Stark stood amidst the carnage, his chest heaving from the battle’s intensity, as a familiar series of notifications echoed in his mind.
The sharp Ding of the system chimed repeatedly.
The bodies of the three apostles, the ones of the [Devil’s Abyss], were all in front of him.
Cerberus, the massive three-headed dog, was dead, lying there as he was killed by Stark’s holy energy.
Valgorth, the desolator, was also down, after getting absolutely comboed by Stark and his clone, there weren’t many people or monsters that could survive, especially taking the [Spear of Judgment] and dozens of hits from EGO.
And finally Malthus, the strongest of all of them, was erased from existence by [Heaven’s Wrath] after getting hit by the falling cross.
None of them stood a chance to begin with, though they did pose a threat to Stark in the beginning, he quickly overwhelmed them the second the clone appeared.
[You have slain ‘Cerberus, The Protector of Hell’, gained 36,500,000 experience points!]
[You have slain ‘Valgorth, the Desolator’, gained 37,800,000 experience points!]
[You have slain ‘Malthus, the Death Devil’ in his ultimate form; gained 45,000,000 experience points!]
[+119,300,000 experience points!]
“…What the hell,” the amount of experience he got was baffling, twice as much as he did when he defeated Olikar.
Maybe because he had defeated three apostles at the same time.
Also, Olikar gave 47,600,000 experience points (+20 million from the execution), but Malthus gave him 45,000,000; it was so close that it felt like there was almost no difference.
The panel did specify “in his ultimate form” though, so makes sense.
And of course, Stark leveled up.
Orrrrr not.
[The “Experience Curse” has been put on you.]
[None of the experience from those monsters will be granted to you.]
“…What?”
[Current level: 106]
[Experience: 977,000/8,500,000]
He actually got nothing.
“Execution experience points?!”
[Nah.]
“Damn…”
This is blasphemy!
He didn’t fight those assholes for no reason!
‘Give me my experience points!’
The more Stark fought these monsters, and the more he won against these impossible beings, the more fed up he got with all of this.
Ding!
[Imaginary Level 110 Reached (We feel bad for you): pick a card!]
Before him appeared 5 cards, each with an eye at the back, the pupil staring at him, as if judging him.
“Ultimate Clone,” he ordered, and the clone went in front of the cards, looking at them one after the other to judge which one would be best.
After a few seconds, [This… one… is… best…] the clone pointed at the one to the far right, and Stark took it.
Stark would probably never get used to the clone being able to talk in a panel, though only one word at a time, and very slowly.
When Stark turned the card around, he saw that the drawing at the front was that of a stickman figure, looking normal, except for the fact that two crimson arms were coming out from under the original ones.
Basically, that thing had four arms, two with a deep red that clearly meant they were added with aura.
Ding.
…
[Skill: Asura’s Arms]
[Rank: Godly]
[Description: Summons two of Asura’s arms, the God of Wrath to aid you in battle, they can be used to make you faster, to propel you, to block attacks, basically, they work exactly like normal arms, using your very own wrath to summon them.]
[Note: The power of this skill is associated to your wrath too, so more anger = more power!]
…
Stark had the level required to be able to head to the [Platinum] rank using a [Breakthrough Stone] and upgrade his skill level limit, but he had so many of them now that he just decided to let 40 skill points for his most essential skills like Domination and Focus.
But suddenly, right as he thought about using his max out core…
Ding!
[You have completely cleared this Determination-Level rift, eliminating every single monster, you truly are the doom slayer!]
“So you can say doom slaye-”
ZAP!
-100!
“…But I can’t,” he finished his sentence regardless.
[You have been granted a max-out core as a reward!]
This meant that he currently had two of those things at his disposal, able to use them on whatever skill he liked to enhance it to its ultimate form.
