Chapter 427: Terrifying Eventuality

The person who felt the impact of these rewards the most among the human race was unquestionably Seth Duskreaver...

His body had been strained to the very limits a human could imaginably bear in his state, his mind dragged into a sloggy daze.

His thoughts crawled at a sloth’s pace, and even his high intelligence couldn’t help him any further at this point.

And it was getting harder and harder to keep his focus on his body; he was slowly losing his grip, his gait swaying out of balance.

And now, with these new benefits, though he didn’t have the cognitive capacity to read the notification, the effects were fully felt.

A snap of clarity settled upon his mind, his thinking, once a blocked flow, running freely again, his mental processing speed soaring by 50%.

The snap to clarity was so jarring, it was a transition unlike anything he had ever felt, as if the fog clogging his mind had dispersed, allowing him to think fluidly again!

This wasn’t the only thing; his hunched gait slowly went erect as his body took in a surging tide of empowerment coursing through his very veins.

Allowing his body, at the edge of hitting its limits and surrendering to the pressure, to soar in density, reaching the biological mass needed to survive under this strain in an instant.

The outside world fell away from Seth’s mind as he sank wholly into the reignition of his introspection ability, unable to look away from it.

His thoughts flowing with the clarity of his inner introspection, the image of his inner body clear in his mind’s eye, he could feel and spectate every change he underwent in real time.

His fist clenched as his cells devoured the nutritious properties of the digested molten elixir in an instant, every cell bursting with life, bare of stat essence but still carrying the intensity of a cell branded with one.

Seth was actually regaining his physical might, but via an unconventional route...

His eyes opened, his gaze settling on his upturned palms, as the new surge raged through him.

Now, with half of his mental capacity regained, he could read again, and without hesitation he ran through the scroll of notifications bloating his view.

As he slowly pieced together the cause behind the changes he was undergoing, his jaw loosened, his lips parting, and no words came to him.

To think someone out there was crazy enough to get rid of three races at once!

Without a doubt, it had to be one of the three emperors — not that he doubted the might of the west, but they were currently incapable of replicating such a feat.

For a moment Seth forgot about his situation; scratching his head, he let out a short, disbelieving huff — his own species was getting so overpowered it was ridiculous.

Just as he was having this thought, feeling pity in advance for all those who might pit themselves against his people...

His head was hit with an abrupt, splitting ache, so destabilizing he lost his sense of balance for a second, the pulse of pain spiking so hard his cognitive abilities regressed by a whopping 15%.

The pain streaming from the back of his head drilled so deep that he could feel his mind being stripped of its intelligence stats.

His eyes closed on instinct, his introspection ability switching back on, as the detailed inspection of what was currently happening in his brain was laid bare before him in gruesome detail.

The repulsive, pulsating mass of the cancerous cell had spread far enough that it was slowly eating at the last essence stem he had left!

The cancer was finally going after his intelligence, while the benefits of the rewards gained by the human race brought great advantage to all; he was the only human dealt a bad hand.

The changes had spiked the cancer’s growth rate, and now his terminal clock was ticking even faster.

His face twisted into a scowl as he clutched his head, a pounding headache plaguing him.

His time was short and there was no room to play. With a shaken refocus, Seth set his sight on the 103rd step, his calves bulging hard as he lifted his foot, planting it upon the next step.

His steps shook and his height sank, the pressure sitting hard, forcing him to resummon the inventory gates and partake of more molten elixir to refill his reserves.

Meanwhile, as he battled on in his ascent, all eyes across the grand bronze stairs were locked on his frame. The notification just now had been broadcast to the whole world, even them.

The candidates, with even more reason to be wary, now watched the human with sharper eyes, their unease thickening.

They were all staring at their limits: every single soul here aside from Seth had reached the end of what they could achieve up the stairs, the best of them stalling at floor 119 — the genius trio from the Immortal, Bloodborn and Mermen races respectively.

They all knew that taking another step meant being crushed to death, yet they refused to quit; they wouldn’t throw in the towel until all hope was totally lost.

Yet they could only watch as this human, slowly drawing to his limits, underwent a sudden evolution — teeth ground and fists clenched across the stairs, indignation burning in every chest.

And once again the same silent cry rang through every heart, raw with how unfair this felt!

It was as though fate itself was acting in his favour — how could that be fair?

Those planning together began whispering faster, the few above Seth growing more frantic still...

While those below sought a way to prove their greed and win this trial once and for all, those above racked their minds for a way to make sure the human got kicked out of the equation.

The guy was simply too much of a threat to leave be; the world itself was bending to the human’s favour, and they had to eliminate him if they were going to have a chance at winning this.

If anything, the notification just now proved that humans were way too fortuitous, and if left alone, he would definitely win the mantle.

The certainty left their mouths dry, the eventuality growing more terrifying by the breath.

They had to find a way by all means!