Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 246: Diamond
A soft glow curled around Alex's arm like mist, winding slowly across his skin in delicate, swirling patterns.
The sensation was strange—warm, like sunlight finally reaching skin that hadn't felt it in a long time.
But more than anything… it felt alive.
It coiled around him like it had a mind of its own—curious, gentle, wild.
Then a notification flashed across his vision.
Ding!
[You have awakened Nature's Energy: Emi]
[System is now undergoing an update…]
His breath hitched.
A pulse of warmth spread through his chest, radiating outward like ripples in still water.
The message faded, but something remained—a quiet, steady hum in the back of his mind.
Something inside him had changed.
It was strange.
Just a moment ago, the Proctor's aura had felt like a mountain pressing down on his back.
His lungs had been burning. His muscles were on the edge of giving out.
Every heartbeat had sounded like a countdown to collapse.
But now the pressure was gone.
The crushing weight had vanished—completely.
And what once felt like drowning, now felt like standing in a breeze.
Alex blinked.
Took a slow breath but there was no resistance.
He lifted his foot and cautiously stepped forward—half-expecting his knees to buckle from the ever-growing pressure from the proctor.
But they didn't.
No tremble. No strain.
In fact… he felt lighter. Balanced. Like his center of gravity had shifted—calmer, more in control.
It was a feeling Alex had never known.
Unfamiliar… but damn, it felt good.
So this is what Adam and the rest of the new realm players felt?
Across the arena, Adam's eyes snapped toward him.
And for the first time in the entire trial, the silver-haired elite looked stunned.
Shocked.
He watched—the way pure, refined Emi swirled around Alex as if it had chosen him.
Like he hadn't just awakened the energy…But belonged to it.
"A tutorial player… awakening Emi on his own?"
Adam muttered, barely audible.
His brows furrowed.
"No divine guide. No system assist. Just… willpower?"
He stared harder, like trying to make sense of something that shouldn't exist.
Was that even possible?
That wasn't how it was supposed to work.
He had awakened with the guidance of his deity.
A divine presence had personally opened the path for him.
Most others—especially those from the tutorial—only awakened when the system decided they were ready.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
Alex hadn't just awakened any Emi.
It was pure Emi—the kind that only the most gifted new realm players manifested after being trained and blessed by a higher power.
And yet, here he stood. No divine hand.
No system intervention. Just sheer instinct, pressure, and raw, unshakable willpower.
A genius.
No… an anomaly.
Adam slowly shook his head, lips tightening.
Now it made sense. The strange curiosity his deity had shown.
The pull toward this one tutorial player, of all people.
Now, he understood why.
Why had his deity gone so far as to possess him?
Why Alex give off such an unnerving, unusual aura
The player standing before him wasn't just a diamond in the rough.
No.
He was the whole damn mine.
A goldmine of raw, terrifying potential.
If Alex became a legacy candidate for the Dragon Emperor, House Dravonicus would lock in the top spot, no questions asked.
Even if he joined any other major house, the entire balance of power across the realm would tilt.
He was that dangerous.
And that valuable.
Adam's jaw tightened. His pulse picked up.
He'd made his decision.
He was going to bring Alex into his faction—no matter what it took.
Whether through influence, alliance… or force.
Across the coliseum, the Proctor tilted his head slightly, noticing the swirling Emi around Alex.
Even without facial features, it seemed amused. Intrigued.
The kid had actually done it.
A one-in-a-billion miracle.
This made the trial a hell of a lot more interesting.
Now he was truly looking forward to how it would all end.
But enough waiting.
It was time to wrap this up.
He had been increasing the pressure gradually—warned them each time he was about to push further.
But this time there would be no announcements.
He was going to increase the pressure by several folds whoever hits the ground first would be the one to be eliminated.
The Proctor, standing tall above them, raised his hand one final time.
And then—
WHOOOM!
A fresh wave of crushing force slammed down like a hammer, sudden and violent.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
The air bent. The ground cracked. Players gasped and staggered.
This was it.
The deciding round.
The arena shook.
A thunderous pulse of pressure exploded outward, echoing like a cannon blast.
Groans rippled through the coliseum as nearly every player dropped lower in response.
Cracks spiderwebbed beneath their feet. Dust kicked up.
Alex's knee buckled hard. But with his newly awakened energy, he was able to maintain his stance.
Mikel clenched his jaw, his face twisted in pure effort. Veins popped along his temple like they might burst.
The girl with the vines trembled—her plant-like armor flickering, edges curling and wilting like a dying flower under heat.
Even Adam—
The calm, unshakable Adam faltered,
His stance shaking.
Several stumbled—some caught themselves just in time, but others weren't so lucky.
THUD!
Two dropped—At the exact same time.
A new realm player named Buzz, and the second female tutorial player—Eve.
Their bodies hit the ground with dull, sickening thuds.
Then, just like that, the pressure vanished.
The Proctor lowered his hand, and his crushing aura receded like a storm pulling back into the clouds.
Silence hung for a beat... then the tension snapped.
The survivors exhaled in shaky relief.
Some collapsed to their knees, others just stood there, gasping for breath like they'd just escaped drowning.
It was over.
The final eight had been chosen.
Eve, one of the fallen, trembled violently, her fingers clawing at the ground as she tried to rise.
But her body wouldn't listen.
She coughed—hard.
Blood splattered from her lips, staining the floor beneath her.
The fused beast that had wrapped around her like armor flickered—then shattered into glowing fragments, vanishing in a burst of ethereal light.
A few meters away, Buzz the new realm player was still on the ground, unmoving.
His wide eyes stared up in disbelief, his face twisted in shock.
He hadn't seen that coming. No one had.
One second, the pressure was bearable.
The next—it wasn't.
Like someone had yanked the floor out from under him.
Buzz had been playing it cool. Laid back.
He hadn't even bothered activating a skill.
But when the Proctor cranked the weight without warning, the shift was instant.
Too fast.
He didn't stand a chance.
Before he could even think to...
