Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World-Chapter 49: Sylvia’s Dumbfounded Gaze! The Null Organization’s Ambush
Whoosh!
Starlight flashed violently from Kevin’s hand as he drove his glowing blade directly into a Nine-Legged Spider’s heart. With a heavy thud, the massive creature collapsed to the cavern floor.
"Yay! You’re so strong, Kevin," Nia, his childhood friend, cheered.
Ren, Lara, and Sylvia simply watched as Kevin wiped the sweat from his forehead. He offered Nia a warm smile before turning to the others. "Let’s get going. The other five are still missing."
Right on cue, four of the five missing students stepped into the clearing from the maze’s side paths: Julian, Lena, Roland, and Brad.
"Good, you’re here," Kevin greeted them with a relieved smile.
"Yeah. The monsters in this dungeon are honestly kind of weak," Roland bragged, feigning indifference, though his eyes naturally drifted toward Sylvia. She had always commanded his absolute attention. He was wealthy and naturally handsome, yet he could never draw her gaze. She was the untouchable Queen, until today, when she had publicly clung to the former E-Rank class 3 loser.
"Well then, it looks like we only have that E-Rank affinity guy left to find," Kevin said, breaking the brief silence.
"His name is Caelus," Sylvia corrected.
"Right. Him. We’ll find him," Kevin maintained his polite smile.
But then, the atmosphere in the cavern violently shifted.
The temperature plummeted. A man draped in dark, shadowy clothing stepped out from a nearby tunnel. A second later, an identically dressed figure emerged from the opposite side of the clearing.
"Huh?" Julian frowned. "Who are you guys?"
Julian’s eyes flashed red for a split second as he activated an observation skill. Immediately, the color drained from his face. "They have a Combat Score of fif—"
Before Julian could finish his desperate warning, the first masked man vanished.
Boom!
Julian was blasted backward, crashing heavily into the dungeon’s rocky walls. He slumped to the ground, out cold.
"You?! What are your intentions here?" Kevin asked, his Starlight Sword manifesting brightly in his grip.
The assassin didn’t bother to respond. He crossed the distance in a single, explosive heartbeat. Kevin desperately brought up his glowing sword to defend himself, but the assassin merely grinned beneath his mask.
"You weaklings from the Origin Ascension Domain are pathetic."
Clank! The assassin’s short dagger collided with Kevin’s sword. The sheer force of the impact swept Kevin completely off his feet, launching him into the cave wall with a pained groan. His Combat Score was 40, yet he couldn’t even withstand a casual strike!
The rest of the elites fared no better. Ren, Lara, Lena, and Roland couldn’t even track the intruders’ movements. Before their desperate counterattacks could even manifest, the assassins blurred through their ranks.
Within seconds, the arrogant students of Fortis-01 High were scattered across the hard stone floor, unconscious and bleeding.
Only Sylvia remained standing.
"Null Organization, I assume?" Sylvia asked, a dangerous smile forming on her flawless face.
"So what if we are?" the lead assassin sneered.
"Nothing. It just means I won’t feel any remorse eliminating you."
Power erupted from Sylvia like a violent tidal wave. Her blood-red eyes glowed with murderous intent as the air around her warped. A wicked, elongated sword constructed entirely of condensed blood materialized in her grip.
[Item: Progenitor’s Sword | Effect: +3 Combat Score]
Boom!
Her blood sword clashed against the lead assassin’s dagger with blinding speed. Sylvia twisted in the air, gracefully rotating like a lethal dancer. Sharp spikes of hardened blood materialized out of thin air, shooting rapidly toward the second assassin who was trying to flank her.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The second Null player’s hands glowed with dark energy, easily shattering the blood spikes as they broke the sound barrier.
"Not bad. But nowhere near enough," the first Null player scoffed. A heavy, blood-red aura violently erupted from his body. "Berserk!"
Before Sylvia could blink, his dagger bypassed her guard, slicing cleanly through her left shoulder. He immediately followed up with a brutal, heavy punch to her stomach. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Boom!
Her fragile figure shot backward, skidding across the rocky floor. Yet, as she came to a halt, Sylvia simply chuckled. She plunged a newly formed blood-spear into the solid ground to steady herself and casually patted the dungeon dust off her dress.
"Now that you have drawn my blood, don’t expect to leave here alive," she stated with a playful smile.
She slowly licked the blood trailing down from her ruined shoulder. Instantly, the deep wound began to visibly knit itself back together, flesh and bone reforming in seconds.
[Skill: True Vampire Progenitor (Mythical, 1-Star)]
[Effect: You are an undying entity. No matter how severely injured, you will continuously regenerate using Mana. If your MP is depleted and you die, you will forcefully resurrect once with full HP and MP (Cooldown: 1 Month). Each full regeneration subtly increases base Combat Score temporarily for five minutes.]