[Skills:] Spatial Inventory; Class Wheel; Perception; Domination lv30; Focus lv30; Aura Smash lv30; Clone Frenzy lv30 (MAX); Invincible Dodge lv30 (MAX); Double Assault lv10; Crimson Spears lv30; Heaven’s Wrath lv5; Alchemist lv5; Potion Crafting lv5; Target Manipulation lv1; Dodge Control lv5; Crimson Ball Transmission lv5; Domi-Chains Restrain lvl1; EGO lv5; Crimson Purification lv30; Wielding Cross lv30; Crimson Healing lv70 (MAX); The Void; Banish; Domination Soul; Revenant’s Fury 1/3; Holy Infusion; Enrapture; Asura’s Arms lv1
[Domination, Focus and Alchemist cannot be upgraded.]
Now, Stark could choose any two skills he wanted apart from those that he couldn’t, and make them reach their ultimate form.
[Crimson Healing] maxed at level 70, which would have surely taken him months if not years to reach, and its ultimate form gave him a second life, basically.
What could the other skills, which were attack-oriented, possibly do?
The real question Stark needed to ask himself was: what skill could have the highest level.
Some skills would only reach level 30, but some others could potentially reach up to level 100.
If he selected the latter, then he would surely get a perk that was 100 levels worth.
A perk so strong it could wipe out any monster in one swift motion.
Now, it was all about being strategic.
After a few minutes of deep thinking, Stark made a list of the skills he could potentially use the cores on: Aura Smash; Crimson Spears; Heaven’s Wrath; Crimson Ball Transmission; EGO; and finally, Asura’s Arms.
6 skills, yet only two could be selected.
This was the hardest choice Stark was about to make since he appeared in this new world.
But before selecting them, he decided to use the 60 skills he spared to upgrade some of the other ones.
And well, as most of his skill were either maxed, couldn’t be leveled up or were already at the level limit, he didn’t have many choices to select from.
Ding! Ding!
[You have upgraded ‘Domi-Chain Restrain’ to level 30 (Gold-Tier Max)!] (-30 skill points)
[You have upgraded ‘Target Manipulation’ to level 30 (Gold-Tier Max)!] (-30 skill points)
He didn’t use that skill much, but maybe it could be better.
…
[Skill: Domi-Chain Restrain]
[Perk: Chains of Judgment (Mythical Perk)]
[Description: Not only do you get three chains instead of one, but you can also summon “Gortox”, the chain demon, to aid you in chaining your enemies.]
…
He used this skill, not often, but he used it, but this still confused him regardless.
Who the hell is Gortox? Should he use the skill now to test it out? Or maybe wait? In the end, he still trained in the [Memories Museum] often too, so he would test it out.
And then… he moved to the other skill.
A pleasant surprise greeted him, though.
…
[Skill: Target Manipulation (ULTIMATE FORM)
[Perk: Complete Telekinesis (Immortal/Ultimate Perk)]
[Description: If you can hold off for 1 minute while focusing on your opponent’s aura, you can take it over and control their body for 15 seconds.]
[Note: by that, you can basically make the enemy kill themselves, yes, no joke, as you have full control of their bodies, you will be able to use their own weapons against them, though do note that you cannot use their skills!]
…
“This is…” Stark’s expression darkened, “So… normal…?”
I mean, this was a great perk, but when the hell would he have the time to think about that in battle? And what if the opponent didn’t have a fancy weapon like a blade?
When would he find the time to pull up this perk and stand still for an entire minute without the enemy immediately trying to attack him.
And now you might say: “W-Well, just ask the [Ultimate Clone] to protect you!”
But first, what if the clone died by a massive unavoidable attack, and second of all, if an attack like a giant fire appeared, which hit the entire area, then Stark was fucked.
He would need to think about it.
But now that he was done with those skills and their perks, he could think about what he needed to do next.
Aura Smash; Crimson Spears; Heaven’s Wrath; Crimson Ball Transmission; EGO; and finally, Asura’s Arms.
The skills were there, the cores were in his hands, all he needed to do now is… choose.
Because no matter what, his strength would surely increase.
“Alright, I think I know,” Stark let out a quick smile as he pointed at two of the skills.
