Heroes, in people's eyes, were akin to superheroes, saviours. For a person to become a hero, they have to encounter a natural awakening, whereby you encounter the system for the first time.
And with their powers, they still have wicked deeds behind the scenes.
But who would've thought that monsters would be much scarier than the heroes themselves?
In front of Lucius, the undead centipedes rushed towards the Knight with flowing killing intent.
The Knight didn't run; rather, it raised its shield, ramming into the one in front of it with much force.
Two centipedes struck its back together, the armour seemed to hold together.
Lucius watched how the knight skillfully twirled around in a circle, striking at seven legs almost at the same time.
Even if the knight only had basic swings, Lucius could tell that there was no error in its strikes. Every strike aimed to kill, and it did.
Clack!
A centipede's head fell to the ground, and three others followed. The knight stood in the middle, falling to its knees.
It stabbed its sword into the ground to help it balance, and then, just then, a shadow moved behind it.
Lucius couldn't waste any time; he grabbed the head of the creature in his palm.
"Devour."
In that moment, a surge of images and knowledge flowed into his head. The unsuspecting knight was taken off guard, and its entire body was in a dead of pain the moment he knelt on the ground.
Lucius gritted his teeth, trying to filter through the countless images that flashed in his mind.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[...]
[You have gained 10 stat points to distribute among all stats.]
[You have acquired one sin core]
Lucius let go of the Knight's skull, looking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Well, I'll be damned. Those glowing purple crystals were eggs..." He mumbled, chuckling like a mad person.
From the Knight's memories, this part of the cave belonged to these undead centipede-like monsters, and that place where he was supposed to wait for the Goddess was a fucking nest.
And also...
'This creature is just a scout for the horde?' he frowned, bending down to pick up the chipped sword of the knight and the shield.
[You have collected information on creature: Shade scout]
[Rank: D]
Lucius pinched his nose bridge as he saw the rank of the creature. It was just preposterous at this point. For a creature like this to be able to defeat all those deadly centipedes by itself.
And the fact that it's just a scout.
Lucius took a step forward, his expression tranquil. For a good reason, he felt no fear whatsoever. He just had to push forward.
He gained a few levels from defeating the shade scout, so he felt his mana increase along with his strength.
[Mana: 150/150
Stats—
Strength: 9
Agility: 13
Endurance: 21
Vitality/physique: 2
Intelligence: 12
Willpower: 25
Luck: -1
Free points: 10]
[+2 vitality, +4 strength, +4 agility]
Lucius let out a long breath, and he felt a newfound strength grow inside of him. A smile grazed his lips as he felt the greatest he had ever been.
He swung the sword around, feeling that it was lighter.
He smiled, walking deeper into the dungeon. There wasn't much to explore, as the area wasn't too big.
The dungeon was separated into three parts: the entry level was just for eggs, the next space was for the centipedes, then after that the shades, the gars, and the boss.
'Just like I suspected, this place isn't too big.' Lucius stretched his arms, looking forward to seeing about a dozen of those centipedes from earlier.
They all seemed to be scouting the area, walking around.
~"What are you doing?!"
The Goddess' voice stopped him from walking forward, and he looked at the creatures. They didn't seem to hear him at all.
"Were you able to gather enough power?" Lucius asked, sitting on a stone by the corner.
~"I told you to stay put. You're going to get yourself killed!"
Lucius chuckled, hearing her distressed tone.
"What exactly do you want from me? I know myself, and I know that good things don't come my way." He said, his tone stern. "This our relationship, it would end badly for sure. All I want is to not let some people go free. But what do you want?"
The Goddess went silent as he heard what he said. She didn't reply right away, taking her time.
"Can you get me out of here?" Lucius asked with a cold tone, looking up.
No reply came from the Goddess, and he nodded, licking his lips.
"I'm no fool. I thought about why I have to use real souls to keep myself alive. And the only reason I could come up with is that..." He paused, looking at his hands. They felt cold to the touch.
"I'm not actually alive, am I?"
The cave remained silent, no response came to Lucius' words.
He had his answer.
~"You're not strong enough to complete this dungeon. If you go further, you'll die."
"I will survive." Lucius' tone was absolute, there was so much conviction in his tone.
