Journey to Become the Zenith-Chapter 78: The Weight of Choice

The Weight of Choice

Footsteps away, Clara and Lane closed in on the last of the false villagers just as Victor’s clash with Alibaba tipped toward its conclusion.

A low shake ran through the stone each time magic cracked nearby.

A figure paused where the fighting had been loudest, air moving in and out like tide on a quiet shore. Stillness held him even as dust settled around his boots.

Floating just above his head, six slender blades hung motionless in the air.

Then—

They moved.

The floating needles suddenly plunged into Victor’s right arm.

Blood spilled instantly.

Alibaba noticed it.

The necromancer’s hollow eye sockets flickered with interest.

"A weapon that drinks the blood of its wielder..."

His skeletal head tilted.

"Now that is something I have not seen in centuries."

But what happened next surprised him even more.

Black mana erupted around Victor.

It flowed outward like smoke rising from a battlefield of the dead.

Then it began forming shape.

A cloak.

A long black cloak with a deep hood made entirely from condensed mana.

The aura surrounding Victor changed completely.

Alibaba’s gaze sharpened.

Death energy.

He recognized it instantly.

The necromancer himself used the same kind of energy.

But Victor’s...

Was different.

Alibaba had spent centuries cultivating corrupted death mana through necromancy.

Victor’s energy was something else entirely.

Pure.

Dense.

Ancient.

A shadow moved like a man, but colder. Stillness followed each step it made. The air turned sharp, almost brittle. Not alive, yet walking. Its presence pressed down, quiet and certain.

Far off from total control he stayed, yet Victor felt it clearly. The feeling? Impossible to miss.

Alibaba chuckled.

"I see."

"So the weapon you wield belongs to a God of Death."

A hush fell as the bony wizard linked his fingers at the small of his spine.

"I wonder which one bestowed such a gift upon you."

Victor didn’t answer.

Alibaba chuckled again.

"It doesn’t matter."

He spoke a little more quietly now.

"Once I kill you... I will simply extract your memories."

Victor’s golden eyes remained calm.

Alibaba raised both hands.

Mana surged violently.

"Grave Legion – Arise."

The ground cracked.

Dark circles appeared across the cavern floor.

One after another—

Undead soldiers crawled out of the earth.

Twelve in total.

These were nothing like the previous ones.

Six were armored warriors, their skeletal bodies covered in rusted battle gear.

The other six carried bows made from twisted bone.

Alibaba stepped backward.

"Protect me, my subjects."

The undead formed a defensive wall around him.

Then—

The necromancer raised his hands again.

Mana gathered violently.

Cold air spread through the cavern.

Alibaba began chanting.

"Icy frost that makes the bones tremble..."

"Shivering cold that makes the soul quiver..."

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

A chant.

A master-level spell.

If Alibaba finished it—

Victor knew immediately.

They would die.

Not just him.

Clara and Lane as well.

Victor’s mind moved quickly.

Options.

At that moment Diana’s voice echoed inside his mind.

"Victor."

She sounded serious.

"Even if I drain your blood completely... in our current state we cannot face that spell directly."

Victor remained silent.

"The best I can do," Diana continued, "is strengthen the death energy surrounding you so you might endure the attack."

A brief pause.

"Or..."

"...I can teleport you to the surface."

Victor’s eyes flickered.

"If you want to save the two girls, you would need to stand beside them before I activate the teleportation."

Victor understood instantly.

Three paths.

First—

Defend against the spell.

Survive it.

Then ambush Alibaba while his mana was drained.

Second—

Retreat.

Grab Clara and Lane.

Escape the battle.

Third—

Risk everything.

Kill Alibaba before the spell completes.

Victor’s eyes slowly moved toward the necromancer.

Alibaba continued chanting calmly.

The mana gathering around him was becoming terrifying.

Victor moved.

"Overdrive."

His body surged forward.

The undead warriors rushed to intercept him.

Victor swung his scythe.

One skeleton shattered.

Two more lunged forward.

Victor spun through them.

But the archers had already drawn their bows.

Six arrows shot through the air.

Victor’s mind calculated instantly.

No time.

No time to dodge.

No time to cast a barrier.

So he did the only thing possible.

He endured it.

The arrows struck.

One pierced through the death energy cloak and buried itself in his shoulder.

Another stabbed into the left side of his chest.

Victor’s body trembled—

But he didn’t stop.

He cut down the armored undead in front of him.

Bone shattered.

Armor broke.

Victor continued forward like a black storm.

Behind him the destroyed undead collapsed into dust.

Alibaba’s chant grew louder.

Victor realized—

Too late.

The spell was almost finished.

Victor stopped.

For a single moment—

The battlefield grew quiet.

Blood dripped slowly from his wounds.

Three choices remained.

Fight.

Escape.

Or gamble everything.

Victor closed his eyes briefly.

If this were the past...

If he were still The Supreme Demon Emperor—

There would be no hesitation.

He would choose the third option.

Attack.

Risk everything.

Victory or death.

But now—

Faces appeared in his mind.

His father.

Leon.

The quiet strength of the man who had taught him what it meant to live as a human.

His mother.

Anna.

Her warm smile.

The gentle way she spoke to him every morning.

Victor’s chest tightened.

More faces appeared.

Videl.

Lane.

Skyla.

Isabella.

Clara.

Even Diana.

And unexpectedly—

Brinda.

The bold woman who had tried to seduce him and eventually chose to follow him.

Victor remembered the promise he had made to Videl.

A promise only the two of them knew.

I will return.

Diana’s voice softened inside his mind.

"You remember them."

Victor slowly opened his eyes.

"Yes."

"Your father Leon."

"Your mother Anna."

"And the people who now walk beside you."

Her tone became serious.

"That is why you cannot fight the way you used to—back when you had nothing to lose... and no one waiting for you out there."

Victor looked at Alibaba again.

The necromancer’s spell was nearly complete.

Victor whispered quietly.

"...Yeah."

His grip tightened on the scythe.

"For the first time..."

"...I have something worth surviving for."