I Awakened My Game System! Now Three Great Houses Want Me Dead!-Chapter 115: Catch Up
***
"Is that—is that him using his third Rune?!"
"Wait, no—that’s his fourth! He’s—he’s a Shepherd!"
"Already?! No way, right?!"
The Colosseum erupted.
Hundreds were shouting at once, many standing on their seats to get a better look at the massive projection.
The image of Xenos bathed in glowing green light filled the entire arena sky.
Even Lothar, the ever-snide commentator, couldn’t begin to think about keeping his composure.
"I cannot believe this! We have just witnessed an Ascension right before our eyes!"
He was supposed to hate the kid.
But right now, excitement had devoured all reason.
"A Shepherd at that age isn’t unheard of. Many Great House disciples reach it! But an Ethereal Element Shepherd without support or a mentor?! THAT IS UNHEARD OF!"
The crowd exploded in cheers filled with disbelief.
Because, well, indeed it was unheard of, for...
"Where did he even get the Rune?!"
No one had an answer.
Even John—normally so composed—was speechless as well.
His lips barely moved.
’That’s beyond crazy.’
It was.
***
In the clearing, the Daemon stepped back.
Its mirrored stance had wavered completely.
Across from it, Xenos stood still, breathing slowly.
His body was now fully covered in green tattoos that pulsed.
[Living Ligature] was the cause, wrapping him in faint Arcane.
This Arcane didn’t only provide him with a speed and strength boost, no.
It had also begun to heal his wounds, while more importantly...
He was given a new ability.
Xenos was a Shepherd indeed, though only a half-baked one.
His Synaxis wasn’t there, not yet, but he could at least use his Fourth Rune.
And perhaps that was what made the Daemon stutter, not expecting such a weird boost.
Not giving it a chance to understand what happened, he stepped forward.
The ground shattered as his feet left it, already reaching the Daemon.
It barely managed to bring up its sword in time, and—
CLANG!
The impact sent a shockwave through the forest, blowing leaves away in a storm.
Both were thrown back, sliding across the ground, but Xenos recovered first.
Plants burst from under his boots, launching him forward like springs.
The Daemon barely blocked his next slash, then went for a counter, its vines lashing out.
"Hup!"
Xenos ducked low, stepped in close, and slammed his palm into the Daemon’s sword arm.
Thin roots burst from his wrist and tangled the Daemon’s weapon in place. The creature tried to pull back, but its arm was locked tight, wrapped in green threads that writhed.
After a moment, just when it managed to pull away a little, the ground beneath it erupted.
White plants speared upward, impaling the Daemon from its feet to its chest.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
It screamed, a sound too similar to his own.
The Daemon staggered, its body thrashing against the roots, but the bindings only tightened.
"Don’t copy me now."
He lifted his sword, [Wise Fool] beginning to weave through it.
Mirroring him again, the Daemon’s head tilted.
"Oh, shut up."
Xenos leapt, twisting midair, and brought the blade down in a single brutal slash.
The sword cut clean from head to navel, splitting the Daemon straight down the middle.
Its body convulsed, but still, somehow it didn’t fall.
Instead, the split halves pulsed, and from deep within the gore, white veins started to slither out, coiling through the Daemon’s flesh, twisting, reconnecting, and forcing muscle back together with wet, snapping sounds.
"Oh, so you do have your own tricks."
Xenos lowered his sword slightly, watching as the ground behind the Daemon began to crack, white light spilling through the fractures.
BOOM!
A massive white tree burst upward.
Its roots split the dirt like an explosion, its trunk spiraling high into the air.
The thing was far from natural; its bark was like bone, its leaves translucent, and at its center... were veins pumping liquid light through its body, crawling from the Daemon into the tree, fusing them together.
’This is fucked.’
It wasn’t mimicry anymore.
The Daemon was mutating, breaking the pattern, and creating something new.
It raised its head again, half of its face ruined, but it grinned anyway.
And for once, Xenos didn’t grin back.
"You’ll ruin my image."
Rather, he was pretty annoyed.
Bending his knees, the ground beneath his boots trembled.
Suddenly, it erupted in a burst of light as roots snapped, blasting him upward.
He was sent flying through the air, wind roaring past his ears.
Xenos spun once before facing the ground.
Or more accurately, the tree’s crown.
[Wise Fool] flickered on his blade...
"BREAK."
And he dove straight down, his whole body like a falling spear.
The sword plunged through the center of the tree, breaking but unstoppable.
CRACK!
Its trunk split from crown to roots, a shockwave of Corruption spraying in every direction.
The entire tree exploded into shards of bone-white wood as Xenos reached the ground, completely splitting it in half, before quickly kicking off the splintering trunk.
He spun once in the air, flipped, and aimed himself toward the Daemon.
The monster looked up just in time to see him approaching...
"You’re dead."
His now cracked blade cut it in half once more.
That seemed to have terminated it, but...
Xenos kept going.
Left, right, down, and up.
Slash after slash after slash.
Each swing tore more of the mirror apart. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
Black blood and white sap sprayed like rain.
Vines exploded into ash around them...
Yet his expression didn’t change.
He just kept cutting, faster and faster, his breathing starting to get rougher, his grin widening with each strike.
By the time he finally stopped, nothing recognizable remained.
Only shredded, pulsing mush and twitching roots.
The Daemon’s true body.
Or at least what remained of it.
Steam hissed from the gore as Xenos pointed his sword down at it.
"This is how you defeat yourself."
He’d won an impossible battle.
"I DID IT!"
Xenos raised his blade high, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"DO YOU SEE?!
Yet just as he did that, it broke apart, and the Arcane on his body flickered.
"...ah, crap."
His vision spun, and he staggered, catching himself against a nearby tree.
His legs suddenly felt super heavy, and everything around him tilted.
Before he could even think to steady himself, his body gave out.
He collapsed near the base of a few trees, barely covered by them, his eyes fluttering shut.
Xenos was out cold.
***
"STRANGER!"
"STRANGER!"
"STRANGER!"
The Colosseum thundered with cheers.
They were losing their minds, chanting the title of the boy they’d mocked not too long ago.
"STRANGER!"
As did Lothar, becoming no different than his fanboys.
This was a moment incredible enough to excite even John.
A historic moment that would be forever remembered!
It was a once-in-a-century scene.
"THE STRANGER HAS WON!"
The entire Colosseum shook.
For a moment, no one cared about Houses, Class, or politics.
All eyes were on the projection—on the boy lying peacefully, his sword still in his hand.
***
Meanwhile...
Far from the commotion, three other battlefields blazed.
Arc and Aspen fought back-to-back against another Daemon.
Dei and Ari clashed with their own monster not far off.
And deeper within the forest...
Gaia and her small group fought the final Daemon.
Three Cohorts, each against one different Daemon.
Each pushing forward through their own storm.
Now, it was a race.
Who would catch up to Xenos first?
