NHO Headquarters ( New Humanity Order ), London.
A man stood alone in the demolished park, surrounded by seven people. His escape route was obstructed by falling structures.
The park, spanning 10 acres, was possibly even larger than the gardens of the Royal Palaces. However, it lay in ruins, with its surroundings in shambles.
With a sly smile on his lips, the attractive young man with blonde hair wielded a bronze double-edged sword, his armor partially damaged.
His gaze scanned each individual until it fixed on the woman at the back. He locked eyes with her and asked, "Is this what you all want? Despite everything I did for you?"
The atmosphere was tense, with only the heavy breeze answering his question.
Finally, a woman stepped forward to answer "We don't want to fight you. Please understand our perspective. We are doing this only to get the Mythical treasure from you."
"Oh, really... I wouldn't want to fight myself either. Because I know that once I snap, nobody will live to tell the tale. So why don't you all just let me go and forget about this treasure, which I risked my life for after that darn phoenix nearly killed me?" retorted the man.
"You don't understand, Connor. That treasure is a Mythic-grade artifact that could save all of humanity. We need to research it to reproduce it or build similar ones. Why are you being so selfish?" said the frustrated woman, struggling to reason with him.
"Screw you and screw your humanity. My sister is dying, and I didn't fight tooth and nail for the past six months only to give up this hope to idealists like you" snapped the man, his grip on the sword tightening until his calluses screamed for release.
The treasure, being a one-time consumable, could restore a fallen back to their original state. It was so valuable that the entire League of Seven turned on Connor to get it.
It seemed like a breaking point was imminent.
"Huff... so we have to do this the hard way," sighed another black-haired youth who accompanied the woman.
He continued, "We gave you a chance, Elena. He just won't relent, not even for you." Raising his spear, he rushed towards Connor.
Another girl followed suit, both charging at Connor.
Even as two of humanity's strongest individuals closed in on him, Connor remained eerily calm, as if he already knew the next steps and how events would unfold from here.
It wasn't confidence but calculation as his mind raced through future scenarios and then he muttered, "Mind overclock," causing time to slow to a tenth of its normal speed.
Following that he used another active skill 'Spirit Overdrive' which made his soul unstable, but he couldn't care about that as he faced beings that were at the peak of humanity.
He said in his mind, 'Record' and his status screen appeared:
[ Name: Connor Lennox
Race: High Human
Class: [Immortal Warlock], [Astral Warlock], [Spatial Mage], [Dimension Weaver]
Rank: 4th Ascension
Subclass: Necromancer
Level: 500 ( 500,000/500,000 )
AP: 302
Attributes:
->Strength: 15,113(+10,550)
->Endurance: 14,267 ( +10,000)
->Stamina: 12,788 / 13480 (+6990)
->Agility: 13,355 (+7305)
->MP: 2,347(+530 )
->Mana: 16,889 / 18,994 (+9,800)
Weapons(4) Equipment(5) Skills(20) Weapon Arts(3) Blessings(4) titles(9) ]
Glancing at the screen for a moment, Connor raised his right arm to parry the spearman's thrust, manifesting a round shield mid-swing to deflect the attack.
Connor muttered, 'Spirit overclock Release' and swiftly bought his palm near his face as a hollow purple orb covered the spearman's face.
Connor launched the orb at him, but luckily for the spearman, the girl pulled him back with her vines, the spearman said aloud like a commander, " attack with projectiles !!"
A barrage of various elemental projectiles rushed at Connor, but he simply raised his shield and charged at Vanessa, who was ensnared in vines. "You are the most troublesome one here, Vanessa."
Vanessa, despite being the weakest physically, excelled as a supporter with roles in summoning, healing, debuffing, and enchanting.
All her classes were built around teamwork.
Connor's knowledge of Vanessa's abilities came from a secret skill he had been keeping hidden from everyone: Spirit Eyes.
This skill allowed him to view the profiles and capabilities of others
As Connor closed in, his senses tingled with imminent danger. He swiftly sidestepped, evading the reaper's deadly scythe attack.
The scythe spun like a disc where Connor had stood moments ago before returning to the reaper's hand.
This move was a common weapon art among scythe wielders, yet it was too deadly.
The reaper glared at Connor, frustrated that his practiced technique had failed to strike its target that was a rank below him.
Unfazed by the reaper's menacing gaze, Connor raised both hands to his sight. Between his palms was the figure of the reaper, and he invoked his highest ranked skill 'Reality Shift'
He grasped at nothing but air, tearing the space in his vision as one would tear cloth.
This skill required the use of mana, willpower, and complete mental focus to wield safely without risking harm to himself.
