The impact sent shards of stone and splinters of carved wood flying, while artifacts shattered into glowing fragments all over the place.
Dust erupted in choking clouds, filling the chamber as the tremors threatened to buckle the very foundation of the library.
The golem’s body of jagged stone and molten core now lay fractured. Its torso was caved in, cracks rippled across its massive frame. One of its arms had been completely torn off, lying in the rubble several meters away. Its head, half-missing, sparked faintly with fading magic
runes.
Terra waved the dust out of her view, her sharp eyes narrowing as she noticed something unnerving. She pointed at the golem, her voice shaking.
“M-My Lord! Look!”
The shattered remains of the golem were dissolving, breaking down into particles of dark red light that pulsed like a heartbeat before dissipating into the air.
“Something’s dissolving it,” Terra whispered uneasily.
Alister narrowed his gaze, trying to focus on the phenomenon. However, a system notification blocked his efforts.
[System Alert: Unable to analyze strange phenomena. Required Level: 120.]
Alister’s eyes widened. “Level 120…” he muttered, a look of shock flashing across his usually composed face.
As the golem’s remains dissolved into the air, leaving behind faint trails of dark red light, Alister’s gaze locked onto something shimmering faintly in the rubble. A golden glint caught his attention. He felt an unexplainable pull toward it, a force that seemed to resonate deep within him.
‘What is this?’ he thought, gripping his chest for a moment as he felt his heart rate accelerate. ‘It feels… like something is calling out to me.’ He began to walk toward it.
Terra narrowed her gaze, trying to discern what the golden glow was. Then, as realization dawned, she exclaimed, “That’s it… My Lord, that’s what we came for!”
Her words only increased Alister’s curiosity. He crossed the wreckage, stepping cautiously over splintered wood and fractured stone, until he stood before the object. Bending down, he reached out and grasped it.
The golden object was cold to the touch, yet it hummed faintly with mana… No, it wasn’t mana. It was something else.
‘This is Ether,’ Alister thought, recalling what it was from his past life memories.
It was jagged, clearly a fragment of something larger, with runes etched along its edge that pulsed faintly. As Alister examined it, his eyes widened.
‘This thing… It looks like a blade fragment… Wait… A golden blade fragment with Ether?’ ‘Wait… Then isn’t this…?’
Before he could finish the thought, a chime echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations on completing the quest: Piece of an Overlord’s Sword!]
[The player has obtained the following rewards:]
Fragment of Restria (1/??)
New Skill: Dragon God Body (EX) – (Level Requirement: 60)
EXP: 50,000
Unique Trait: Fateless
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Current Level: 49!]
Alister’s hands tightened around the fragment as the system notifications rolled in. His thoughts raced, pragmatic and calculating as always.
‘Four levels… in one go? That was… too easy.’
He dismissed the thought. ‘Well, that doesn’t really matter now. Since I have the fragment, I should be on my way.’
‘I don’t know what sent this massive golem flying and left it in such a sorry state, but…’ he gazed in the direction the golem had been sent flying from and narrowed his eyes, ‘for some reason, encountering whatever’s responsible makes me uneasy.’
Alister turned to face Cinder and Terra as he spoke. “I’ve obtained the fragment… We’re done here. Let’s be on our-“
“And just where do you think you’re going, boy?” a voice, deep and filled with a touch of anger, suddenly echoed, causing all three of them to look toward its source.
[Your unique trait: Fateless has slightly influenced your future.]
Alister stiffened, his grip tightening on the fragment. As if to further increase his unease, a system warning suddenly appeared in a flashing red window.
[Warning: The approaching entity is far stronger than the player. Combat is strongly ill- advised.]
Cinder’s hands ignited with flames as she instinctively prepared for battle.
From the distance, a figure began to emerge through the dust and shadows with slow, deliberate steps, its presence heavy and oppressive, like a storm descending upon them. The dust swirled and began to settle, revealing a figure standing tall amidst the destruction. His skin was a rich brown, gleaming faintly under the dim light of the underground chamber. His long, jet-black hair was pulled into a neat ponytail, secured with an ornate pin shaped like a roaring lion’s head, its eyes set with glowing Rubies, and he had massive Fox ears and eight black tails.
His eyes were a striking, unnatural red, radiating an intense, predatory aura that seemed to pierce through the air. His armor was unlike anything Alister had seen before… a mix of leather and metal.
The pauldrons were fashioned to resemble the claws of a great beast, each sharpened talon curling outward menacingly. The chest plate bore the embossed image of a snarling wolf, its jaws open wide as if ready to devour.
Around his waist hung a belt of interwoven beast pelts, their textures hinting at creatures long extinct.
The armor itself seemed alive, pulsing faintly with veins of glowing crimson Ether, similar to the color of the man’s eyes.
His boots left faint claw marks on the polished obsidian floor with each step, and around his wrists coiled bracers adorned with fangs and talons.
Alister’s gaze narrowed, his voice steady but edged with curiosity and caution.
“Who are you?”
As the words left his lips, the system’s familiar notification screen materialized before him.
[System Alert: You have come into contact with another Overlord Candidate.]
[Designation: Ju’Nero, Lord of Beasts.]
[Combat Power: EX Rank.]
[A few fables away from becoming a celestial.]
[Second warning: The power gap between the player and the opponent is worlds apart.
Combat will most likely lead to death. Retreat is advised.]
Alister’s breath caught as he read the words. His mind raced, his usual calm composure giving
way to a flood of thoughts.
‘Beast Lord…’
‘There are… other Overlords?’
‘EX rank… A few fables away from becoming a celestial… Seems he’s no pushover… The system
is even telling me to retreat.’
‘It has never done that before…’
Ju’Nero suddenly gritted his teeth, as if tho Alister’s question deeply irritated him.
Suddenly, the air thickened as Ju’Nero’s aura surged like a tidal wave, crashing outward in an oppressive burst of raw Ether.
The ground beneath Alister, Cinder, and Terra trembled violently, cracks rippled forming at their feet as the sheer weight of Ju’Nero’s presence forced the ground to crater.
Dust and debris were hurled into the air, obscuring their vision for a moment as they
struggled to remain upright.
Alister gritted his teeth, his knees bending slightly to counter the sudden force. He could feel
the suffocating weight pressing against his chest, a force unlike anything he had ever
encountered before.
‘Shit… This pressure… It’s too much.’ Alister thought.
Even Cinder, usually calm and unshakable, faltered slightly. The flames in her hands
extinguished as she adjusted her stance.
Terra was already forced to her knees, her breathing was extremely laboured, her expression a
touch of awe and confusion.
Ju’Nero’s crimson eyes glowed ominously, like smoldering coals in the dim light of the library. His gaze fixed into Alister with an intensity that felt almost physical, pinning him in
place as the aura of the Beast Lord continued to ripple outward, shaking the shelves and causing loose artifacts to tumble to the ground.