Chapter 82: The Buyout

Chapter 82: Chapter 82: The Buyout

The dark tunnel echoed with heavy, metallic footsteps.

A twelve-foot-tall demon stepped into the blue light of the Chokepoint Grid. This wasn’t a mindless brute. He wore sleek, interlocking plates of dark purple armor. In his right hand, he held a massive spear that crackled with volatile, black lightning.

[Target: Abyssal Centurion (Level 70)]

[Class: Void Knight]

Behind him, two dozen Level 50 Hellhounds—massive wolves made of burning ash and bone—growled in the shadows, waiting for the command to charge.

"Turrets," Donald ordered calmly, tapping his console. "Focus on the wolves. Keep the trash off the field."

The A-Rank mana-turrets mounted on the barricades spun instantly. A hail of rapid-fire, blue energy bolts tore into the tunnel. The Hellhounds yelped and exploded into ash as the automated defenses perfectly thinned the herd.

The Centurion ignored the dying wolves. He locked his glowing red eyes on Evelyn.

He didn’t roar. He simply pointed his spear at her and charged.

"Finally!" Evelyn grinned fiercely.

She met his charge head-on. The Valkyrie didn’t bother dodging. She raised the Bloodhound’s Fang and blocked the massive spear.

CLANG.

The impact sent a shockwave of displaced air through the cavern. Evelyn’s boots dug deep into the stone floor, but she didn’t give an inch. Her black hair whipped wildly around her face as her S-Rank aura flared, turning the air around them into a blistering oven of celestial heat.

The Centurion’s eyes widened slightly in shock. He tried to force the spear down, but Evelyn’s S-Rank strength was too overwhelming.

"You’re big," Evelyn smirked, her blue eyes glowing with holy fire. "But you’re slow."

She violently shoved his spear aside, creating an opening. Before the Centurion could recover, Evelyn spun and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick directly to the side of his armored knee. The dark purple metal buckled.

As the giant demon stumbled to one knee, Sylvia made her move.

The A-Rank assassin slid out from a shadow directly under the Centurion’s massive arm. She gripped her B-Rank tungsten daggers tightly and drove both blades upward, aiming for the unarmored gap beneath the demon’s armpit.

The daggers sank deep. The Centurion let out a deafening, gurgling roar of pain.

But a Level 70 boss wasn’t going down that easily.

Ignoring the daggers in his side, the Centurion slammed the butt of his spear into the ground. A shockwave of repulsive dark magic exploded outward.

Evelyn held her ground, but Sylvia, lacking the physical density of an S-Rank, was violently thrown backward. She hit the stone floor hard, tumbling a dozen feet before digging her blades into the ground to stop her slide.

"Sylvia!" Evelyn yelled, stepping forward to cover her.

The Centurion didn’t press the physical attack. He realized he couldn’t beat Evelyn in a fistfight. Instead, he took two steps back and raised his spear high into the air.

The black lightning around the blade began to spiral wildly. The ambient mana in the cavern was violently sucked into the spearhead. A massive, ten-foot-wide sphere of condensed void energy began to form above the demon. It hummed with a terrifying, destructive frequency.

[WARNING: Catastrophic Energy Spike Detected.]

[Enemy Skill: Void Annihilation (A-Rank)]

"He’s charging a nuke!" Sylvia shouted, scrambling to her feet. "If that hits the energy shield, it’s going to blow the whole chokepoint!"

Evelyn gritted her teeth, gripping her sword with both hands. "I’ll try to slice it in half before he throws it!"

"Stand down, Evie," Donald’s voice echoed cleanly over the comms.

Evelyn and Sylvia looked back.

Donald stepped through the blue energy shield, walking calmly onto the battlefield. His hands were tucked casually into his jacket pockets. Nyx remained behind the safety of the shield, watching her master work.

The Centurion glared down at the human in the suit. The demon sneered, fully charged the massive sphere of black lightning, and hurled the Void Annihilation directly at Donald.

