Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
So the [Forsaken King] hadn’t spared Violet out of rcy. The bastard had simply been bored.
"It’s been years since then," Violet continued quietly. "I’ve beco much stronger, but compared to him... it still isn’t enough."
She stared toward the fog for a few monts before speaking again.
"I wonder what my parents would think if they saw now."
Leon glanced at her, "What do you an?"
"If I fail this assessnt," Violet said calmly, "I’ll return to my world heavily weakened. Dragons are proud creatures. Losing this much strength would be humiliating."
"Your parents are still alive in your world?!"
"Of course."
Leon frowned slightly.
"But... I thought the worlds players ca from were destroyed after the summoning."
That was common knowledge in [Eternal Ascension]. Entire worlds vanished after their players were chosen.
At least... that was what Leon had always believed.
Violet suddenly let out a small amused chuckle.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Leon, but that only applies to other worlds."
"What?"
"Eternal-level worlds survive," Violet explained. "All the other worlds get destroyed."
Leon stared at her in disbelief, "What the fuck?"
Even in his previous life, Leon had never learned that information.
But thinking back on it now, he realized he had barely interacted with players from eternal-level worlds at all.
Most of them stayed among themselves.
"...That’s unbelievably unfair," Leon muttered.
"Maybe," Violet shrugged. "But fairness doesn’t matter here."
Leon couldn’t even argue with that. The two continued talking quietly while the others sat in silence nearby.
And little by little, ti passed. Almost an entire hour went by without anybody moving.
The fog crept closer. The pressure in the air beca heavier. And nobody had any solution.
Because realistically speaking, what could they even do in twenty-four hours that would suddenly make them capable of defeating the [Forsaken King]?
Nothing. That was the cruel truth.
Eventually, Leon stopped looking at the others entirely and turned toward the distant [Forsaken Castle].
The gigantic structure towered over the city like a monunt of despair, dark crimson lights glowing faintly through its windows.
And deep inside that castle waited the being responsible for all of this: the [Forsaken King].
Leon stared at it for several long seconds. Then finally... He stood up.
The others imdiately looked toward him.
"Alright," Leon spoke casually while stretching his shoulders slightly. "I’m gonna go kill the [Forsaken King]."
"...What?" Oasis blinked, "Are you insane?" she asked imdiately afterward.
"Did you not hear anything we just said?"
"I know you’re strong, human," Godrick added with an unusual amount of seriousness in his voice. "But this is beyond even you."
Leon simply shrugged, "Maybe."
Then he glanced toward the approaching fog, "But I’d rather try than sit here waiting to die."
Nobody answered him imdiately.
Because despite how ridiculous Leon sounded, none of them could deny one thing anymore:
He had accomplished impossible things already.
He defeated the [Forsaken General]. He killed the [Spider Mother]. He annihilated the [Forsaken Minotaur] in less than thirty seconds.
And now... He wanted to challenge the king himself.
Leon stepped toward the edge of the rooftop, preparing to leave.
"I’m coming with you."
Leon paused slightly at Violet’s voice before turning around. The dragon girl had stood up as well.
"Can you revive yourself?" Leon asked bluntly.
"...No?"
"Then you’re not coming."
Violet frowned slightly, "You’ll die alone."
"Maybe." Leon grinned faintly, "But I still have better odds than sitting here waiting for the fog to eat ."
Then he looked at all of them one last ti.
"See you in a bit... if I survive."
Fwoosh!
Without waiting for another response, Leon imdiately jumped forward from the rooftop.
His body moved rapidly across the abandoned city as he dashed from building to building toward the gigantic castle waiting in the distance.
The others silently watched him leave. For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Eventually, Alicar broke the silence.
"Do you think he can actually win?"
"No chance," Godrick replied instantly.
"This is insane..."
Oasis hugged her knees tighter while staring toward Leon’s disappearing figure.
anwhile, Violet continued watching his back quietly, her multicolored eyes reflecting the distant darkness creeping toward the city.
"...Perhaps he’ll surprise us again," she finally murmured softly.
And deep inside her heart, despite everything she knew about the [Forsaken King]...
She still hoped Leon would sohow accomplish the impossible once more.
