Stark couldn’t avoid the upcoming attack, but before the Warbringer could land it, Sora darted in from the side, her fists surrounded by spiky vines.
“VINE SMASH!” She struck the Warbringer’s exposed side, sending a burst of green energy into his body, and essentially saving Stark.
-173162!
The Warbringer staggered, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.
The Warbringer turned his attention to Sora, his eyes burning with fury, then he activated [Ruinous Leap], jumping high into the air before crashing down toward Sora with his massive sword.
The ground beneath him shattered from the impact, but Sora was already gone, her speed saving her from the deadly strike.
What she didn’t expect, though, was the aftermath of the attack as the Warbringer anticipated her movement, and with lightning speed, activated [Phantasmal Barrage], sending a flurry of shadowy blades in all directions.
Sora tried to dodge, but one of the blades hit her, sending her crashing to the ground.
“Sora!” Stark shouted, his heart pounding as he saw her fall.
Without thinking, he rushed forward, his crimson aura flaring as he leapt into the air, intercepting the Warbringer’s next strike before it could finish her off.
“Get away from her!” Stark roared, slamming a crimson fist into the Warbringer’s chest, then slammed his soul downward, hitting him in the head.
The crimson fist exploded on impact, then the heart added to the damage, sending the Warbringer stumbling back as he fell to his knees on the ground, clearly wounded from all these attacks.
Sora, bruised but alive, staggered to her feet, her eyes filled with determination. “I’m not done yet.”
But before she could do anything.
“This is it,” Stark growled, his mind racing as he thought of the one move that could end this.
He traced a circle in his palm, his fingers glowing with a soft crimson light.
Then, he pointed to the sky.
“Heaven’s Wrath.”
The sky split open.
For a moment, everything seemed to stop, the storm, the Warbringer, even time itself.
Then, with a blinding flash, a beam of pure, crimson energy shot down from the heavens.
It slammed into the Warbringer, engulfing the colossus in a blinding explosion of light and energy.
The Warbringer let out a final, deafening roar as the beam tore through his body, obliterating him completely, along with his armor and sword.
The ground beneath it cracked and shattered as the Warbringer’s HP plummeted to zero.
-472811! -538219!
The damage was out of this world.
BOOM.
The beam faded, leaving nothing but a massive crater where the Warbringer once stood.
Ding!
[You have defeated Abyssal Warbringer, The Colosseum’s Strongest (CALAMITY)]
[You have gained 18,500,000 experience points!]
Stark stood on his legs, firm and calm, as he received the notification.
This wasn’t as much experience as the [Guardian Ape], but it was still a lot!
“We did it,” he muttered, a tired smile creeping across his face as he fell to his knees, the blow to his side clearly hurt.
Sora, still standing, looked down at him and offered a rare, small smile, “Yes. We did.”
“Wow,” she was beaming, and the light from her small, however small it was, almost blinded him.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Your level has increased to level 80, granting you four skill points and a boost in stats.]
.
.
[Your level has increased to level 83, granting you four skill points and a boost in stats.]
[Experience: 877,200/5,000,000]
“Phew…”
And so of course, he got a new skill, which he picked from one of the cards!
Ding!
[Skill: Revenant’s Fury]
[Tier: Mythical]
[Description: Only activates after three deaths, have fun!]
[Description will be revealed the third time the user dies!]
‘Damn,’ that skill was talking about death as if it was a game!
If it wasn’t for his talent that brought him back to life, then anyone would riot over such a useless skill.
A skill that only activates after death? Seriously!
Sora glanced over at him, sensing the sudden change in his aura. “New skill?”
“Yeah,” Stark nodded, his tired grin widening, “And it’s a weird one.”
Before they could celebrate further, a voice boomed from above.
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed the colosseum in… the first position!]
A deep, powerful voice echoed through the arena.
But not only: it was broadcasted to everyone in the academy.
“DUDE, WHAT?!”
“ARE THEY SPEEDRUNNING?”