Space warped around the reaper, condensing to a single central point. Helpless, the reaper was sucked into the void that was formed when the space tore apart,
This was the power of a Peak Dimension Weaver, capable of constructing and restructuring reality strings.
To attain such mastery, one would need proficiency in all facets of mana control, expertise in vibrational magic, unparalleled willpower to go against the laws, and an immense reservoir of mana.
The void that looked like it would suck everything was immediately restored to it's original form by the Universal laws of space and time.
[You have slain Lv. 507 Doombringer Raiza Vermont]
[You have gained 480k SP but failed to absorb due to your core being full]
[ Transferring all the obtained SP to the Astral Orb linked to your core ]
[ You have obtained 80,000 SP in your Orb]
What he did was not merely altering reality but completely shattering it, which contradicted the skill name
But then again, this was how Connor used his skills, in ways only a true warlock could, bringing out the most of his prowess by mastering in all aspects of combat
Everyone gazed at the sight with visible shock on their faces; one of their senators had been killed so swiftly.
They felt it keenly—this seemingly unassuming man was a monster in human guise.
They were all Transcendent ranked beings, the strongest individuals of humanity,
Yet this man a peak ascendent rank being, had killed one of them like a bug.
By common sense of the Universe, it should be the other way around, but they knew how strong the man named 'Connor Lennox' was, or at least they thought they knew his prowess.
Being the strongest 7 of humanity, they thought in their own world with all the buffs as the rulers and the transcended rank they had achieved recently, they thought they could subdue him.
But they couldn't be any more wrong, He was in a realm beyond them.
Connor gazed at each of them in turn and issued a final warning: "Last chance, suckers. Back off."
The abuse of his skill had taken quite a toll on him.
He wanted to end the battle quickly by going all out from the beginning, this way he would not only reduce their morale but give him more chances to escape from them as well.
This time, Elena led the charge with her rapier, abandoning all restraint as the others followed to corner him.
Yet, Connor's cunning and skill thwarted their concerted efforts. He utilized his skill, Darkness Manifestation, to absorb any large-scale attacks that his shield couldn't block.
Darkness was a supreme element of defense, capable of neutralizing almost anything.
But Connor's mastery surpassed anyone else's, seamlessly integrating it into his movements and sword arts.
The battle raged on, with the league of seven (or now six?) on the offensive and Connor on the defensive.
Elena sensed something amiss. Connor should have been attempting to attack or escape. Through the mental link Vanessa had established, she cautioned the others not to drop their guard.
The memory of Raiza's death haunted them; a single moment of carelessness could spell their doom at Connor's hands.
Meanwhile, Connor fought almost absent-mindedly, his thoughts drifting to Elena. Engaging in combat felt like riding a bike while lost in daydreams.
He reminisced about their past, recalling how he could once easily anticipate Elena's every move. Now, the woman before him felt like a stranger.
He pondered when their relationship had begun to falter, considering the impact of evolution. Physical and mental changes accompanying evolution altered thought processes.
He chuckled, thinking of the naive princess she had once been.
Noticing his laughter, Elena demanded in a fierce tone, "What's so funny?"
"No, I was just thinking about how the woman who swore to stand against the world for me is now leading the world's strongest team against me," he replied with an amused smirk.
She fell silent, and they all paused, waiting for further instructions as the battle came to a brief halt.
Connor, observing the pause, questioned, "Why did you all stop? I don't have all day to waste on you backstabbers," his tone dripping with cruelty.
"How are we backstabbers, Connor? It's you who refuses to meet our demands. Can't you see we're squandering a significant opportunity here?" retorted an amber-haired girl seated atop a drake.
"You people always boast about humanity's advancement and such. I'm at my wit's end. Need I remind you that while I may not have made grand contributions to humanity, without me, humanity would've perished long ago?" he continued after a pause," Ungrateful jerks" his voice laced with undying hatred.
Nobody could refute what he said, for without him, they would all have perished in the past.
This time, it was the spearman who argued, "You're the only one who hasn't changed a bit, Connor.
We've all adapted and evolved to survive, but you continue to rub salt in our wounds, reminding us of our debts to you.
Did you truly act for our sake, or were you just using us?"
He pressed on, "We're prepared to invest all our resources into researching that mythical artifact, which can revert a fallen back to a human.
We can save all our families and friends who are not with us, yet you refuse because of your sister, who is just one of the fallen and dying? Why is she dying?" When no answer came back, he shouted, "Because of whom?"
Connor remained silent, his gaze fixed not on the man but on the sky. He sighed deeply and uttered in a chilling tone, "Emerge"
A large runic magic circle materialized, enveloping the park as a roar reverberated from the depths of the underworld.
Instincts screamed at everyone to flee.
"This... this is... No way, it's Nidhogg! How?" screamed another man in disbelief.
