Chapter 1412 - The Calm Before the Final (?) Administrator Clash

Jake sat on the ravaged ground, already in meditation to recover as best he could before it would be time to move on. He’d already consumed a Rejuvenation potion to recover some resources, and seeing as he was focusing on healing, he’d gone with a potion that would help restore a bit of everything.

He didn’t know how long he would have to recover, but he hoped to at least wait out the period of weakness caused by Arcane Awakening. Right now, he was not in the best state to continue fighting, and reactivating Arcane Awakening would definitely leave him in for a bad time once deactivated a second time. Not that he thought that would be necessary.

There was no one else nearby, so for now, he focused solely on recovery while reflecting on the fight he’d just won. Between the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord and Aishalstromoz, the True Dragon was definitely the strongest, though the gap wasn’t that massive. Their Paths were also somewhat similar, but the dragon’s durability and innate advantages definitely made her more dangerous. For now, anyway.

While Aisha had definitely been strong, especially towards the end when she seemed to burn her entire existence for an extra burst of power, he still felt that the Domain – or Heartworld as it was called – had more potential. In other words, while Aisha probably had the advantage in B-grade, he could see the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord overtake her in A-grade.

Though, of course, Jake would stay ahead of them both. He would like to fight both of them again at that point, maybe even somewhere where risk was an actual factor… though he doubted he could convince them to do that.

For now, Jake found himself satisfied with the outcome, and to his surprise, he’d even gotten a little something unexpected out of it.

You have slain [Royal Golden Dragon – lvl 360] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level

’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of the Boundless Horizon] has reached level 355 - Stat points allocated, +125 Free Points

Getting a level was a pleasant surprise, as despite her being a tough opponent, there was still the entire “this is all a simulation without any real danger” factor. Then again, he had also just received a reward from the Abundant Emperor, lessening this experience penalty, so that was probably why he’d gained a level.

Either way, good things all around. What wasn’t good was that he’d had to use Moment of the Primal Hunter during the fight with Aisha, and he doubted it would be ready again in time for his next fight. Okay, saying Jake had to use the skill was perhaps not entirely accurate. He could not have allowed himself to get trapped or used the escape function of Wings to escape, but he’d wanted to see all Aisha was capable of until the very end.

He also didn’t have to use Event Horizon, but he was happy he had. The look in her eyes when she’d seen the skill was totally worth it, and her sheer awe made him feel more convinced than ever that the skill was a real banger.

As Jake was reflecting on the fight, he paid attention to his Hunter’s Marks out there, and he’d already noticed that two had disappeared, with one of them having been snuffed out during the fight with Aisha, and one of them shortly after. He had no way of knowing who had fallen, but hey, at least he was solidly in the top 5 now, and assuming everyone had gotten into one-versus-one fights – which they seemed to have based on Mark locations - soon there should only be four left.

Jake looked forward to learning who would remain, but for now, he’d focus fully on recovery and working through all his gains from the fight. Even if he hadn’t gotten any skill upgrades, that didn’t mean he hadn’t worked towards some, and every battle was a lesson for now to do even better in the future.

Hopefully, his next fight would also be a good learning experience.

--

Hail and snow were still falling upon the vast desert of ice, the temperature low enough to freeze even C-grades to death in mere seconds. Oddly enough, a hot sun still hung above; it was just that its light had no chance to melt the ice that now filled the world.

Not too long ago, this had been a large ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see, but now every single speck of water had frozen into solid ice that wouldn’t melt for years to come. A testament to the sheer might of an elemental unleashing its full power upon the environment. To be able to cause such change was truly impressive.

Especially considering it lingered even after the elemental’s death.

Within this vast desert, the only living being was a single human walking across it with steady steps, heading towards land as the hail and snow fell on his body, almost as if it was angry at him for having taken away the one who’d called upon winter.

The monk paid it no mind as he simply kept wandering onwards, accepting the punishment and even allowing it to affect him as the hail left small cuts and the snow signs of frostbite upon his body. Throughout it all, his face remained stoic, with only a slight hint of sadness on it. There was no enjoyment of victory, no happiness from having slain a powerful creature competing with him in the system event.

