Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 504: When The Void Whispers [Part 2]

"Dim Dim..." Dim Dim muttered, making Alex narrow his eyes.

The young man even subconsciously summoned Everguard and a few magical shields, threatened by the creature standing on the arena.

Suddenly, Renard and the silhouette of a golden dragon simultaneously roared.

He then charged toward the darkness, like a Hero of Light about to vanquish the greatest evil in the world.

Time seemed to slow down as Renard made his way towards his target.

Golden lightning bolts trailed in his wake as his fist shot forward, carrying the strength of a Golden Dragon’s at its peak.

The creature within that darkness also made his move.

A single step.

A single breath.

A single heartbeat.

The arena trembled as an overwhelming pressure surged from Charles’ body. It was as if an entire mountain suddenly moved from its thousands of years of slumber.

Renard’s golden brilliance slammed into that ocean of darkness, yet it was not snuffed out. Instead, the two forces collided with a blinding flash that split the arena into black and gold.

A thunderous shockwave expanded outwards, rocking everything in its path.

The protective barrier around the arena cracked like glass under a hammer.

Students screamed.

Professors instinctively raised barriers.

Even Alex felt Everguard quiver in his hands as he braced himself.

At the center of the collision stood Charles.

His broken arm dangled uselessly.

His body shook violently.

Half of his figure was still Charles—bloodied and battered, but human.

The other half... had morphed into a shadowed outline, like something that stepped out of a rift between realities.

His right eye remained human, burning with unyielding resolve. But his left eye glowed a deep, unfathomable violet.

The color of the Void.

Renard’s Dragon Rush [EX] hit him squarely in the chest.

Charles did not move.

The darkness behind him surged, forming a massive horned apparition whose countless eyes shone eerily in the darkness.

Renard froze mid-strike, his fist quivering and pupils shrinking.

It felt as if he had punched the night sky itself... and the night sky had stared back.

Suddenly, the young man realized that his fist was being held in place by a black hand.

Charles’ lips slowly parted. His voice echoed within the Colosseum, reaching every corner. Everyone whose hearts were beating at that moment heard his words.

"When the Void whispers despair into your bones... the only answer is to roar back and keep fighting."

A loud crack then reached everyone’s ears, followed by Renard’s scream.

From behind Charles, a scorpion-like tail emerged, pointing its deadly tip at the young man, whose entire body was frozen as he faced such an existence for the first time.

Without even a warning, the deadly tail moved so fast that before anyone realized what was happening, it already pierced Renard’s chest.

A few seconds later, the young man turned into particles of light, fading away in the darkness, leaving only Charles standing as if he was the only living creature left in the world.

"You managed to win," Morax said softly. "But at what cost?"

Even so, a faint smile still hung on the Void-Touched’s lips because he was all too familiar with what was currently happening to Charles.

Having defeated his target, Charles glanced in Alex’s direction.

The overwhelming darkness seemed to have gone out of control, and its next target was none other than Charles’ savior.

"Alex... run!" Charles shouted.

He tried to control his body, but similar to what had happened to Vaan in the past, he was only a spectator who could watch helplessly as someone else used his body to hurt others, breaking his heart little by little.

But just as the darkness was about to swallow Alex whole, a silver light flew from the audience stands and clashed with the darkness.

"Hey, hands off, you filthy creature. Get your hands away from my friends."

Charles or whatever possessed his body roared in defiance as the power of darkness and that silver light contended with each other.

But the darkness was unable to overpower the silver light. Everyone saw Vaan standing proudly on a chariot that was being pulled by two Alicorns.

(A/N: Alicorn is a Winged Unicorn, or a Pegasus with a horn. A hybrid of sorts.)

He was holding a white banner emblazoned with bold golden "VII" that seemed to glow with its own light.

Everyone marveled at the beauty of this "lady" knight in shining armor, unaware that "she" was a boy. Some of the guys even fell in love with Vaan at first sight.

"She" looked so majestic, so angelic, so righteous that it was hard to not fall for her charms.

