Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 592: Ironside - The pitiless
Noah started walking toward the castle, his boots crunching against grass that felt too perfect, too uniform. Like someone had designed this landscape rather than letting it grow naturally.
The structure ahead dominated the horizon despite the distance. Towers rising into that weird purple-red sky, their architecture suggesting centuries of construction by people who understood fortification on a level that made human military installations look amateurish.
’Ten minutes,’ Noah estimated, watching the castle grow larger with each step. ’Maybe less if I push the pace. But there’s no rush. The quest didn’t give me a time limit, so better to approach carefully and assess what I’m dealing with.’
The grassland offered zero cover, zero concealment. Just open terrain that would leave him completely exposed to anything watching from those towers. His enhanced perception swept across the structure, looking for movement, signs of occupation, anything that suggested this place was more than empty stone.
Nothing. Just silence and stillness that felt wrong in ways Noah couldn’t articulate.
’This is the origin point,’ Noah thought, his mind circling back to the quest description. ’Where Storm, Nyx, and Ivy came from originally. Or at least connected to it somehow. Fragments separated from something greater.’
He pulled up his system interface mentally while walking, reviewing what information he had. The dragon bone in his inventory pulsed with energy he could feel even without manifesting it physically. The quest text had been vague, offering mystery instead of concrete direction.
The castle drew closer. Details became visible that distance had obscured. Gargoyle statues mounted on the towers, their stone forms frozen in poses that suggested they’d been caught mid-movement. Wings spread, claws extended, mouths open in silent roars that would never sound.
’Crazy detail,’ Noah decided, studying them. ’Just architectural features meant to look intimidating. Nothing actually dangerous about stone carvings.’
Five minutes of walking brought him close enough to see the main gate. Massive wooden doors reinforced with black metal, the kind of entrance designed to withstand siege weapons. The walls rose maybe thirty feet, their surfaces showing wear that suggested genuine age rather than artificial aging.
Noah approached the gate, his hand reaching for the handle. Locked. Obviously locked, the mechanism refusing to budge when he tested it.
"Alright," Noah said aloud. "So what am I supposed to do? Knock politely and hope someone answers?"
The system responded immediately.
’QUEST INITIATED: CASTLE SIEGE’
’OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT THE CASTLE BOSS’
’RESTRICTIONS ACTIVE’
Stone cracked. The sound came from above, from the towers, from the gargoyle statues that Noah had dismissed as harmless decoration. Fractures spread across their surfaces, pieces falling away to reveal something underneath that definitely wasn’t more stone.
Skin. Grey-black skin that looked leathery, tough, covering bodies that stretched and moved as they broke free from their stone shells completely. Wings unfurled, genuine wings with membrane stretched between bone struts. Claws flexed, testing their range of motion.
The gargoyles were alive.
Movement on the walls drew Noah’s attention. Figures appearing along the battlements, maybe fifty of them, all wearing armor that looked like it had been forged for actual war rather than ceremony. Steel plate covered their torsos, segmented at the joints to allow movement. Chainmail showed beneath the gaps, protecting vulnerable areas the plate couldn’t cover. Helmets enclosed their heads completely, T-shaped visors offering minimal visibility but maximum protection. Each one carried a longbow carved from dark wood, arrows already nocked, and the arrowheads were burning with black fire that created heat shimmer in the air.
Above each archer’s head, text materialized in the same style as Noah’s own system interface.
’Level 30 Archer’
"Level?" Noah said, genuine surprise in his voice. "The system’s showing me their levels?"
This was new. Completely new. In all his months of fighting beasts and Harbingers and other awakened humans, he’d never seen level indicators on enemies. The system had shown him his own progression, his own stats, but never applied that same framework to threats he encountered.
’Does that mean it’s relative to mine?’ Noah thought, his mind racing. ’I’m level 61. These archers are level 30, which would make them significantly weaker than me in terms of raw stats. But why is the system showing me this information now when it never has before?’
His eyes went to the massive lamp mounted above the gate. Black flame burned inside it, the fire casting shadows that moved wrong, creating patterns that hurt to look at directly.
Noah took a step backward, testing something. The archers immediately retreated behind the battlements, their drawn arrows disappearing from view.
He stepped forward. The archers reappeared, arrows aimed directly at him.
"They’re defending something," Noah said, understanding clicking into place. "Guarding whatever’s inside the castle. The boss the quest mentioned. They won’t attack unless I try to enter their range, but they’re not letting me pass without a fight either."
