Endless Ascension
Episode 10 – Day Three: Commanders of War
The System doesn't even wait for the arena to reset this time. The smell of blood and scorched flesh from Day Two still lingers, a reminder that the sand remembers even if the walls pretend to forget.
The voice comes colder than ever.
[Survival Gauntlet: Day Three Begins]
[Warning: Commanders detected among incoming squads.]
The gates shake.
All of them.
Squad One – The Storm and the Maw
The left gate bursts open in a flood of lightning. Stormcallers, humanoid shamans with staffs crackling raw energy, step out in a circle. The right gate follows with a bellow — Maulfiends, beasts the size of trucks, all tusks and muscle, foam dripping from their jaws.
Behind them walks their commander: a seven-foot brute in spiked iron armor, holding a warhammer carved from a thunderstone. His eyes glow white-blue, lightning dancing across his body.
[Commander: LVL 200 – Borak, Thunderjaw]
The Maulfiends charge first, shaking the ground, while the Stormcallers raise barriers of lightning to box me in. Borak waits, hammer sparking, watching me like prey.
I split both stars wide — twenty spectral copies now thanks to evolution — curving them in arcs that slash across the Stormcallers' circle. The barriers shatter under the onslaught, explosions ripping three apart instantly.
The Maulfiends slam into me. One tusk catches my side, throwing me across the arena. Blood sprays.
I rise, coughing, smiling. Pain fuels the kill.
I dash forward, stars carving glowing trails. The first beast's skull explodes under twin detonations. The second loses its jaw before I ignite the runes lodged in its throat.
The third slams me down — but before it can gore me, I ignite five spectral copies buried in its hide. The blast flips it backward in a rain of blood and bone.
Only Borak remains.
He swings the hammer down with a sound like thunder splitting mountains. I roll clear, the impact carving a crater into the sand.
I throw — both stars spiral around him, phasing through his armor with Eclipse Form, embedding deep. He laughs, electricity surging.
"Is that all, demon-spawn?"
I ignite. The blast takes his arm and half his chest. His laugh turns to a scream.
I walk forward, press the second star into his throat, and whisper:
"No. That was the beginning."
The explosion erases him.
[Level Up] → 136 → 141] (+5 levels)
*[Weapon Upgrade] → Tier 16 Visual Mod – Thunder Etch: Detonations release electric arcs that chain to nearby enemies.]
My stars hum louder, arcs of lightning dancing along their runes.
Squad Two – Webs and Blades
The next gates slam open together. From the left pour Arachnid Hunters, spider-bodied killers with spears dripping venom. From the right stride Bladed Phantoms, half-visible assassins wielding curved ghost-steel blades.
Their commander walks with them — a four-armed arachnid matriarch cloaked in shadow, her upper body humanoid, her lower body a spider queen with a crystalline abdomen glowing faint green.
[Commander: LVL 220 – Veyra, Widow of Shadows]
The Hunters swarm me in a wall of spears, forcing me back step by step. The Phantoms appear from behind, blades seeking my spine.
I hurl the stars high — they split and rain down in a spiral, detonations chaining arcs of thunder through the swarm. The Arachnids convulse as lightning burns through their carapaces.
But Veyra is fast. Too fast. She lunges from the shadows, four arms slicing, venom dripping. One claw slashes across my chest, the poison sizzling against my skin.
The System pings.
[Venom Ward Active: Negating Toxin.]
Her advantage dies with that alert.
I counter with a throw — both stars phase through her arms, reappearing behind her head. I ignite them mid-air, the double detonation ripping half her skull away.
She screams, staggering. Her Hunters falter.
I end it with ten spectral copies detonating inside her abdomen crystal, shattering her from the inside out. The arena rains green flame.
[Level Up] → 141 → 146] (+5 levels)
*[Skill Unlocked] → Phantom Rend: Attacks disrupt invisibility and phase-based enemies.]
The Phantoms flicker back into view, too late to matter.
Squad Three – The Ash Legion
The third gate opens, and the air itself grows hotter. Ashborn Legionnaires march in lockstep, armored soldiers carrying halberds made of smoldering obsidian. Their armor radiates heat, the sand around them glowing red.
At their head is a commander in full volcanic plate, his helmet leaking flame with every breath. His weapon is a massive cleaver, glowing like it was forged in a star's core.
[Commander: LVL 250 – Kael, the Ash Tyrant]
The Legion raises shields, their heat fields overlapping, trapping me inside. Kael marches forward, cleaver dragging, sparks following his every step.
The air burns my lungs. My skin begins to blister.
I split the stars into another storm. Spectral copies phase through their shields with Eclipse Form, detonating in the center ranks. The concussive blasts break their formation, shields shattering.
Kael doesn't stop. His cleaver comes down, molten edge aiming to split me in half.
I meet it head-on. Stars crossed against his blade, the impact ringing like a bell. Sparks, fire, and lightning explode outward as we struggle for ground.
He shoves me back, roaring flames. I respond with Thunder Etch detonations, arcs chaining through his Legion, frying them inside their armor.
Finally, I leap high, both stars spinning. They split into twenty copies mid-air, all targeting the Tyrant. He raises his cleaver to block, but they phase through and detonate inside his armor.
The blast blows his chest open, fire spewing from the wound like a broken forge.
I land behind him, press a star to his helmet, and ignite.
The Ash Tyrant falls.
[Level Up] → 146 → 151] (+5 levels)
*[Weapon Upgrade] → Tier 17 Visual Mod – Infernal Halo: Stars emit a burning aura, scorching anything within close range.]
My hands glow with heat. The stars radiate fire as well as light now, every swing a sunstroke.
The Crowd Shifts
For the first time, the crowd screams. Not cheers. Not excitement. Fear.
They've seen Champions. They've seen assassins. Now they've seen me erase Commanders — leaders meant to crush whole armies — one after another.
The cloaked Watchers whisper among themselves. Their voices crawl into my ears like static.
"If he reaches Day Seven, the Hundred Gates will fall."
"Then Day Four must be his grave."
Good.
Let them try.
⸻
The End of Day Three
The System cuts through the noise.
[Survival Gauntlet: Day Three Complete]
[Rest Period: 2 Hours]
Level 151. My body aches, cracked ribs and burned skin reminding me I'm not untouchable — not yet.
But the stars hum louder, hotter, brighter. Their Infernal Halos sear the air, spectral copies flickering like a legion at my command.
I look up into the shadows where the Watchers sit.
"Send bigger monsters. Send worse gods. Send your nightmares. I'll kill them all."
Because this climb doesn't stop.
And I don't either.