Because if even Leon failed now... Then none of them had any future left at all.
Leon opened his [World Map] while rushing through the rooftops of the [Forsaken City], his figure moving rapidly toward the gigantic castle looming in the distance.
The map itself hadn’t changed much from before.
The streets, districts, ruined buildings, and landmarks were all still displayed exactly the sa.
But now, surrounding the edges of the city from every direction, was the spreading darkness.
The dark fog had already swallowed entire portions of the outer districts, and the deeper Leon looked into it, the more he could see those enormous tendrils moving within the shadows.
Even from this distance, they gave him a terrible feeling.
And above the map itself, the tir continued ticking down slowly.
[Total Darkness: 21 Hours 39 Minutes.]
"Heh," Leon let out a faint sigh while continuing to run. "Not much ti left anymore."
Still, unlike the others, Leon wasn’t planning to sit around and wait for death.
If there was even a small chance to clear this assessnt, he was going to take it.
While leaping across another rooftop, Leon quickly opened his [Storage Space].
He still hadn’t properly checked the rewards dropped by the [Forsaken Minotaur] after all.
The mont the panels appeared before him, his grin widened slightly.
---
[Forsaken Minotaur Essence: Consuming will increase Strength by 1,300 and Constitution by 1,000.]
[Dark Minotaur Axe (Ancient): 40,000 Attack Power, 25,000 Strength, -5,000 Agility. Requirent: Be able to hold it.]
[Sub-Talent Scroll: Embodint of Darkness (A-Level), ga Strength Enhancent (A-Level)]
[Forsaken Minotaur Head (Trophy): Proof that soone has defeated the "Forsaken Minotaur", one of the three "Forsaken King’s" guardians.]
---
"Nice," Leon smiled faintly.
The essence alone was already excellent. Without wasting ti, Leon imdiately consud it while running.
Nom!
A warm surge of energy spread throughout his body instantly, strengthening his muscles and bones as his stats increased once more.
[ 1,300 Strength, 1,000 Constitution.]
Leon could physically feel himself growing stronger again.
And honestly, at this point, his growth speed was becoming absurd even by his own standards.
Still, the item that caught his attention the most wasn’t the essence, it was the axe.
"That requirent is weird..."
Leon suddenly stopped running and landed on top of a rooftop before pulling the weapon out of his [Storage Space].
BAM!
The instant the giant axe appeared, it crashed onto the rooftop like a teor, cracks spreading everywhere beneath it.
"...Holy shit."
The weapon was gigantic.
Almost one-point-seven ters tall, with a massive black blade covered in crimson patterns that pulsed faintly with dark energy.
Just looking at it made Leon understand why the requirent wasn’t based on levels or stats.
It literally just said: "Be able to hold it."
Leon placed both the [Power Sword] and [Destiny Staff] aside before crouching slightly and grabbing the axe handle with both hands.
Then he pulled upward.
And...
BAM!
The axe barely moved before crashing right back down again.
Leon narrowed his eyes and tried harder. The veins on his arms bulged slightly as he exerted more strength.
This ti, the axe lifted a few centiters from the rooftop... Before imdiately slamming back down again.
"...Yeah, no."
Leon released the weapon and stared at it blankly.
"One would need strength comparable to the actual [Forsaken Minotaur] to use this thing."
Still though, the stats were ridiculous. If soone strong enough managed to wield it properly, they’d beco terrifying.
Leon stored the axe back inside his [Storage Space] for later use before continuing his sprint toward the [Forsaken Castle].
As he moved through the abandoned streets, Leon suddenly rembered sothing.
The minotaur had interrupted him earlier before he finished using his stones.
And now that he had a mont again... Leon imdiately checked his remaining resources.
[Skill Stones x90]
[Enhancent Stones x84]
Including those from the [Ascendant Treasure Chest], he now had more than enough to significantly improve his abilities.
"The enhancent stones first."
Leon didn’t even need to think about what item he wanted to strengthen. While continuing to run through the rooftops, he grabbed seventy enhancent stones and crushed them rapidly one after another.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
And the stones dissolved into streams of glowing energy before surrounding his new staff.
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