He looked more like he was just waiting for all this to be over as he continued wandering across the snow, knowing the fight wasn’t done. Not yet.

--

The two swords clashed, though one was clumsy and slow, while the other swiftly moved to counter. The first swordsman was unable to react in time as he was stabbed through the shoulder. He fell back, stumbling as he breathed heavily and fell to the ground, kneeling, only able to hold himself from fully collapsing by leaning on his sword.

“I apologize... I fear this might be all I have,” he said in a weak voice that few would recognize as that of Warlord Davion, one of the top figures of Valhal in this generation.

Not too far away, his second large sword was embedded in the ground, half-buried in rubble from their fight. Seeing as Davion had lost an arm, he hadn’t bothered to pick it back up but had continued fighting until he couldn’t hold on any longer. The toll of the seasons had truly withered his vitality away, and while he’d managed to escape the death of winter, he hadn’t come out in a good state.

“What you’ve shown is also far more than nearly all others,” the Sword Saint answered with a smile as he stood there with his own sword in hand, looking to be in a far better state, though he was also covered in cuts across his body with several internal injuries from the heavy blows of Davion.

Not to mention the toll his own skills had taken on his body. Both humans were severely weakened, but in the end, the winner was quite clear as the Sword Saint was the only man who could remain standing.

“I really should visit this planet of yours,” Davion chuckled. “Carmen has spoken much about it and the people there. I believed her words to have been exaggerated, but now I’m starting to fear she was underselling the sheer absurdity of her homeworld.”

“From my perspective, you’re free to visit at any time, and I’ll be sure to have tea ready if you stop by my clan,” the Sword Saint answered with a smile.

“What, no mead?” Davion said, raising his gaze. “You know what? I’ll just bring some for both of us. To have a toast to your victory. Hopefully, not just victory over me, but also over the others...”

Davion’s voice grew weaker as his boosting skill was forcibly deactivated due to a lack of energy. “I wish you luck... especially against that damn monk...”

The Warlord closed his eyes and died, still kneeling with his hand on his sword, even as his soul was extinguished, and he turned into blue wisps of energy that were scattered into nothingness.

Watching on, the Sword Saint nodded before looking into the horizon.

“I’ll certainly do my best,” he muttered before sitting down and entering meditation, hoping to recover a little before continuing onwards to face the other remaining Administrators who remained.

--

“I would say I’m unlucky... but then again, would things have ended better if I’d fought the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, the Chosen of Aeon Clok, or hell forbid, that freakish monk,” the Demon Prince muttered as he stared towards the sky.

He got no answer as he felt his own soul already on the brink of collapse, barely held together due to his Willpower and boosting skill. Energy continued to surge through his body, but he was effectively a dead demon standing.

As a Demon Lord, killing him wasn’t that easy. Usually, death wouldn’t mean truly perishing, but instead, he’d turn into something that would eventually be reborn into a new Demon Lord. Not entirely the same Demon Lord, though, which was probably why, for the purpose of this simulated world, there would be no rebirth. At least all the other Demon Lords had turned into blue wisps of energy when they’d died within the World of the Exalted Prima.

Still, the Demon Prince was proud of his durability. He was difficult to kill even before he became a Demon Lord, and he was even tougher to get rid of now. He had trump cards, counters to most things, and a Legacy that few could rival, having directly absorbed the Records and Path of a devil – a demon that had ascended to godhood. All with the help of the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, to whom the Demon Prince still owed a massive debt.

“I hoped to at least repay some of my debt during this event... perhaps I would have helped fight the monk. Alas, it didn’t work out that way, now did it?” the Demon Prince continued muttering aloud as he looked to the side. “You just had to be fucking petty, didn’t you?”

There was nothing there, as the Golden Forest King had already disappeared over a minute ago, having turned into blue wisps of energy upon his death. The Unique Lifeform had been truly powerful and surpassed the Demon Prince’s expectations, especially in the end.

