"You can't catch me!"
"What the hell did you absorb back then?"
As Ace ran alongside Leo, he utilized [Body Augmentation] along with [Aether Manipulation] to fasten his legs.
Due to this Leo was left behind as he barely managed to stay within 500 feet of Ace using everything he had.
"Slow down."
"I was planning to. I can't use this substance too much before the actual battle begins."
"Good."
As Ace slowed down, Leo punched him in the head using all his strength.
Unfortunately, Ace had already utilized [Body Augmentation], [Aether Manipulation], and [Aura Manifestation] while concentrating it on his head.
Watching him smile after being hit, Leo scrunched his eyebrows.
"Masochist."
"I am not a masochist!"
"But you are a cheater."
"Well… can't… deny that."
Scratching his neck to hide his embarrassment, Ace flicked Leo on his forehead as if to warn him.
"Ow!"
"Dumbass."
"..."
*
*
*
"Arghhhhh!"
A scream resounded throughout the dungeon as a girl with blonde hair begged for her life.
Of course, to an ogre without intelligence, the act was fruitless as it only ended up quickening her death.
Despite this, she gritted her teeth and persisted.
She knew she had to survive, even if it meant being paralyzed or getting her body torn off.
If she could survive this incident, she could fix her body to perfection without any trouble.
The red ogre had multiplied into thirty-two pieces, and was chewing on her little by little.
'At this rate, I'll die of bleeding.'
She knew she was losing too much blood, and that was bad.
Despite the current situation being extremely dire, she could still maintain her rationality because of [Intellect].
However, the skill wouldn't work to help her escape the situation, because there was no way she could.
Suddenly, one of the fragments of the red ogre approached her head.
"No, no no!"
She screamed, trying to move her hands or feet.
However, the action was fruitless as it only resulted in her feeling nothing from the spots where she used to have those body parts.
The nerves had been damaged, and couldn't be felt like Lily anymore.
She screamed and wailed, begging the red ogre not to devour her head, but of course, it didn't understand.
Nor did he want to comply.
Suddenly, however…
Whoosh!
The head of the ogre went flying off of his body, as Lily's eyes widened.
The other fragments of the ogre possessed the same expression on their faces as they were utterly stunned by what took place.
They had seen a flash of purple…
And then the ogre died.
"You said it would be difficult to kill him."
"It will be. The reason I could do it was because it multiplied."
"Ah."
Color returned to Lily's face as she realized who those people were.
'Ace and Leo.'
Her vision was drenched in red, but she could still identify the figures before her.
"Leo, use the spatial ring to stop her bleeding. Just, keep her alive until I kill this thing."
"Will you be able to?"
"I have no idea."
He honestly didn't know if he could take on the ogre in its full-sized form, which it was transforming into currently.
The fragments of the ogre stuck together before forming a red ogre, ten times Ace's height, which was by no means short.
'I'm 6'0. How is he ten times taller…!?'
He was utterly stunned by the ogre's height.
In his previous life, the ogre had been subjugated by Lily, Leo, and Jonah.
Since Jonah and his posse was alive because of Leo being an asshole, they helped too.
Lily wasn't aiming only for the kill since she didn't want anything to do with Ace at the time.
Combining their strengths, they had defeated the ogre before Ace arrived at the scene.
Then, out of pity, they had taken Ace with them.
"Ace, she won't survive for long!"
"Hold on, I'll take care of this quickly."
Suddenly, his eyes turned white.
The aura around him distorted the atmosphere and his entire body glowed purple, while his face glowed black, and his glowed white.
Unsheathing his blade, he directed his menacing glare at the red ogre.
"I'll make this quick."
Whoosh!
Like the soft breeze of April, Ace disappeared from his spot, leaving behind a trail of galaxy-purple.
"Vertical Tear."
He softly whispered as he neared the red ore's ear.
A ringing sound reverberated in the others' heads as they spaced out, only to witness the red ogre's hand being sliced by Ace's blade.
"[Indifference]."
Activating a skill perfect for such an occasion, he cursed at himself for not being able to slice the red ogre's body cleanly because of its speed.
