Chapter 236: Rise, Boom, Cleave
I gave one last look at the strange platform—the special place that had just changed so much for me. Then I took a breath and urged the system that I was ready to leave.
Without delay, a portal shimmered into existence right beneath my feet. Before I could think twice, I dropped straight into it.
The next moment, the portal spit me out into the cave I had carved into the mountain. I landed smoothly, knees slightly bent, absorbing the impact without a sound.
I straightened up and glanced around. The cave was empty.
No sign of movement. No flicker of Essence. Just stillness.
I reached out with my perception, letting my Psynapse flare to life. Instantly, my senses expanded beyond the cave, sweeping across the surrounding peak, the ridges, and the trees below.
Nothing.
Neither Steve nor Ana showed up anywhere in my range. My gaze narrowed as I turned toward the cave entrance—the stone wall I had created to seal it was still there… but cracked open on one side.
I walked over and placed my hand against the rough surface.
The cut was clean. Too clean.
“Did Steve do this?” I muttered to myself, frowning.
Something wasn’t adding up. The last time I visited that place, I returned instantly—as if no time had passed. But now….the wall was damaged, and both of them were missing. That could only mean one thing.
This time, I hadn’t returned right away.
Time had definitely passed. I just didn’t know how much.
I pressed my palm flat against the stone and whispered, “Revert.”
Essence surged into the wall. It trembled slightly, then started breaking down, turning to dust that scattered at my feet.
I took a slow breath, stepped through the broken opening, and emerged back into the real world.
The wind hit my face, cold and sharp.
I activated [Essence Engine], and a pulse of warmth flowed through my body as my channels flared open. I pushed them to full capacity, drawing in energy from the air to refill my reserves as quickly as possible.
With my reserves climbing, I expanded my perception again, carefully scanning every inch of the forest around me. And then—I saw something.
My legs bent instinctively.
In the next heartbeat, I burst forward.
The world blurred around me as I zoomed through the trees, the wind howling past my ears. After just two leaps, I landed at the spot where I had seen the disturbance.
It wasn’t far—barely a hundred meters from the cave.
But what I found made my eyes narrow.
Several trees had been cleanly severed, their trunks sliced with precise, razor-sharp cuts. I counted at least ten of them, their upper halves either lying on the forest floor or shattered where they’d landed. The edges of the cuts were smooth—too smooth. This wasn’t done by a beast. It was a sword.
I crouched down, placing a hand against the bark of a fallen tree. The lightning residue told the story clearly.
There had been a battle here.
Wind damage scarred the ground—gust trails carved into the dirt, and several small craters marked where forceful impacts had struck. Grass was flattened in spirals. Essence still lingered faintly in the air, disturbed and scattered like dust in water.
Then I saw it.
A few drops of blood.
Fresh. Dark red. Clinging to a jagged piece of broken wood.
I stood slowly, eyes tracking the pattern of damage.
Everything pointed in a single direction—further inside, deeper into the mountain range.
I clenched my fists.
They’d gone that way. And they hadn’t gone quietly.
I reached inward—past the flow of Essence, past the hum of my channels—until I touched the part of me that had changed. The evolution.
The wings.
A deep pulse echoed through my back.
And then—snap.
With a sudden pull, two wings burst free from my back.
Not bone. Not flesh. Not natural.
Crimson and vast, each wing shimmered with feathers made of condensed mist. Violet runes glowed faintly across every strand, etched into the very structure like living scripture.
I gave them a small test flap.
The ground beneath me cracked from the sheer backlash.
I crouched slightly, letting them stretch to their full span. The air around me trembled, bending as if it was obeying the command of its king.
I leaned forward.
Then—whooosh!
With a sharp beat of my wings, I launched into the air. The ground vanished beneath me in a blink. Trees blurred into streaks as I shot upward, ripping through the forest canopy and into the open sky. Wind screamed in my ears.
I extended my perception as far as I could, tracking the trail left behind.
And the more I saw, the more my gut twisted.
The blood wasn’t scattered anymore—it was forming a trail. Faint drops at first… then smears. Then splashes. Someone was badly injured.
I beat my wings again, harder this time. My speed doubled. I shot across multiple peaks in seconds, the mountain wind slicing past as I zeroed in on the trail.
But something else made my pulse spike.
Abominations.
I spotted them on the cliffs and deep in the forests—huge, twisted things, all above level 150. Some pushed near 180. And there were too many. No way Ana or Steve could’ve passed through this unharmed.
Which meant they hadn’t.
I dove sharply, landing on a high ridge. Dust burst around my boots as I touched down.
A second later, the air trembled with guttural growls. The ground quaked. Shadows moved.
Dozens of Abominations emerged from the cliffs and trees, drawn by the sound of my landing—each more grotesque than the last, every one of them charging straight for me.
“They didn’t make it this far,” I muttered, eyes scanning the terrain.
Not a trace. No broken branches. No Essence signature. Nothing.
“They’re either hiding,” I murmured, “or they were caught.”
I shut my eyes, forcing my thoughts to slow. My heart pounded too loud. I placed a hand over it.
“Silver.”
A surge of crimson mist erupted from my core—and with a shrill screech, Silver dropped from the sky, landing before me in a crouch, his wings curling inward like blades.
I pointed toward the direction I’d flown from.
“Find Ana and Steve. Kill everything else.”
His eyes flared red in acknowledgment. Then he let out another piercing cry that echoed across the peaks.
Maybe—just maybe—they’d hear it if they were hiding.
I turned back toward the approaching thunder of feet. My eyes narrowed.
The first Abominations crested the ridge.
I raised my hand and summoned the staff.
It dropped into my grip, solid and cold. Familiar.
The lead creature came into full view.
[Dead Crawler – Level 154]
It looked like a four-legged leopard—but the skin was rotting, the eyes empty, and long, twitching tentacles writhed from its spine.
Dozens like it followed.
I activated [Absolute Domain].
A violet pulse surged from my chest. The world bent and twisted as the domain spread—nine meters of warped reality centred around me.
The moment the first creature crossed into it, I gave a single command.
“Rise.”
Jagged metal spikes erupted from the ground. The Dead Crawler dodged the first, stumbled through the second, and was impaled by the third.
Essence within the domain swarmed the injured beast, invading its body like a swarm of angry wasps.
I clenched my fist and spoke.
“Boom.”
Its body detonated midair—blood, tentacles, bone, all gone in a flash.
[Level Up!]
[Level 104 → Level 108]
But there was no pause.
Three more crawlers surged into the domain, completely unfazed by the death of their kin.
I gripped my staff tightly and swept it through the air.
“Cleave.”
The wind snarled.
A massive arc of compressed wind exploded forward. The first crawler didn’t even register the cut before it was split clean in two. The second one jumped, but not fast enough—its tentacles were severed mid-flight. The third leapt clear over the slash.
I stepped forward—and in that instant, I appeared in front of it.
Its eyes widened.
I drove the staff upward, slamming the end into its jaw. Its head popped like a melon.
Without wasting any time.
I spun, brought the staff crashing down on the fourth one—flattening it into the dirt with a wet crunch.
Boom!
[Level Up!]
[Level 108 → Level 114]
I took a breath, slow and deep.
I was warmed up.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!