The two assassins stared at her regenerating shoulder in genuine shock.
But the second Null player quickly adapted. A dark-green aura erupted from his core. The rocky ground trembled as dozens of armed skeletons clawed their way out of the dirt. Every single summon possessed roughly fifty percent of the necromancer’s total Combat Score.
Sylvia’s confident expression faltered at the sheer overwhelming numbers. She deflected a fireball from a skeletal mage, barely dodging a skeletal knight that lunged at her blind spot.
Just then, she caught movement in the corner of her eye. Someone was casually strolling into the chaotic clearing, hands in his pockets, looking mildly annoyed.
"That pig teacher, i’ll make sure he eats shit." Caelus mumbled under his breath as he walked in.
"Caelus!" Sylvia panicked. "Quick! Run away!"
However it was too late, The Null Players already had their attention on him even before her shout.
"Great. Another sacrifice for the ritual," the lead assassin grinned. Abandoning Sylvia, he lunged directly at Caelus, his dagger aimed right for the boy’s throat.
Sylvia’s expression turned absolutely murderous. She swept away three skeletons with her spear, desperate to reach him. "No! Dodge, Caelus!"
She pooled her remaining mana to form a massive blood projectile, hoping to deflect the assassin’s blade. But in the very next moment, she froze completely.
BOOM!
A deafening roar of pure kinetic force echoed through the dungeon. Both Null players were violently blasted backward by an invisible wall of pressure, crashing heavily into the walls.
"Why do annoying enemies always come in pairs?" Caelus muttered, brushing a speck of dust off his jacket. He glanced at the groaning assassins, then looked over at Sylvia, who was staring at him with her jaw slightly open. "I guess statistically, two is better than one. I used to get jumped by multiple people back in my Pro Gamer era as well."
Boom!
A terrifying golden-black light violently erupted from Caelus’s body. His draconic Lightning Domain fully initiated, crackling through the air and scorching the stone. The Epic Tempest Dagger materialized firmly in his right hand.
He turned his gaze back to Sylvia, who was still fending off the relentless wave of skeletons.
"Prime. It’s your turn."
Whoosh!
A heavy gust of wind tore through the maze, and a blinding pillar of golden light descended onto the battlefield.
A towering knight clad in shining, immaculate golden armor materialized like a bolt of divine judgment. With a single, explosive step, the knight appeared right beside Sylvia. He casually swung his massive broadsword once in a wide arc.
A wave of holy power washed over the cavern. The entire encroaching army of skeletons instantly evaporated into fine dust.
"..." Sylvia stared at the towering golden knight, opened her mouth to speak, and then slowly closed it. Her brain simply refused to process what she was witnessing.
"Y-You! Who are you, bastard?!" The Null players scrambled to their feet, staring in sheer disbelief at Caelus, and then at Prime, who radiated an oppressive, holy aura.
"Me?" Caelus laughed, the sound echoing coldly off the walls. "I’m just a student with a trash E-Rank affinity."
"What?" The Null players exchanged bewildered glances. Then, their faces twisted in pure rage. "We both have over 50 Combat Score! Deflecting us like that is physically impossible!"
"Are you two going to attack or not?" Caelus asked, his tone deadpan.
The Null players roared. The necromancer activated his own Berserker skill, pushing their physical limits to the absolute maximum. They shot toward Caelus with lethal, blinding speed—moving vastly faster than fifty average humans combined.
"Be careful!" Sylvia screamed.
Caelus didn’t even flinch. He merely glanced at them.
In the following millisecond, his golden eyes turned completely blood-red. The ancient draconic symbol of the Chaos Perception Dragon formed perfectly around his irises, ticking like a divine clock.
Sylvia’s mind went entirely blank.
Bzzzt! KA-BOOM!
Caelus’s physical figure violently flickered out of reality as his Projection Frame activated. He moved at a speed almost six times faster than the fully buffed assassins.
In the next fraction of a second, the two assassins collapsed onto the ground simultaneously, their bodies profusely bleeding from dozens of lethal, invisible dagger strikes. Their nervous systems were completely shredded before they even realized they had been hit.
Caelus stood slowly over their ruined bodies. Golden-black lightning blazed violently across his human frame, the air around him screaming under the pressure. He looked exactly like an ancient god of thunder.
But amidst the crackling lightning and settling dust, one figure among the fallen elites hadn’t completely lost consciousness. Through half-open, they watched the man once confirmed an E-Rank Affinity trash stand like a god over the ruined assassins, their mind completely shattering at the impossible sight.
