SSS Ranked Talent: I Can Upgrade My Skills Infinitely-Chapter 160: Round 3 - The Godslayer

Apollyon stood up.

The water around him boiled. The obsidian throne disintegrated into dust. He floated forward, leaving the safety of his lines. He didn’t wear a helmet. He didn’t carry a shield. He wore armor that looked like liquid red metal, constantly shifting and flowing over his body.

"I am done with proxies," Apollyon announced. "I am done with toys."

He floated into the center of the arena. He looked at the humans. He looked at Valeria, panting in her armor. He looked at Seraphina, nursing a headache. He looked at the Guardians, Thorne and Kaelen, who watched him with open fear.

And then, his gaze locked on Alvian.

"You," Apollyon said.

It wasn’t a question. It was a summons.

"You stand there with your borrowed power, your stolen items, your calculated little tricks," Apollyon sneered. "You think you understand the game? You think because you found a few exploits, you are a player?"

Apollyon spread his arms. The mana in the arena grew heavy. The water pressure increased, pressing down on everyone except the King.

"I was here when the code was written," Apollyon’s voice boomed. "I was here when the first servers went online. I conquered the beta. I conquered the launch. And when the world ended, I conquered that too. I am not a monster, Alvian. I am a God of the Old Era."

He pointed a finger at Alvian.

"Round Three is mine. And I refuse to fight a subordinate. I refuse to fight a shield or a knife. I want the brain."

The challenge hung in the water.

"Come out, Alvian," Apollyon commanded. "Stop hiding behind your friends. Step into the ring and die like a main character."

Valeria grabbed Alvian’s arm. "Don’t do it. We won two rounds. By the rules of the tournament, we win. You don’t have to fight him."

"Rules?" Alvian looked at her, his violet eyes calm. "Valeria, look at him. Does he look like a man who cares about the rules of a tournament he organized?"

Alvian gently removed her hand.

"He intends to kill us all regardless of the score. The tournament was just a stage. Now, the play is over."

Alvian stepped forward.

He walked past Valeria. He walked past Seraphina. He walked past the Guardians. He stepped onto the white sand of the arena floor.

He wore the [Vestments of the Void Monarch], the black fabric rippling in the mana currents. He wore the [Crown of the Frost Monarch], the ice crystals glinting in the light. He looked like a king in his own right.

"You talk a lot for a relic," Alvian said, his voice calm, cutting through the pressure of Apollyon’s aura.

Apollyon smiled. "And you walk confidently for a dead man."

Alvian stopped ten meters from the Dragon King.

"You say you know the code," Alvian said, equipping the [Lance of the Void Winter]. "You say you are an administrator."

"I am," Apollyon replied.

"Then you should know," Alvian said, his eyes glowing with the intense light of the Limit Breaker. "Administrators can be banned."

The crowd held its breath. This wasn’t a duel for a city. This was a duel for the reality of the world. The Administrator of the Old Era against the Anomaly of the New.

"Very well," Apollyon said. "Let us see whose admin privileges are higher."

The barrier rose around the arena. But this time, it was different. It wasn’t the standard blue energy field. It was red. And it was solid. Apollyon had locked the space.

[System Warning: Spatial Lock Detected.]

[Teleportation out of Arena: Disabled.]

[External Interference: Impossible.]

"Just you and me," Apollyon whispered.

Alvian checked his status.

[Level: 56]

[Mana: Infinite]

[Stats: Boosted by Chaos Body]

"Efficiency dictates I end this quickly," Alvian muttered.

"Begin."

The gong sounded.

Alvian didn’t wait. He moved instantly.

"[Void Step]."

He vanished. He reappeared behind Apollyon, his [Lance of the Void Winter] thrusting toward the King’s neck. It was the same move that had killed generals and shattered warlords. It was fast, precise, and lethal.

"TING."

The lance stopped. It didn’t hit armor. It hit a finger.

Apollyon had turned around—instantaneously—and caught the tip of the Mythical lance with his index finger. There was no impact tremor. No shockwave. The momentum simply ceased to exist.

"Predictable," Apollyon said.

He flicked his finger.

"BOOM!"

Alvian was blasted backward as if he had been hit by a cannon. He tumbled through the water, correcting his orientation mid-flight with [Flight] capability, and landed on his feet fifty meters away. His arm was numb.

[Damage Taken: 5,000.]

"He blocked a Mythical weapon with his finger?" Alvian’s mind raced. "His stats... they are beyond the cap. Far beyond."

Apollyon didn’t chase. He raised his hand.

