Chapter 76: Awakening [2]"What the hell?" Deerheart muttered before his brain could even register what was happening.

    The stunning young man he had killed was now rising to his feet weightlessly, as if subtly levitating.

    He had been dead barely a minute ago, but now he stood on his own legs, as though nothing in existence could touch him.

    His already handsome face seemed to shine even more, his flawless alabaster skin contrasting perfectly with his pale-lilac hair and matching eyes. Even the barely visible black star within his pupils had now almost overtaken his irises completely.

    Deerheart couldn’t grasp what exactly was going on, but one thing echoed in his mind:

    If he didn’t die once, then he just had to kill him again.

    "Die, you stubborn roach." Deerheart widened his stance, placing his hands atop each other.

    ’Damn it, I can’t believe a brat pushed me this far.’ At that very moment, Deerheart wasn’t in his right mind — and he knew it, but there was nothing else he could do except fight.

    "I, a minor priest of lust, summon you — Jezebeth."

    The entire orb dungeon trembled violently as his mana surged into the air like wildfire. He then bit down on his lip, letting blood drip to the floor.

    The moment the blood hit, a summon materialized.

    Its form was like that of both a human and a hideous beast — white skin, a twisted face, and six eyes, with a halo above its head.

    On its lower body was a sleek material acting as clothing.

    The summon lunged from Deerheart’s direction. Sёar?h the Novёl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ’I didn’t even get time to rest...’ Kai looked forward and faced his enemy. ’System, show me my stats, and what the odds of victory are.’ The system stayed quiet as he sprang into the air, dodging the heavy punch.

    Kai’s thoughts paused for a moment, anticipating the chime of the system, but no word or sound came.

    Deerheart, noticing the confusion of the stubborn cockroach, controlled his summon telepathically, making it shape an orb of pale, shadowy light that devoured both light and darkness, and launched it like an arrow at Kai.

    Kai evaded mid-air, but he couldn’t do the same for the next strike.

    As the summon raised its hand, dust, sand, and rubble began swirling around it. With a whip of its arm, like an athlete hurling a shot, it launched the now-massive debris it formed, flying at Kai.

    In that instant, Kai thought he heard something. He smiled faintly as the dust around him exploded from the impact of the huge wreckage.

    The dazed enchanter stared at the pile of rubble and scattered debris left by his summon’s assault. His eyes glimmered for a brief moment — but that faint gleam was soon replaced by dread.

    From the shattered stone and churning dust, a figure appeared, illuminated faintly by the dim glow of the magic circle.

    His beauty was ineffable — like a dream no one would ever want to wake from.

    The figure glanced at him with pale-lilac eyes that held a massive, black, astral-like star, then uttered a single word that made his world collapse:

    "Ouch..."

    ’How... how is he alive?’ Deerheart didn’t know the answer, but one thing was for sure: the kid he was fighting wasn’t a C-rank anymore.

    He laughed bitterly, stifling the urge to tighten his jaw. "You really are a monster. How did you speedrun the ranks like they were placed there for no reason?"

    Kai slicked back his hair, which had now overgrown its usual length, then kicked away a small piece of debris blocking his path and moved closer to where Deerheart stood.

    His presence was commanding, but his voice was soft — a kind of bass that could entrance anyone. "I don’t think passing two ranks in two weeks is that big of a deal."

    Deerheart shrugged his words off. "Is that so..." he raised his hand. "I was planning on reserving this for that old hag, but it’s no matter... just accept it as a farewell gift."

    ****

    POV CHANGE:

    ---

    From the moment I was revived, I could tell Deerheart’s spell was almost complete. It only had, at most one or two steps remaining. Luckily for me, something from outside had been actively disrupting his plan.

    That meant all I had to do now was defeat him, then the arc would end.

    I could feel the new strength pulse through my body. My mana pool felt like it had undergone a tremendous change.

    But not just that, even my mana itself felt... strange within me, like some kind of unknown energy had mixed with it, as if my body had begun using the non-expendable energy of the universe.

    There were so many things I needed to check, but they had to wait.

    The system, which had been taking its precious time, finally chimed in my mind.

    [Sorry for the delay... Kai]

    ’What? Did it just speak properly?’

    The system chuckled lightly. I had always known it was sentient, but even then, it never showed obvious human traits.

    So why now?

    No... The more accurate question that rang in my head at that moment was — ’Who are you?’

    The system’s voice turned stable.

    [I am Alpha — your companion and thread. But you might know me by another name: Theron... I can’t say much now, since my main body is currently trapped in an outer dimension... but you can trust me, I am on your side]

    It was weird hearing that word "Trust" from the same guy, or more accurately: British lady, who had thrown me into this world—

    Deerheart’s mana was beginning to surge. That meant that, regardless of whether the system or Theron was lying, I had to take the offer.

    ’So what now?’

    [I will transfer all useful information on weaving into you, since your awakening had consumed your core... So, use me as you see fit, Master]

    Ding!

