The explosion hadn’t even settled when I moved.
I pushed off the broken floor and burst out of the collapsing structure, debris still falling around me as I stepped into the open street, my body already shifting into motion before my mind could fully process the situation. The air outside felt different now as if the entire city had turned its focus toward me, and I didn’t need the distant shouts to know I was already surrounded.
I tried to move. Tried to push into a sprint but the space ahead of me twisted.
Black smoke gathered mid-air, folding inward, and in the next instant three figures stepped out of it, their forms stabilizing as the smoke dispersed around them. They simply appeared, already positioned and blocking every direction I could take.
I stopped.
My eyes flicked between them.
[Believer Gin – Level 85] [Believer Gin – Level 85] [Believer Gin – Level 90]
"...You’ve got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath.
They stood tall, easily over eight feet, their thin frames hidden beneath flowing black robes, emerald eyes fixed on me with unsettling calm. One of them, the one standing directly in front, Level 90, took a slow step forward, its hand raising slightly as if measuring the distance between us.
"You shouldn’t have come here," it said, its voice low and hoarse. "Surrender, and you might still be of use."
I exhaled lightly, tightening my grip on the axe.
"Not happening."
The moment the words left my mouth, they moved.
A sphere of black energy formed instantly in one of their palms, condensing into a dense, pulsing mass before it shot toward me without warning. I twisted to the side, the attack passing close enough that I felt the pull of it, and the moment it struck the wall behind me, it burst open, spreading into a cloud of dark energy that ate into the structure like acid.
I moved next.
"Radiant Drive."
The energy surged through my body, lightning snapping along the yellow glow as I closed the distance instantly, my axe already moving as I brought it down toward the closest one.
The blade hit and stopped.
A barrier flared into existence just before impact, a translucent black shield forming around the target, absorbing the strike while the force rippled across its surface instead of breaking through. At the same time, the other two moved, hands rising as they traced something in the air.
I pulled back immediately but was a little slow.
The ground beneath me erupted as jagged spikes of black energy tore upward, forcing me to jump back as another wave of projectiles formed behind them, launching forward in a tight spread. I deflected one, then another, but the third slipped through, grazing my arm as it burst on contact, the energy spreading briefly across my skin before fading.
I clenched my jaw and pushed forward again.
"Radiant Slash."
The axe cut through the air, lightning surging along the arc as the attack tore toward them, but this time they didn’t block individually. The shields formed together, overlapping, reinforcing each other as the attack collided and broke apart against the layered defense.
"Persistent," one of them said calmly, even as its hands continued moving.
"Annoying," another added.
The third didn’t speak.
It acted.
A bolt of black lightning tore down from above, striking toward me with speed that forced an immediate reaction. I twisted out of the way, the ground exploding where it landed, and used the momentum to close in again.
I wasn’t going to win this at range. I had to break them up close.
"Impact Burst."
The movement snapped me forward, my body appearing in front of the nearest level 85 before it could fully react, the axe already mid-swing. The shield formed again, but this time I didn’t stop.
"Annihilator Cleave."
The energy condensed along the blade, lightning crackling violently over the yellow coating as the strike connected. The moment it hit, the energy detonated through the barrier, not just pressing against it but tearing into it, the layered defense cracking under the combined force.
It broke.
The shield shattered, and the strike carried through, biting deep into the target’s arm. I didn’t stop there. I stepped in further and swung again, the second strike cutting clean through, severing the limb entirely.
The arm fell.
It staggered back, a low, distorted sound escaping it as black energy poured from the wound instead of blood.
The other two reacted instantly. The space around me twisted.
A wave of black fire surged forward, forcing me to retreat as the ground itself began to decay under the effect, the heat unnatural, not burning but consuming. I moved back, barely avoiding another strike as a spear of dark energy shot from the side, grazing past my shoulder.
"You were told to surrender," the level 90 said, its voice sharper now.
"And you didn’t listen."
"Yeah," I replied, breathing heavier now, the strain from earlier still lingering in my body. "That’s kind of my thing."
The injured one didn’t retreat. Instead, the black energy around it thickened, forming a replacement around the severed limb, shaping into something functional.
The three of them spread slightly, their formation widening.
I moved again faster this time as I activated Berserk Mode.
"Radiant Drive."
The burst carried me forward, lightning snapping around my body as I closed in once more, targeting the injured one again. If I could remove one, the pressure would drop, the moment I entered range, the ground beneath me shifted.
The ground exploded into black smoke and it surged all over me. I felt like I was inside a swamp. My movements slowed, and that was all they needed.
The level 90 lifted its hand slowly, fingers curling inward as if grasping something unseen, and the moment that motion completed, the space around me reacted. A grey sphere formed instantly, expanding outward just enough to enclose me before stabilizing into a dense, sealed barrier.
I swung.
The axe crashed into the surface with full force, lightning and yellow energy surging along the blade as the impact landed, but instead of breaking through, the energy was absorbed and then released outside. The ground exploded from the release of the energy.
I stepped back and struck again, harder this time, driving the blade forward with everything I could gather in that moment, but the result remained the same. The barrier stood firm, unchanged, as if the attack had never happened.
"This is where it ends." the level 90 said.
I ignored them and moved again, refusing to stand still, pushing forward with another strike as lightning surged along the blade, the energy snapping violently across the surface as I hit the barrier again and again. Each impact carried force, carried intent, but none of it mattered. The sphere didn’t weaken.
Inside, the space continued to compress. Breathing became harder with each passing second, the air growing thinner, heavier, as if it was being pulled away from me. I forced myself to inhale deeply, but it came short, incomplete, leaving my chest tight as I tried again.
My movements slowed as I felt the oxygen being pushed out of the barrier. I clenched my jaw and forced one more attack, stepping in and driving the axe forward with everything I had left, the impact ringing out against the barrier with a final surge of energy, but even then, it held just as firmly as before.
The air was almost gone now.
My vision began to blur at the edges, the world losing clarity as the lack of oxygen caught up with me. Outside the sphere, the three of them remained exactly where they were, unmoving, watching with the same calm focus as the effect completed.
"...not bad..." I managed, though even speaking felt like effort now.
My grip weakened. The axe slipped slightly in my hand.
My legs gave out beneath me as I dropped to one knee, then further, the strength leaving my body faster than I could fight it.
The world tilted.
Sound dulled.
And as everything began to fade, the last thing I saw was that grey surface, unbroken and unyielding, closing in around me.
Then everything went dark.