As he landed softly on the ground, several boulders broke off from the ground which had been turned soft like jelly.
Grabbing a single rock, Ace threw it as hard as possible towards the red ogre, who growled as the rock hit his ear, creating a gap.
The red ogre swung his club down, only to hit empty air as he finally realized that Ace was already on top of his arm, climbing up.
He shook his arm violently, and Ace flew off, only to use [Body Augmentation] and aether to cushion his landing.
Wiping the blood off of his face which had piled up because of the ogre's violent hand shake, he calmly walked towards the ogre.
"Last time, I didn't get to see you."
The ogre growled in pain due to one of his arms being sliced, as well as his ear being stabbed using a mere pebble.
"But this time…"
"This time, I will annihilate you."
Boom!
Ace disappeared from his spot, only to leave behind a thick aroma of aether, which disappeared into thin air soon afterwards.
As he neared the body of the red monstrosity that growled in pain, his arm which held the hilt of his blade extended backwards.
Forming a stance that many would understand as a horizontal slash, he suddenly turned the sharp edge of his blade to face up.
"What's he doing?"
Leo commented as he continued trying to preserve Lily's life using the meager amount of medicine he had left.
Lily's arms were still connected to her body, but due to the damage to her nerve, she couldn't move them.
Her body had bite-marks that symbolized her almost being eaten by the monster Ace was currently fighting… suppressing, no less.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she felt more and more pain as her consciousness cleared up due to Leo's treatment.
The tears were also due to the fact that Ace had stolen her dignity.
While she was thankful that Ace saved her, to her, it looked like the latter was only showing off her skills and waiting for her to perish before stealing the rewards.
Having grown up in such a family, she hadn't experienced or heard about stories of damsels in distress.
All she cared about was the victor.
It didn't matter who saved who.
Interrupting her train of thoughts were Ace and the red ogre engaging in a sword lock, which caused the entire dungeon to shake.
Leo's hand spasmed as he felt the pressure of those two monstrosities fighting each other.
Unlike what he thought, Ace couldn't fully suppress the red ogre.
While the red ogre couldn't either, he was at least at an advantageous position as Lily would die if they didn't hurry.
Just thinking about the situation sent shivers up Leo's spine.
What if Ace succumbed to the ogre's strength?
What if this dungeon was their resting spot for the rest of eternity?
Boom!
Bam!
Pow!
Crash!
The two continuously traded blows, with all of them hitting the other's weapon.
Despite the size and strength difference, the red ogre succumbed to Ace's [Body Augmentation], [Aura Manifestation], and [Aether Manipulation], which increased the durability and strength of the user.
"Damn it, I'm almost out of aether."
Having used aether before the battle, he was running low on the substance.
Blocking his aether, he used only mana this time to try to deflect the ogre's attack.
However, he was pushed back as he fell from grace, landing on the ground with a loud…
Thud!
He got up as he massaged his spine, which had almost broken completely.
His spinal cord was almost visible through his flesh.
"What's going on?"
He heard Leo ask, but he couldn't respond.
His thoughts were jumbled, and his consciousness was fading.
Unlike Lily, who had her arms, legs, and torso bitten, Ace had gotten injured at a vital spot which could paralyze him instantly.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
"Leo, how long can she survive without you helping her?"
"60 seconds at max, why?"
"60 seconds is enough."
Soon, a smirk emerged on his face, as it soon turned into a devilish smile.
*
*
*
In a faraway place sat a dirty-blonde haired boy, staring away at a galaxy-colored river that flew until eternity.
Despite the childish looks, inside his brain was millions of years of wisdom.
Moreover, he possessed an item capable of knowing anything and everything about lifeforms below himself.
Akash, being between a deity and a celestial, but being neither, had the ability to possess a soul-bound artifact that couldn't be graded.
That artifact contained knowledge about everything… everything below his status.
Despite deities being below his status, they were still divine beings, so spying on them was impossible.
As Akash was immersed in his intense staring, he heard a knock.
Perplexed, he turned around.
His entire domain was grassland with a couple of trees.
It also consisted of the River of Cosmos, but that was different, since it was a place forged since the Primordial Era.
