trees you currently have. And since your skills are currently dominated by the Queen of Destruction Skill Tree and the other Skill Trees from the Unique Domain, the destruction element and those monsters¡¯ appearances seems to be dominating.¡±
Yeah. It¡¯s certainly something.
As for the drain on my energy from what I can see? This form seems to take more than the other form by a large margin. While the other form took one chaos energy every ten minutes ¨C according to Chaos ¨C this one seems to take one every two minutes.
Which is a large jump.
¡°It very well may change as you gain more Skill Trees,¡± Chaos says with a shrug as I return to my normal form, once again finding myself still in my usual outfit. ¡°We¡¯ll see as that happens.¡±
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Right.
Also, something I just noticed.
I narrow my eyes a little on Chaos as I ask, ¡°Is my Gaze of Destruction just not affecting you? I didn¡¯t notice before, but you haven¡¯t shown even the slightest hint of taking any damage since getting here. And I forgot to not look at you.¡±
Chaos for some reason looks a little amused before patting my head. Which has me blinking in surprise as I alternate my gaze between his face and his arm. Both feeling confused as to what¡¯s so amusing and as to why his patting me doesn¡¯t bother me.
Is it because I¡¯m starting to view him as a father figure or something?
Maybe.
Doesn¡¯t really matter right now. I just want to know the answer to my question.
He chuckles at my thoughts and answers with a question of his own, ¡°What do you think my level would be if it could be categorized by the System? Remember that Class S hunters are at least level 2500.¡±
I blink at that before shrugging and answering, ¡°Maybe ten thousand? Or twenty thousand?¡±
Chaos shakes his head, so I up my answer, ¡°Fifty to a hundred thousand?¡±
He shakes his head again as his smile grows wider.
I purse my lips for a second, only to take a wild guess and answer, ¡°In the millions?¡±
He nods his head with that same wide smile on it, not saying a word more.
Huh.
That¡¯s¡ huh.
He really is strong.
¡°Well that¡¯s enough about me, you should go check on the news with your brother,¡± Chaos says, reminding me that Blake is here too. And he¡¯s currently staring between the two of us.
Although I make sure to look at the sky next to him instead of directly at him so as to not hurt him.
And what I find is that he¡¯s already done with his transformation, and just like with what Chaos said, he really does just have some more spell circles in his eyes. Maybe some more glowing veins as well. But not many.
Come to think of it, I should ask him at some point what benefit his body has gotten from Etheria¡¯s blood other than the skills. Like Chaos¡¯s blood in my wings poisoning things. Or in my torso too now, I guess.
When I look back at Chaos, I find him to be gone without a trace.
¡°I¡¯ll talk to you soon, ¡®kay?¡± Chaos¡¯s voice echoes in my head as I look around for him, only to eventually close my eyes and return to using Enhanced Perception to see around me. Mostly because I¡¯m not sure how much more my roof can take.
I really need to be more careful.
And that trial didn¡¯t really help, since I went all out and almost forgot about needing to not look at things with my eyes because of it.
On that note, it¡¯s not going to be pleasant being unable to see. What with the fact that I won¡¯t be able to read or watch any TV.
At least I can still hear though. So there¡¯s that.
I let out a sigh before turning towards the entrance to the Spire as I tell Blake, ¡°I¡¯m heading in to check the news.¡± At which point I sense him nodding his head and following after me.
The two of us continue moving all the way back down to the residential area where we turn on the TV and sit down on the couches there. And what we find is rather interesting.
Every Spire in the city covers varying amounts of area, with the Spires each being owned by a guildmaster of their own guild. Meanwhile these guilds are all controlling the Gates that appear within the range of their Spires, making it so that only members of their guild are allowed to enter these Gates. Which is pretty much blocking regular people from entering Gates.
Or at least making it a lot harder for them to.
The only territory that has free access to Gates for anyone is, of course, mine. Since I¡¯ve been gone so long and don¡¯t really care one way or another. Plus someone needed to deal with them and I wasn¡¯t around.
All of which is a large part of why there are so many people down in the forest below. Other than them just wanting to meet and make a connection with me.
What with me being the Queen of Destruction and Successor to Chaos and all.
All that said, there are also some more powerful guilds that control more than one Spire. Such as the Black and White Enforcers¡¯ guilds. Along with my older sibling¡¯s guild.
Then there are some other top ranking enforcers and some new people who grew to power after realizing their ¡®trash ability¡¯ was actually just the start of an incredibly good Skill Tree. And even a few people who had abilities they couldn¡¯t figure out how to use and were deemed to be without an ability before the System but are very powerful now that they know how to use them. Like me, for example.
My thoughts come to a halt when I glance at my inbox and notice the massive amount of messages filling it.
Right. I probably have a lot.
And I can already see a few priority messages that are marked for me to see.
So I go ahead and look at them before frowning a little.
Interesting.
B2 | Chapter 9
Ashley
The first of the three priority messages is from that woman known as the Queen of Purgatory who was absolutely certain I would survive while I was in the Unique Domain. Which I actually appreciate a little bit, seeing as most people didn¡¯t think I would survive but she was certain of it.
Sender: Dhalia Velonna Blight
Subject: Partnership
Hello again.
If you would like to work together with me, I would be willing to establish a contract with you.
Through this contract, you would be able to stipulate terms that my people and I will not be able to break when you help bring me over to the new world. We will also be given a set number of slots to come over depending on the terms of the contract.
Please consider this as I believe my people can benefit you greatly during the Initialization phase of your planet.
If you would like to work with me, please send over a contract.
Goodbye.
Just as short and simple as the first time she messaged me.
Honestly, I¡¯m not too sure about bringing otherworlders over to Val. But¡
¡°You should do it,¡± Chaos¡¯s voice echoes in my head, surprising me for a moment. ¡°No one grows to power in newly initialized worlds without some sort of support from other worlds. And you can trust the Queen of Purgatory as she is one of Hel¡¯s three Successors.¡±
Really?
Well, if you say so, I guess it couldn¡¯t hurt to try.
