CHAPTER 51: APPRENTICE RANK ADVANCEMENT TASK

Ding!

[Chosen Difficulty: Hell]

[Giving appropriate advancement task...]

There was a short pause. Nothing appeared for several seconds. Sam stared ahead, arms crossed, calmly waiting. And then, another panel.

[You will be given the hardest advancement task possible. Do not disappoint us.]

Sam had expected that. This wasn’t the first time he got the hardest task.

Still, it was strange how often the system gave him the most brutal version of everything.

It meant something. Maybe it expected more from him. Maybe it knew something he didn’t.

Either way, Sam wasn’t surprised anymore.

Ding!

[SSS-Ranked Advancement Task: Kill the Second Forsaken Lord, Black Sun]

"...Of course," Sam sighed. "Oh well."

Now that he’d hit level 10 and received his advancement task, there was no point in standing around. He knew what he had to do.

Without wasting another second, Sam kicked off the ground and rushed forward at full speed.

Slash! Slash!

The closer he got to the beam of light piercing the sky, the more enemies spawned in.

Dozens of [Black Sun Vessels] came out of alleys, broken windows, and crumbling towers.

They lunged at him, their twisted mouths wide, bats raised high, but none of them lasted more than three seconds.

[Tendrils of Oblivion] worked too well against them.

With every swing, Sam ripped through enemies like paper.

Their weakness had been fully mapped out, and Sam didn’t even slow down as he cut them all down.

He could truly feel himself growing stronger.

Ten minutes later, he stopped.

[You sense the presence of the Forsaken Lord close to you.]

He was nearly there.

It had been roughly thirty minutes since he first entered the sub-layer, and his [Eternal Barrier] had already recovered.

[Eternal Barrier: 50/50]

With a deep breath, Sam’s heart began to pound.

A strange tension filled the air. The entire corrupted city around him began to grow silent.

There were no more random spawns. No more footsteps in the mist. Just the sound of his breathing... and the wind.

Sam pressed forward.

The narrow street he walked through gradually opened.

And far ahead, he saw a massive plaza stretching out in every direction, much bigger than the ones in the main layer.

Easily ten times the size, if not more.

And right at the center of it, the beam of light slammed into the ground.

It looked beautiful. The sky split apart around the energy, like a crack in the heavens.

But Sam didn’t let it distract him.

He stepped into the plaza.

Fwish! BAM!

The moment his foot crossed the threshold, a wall of corrupted energy exploded upward behind him, sealing off the path he came from.

Then more rose up around the other sides.

All exits vanished. And then came the voice.

"So you have come," it echoed, distorted and low. "I expected that. A Primordial truly is a formidable being..."

Fwish! BOOM!

An eruption of corrupted energy filled the sky, and slowly, the massive form of the [Black Sun] descended from above, its body glowing like a pitch-black eclipse.

A single eye stared at Sam from its core.

"But even then," the voice continued, "I cannot allow it. You are the last of them. We just need... to get rid of you."

Fwish! BOOM!

The sky trembled. The entire sub-layer shook as the black sun began to hum.

A wave of dark pressure swept across the plaza, and Sam felt a weight settle on his shoulders.

His muscles tensed. The air around him thickened.

He could feel it, the power of this thing. It wasn’t just strong. It was overwhelming.

The kind of pressure that made every cell in his body scream run.

But his aura pushed back. Even now, his affinities burned stronger, resisting the pressure pressing down on him.

Sam narrowed his eyes. Even for him... this thing was terrifying.

But running wasn’t an option.

"So you do not give up even after seeing that?" the Black Sun asked again. "Do you not realize that it is all futile—"

"Can you just shut up?" Sam snapped, voice sharp. "I don’t care about your story or whatever you’re whining about. Just fight me."

There was a pause.

"...Very well," the voice said, colder now. "Die."

Fwish! Fwish! BOOOOOOM!

A massive sphere of darkness formed above the black sun, compressing into a swirling orb before unleashing downward.

A beam of pure corruption shot toward Sam like a divine punishment.

Any awakener would have run. Any human would have collapsed in fear.

But Sam didn’t move.

The very idea of unavoidable attacks was rare in this world.

Most assumed everything could be dodged. That if you were strong or fast enough, you could escape anything.

But not here. Not in this place. So he didn’t flinch.

"I guess that means the fight starts now," Sam grinned, crimson eye burning.

BOOOOOOM!

The beam struck him dead-on.

A thunderous shockwave spread across the sub-layer.

Cracks tore through the corrupted stone as dust and dark mist filled the air.

"...Truly saddening that you were this weak," the Black Sun muttered. "The last of your kind is now dead. This world shall now fall."

Silence followed.

But then... A soft glow of crimson light flickered through the mist.

The black sun’s eye narrowed.

From the smoke, a figure emerged, unharmed. Sam stood tall, his eyes locked on the eye above him.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"...You..."

Sam had to admit, even he was slightly surprised by the attack.

But his body held steady.

[Eternal Barrier: 45/50]

He understood now. Constant attacks were counted by the second, not as one hit.

This meant he could theoretically survive up to 50 seconds, even in the most powerful flames of the underworld.

He still didn’t understand what the Black Sun meant by "last of your kind," but it didn’t matter.

The more these monsters talked, the more obvious it was that they hated something he represented.

And that was enough reason to wipe them out.

"I see now..." the Black Sun said, and its eye slowly closed. "Very well. Then let us fight."

Another ripple of corruption surged across the layer. But this time the Black Sun moved.

It floated directly above the beam of light, absorbing the energy into its core.

Its body pulsed. The sky flickered.

And then, its form began to shift.

The entire sky exploded in a burst of dark light as energy erupted from the sun’s body.

A humanoid figure slowly materialized, floating above the center of the beam.

The pressure grew heavier than ever.

"My true form," the figure announced, its voice no longer echoing, now cold and sharp, "Let’s see how far you can truly push that determination of yours."

Sam’s eyes narrowed, gripping his sword tighter.

’Both the Abyssal King and this thing talked about determination...’

There had to be a reason. Something deeper going on behind the scenes.

But right now, that didn’t matter.

He dropped into a battle stance, the ground beneath his feet cracking slightly from the force.

It didn’t matter how strong this being was. Or what it had planned.

If this really was like a game, then no matter how unfair a boss looked, there had to be a way. And Sam was going to find it.

His eyes darted toward the panel as it appeared.

---

[Zorath, The Black Sun (True Form)]

[Level: 20]

[Description: The second Forsaken Lord, the one that governs the second layer, and controls the corruption.]

[Hell-Mode Analysis: There must be a way. Keep going.]

---

Sam smirked.

And then, just as he was about to move, the figure above raised its hand, corruption spiraling through its arm.

"I shall not let the prophecy unfold," Zorath said, eyes glowing. "But you won’t give up so easily... so I’ll do everything in my power to stop you. The Abyssal King might have failed, but I won’t."

Then, with a single motion, he leapt from the sun.

The plaza cracked beneath the shockwave of his descent.

A black blur shot toward Sam from the sky.

"Here we go," Sam grinned, "Whatever that prophecy is, it doesn’t matter to me."