World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 106: Last Alpha

Nox looked at his map.

’Just one left.’

The final marker on the map was huge and pulsing with a deep red color. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

’This last one is going to be strong.’

They started moving again, and the sick-looking forest got darker the deeper they went. A corrupted wolf, its fur matted with black goo, leaped out from behind a dead tree.

Nox moved first, his Brutalizer gauntlets a blur as he punched the wolf in the head.

The wolf’s skull caved in, dropping to the ground without a sound.

Serian watched him, her sword still in its sheath.

"Your power grows with every kill."

"I know."

"I have never seen anyone become so strong so quickly. It defies all logic." She walked closer, her eyes serious. "What level are you, Nox?"

He hesitated, then decided the number didn’t matter. "Twenty-six."

Serian stopped walking, her expression one of complete disbelief. "That is impossible. I am Level 70, and I have never seen power like yours."

She gestured vaguely around them. "A Level 26 warrior should not have been able to challenge Elder Fena, let alone defeat five of her best warriors. The creatures you have been killing... they are Alphas. That is not a feat for someone of your level."

’She’s right, it doesn’t add up.’

He decided to use a half-truth, something that felt real enough to be believed.

"It’s my mana," he said, turning to face her. "My power source isn’t normal. It’s... different from yours. It’s denser, more potent. It’s corrupted."

He saw the understanding start to form in her eyes. It fit with what she already knew about his dark energy.

"So when I level up," he continued, "the power I gain is more concentrated. Every point of strength is worth more than it would be for a normal person because my core is different. It’s a quality over quantity thing."

’That sounds believable enough.’

She considered his words for a long moment. It was a strange explanation, but it made a twisted kind of sense. It explained his impossible feats, his unnatural resilience, and the sheer, overwhelming pressure he could exert.

"Your core is corrupted," she repeated softly. "So your very essence is a more powerful conduit."

"Something like that," he said with a shrug.

She nodded slowly, her expression clearing. "I see. That would explain much." She accepted his answer, the logic, however strange, fitting into the bizarre new rules of their world. "It is a dangerous power, but it is yours."

"Yeah, well, it gets the job done."

He turned and started walking again, the blue line on the ground guiding him forward. "Let’s go. We’re almost there."

The blue line led them to a place where the forest just ended, opening into a huge, dead crater. All the trees around the edge were black and twisted into shapes of agony, and the ground was gray ash.

In the center of the crater stood the final alpha.

It wasn’t a beast of flesh and bone, but a creature made of the forest itself, a humanoid figure of gnarled, black wood and solidified shadow. It was easily twelve feet tall, and instead of a face, it had a single, pulsing red eye that burned with a cold, intelligent light.

Serian gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "A Forest Guardian," she whispered, her voice full of horror. "The Rot has taken one of the spirits."

Nox’s eyes narrowed as he activated his skill.

’Void Gaze.’

[Guardian of the Glade (Corrupted Alpha Prime)]

[Level: 55]

[HP: 6000/6000]

[MP: 5000/5000]

[A powerful nature spirit twisted by the Rot. It commands the corrupted flora of the forest and its body is as hard as ironwood.]

[Weakness: Its core, the pulsing red eye, is its only true weak point. It is highly vulnerable to pure, uncorrupted mana.]

’Alpha Prime? And Level 55? This is the boss fight.’

He was excited. "So we just gotta poke it in the eye."

"Nox, this is different," Serian warned, her face pale. "It is not just a monster, it is a fallen protector. Its power is tied to the woods. We cannot fight it here."

The Guardian didn’t wait for them to finish their discussion. It raised a long arm made of twisted branches, and the ground around them exploded.

Dozens of sharpened roots, black and hard as steel, shot out of the ground, trying to impale them.

"Move!"

He used Void Step, vanishing just as three roots pierced the spot where he stood. He reappeared closer to the Guardian, his Brutalizer gauntlets already glowing.

Serian leaped back, her sword a blur as she cut through the roots attacking her, but more just kept coming, a relentless assault from the ground itself.

"I can’t get close to it!" he yelled, dodging another root that burst from the ground at his feet.

"It commands the entire crater!" She called back, her own movements becoming a desperate dance of survival. "Its reach is everywhere!"

’This is a cheap way to fight.’ He couldn’t punch the ground to death.

He looked at the Guardian, which hadn’t moved from its spot, just calmly directing the chaos with simple gestures.

’Okay, new plan.’

"We need to draw it out of the crater!" he shouted. "Its power is probably weaker out in the healthy parts of the forest!"

"How? Did you forget the surrounding forest is also corrupted."

"Oh... well shit then."

The Guardian raised its arm again, and dozens of sharp roots erupted from the ground, forcing them to stay on the defensive.

’This is bullshit. Look at its mana bar, it hasn’t even moved. My spike attack took everything I had, and this thing is just spamming spells.’

The roots were everywhere, a constant, shifting maze of deadly spikes. Serian moved with a desperate grace, her sword a blur as she deflected and dodged, while Nox used short, costly Void Steps to avoid being impaled.

They couldn’t get close.

"Nox, its power is too great!" Serian yelled. "We have to retreat!"

’No way. I’m not running from a damn tree.’

The Guardian seemed to grow bored with its current tactic. It lowered its arm and the roots receded back into the ground, but the attack wasn’t over. Its other arm began to twist and warp, the black wood condensing and sharpening until it formed a massive, spear-like projectile.

With a flick of its wrist, the spear shot forward.

It wasn’t aimed at his chest or his legs, it was aimed right for his face. The projectile was so fast he had no time to Void Step, and dodging was not an option.

He brought his gauntlets up in a crossed block just as the spear tip was an inch from his eye.

The impact was a deafening boom that echoed across the crater. The force of the blow was incredible, and it sent him flying backward like he’d been hit by a truck. He tumbled through the air before crashing hard into the crater wall, sliding down in a heap.

"Nox!" Serian screamed.

She saw the Guardian forming another spear, and she acted on instinct, slamming her hand on the ground.

"Grasping thorns!"

But this time, nothing happened. The ground just trembled a little, and the Guardian turned its single red eye toward her, a silent warning that her magic was useless here.

Nox pushed himself up, his whole body screaming in protest. His gauntlets were cracked, and his arms felt like they were on fire.

’Wow, that hurt a lot.’ He spit a mouthful of ash from his mouth. ’A direct fight is stupid. I can’t win like this.’

He looked at the Guardian, then at Serian, who now had the creature’s full attention.

"Hey, princess!" he shouted, getting to his feet. "Keep it busy! I’ve got a plan!"

’I have no fucking clue what I’m going to do,’ he thought, his mind racing as he scrambled for an idea, ’but I’ll think of something.’

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