Before that though, I go ahead and check the next priority message. Only to find myself feeling even more surprised at the sight of who sent it.
Sender: Voriano Nether Val
Subject: Partnership
Greetings, Queen of Destruction.
My name is Voriano Nether Val, and I am the Lord of the Netherworld. Successor to the Primordial of Death. And a hopeful ally.
I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already been contacted by my siblings with this same deal, but please choose wisely.
The Netherworld will always be open to you should you choose my partnership.
If you would like to work with me, please send over a contract.
Goodbye.
The¡ Netherworld? Also, his siblings? What does he mean by that?
And this is another Successor of Death?
I frown for a moment before looking at the next priority message. At which point I understand a little of what he meant.
Sender: Volcan
Subject: Partnership
Stolen story; please report.
Queen of Destruction, I greet you as the King of Dragons. May we forever build ties between us.
As fellow rulers and fellow Successors to the Primordials.
It would be my honor to sign a contract with you and be brought over to Val as your ally.
Should you wish it, please send over a contract.
Goodbye.
And another one. Is this guy a Successor of Death too?
¡°He is,¡± Chaos says, sounding rather amused. ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, Hel seems to be making you the benchmark test for who gets the position of True Successor for her.¡±
Huh. So what is their test exactly? And what¡¯s a True Successor again? Is that the Successor who is currently the one set to succeed the Primordial once they retire or something?
¡°You are correct,¡± Chaos confirms as I line up the three messages side by side in my vision. ¡°Being a True Successor also grants you more Successor Skills though, and there are requirements for the System to allow a Primordial to designate a True Successor. There are also requirements for the Primordial to retire in the first place.¡±
And what would those requirements be?
¡°The first requirement to be designated as a True Successor is to be Class S,¡± Chaos answers, marking out any possibility of me already being a True Successor even if I¡¯m Chaos¡¯s only Successor from my head. ¡°A Successor also needs to have been one for at least a millennia for them to be able to be labeled as one. And there can only be one True Successor per Primordial. Meaning that if a new one is declared then the old True Successor will lose their position and be ranked as a regular Successor once more.¡±
At least the requirements are simple. Even if they¡¯re not exactly easy to meet.
¡°Yep,¡± Chaos says in a rather cheery mood. ¡°As for the requirements for a Primordial to retire? Those I can¡¯t speak of, or the System will ban me from ever retiring as ordered by the majority of the Primordials.¡±
Why should you care what the System thinks? I¡¯m rather curious about this.
¡°We designed the System to drain power from us Primordials in order to function,¡± Chaos answers rather grumpily. ¡°So if we break the rules we ourselves set in place, the drain on us will magnify by several fold. Which isn¡¯t pleasant.¡±
Makes sense.
¡°The requirement Hel set for her Successors to become her True Successor is honestly rather hilarious,¡± Chaos says, moving on to the original topic with more than a little amusement in his voice. ¡°She pretty much made it so you chose her True Successor by saying that whoever amongst her Successors grows closest to you will become her True Successor.¡±
Oh. That really is hilarious.
I guess that means they really need to become my allies.
¡°The Queen of Purgatory was already trying to become your ally even before this was decided though, so I would stick with her,¡± Chaos suggests, making me narrow my eyes at her message for a few seconds.
Tell me about the other two Successors first.
¡°First off, all three of the Successors are lacking in the emotions department other than a few specific areas,¡± Chaos answers right away. ¡°The Queen of Purgatory has no emotions at all and simply thinks rationally. The Lord of the Netherworld only has emotions when he is dealing with thieves stealing from the Netherworld. And the King of Dragons is incredibly prideful and probably never would¡¯ve even deigned himself to speak to a Class D hunter like you if it weren¡¯t for the requirement.¡±
Right. So that¡¯s a no for the King of Dragons.
¡°Yeah, but do try to reject him kindly, otherwise his pride might try to make him your enemy even with the True Successor competition they have going on,¡± Chaos says with a little bit of warning in his voice. ¡°I would suggest just sticking with the Queen of Purgatory since she was the one who believed in you before any of this and was already trying to establish ties without this competition pushing her to.¡±
Those¡¯re my thoughts too.
If I¡¯m going to ally with anyone, it¡¯ll be the one who wants to ally with me without being forced to.
Allying with the King of Dragons would just be hell if he¡¯s going to be feeling indignant the entire time and not want to work with me despite his words. And allying with the Lord of the Netherworld would also just be because of the Primordial of Death even if he doesn¡¯t look down on me. Which I¡¯m not actually sure he doesn¡¯t.
So Dhalia it is.
Now then. How do I send one of those contracts? And what should I even make the contract anyways?
¡°I would suggest using the standard otherworlder contract with a few stipulations added on,¡± Chaos says, sounding a lot more serious now than he was before. ¡°The standard contract includes all of the usual things, such as a nonaggression pact between the two powers involved, the limit to how many forces the otherworlder side can bring over, and so on. But something you want to be careful of when dealing with a Successor is that they can come over to our world with a restriction placed on their heads by the System banning them from entering combat while here. And you want to make sure you tighten that restriction since they would still be able to kill one person before the restriction activates and forces them out of Val.¡±
Interesting.
Alright then. Lets go ahead and get the contract ready and send it over.
¡°Sure thing!¡± Chaos says in a much more chipper attitude than before. ¡°You should also get in contact with the Tower of Chaos at some point, since they¡¯re pretty much just free subordinates who worship you. So it¡¯d be a waste not to. Plus they¡¯ve been camping out in your forest for a while now.¡±
Right.
Them.
Almost forgot.
I let out a sigh at that before muttering out loud, ¡°Let¡¯s deal with them later.¡±
And with that, we both set to work on the contract.
B2 | Chapter 10
Ashley
¡°Aaaand¡ sent,¡± I mutter as I send off the contract to the Queen of Purgatory. And not even five seconds later, I get a notification about it being signed. Which is incredibly fast. So far I have to wonder if she bothered reading it.
