Novel Full Chapter 145: Fighting The First Soul, Ming Yolen
Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Fighting The First Soul, Ming Yolen
Leon had absolutely no idea who Ming Yolen was.
The name meant nothing to him. And yet, the moment he saw the man’s towering frame and the overwhelming number attached to his status window, he understood one thing clearly.
Ming Yolen had once been extremely powerful.
Six hundred thousand Combat Power was not something an ordinary warrior could reach.
Still, one fact remained undeniable: he had died.
No matter how strong he once was, no matter how glorious his battles might have been, the outcome had not changed. He had fallen.
Leon’s eyes flickered slightly as another thought surfaced.
How did the [Heavenly One] choose these ten souls?
Death inside [Eternal Ascension] was absolute.
There were no second chances or players or NPCs alike if you didn’t have a talent or item to save you.
Once someone was gone, they were gone forever.
And yet here, inside this God-Rank assessment, ten individuals who had already died were being given a real opportunity to return.
That alone made this trial abnormal.
If these souls succeeded in killing Leon, they would not simply vanish again. One of them would revive.
“Once I come back to life… I’ll be able to avenge them all…”
Ming’s voice carried deep hatred and determination.
His semi-transparent eyes burned with a fierce blue light, and without any further hesitation, he hurled his massive axe straight at Leon.
The weapon cut through the air with terrifying force.
Leon reacted instantly, drawing his sword and deflecting the axe to the side before it could split him in half.
Clang!
The impact sent a sharp vibration through his arm, but he held steady.
He noticed something immediately.
Ming was alone. A small opportunity, but an important one.
If every soul inside this labyrinth possessed roughly six hundred thousand Combat Power, then facing all ten at once would be nothing short of suicide.
Leon was confident in his abilities, but he was not delusional. He understood his limits.
He had no intention of challenging ten warriors of that level simultaneously.
And more importantly, he absolutely did not want to discover what kind of “permanent debuff” awaited him if he failed.
The system had not specified the penalty.
That uncertainty made it far worse. It could reduce his Combat Power permanently. It could seal one of his key skills. It could even remove his [Forbidden Spell] entirely.
There were too many possibilities, and none of them were acceptable.
Ming dashed forward.
Fwoosh!
After Leon dodged the thrown axe, Ming immediately closed the distance and swung his fist with monstrous strength.
The force behind the punch distorted the air itself.
“DIE!” Ming roared.
Leon sidestepped the blow and retaliated without hesitation, his sword flashing in a clean arc toward Ming’s torso.
Fwoosh!
Ming avoided the strike with surprising agility. But just as he prepared to continue the exchange, Leon abruptly retreated several meters.
Ming frowned.
“Coward,” he spat. “Do you not wish to fight?”
Leon said nothing.
He understood something Ming also knew deep down: the souls were competing.
Only the one who killed Leon would earn the right to use the [Altar of Life]. If Ming eliminated him quickly, he could revive before the others even arrived.
That desperation was driving him.
Leon, however, was thinking about something else entirely.
He waited… But nothing happened.
His eyes widened slightly. Why hasn’t [Celestial’s Might] activated?
The passive should have triggered the moment he engaged someone with higher attributes.
Ming’s Combat Power was clearly superior overall, so the 30% reduction effect should have taken place.
Yet there was no notification.
“I’m not going to wait any longer!” Ming roared as he charged again.
Leon snapped out of his thoughts.
Even if something was strange about the passive, he could not afford to hesitate.
Based on what he had observed, Ming’s power seemed heavily concentrated in Strength and Agility.
His Constitution did not feel overwhelming, and there was little sign of significant Spirit energy.
If that was true, then one solid strike could decide everything.
Leon’s [Power Sword] doubled the strength of his physical attacks.
That meant his blows could rival Ming’s.The real problem was speed.
Ming was fast. Leon raised his staff.
Powerful Fireball!
A blazing sphere of compressed flame shot forward.
Storm of Lightning!
Bolts of electricity rained down from above, striking the ground in rapid succession.
Ice Spikes!
Sharp crystalline pillars erupted from the stone beneath Ming’s feet.
The warrior dodged the fireball effortlessly. He weaved through the lightning with surprising precision.
When the ice spikes reached him, he simply shattered them with his bare hands.
He did not slow down. In the next instant, he was in front of Leon again.
Instead of punching this time, Ming launched a brutal kick.
BAM!
Leon blocked with his sword, but the impact still sent him sliding backward several meters, his boots scraping harshly against the ground.
Ming turned, walked toward the [Altar of Life], and pulled his axe free from where it had embedded itself.
“It’s been a while since I fought,” he admitted, blue aura flaring around his body and weapon. “Throwing the axe was a mistake.”
Leon tightened his grip. He could not let this drag on forever.
Without warning, he moved.
BAM!
This time, Leon dashed forward first.
Abyssal Slash!
His body melted into the shadows along the ground, vanishing from direct sight as he rushed toward Ming from below.
Ming spun around, scanning the clearing.
“Hiding from me?” he shouted angrily. “JUST DIE!”
He hurled his axe toward Leon’s shadowed trajectory, attempting to intercept him mid-skill.
Leon shifted course beneath the surface, narrowly avoiding the projectile.
Ming immediately ran to retrieve his weapon.
The moment his hand closed around the handle—
Leon emerged from the ground behind him.
SLASH!
His sword, infused with dark energy, cut downward with full force.
Ming sensed the attack at the last second. He turned and raised his axe to block.
FWOOSH!
The clash produced a violent shockwave. Even with his immense strength, Ming was pushed backward by the sheer force behind Leon’s strike.
For a brief instant, it seemed like Ming might overpower him through raw power alone.
But Leon had not relied on just one attack.
BAM!
Several ice spikes erupted from the ground directly behind Ming, piercing into his back as he stumbled forward.
“?!” Ming growled in frustration. “You coward!”
Leon did not slow down.
“I’m a mage too,” he replied evenly. “What did you expect?”
Now that he had seized the momentum, he refused to relinquish it.
He pressed forward relentlessly.
Every time Ming attempted to counterattack, Leon struck first.
Every time Ming tried to retreat, another spell forced him to defend.
Powerful Fireball! Storm of Lightning!
Explosions of flame and arcs of electricity battered Ming from multiple angles.
Because he was fully focused on blocking Leon’s sword, he could no longer dodge the spells cleanly. One by one, they landed.
Leon noticed the shift. Ming’s breathing grew heavier.
His movements, though still powerful, were slightly slower than before.
Leon himself was somewhat surprised.
He was overpowering someone with six hundred thousand Combat Power.
Part of it was likely due to Ming’s long absence from real combat.
The synergy between Leon’s swordsmanship and spellcasting also created constant pressure.
And of course, the [Power Sword] was amplifying every physical strike.
Still, a win was a win. Time passed in a blur of steel and magic.
Finally—
SLASH!
Leon struck Ming’s axe with a perfectly timed blow, knocking it from his grip.
The heavy weapon flew aside and clattered across the stone.
For the first time since the battle began, Ming stood defenseless.
Leon did not hesitate.
He stepped forward and swung his sword in a clean horizontal arc aimed at Ming’s neck.
BAM!
The blade cut through effortlessly. There was no blood, nor a corpse.
Instead, Ming’s body fragmented into glowing blue particles.
The fragments swirled through the air and rushed toward the [Altar of Life], merging into its radiant core.
The altar’s glow intensified slightly.
Ding!
[Celestial has defeated “Ming Yolen.”]
[9 Souls remain.]
Leon exhaled slowly, lowering his sword.
A grin spread across his face despite the tension still lingering in the air.
“I think I can do it,” he said quietly.