S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System-Chapter 39: Too Late For What?

Flickering light bled from the edges of Ning Que’s summoned Katana of Light, casting long, dancing shadows across cracked walls and scorched floors.

His shirt, what was left of it, hung in shredded ribbons from his waist, offering no cover for the tapestry of bruises and faint burns that marked his bare torso. Steam rose from his skin in the cool underground air, a phantom of the raw power he had just unleashed.

A series of calm, synthesized notifications blossomed in his vision.

[SYSTEM ONLINE

INITIATING FULL BODY DIAGNOSTIC...

PHYSICAL STATE: 76% OPTIMAL. SEVERE MUSCLE FATIGUE DETECTED. MINOR EPIDERMAL BURNS.

STATUS: STABILIZED.

WEAPON: KATANA OF LIGHT – SUMMONED. DURATION: 27 MINUTES REMAINING.

RECOMMENDATION: ADVANCE WITH CAUTION.]

Ning swallowed against a throat that felt like sandpaper. He pushed himself up, his body groaning in rebellion, and slowly rose to his feet. The chamber was empty, a tomb of his own making.

"I need to find them," he muttered, his voice low and cracked. "Now."

As if in answer, a soft blue trail materialized on the floor before him, a spectral thread of light only he could see. It pulsed gently, leading his gaze toward a steel doorway at the far end of the room, its frame partially bent and warped from the earlier tremors.

He took a hesitant step, his grip tightening on the hilt of his katana. The blade hummed with a low, resonant energy, its light his only reliable companion in the gloom. Another step, then another, and he was moving, following the system’s guidance marker into the labyrinthine hallways of the Guild’s lower quarters.

The corridors were dim, lit only by the sporadic glow of failing emergency strips. But his system compensated, projecting a clear, almost night-vision field across his retina. One corridor branched into another, then another, a maze designed to confuse and imprison.

He rounded a corner, his footsteps the only sound in the oppressive silence. Then, a sudden, sharp clang echoed from the metal wall just ahead.

Shadows detached themselves from the darkness. Ning pivoted, his body moving on pure instinct, the Katana of Light swinging up in a defensive arc. The first of them leaped from the alcoves—three figures clad in matte-black armor, their faces hidden behind smoked visors, their weapons drawn and ready. Tao’s personal guard.

Ning didn’t hesitate.

Steel met steel with a deafening shriek. He ducked low, his blade sweeping in a brilliant half-moon that sliced across the first attacker’s thigh. The man yelled, his leg buckling, and Ning used his momentum to flip him over his shoulder, sending him crashing into the wall.

A second guard lunged with a heavy stun baton crackling with energy. Ning parried with a fast, desperate backhand, the force of the blow jarring his arm to the socket. His bare skin gleamed with sweat and fury under the katana’s glow.

"Is this all he sent?" Ning growled, his voice a low threat. "You think you can stop me now? After everything else?"

Another guard swung a short sword at his head. Ning deflected it, the impact ringing in his ears.

[ENEMY ANALYSIS: ROGUE GUARD

CLASS: MID-TIER. ARMOR RATING: B+.

WEAK POINT: JOINTS.

RECOMMENDED RESPONSE: SPEED STRIKE + MANA INFUSION.]

Ning didn’t need to be told twice. With a sharp, guttural shout, he channeled a surge of mana directly into the blade. Light erupted from the steel, blindingly bright. He lunged forward, a blur of motion.

The katana became a weightless extension of his will, a ribbon of pure energy. He sidestepped a clumsy thrust and drove his blade through the gap in the third guard’s shoulder armor.

The man grunted and fell. The remaining two hesitated, blinded by the flash. It was all the opening Ning needed. He spun, the light-infused katana carving a wide, horizontal arc through the narrow hallway.

The energy discharged in a concussive blast of holy light, slamming the last of the ambushers back against the far wall. They crumpled to the floor in heaps of smoking armor, unconscious or worse. He didn’t check. He couldn’t afford to.

He broke into a run, his footsteps echoing in a frantic rhythm that matched the pulsing blue line on the floor. He turned corner after corner, descending deeper into the restricted vault sectors of the Guild.

This was where they kept the most dangerous artifacts, the most volatile prisoners. And somewhere, beyond these cold steel walls, his team—Viera, Linx, Aeris—were locked away. He could feel it in his gut, a cold knot of dread. They were close.

Finally, the blue line terminated at a massive, circular vault door at the end of the hall. It was sealed with a complex mag-lock system that was currently dark and powerless.

But the door itself was mangled, torn partially from its hinges as if by a tremendous force from within. Ning’s steps slowed, his breath catching in his chest. His katana, still glowing, cast a pale, ethereal light through the jagged opening.

[LIFE SIGNATURE DETECTED: LINX.

LIFE SIGNATURE DETECTED: VIERA.

LIFE SIGNATURE DETECTED: AERIS.

WARNING: HOSTILE LIFE SIGNATURE DETECTED. TARGET: TAO.]

He was already here.

Ning moved through the ruined doorway, his blade held low but ready. Inside the vault, Tao stood with his back to him, his hands clasped behind him. He was calm, cold, and utterly composed.

Before him, seated against the far wall, were his teammates. Linx, Aeris, and Viera were bruised and battered, their wrists bound by flickering mana cuffs, but they were conscious. Their heads snapped up as Ning entered the room, their eyes widening with a mixture of shock and hope.

Tao turned slowly, a faint, chillingly amused smile touching his lips.

"Well, well," he said, his voice echoing slightly in the confined space. "Look what finally crawled out of its cage. I was beginning to think you’d run out of power. Took you long enough, Ning Que."