A smile spread across Noah’s face despite the situation. This reminded him of games he’d played with Kelvin back at the academy. Tower defense scenarios where you had to breach fortifications, fight through waves of enemies, reach the final boss at the center.
’The level system makes sense now,’ Noah reasoned. ’If this is structured like a game dungeon, then showing enemy levels helps me assess threats and plan approaches. Level 30 means they’re roughly half my strength, which should make them manageable even in numbers.’
More system notifications appeared.
’QUEST OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE AND DEFEAT THE CASTLE BOSS’
’WARNING: VOID STORAGE - LOCKED’
’WARNING: VOID ABILITIES - LOCKED’
Noah felt his stomach drop. He pulled up his equipment interface mentally, found exactly what he’d feared.
Excaliburn, Knight’s Grace, Void Striders. All greyed out, inaccessible, locked behind restrictions he couldn’t override.
He was thankful that at least he had changed into his tactical gear while he was thinking of how to gain his soul form. He was going to hit the training area in the faction just before the reward appeared.
His ability list followed.
Void Blink. Enhanced Null Strike. Void Absorption. Entropy Touch. Void Barrage. Storm Call. Phase Step.
Every single void-based technique that had become fundamental to how he fought, all of them disabled.
"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me," Noah said, staring at the notifications. "No equipment, no abilities, just my base stats?"
He pulled up his full status screen.
’Name: Noah Eclipse’
’Level: 61’
’Class: Void Reaper’
’Health Points: 3,720/3,720’
’Void Energy: 24,000/24,000’
’Experience: 2,847/35,000’
’Attributes:’
’Strength: 350’
’Agility: 373’
’Vitality: 370’
’Intelligence: 354’
’Wisdom: 339’
Noah stared at the numbers, relief washing over him despite the situation.
’My actual stats are way higher than I thought,’ he realized. ’I was remembering the old numbers from weeks ago, before all the recent level-ups and attribute increases. 350 Strength puts me well beyond S-rank territory. 373 Agility means I can move faster than most awakened humans can perceive. These aren’t baseline stats anymore. These are the real numbers I’ve been operating at.’
He looked at the fifty archers on the walls, at their drawn arrows burning with black fire, at the gargoyles circling overhead.
"Alright," Noah said, his smile returning. "No weapons, no abilities, no teleporting around the battlefield. Just speed, strength, and whatever I can figure out with my hands. But with stats like these? This should still be manageable!!"
BOOM!
The stone beneath Noah’s feet shattered from the force of his acceleration. His body became a blur, enhanced agility carrying him across the open ground toward the castle wall at velocities that would look superhuman to anyone watching.
The archers responded immediately. Arrows released in a coordinated volley, fifty projectiles arcing through the air, their black flames trailing smoke.
THOOM!
The first arrow hit the ground maybe three feet from Noah’s previous position. The explosion was immediate and catastrophic. Stone pulverized, the blast radius easily ten feet across, shrapnel spraying outward with enough force to shred unprotected flesh.
’Explosive arrows,’ Noah realized, adjusting his approach vector mid-sprint. ’Direct hit would probably take a chunk of my health even with enhanced vitality. Need to avoid getting hit entirely.’
More arrows rained down. Noah’s enhanced perception tracked their trajectories, his brain processing the information fast enough that individual projectiles appeared as distinct threats rather than an overwhelming barrage. He wove between them, his body moving in patterns that looked random but were actually calculated to exploit the gaps in their firing solution.
Twenty feet from the wall. The archers released another volley.
Noah jumped. Not void blinking, not teleporting, just pushing off the ground with enhanced strength that let him clear heights that would be impossible for normal humans. His body sailed upward, easily thirty feet, bringing him level with the battlements.
He grabbed the edge of the wall, pulled himself up in one smooth motion, and immediately drove his fist into the nearest archer’s head.
BOOM!
The impact cratered the archer’s skull, their helmet doing absolutely nothing to prevent catastrophic trauma. The body collapsed, dissolving into particles of light that scattered before hitting the ground.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Noah didn’t pause. His enhanced agility carried him along the battlement, closing distance with the next archer before they could bring their bow around. His hand caught their throat, squeezed, and their neck broke with a sound like snapping wood.
Another dissolution into light particles.