Then again, she could just have completely inhuman reading speed.
¡°She¡¯s not human in the first place,¡± Chaos comments.
Okay, I stand corrected. She probably does have inhuman reading speed.
Anyways, a portal opens as expected a dozen meters in front of me as I stand in the middle of the forest. Having used one of my stealth skills to leave the Spire without anyone noticing.
Meanwhile Blake had to head out to his own Spire to deal with his own affairs. Since he can¡¯t just hang out here all the time.
And mere seconds after the portal opens, people begin walking through it.
The first person to step through the portal is a woman with silver hair and pitch black orbs for eyes. Her skin is as pale as snow, with black veins of energy occasionally filtering up to the surface of her skin before fading away again. Kind of like a heartbeat.
Except that I don¡¯t hear a heartbeat in her at all from where I¡¯m standing.
I go ahead and identify the woman.
? Dhalia Velonna Blight ¨C Level XXXXXX (RESTRICTED) Draugr ¨C 6142 Potential Skills ¨C O ?
Huh. I guess it kind of makes sense for one of the Successors of Death to be an undead.
Just that I never really considered that before myself.
Oh, right. I probably shouldn¡¯t be looking directly at her.
With that, I close my eyes, only briefly looking at the portal behind her as dozens of soldiers spill out of it.
Come to think of it, she didn¡¯t take any damage when I looked at her. Is that because she also has a True Damage protection skill?
¡°She does,¡± Chaos confirms as I begin sensing my surroundings through Enhanced Perception along with my other enhanced senses.
A few seconds pass as Dhalia steps closer to me, meanwhile more and more of her forces flood through the portal. So many more that by the time the portal closes, I count a total of at least a few thousand in the clearing we¡¯re in right now.
¡°Greetings, Successor of Chaos, and may our alliance forever prosper,¡± I hear Dhalia declare as I sense her extending her hand for a handshake.
Without any hesitation, I reach forwards and grab her hand while responding with a short and simple, ¡°Agreed.¡±
Then I proceed with my next contract. A rather strict one on one of the Tower of Chaos¡¯s three masters who just so happened to want to set up a branch here himself personally. The three people who rule over the entire Tower of Chaos and all of its sub towers spread across the universe.
Mostly because Chaos said it would benefit me to bring one of the masters over rather than just connect with the submaster that is already on this planet.
The Tower Master can deal with that Tower Submaster without any issue after all.
And doing it this way will let me choose my own restrictions on the Tower of Chaos.
The Queen of Purgatory and her forces stand by around the clearing as I send the next contract. And just like Dhalia, it¡¯s signed pretty much immediately. In fact, faster than even Dhalia signed it. Despite the contract being longer.
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Okay seriously, do these people even read these contracts?!
¡°I believe it¡¯s safe to say that the Successor of Death did indeed read your contract,¡± Chaos answers with what sounds like a shrug in his voice. ¡°Just that her reading speed is far faster than your own.¡±
I let out a sigh at that.
And the Tower of Chaos Tower Master that is about to pass through the portal opening up in front of me?
¡°Yeeeaaahh¡ he probably skipped reading it and just signed since you¡¯re my Successor and ¡®Princess¡¯ in his eyes,¡± Chaos mutters, making me narrow my eyes.
That doesn¡¯t sound like a good sign for a Tower Master.
Before Chaos can say anything else, a man steps through the portal. One followed shortly by an army of rather diverse people that number about the same amount as the Queen of Purgatory brought. Because I gave them the same limit for now through the contract.
Of the people, the first person who entered ¨C the one I believe is the Tower Master ¨C has a rather¡ unique¡ appearance. Although I make sure to look at him through my peripheral vision alone, unlike when I looked at Dhalia.
He has black hair with highlights of numerous different colors, with silvery rainbow colored eyes, and pale skin. But running through his skin I can occasionally see glowing energy veins filled with different colors. And to top all of that colorfulness off, he has numerous nonhuman body parts despite his otherwise human body.
The man has griffon wings stretching from his back, with claws that wouldn¡¯t look out of place on a werewolf, patches of scales on his skin every here and there, and a tail that looks like it¡¯s from a snake.
I get my answer as to why he has all of that though when I identify him.
? Xanderexialusdevami Randorantela Elariousve ¨C Level XXXXXX (RESTRICTED) Chimera ¨C 5702 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Huh. Guess it makes sense for a leader of Chaos¡¯s faction to be a chimera. A creature that¡¯s a mixture of multiple other creatures all in one.
It does make me wonder what species he¡¯s a chimera of though. But I just close my eyes to make sure I don¡¯t hurt anyone on accident regardless.
Of course, that¡¯s not until after I identify both the forces behind Dhalia and the Tower Master. Just out of curiosity.
Or to be specific, I start with one random soldier from both their forces. Because I¡¯m not identifying them all.
? Vortrea Deralias Kel ¨C Level 175 Death Knight ¨C 1001 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Selariax Devanor Riotiachre ¨C Level 175 Werewolf ¨C 1016 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
Huh.
I go ahead and identify some more of their forces. Specifically some of the other species amongst them.
And there are a lot of different species. Especially amongst the Tower of Chaos¡¯s forces.
In fact, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything linking the Tower of Chaos¡¯s forces whatsoever.
Their species are all very different, their outfits are very different, and their mannerisms are very different. Even their names are different.
Only their leaders seem to have those incredibly long and difficult to even pronounce names though. The ones standing at the front.
As for the ones under Dhalia? They all share at least one similarity.
Every last one is an undead.
¡°Well, nothing living can survive in Purgatory, so her forces have to be undead,¡± Chaos comments, mentioning something I wasn¡¯t aware of before now.
Okay then.
My focus returns to the Tower Master as he begins to speak.
And kneels down on one knee while doing so. Which is weird. And is an action that all of the other people from the Tower behind him copy.