Other normal students were flabbergasted that the colosseum was completed 3 hours after its announcement, even though they were given 4 months to do so!
“Huh…” even the teachers and principal were surprised, “Maybe it was too easy?”
“No, sir,” Breach, the vice-chairman shook his head, “This is actually one of the most difficult trials in this academy’s history, each elite able to stop a group of students by itself, and the mini-boss and boss almost impossible to defeat.
Plus, taking into account the breaks from wounds, 4 months would not even be enough for most.”
“Then how?”
“…Don’t know,” he shook his head again.
“Damn.”
In comparison to the other trial, they wouldn’t receive a recording of the fights of the students, meaning that all they knew was that Stark’s group had done it.
…
The announcement echoed through the entire tower, obviously, reaching even those that had gone inside after seeing the mini-boss announcement an hour ago.
In the safe zone, where Lana waited, the booming voice reverberated in the small luxurious room. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she stood up suddenly.
“Already?” she muttered, a mix of shock and relief on her face.
Less than an hour had passed since Stark and Sora had left for the final floor, yet the announcement confirmed it—they had won.
“Those two…” Lana sighed, shaking her head with a relieved smile, “Of course they would,” she mumbled as she began climbing the floors now that it was fully safe.
…
However, as the celebration built, the air around Stark and Sora changed in the last arena, and a familiar, menacing presence descended upon them.
A slow clap echoed through the arena, “Impressive… Very impressive.”
Stark’s blood froze at the voice.
He had already it twice already.
Turning around, his eyes narrowed as he saw Olikar, the apostle of the tower, standing before them once again.
His black cloak billowed as he stepped forward, his cold eyes gleaming with amusement.
“Well done,” Olikar said mockingly, his lips twisting into a cruel smile, “You actually managed to defeat the Abyssal Warbringer, I’m almost impressed.”
Stark’s fingers tightened as he summoned his [Soul Heart], his crimson aura reigniting as he stood up, ready for another battle.
“If you’re here for another fight, I’ll take you down right here,” he spoke.
Olikar chuckled darkly, “Fight you here? Oh no, Chosen. You misunderstand.”
Before Stark could react, Olikar raised his hand, and with a swift, terrifying motion, he sent a blast of energy toward Stark.
The force of the attack was overwhelming.
Stark barely had time to block before it slammed into him, sending him flying across the arena, his back hit the stone wall with a sickening crack, and he fell to the ground, gasping for air, blood dripping from his mouth.
“-59271!”
[Stark HP: 5258/93000]
It wasn’t just an attack—it was a near-fatal blow.
“This is all I can do for now,” Olikar said calmly, as though the near-deadly strike was a trivial matter, “I can’t fight here because of the Colosseum rules, but that doesn’t mean I can’t teach you a lesson,” His eyes shifted to Sora, who had already stepped forward, her fists clenched and her green aura flaring.
“If you want to fight me,” Olikar continued, his voice dripping with malice, “you’ll have to find me in my domain: the top of the tower, I’ll even give you a hint—it’s somewhere within the tower, but you’ll need to find the hidden path.”
Sora moved protectively in front of Stark, her body tense and ready for a fight, but Olikar simply smirked.
“Oh, and one more thing,” he added. “Whether you reach me or not is irrelevant. You’re already too late.
Master Godless will soon emerge, and this world will plunge into chaos, so now, it’s either you witness the world falling within the next year, or you come to me and I kill you myself.”
With a final laugh, Olikar vanished, leaving only his chilling words behind.
Stark, barely conscious, struggled to get up, but his strength failed him.
The blow from Olikar had been too much.
“Stark, stay still,” Sora said softly, kneeling beside him.
Her green aura wrapped around him, beginning the process of healing, but Stark was already slipping into unconsciousness.
As Sora began to transport him back to the safe zone, she couldn’t help but feel a rising unease.
Olikar’s words… Godless appearing… what did it all mean?
Why were these things even after Stark to begin with?!