’XP GAINED: 100’
An arrow released from his left. Noah twisted, felt the projectile pass close enough to singe his tactical gear, and retaliated with a spinning kick that caught the archer in the chest. The force launched them backward off the wall entirely, their body tumbling through empty air before hitting the courtyard below with a wet crunch.
’XP GAINED: 100’
The remaining archers were scrambling now, trying to create distance, trying to bring their weapons to bear against a threat that had entered their defensive perimeter. Noah gave them zero time to adapt.
He grabbed the nearest archer’s bow, yanked it from their grip, and drove the weapon’s edge into their throat like a blade. Blood sprayed, the archer gurgled, and Noah was already moving to the next target.
Punch to the solar plexus. The archer’s ribcage collapsed, their body folding around the impact point.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Elbow strike to the temple. The archer’s head snapped sideways hard enough to break their neck.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Noah moved through them like a natural disaster given human form. His stats were just too high, his speed too great, his strength too overwhelming for enemies that were thirty levels below him. Each kill took maybe two seconds, and he wasn’t slowing down.
An archer tried to stab him with an arrow like a dagger. Noah caught their wrist, twisted, felt bones break, then drove his knee into their face with enough force to shatter their jaw completely.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Another tried to run. Noah’s hand closed around the back of their neck, lifted them off their feet, and slammed them face-first into the stone battlement hard enough to leave a crater.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Ten archers down. Twenty. Thirty. The notifications kept coming, steady rhythm accompanying the carnage Noah was creating along the wall.
The last archer standing tried to release one final arrow point-blank. Noah’s hand caught the projectile mid-flight, his enhanced agility and perception making the feat possible despite physics saying it shouldn’t be. He reversed the arrow, drove it through the archer’s eye socket, and their body dissolved like all the others.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Silence fell over the battlements. Noah stood among the dissolving light particles, breathing slightly elevated but nowhere near exhausted, his tactical gear spattered with blood that was already fading away.
The massive lamp above the gate began descending. Slowly, deliberately, lowering itself until it hovered maybe six feet off the ground. The black flame inside flickered once, and something materialized in the air beneath it.
A key. Black metal, ornate design, clearly meant for the castle’s main gate.
Noah grabbed it, felt the weight settle in his palm, and looked out across the castle’s interior from his elevated position.
More walls. At least two more defensive layers visible from here, each one probably holding more enemies, more challenges. The castle was designed in concentric rings, forcing attackers to fight through multiple kill zones before reaching whatever waited at the center.
’So this is just the first stage,’ Noah thought, his smile widening. ’The archers were the weakest defenders. Whatever comes next will be stronger.’
He jumped down from the wall, landing in the courtyard with enough force to crack stone. His enhanced vitality absorbed the impact that would have shattered a normal person’s legs, and he started walking toward the next gate.
’That was fairly easy,’ Noah reflected, his confidence building. ’Even without my void abilities or equipment, my base stats are high enough to handle level 30 enemies without serious difficulty. The explosive arrows were dangerous, but only if they actually hit me, and my speed made that nearly impossible.’
The good news was that his enhanced regeneration was still active. He’d taken maybe fifty points of damage total from near-misses and shrapnel, but his health was already climbing back toward maximum. Any injury he sustained would heal over time, giving him sustainability that most fighters lacked.
Noah reached the second gate, inserted the key, felt the mechanism unlock. The gate swung open, revealing a different section of the castle.
Four pathways. One behind him where he’d entered, two branching off to his left and right, and one continuing straight ahead. The architecture created a crossroads, an intersection that felt deliberately designed rather than naturally occurring.
The space was empty. No enemies visible, no movement, just stone walls and the four pathways creating navigational choices.
Except Noah could see another black flame lamp floating in the air above the intersection’s center. Same design as before, same ominous fire burning inside.
He looked down at the pathway ahead and his enhanced perception caught movement.
A knight. Single figure, walking forward with measured steps, wearing full plate armor that looked functional rather than ceremonial. They carried a sword and shield, both weapons showing wear that suggested actual combat use.
Above their head, text appeared.
’Level 50 Knight’
"Okay," Noah said, studying the approaching figure. "Level 50. That’s eleven levels below me, so still weaker but closer to my tier. This one might actually pose some challenge."
Then another knight appeared from the left pathway. Same armor, same weapons, same level indicator.
A third emerged from the right. Then a fourth from behind, cutting off his retreat.
’Level 50 Knight’ appeared above each of their heads as they converged on the intersection where Noah stood.