"Knocking!?"
He flew up to the end of his domain.
His domain was a purple forcefield which every deity, celestial, or fragment of a Primordial possessed.
Only a being of higher status could enter one's forcefield, which meant his visitor was a deity, since a celestial could have broken in.
Since he hadn't had a divine visitor in hundreds of years, he was ecstatic.
As he opened his forcefield, he discovered a tiny boy, even shorter than him.
"Celestial of Enlightenment!?"
It was the former deity of Enlightenment who had ascended after the death of his celestial.
The shocking part was…
Why didn't he just break in!?
"Akashic Records."
"It's fine to call me Akash."
However, since Akash's mood was above ecstatic, he didn't care about logic.
"Yes, Akash."
"So, what brings you to my humble abode. Ah, come in!"
"Thank you."
Coming in, he sat down near the River of Cosmos, observing it pixel by pixel.
"Y'know, Akash? I've always wondered about the existence of ascenders…"
"Ascenders? Deities who ascend into Celestials?"
"No… it's different. The ascendance of a lower life-form into a deity or a celestial."
"That's not possible."
"Yes. In logic, it isn't."
"Your point?"
"However, mabe there exists one who just has the fate of being above all. Y'know, it's possible for one to offer divinity to a lower life-form."
"Yeah, but who would do such a thing?"
"No, what if the life-form kills a deity?"
"Not possible. Why're we even having this discussion?"
"Oh, but it is, Akash. That's why, I've come to set a wager."
"A wager?"
"About the boy you partially expelled from the cycle of time."
Akash's eyes widened as he suddenly stood up.
He backed away slowly in order to escape the firing range of the Celestial of Enlightenment.
Akash had no combat strength.
Despite being able to overpower Ace, and possess billions of skills, he couldn't possess them himself.
Thus, he realized he made a big mistake letting the Celestial of Enlightenment in.
Well, he could have gotten in by himself.
"I'm not here to fight. As I said, I'm here to set a wager on the boy you partially expelled from time, Ace Ambrosia."
"...why?"
"He is about to succeed my legacy fragment."
Nodding slightly, he explained what had happened with Ace, and how he told him about the dungeon.
"Ah, so you told him. That explains a bit."
"So, what's this wager you're talking about?"
"I think he can transcend all limits and again divinity. That child… he has the potential to become the first ascender lower life-form."
Silence.
Suddenly, Akash's eyes widened as he finally finished processing the Celestial of Enlightenment's words.
His mouth continuously opened and closed, but no words came out.
"What? Speak properly."
"What the fuck do you think you're talking about!?"
Akash screamed as he suddenly stood up.
Of course, he hoped Ace would become a deity and kill that Deity of Destruction, but hoping it would happen and actually wanting it to happen are two different things.
"Calm down, Akash."
"No, you calm down with those ridiculous thoughts!"
Suddenly, the Celestial of Enlightenment released his pressure, causing Akash to kneel.
"Now, let me explain. The red ogre is someone who is only at the D+ Rank, and his combat skills are the same. However, the difference is that the more people who fight it, the weaker he becomes. Simply put, he is weak in teamwork."
"Your point?"
"Ace is fighting a D+ Rank beast and I, the Celestial of Enlightenment left behind. Ace is only at the E Rank. Moreover, he is fighting the beast alone, without any team. Normally, it would take more than 1000 E Rankers to take the red ogre out."
"That still doesn't explain it."
"This means Ace is using something even you don't know of. And, since you know everything about lower life-forms, but cannot find out what is causing something of that scale to occur within Ace, the Akashic Records don't work on Ace, do they?"
Akash was speechless.
It was true that Ace was marvelous.
It was true that he couldn't see his information.
It was true.. All of what the Celestial of Enlightenment said was true.
"That means Ace has either the fate of becoming something you cannot control… or the Akashic Records is malfunctioning because of activity within the Primordials."
"T–That…"
"You should ask the Spirit Queen about this matter… get her opinion."
"Why the Spirit Queen, though?"
"She is the ruler of Spirits… that's why."
"I see."
"Well, I should probably get going now."
