Chapter 82: The Brutal Reality of the World

"Still, I don’t really want to get in trouble with that Fiend. So I have no choice but to bring your corpse to him, kid."

A wide evil grin spread across Vukasin’s face as he slowly raised his leg.

BAAANG!

BAAANG!

BAAANG!

He violently stomped on Arlo’s head, a spiderweb-shaped crater spreading through the ground as his face was driven deeper into it.

Arlo could feel everything, the horrifying pain shooting from his skull through the rest of his body, leaving him completely numb.

But at one moment, all of it suddenly felt silent...

A deathly, crippling silence.

’I fucked up again, didn’t I?’

The thought occurred to him as his vision was slowly being blinded by the red liquid sliding over his face.

’Perhaps I really should have just left her to die...’

[You’ve realized your mistake now, haven’t you?]

The System panel flashed quietly as Arlo stared blankly at the red covering his vision.

’I have, System... I have. Sorry, but I have to drag you down with me.’

[It’s good that you’ve learned your lesson. But hope is not lost yet.]

[You have remnants of Dark Magic stored within your heart, just enough to form a single ball of mana.]

[I will use my Origin Energy to activate one of your Skills. Whatever happens after that will be left to you.]

The System fell silent as Arlo suddenly felt a spark of something deep within his body.

Vukasin slowly lowered his leg before reaching down and grabbing Arlo by the hair, pulling his head out of the crater.

His left hand shifted to the side as a large amount of mana oozed from it, transforming his entire arm into a spinning drill brimming with an incredibly deadly aura.

"Goodbye, kid..."

He whispered.

Yet before his hand could come down, it was suddenly grabbed by Arlo’s hand.

Arlo slowly raised himself up, eventually standing on his feet as he lifted his head toward Vukasin, who stared dumbly in shock, unable to move his hand.

"DIIIIIIIEEE!!!"

Vukasin roared as his left hand immediately shot toward Arlo’s face, lethality oozing from the weapon, undoubtedly capable of tearing through Arlo’s head if it made contact.

’I have seen enough freakiness for one night already. I won’t delay anymore...’

Vukasin thought as he thrust his drill-like hand forward.

Arlo’s crimson-speckled eyes remained blank as the deadly weapon slowly closed the distance between them, inch by inch.

The feeling of death drew closer and closer.

Should he cry? Scream? Shout? Run?

How could he?

His broken body was already struggling just to remain standing. How could he possibly avoid certain death?

’So life is fickle. In the end, it could all be over within a blink. Ganged up on by twenty-one Voraths.’

’Where is the fairness in life? So, this is what life is all about? A dog-eat-dog world where the strong are respected while the weak are simply left to die.’

The drill was closer than ever, only a few centimeters away from the point between his eyes.

He knew his fate was close, yet simply resigning himself to it was almost impossible.

How could he die now over such an innocent mistake?

’Fight.’

’I’ll fight.’

’Even if this world turns its back against me, I will still fight as long as I have my last breath left.’

’Fight! Fight! I still want to fight!’

The will to fight suddenly became an incredibly bright flame that blossomed through Arlo’s soul, giving birth to an unyielding will to battle until the very end.

And in the next instant...

CRAAAACK!

It was as if a chain had broken within him as horrifyingly hot energy surged through his veins, his eyes suddenly flashing with an intense golden light.

Mana from the surrounding air rapidly converged toward him, entering his body.

And with only a few inches remaining between the drill and his face, Arlo managed to whisper:

"Domain Expansion: Last Laugh!"

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Immediately, the fabric of space seemed to tear apart as the drill continued forward, tearing completely through Arlo’s face.

Yet when Vukasin straightened himself, he felt something was wrong.

There was no blood on his drill.

"What the hell!?"

His eyebrows furrowed as he suddenly felt something strange.

Looking around him, he saw the ground beneath his feet disappearing.

He turned his gaze toward the sky and noticed it being covered by a veil of darkness as he found himself standing within an endless void of space, witnessing the transformation of the entire world around him.

Turning around, he saw a single gigantic eyeball, brimming with otherworldly runes that interlocked with one another.

Each interlocking rune seemed to resonate with the others, chaining together thousands of fates, creating and destroying time and space while giving birth to the endless cycle between creation and destruction.