¡°Princess Ashley Sinclair Chaos, Queen of Destruction and Successor to our God, Chaos, I greet you with my utmost gratitude for your permission to come and serve you,¡± Xander-whatever the rest of his name was ¨C I¡¯ll just call him Xander from now on ¨C says in an incredibly formal tone with what sounds like strong hints of worship in his voice. ¡°Please use us as you see fit.¡±
Did he just tack on Chaos to the end of my full name?
¡°Well, it¡¯s not exactly wrong, is it?¡± Chaos asks, sounding like he wants me to agree with him.
I pause for a few seconds before slowly nodding my head and saying, ¡°Alright.¡±
To both Chaos and Xander.
Then I find a surprise filling my vision in the form of an unexpected notification.
|
Through the authority of the Primordial of Chaos, the user Ashley Sinclair¡¯s official name registered within the System has been changed.
The user is now known as Ashley Sinclair Chaos.
|
I open my eyes to stare at it even though I apparently don¡¯t need to since the notification is even there with my eyes closed. Then a faint smile stretches across my face as I close my eyes again.
For some reason, seeing Chaos take over as my main family name while pushing the name of the Black and White Enforces back to my middle name¡ feels nice.
B2 | Chapter 11
Ashley
I go ahead and give permission to the Tower of Chaos and Purgatory people to enter my Spire¡¯s lower floors. Floors 11 through 15 to be exact.
Of the floors in my Spire, floors 1-5 are public floors for anyone I actually let in. They serve as stores and gathering places for other people. Meanwhile floors 6-10 are my own personal floors where I live. With every floor after that just being whatever I make them.
So I¡¯m just starting out by giving these people the eleventh through fifteenth floors to mess with.
It won¡¯t be a huge issue if they mess things up there, seeing as it¡¯s just five floors out of fifty. But it¡¯ll still give them a chance to get set up.
Of course, all of the other people camping at the bottom of my Spire start freaking out the moment the Tower of Chaos and Purgatory people show up. Simply because they¡¯re big shots in the universe.
Then they start freaking out even more when they casually walk past them straight into the Spire.
The Spire that has locked everyone out for months now.
But neither Dhalia nor Xander seem to care whatsoever about what they think, seeing as they just keep on walking by without a word. Without even so much as a glance at them.
Then again, they¡¯re probably used to ignoring people at the level of those camping outside the Spire.
I just watch this from amongst them for a while using an invisibility potion that the Tower of Chaos brought me to hide myself from their eyes. Of course, with my own eyes closed so that I don¡¯t accidentally kill someone. Or multiple someones.
Stupid eyes.
Not that I¡¯m complaining about having a True Damage skill, but I would still like to be able to turn it off from time to time.
Anyways, after seeing what I want to see, I go ahead and fly into the air towards the city. Just to check out how the city is actually doing.
I haven¡¯t really seen anything other than the news ¨C which destroyed my TV ¨C and my forest park.
To my surprise though, a System Notification appears out of nowhere as I¡¯m flying. One that has me raising a brow.
|
The Planetary Leader of the Planetary Council of Val has called for a Planetary Council Meeting to be held the day after tomorrow at noon.
All Lords and Ladies of the Spire on the Council must attend the meeting.
The reason for the meeting has been set as the following message from the Planetary Leader:
¡°Now that the most powerful user on Val has returned, the date has come to decide on the Planetary Official System Event¡¯s team.¡±
|
I grimace a little at the sight of the notification. Simply because of who that Planetary Leader is.
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The Black Enforcer.
From what I heard on the TV, along with the System Forums, there was a close race between the Black Enforcer and the Successor of Order. But in the end, the Black Enforcer won. Simply because of the people¡¯s opinion that the Successor of Order, while he has influence and power, was still a nobody before he was made the Successor of Order.
And they didn¡¯t want some random person taking over as their leader.
Meanwhile everyone knew the Black Enforcer, regardless of whether or not they liked him. And they know he¡¯s talented at diplomacy and leading others.
Even if he¡¯s a shit father.
What bothers me the most is that I can¡¯t actually disagree with that. Since the whole reason he was a shit father was neglecting us to be a skilled leader in the first place.
Guess I¡¯m stuck seeing him again soon. But at least I don¡¯t have to directly interact with him.
I¡¯ve got allies now after all. So I can make them do the talking for me.
A smile stretches across my face.
After looking at the news about the last meeting, I learned that it was normal to invite one advisor from another world along with one of your own advisors. And I can sort of do that.
I can at least trust the Tower of Chaos person as much as I could trust an advisor from Val. Simply because of how much he worships me.
¡°He would never do anything to harm your interests, so he will try his best to do whatever he can for you,¡± Chaos agrees, making the corners of my lips rise a bit as I fly out of the park.
So I can just have Xander and Dhalia there as advisors, and make Xander my spokesperson so that I don¡¯t have to speak personally.
¡°Be careful about your eyes,¡± Chaos points out, making my smile vanish in an instant. ¡°The privacy barrier around the booth can stop your eyes from harming those outside of it, but if the privacy barrier is ever removed then you will end up harming anyone you look at.¡±
Got it.
After thinking about that for a few seconds though, my smile begins to return.
Actually, that could be a very good excuse not to have to interact with the Black Enforcer.
I can¡¯t step out of my private booth unless they want to end up dying by my looking at them. It makes for a perfect excuse.
Meanwhile I can have Xander represent me and Dhalia give me advice.
I can¡¯t seem to hurt her anyways. Either because she¡¯s too powerful or because she has a True Damage defensive skill.
Or both.
It¡¯s probably both.
She is a Class S hunter after all, even though she¡¯s a queen.
And it¡¯s not like my Gaze of Destruction does a massive amount of damage. It only does a very small amount of damage every instant that I¡¯m looking at something. So if someone¡¯s regeneration is higher than the amount of damage it does, then it won¡¯t exactly hurt them.
That¡¯s why I¡¯m not just brutally overpowered or anything in the System Events.
I get the feeling things will become a bit more challenging again when I start doing Class D Official System Events. Since the trial I did had people at the peak of Class E. So people who were lower level than me.
But Class D Official System Events will have people who are above me in level.
