The Unlimited Ascension: Reborn as an Extra

Chapter 131: Another Death, Another Climb

Walking through the exact same path, passing through the identical dark corridor, and pushing the giant wooden door open, Alen entered the treasury hall once again.

The massive mountains of gold and precious treasures were still piled up untouched. Alen didn’t walk forward this time. Instead, his shadow started to expand, stretching outward until it covered the floor of the entire hall.

The mountains of gold started to be swallowed up by the spreading darkness.

As every last treasure was swallowed safely inside his inventory, Alen didn’t wait. He walked forward toward the massive exit door once again, but this time with highly cautious steps, as he didn’t want to die like that again.

’It seems at least my Shadow Manipulation is improving little by little. It seems the farther away I can stretch my shadows, the more the skill will improve.... Good!’

As Alen finally reached the heavy door, he slowly pushed it open and immediately stepped back to create distance.

He waited for the lethal slash of Darkness to descend from above, but nothing happened.

"Seriously? Why did it not come down this time? Does the hidden slash only react when someone actually passes through the threshold?..."

"Well then, I just have to pass through them faster..."

He prepared to dive inside the next room with all the speed he could muster up, remaining completely vigilant.

[Phantom Step!]

He burst forward, leaving a blurry afterimage behind as he appeared directly past the doorway.

Just as he appeared in the new room, he didn’t get the luxury to stay still and catch his breath.

A large stone statue of a towering knight stirred awake from its resting place. The giant lifted up its massive greatsword made of solid, heavy stone.

Alen felt a dark shadow fall over him. The giant greatsword was thickly covered in pure darkness—it was the exact same dark blade that had severed his neck earlier! The weapon descended brutally down on him.

Alen side-stepped without a second thought, moving right before the heavy sword could even land on him.

*BOOOM!*

The blade smashed into the floor, but that was not the end. The stone knight smoothly deflected its sword diagonally upward. The flat side of the massive blade hit Alen directly in the chest, launching him backward. He flew several feet through the air and crashed directly into the stone wall.

*CRASH!*

Alen fell down onto the hard ground, clutching his aching chest as he looked up at the stone knight. The monster’s dark, hollow eyes were gazing right at him.

"Cough!... Cough!... What the hell is that thing?... I couldn’t sense his presence for some reason. What is wrong with that guy..."

Alen stood up slowly, wiping a trail of warm blood from the corner of his mouth.

He looked at his surroundings, noticing a circular stone staircase in the back of the room which directed him to climb to the next floor.

’So it seems this staircase will help me reach Floor 2. But what should I do about this giant monster standing in front of me...’

Alen didn’t wait. He coated his bare fist with a dense amount of mana.

[Phantom Step!]

His body left fading afterimages as he appeared directly behind the giant stone knight. Before the knight could even sense his presence behind its back, it was already too late. Alen crashed his glowing fist straight toward the giant knight’s helmet, preparing to blow its head away.

[Maximum Concentration: Overload Punch!]

*BOOOOM!*

A deafening explosion erupted as Alen’s punch connected, sending violent shockwaves rippling through the hall. Dust and heavy debris flew all around the room. The sheer pressure of the mana impact was enough to instantly throw Alen back several meters across the floor.

He skidded to a halt, maintaining his balance as he looked up at the knight with a shocked expression.

Not even a single crack had appeared in the stone armor. The knight’s head was completely fine as it pushed away from the lingering dust cloud.

A single, casual swing of its greatsword was enough to clear the remaining dust, the sharp air pressure blowing Alen’s silver hair back.

"Damn, he is much tougher than I expected... No worries. If blunt force doesn’t work, then..."

Alen didn’t hesitate. The Crimson dagger materialized instantly in his hand. He sprinted forward, sliding down low on the floor directly between the knight’s thick legs. He slashed the dagger sharply against the stone joints. The Crimson Essence covered the entire blade as it bit deeply into the stone.