The sphere tore through the air, screaming with enough destructive force to level a city block.

Donald didn’t draw a weapon. He didn’t brace for impact. He just looked up at the incoming spell and raised his right hand.

"Hostile Takeover," Donald said.

A golden, holographic receipt instantly materialized in the air in front of him.

[Target Spell: Void Annihilation (A-Rank)]

[Appraised Value: 1,500,000 System Credits.]

[Purchase Confirmed?]

"Buy it," Donald whispered.

[1,500,000 Credits Deducted.]

[Transaction Complete. You now own this spell.]

The massive sphere of black lightning was mere feet away from Donald’s face when it suddenly stopped dead in mid-air.

The violent, shrieking sound of the spell instantly vanished. The black lightning smoothly shifted colors, turning into a brilliant, calm, golden energy.

The Centurion froze. His red eyes darted around in absolute confusion. He yanked his spear, trying to command the spell to detonate, but the magic completely ignored him. His connection to his own mana had been perfectly, legally severed.

Donald lowered his hand, staring at the frozen, golden nuke hovering right in front of him.

"You have terrible aim," Donald told the demon coldly.

Donald snapped his fingers.

The S-Rank skill didn’t just redirect the spell; it returned it with double the kinetic yield. The massive sphere of golden energy shot back at the Centurion twice as fast as it had been thrown.

The demon didn’t even have time to raise his spear to block.

KABOOM.

The explosion rocked the entire cavern. A cataclysmic wave of golden light and kinetic force obliterated the ground where the Centurion stood. The shockwave rattled the automated turrets and sent dust raining down from the high ceiling.

When the smoke cleared, the Centurion was on his back. His dark purple armor was completely shattered, exposing his scorched, ruined chest. He was barely breathing, his health bar completely depleted down to a sliver.

Donald turned around and began walking back toward the safe zone. He didn’t even look at the dying boss.

"Sylvia," Donald called out casually over his shoulder. "Close the deal."

Sylvia didn’t hesitate. She melted into her shadow, reappearing instantly on top of the ruined Centurion. With a fierce cry, she drove her tungsten dagger straight down through the demon’s eye, burying it up to the hilt.

The Centurion twitched once and dissolved into a massive pile of black ash and glowing purple cores.

A flurry of golden text completely overtook Sylvia’s vision.

[Party Member ’Donald’ has assisted in killing Abyssal Centurion (Level 70).]

[Massive Experience Awarded.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Current Level: 50]

Sylvia gasped, falling to her knees in the ash as a rush of incredible warmth flooded her body. Her entire physical structure felt lighter, sharper, and infinitely more dangerous.

Another golden prompt appeared directly in front of her.

[Milestone Reached: Level 50.]

[A-Rank Awakening Complete.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Sovereign.]

(Effect: You can now physically store items, weapons, and willing allies inside your shadow. While in darkness, your physical speed is temporarily doubled.)

Sylvia stared at the prompt, her violet eyes wide in disbelief. It was an incredibly rare, top-tier utility and combat skill. She was no longer just an assassin; she was a living, breathing tactical vault.

Evelyn walked up behind her, slapping a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome to the big leagues, Sylvie," Evelyn laughed, her black hair settling as her holy aura faded. "Level 50 looks good on you."

Sylvia smiled, picking up the massive, glowing boss core left behind by the Centurion. She walked over to the blue energy shield, where Donald was waiting.

"I hit Level 50," Sylvia reported proudly, handing him the core. "I unlocked my Awakening skill."

"I know," Donald smiled behind his mask, accepting the core. "I saw the notification. You did good work today. Both of you."

He looked past them at the empty, quiet tunnel. The first real push from the Abyssal army had been cleanly repelled. His new S-Rank skill worked perfectly. They were raking in passive income, and his team was getting stronger by the hour.

"Alright," Donald said, tapping his console to bring the turrets back to standby mode. "Let’s pack it up for the day. Evie, grab those wolf cores. We’re going back to the surface. It’s time to see what Garrison and Aris have been up to."