Although Gaze of Destruction is still very useful, and even if someone does have high regeneration, it¡¯ll pretty much counter it out. Making it as if they didn¡¯t have any regeneration. Or nowhere near as much.
Which is very nice.
And most importantly, and obviously, it¡¯s True Damage. So it can¡¯t be resisted no matter what it is.
At most the damage can be repaired.
Even the System can¡¯t seem to resist it, other than maybe the private booths in the Planetary Council.
¡°They can¡¯t resist it either,¡± Chaos answers before clarifying, ¡°All they do is block the damage from going outside of the booth by taking the damage themselves and repairing themselves immediately.¡±
Interesting.
So literally nothing can resist True Damage.
I guess that¡¯s why it¡¯s called True Damage in the first place.
¡°Except for True Damage blocking skills,¡± Chaos points out.
Right. Except for those.
Anyways, I just need to wait until the Planetary Official System Event so that I can wipe the floor with our planet¡¯s enemies and get that Skill Point reward. Then I can finally stop having to walk ¨C or fly ¨C around with my eyes closed.
A faint smile stretches across my face at the thought of being able to see again without killing people in the process.
Hey, what do you think is at the end of the Queen of Destruction Skill Tree?
¡°All I know is that once you reach it you¡¯ll be nearly impossible to kill outside of mental attacks,¡± Chaos says, surprising me a little. ¡°Do remember that Destruction Resistance was a skill every single other monster in the Unique Domain had. And the Unique Monster will always have the highest form of the main resistance in its Unique Domain.¡±
Wait, so¡
¡°Yes, at the very end of the Skill Tree will most likely be Destruction Immunity,¡± Chaos answers, sounding rather smug for some reason. ¡°You will be immune to damage to your body at that time. Weak only to damage to your mind.¡±
Holy shit¡
Too bad it¡¯s still rather far away. I also don¡¯t know which route it¡¯s down. So I can¡¯t really see myself getting it for a long time.
But that¡¯s a nice goal to shoot for.
¡°That it is,¡± Chaos says with a smile clearly audible in his voice as I fly through the sky. Eventually arriving at the city streets.
Alright.
It¡¯s time to check out the city.
B2 | Chapter 12
Ashley
Thanks to my cloaking and other stealth skills, I manage to get into the city without attracting much of any attention. Beyond a couple people who are already Class D.
None of them are my level though, so all they seem to be able to tell is that someone is flying by. Not who it is.
So I¡¯m safe.
And with that in mind, I focus on my enhanced perception to figure out what¡¯s down on the street. Only to frown as I realize the range of that skill is a lot smaller than my other senses. The ones that I¡¯m using to figure out if someone¡¯s looking at me or not.
They let me get a vague sense of people, monsters, smells, sounds, and the like, but I don¡¯t get an actual full understanding of everything in my surroundings like I do with Enhanced Perception.
I really need to go find someone or a monster with a similar skill to Enhanced Perception¡ something with a stronger and higher level skill preferably.
After a brief hesitation, I go ahead and fly down before landing on the ground in order to bring everything here into my Enhanced Perception skill¡¯s range.
Then I finally begin my look around. With the skill, of course.
Because if I opened my eyes at all, even if I didn¡¯t accidentally look at someone, the glowing crimson cracks appearing on the street would be a pretty obvious sign that I¡¯m here.
Anyways, the city seems to be doing a lot better than I would¡¯ve expected. People are going about their business without any major fights, there aren¡¯t any monsters roaming around, and there are even the large TV screens on the sides of the buildings still active ¨C although I have no idea what the official term for those are.
And speaking of those TVs, some of them seem to be mentioning me.
¡°-the Princess of Chaos and Queen of Destruction has officially returned from her Class D trial and brought two groups of otherworlders to Val for an alliance!!! One of the three Tower Masters of the Tower of Chaos, Xanderexialusdevami Randorantela Elariousve!!!! And the Queen of Purgatory herself, Dhalia Velonna Bliiiiiight!!!!¡±
I can¡¯t help but furrow my brows a bit at how they actually managed to pronounce Xander¡¯s full name correctly.
It makes me wonder just how much they practiced that.
Then again, it could be a skill or just the System itself aiding the speaker, but I doubt it.
The speaker who I have absolutely no idea who is goes on and on about how my two new allies ¨C or I guess subordinates in the Tower of Chaos¡¯s case, according to said subordinates who practically worship the ground I walk on ¨C are the first ones to enter the Spire other than my twin.
But I¡¯m not the only one being talked about by the TV broadcasts. There are also some talking about Blake. About how he¡¯s finally returned to his own Spire and started taking control of the governing process there while cracking down on some guilds that formed amongst his old subordinates.
Subordinates I didn¡¯t even realize he had.
Then there are some reports comparing the¡
I stop in my tracks before opening my eyes and staring up at one of the TVs, making glowing crimson cracks begin appearing on it at a rapid pace until I close my eyes again. But it¡¯s too late as the TV is already destroyed enough that it glitches out and stops playing. So I look at another TV further down the street that¡¯s playing the same news.
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News comparing the five Successors of Val.
Five.
There are five.
And what¡¯s more, from what the news says, the two new Successors are my parents.
Fuck.
¡°Lux took on more Successors¡? That¡¯s surprising¡¡± Chaos mutters in my head.
What I want to know is why the fucking Primordial of Virtue would ever choose those two!
¡°Well, Lux¡¯s take on virtue is that so long as you don¡¯t ever mean any harm, you are virtuous and pure of heart,¡± Chaos answers, sounding rather irritated with this himself. ¡°So most likely, because your parents didn¡¯t mean to neglect you and your siblings and actually did care about you, Lux took them in because they were considered purehearted in her mind. Although most likely only because of their power in the end.¡±
That¡¯s bullshit.
¡°It is, but there¡¯s nothing I can do about it,¡± Chaos retorts instantly as I begin to continue walking through the streets. ¡°And Lux hasn¡¯t taken a new Successor for millennia because Erebos always targets them. So these are her first in quite a while.¡±
Let me guess. She also chose them because they¡¯re already Erebos¡¯s targets so making them her Successors won¡¯t paint any extra targets on their backs?