The knight’s legs split apart, and its massive body crashed heavily to one side.

*Thud!*

Alen didn’t wait. He went to slash the other leg to fully cripple it.

He dodged the incoming greatsword coated with darkness, leaning his body back and diving inside the knight’s guard as he slashed again.

As the Crimson Essence passed effortlessly through the knight’s other leg, it was severed clean off. The stone splintered across the ground, but the knight stubbornly started to swing its sword wildly from the floor, desperately trying to cut Alen in half.

Alen dodged the chaotic sword slashes. He pushed himself backward and maintained a safe distance.

The legless knight started to crawl forward with the help of its remaining hand. It looked at Alen with an intense, murderous gaze, even though Alen couldn’t see its eyes—if they even existed—since it was wearing a solid stone helmet.

"Shit! How should I deal with him for good? I can’t just waste my time playing with him all day. It seems it is time to use something else."

Alen stepped back and took a combat stance. The Crimson Essence started to gather rapidly. But instead of just coating it around the outside of the dagger, he intentionally transferred all of the volatile Crimson Essence directly inside the blade.

As the dagger started to shine brighter, the crimson light illuminated the whole room. Even the crawling knight halted its struggling steps as it looked at the blinding crimson dagger.

Before the monster could do anything, Alen swung his arm in a wide horizontal arc.

The illuminating dagger released a massive slash of crimson energy. The glowing arc shot straight through the air toward the knight.

The knight didn’t get any time to evade. It quickly tried to block the energy attack with its thick stone arm.

*BOOOOOOM!*

A massive blast, large enough to shake the entire room, reverberated through the hall. Thick smoke and dust completely obscured the stone knight from view. The knight’s upper body launched backward, crashing hard against the far wall, breaking the stone debris as it fell down.

*Thud!*

As the dust slowly cleared, Alen finally sighed in relief. The Crimson dagger slowly started to dissolve into crimson light particles and absorbed safely back inside him.

"Haah... haah... haah... Sigh... That attack alone made me lose half of my total amount of mana reserves..."

As a B-rank Awakener, Alen possessed a massive amount of mana. It was usually enough for him to fight continuously for a few days against enemies with the same amount of power as him.

But he still didn’t feel regret about wasting his mana reserves, as he had learned just how useful this ranged skill could be in a real battle.

He looked at the immobile knight. Its hands, half of its head, and its torso were completely broken into jagged rubble.

Alen turned around to walk toward the circular staircase.

"Let’s not waste my time here. Let’s climb the first floor without any further delay..."

He jumped onto the staircase, as the lower steps were broken from the battle. Just as he took a few steps upward, he suddenly felt an icy chill run down his spine. He hastily turned around in panic.

"What the—?!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, a blindingly bright light started to illuminate from the center of the knight’s broken chest. Its core was overloading!

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

The core exploded with catastrophic force. The whole area and the staircase were swallowed inside the blast radius. Debris, dust, and stone all evaporated instantly along with Alen’s body before he could do anything to defend himself.

...

Back on the First Floor, in the exact same starting place where Alen had respawned after dying earlier in the spire.

The silver-haired boy appeared out of thin air once again. He stumbled backward and dropped hard onto his knees.

He frantically covered his whole body protectively, seeking desperate assurance that he was still in one piece and alive. His azure eyes were still shaking wildly after experiencing the visceral feeling of death yet again.

"Ah—haah... haah... haah... no—! Not again!..."

His voice was hoarse as he looked down the long, dark corridor again. It was the exact same place he had seen earlier after his first death here. The system interface flickered into existence right beside him.

[Time Remaining: 362 days... 23 hours... 35 minutes... 22 sec.]

He stood up, his legs shaking slightly again. Not in fear this time, but in sheer, stubborn resolution.

"No... I can’t lose to this place... I can’t afford to die again... I will climb again..."

He started walking forward. His face was completely expressionless this time. He walked through the exact same path once again, firmly refusing to look back.