The moment the Banish game began, Stark and Olikar stood frozen in the air, their bodies locked in place as their auras erupted around them like violent storms.
[The Banish Game shall start!]
[Whoever’s aura gets consumed by the other will be cast into the void!]
[Good luck!]
Olikar’s eyes flared wide in disbelief, “What the hell is this?! I’ve never seen something like this!”
He tried to dash toward Stark, but his movements were blocked by the strange force of the Banish Game.
His body, despite its immense strength, wouldn’t respond.
[Hey! The Banish Game has started. You cannot leave or attack. Use your aura to defend and attack the opponent’s!]
“HUMANNNNNN!” Olikar roared, but no amount of shouting would change the rules of this strange game.
He glared at Stark, realizing the stakes.
Whatever trick Stark had pulled, he had to play along now.
Suddenly, with an earth-shaking BOOM, both their auras collided.
Stark’s crimson aura, crackling with raw, destructive energy, surged forward like a tidal wave, crashing against Olikar’s dark, malevolent force.
The two stood, locked in this battle of wills, neither able to physically attack, but their auras now the tools of combat.
[You can form shapes related to your skills with your aura in the Banish Game!]
As soon as that notification flashed, the battle shifted.
Stark’s mind raced.
He was the first to figure it out, and so with a determined look, he concentrated hard, imagining a form for his aura.
The crimson energy surrounding him suddenly twisted and swirled, shaping itself into a rough doppelgänger of Stark himself.
The aura clone clenched its fist and, with a booming impact, slammed it into Olikar’s dark aura.
BAM! BAM!
The blows reverberated through the battlefield, pushing Olikar’s aura back, causing it to shrink slightly.
Olikar’s lips curled into a snarl. “YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO THIS?!”
Fwish!
His dark aura responded instantly, twisting and forming into the shape of a massive blade, mirroring the Colosseum Sword he wielded in battle.
The dark energy blade slashed at Stark’s aura doppelgänger, cutting through it and regaining lost ground.
This was how [Banish Battles] went, a truly… phenomenal thing, you need to gain space by attacking the opponent’s aura.
A whole new type of battles!
And so the battle unfolded, their auras transforming into shapes, representations of their power.
Stark formed his aura into fists, spears, and even tried to mimic a [Heaven’s Wrath] to clash with Olikar’s dark aura.
But Olikar actually fought back, their auras at a fairly same level.
But Stark wasn’t giving up.
Olikar was relentless, his dark aura pressing forward with terrifying force, pushing Stark’s crimson energy back inch by inch.
The apostle’s face twisted with rage, “I AM A TRUE GOD OF BATTLE! YOU CANNOT WIN!”
Stark gritted his teeth, sweat running down his face as he focused harder, pouring everything into his aura, “I don’t have to be a god to beat you.”
He pushed back with a surge of crimson energy, forcing Olikar’s dark aura to halt its advance.
The battlefield of auras fluctuated, the balance constantly shifting, but Stark wasn’t done yet.
[WARNING! WARNING! ONE MORE PUSH AND THE TOWER WILL CRUMBLE!]
Their auras were destroying the tower, the very foundations succumbing.
But Stark didn’t care, He had one last trick up his sleeve.
“You’re nothing but a false warrior who follows orders!” Stark shouted, his eyes blazing with determination.
His crimson aura shifted once more, forming a massive demon-like figure, an embodiment of [EGO], larger than any form he had created yet.
The aura demon roared and slammed into the dark aura Olikar had crafted into a grotesque, twisted version of himself.
The impact was thunderous.
BOOM!
The clash sent shockwaves through the space around them, and Stark’s aura surged forward, overpowering Olikar’s defenses.
The crimson energy washed over Olikar, consuming him piece by piece.
And then… what had to happen happened: Stark’s aura engulfed the apostle, locking him in place.
Olikar’s eyes widened in horror as his dark aura was completely overtaken, “Huh? W-What?!” He tried to resist, but it was already over the moment the aura reached him.
[You have lost the Banish Game!]
[Winner: Stark Heartsouls]
Olikar’s face twisted in disbelief, “WHAT? HOW? I CANNOT LOSE! THIS IS STUPID!”
On the other side, Stark was smiling, his face radiating with triumph and malice.
He knew it was over.
“Adios, idiot,” he laughed.