The sight of his friends, helpless and hurt, sent a fresh surge of adrenaline through Ning’s veins, washing away his fatigue. He raised his katana, its light flaring with his anger.

"Tao. Step away from them. This is between you and me."

Tao tilted his head, a gesture of mock confusion.

"Oh, it is. It most certainly is. But where’s the fun in that? I went to all this trouble to gather your little fan club. I thought you’d appreciate a front-row seat for the grand finale." His smile widened, becoming predatory. "More personal that way, don’t you think? Watching the light fade from their eyes, one by one. I find it adds a certain... poignancy to the occasion."

Viera spat a wad of blood onto the floor beside her.

"Ning, don’t listen to him!" she shouted, her voice raw. "It’s a trap! He’s stalling—he’s waiting for something!"

Tao chuckled softly.

"Clever girl. But too late."

A sudden, violent flicker of movement erupted from the shadows to Tao’s right. Before anyone could react, a black, wicked-looking glaive crashed into him with the force of a battering ram.

The impact was immense, a deafening CRACK of force that sent Tao stumbling sideways, smashing into the vault wall. Dust and rock chips exploded from the point of impact, and the entire chamber rumbled.

A sharp, familiar voice, laced with fury, followed the attack.

"Back away from my squad, bastard."

A figure stepped from the shadows, bathed in the glow of Ning’s katana. Her long hair was a wild, tangled mess.

Her tactical armor was cracked and scorched. A cut above her eyebrow dripped a steady trail of blood down her cheek, but her eyes burned with an unholy fire.

Ning’s jaw dropped. His voice was a choked whisper.

"Lian...?"

Lian Zhen was alive.

Tao coughed, pushing himself out of the crater he’d made in the wall. He brushed a piece of debris from the shoulder of his immaculate coat, his expression one of mild annoyance rather than pain.

"Ah... Lian Zhen," he said dryly. "I knew that stasis pod was defective. The report said ’minor power fluctuations.’ It should have said ’fails to contain ridiculously stubborn cockroaches.’"

Lian didn’t waste breath on a reply. With a roar of pure rage, she charged again, her glaive spinning in a series of vicious, whistling arcs. This time, Tao met her head-on. The casual amusement was gone, replaced by a cold, inhuman focus.

Their clash was cataclysmic.

The chamber shook as steel met something far harder. Black, vein-like lines crawled across Tao’s skin, flickering under the light.

As he blocked and parried Lian’s furious assault, tentacle-like wisps of shadow lashed out from his body, striking at the floor and walls, leaving deep gouges in the metal.

Every blow from her glaive was met with a strength that was simply not human. It was a chaotic dance of monster versus hunter.

Ning snapped out of his shock and raced toward his team.

"Linx, are you okay?" He brought the flat of his glowing blade down on the mana cuff restraining Linx’s wrist. It shattered with a pop of discharged energy.

"Ning! You’re alive," Linx said breathlessly, rubbing his wrist. "I saw the explosion... I thought—"

"No time," Ning grunted, moving to Viera and shattering her cuffs as well. "We need to help her. Now."

He freed Aeris just as Lian began to falter. For all her skill and fury, she was injured and outmatched. Tao’s strength was overwhelming.

He deflected a powerful overhead swing with one hand, the shadowy energy around him solidifying to catch the blow. He grabbed the shaft of her glaive and twisted, wrenching it from her grip.

"You won’t win, Tao!" Lian gasped, stumbling back. "The Guild... the Guild will hunt you to the ends of the earth!"

Tao laughed, a hollow, resonant sound that seemed to come from all directions at once.

"The Guild? The Guild is a relic, a monument to a time that is ending tonight! You can’t stop it. None of you can." His eyes glowed with a malevolent red light. "I’m not just destroying a few buildings, you foolish girl. I already lit the fuse."

He slammed his free fist into the ground.

The world erupted.

A massive explosion, deep within the foundations of the Guild, detonated beneath them. The floor didn’t just crack—it vanished. Rubble, fire, and twisted metal crashed down from above as the entire vault chamber gave way.

Lian tried to leap back toward them, but the shockwave caught her, flinging her away into the churning chaos. Ning and his team were thrown in different directions as a new, cavernous chamber opened up beneath their feet—a deep, smoke-filled abyss, its walls glowing with fractured, leaking mana lines.

Ning crashed hard onto his side, the impact knocking the wind from him. He coughed, his vision spinning as dust and smoke filled his lungs. The chamber was a ruin. The walls had caved in, and the ceiling was gone. Dust hung in the air like a thick, choking fog.

Through the haze, he saw a single silhouette standing at the only clear exit, a mangled doorway backlit by the frantic flicker of a single emergency light. It was Tao, completely unscathed.

He looked back at them, and even from this distance, Ning could see the smile on his face—a smile that chilled him to the bone.

"You’re too late," Tao said, his voice calm and clear over the groaning of stressed metal. "Much, much too late."

And with that, he turned and vanished through the exit.

Silence fell, broken only by the crackle of fire and the drip of water somewhere in the darkness. Ning staggered to his feet, his heart hammering against his ribs. He stared at the empty doorway where Tao had disappeared, his mind struggling to catch up.

His voice was a hoarse, confused whisper. "Too late... for what?"

The system interface flickered violently in his vision, a cascade of red alerts.

[WARNING: MULTIPLE UNREGISTERED MANA SIGNATURES DETECTED.

LOCATION: YUNDAO CITY – CENTRAL DISTRICT. FINANCIAL DISTRICT. RESIDENTIAL SECTOR 4.

ANALYSIS: POWER SURGES CONSISTENT WITH RIFT FORMATION.

SYSTEM ALERT: SOMETHING’S COMING.]