And yet, he, who had sworn his fealty to his liege, Alex Stratos, would not sit by and allow anyone to hurt him under his watch.

Charles roared, his anger rising to the limit, yet Vaan was unfazed.

"Charge! Charge! CHARGE!" Vaan ordered, pointing his finger toward Charles, his voice carrying a law that couldn’t be denied by the world.

The Alicorns and the chariot shone brightly, breaking the stalemate and pushing forward in one swift and unstoppable charge.

A pained cry escaped Charles as the Chariot bulldozed him, trampling over the darkness that had taken over his moment of weakness.

Morax frowned when he realized that the light that orbited around Alex like a small satellite had the same color as the "girl" currently saving him from the Void-Touched rampage.

’An Apostle of The Chariot,’ Morax thought. ’I guess the show is over... at least for now.’

Vaan circled around the Colosseum in his chariot, dispersing the darkness in his wake.

After one full lap, the chariot charged toward Alex and stopped by his side.

Vaan looked at his liege with a faint smile and even extended his hand towards Alex.

Alex looked at the delicate young man, who could easily pass as a very cute girl. If not for the fact that he knew that Vaan was actually a guy, he might have accepted that hand and squealed, "My Hero~"

Instead, he simply raised his hand for a high five.

Vaan sighed helplessly, but he still grinned in the end and exchanged a high five with Alex, earning cheers from the crowd, who had finally regained their senses.

"The two of them look so good together," one of the ladies sighed.

"A match made in heaven!" another lady commented.

Lavinia glanced at Lumi, then lightly tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, have you confirmed that Vaan is a boy?" Lavinia asked.

"No," Lumi replied, looking conflicted. "Latifa asked, but I didn’t want to do it. I respect Vaan’s privacy, you know?"

"But you don’t respect Alex’s privacy," Lavinia countered.

"Yeah, because Vaan is actually human."

Lavinia snorted. She had once gone to Alex’s room and seen Lumi inside. It’s obvious that Lumi’s interaction with the young man had changed.

Although she still dissed him in public, she spoiled him very much in private.

Feeling defensive, Lumi continued, "Vaan is Vaan. Alex is Alex. Why should I respect Alex’s privacy? What privacy does a philandering scum deserve?"

Lavinia wanted to roll her eyes. However, she resisted the urge and simply looked back at the arena.

Vaan had already dismounted from the chariot. He was lightly patting Alex’s body, as if making sure that he wasn’t hurt anywhere.

"I’m fine, Vaan," Alex said. "You stopped Charles before he got to me."

"You’re not fine. Something managed to slip through," Vaan replied as he pulled out something dark from Alex’s body, which looked like a small spirit or miasma. "Stand still. I see three more of them hiding inside your body."

The sight of that... parasitic thing being pulled out of him shocked Alex, but he made sure to stay still as Vaan cleared his body of that unknown element that had come out of Charles.

After making sure that nothing else remained inside Alex’s body, Vaan followed him to the arena to inspect Charles’ condition.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alex asked Charles, who was lying on the ground.

"I’m hurting all over," Charles replied. "Getting trampled by horses and a chariot isn’t exactly something I signed up for in this tournament."

Vaan giggled. Relief washed over him after he confirmed that his friend had finally regained control of his body.

"Let me help you up." Alex supported Charles’ body until the latter was able to get to his feet.

Vaan then moved to hold Charles’ left hand and raised it high, prompting Alex to finish his job as the commentator.

"And the Champion of the Sun Tourney!" Alex shouted. "Charles Lambeeeeeeeeeeeeert!"

"""Whoooooo!"""

The audience cheered and applauded the champion of the tournament.

Although they didn’t know what had happened earlier, that didn’t change the fact that it was one of the most exciting matches that they had watched in their lifetimes.

"Well done, young man," Morax mumbled as he, too, clapped. "I expect great things from you... and your friends."

After saying those words, the Calamity-Class existence in Solara disappeared completely.

He planned to visit his brothers and sisters, excited to tell them that a new member of their family had made his mark in the world of Arcana.