CHAPTER 181: CHALLENGING HEAVENS!

Leon didn’t have much time to react as lightning was too fast. Yet, even still, he was in his strongest form, which gave him enough time to drink one of the Second Vials of Breath, an elixir that could heal people back from the brink of death.

Crackle–BOOOM!

The lightning bolt landed on him, his whole body was electrocuted, and a pain-filled scream escaped his mouth.

"Arrrrrggghhhh!!"

The muscles on his body felt like they were burning, as if countless needles were going through him, and he was jerking by reflex, weirdly gritting his teeth.

He smelled the scorched scent of his skin, yet there was one thing that surprised him. Despite the pain and burns, that lightning was not as bad as he had imagined.

Something had definitely changed inside my body. This much lightning was enough to scorch me to death.

I should have been at least scorched black by now... so what the hell is going on in there?

The life energy he had started using out of reflex; previously, he stopped then, as the elixir’s effects were more than enough.

Leon stood on the ground of what was once a cage for beggars, a space now scorched and destroyed. The walls that were there had crumbled like a thin coat of solid sugar meeting a hammer.

As he looked around him, he felt fortunate that no one was in the vicinity other than the beggars he had already stored inside his dimension. Otherwise, a lot of lives would have been lost if it were somewhere in the middle of the city.

The silver shimmering portal had still closed, as it had been only a second since he went out, so he passed the portal once again, entering the dimensional realm again, because the thunderous roar of the ancient beast growling up in the sky was unmistakable in his head.

Grrroooaaarrr...

This time, the location he had chosen was a bit special.

The same thunder that hunted Leon rolled faintly across the horizon, reaching the ears of those far away in Hemsburg’s grand arena.

Ascendant Academy.

Inside a grand, circular arena in the middle of the city, which bore a resemblance to a Coliseum, yet the structures were more advanced and magic use was present everywhere, thousands of seats lined the edge of the circular structure, filled to the brim with thousands of people, excitement visible on their faces.

"Toooo theeee People of Hemsburgs and thoseeee who had come like always to witness the Ascendant Academy yearly festivallll!"

The voice, enhanced by mana, traveled to every corner of the arena from the center where a man in a black suit was making the announcement.

"ARE YOU READY!!!!"

YESSSS!!!

A loud unison of cheers came from the crowd, excitement brimming in their bodies and voices, the source of it primarily from those on the lower floors.

On the top floor, the seats weren’t ordinary; instead, they were decorated in stark contrast to the simple seats for others.

There weren’t just humans on the top floor, but particular green-skinned creatures taking the same seats as the humans.

After the cheer from the people, a beautiful fire created by them using their magic lit the sky, making them cheer even more.

But then, out of nowhere, a large, thunderous sound made people jump up in fear. KRAKOOOOOM!

They were scared and looked at the sky only to find nothing.

Only three people had witnessed the impossible sight, the sight that had made their eyes widen in surprise.

In the distant sky, kilometers away from them, they had seen a massive grey thundercloud appearing out of nowhere, which shot a terrifying thunderbolt onto the ground and then vanished into thin air in the next second.

"Senior, what was that!" The green-haired young saintess asked Aurelia, her senior, in confusion, as she didn’t understand what had just happened.

Aurelia, sitting on her seat, which could very much be called a throne, shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no clue, little saintess of life."

Loriel was surprised as even her senior didn’t know what had happened. She had answered every question, yet in this lower domain, something occurred which even she wasn’t aware of.

First, the mysterious intruder is even stronger than I, and now this... what is happening in the lower domain...

——

Just outside the arena, Seraphine, who was about to reach her destination on horseback, looked up at the sky. Seeing the massive dark cloud near the slum area where she had parted ways with Leon, worry filled her heart. Still, she didn’t panic as she trusted him enough that he would be coming back and keeping his promise.

Be safe, Leon. I will be waiting in the arena for you to come back...

If you don’t come back...