When the fight looked to have been decided, the Demon Prince practically tasting victory, the Unique Lifeform had unleashed its final gambit. An attack unlike anything the Demon Prince had ever experienced before, the result of which was his soul utterly fracturing. If he didn’t have the soul of a Demon Lord, he would have died immediately, but instead, he’d remained alive and killed the Forest King, who was left weakened and unable to defend himself properly.

“Even if I’d died, you would have fallen soon after, wouldn’t you?” the Demon Prince continued talking as he continued looking at the sky. “Then again, I guess that’s kind of what happened there.”

Chuckling, the Demon Prince didn’t move but stayed entirely still, only focusing on staying alive. He was already dead, yes, but not fully quite yet, and he hoped that by staying alive just a little longer, he could get a better placement. At least fourth place, right?

He continued breathing steadily as his body slowly started breaking apart due to his Soulshape unwinding. It was unpleasant to say the least, as the Demon Prince soon lost all feeling in his arms, both hanging limply down his sides as they had effectively died on him.

Time slowly passed as he held on as best he could, but ultimately, the second he could no longer keep his boosting skill going, total soul collapse followed. With a final sigh that echoed throughout the large plains that still had remnants of golden energy and cerulean lightning lingering, the Demon Prince turned into wisps of energy as he disappeared. He’d won the fight, but hadn’t survived the pettiness of a King refusing to go down alone; but hey, at least he’d managed to secure that fourth spot for a few extra Prima Credits.

--

Jake still felt a little sore as he confirmed that yet another Administrator had died, though it was under rather odd circumstances. For a good while, there had been four surviving Administrators, as one would expect from four one-versus-one duels, but to his surprise, yet another one had died. All four surviving Administrators had been far away from one another, and the person who’d died had indeed been all alone.

Was it due to lingering injuries? Did they choose to take themselves out for some reason? Jake was genuinely confused, but had no way of knowing the answer. Instead, he wondered who the other two Administrators were. He guessed one of them was the Eastbound Monk, but besides him, Jake genuinely had no idea. Every single Administrator had a valid shot, even Davion, who struck Jake as the weakest among them. From what Carmen had said, he was pretty damn good at fighting, and Jake would never underestimate an elite member of Valhal.

He really wasn’t sure who would remain, but for now, recovery was still the name of the game. Another hour ended up passing with only one Hunter’s Mark moving at slow speeds, with the other one remaining still. Given the current distances, Jake estimated it would be a while before any of them encountered one another, and in all honesty, he wasn’t in a rush either. At least not before fully recovering, and given the chance, perhaps he’d even wait till Moment of the Primal Hunter was available again. Even if that would take a while.

Alas, that didn’t prove to be a possibility. Be it due to boredom from the Abundant Emperor or perhaps some better reason, Jake suddenly felt a change around him that made him wake up from meditation.

The surrounding world warped, and it looked as if the land around him compressed. Jake wasn’t moving; instead, the very world was imploding, shrinking in size with every passing second. Jake was fully awake at this point and started activating Unseen Hunter in preparation for what was about to happen.

Tracking his Hunter’s Marks, he felt them move closer, confirming that the world was definitely being shrunk to force the three of them toward one another. Soon, the shrinking stopped, but Jake kept moving as space remained warped in his immediate surroundings; that also only lasted a few seconds before he finally stopped for good.

Jake had already activated Unseen Hunter, but that didn’t stop what happened next, as what he could only describe as fireworks exploded all around him, forming a circle of brilliant glowing light. At the same time, he saw two identical explosions of fireworks go off within his line of sight; these explosions seemingly ignored the concept of distance, as Jake could clearly see them despite being able to spot the Administrators at the center of the fireworks.

Standing frozen for a moment, Jake made sure no one could actually see him – well, no one besides that one gaze he suspected belonged to the Abundant Emperor – and seeing as no one was, his Unseen Hunter should still work.

With two targets to choose from, Jake wondered which one he’d target first, but fortunately, his decision was made easy for him as one of his Hunter’s Marks started flying towards another, with the one being flown towards not moving. Seeing that, Jake also started flying toward the unmoving target, still contemplating his plans once he got there, though one thing was for sure:

It would definitely involve a Protean Arrow and good old stealth archer shenanigans.