Kara, her breathing heavy and her face pale, observed the incoming torrent of blood spears with indifference. Her once auburn hair turned white, strand by strand, as the energy she had poured into her sword drained her dry.
'Now, it's do or die,' she thought, her grip tightening on the hilt. With a slow, almost gentle motion, she swung the sword, activating [Sword Intent: Ti]. The movent seed slow, almost anticlimactic.
An arc of light detached from the blade, glowing faintly, as though fragile and insignifiant. Yet, as the energy left her sword, the battlefield froze.
Ti itself seed to halt, the blood spears suspended mid-air. The light began to spread, growing in intensity, blinding everyone who was witnessing the battle.
The energy, however, did not stop its movent, navigating through space with precision, like a sentient force on a mission. As it moved, it obliterated everything in its path, dissolving all blood spears threatening Kara and disintegrating them effortlessly.
Each impact created a vacuum, and the entire arena shattered as the last drop of blood was reduced to nothingness.
After the first exchange, Kara's energy imdiately surged toward Zodd. The powerful energy collided with his barrier, shattering it instantly. Unable to see his impending death, Zodd stood frozen as the arc of energy engulfed him, his massive fra vanishing from the arena. The battlefield, once chaotic and alive with energy, fell silent. The terrain where Zodd had stood was now a deep, empty void.
Kara, still gripping her sword, staggered, her body feeling like an empty, broken shell. Her white hair swayed gently as she exhaled, her eyes fixed on the void before her. She let out a weak breath, her sword falling on the ground as her knees gave way.
'I did it...' she thought, exhausted.
Attempting to walk toward the stands, Kara couldn't focus on the notifications flashing before her eyes. As Kara's unconscious body began to collapse, the barrier surrounding the battlefield faded. The instant her [Soul Link] reconnected with Sora, he was already moving. In a blur of speed, he appeared at her side, catching her just before she hit the ground.
In the sa instant, he disappeared with her, vanishing behind the veil covering the area where the humans were seated. The remaining competitors barely had ti to process what had happened.
Holding her gently, Sora's expression softened in a way that seed entirely out of character. His usual composure gave place to a rare tenderness as he lowered her carefully onto a bench.
Sora adjusted her posture to ensure she was comfortable, his gaze lingering on her pale, fragile form. He brushed a strand of her now-white hair from her face, a faint smile playing on his lips despite the worry in his eyes. Summoning an additional veil to ensure their privacy, he began helping her recover.
The tower would always heal injuries between battles, but these self-inflicted injuries, born from pushing abilities beyond their limits, fell outside the tower's scope of necessary healing.
Using life force he refined to supply her weak body, he felt her cells absorbing the energy like a sponge, and sighed in relief.
'Her ultimate moves are extrely badass but consu unhealthy amounts of energy and life force.' He thought, worry obvious on his face.
Nourishing her body with mana, life force, ntal power, and everything else she was lacking, Sora carefully guided the energies through her, ensuring they flowed into the areas that needed them most. He watched as her pale face gradually regained its colors.
Her once-aged appearance began to revert rapidly. The wrinkles faded, her hair returned to its natural auburn color strand by strand, and the exhaustion etched into her face was disappearing. Noticed her eyes twitching, Sora was happy to feel her regaining consciousness.
Blinking a few tis, she opened her eyes, her gaze locking onto Sora's. A wave of emotion passed between them as she offered him a loving smile, one filled with gratitude and warmth that words couldn't capture.
"It is nice to see you," she whispered softly...
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Unaware of how much emotion he was showing, Sora's tenderness did not go unnoticed. The other humans who caught sight of the scene exchanged knowing glances.
Emily chuckled softly and said, "Aww, I'm so jealous. I wish I had soone who looked at like that."
Morgan laughed at her words, and said, "Who would risk looking at you that way? With your attitude, anyone would be too afraid to approach you." Find adventures at empire
She frowned at his words, but ignored him. Proud of her rookie's victory, she couldn't help but boast. "That's my girl. Didn't I tell you guys? I actually trained Kara and Ralph!" she declared shalessly, her tone brimming with satisfaction.