For the first time, shock etched across Elena's face as she beheld the abyssal dragon that bore resemblance to Nidhogg, the catastrophic dragon that had eaten her mother a year ago.
She couldn't believe it. Connor had lied to her. He had told her he wouldn't take Nidhogg as one of his undead for her sake.
Now, facing the very dragon, she felt betrayed—this was the second time she had felt this way.
"Connor!! How... How could you do this?" she shouted, her voice demanding answers.
Yet, all she got was a smirk that ignited a rage deep within her.
With killing intent laced through every sinew, she lunged toward him, intent on striking and wiping the smirk off his face.
However, her attempt was thwarted by a single tail slash from the dragon, which flicked her away like an ant. She had forgotten the might of this dragon and recklessly charged ahead.
Who could blame her, currently her mind was not right, as her trauma returned seeing the dragon. A trauma that was healed by the same man's love which she can't find in his eyes anymore.
What she didn't know was that connor had taken the dragon's body to save her mother's soul that was being eaten by the demonic tree, not for it's terrifying power.
Of course, right now Connor wasn't even in the mood to explain those things to her.
He wanted her to know how it feels to be betrayed, even if it was in the past or a deception.
He was about to start his attacking everyone when he heard a loud voice calling his name.
when he turned to respond, he was met with a masked man walking towards him while dragging an injured woman he knew well
"Julia, what are you...?" Connor paused, his eyes fixing on the masked man radiating intense killing intent, gripping his elder sister.
He activated his skill 'Spirit Eyes' on the masked man.
[ Unable to view Target's information, the target is using an equipment that prevents anyone below a celestial rank from seeing his record ]
Connor felt goosebumps crawling over his skin when he looked at the message, there was only one time this had happened in the past.
The masked man smiled as he said, "Long time no see Connor, Did you miss me?"
Connor recalled the voice. It was the same, the voice of the person he killed a year ago.
"You... How are you alive? No, this isn't real.." he said in disbelief.
" I KILLED YOU !!!", he screamed out loud causing all the people to look at him and then at the masked man with confusion.
They all had no idea of what was going on, but they felt the voice of the masked man to be familiar.
The masked man laughed as he said " Indeed connor, you did kill me, you killed the great old me, who entertained the universe, but that role is over now" After a pause he said
" The devil is dead "
It dawned on everyone who he was now.
The Devil, an infamous vigilante who had a broken/cheat class known as Imitator. He could replicate any skill or weapon art, once the most feared individual until Connor ended him and rose to prominence.
Connor remembered killing him in the dungeon of Minos. So, how was he alive?
No, the real question was how Julia ended up being captured by him.
She was supposed to look after their parents and Nina.
"Don't worry, Connor. Your parents and little sister are safe. Just allow me to copy one of your skills. What was it called again, Spirit Eyes? Yes, that's it, I want that.
For me to copy it, you must give your eyes. That's the condition, simple and easy right ?" said the Devil.
Connor had completely lost it now. He was scared—not nervous, but terrified of many things.
This guy had captured his sister and knew his secret skill, which no one should know, not even his ex-girlfriend Elena or his family. His mind was overclocked with loads of thoughts running nonstop.
Why did the Devil want Spirit Eyes? There were much more valuable and dangerous skills in his arsenal, like Chaos Domain, Spatial Lock, or even Pseudo-Immortality, a passive skill that ensured survival in any situation.
He soon concluded that it must be for his broken copy skill to work with, or perhaps for class advancement. But none of that mattered now.
He wanted to save his sister, but before he could reply, a blade pierced him from behind. He had let his guard down while lost in thought.
He didn't even need to turn to see who had attacked him as the rapier in his chest gave away the identity.
How could he not recognize it? This was the same rapier he had given her when they started dating.
Elena took out the rapier and turned away to gauge the dragon charging at her. She prepared to react, only to see the dragon dissolve.
When she turned back, she saw Connor on the ground, lying lifeless and eyeless, with the Devil holding both his eyes.
He spoke, "Thank you, Connor. I shall avenge you and take care of your sister as well, Before you leave listen to my new role it is.....".
He didn't get to finish as he was attacked by the others from every direction.
Connor's mouth opened, "Leave... her... out... of this..."
And then his body lit up in flames and flew away from the shockwaves of all the attacks thrown at the devil or maybe it was targeted at him, he didn't know, what he knew was that his incarnate was now destroyed.
[ Your vessel has died to the point of no recovery ]
[ pseudo-immortality has started the creation of another vessel from the unde ... ]
Connor was now praying, he prayed to all the constellations in the sky that the Devil wouldn't harm his sister until he returned and that he would be revived sooner as his failsafe protocol measures were triggered along with the pseudo immortality.