Chapter 26: The 10th round began

At the 9th round, he appeared in a radiant world.

Arthur did not waste a single second upon entering the radiant world. The entire dimension was bathed in a blinding light, with floating golden islands, towering sky pillars, and a soft, luminous mist drifting through the atmosphere.

The subordinate bosses, all sculpted from pure light element energy, attempted to overwhelm him with hyper-speed beam attacks. Arthur moved like a ghost through the blinding realm, shifting his attributes fluidly to wipe out every single light monster until only the center of the domain remained.

At the highest golden peak hovered the mythical boss of the ninth round.

It was a magnificent Twelve-Winged Archangel. Its twelve wings were composed of pure, burning divine feathers, and its eyes glowed with an absolute, uncaring light. In its hand, it held a flaming golden broadsword that distorted the surrounding space.

The moment Arthur stepped onto the peak, the Archangel moved.

Its acceleration was so immense that it matched Arthur even when he funneled ninety percent of his total attributes into Agility. The angel vanished, leaving behind a streak of divine light, and reappeared directly behind Arthur, swinging its massive flaming broadsword downward in a blinding arc.

Arthur barely shifted his cells in time to dodge the initial swing, the divine heat scorching his cheek.

He immediately attempted to counterattack, shifting his attributes into Strength to deliver a counter-slash. However, the Archangel vanished again before the blade could connect. It circled around him at hypersonic speeds, striking from his blind spots with absolute swiftness.

Every time Arthur tried to accelerate and match its trajectory, the angel simply adjusted its flight path, using its six pairs of wings to execute impossible mid-air turns.

Arthur attempted three rapid exchanges, but his daggers only cut through the residual light trail of the divine wings.

His eyes narrowed as he analyzed the monster’s biological feedback. The creature was ridiculously fast, easily matching his five-thousand-kilometer-per-hour cap when he went full Agility. However, despite its supreme speed, the weight behind its broadsword strikes lacked the sheer, catastrophic force of the previous heavy bosses.

It was built entirely for speed and precision, not absolute destruction.

Arthur stopped running.

He stood right in the center of the golden peak, lowered his arms, and channeled Cellular Level Body Control to execute a complete, defensive redistribution. He shifted ninety-five percent of his total attributes directly into Defence, leaving only the absolute bare minimum across his remaining traits. His skin took on a dense, metallic sheen as his muscle fibers compressed into an impenetrable biological armor.

The Archangel saw the motionless target and did not hesitate.

It thrust its flaming broadsword directly toward Arthur’s heart at maximum velocity, putting the full momentum of its twelve divine wings behind the strike.

Clang.

A deafening metallic ring echoed across the radiant world. The tip of the broadsword hit Arthur’s chest, but instead of piercing his flesh, the blade completely stalled against his massive Defence stat.

The immense kinetic rebound force generated by the sudden stop traveled back up the broadsword and violently slammed into the Archangel’s arms and shoulders. The angel stumbled backward, its balance completely ruined, and its twelve wings flapped frantically to stabilize its body in mid-air.

Arthur took that single, golden opportunity.

In a fraction of a microsecond, he reallocated his cells. The massive Defence stat vanished, instantly converting into ninety-five percent pure Strength.

Before the Archangel could regain its footing, Arthur reached forward with his left hand, his fingers locking around the creature’s slender throat like an iron vise. He slammed the angel down onto the solid golden floor, cracking the ground beneath them.

With the Archangel completely pinned and unable to utilize its swiftness, Arthur raised his right hand and began slashing frantically with his Epic dagger.

Slash.

-1,500,000 HP.

Slash.

-1,500,000 HP.

The Archangel screamed, a high-pitched sonic wave erupting from its mouth as its twelve wings thrashed wildly against the stone, attempting to blow Arthur away. Arthur ignored the burning feathers tearing at his skin. He maintained his iron grip on its throat, constantly adjusting his internal cellular structure to keep his Strength at absolute maximum while pumping the rest into Defence to withstand the divine thrashing.

He drove his dagger into the angel’s chest, pulled it out, and stabbed again with relentless, mechanical precision.

The Archangel flapped its wings with terrifying force, dragging Arthur across the peak, but Arthur refused to let go. He kept his left hand clamped around its throat, crushing its windpipe while his right arm turned into a blur of violent, bloody slashes.

Every strike carved deep fissures into the angel’s holy armor, blood of pure liquid light spilling out onto the golden ground.

For 10 minutes, Arthur maintained this brutal, close-quarters execution. He never allowed the angel to regain its distance or utilize its superior speed. Whenever the angel tried to summon divine light to blast him off, Arthur shifted a portion of his stats to Defence to absorb the shock, then immediately flooded everything back into Strength to continue the onslaught.

Finally, after thousands of continuous, relentless dagger strikes, the twelve wings of the Archangel went completely limp. The brilliant glow in its eyes faded into nothingness.

[Ding! You have cleared the 9th round.]

Arthur let go of the lifeless throat, falling back onto the shattered golden floor as the giant angel dissolved into golden light particles. He panted heavily, his arms trembling from the two hours of continuous, maximum-strength exertion.

...

After taking his designated rest period, Arthur entered the tenth and final round.

He materialized inside the Demon Realm.

The sky above was a swirling void of dark purple and black clouds, and the ground was made of jagged, blood-red obsidian stone. Rivers of burning liquid dark mana flowed across the apocalyptic landscape.

The battlefield was far more terrifying than any of the previous rounds. Sitting on a massive throne carved from giant demon skulls sat the Mythical boss, the Demon Emperor, motionless like a dark statue. Below his throne stood two Epic generals, four Legendary commanders, and dozens of Royal, Elite, and Common demon bosses.

Unlike the beasts of previous rounds, these demons were pure battle-oriented war machines. Their martial instincts, group formations, and coordination were flawless.

It took Arthur four excruciating hours of non-stop, intense combat just to clear the subordinate bosses. Every single demon fought with suicidal aggression, forcing Arthur to constantly switch between Agility, Defence, and Strength to survive their coordinated barrages. By the time the last Epic general fell, Arthur’s stamina was dangerously low.

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure descended upon the blood-red battlefield.

The dark statue sitting on the skull throne cracked open. Two deep crimson eyes ignited within the shadow of its helm, shining with endless cruelty and war intent.

Boom.

The Demon Emperor stood up from his throne. In his hand, he held a long, black spear that dripped with corrosive dark aura. The pressure emitting from his body made the entire space buckle.

Arthur didn’t give him any chance and rushed toward him.

Following his proven tactic, Arthur shifted ninety percent into Agility, transforming into an invisible streak of motion as he aimed his daggers straight at the emperor’s throat.

Clang.

A sudden shower of sparks erupted in mid-air.

To Arthur’s horror, the Demon Emperor did not get caught off guard. With a movement so precise it bordered on godlike, the emperor swept his long black spear sideways, blocking Arthur’s full-speed strike instantly.

The kinetic feedback slammed into Arthur, and before he could reallocate his stats to adjust, the Demon Emperor thrust the butt of the spear directly into Arthur’s chest.

Boom.

Arthur was sent flying backward across the obsidian field, crashing through three stone pillars before slamming into the earth.

His HP instantly dropped by twenty percent.