"A kill box," Noah said, understanding dawning. "This section’s designed to swarm me with endless reinforcements from four directions. Can’t focus on one pathway because they’re coming from all sides."
More knights appeared. Two more, then three more, then four more. The count was climbing rapidly, their spawning rate suggesting this would continue until either Noah died or whatever victory condition existed was met.
Noah laughed, the sound carrying genuine amusement despite the deteriorating tactical situation.
"Whatever reward’s waiting at the end better be worth this," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Alright. Let’s do this!"
BOOM!
He launched himself at the knight directly ahead, closing the distance in maybe half a second. His fist came around in a haymaker backed by 350 points of strength, aimed at the knight’s helmeted head.
The knight sidestepped. Actually sidestepped, their movement smooth and practiced, avoiding Noah’s attack despite the speed behind it.
Their sword’s hilt came around in a counter, catching Noah across the jaw.
BOOM!
The impact sent Noah stumbling sideways, his vision blurring, stars exploding behind his eyes. That had actually hurt, the force traveling through his skull despite enhanced vitality trying to absorb the trauma.
’They’re faster than the archers,’ Noah realized, shaking off the disorientation. ’Level 50 means better stats across the board, better combat programming or AI or whatever’s controlling them. This isn’t going to be a simple slaughter like before.’
Through the haze clearing from his vision, Noah saw a sword raised high. The knight was preparing to impale him while he was still recovering, capitalizing on the opening their counter had created.
Noah’s legs swept up in a kickup, his body rising from the ground through pure core strength. His feet caught the knight’s ankles, yanked them off balance, and the armored figure toppled backward. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Noah came down with an axe kick, his heel driving toward the knight’s head with all the force enhanced strength could generate.
KRAAAA!
The knight’s helmet collapsed, their skull following immediately after, driven into the stone floor hard enough to crater it. The body dissolved into light particles.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Another knight attacked from behind. Noah twisted, saw the sword coming, dodged left. His palm shot forward in a strike that looked basic until white energy erupted around his hand.
Chi. The energy system Master Anng had taught him at the academy, completely separate from void manipulation. His palm connected with the knight’s chest plate.
The explosion was immediate. White light flared, the chi-infused strike releasing kinetic force that exceeded what pure physical strength should generate. The knight launched backward, their body tumbling through the air, crashing through three more knights before slamming into the far wall maybe thirty feet away.
’XP GAINED: 100’
Then they swarmed him.
Knights from all four pathways converged simultaneously, their numbers climbing past twenty, past thirty, creating a press of armored bodies and swinging weapons that filled the intersection completely.
Noah moved. His enhanced agility let him flow between attacks that would have overwhelmed someone slower. A sword came at his head, he ducked under it. A shield bash aimed for his ribs, he twisted sideways. A spear thrust toward his back, he sidestepped and grabbed the shaft, yanked the wielder forward into another knight’s sword.
’XP GAINED: 100’
His fist drove through a knight’s chest plate, the metal crumpling, ribs breaking beneath. His elbow caught another across the temple, their helmet ringing like a bell before their neck snapped.
’XP GAINED: 100’
’XP GAINED: 100’
Noah jumped, planted his boots against the wall, used it as a platform to launch himself over the swarm. His body spun mid-air like a corkscrew, both fists extended, and he came down in the middle of the knight formation like a meteor.
BOOM!
The impact cratered the floor, shockwaves radiating outward. Knights stumbled, their formation breaking, and Noah exploded into motion again.
Punch. Kick. Elbow. Knee. Chi-infused palm strike that launched a knight through their companions.
The notifications became a steady stream.
’XP GAINED: 100’
’XP GAINED: 100’
’XP GAINED: 100’
Time lost meaning. Noah fought in a flow state where thought and action merged, where his enhanced perception processed threats faster than conscious decision-making could handle. His body moved on pure instinct honed through months of combat against enemies that could kill him.
Except these couldn’t. They were strong, fast, well-coordinated. But they were still eleven levels below him, still operating with stats that couldn’t match his enhanced attributes.
An hour passed. Maybe more, maybe less. Noah couldn’t tell, couldn’t track anything except the endless wave of knights spawning from the four pathways.
His tactical gear was torn in places where weapons had gotten through his defenses. Minor cuts covered his arms and torso, shallow damage that his regeneration was already healing. His knuckles were raw from punching through plate armor repeatedly.