Salim, anwhile, looked stunned, struggling to process the power Kara had displayed. His gaze lingered on her as he muttered to himself, "With that kind of power—and just a few extra levels—won't she beco the strongest player in the world? Who can survive an attack like that?"
Clénce, who had overheard Salim's comnt, interjected, "It shouldn't be that simple. Countless abilities exist, each with their own drawbacks. Just look at her state—such a power clearly cos at a huge cost. But it does feel like those two cheaters have found ways to recover even from that."
Morgan laughed heartily at Clénce's words. "These two! They keep surprising . I thought Ralph was the strongest monster in the Tower, but maybe that girl will surpass him soon enough? She just used a skill that destroyed a player whose body was already at the top limit of this world…"
Pedro glanced toward Sora and Kara, his expression softening as he heaved a sigh of relief. "Maybe there's hope for mankind after all... And to think it's coming from two baby chicks who barely know anything about the world. It almost makes us feel useless. We've been preparing for this Ascension for three years, solidifying our foundations… That Rachel girl was also extrely promising. Did we really have to give up on her?"
Clénce tilted her head toward him, her tone sharp. "Rember Morgan's words. He may be a greedy bastard who loves stealing talents from guilds across the world, but you know he's not a liar. And it won't be hard to check his information once we're outside."
Turning to the other players, Clénce spoke firmly. "What I'm about to say might seem obvious to so of you, but this is mostly for you, Salim and Emily. What happens in the tower must stay in the tower. Never ntion the relationships between players of various races, alliances—temporary or otherwise—to anyone."
Salim looked at her in surprise. "What do you an by that?"
Clénce explained, her tone serious. "Extremists exist everywhere, and so groups actively hunt players who have interacted with or befriended mbers of other races. This is one of the main reasons why most players don't publicize what happens inside the tower. Being seen as soone who's friendly toward other races—or who refuses to demonize them—is considered an unforgivable sin in so places. So be cautious when you're outside."
She continued, "the second group you need to worry about are the hungry wolves in the New World Kingdom preying on talented players. And players with innate abilities of insane potential, like Kara, are hunted like dogs. Ralph Eden can probably defend himself, but if word gets out, too early, about his girlfriend's power, I'm not sure even he could protect her from the top powers. They have resources beyond imagination."
Emily and Salim exchanged glances. Both had always taken care to hide their innate abilities, knowing the risks of exposure. Despite her being known as the 'Blood Witch', no one really knew what Emily's innate skill was. And Salim was even more cautious, with most people believing he didn't have an innate skill, and his followers being unable to reveal such information...
But Clénce's warning hit harder than they expected. They realized that while they had no idea what Sora's innate ability was, Kara's power—if revealed and used to the limit—could indeed disrupt the balance of the world, making her a target.
Salim nodded, understanding the weight of her words. After a pause, he spoke. "Since we're warning each other about dangers, I have sothing to add. Morgan, I don't know if I should trust you with this, but maybe it's worth the risk. Sothing strange happened last year in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco. Hundreds of talented players disappeared over the course of just a few days—without leaving a single trace."
Morgan, who was about to ask a question, was interrupted by Salim. "Let finish first. These players didn't die. We investigated and found they had simply disappeared—vanished without a trace. A few weeks ago, they all reappeared. But they weren't the sa. Every single one had jumped from below level 50 to level 140 or higher."
He paused, before continuing. "When people reconnected with them, none of these players could ntion anything about their absence or their current situation. You might wonder why I'm telling you this story. It's simple—I'm almost certain that soone in your guild abducted these players and built a powerful force for themselves."
Morgan, clearly taken aback, didn't respond imdiately. When he finally spoke, his tone was cautious. "Who could pull off sothing like that without even hearing whispers of it? I'm not saying you're lying, but hundreds of players at level 140 plus ? That can't go unnoticed. It's impossible."
Salim's voice was steady, his confidence unwavering. "There's soone who can do it. And who did it. Her na is Hannah Stone."
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