Yet what drew his absolute attention was the figure floating before the gigantic golden eye.

His hands were outstretched, one of them holding a singular, tiny ball of mana between his fingers.

His eyes were like stars, and their mere gaze gave Vukasin the illusion that he would be blinded if he dared to keep looking.

Those eyes were cold and emotionless, the most predatory gaze he had ever witnessed.

---

Control!

A feeling of possessing absolute control over everything surrounding him washed over Arlo.

He could easily avoid the sure-death attack heading toward his face simply by willing his body to move aside.

He could clearly see his opponent now, yet he had the strange feeling that he could reduce him to nothing with a single attack.

"Overlapping a single attack an infinite number of times..."

He mused to himself as he combined a ball of mana with the last remnants of mana within his body.

And then...

FLICK.

He flicked the ball toward his opponent.

In the next instant, he finally understood why his Domain was called Last Laugh.

The single ball of energy he had thrown suddenly began forming mirages of other balls as it traveled forward.

A new ball appeared along the path it passed through, then another, and another and another.

Until thousands of tiny balls followed behind the original ball he had flicked forward.

It was just a single ball of mana. Vukasin could have easily dodged it without blinking, yet he suddenly felt something restricting his movement.

It was as though the entire world itself was forcing him to take the attack head-on, refusing to allow him to move even a single inch away from its path.

"GO TO HELL!!!!"

Vukasin roared in anger as he poured every last bit of mana within his core into his hands before shouting,

"Epic Vorath Art: Deadly Convulsing Drill!!!!"

WRIIIIING!

Immediately, the space before the drill rapidly quivered as the weapon on his hand began rotating at incredible speed.

Jerking both arms backward, he let out a loud, beastly roar before thrusting them forward toward the incoming mana balls.

RIIIIIIIIIIP!

The sharp tip of the drill tore through the center of the first mana ball, ripping it apart.

It continued forward, tearing through hundreds of the mana balls in its path.

Yet that was all it could do, before the drill quickly ran out of energy.

And following that...

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

The mana drills were immediately ripped apart by the unending volley of balls.

The countless attacks slammed repeatedly into Vukasin’s body, cracking apart his defenses before tearing into his flesh.

"Impossible! Impossible! Nooooooooo!!!!"

He roared in disbelief as massive amounts of blood poured down his body, thousands of tiny holes appearing across his flesh as the mana balls continuously drilled through him.

"EXPLODE!"

Arlo whispered as he suddenly clenched his fist.

And instantly...

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A terrifying surge of energy tore through the void as thousands of tiny mana balls exploded simultaneously.

Vukasin’s fate was even worse.

All the mana balls exploded within his body, causing him to burst apart into nothingness, with bones and bodily fluids splashing through the air.

---

[You won even against impossible odds. You successfully killed a total of 20 Peak Noir Realm creatures and a single Lower Anouk Realm Vorath. You really did it!]

The System roared as Arlo watched the entire Domain slowly disperse into thin air.

Once more, he felt the blood-soaked ground beneath his feet.

His eyes scanned the surroundings before his jaw dropped in shock, and he instinctively retreated in horror.

"What the hell!? Where the hell am I!?"

Arlo exclaimed in shock and fear as he looked at the half-eaten bodies, heads rolling across the ground, and body parts scattered everywhere, each corpse drowning in its own pool of blood.

An incredibly nauseating feeling washed over him, making him want to puke out everything he had ever eaten.

Yet he also felt the hair on his body standing on end from sheer horror.

The scene before him...

It could only have been a scene from hell itself.

[That’ll be explained later. But first, you have to get rid of this.]

[If anyone were to learn about what happened here, you’d be screwed!]

The System warned, causing Arlo’s eyes to flash.

"That’s true...I need to clean this up."

Yet the new task seemed almost impossible.

He no longer had any energy left to forcefully incinerate the blood and bodies.

Besides, the various craters scattered across the ground were more than enough proof that a battle had taken place, while the deep cracks made it clear that this had been far more than a simple spar.

Such evidence would undoubtedly draw the curious attention of the institute.

"I can’t do it. I have no mana left!"

"Don’t worry. I’ll cover up for you..."