Only I Am A Reader

"I guess this also makes sense."

There was no clear notification coming in, but at the same time, the split masses were very still... Much too still, in fact.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish...

Without giving it too much thought, Leo’s katana moved again, slicing the two masses into a thousand pieces.

This time, the pieces finally showed some movement as they started writhing, but...

"If you were going to ambush me, you should have done it faster."

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak...

Rather than trying to escape, the tentacle pieces were actually writhing in agony as a black flame was ignited on every single one of them, making for a very terrifying barbecue scene as they produced thousands of nightmare-inducing wails.

In the end...

{ Level 91, cleared. }

None of the tentacle pieces could survive the Law-level Shadow Enigma eating away at it, succumbing to fate once and for all.

{ Proceed to Level 92? }

’After acting so intelligently, it truly made the most futile move of them all.’

Unless the alien monster actually had the ability to trick the Multiversal Arena’s system, lying still was truly a meaningless act.

The result would have been the same anyway, but if it had actually hoped to get any advantage, it should have seized the chance to attack right after it appeared to have died for the first time.

’Well, almost all of its action made little sense to begin with.’

{ Combat Skills and Damage Dealt had crossed the threshold of Level 91 by 10 Levels. Initiating Rapid Ascension... }

{ The maximum Level that this version of the Multiversal Arena of Ascension provides is Level 100. }

{ Would you like to use your Rapid Ascension Privilege to immediately move to Level 100? }

"Use the privilege."

Although the tentacle monster of Level 91 had piqued Leo’s curiosity, in the end, it could only prove itself to be slightly troublesome, rather than posing a real challenge.

Compared to wasting time going through the nineties’ monsters, Leo still preferred to spend that time challenging the peak of the Multiversal Arena.

Once the pillar of light engulfed him one more time, Leo found himself standing atop a much larger stage.

The arena was already very large to begin with, but the current one almost spread as far as Leo’s eyes could see.

With just this much, Leo could tell that his opponent would be quite large, but...

’Where is it?’

Let alone a large one, there was no opponent in sight. Leo wondered if it was some sort of invincible species, but the delayed countdown pointed at a different possibility.

’Something is different.’

It didn’t make sense for the Multiversal Arena of Ascension to trick its challengers in favor of the monster on Level 100, so something else was at play.

{ Lenience period begins. Timer starts. }

{ If the Master of Level 100 doesn’t respond within 10 minutes, the challenger will be deemed to have successfully cleared the Multiversal Arena of Ascension. }

{ 600... 599... 598... }

’Really?’

Seeing how similar the message was to the very warning that Leo himself received, he couldn’t help but question the nature of this Multiversal Arena.

Weren’t the enemies presented by the Arena supposed to be just a simulation?

Were they actually challengers who were attempting to climb the Arena just like Leo and the others?

{ 301... 300- }

As Leo pondered an answer, an explosion of light shone in front of him, covering a large part of the Arena.

However, upon taking a closer look, Leo could see that this was just another pillar of light like his, just larger.

[So, someone has actually made it here.]

As the light subsided, a sound made its way inside Leo’s head, giving him a little jolt.

"I see you found a solution to the issue of miscommunication."

The thing that appeared in front of him looked like a carefully sculpted statue.

The color it presented was black, but unlike the shiny obsidian-like stones that highlighted the Arena, it was the darkest black that Leo had seen.

It didn’t appear to reflect the least bit of light, making Leo feel like he would disappear if he walked into it.

[Ah, you must have met those guys above the 90th Level.]

Directly confirming Leo’s statement, light finally appeared on the statue as its eyelids parted, revealing two golden eyes that looked like high-quality jewels, further elevated by the vertical black pupils at the center.

Just from having this first look, Leo could tell the type of creature it was.

This was a Dragon, nothing like the half-baked Dragonoids that Leo had seen before. This was a bona fide Black Dragon!

"Indeed, it was a very confusing experience."

[Those poor things always try to collect materials for their research, but they are too reliant on their mind-invasion abilities.]

’Mind-invasion?’

Rather than a failed communication attempt, that octopus head had actually been trying to hypnotize him?

Things finally started making sense to Leo with the dark creature’s explanation.

If Leo’s mental fortitude wasn’t so great that he didn’t feel the faintest thing, Level 91 might have been a bit more challenging.

[It’s always quite a sight to see their reaction once their only trump card is rendered useless.]

"Does that mean you have also challenged them before? Are you all supposed to be challengers as well?"

[Well, I’m not really supposed to converse with you first, but I’m kind of bored, so why not? Most of those you have met are based on actual challengers, but they are just simulated existences.]

Despite its ferocious looks, the Black Dragon seemed like an easy-going creature.

So far, its explanation aligned with what Leo hypothesized, but it didn’t seem like it was done explaining.

[There are chances that some of them were real challengers, but it’s hard to tell unless you engage them in combat for long enough. It’s only starting from the 91st Level that everyone you meet is a real being coming from their own perspective universe.]

"I know my purpose for challenging the Arena, but for what purpose do the others challenge it?"

[It depends on the kind of force that employs the Multiversal Arena’s services. Sometimes the Arena itself is the one that employs their challengers, as is the case with me, but regardless, for anyone to obtain what they wish for, the unchanging rule is that they have to go through me, the Great Abyssal Dragon!]