But he was winning. The XP notifications kept coming, proving that each kill counted, each defeated knight adding to whatever progression the system was tracking.
Finally, the spawning stopped. The last knight fell, their body dissolving into light particles, and Noah found himself standing alone in the intersection again.
He collapsed against the stone wall, his back sliding down until he was sitting, breathing hard despite his enhanced vitality trying to regulate his oxygen consumption.
The notifications appeared.
’XP GAINED: 100’
’XP GAINED: 100’
’XP GAINED: 100’
They scrolled past faster than Noah could count. Dozens of them. Hundreds maybe, considering how many knights he’d fought.
Then new text appeared.
’LEVEL UP’
’LEVEL UP’
’LEVEL UP’
The notifications kept coming. Multiple level-ups, their exact number unclear because the system was blocking him from viewing the details.
’PROGRESSION LOCKED UNTIL QUEST COMPLETION’
’ATTRIBUTE INCREASES SUSPENDED’
’REWARDS WITHHELD’
"Wait," Noah said aloud, his exhaustion forgotten. "The system’s locking my progression?"
This was new. Completely unprecedented in his experience with the system. Normally, level-ups applied immediately. Stat increases happened automatically, rewards distributed the moment he qualified for them.
But now everything was being withheld, held back until he completed the quest entirely.
’That means I could be level seventy on paper right now,’ Noah thought, his mind racing despite physical fatigue. ’Could have gained nine levels from all those knights I killed. But until I finish this quest, until I beat whatever boss is waiting, I’m functionally still level 61. My stats haven’t increased, my power hasn’t grown, I’m stuck at my entry level despite the progression I’ve earned.’
He’d fought maybe eight hundred knights. Taken minimal damage thanks to enhanced regeneration healing him between engagements. And the system was essentially saying none of it counted yet.
Noah looked at the black flame lamp, watching it descend like before. A different key materialized, black metal but a different design than the previous one.
He grabbed it, stood up despite his muscles protesting, and studied the castle layout from his current position.
Two more walls visible ahead. Two more defensive layers between him and whatever waited at the center.
’The boss,’ Noah realized. ’That’s where this is all leading. Through the walls, past whatever defenders each section holds, to a final confrontation with whoever or whatever controls this castle.’
That’s where the real challenge waited. That’s where he needed to go.
Noah smiled despite everything. Despite the exhaustion, despite being locked at level 61, despite not knowing what kind of enemy could serve as a boss in a place that had already thrown eight hundred level 50 knights at him.
"Alright," he said, walking toward the next gate. "Here we go."
The key slid into the lock smoothly. The mechanism turned, the gate swung open, and Noah stepped through into the next section.
The temperature dropped immediately. Not gradually, not subtle. Just a sudden shift from normal to genuinely cold, his breath becoming visible in air that had been comfortable moments ago.
This section was different from the previous two. No branching pathways, no intersection. Just a long road stretching forward, walls on either side rising maybe forty feet, creating a corridor that felt more like a gauntlet than a navigable space.
At the far end, maybe two hundred meters away, Noah could see a tree.
Except trees didn’t normally have bodies hanging from their branches.
Knight corpses. Dozens of them, their armor torn and broken, suspended from the tree like grotesque ornaments. Some were missing limbs. Others had their helmets caved in. All of them showed signs of violence that exceeded what simple combat should produce.
Movement from behind the tree drew Noah’s attention.
A figure emerged. Tall, armored like the knights he’d been fighting, carrying a sword in one hand. But their other hand held something connected by a chain.
Their own head. Severed cleanly at the neck, held casually like it was a lantern rather than a vital body part.
The figure’s actual head, the one that should be on their shoulders, was missing. Just empty space above the neck, somehow not preventing movement or awareness.
Text appeared above the headless knight.
’Sir Ironside - The Pitiless’
’Rank: Constable’
’Level: 65’
Noah felt ice settle in his chest that had nothing to do with the temperature drop.
This one had a name. A title. A rank designation that suggested actual hierarchy rather than just being another spawned enemy.
And it was level 65. Four levels above what Noah had been when he entered this quest. Higher than his locked progression, operating with stats that potentially exceeded his current capabilities.
The headless knight moved. Not walking. Charging. Their body accelerated from standing still to full sprint in maybe two steps, closing the distance between them with speed that made the previous knights look stationary.
BOOM!
"Shit!" Noah said.
