Chapter 20 – One Strike [2]
He was surprised, to say the least.
Nocthar had planned to propose something else entirely—make the boy fight his children to earn his forgiveness... maybe even a reward. But this little brat?
He wanted to block one of his strikes instead.
"Hahahaha!!"
A deep, thunderous laugh exploded through the dungeon, so heavy it shook the stone walls like they were brittle twigs. Dust rained from the ceiling. The ground itself trembled.
Kaden's body buckled.
It was like a sonic boom had slammed into him point-blank. He dropped to one knee, breath stolen, his body shaking like a leaf.
'What the hell? His laughter alone can make me kneel?'
The idea of taking a hit from this thing suddenly felt insane. Maybe—just maybe—proposing to take a direct strike wasn't the wisest thing he'd ever done.
The laugh slowly died out.
Kaden forced himself back to his feet, blood rushing, muscles screaming. He clenched his fists.
"I don't know if you're a fool or just suicidally confident," Nocthar finally said, baring sharp teeth in a grin.
"But I like it. A little madness is necessary in this world if you want to go far. But madness without strength... that's just stupidity."
He took a step forward, shadows coiling behind him like lazy serpents.
"You said you'd take one strike from me." Nocthar chuckled again, clearly amused. "A newly awakened brat saying that to me? That's rich."
Still... the boy was lucky. Nocthar's power was sealed—crippled to a mere fraction. Right now, he could only draw upon the strength of an intermediate-ranked being. A far cry from what he truly was. But enough to test this pup.
"Very well. One strike. Only one," he said. "And nothing will happen to you... I swear it—on my name, Nocthar The *****"
"ARGHH!"
Kaden screamed and clutched his head, agony detonating inside his skull like nails driven into his brain. His knees hit the stone again.
Just hearing that name—whatever came after 'Nocthar'—almost shattered him.
Nocthar tilted his head.
"Oh, right. My bad," he said with a shrug. "Forgot about that restriction."
His voice turned colder as he glanced around the dungeon, eyes narrowing at invisible shackles tied to his very being. But he didn't linger on it. Waste of time, he couldn't do anything about it anyway. He turned his gaze back to Kaden—still trembling, still standing.
Amusing little thing.
"You ready?" Nocthar asked, voice low but eager. He was done talking. He wanted to see.
See if this one had what it took.
Because power wasn't enough. Potential wasn't enough. You needed grit. Madness. Something in your soul that refused to kneel even when your bones begged for it.
So far, Kaden had the madness.
Now Nocthar would test the rest.
Kaden forced himself upright, gasping for air. He could still feel phantom pain from hearing that cursed name. It was ridiculous. Infuriating. But he bit it down.
He wouldn't complain. Wouldn't whine. Wouldn't run.
So he stood.
"I'm ready."
DING!
[Your quest has changed.]
[Quest: Sudden Test]
[Difficulty: Extremely Hard]
[Description: Nocthar has accepted your proposition. Show him you're not just talk. Endure one strike from him.]
[Reward: 600 Death Points, 30 Stat Points]
[Penalty: Eternal Enslavement by Nocthar]
Nocthar raised a single finger.
That was all.
To Kaden, it wasn't a finger.
It was a more than that. He wasn't juts seeing the finger, he saw...
A colossal black being, rising above the sky, vast wings of darkness unfurling like the void itself, stretching so wide it felt like the world would drown in them. An overwhelming pressure collapsed down, crushing, beautiful in its terror.
CLAP—!
Kaden slapped his own cheeks hard. Focus.
He summoned every drop of blood from his internal reservoir. Red and black waves burst from Reditha, whirling around him like a storm. This time he didn't use the blood to shape weapons or walls.
It fueled him.
"Come to me," Kaden commanded.
All the blood surged into his body. His muscles bulged unnaturally, bloody veins crawling across his flesh like war tattoos. The ground beneath him cracked under the pressure of his own weight. The air turned thick, red-tinted and suffocating.
Reditha appeared in his hand—his sword, now almost a lifeline—and he positioned himself in a defensive stance. He wasn't going to dodge. He wasn't going to block. He couldn't anyway.
He had one job: survive.
Nocthar's voice cracked the air like thunder.
"Finger of Death."
The tip of his finger pulsed. A sphere of compacted black light formed, spinning slowly. Reality around it began to twist and cry, the dungeon shaking from its mere existence.
Kaden's eyes sharpened. He didn't try to meet the strike with blood-formed walls or weapons. That was useless. This wasn't about cleverness. It was raw, naked endurance.
The black light flashed.
Faster than thought. Faster than instinct.
CRACK—!
BOOOOM—!
Kaden was thrown like a ragdoll. He cracked the air like a whip as he flew backward, limbs loose, body spiraling. Then—
BAAAM!
A deep crater erupted from where he landed. Smoke bellowed out, thick and choking.
Nocthar's eyes narrowed.
"...You actually survived?"
The smoke thinned. Inside it was a figure—crumpled, broken.
Kaden.
Barely.
His body twitched. Then again. And then, with agonizing slowness, he rose. Every inch upward was pain made manifest. His body was mangled. His left arm—gone. Shattered and severed. Only his right arm clung to Reditha, hanging limp but present.
His body was soaked in blood. Skin torn. Bones exposed.
And yet—
His eyes were still red. Still burning.
Locked on Nocthar.
Nocthar grinned, sharp and wide.
"...Yes. That's the spirit."
You have the grit.
DING!
[Quest Completed.]
Kaden collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut once he heard the notification.
Thud.
Pain swallowed everything. His nerves were fire. His soul was ash.
'Ah... fuck you, Nocthar.'
The thought was weak, but it was real.
—End of Chapter 20—