Akash unconsciously nodded to that decision.
"Ah, right. Ace is about to receive my legacy fragment. I thought I already told you that."
"You did, but… how? The system I created for Earth to interact with mana doesn't have a feature for legacies."
"They're not on Earth right now, are they?"
"T–True… but they still possess the system regardless…"
"Who knows? Maybe someone higher than your status is interfering."
"But–"
"Don't ask me, Akash. We shall meet again."
As he uttered those words, the Celestial of Enlightenment disappeared from view, and Akash was left speechless once again.
*
*
*
"Remove that grin off of your face. The blood just makes it look like an actual devil's grin."
Leo commented, as he questioned the look on Ace's face.
They were dying… then why was Ace smiling in such a dire situation?
"Leo, do you trust me?"
Perplexed, Leo asked…
"What kind of question is–"
"Do you trust me or not?"
"Yes.. yes I do."
Smirking once again, he asked.
"Do you trust me with your life?"
"Normally, I wouldn't. But, since there's no other way…"
Ace took his smile as a yes, and started reciting their plan.
"Do you think it could work?"
"Do we have another choice?"
"Touché."
"Alright, let's do this."
Ace quickly stood up and began circling around the red ogre.
While he did so, Leo began maintaining Lily's condition so that she could survive 60 seconds without his help.
Once he was done, he stood up and approached the red ogre.
"Do we begin?"
"Whenever you're ready."
Ace called out as he circled the red ogre.
"Alright. Now!"
As Leo screamed those words out, they both got into action.
Ace activated [Aura Manifestation], [Body Augmentation], [Aether Manipulation], [Mana Manipulation], [Indifference], [Flurry Steps], and the Beginner Level Mastery and first move of [Sword Saint].
While he did so, Leo activated [Body Augmentation], [Aura Manipulation], [Mana Manipulation], [Hand-To-Hand Combat], [Berserker], and finally, [Horned Bull Footwork].
They believed two strikes would be enough to end the remnant beast of the dungeon of the Celestial of Enlightenment. (1)
As they both screamed at the top of their lungs, they charged at the red ogre, who was unbeknownst to this plan of theirs.
Actually, it wasn't a plan at all.
It was brute strength plus brute strength against brute strength.
Despite the difference which was larger than a major rank.
Despite the fact that a Celestial had left this beast in this dungeon.
Despite the logic which screamed, "Don't do this; this is stupid."
They still attempted the impossible using nothing but teamwork… in an unorthodox way.
"Arghhhh!"
"Arghhhhhhh!"
Their screams resounded throughout the dungeon, shaking the entire place.
These weren't screams of pain…
But screams of courage.
As Ace's blade connected with the ogre's head, Leo's punch connected with the latter's chest, where his heart was placed.
They both attacked the vitals…
It was obvious, since it was clear they couldn't win normally and with honor.
Honor?
Bullshit.
All that existed in this world was victory.
Mercy?
Kindness?
Generosity?
No, only victory.
In this world, victory is what defines good and bad.
If two people fight… regardless of their morals, the winner will be considered just and honorable, while the loser will be shamed.
The winner will be the one who decides the epics and legends of themselves as the hero.
Pow!
Crack!
They had believed correct. (2)
Their attacks landed in their positions as the world exploded.
The body of the ogre crumbled down like it was made of jello, as the two who were ambushing the ogre also fell down.
They had won.
Thud!
Thud!
Leo cushioned his fall, but the same couldn't be said for Ace…
However, the former didn't have the luxury of checking the latter's condition.
Lily was dying.
"Shit!"
He yelled as he ran over to Lily.
He helped her retain her previous condition, where she was in a state similar to comatose.
After doing so, he had 60 extra seconds.
As he ran over to Ace to check his condition, he was stopped by the jade-colored emerald.
"The Return Stone."
Grabbing it, he ran over to Ace.
However, the result was not what he wanted it to be.
Having used too much aether and mana, and having broken most of bones due to injuries caused by the red ogre and the fall, he was unconscious.
"Wait… is h–he d–dead?"
Leo muttered as he checked Ace's condition.
Ace… was dead.