The thought didn’t even finish in her mind, as she didn’t want to consider it. Without him, she knew she could never be whole. His return was a necessity for her, a choice she had made.

The worry on her face was masked by her belief in him as she continued to move to her destination.

—

Leon had arrived at the destination that he had wished to reach before passing through the portal. He looked to see the rocky mountain above him, as he was at the bottom edge of the hill where he had jumped from before.

His eyes widened as he looked at the cloud.

"Why the hell is it getting even bigger than before!!" His voice was laced with anger and frustration.

"HEAVENS THROW WHAT YOU WANT AT ME! BASTARD! I WILL SURVIVE!! NO MATTER WHAT!! I HAD HAD ENOUGH!!!"

Realizing his previous mistake, he didn’t try to outrun the predator in the sky.

Instead, mana inside his body surged quickly as, with the corner of his eye, he kept an eye on the cloud. It seemed as if it was about to release another judgment of the heavens onto him.

Besides the natural mountainous cover, the earth energy around him rumbled as a thick dome of earth formed around him, its thickness ranging from centimeters to meters. Rrrrmmmble...

But it got thinner in between, being compressed by his will. In just a second, he had spent his last 1000 mana. Still, instead of stopping, he took out a mana potion from his inventory, drank it, and continued building the dome, which he believed even the massive lightning from the sky wouldn’t be able to pass through.

In the next second, he hadn’t spent all his mana when a loud sound broke the silence. BOOOOM!

The top of the dome rumbled, but there wasn’t even a crack on it, which he checked through his spatial awareness as everything was dark around him.

Great, this is working. I won’t stop, I don’t know how many more lightning bolts that beast in the sky will strike at me.

His wind magic was keeping him alive inside and preventing him from suffocating.

Leon’s mana was finished once again, yet he drank another potion and continued solidifying the dome, making it even thicker and more compressed so it could withstand whatever it threw at him.

Tremble... RUMBLE!

The entire structure trembled once again. This time, it seemed as if a large piece of the mountain above had fallen from the sky onto his dome, KRRRRUNCH!, which felt like an earthquake had happened, resulting in cracks on its surface now, but it still held.

The damage was not made by the lightning but by the mountain itself.

Leon didn’t stop and solidified the cracks back to their previous state, then started improving the dome even more.

Its thickness had already reached more than five meters, not just normal earth but tough compressed earth, which would even give the mountainous rock a run for its money in toughness.

After the third lightning descended, Zzzraaaaap!, golden lightning appeared around his body from the strange rune surfacing inside the dark dome. The lightning danced around his body without causing him any pain, then entered his body without warning.

Shit! What is happening?

Please tell me this isn’t the prelude to exploding.

The golden lightning didn’t just enter his body.

It started changing his naked body all over, which made his eyes widen in surprise.

The golden arcs tore through him like molten rivers, carving their way through ancient stone, remaking the shape of a mountain in an instant.

Every nerve screamed, not in pain, but in sheer overload—his body straining to contain power that felt as if it belonged to gods, not men.

The air around him warped, Vrrrrmmmmm, each breath vibrating in his chest, as if the world itself was pausing to watch his metamorphosis.

Everything inside Leon’s body was transforming at a rapid pace, only leaving his mana core and holy heart aside.

"Urrgh"

It was hot and painful, but nothing too major. It only made him grunt, but this time he wasn’t upset, but delighted.

I am getting stronger! No, not just getting strong—my whole body is transforming!

His muscles felt more compressed, his bones denser and more challenging, and everything was improving. He felt much lighter in his body, yet at the same time felt like he was brimming with endless power.

Leon wasn’t sure how strong he had become, just that he felt like he was overflowing with physical strength.

He had the urge to punch the dome he had created, but he held himself back.

He felt genuinely happy after so long, as the increase in his physical strength was not just large but felt astronomical. He couldn’t even guess how much it was.

3 times, 4 times... 10 times? I have no clue.

Which made him realize how terrifying the pace at which he was getting stronger was.

He would stand until the sky ran out of lightning.