The moment Kael finished reading, every instinct inside him exploded with warning.
Danger.
Without hesitation, he spun around.
The ground trembled.
A heavy scraping noise echoed throughout the chamber.
Something emerged from the darkness.
Something massive and horrifying.
A headless figure stepped forward.
Its body was clad in ancient armor stained black with age.
In one hand it carried a gigantic axe.
In the other rested an eerie lantern that emitted a ghostly pale glow.
Despite lacking a head, the creature somehow seemed to lock unto him.
The lantern flickered.
For a brief moment, Kael thought he saw countless faces reflected within the glass.
Faces screaming in silent agony.
Immediately he activated Eye of Judgment.
Information flooded into view.
---
[Silen The Pale Executioner]
Silen was an executioner for a once grand empire, a man who killed so many it forgot its own death. After the fall of the great empire, Silen, a man without purpose, wandered aimlessly. Yet still bound by the emperor’s final order, he continued his path of execution, executing everything that crossed his path.
Level: (Scales with the target)
Abilities:
Detection Beam — Locks onto a target with perfect accuracy for 5 seconds. The lantern emits a detection beam that fires periodically.
Phase 1 — Silen swings in wide arcs with brief patterns between them. The arcs can be predicted after 2 repetitions. Detection beam fires every 30 seconds.
Phase 2 — Silen throws the lantern head. It orbits the arena as an autonomous detection satellite.
Phase 3 — Silen slams the head back on, gains a fully functional detection system, and enters Execution Mode. All attacks chain: axe swing, follow-through, axe slam, stomp. No pause between.
Note: The current Silen is a fake clone but still possesses a slight portion of the original’s strength.
---
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
A scaling boss.
Interesting.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to think further.
Silen moved.
The massive axe cut through the air with terrifying speed.
A shrill whistle echoed throughout the chamber as the blade descended.
Kael sidestepped and the axe missed him by inches.
The displaced air alone scraped against his cheek.
His smile widened.
Strong.
Very strong.
The executioner immediately launched another attack.
Massive sweeping arcs carved through the air as Silen advanced relentlessly.
Kael’s agility exploded into motion.
He ducked beneath one swing.
Rolled beneath another.
Leapt backward to avoid a third.
Each strike carried enough force to split stone apart.
One missed attack slammed into the floor and sent shattered fragments flying in every direction.
Kael observed carefully.
The executioner’s attack pattern repeated exactly as the description stated.
Once.
Twice.
A third time.
And then Kael saw it.
The opening.
"There."
His body blurred forward just as the axe descended. Kael angled his sword perfectly, causing steel to screech against steel as the attack was redirected slightly off course. A fraction of a second later, his blade flashed through the opening he had created, carving a deep gash across Silen’s torso.
The first successful hit.
Yet the executioner didn’t react.
There was no pain, no hesitation, no anger. Its entire existence revolved around a single purpose.
Execution.
And that target was Kael.
The axe came again, sweeping through the air with deadly force. Kael dodged and immediately counterattacked, his blade leaving another cut across the executioner’s body. Then another followed. And another.
Slowly, the rhythm of battle began shifting in his favor.
Yet Silen remained terrifyingly relentless.
The lantern hanging from its neckless frame flared with pale light, its glow intensifying with every passing second. Madness seemed to radiate from the executioner’s body.
The target was resisting execution.
And that was unacceptable.
Kael met its advance head-on. His sword danced through the air as steel collided repeatedly. Sparks erupted with every exchange, illuminating the dark chamber while the echoes of battle bounced endlessly against the stone walls.
Then, without warning, Silen revealed another opening.
Kael surged forward without hesitation.
His blade struck.
The moment contact was made, Echo Strike activated.
Boom!
A violent burst of force detonated from the point of impact. The explosion ripped through the chamber, sending shockwaves rolling across the stone floor as Silen staggered backward for the first time since the battle began.
Its massive body shook violently.
A grating metallic shriek echoed throughout the room.
Kael couldn’t help grin.
"Now that’s more like it."
Echo Strike had once again proven why it was such a ridiculous class perk. Unfortunately, Silen was far from defeated. Its durability was monstrous, and while the damage inflicted was significant, it was nowhere near enough to bring the executioner down.
Still, that wasn’t surprising.
The trial objective wasn’t victory.
It was survival.
The tower likely never intended challengers to kill this thing.
At least not normally.
Kael began circling the executioner once more, searching for another opening, another opportunity, another weakness he could exploit.
For a brief moment, he noticed it.
A slight vulnerability.
Silen was still recovering from the force of Echo Strike.
But just as Kael prepared to capitalize on it, the lantern suddenly flared.
The pale glow intensified.
And the entire atmosphere of the chamber shifted.
Kael saw the shift in the atmosphere and couldn’t help curse inwardly.
"Damn."
Just when he thought he was finally getting through to the executioner, the monster had already entered its next phase.
He didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on it.
A deafening roar erupted from Silen’s headless body.
The executioner raised the lantern high above its shoulders and the runes carved into its metallic frame suddenly burst with pale light.
The next instant, a brilliant beam shot across the chamber.
It locked directly onto Kael.
The entire arena was illuminated.
Every shadow vanished.
Every corner became visible.
The beam followed him like an unblinking eye.
"Damn!"
Kael cursed again as he immediately threw himself to the side.
The beam swept across the spot he had occupied moments earlier.
Even from several meters away he could feel the heat radiating from it.
The light lingered for a few seconds before fading away.
Kael landed in a crouch and blinked repeatedly.
His vision swam.
For a brief moment, everything looked white.
His ears rang.
His balance felt slightly off.
The sensation was so familiar that he couldn’t help mutter under his breath.
"Did I just get flash-banged?"
Unfortunately, Silen had absolutely no interest in giving him time to recover.
The executioner stepped forward.
Its axe swept through the air in a brutal horizontal arc.
The sound alone was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
Kael’s instincts immediately screamed danger.
He dropped low.
The blade passed over his head with inches to spare.
The rush of displaced air whipped through his hair.
Before he could even stand fully, another strike followed.
Then another.
Silen’s attacks had changed.
Before, it had felt like a machine repeating predetermined movements.
Now it felt like a veteran executioner hunting prey.
Every swing carried intent.
Every movement aimed to corner him.
Every attack attempted to predict where he would dodge next.
Kael clicked his tongue.
The boss had become much more troublesome.
He rolled across the floor as another axe strike slammed into the stone where he had been standing.
Cracks exploded outward.
Chunks of rock were launched into the air.
Without hesitation, Kael kicked off the ground and retreated.
He had already read the information provided by Eye of Judgment.
The detection beam would continue appearing periodically.
Getting caught by it repeatedly would only make things harder.