Chapter 110: [110] Reality Check
One move...
Ark stared at the wall of darkness that had trapped him at all sides.
All it had taken was one move for Tristan to make him completely helpless.
There was no telling what was happening on the outside, and no matter the direction he turned, it was fruitless.
The darkness was far too profound. And all his other senses were nearly just as useless as his eyes.
Ark heard a sharp whisper from the left and quickly jumped to the side. He froze, waiting, listening to hear what it was, when suddenly, he felt something rip right through his chest.
He crumpled to the ground, holding his chest as searing pain filled him. He could feel his sternum and ribs; the attack had not left any physical scratch or damage on his body.
Which meant...
Ark’s gaze darkened.
It was soul damage.
He immediately got to his feet and dashed to the side when he heard another sound.
"Have you heard?" Tristan’s voice reached him. "When you take away a person’s senses, something fun happens—"
Stab—!
Ark fell harshly on the floor, his body rolling several times before coming to a stop. He tried to get up, but his bones ached in a way he had never experienced.
Yet he pushed himself up in the push-up position, every part of him shaking like a dog left out in the cold.
"...they keep running around in circles, like a headless chicken."
Ark heard a metallic shrill.
’Needles?’ Needles were one of the most favoured weapons by assassins. It was easy to carry around, they could be thrown or used for direct combat, and they could be easily laced with poison. Needles were simply lethal in every way possible.
But even though Ark knew he was using needles, it did little to help his pitiful situation.
"Tch!" He hissed through gritted teeth.
Is this all I amount to?
If Tristan was capable of doing soul damage, then it didn’t matter if the demonic beast was dead.
He could kill Thalia at any time he pleased. And instead of fighting, Ark was grovelling on the floor.
What was the point of all the skills he had gathered? Why had he gone through hell in the tutorial?
Sure, Tristan was a person that far superseded every single threat he had faced, but even still. Would he go out without accomplishing anything?
No...
Ark got up and stumbled forward.
He could already feel his soul fragmenting. If the attacks continued, soon, he would be unable to move his limbs. He had to act now.
Ark searched through his mind, trying to sift through every single spell he had learned thus far.
The thick darkness all around him had cut him off from the Emperor’s Domain, as well as the hotel’s buff.
It had to be a subspace of some type... a space he needed to break.
’What spell can I use?’
"I admire your tenacity, Player Ark, but even you must know that this is a hopeless case."
There were many spells in Ark’s collection. Spells he had used to fell giants, spells he had used to overturn even the most impossible situations.
Malformed Devourer... that was his strongest spell. But Malformed Devourer was a dark spell in and of itself.
Would a dark spell be able to quell the darkness?
The air hissed as another invisible needle was sent soaring. This time it passed right through his head. Ark groaned, stumbled a bit, but remained standing.
"You claim you want to lead a guild. But do you really think you have what it takes?"
"Eden is just as dark..." Tristan paused. "Perhaps even darker than the darkness that besets you now."
’What is the weakness of darkness?’ Ark mused.
There was no one that didn’t know the answer. Darkness fled at the face of light. Ark had spells capable of producing light...
Destructive flames, and basic fireball. But those were not light spells. There was only a single spell on his arsenal that was of the light element.
— Wave of pulverising light
There was only one issue. Ark doubted that the spell would be strong enough to break through the domain a player as high ranking as Tristan would create.
He needed something stronger—
"... if you cannot conquer the darkness before you now. How can you ever survive in Eden?" Tristan questioned him.
Ark smiled internally.
"Are you so sure about that?"
Somewhere in the darkness, Tristan’s brows twisted with rage.
He had seen arrogance all through his life as a vice commander and even before then. He had seen many players like Ark come around... He had seen them burn out like a midnight candle.
Tristan had once had high hopes for Ark. He had thought he could be the one, the person that would take the association to new heights.
But he had been wrong. Ark was not brave, confident, or resourceful. He was simply a fool.
He summoned another needle carved out of his mana, and the blades pulsed with energy. But this time, Tristan did not aim it at Ark.
The needle grew a vibrant shade of red as he locked his eyes on Thalia.
And then he was just about to throw it when something lit up the dark room—
A wide, crazed smile spread from ear to ear as he glanced at Ark.
Tzzzz—!
Waves of light rolled around his body, lashing around in the darkness and extinguishing each area it made contact with.
The light was strange. It was not pure and unfiltered like the rays of the sun; it was raw and chaotic.
It was something Tristan had never seen, not in all his years in Eden. Almost... primordial.
Tristan stared at the light as it ate right through his domain, his heart buzzing with excitement. A rookie, a newbie who hadn’t spent up to two weeks in Eden...
Was he really going to break through his domain?!
"How did you get such a spell?!" He screamed out into the darkness.
But Ark did not respond.
The light sparked like lightning, and waves of shadows shifted through it, tainting it. It unleashed chaos upon the room, the light lashing out uncontrollably in the dark space.
Ark’s finger burned from the point he made contact with light, and gravity around him seemed to shift so much that his knees trembled.
But he had finally created it. The spell he needed to bust right through Tristan’s domain!
[Malformed Devourer + Wave Of Pulverising Light]
[Skill merger successful! New skill, Chain of Obliterating Light (S-Rank), is now available!]
Ark heaved a breath, just before he launched the spell—
VWOOOOSH!
The spell raced forward, just before crashing right into the edge of the dark domain. The space held at first, the darkness threatening to consume the light. But it didn’t last long...
Crack—BANG!
Like glass, the entire domain crumbled apart. Once again, Ark could see the stars shimmering above, he could see Olivia and a Thalia behind him...
But he could also see Tristan, standing a few feet in front of him with an amused smile on his face.
The shadows underneath Ark’s feet pulsed as he got to his feet. The full effect of the domain’s buff and Emperor’s Domain flooded him in an instant, and he lifted his katana.
"No more dirty tricks."
Tristan’s amused smile grew as two nearly transparent needles appeared in his hands.
"As you wish—"
Tristan vanished.
Ark immediately glanced around the room, his eyes taking in the space, while his ears searched for even the faintest sound.
He should have been able to sense Tristan with his domain, but it was almost as though he had completely erased his presence.
’How is this even possible?’
Tap—
Ark immediately turned around, lashing out with his spear. No one was behind him.
Stab!
Slowly, while taking his time, Tristan slipped another needle into his back, with that same crazed smirk on his lips. Once again filling Ark with agonising pain...