¡°Knowing her?¡± Chaos mutters before I practically feel him nodding his head, ¡°Probably.¡±
Yep. Bullshit.
Anyways, the program itself was comparing all of us Successors. And it seems to be ranking the poor Successor of Order at the very bottom.
Now whether that¡¯s because he¡¯s actually weaker than the Black and White Enforcers or because he¡¯s less well-known or has fewer allies, I¡¯m not sure. But he¡¯s ranked at the bottom, with the White Enforcer being ranked fourth, the Black Enforcer at third, then Blake, and finally me at the top.
None of that really matters to me though. The ranking that is, not the fact that those two child neglectors became Successors.
It irritates me enough that, when the speaker on the TV begins talking about how the Sinclair family already has four Successors out of the five on Val, I open my eyes and look at the screen. Just to destroy the damned thing and make it shut up.
Then I continue walking as if nothing happened.
Unfortunately for me, that¡¯s not the only TV covering this sort of news. Not by a longshot.
In fact, the hottest topics on the news right now seem to be one of a few things.
Me and my allies being the biggest topic covered.
Blake being the second biggest.
Then the Successors of Virtue ¨C I¡¯ll just call them that instead of their other titles ¨C being the third.
And finally, something about the Successor of Order trying to expand his territory and take control of other Spires through peaceful means.
As for news other than the most often covered stuff, there¡¯s also some random warning messages played through about Gates appearing every now and then. Messages that mention to stay away from them unless you¡¯re a hunter affiliated with whatever guild has control of the Gates in question.
I even run into a Gate personally at some point. Not literally though. I just pass by a recently opened Gate as a force of six hunters are charging into it, all armed to the T.
After the hunters enter it, the Gate itself takes on a much paler color and the message it shows above it changes to state that it¡¯s full. That no one else can enter it.
Also, it looks like ¨C judging by the number of people in it ¨C a few civilians were dragged into the Gate before these hunters arrived.
I look around to find the majority of civilians staying far away from the Gate, even with it being locked now. And the way they¡¯re acting honestly makes me think this is a common occurrence here. As if everyone¡¯s already largely gotten used to these Gates appearing.
Then again, I guess the System¡¯s been here for a couple months already. So it makes sense people would have adapted quite a bit already.
Humans are very adaptable after all.
I continue looking around for a bit until I find the office belonging to the one in charge of this district of the city. Along with their Spire that is practically right next door to said office.
But I don¡¯t go inside. I just raise my head upwards before opening my eyes and then meeting the eyes of someone inside of the office who is staring back at me. This being the most powerful person I¡¯ve seen in this district. Even if he¡¯s still a lower level than me.
Of course, I close my eyes again within a second, since the glass between us quickly begins to shatter. And I don¡¯t actually want to hurt him.
After a moment I turn around and begin heading back to my quiet park. A place that¡¯s far more peaceful than the rest of the city.
I wish I could expand the park¡
Putting that thought aside for the moment though, I think I should go ahead and participate in an Official System Event. Because, aside from the trial, I haven¡¯t done that in a while.
And I feel like continuing my win streak.
B2 | Chapter 13
Ashley
Once I reach my Spire again, I find the new guests already settling into the eleventh and twelfth floors respectively. With each of them using those floors as their bases of operations. And from what they tell me, they¡¯ll be using the thirteenth and fourteenth floors respectively for their public areas where they¡¯ll do business with others from our world.
After checking up on them, I go ahead and march on up to my room before collapsing onto my bed and going into the System to check on the next Official System Events. Just to figure out which one to join.
¡°Just a little warning, Official System Events are different with each Class,¡± Chaos suddenly says, surprising me into sitting up on my bed with a frown.
How so?
¡°They¡¯re turned more and more into spectacles for people to watch and for the hunters to earn credits,¡± Chaos answers, making my frown grow even deeper. ¡°Starting at Class D, there is always a minimum of three hours between the act of signing up for an event and actually joining it so that the System can give out notices to all of your followers and give them time to join the spectators. Furthermore, the price begins to rise to join the spectators directly instead of simply watching it livestreamed. And the winning player will receive a tiny fraction of the overall price, along with an additional fraction based on how many of the viewers in the bleachers are there to watch them.¡±
Ugh.
So a bunch of annoying and pointless stuff?
¡°For you, yeah,¡± Chaos says, honestly sounding like he¡¯s shrugging as he does so. ¡°Class C and Class B Official System Events on the other hand begin to have more additional features to the events. Such as Unique Titles given out to a hunter who manages to achieve the earning requirements for it within the event. Albeit Unique Titles that don¡¯t actually give any combat benefits.¡±
And it just gets worse¡
¡°Class A Official System Events and above allow the MC of the events to have a single recommendation to the System Hall of Fame in their entire careers, and being inducted into the System Hall of Fame will automatically grant the user access to the System Menu known as the Hall of Fame Store,¡± Chaos continues, piquing my interest a little bit this time. ¡°In this store you can pretty much buy anything when it comes to rare items. So long as a high Class hunter is selling, you can buy. And there is far less competition in this store compared to the regular stores. But the most important part is that you get the items you purchase right away no matter where you are through the System.¡±
Okay, that one¡¯s not so bad. I actually want it.
¡°And Class S Official System Events are turned into grand spectacles for the entire universe,¡± Chaos says with a rather excited tone of voice. ¡°There are only two Class S Official System Events every two weeks, and Class S hunters generally tend to sign up for their events for the month at the start of the month. Choosing one out of the four Official System Events to participate in.¡±
Wait, what about the ¡®one Official System Event per week¡¯ rule? How does that work with there only being events every two weeks?
¡°That¡¯s one of the privileges of reaching Class S,¡± Chaos answers before suddenly appearing in front of me and my bed with a grin on his face. ¡°Once a hunter reaches Class S, their once a week requirement changes to only being required to participate in an Official System Event once a month instead.¡±
Oh. Yeah, I want that requirement.
