Chapter 78: [78] : The Phantom Kings, A River of Spectral Blood

Declan stood on the edge of the large circular platform at step twenty. He read the system prompt floating over the group of ten gray and smoky figures.

[Target Information]

↳ Name: Echo of a Phantom King

↳ Level: 60 (Trial Guardian)

↳ Description: The digitized remnants of legendary players from previously conquered worlds who failed the Ascension Trial. They retain all their original combat experience and coordinate with perfect synergy.

↳ HP: 50,000 / 50,000

Declan raised an eyebrow. "Failed players from other worlds?"

The system had literally kept the ghosts of dead gamers just to use them as security guards.

"That is extremely petty," Declan noted. "I respect it."

The ten Phantom Kings didn’t speak. They didn’t roar or taunt him. They just moved.

They moved with terrifying precision. There was no hesitation!

The tank in the heavy samurai armor rushed forward, raising a massive spectral tower shield.

Two rogues in sleek sci fi armor flanked left and right, disappearing into the shadows of the dark void.

The mage in the back immediately started casting, a giant circle of gray light forming over his staff.

They were Level 60. They had the stats to match his own. And they knew how to fight as a team.

Declan didn’t pull out a basic sword. He didn’t bother with the +20 Carnage Cleaver. He needed raw and overwhelming area damage.

He reached his right hand out. The space around his fingers distorted and tore.

The massive and dark matter shaft of the +40 Eclipse Severance materialized in his grip. The razor thin blade made of the night sky hummed viciously.

The tiny black hole spinning in the center of the axe head pulsed, instantly eating the ambient light around him.

Declan gripped the halberd with both hands and stepped forward to meet the charging tank.

"Void Blink."

Declan vanished. He didn’t teleport behind the tank. He teleported directly above him!

He appeared in mid air, bringing the heavy halberd straight down.

[Trait: Weight of the Warden Activated]

The mass of the weapon increased by 500%. It became a four hundred pound meteor of dark matter.

The samurai phantom looked up and raised his heavy shield to block.

It was a fatal mistake.

Declan didn’t just hit the shield. He activated his ultimate weapon trait.

[Trait: Spacetime Laceration]

The blade completely ignored the concept of the shield’s physical defense. It literally severed the coordinate plane the phantom was occupying.

The dark blade passed through the heavy spectral shield, through the phantom’s helmet, and out its boots with zero resistance. It sounded like tearing wet paper.

The Phantom King froze. A jagged line of green binary code appeared down the center of its body. A split second later, the two halves of the phantom slid apart and dissolved into gray ash.

[Phantom King Defeated.]

Declan hit the marble floor. Before he could even stand up straight, a sharp pain bit into his back.

One of the sci fi rogues had materialized right behind him and driven a glowing energy dagger directly into his shoulder blade. The blade pierced the +10 Predator’s Coat and dug into his dense flesh.

[-1,200 HP]

Declan gritted his teeth. A normal player would have lost a huge chunk of health. But Declan was an Abyssal Sovereign with a massive health pool.

He didn’t panic. He just spun around, swinging the heavy blunt side of the halberd horizontally.

He didn’t aim for the rogue. He just aimed for the general area.

[Trait: Gravitational Annihilation Activated]

The tiny black hole in the halberd expanded. A localized singularity ripped open in the center of the platform.

The massive gravitational pull sucked the rogue off his feet instantly. It also grabbed the second rogue who was trying to flank him, and pulled the mage right out of his casting animation.

The three phantoms crashed into each other in the center of the gravity well, violently compressing into a tight ball of gray smoke and limbs.

Declan stepped forward and swung the razor sharp edge of the blade straight through the compressed ball of enemies.

Swish.

The Spacetime Laceration deleted all three of them simultaneously.

[Multiple Enemies Defeated.]

"Four down," Declan grunted.

But as the gray ash floated away, the void around the platform shifted again.

Four new gray shadows stepped out of the darkness, instantly replacing the ones he had just killed. They raised their spectral weapons and charged.

Declan frowned. "Infinite respawns. Of course."

This wasn’t a standard boss fight. It was a meat grinder. The system wanted to drown him in bodies until he ran out of stamina and health.

Declan rested the heavy halberd on his shoulder. He rolled his neck.

"Good thing I brought my own engine," Declan whispered.

He charged right into the middle of the horde.

It was absolute chaos. Declan became a blur of black leather and dark matter.

He swung the massive halberd in wide and devastating arcs. Every time the blade swung, it deleted a phantom from the server.

But there were always more.

A spear pierced his thigh. A heavy mace crashed into his ribs. A spectral fireball exploded against his chest.

He was taking hits. The phantoms were perfectly coordinated and fast. They chipped away at his health bar.

[-800 HP]

[-1,500 HP]

[-900 HP]

But Declan didn’t fall. He didn’t even slow down.

Every time he swung his weapon and deleted a Phantom King, the game registered the massive overkill damage. And every time he dealt damage, his mutated +30 Sanguine Engine heart triggered.

Thump. Thump.

A bright crimson light erupted from Declan’s chest.

[Sanguine Engine Triggered. Converting 50% of damage dealt into True Healing.]

The wounds on his back, thigh, and ribs instantly knit together. His health bar shot right back up to maximum.

But the healing didn’t stop. He was dealing physics breaking damage with his halberd.

The excess healing poured out of his body, forming a thick and swirling barrier of dark red blood around his black coat.

[Over heal detected. Converting to Blood Shield.]

[Blood Shield Capacity: 15,000 points]

Declan laughed. A dark and terrifying sound that echoed over the clashing weapons.

He was covered in gray ash and his own glowing red blood, looking like a literal demon of war.

He didn’t dodge anymore. He just let the phantoms hit his Blood Shield while he casually swung the halberd, cutting them into code.

He walked forward. He left the circular platform of step twenty and started walking up the stairs to step twenty one.

The Phantom Kings swarmed him. They tried to block his path.

Declan just walked right through them. He chopped a knight in half, stepped over the dissolving ash, and took another step up.

Step twenty five. Step thirty.

The stairs were completely covered in a thick layer of gray ash. The air was filled with the deafening sound of shattering code and the heavy thud of Declan’s spiked boots.

He was bathing in spectral blood. His Blood Shield grew thicker and brighter with every single swing.

[Blood Shield Capacity: 45,000 points]

He was unkillable. The system threw Level 60 legends at him, and he just farmed them for over heal points.

He didn’t use Void Blink. He didn’t need to waste the stamina. He just maintained a steady and ruthless marching pace.

Chop. Step. Chop. Step.

The mindless and brutal repetition lasted for what felt like hours. But Declan’s mutated Apathy of the Abyss skill kept his mind perfectly sharp.

He didn’t feel bored. He didn’t feel tired. He just executed the targets in front of him.

Finally, his heavy boot slammed onto a massive flat landing.

Step fifty.

The gray phantoms surrounding him suddenly stopped attacking. They froze in place, lowered their weapons, and dissolved back into the dark void.

The chaotic noise of battle vanished, leaving a heavy ringing silence.

Declan stood in the middle of the landing.

His Blood Shield was a massive and roaring hurricane of red energy around him.

He rested the +40 Eclipse Severance on his shoulder and looked ahead.

He was halfway up the stairs. And the real trial was just beginning.