Stark stood in his apartment’s iving room, his hand resting on the [Colosseum Token] once again.
He had searched for months, and while he now knew the structure of each of the floors PERFECTLY, the secret area still eluded him.
But now, with only a week left, he had no choice but to give it everything he had.
“I’m going inside the Colosseum for a week,” Stark said, his voice calm but resolute, “See ya.”
Lana, who had been lounging on the couch, shot up in alarm. “Wait what? You’re going for a week?!” she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
Stark simply nodded, not bothering to explain further.
He couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
The next seven days would be crucial if he wanted to find the entrance to the top of the tower, where Olikar waited.
Sora, who had been leaning against the kitchen counter, sipped her coffee quietly.
She could sense the seriousness in Stark’s tone and knew better than to question him, “Good luck,” she said simply
With a final nod, Stark activated the token, his body disappearing into the shimmering light as he teleported back into the Colosseum Tower.
This time, he wouldn’t leave until he found what he was looking for.
The final week had begun.
[7 days left]
Stark’s body materialized in the familiar setting of the Colosseum Tower’s ninth-floor safe zone.
The dim lighting and cold stone walls greeted him once more as he immediately set off, wasting no time in resuming his search for the secret area.
For three days straight, Stark scoured the tower with single-minded determination.
Each floor, each arena zone, every single one of them was scrutinized, but the secret area remained hidden.
He had memorized the structure of each floor perfectly by now, down to the cracks in the stone walls and the patterns of dust on the floor.
But none of it helped him find what he was looking for.
“What the fuck am I doing wrong…” Stark thought, it just wasn’t working.
The pressure mounted as time kept going, and his frustration grew just as much.
Each passing hour was a reminder of how little progress he had made, and the deadline was getting closer.
On the third night, Stark found himself on the ninth floor yet again, his energy more powerful: Stark was so enraged over time about his inability to find the secret area that his aura grew much more powerful.
He leaned against a wall, catching his breath, the exhaustion from days of relentless searching finally starting to take its toll as he hadn’t rested at ALL.
“Dammit…” he cursed.
His body wanted to rest, his muscles sore and his mind filled with bad thoughts.
But just as he was about to take a well-deserved break, a mocking voice echoed through the arena.
“Haha… not so smart, are we now, Chosen?”
Stark’s eyes narrowed, immediately recognizing the voice.
Olikar.
The apostle emerged from the shadows, his sharp grin yet again visible.
His aura was menacing, a heavy pressure that weighed down on Stark’s already tired body.
Olikar then walked toward him, his golden eyes gleaming with malice.
“Fuck off,” Stark said, not even bothering to acknowledge him fully.
He was too tired to engage in useless talking to this guy.
Instead, he turned and started walking toward the tenth floor’s safe zone, where he knew there were some sofas he could crash on for a while.
But Olikar wasn’t done. He kept pace as he followed Stark, his voice mocking.
“Thank god you’re stupid. But even if you do find me, I’ll still kill you, y’know?”
Stark rolled his eyes.
Olikar was level 400, a terrifyingly strong opponent, far beyond Stark’s current level of 88 (he had leveled up a bit in the mean time, duh).
Stark had focused too much on finding the secret area and not enough on leveling up.
And even after using the [Breakthrough Stone] to reach Gold Rank (which Lana bought for him), raising his skill level limit to 30, he knew that Olikar was a formidable enemy.
“Keep talking,” Stark muttered, more to himself than Olikar, as he continued his walk to the safe zone.
“Haha… you idiot,” Olikar circled him, delighting in tormenting Stark as he walked, “In less than a year, the preparations will all be complete, and the Godless Demon assault will begin. Your world is doomed.”
Stark didn’t react at first, but Olikar’s words made him pause.
Without turning around, he raised an eyebrow.,”Oh? How so?” he asked, almost sounding bored.
Olikar looked at him, happy that he fell for the bait, then grinned, “What do you mean, how? Isn’t it obvious, or are you really this stupid?”
Stark smirked back.
“No… How are you going to take over the world when I’m going to kill you before you do that?”
That threw Olikar off, his grin faltering for a moment.
He hadn’t expected such confidence from someone so far beneath him in power.
But he quickly recovered, his sneer returning, “I’d love to see that. Not that it matters, since you won’t ever know where to find me.”
Olikar began to sink into the shadows of the ground, his body phasing through the stone floor as if it were liquid.
But Stark clenched his fist.
This was his chance, he wasn’t about to let Olikar get away again.
“FOCUS… TARGET SET!” Stark shouted, thrusting his right arm forward like a gun.
[Description: You can place a target on an opponent, thus allowing you to observe their movements better and have your crimson ‘eyes’ always following them, no matter what they do]
His aura flared, and a crimson light shot from his fingertips, hitting Olikar just as his body was about to fully disappear into the floor.
~DING~
[Olikar has been set as a target!]
A sharp ping sounded in Stark’s mind as his skill activated.
Now, no matter where Olikar went, Stark would be able to track him, as long as he wasn’t out of range.
~BEEP, BEEP, BEEP~
Through his crimson eyes, Stark could see the faint red outline of Olikar’s figure as he went deeper underground.
Without wasting a second, Stark bolted after him.
He followed Olikar’s red silhouette down… one floor… then two… four floors… nine floors!
Stark’s heart raced as he realized just how deep Olikar was going.
He wasn’t just retreating, he was heading somewhere specific.
Stark’s eyes never left the crimson outline, even as Olikar passed through walls and floors like a ghost.
Finally, Olikar’s figure reached the first floor, darting toward a seemingly random wall before disappearing entirely.
Stark’s chest heaved as he reached the first floor, eyes scanning the area.
The wall Olikar had vanished through looked unremarkable at first glance, and he was absolutely sure he had searched everywhere in this place, but Stark’s senses suddenly told him otherwise.
For some reason he didn’t know, he could actually feel something coming from that wall.
He decided not to take his break anymore, instead searching for the secret area for the next few hours.
He knew it was here now.
And suddenly, right as he turned around, right as he finished searching one of the other walls of this place, unsuccessful…
He looked back at the wall Olikar went through, and for a split second, no… even less than that, his crimson eyes caught a faint shimmer, a distortion in the air.
“…!” it was so quick in fact that he wouldn’t be surprised that nobody noticed it, only doing so thanks to his perception, and even then he himself wasn’t sure.
It happened for 0.001 seconds, but Stark was so desperate that he saw it.