Mostly.
Honestly, I¡¯ll probably still be participating in more events than I need to just for the skills that I¡¯ll be getting from them. But I also don¡¯t like the idea of being required to participate, so that benefit is really nice.
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¡°I¡¯ll leave the other benefits as a surprise,¡± Chaos says with a wink that takes me by surprise. ¡°But very few people participating in Class S Official System Events permanently die. There are often revival rules allowed, and even when there aren¡¯t, the hunters generally have surrender tickets. Which can be bought when you reach Class A.¡±
It sounds like the Official System Events get harder and yet less permanently lethal the higher you go.
Probably because it¡¯s harder and harder to reach and stay in the top Classes the higher you go?
¡°Correct!¡± Chaos exclaims, his grin still ever present on his face.
Alright, putting everything else aside for now, I still have my event to go complete. So with that in mind, I quickly begin browsing the current Official System Events to see what¡¯s there.
Considering the reason I¡¯m wanting to compete ¨C other than the minimum required participations I need to meet ¨C I need to find something that¡¯s combat focused. Something I can get a lot of new Skill Trees from.
Also, something I can level up from. Because there aren¡¯t very many Class D Gates on Val yet. And none in my territory.
Meaning the only real way I can level up right now is through Official System Events.
So I search through page after page of Official System Events going on today. All the way until I finally settle on one event in particular.
Hunt of the Festival¡¯s Eve
Description: A festival is going on, and all of the hunters are invited. But this isn¡¯t an ordinary festival. Within the Hunt of the Festival¡¯s Eve Official System Event, all hunters will be placed scattered throughout a large floating island, with numerous other floating islands all around them, and an endless void beneath them that will kill any who fall into it. Meanwhile Class D monsters of all sorts are released across the connecting islands surrounding the first one, marking the beginning of the hunt. The hunt will end when the first hunter reaches ten thousand points collected total.
Participant Count: 31/100
Rules: Killing one monster between levels 150-160 grants the hunter 1 point. Killing one monster between levels 161-175 grands the hunter three points. Killing one monster between levels 176-200 grands the hunter five points. Killing one mini boss monster between levels 201-225 grants the hunter twenty-five points. Killing the boss monster of an island grants the hunter 1000 points. And killing other hunters grants the hunter 25% of their total collected points.
Victory Condition: The first hunter who collects ten thousand total points will reign victorious.
Rewards: Every user slain in a challenge grants the winner 10 Skill Points. First place receives an additional 250 Skill Points. Second Place receives an additional 150 Skill Points. Third Place receives an additional 100 Skill Points. Every monster slain grants the hunter 1 Skill Point for regular monsters, 5 Skill Points for mini bosses, and 25 Skill Points for bosses.
Participants List
It¡¯s definitely different from Class E. What with there being a clear list of participants currently entered, along with much higher rewards.
Far higher rewards in fact.
Over twice as many Skill Points for winning this than the Class E events would give.
¡°Well, the higher the risk, the higher the reward,¡± Chaos says with a shrug before a chair made out of Chaos energy appears right as he sits down on it, making me stare rather blankly at the man. ¡°And the higher your level goes and the further in your Skill Trees you get, the more expensive the new skills are to unlock. You¡¯ve seen that just from your Queen of Destruction Skill Tree.¡±
Right. And I can only wonder just how expensive the last skills in each branch will be if the first ones are already this expensive.
Guess the higher reward is necessary.
Anyways, I go ahead and join the event, following which I get a message from the System telling me to wait an hour before the lobby opens for the event. After which I glance at the System Forums to find word quickly getting out about my participation.
Which makes sense considering that I have billions of followers at this point. No matter how much I wish I didn¡¯t.
¡°Consider it this way,¡± Chaos suddenly says, bringing my gaze to his face without a care about Gaze of Destruction. Seeing as he seems pretty immune to it anyways. ¡°The more followers you have, the higher the percentage of the viewers watching the event live will be there for you, and the more credits you¡¯ll get per event you participate in.¡±
That has me staring for a second before the corners of my lips quirk upwards ever so slightly.
Okay, maybe it¡¯s not so bad after all.
B2 | Chapter 14
Ashley
The moment I find myself appearing within the lobby of the Class D Official System Event, I realize there was something Chaos didn¡¯t mention to me that¡¯s different about them from Class E events. Specifically the fact that the lobby is within the spectating arena instead of in a different dimension like it was before.
So the moment I appear, I hear the loud roaring of the millions upon millions of people in the audience. Meanwhile beneath me and the other competitors I can see numerous floating islands all surrounding one massive floating island.
I don¡¯t see any monsters on them right now though, which most likely means the monsters won¡¯t be appearing until after the event starts.
¡°Oh, right,¡± Chaos comments in my head amidst the roaring crowd, ¡°I forgot to mention that the lobby is moved into the spectating arena so the competitors can interact with their fans. And the No Interviews feature no longer blocks you from hearing them. It just blocks the MC from speaking directly to you.¡±
Little late now.
¡°Another lovely day and another loooooovely Class D evennntt!!!¡± a voice shouts from above us, making the crowd go even wilder. ¡°Welcome one and all, to Hunt of the Festival¡¯s Eve!!! I¡¯m your MC for the day, Crystal Fallian, and today we¡¯ve got a rather surprising lineup of competitors! So make sure you¡¯re seated, because this is going to be a wild one folks!!!¡±
I raise my head to find what looks like some sort of fairy flying around all over the place above us.
The MC.
She seems to be rather energetic, and the crowd seems like they like her.
The fairy ¨C and she does identify as a fairy when I try ¨C has pink and golden wings and is wearing a business suit which looks almost comical on her tiny, one and a half foot tall form. Meanwhile she has glowing pink eyes and is holding a microphone that I¡¯m sure is just decorative.