~"Please, just wait a little longer. I'll get you out of there."
"CAN YOU?! CAN YOU REALLY?! BACK THERE, THOSE WERE EGGS. I COULD DIE!" he shouted, clenching his fists hard on the blade and the shield.
Crieee!!!
A loud screech came from ahead of him, and he gritted his teeth, standing up.
He looked around the corner to see the twelve centipedes coming towards him, their hundreds of skeletal legs clattering against the hard floors.
"When we get out of here, you have to tell me everything. The truth..." Lucius spoke, leaping off the ground.
He struck one of the spikes protruding downwards from the ceiling, breaking it in one hit.
He grabbed another one, pushing himself towards another one.
The centipedes finally arrived at the corner he was in. In that moment, a smile spread across his face, breaking the spine of one of the centipedes.
The flames in their sockets flared, and they turned around and scattered as multiple other spikes fell to the ground.
Slowly, dust rose all around the place, and they were scattered.
Lucius fell from the sky, bringing his sword down on the neck of one of the centipedes.
Clack!
The blade was stuck halfway through. Lucius panicked.
The centipede shook him off, twirling its large body around.
Lucius hit the ground, looking at it again with a focused expression.
He rushed at it again; this time it had his attention.
Seeing it open its mouth, he instantly panicked, holding the shield by the edge and throwing it towards the creature's head.
The shield flew with a force powerful enough to break a car. It grazed the cheek of the creature instead of hitting its head.
"Fuck this bad luck!" He leapt, flipping over its long legs.
The creature shrieked, slicing downwards with its scythe-like arms frantically. Lucius was directly underneath it, dodging all its attacks. He ran past it and picked up the shield, turning around to block an attack that hit the shield.
Bang!
Lucius pushed himself sideways, succeeding in deflecting the attacks by a small margin.
The creatures might be stronger than him, but he was faster at the moment.
Going against the movement of the creature, Lucius pushed forward. With one final leap, he was positioned above the head of the centipede again.
"ARGH!" He brought his sword down with all his strength, finally severing the head of the centipede.
Crieeee!
The other centipedes that were in the cave were coming towards him.
'They must be close. I have to hurry.' He touched the head of the creature that was half the size of an average car.
'Devour.' In that moment, he felt a surge of memories coming into his brain, and he kept his eyes open, looking around.
[You have leveled up. You have gained +2 stat points to distribute]
[You have absorbed +1 strength]
[You have absorbed the target's mana]
[Mana +10]
[Gluttony gauge updated: 1/100]
Feeling the strength added to him, he instantly ran off to a corner. After absorbing the centipede's memories, he now knew that they had another weakness.
They didn't have any magical abilities other than shifting their bones and being undead.
'Their necks were a sure way to kill them. But their real weakness is their spine.' Lucius thought, hiding behind a pillar.
The initial dust had settled now, so what was left was to take out the others in time.
Lucius looked forward, seeing the centipedes gathering around the dead one. He stepped out, walking slowly...
Then, he jumped forward, leaping behind one of the centipedes. The sword slid through the space between the bones, making the centipede shudder, a low creaking sound coming from its mouth before it fell.
Lucius looked up, holding the shield and the sword in a stance. All the remaining ten centipedes were glaring at him with killing intent in their eyes.
...
In a void of endless black, where silence pressed like a suffocating weight, a single figure brought colour. A woman stood suspended in the emptiness, her long crimson hair flowing as though carried by an unseen current.
Before her, a wavering projection of Lucius flickered—his figure locked in combat against monstrous foes far beyond his level.
Her once pitch-black eyes—voids that devoured light—now shimmered with a fragile trace of humanity: warm black eyes ringed by pale sclera. They trembled as they followed his every movement.
Beads of sweat slid down her temples, catching the faint glow of the projection. Her hands clutched each other tightly, knuckles whitening as if she could will strength into him across the divide of space.
Her shoulders shook. Her breath came uneven, shallow, betraying a fear she could no longer conceal.
"Please…" Her voice cracked as she bowed her head, fingers digging into her palms. "You have to survive."
She raised her gaze again, desperation glimmering in her newly human eyes.
"Please, Lucius… you're our last hope. You must survive."