    {User has completely merged with Primordial Thread: Alpha}

    {User’s soul has seen Elysium}

    Creatures that resembled miniature versions of Deerheart’s summon began forming around me, as one last notification popped into my head:

    {User’s understanding of Weaving has significantly increased}

    As soon as the system spoke, I took to the sky, dismissing my combat suit and wrapping my exposed skin in the black threads that surrounded me, forming them into a black turtleneck and a slightly large cargo pants.

    [Are you ready for the experiment?]

    ’I still feel a bit dizzy, but whatever.’ I closed my eyes for a brief moment, activating my zone. Almost simultaneously, I began seeing things that were usually faint.

    Threads of different colours danced around me like fine hair. Then, with a simple gesture from my risen index finger, I compressed the threads around me into a single droplet.

    A solitary, shimmering, multicolored tear made of fine threads.

    Then...

    Like glass shattering into shards, the tear fractured, and more than a thousand luminous threads unfurled outward in an instant, piercing through the hellspawns that surrounded me.

    They didn’t scream. They didn’t even have the time to. Neither did Deerheart.

    Even the world seemed to remain silent as I impaled every single one of his summons, laying their corpses across the battle in a grotesque mural of defeat.

    Deerheart gritted his teeth and began forming spell after spell, trying to bring me down from the sky.

    But this time, it was my turn to look down on him. The man whose strength was so insurmountable less than five minutes ago was now groveling beneath of me, as I countered every spell he tried to prep by simply snapping the threads connected to it.

    This was the highest stage I could reach as a King of B-rank. I wasn’t sure if I could even achieve this amount of concentration and power on another day.

    But none of that mattered now. Whether it was now or in the future, I would always find a way to overcome my situation.

    And with weaving, I could rewrite magic and reality itself. It was just a matter of how... Then whatever force came against me — would be forced to submit.

    Without even giving much thought to it, I activated clairvoyance. ’How long can I last in this state, Alpha?’

    [About three minutes.]

    My gaze fixed on Deerheart, who slowly stood to his feet. He then controlled Jezebeth, who had been stationary due to Deerheart’s distortion from my previous attack.

    [Analyzing weakness... You can dismantle the spell tying Deerheart to this summon.]

    "I won’t advise you to do that," I said softly. "I will give you a chance now — surrender and swear your loyalty to me."

    At this point, I didn’t just need Deerheart as a Shadow Saint, since he wouldn’t be able to retain his memory, but I needed to turn him into a Mage Saint. That meant he needed to surrender to me.

    Deerheart laughed loudly. "You think I will bow to a kid like you... Even if you are the Young Lord, I have already sold my soul to another master."

    "What is with this Young Lord crap? Well, whatever. I would just have to beat it into you."

    The threads that I had begun to manipulate behind me slithered like a serpent. Deerheart, seeing the brilliant serpent-like light behind me, lunged forward, his summon by his side.

    Sending Jezebeth closer to me, he smirked, then yelled, "Die!"

    [The summon: Jezebeth is about to self-destruct.]

    ’So this is his stand till the end.’

    Concentrating and summoning one of my vestiges, I watched as Star of Ruin formed with the sparks of light, and without wasting a breath, I formed it into a blade and slashed through Jezebeth’s core, completely cutting it off from the threads it was connected to.

    Ding!

    {You have unlocked a new feature of Star of Ruin — Demon Slayer.}

    The summon paused mid-air and fell to the ground.

    In my hand, I held the glowing white blade that I had now coated with both my pale lilac mana and different coloured threads.

    Before Deerheart could even blink, I hovered in front of his plummeting body.

    I wasn’t sure if he had lunged forward thinking that Jezebeth would be any different than the other summons I defeated in an instant.

    But that fatal mistake was his checkmate. I couldn’t kill him since I needed him to surrender, but I couldn’t let him move around all he wanted and attack me.

    I gripped my blade tightly as the threads around Deerheart’s body became visible — not just to me, but to him too.

    The blade shone like the moonlight, interwoven with different hues.

    "I knew you were strong... But even then, you were nothing but a mere D-rank. How exactly did you become stronger than me? How did a kid like you disrupt the plans I had made for years?"

    I didn’t respond to his question. As soon as there was literally no space between us—

    At the moment when the world crackled with intensity and mana flared in the air, I spoke. "Why don’t we end this in the most flashy way possible?"

    My voice seemed to resonate with the world itself as I swung my blade sideways.

    We both had long abandoned the lone throne room, but I was planning on sending him back into the place the battle had begun.

    Deerheart’s mouth was shut, cold sweat running down his temples, and his gaze locked onto mine, my blade hovering inches from his neck.

    I could sense him channeling mana into his eyes as if wanting to perceive my stats, but he suddenly shrieked, like countless system warnings had popped up in his head.

    Blood dripped from his eyelids as my cold blade made contact with his neck.

    Gritting his teeth, he struggled to mutter, "What the hell have you become, Kaiser Vanguard?"

    "You want to know what I’ve become?" I asked, slamming my blade on his neck. "Demon Slayer sounds about right."