¡°To start off with the absolute biggest surprise of the evening, we havvvvvve¡¡± the fairy says, clearly trying to build up excitement as she focuses on me with a grin, ¡°¡the Queen of Destruction herself! Crimson Phantom, Successor and Princess to Chaos, Ashleeeeeeeey Siiiinclaaair Chaooooooooosssss!!!!¡±
The crowd immediately goes wild at that. Even more so than they already were.
All the way to the point that I begin to get a headache.
Although said headache vanishes the moment it appears. Almost like the System was taking it away or something.
¡°That¡¯s because it is,¡± Chaos explains. ¡°The System automatically restores any damage done by the players to the audience and done by the audience to the players.¡±
That¡¯s good.
I glance over at the other players with me to find just about what I expected.
? Ragnir Coldbeard ¨C Level 211 Dwarf ¨C 481 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Lyr Velarule ¨C Level 201 High Elf ¨C 872 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Nadina ¨C Level 172 Siren ¨C 349 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Rolando Elrevar ¨C Level 225 High Human ¨C 367 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
? Ich¡¯tac Tch¡¯rel ¨C Level 210 Antol ¨C 500 Potential Skills ¨C X ?
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
? Nidvar Delran ¨C Level 236 Demon ¨C 900 Potential Skills ¨C O ?
One of the reasons I chose this Official System Event was because the players were higher level here. Making most of them between level 150 all the way to level 240 or so. Which gives me a rather large window for leveling up in this, on top of those monsters of course.
And with them being higher level I won¡¯t just be cruising through this on easy mode. Not to mention that I should get more higher level skills when I take their Skill Trees.
Although¡ my eyes turn towards the demon who also happens to be a Successor according to their identify.
At the same time, the MC turns to look at them as well as she says, ¡°And she¡¯s not our only Successor here today, for we have the great! The ruthless! And the forever late-¡± laughs break out amongst the audience ¡°Nidvaaaar Delraaaan!!! Successor to the Primordial of Siiiin and the Molten Slaaaayyyeeerrrr!!!!¡±
I blink at that before the corners of my lips tilt downwards in the start of a frown. Meanwhile the Successor of Sin raises one fist into the air while staring directly at me. Completely ignoring the fact that glowing crimson cracks are appearing and then vanishing on his body from my gaze.
And the audience absolutely eats it up as they start roaring their approval.
The demon in question has pitch black orbs for eyes, albeit with an occasionally revolving symbol of Sin in the center of their eyes acting kind of like a pupil that tells me where he¡¯s looking. He has pale red skin with two bat-like wings and is wearing a set of pitch black armor that definitely looks rather demon-like in appearance.
It doesn¡¯t take long for the MC to move on to the next person she introduces though as she says, ¡°And on top of those two Successors, we also have the lovely Successor of Magic, the beautiful and elegant, Princess Elana Wysteria of the Kingdom of Wysteria!!!! Also known as the Princess of the Arcane!¡±
I glance at the MC before looking where she is looking to find a woman with a lot of the same features that Blake has as a Successor of Magic, except with a different species overall.
? Elana Wysteria ¨C Level 215 Winter Fae ¨C 1000 Potential Skills ¨C O ?
Another one to look out for.
Although she seems to be looking at me more out of curiosity than any sort of antagonistic attitude.
¡°That¡¯s because we¡¯re allies with Etheria,¡± Chaos states, surprising me for a brief second before I realize it makes sense.
They¡¯re a former couple after all.
¡°That¡¯s the logic behind it? Not that your twin is also a Successor of Magic, but that me and Etheria were a thing in the past?¡± Chaos dryly asks, sounding both amused and befuddled.
Yep.
After the princess, the MC goes on to introduce a few other people who are apparently relatively popular with the audience. Then she looks down at me and begins to head my way, only to no doubt see the big ¡®No Interviews¡¯ notice above my head and turn to head towards the demon instead.
When she reaches him, she quickly asks, ¡°Say, Molten Slayer, how do you feel about the other competitors in this event? Are you confident about taking them on?¡±
The demon doesn¡¯t take his eyes off of me even as glowing crimson cracks appear on said eyes from my returning his gaze as he answers, ¡°Yes. All who stand in my way will be scorched till they¡¯re naught but ash, I promise you that.¡±
Everyone in the crowd reacts strongly to his statement, with a large number of them seemingly rather upset with him but another portion acting excited instead. Probably the difference of whose fans they are.
Also, the fact that he¡¯s been given the title of ¡®Molten Slayer¡¯ and is talking about scorching people to ash probably means he uses some sort of magma or fire magic.
¡°Oooo, someone¡¯s confident, aren¡¯t we?¡± the MC says with a grin.
The Successor of Sin finally takes his eyes off of me to look at the MC with two purple lion-head symbols of pride glowing in his eyes as he answers the question in a blunt manner, ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Oh hooo! Very confident!¡± Crystal exclaims, her grin widening before she flies off to go interview the winter fae Successor of Magic. Who actually looks a little bored right about now. ¡°And what about you, Princess? How do you feel about being pitted in the middle of this little strife between Chaos and Erebos?¡±
She moves the mic to the woman who just answers rather simply, ¡°The Successor of Sin can go suck on rocks. I¡¯m just here to get combat experience and fill my quota.¡±
Crystal moves the mic away as if she was expecting that before flying upwards and saying, ¡°Well, what did we expect from the Princess of the Arcane? There¡¯s a reason people call her the Ice Princess, and it¡¯s not just because she¡¯s a Winter Fae Princess!¡±
Laughter echoes out from everyone at that.
I can¡¯t help but raise a brow at the princess¡¯s answer, only to shrug it off a second later. Mostly because I don¡¯t really care.
Doesn¡¯t hurt that she didn¡¯t say anything bad about me. Just about the demon guy.
The fairy MC goes around and interviews a few more of the players in this event before moving on to answer a few questions about the event itself. Then she eventually flies up into the air and spreads her arms to the side as she exclaims, ¡°And now let us finally get this Class D Official System Event underway! Keep your wits about you folks because it¡¯s going to be a doozy!¡±
And with that, I find myself being teleported into the arena.
Officially marking the start of the event.