Fwish… FWISH…
Crimson tentacles of Stark’s aura tightened their grip on Olikar, dragging him down toward the ground.
Below him, a swirling portal of darkness appeared, the gateway to the void.
Olikar struggled, clawing at the air, trying to resist the pull, but it was futile.
He couldn’t fight against the overwhelming force of Stark’s aura.
“No! This cannot be!” Olikar shouted as the portal consumed him, piece by piece, dragging him down into its infinite depths.
And then, just like that, Olikar was gone, erased, cast into the void.
Ding!
[You have ‘Executed’ Olikar, The Colosseum Warrior!]
Stark’s eyes widened in surprise.
An execution. That meant…
[‘Execution’ broadcast has been sent throughout the world!]
This would surely cause an uproar, but it had been more than 6 months since his last execution, so who cares.
Ding!
[You have slain ‘Olikar, The Colosseum Warrior,’ gaining 47,600,000 experience points!]
[+20,000,000 Execution Bonus!]
Stark blinked in disbelief.
A total of 67,600,000 experience points from this single fight.
It was an astronomical amount, far more than he had ever earned in one battle, and he could hardly process it.
It didn’t take much more time for him to hear the level up notifications.
DING! DING! DING! DING!
[Your level has increased to level 89, granting you four skill points and a boost in stats.]
[Your level has increased to level 90, granting you four skill points and a boost in stats.]
.
.
[Your level has increased to level 99, granting you four skill points and a boost in stats.]
Stark’s mind went into ‘what the fuck’ mode.
He had jumped eleven levels in one battle, nearly reaching level 100.
It was unheard of.
“I-Incredible…” Stark muttered, his body still buzzing from the aftermath of the battle.
A level 400 monster (or 500 in this case because of the stat boost, you know) like Olikar had been beyond powerful, but now Stark had gotten everything.
It was sooo worth it!
“Skill!” Stark’s eyes immediately sparkled as he expected to see the cards appear before him.
But…
[From now only, you will get skills every 20 levels!]
He was put on yet another restriction…
“Oh well, can’t have it all,” he shrugged.
But as Stark caught his breath, he noticed something glowing near the spot where Olikar had been dragged into the void.
Three shimmering lights floated where Olikar’s body had been.
“Items!” Stark smiled as he approached them, he thought that he wouldn’t get anything because Olikar’s body was dragged into the void, but looks like he was wrong!
The glowing objects solidified, revealing three pieces of equipment left behind by the fallen apostle:
Colosseum Champion’s Blade: A massive greatsword imbued with Olikar’s dark energy. It boosts the wielder’s strength by 50% when used in combat arenas or colosseums and grants the passive skill “Aura Slash,” allowing energy-based ranged attacks.
Aegis of the Fallen: A legendary-grade shield that generates a powerful aura-based barrier around the user, deflecting incoming attacks. It passively increases defense by 30% and regenerates 0.2% of maximum health every 10 seconds during combat.
Gladiator’s Chainmail: An enchanted piece of armor that boosts agility and endurance by 20%. When taking a hit, it has a chance to temporarily increase the user’s speed, making them harder to strike.
Pretty good, heh?
Well, the world said “FUCK YOU” to Stark.
[Class: Warrior]
Because only the warrior class could use these three legendary or above items, and guess what, Stark had decided to remove the [Warrior] class from his [Class Wheel] option PERMANANTLY!
Who’s the real clown now, heh?
“There’s nothing we can do,” Stark sat on the ground while looking above at the destroyed floors, breathing in and out and able to see the sky from his current position.
But these weren’t all of the announcements, there was still one as Stark could still see a panel floating in front of him.
He decided to open it, and what he saw was quite… shocking.
Ding!
[As a reward for purging an entire tower, you have been granted a ‘Max out Core’!]
Eliminating Olikar meant killing EVERY monster in the tower, so he was rewarded with another [Max Out Core]!
The reason no one else was able to get it was because, well, Olikar counted as one of the monsters, and Stark was the only one able to kill him.
“Very good,” the boy smiled mischievously, “I’ll use it later,” he put it into his [Spatial Inventory] for now.
Then he sat down and waited, wanting to recover some of his stamina.
But of course, the universe wouldn’t let him rest.
[The tower is crumbling, you should really get out!]
“Oh.”
