Chapter 628: New Legend
’First of all...’
There were a lot of questions that needed answering, but before he could let his imagination go into full drive, Leo was reminded that things weren’t as easy as his optimism led him to believe.
This wasn’t just about considering the consequences of his decision or how far that could take him.
There was one very important question that couldn’t be delayed by any others.
"What about the challengers that are currently ascending the Arena? Am I supposed to stop them as well?"
{But of course? Isn’t that why we are here? Without a fitting difficulty on the 100th Level, the Arena would lose its edge and credibility. Don’t worry, you won’t have to stay here forever; you can leave for now and return once any challenger makes it here.}
’As expected.’
Even if taking Aurora away from this world was enough to clear the main quest, Leo would still have to kill her to achieve it, resulting in an outright paradox.
Worse still, Aurora could end up exploding in his face as Leo took the place of the final boss, bringing about both their death in a case of dramatic double suicide!
"Can I pick those challengers as my relocation partners?"
{I’m afraid that’s not possible. Under the employment of others, aside from completing the Trial, a Trial Challenger could only exit the Arena by perishing. Whisking them away to another world in the middle is against the rules.}
"What a shame."
Leo was somewhat looking forward to going to a completely new world at the end of this Villainous verse, but it seemed like that thought would have to return to being just a figment of his imagination.
’In the end, sticking with the plan is better than betting on uncertainty.’
While his plan didn’t provide him with a high success rate, Leo at least had an idea about the kind of things he was going to face.
On the other hand, whether it was the new world or the challengers he might face in the future, going in completely blind went against Leo’s values.
’It’s not completely impossible, but...’
If he was truly set on abandoning this world, Leo had a couple of things he could try.
At the very least, as the Level Master, he could either come to an agreement with Aurora to stay on the stage or flat-out keep running around in circles until the final boss appears and leaves.
However, if being passive was part of Leo’s personality, he would have already done the same back in Murim and the Sword Continent.
Since he didn’t particularly feel like being a coward before, Leo had no intention of making it a habit starting now.
Especially when the chance of achieving success through such cowardice was just as low as facing the threat head-on.
"The very people I want to save are currently undergoing their own challenges; I can’t accept sacrificing them just to save myself."
{Eh? Well... When it comes to humans like you, I guess your people would consider this commendable, but to me, it only feels like a waste.}
The silhouette had no actual face for Leo to read, but he could almost feel his disregard for his resolve.
{In any case, you are still a pretty special challenger, so we will leave a marker on you for future purposes.}
All of a sudden, the solid silhouette burst into a puddle of black sludge, leaving only one drop floating in the air, before it shot directly into Leo’s chest!
’What the...’
Leo had already flashed away the moment he noticed it coming in his direction, but to no avail.
Even with his upgraded Shadow Movement, the tiny black water drop was at least ten times faster.
{If there does end up being a second time, do consider our offers more thoroughly then.}
It was only then that the manager’s fading voice echoed through the stage, leaving Leo staring into the void.
’I doubt it’s harmful, but let’s keep it in mind.’
Since stopping it wasn’t outside his capabilities, Leo didn’t beat himself up too much about what happened.
Considering the speed that the Arena Manager displayed, he could have taken Leo’s life before he would have even noticed it, so it was unlikely that this marker would cause him any direct harm.
Nonetheless, a mental note had been etched into Leo’s brain; once he had the chance and capacity to look into it, any foreign attachments like this would be thoroughly checked out.
{ Congratulations! You have cleared the Multiversal Arena of Ascension V2.3! }
{ Processing Allocated Reward... }
{ Advancing into the Main Encroachment Gate’s second stage... Would you like to proceed? }
"Proceed."
Now that he was finally allowed to leave the Multiversal Arena, Leo was naturally more than ready to press forward.
{ Trial of Ascension, cleared. }
{ Proceeding to the Trial of Defense... }
’There we go.’
Being enveloped in one last pillar of light, Leo mentally prepared himself for the final ordeal.
Although it wasn’t the toughest challenge he had faced, its special nature made it somewhat troublesome.
[ Plot change confirmed. Legendary Event Occurrence has been detected! ]
[ The Reader’s character had achieved a feat solely meant for the Protagonist in record time! ]
[ You have received 1798 Reading Points! ]
[ Legendary Event Bonus granting in process... ]
Before Leo could even feel surprised, time stopped as Aurora appeared in front of him out of nowhere, making his world spin like he was thrown into the blender.
[ Protagonist Aurora’s ’Enigma Circulation’ is available for reading... ]
[ Reading Attribute, ’Skill Reading’, has been activated! ]
’This is?’
The whole thing was a surprise on its own, but Leo was even more surprised by the state he found himself in.
There were no scenes of battle or training, only the moving road covered his world.
Leo could even feel the calm in ’his’ heart. In this instance, Aurora was actually calmly sitting in a transport vehicle and looking out the window!
’What am I supposed to learn from this?’
Was this sudden Legendary Event a dud? Or was he missing something?