"[Fireball]."

It was a basic spell. A Tier 1 spell that every novice mage learned. But when Apollyon cast it, it wasn’t a small ball of flame. It was a sun. A massive sphere of compressed, white-hot plasma the size of a house erupted from his palm.

And he didn’t cast one.

"[Fireball]. [Fireball]. [Fireball]. [Fireball]."

He cast it four times in a single second.

There was no chanting. No casting time. No cooldown.

"Rapid fire?" Alvian narrowed his eyes. "Inefficient mana usage unless..."

Alvian dodged. He used [Void Step] to blink around the arena, avoiding the bombardment. The fireballs slammed into the ground, vaporizing the coral and turning the sand into glass. The heat was intense, pushing against Alvian’s [Thermal Nullification].

"Run, rat!" Apollyon laughed. He pointed a finger. "[Lightning Bolt]."

A bolt of lightning, thick as a tree trunk, shot out instantly.

"[Lightning Bolt]. [Lightning Bolt]. [Lightning Bolt]."

A continuous stream. A laser of electricity.

Alvian raised his left hand. "[Runic Aegis +2]."

The purple shield materialized. The lightning struck it.

"CRACK-HISS."

The shield held for a second, then shattered. The sheer volume of fire overwhelmed the structural integrity of the runes. Alvian was thrown back again, smoke rising from his vestments.

"He has no cooldowns," Alvian realized, wiping blood from his lip. "Zero. None. He is spamming skills as fast as he can think them."

[System Analysis: Enemy Talent Detected.]

[Talent: System Breaker (SSS-Rank)]

[Effect: Eliminates all skill cooldowns and casting times. Mana cost reduced by 90%.]

"A cheat code," Alvian whispered. "He literally has a cheat code."

Apollyon floated closer. "Do you see now? You rely on skills that have limits. I have no limits. I can cast a catastrophic spell every second of every day until the sun burns out."

He raised both hands. The water around him began to boil.

"[Meteor Swarm]. [Glacial Spike]. [Void Blast]. [Chain Lightning]."

He cast four different high-tier spells simultaneously. The sky above the arena turned into a kaleidoscope of death. Meteors of rock and fire fell. Spikes of ice shot up from the ground. Blasts of void energy tore through the water.

It was a bullet hell.

Alvian moved. He had to move. He pushed his [Speed] stat to the absolute limit. 750 Speed. He became a blur of motion, weaving through the destruction. A meteor crashed where he stood; he was already gone. An ice spike tried to impale him; he stepped off it.

He closed the distance. He couldn’t win a ranged war against a machine gun of magic. He needed to get close.

"[Void Step]."

He appeared in front of Apollyon. He activated [Genesis Mode].

[Soul Strain: Critical.]

[Stats Doubled.]

"Strength: 1800."

Alvian punched. He didn’t use a skill. He used physics. He hit Apollyon in the face with enough force to crack a tectonic plate.

"KRA-KOOM!"

Apollyon’s head snapped back. His liquid metal helmet shattered. He flew backward, crashing into the barrier wall. The entire arena shook. The barrier cracked.

Alvian didn’t stop. He teleported to where Apollyon had landed.

"[Glacial Void Pierce]: Gatling Mode."

Alvian thrust his lance. Not once. A hundred times. His arm was a blur.

"DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE."

Every thrust pierced the red armor. Every thrust injected void frost. Apollyon’s health bar began to drop.

[Target HP: 95%... 90%... 85%...]

"Enough!" Apollyon roared.

He didn’t block. He cast a spell point-blank.

"[Supernova]."

"BOOM!"

An explosion of pure light engulfed them both. Alvian was blasted away, his [Vestments] shredding under the force. He crashed into the ground, sliding, his skin burned, his bones aching.

Apollyon walked out of the fire. His armor was reforming, the liquid metal flowing over the wounds Alvian had inflicted. He looked angry.

"You actually hurt me," Apollyon said, touching his regenerating face. "You forced me to reset."

"I can do it all day," Alvian lied, standing up. His mana was regenerating thanks to the [Tear], but his body was taking a beating. [Genesis Mode] was taking its toll.

"No," Apollyon said. "You can’t."

The Dragon King raised his hand high. The red light of the rift above the arena began to swirl, responding to his call.

"[World-Eater Art: Reality Erasure]."

The water in the arena turned grey. The color drained from the world. A sphere of grey light formed above Apollyon’s hand. It wasn’t magic. It was a deletion command.

"I am done playing," Apollyon said. "Goodbye, Anomaly."