Chapter 205: Chains of Potential

The Shadow Knight stared at Gray for another moment before tightening its grip.

"Do you truly believe you can turn this around?"

"Believe? No." Gray coughed, his lips twisting into a crooked smile. "I’m just hoping you’re stupid enough to let me try."

The knight’s violet aura flared.

"Then die with your foolish hope."

It hurled Gray toward the opposite wall.

Gray’s body shot through the air, but before he could crash into the ancient roots, he twisted his torso and activated Current Dash. The skill sputtered under the knight’s suppression, barely altering his trajectory, but that tiny adjustment was enough to keep him from taking the impact directly.

His shoulder struck the ground instead.

Pain exploded through his body.

[HP: 39 / 1,880]

’Fantastic. I’m officially one sneeze away from death.’

Gray rolled behind a cluster of thick roots as a greatsword cleaved through the spot where he had landed. The blade split the roots apart, scattering fragments across the chamber.

He didn’t wait to see whether the knight would follow.

Gray activated Phantom Cloak.

His silhouette blurred, merging with the surrounding darkness. It wasn’t true invisibility, and he knew better than to expect it to fool an opponent who could sense his presence so easily. The Shadow Knight had already demonstrated that it could disrupt his concealment.

But Gray wasn’t trying to hide.

He was trying to make the knight look in the wrong direction.

A faint pulse of mana flickered from the opposite side of the chamber. Gray had deliberately released a small amount of energy there, hoping to imitate the residual signature of his Primordial Essence.

The Shadow Knight’s visor turned toward it.

"Pathetic."

Its greatsword swept through the false signal, shattering the ancient roots behind it.

Gray emerged from the opposite side.

Void Reaper’s Lance!

Dark energy condensed along his arm, forming a narrow, piercing projection. This time, however, he didn’t immediately unleash the Primordial Essence.

He waited until the final instant.

Then he forced a small portion of the divine power into the skill.

The lance trembled.

Pale golden light crawled along its dark surface, producing an unstable mixture that made the surrounding air ripple.

[PRIMORDIAL ESSENCE — RESONANCE DETECTED]

[WARNING: SKILL STABILITY COMPROMISED]

[HOST HP: 15 / 1,880]

Gray’s vision flashed white.

’Just hold together!’

He thrust his arm forward.

The lance shot toward the Shadow Knight’s exposed side.

The knight reacted instantly, turning its body as violet energy gathered around its armor. The projectile struck the barrier and began to disintegrate.

Normally, that would have been the end of it.

But the Primordial Essence flared at the moment of contact.

The violet barrier fractured.

The lance pierced through.

A shallow wound appeared beneath the knight’s ribs.

The Shadow Knight staggered half a step.

Gray’s eyes widened.

’It works!’

Unfortunately, the knight had also learned something.

Its free hand snapped toward Gray, and an invisible force seized him before he could retreat.

"You have found a way to interfere with my authority," the knight growled. "But you still lack the strength to use it properly."

Gray was dragged through the air.

The knight caught him by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

The impact drove the remaining air from Gray’s lungs. His crystalline carapace cracked further, and his body refused to respond when he tried to move.

[HP: 8 / 1,880]

[WARNING: HOST NEARING DEATH]

"Now," the Shadow Knight said, raising its greatsword, "let us see whether you can survive without that clever little mind of yours."

Gray stared at the blade above him.

His thoughts raced.

He couldn’t dodge. He couldn’t overpower the knight. His body was barely functioning, and another burst of Primordial Essence would probably finish him before it could finish his opponent.

Yet the knight had made one mistake.

It had assumed Gray’s objective was to pierce its defenses again.

Gray’s gaze shifted toward the wound beneath its ribs.

The knight’s violet aura had begun repairing the damage, but the process wasn’t instantaneous. Every time the Primordial Essence disrupted its authority, the knight had to reassert control over its own power.

And every time it did so, its movements became momentarily predictable.

Gray had been watching those moments throughout the fight.

He didn’t need to break the knight’s defenses permanently.

He needed to force it to defend itself at the wrong moment.

A faint smile appeared on Gray’s face.

"You’re right about one thing."

The Shadow Knight’s blade stopped for a fraction of a second.

Gray looked directly into its visor.

"I don’t have the strength to beat you."

He let his head fall to one side, making himself appear more exhausted than he already was.

"So go ahead. Finish it."

The knight’s violet aura pulsed.

"You have finally accepted reality?"

"Not really." Gray’s smile widened. "I’m just tired of looking at your ugly armor."

The knight’s killing intent erupted.

Its greatsword descended.

And Gray activated Overcharge on the mana he had deliberately scattered throughout the chamber.

During the battle, every failed spell, every disrupted skill, and every shattered projectile had left behind traces of energy. Most of it had dissipated, but some had become trapped among the ancient roots and fractured stones.

Gray had been too weak to use that scattered mana to attack directly.

But he only needed to make it react.

The stored energy erupted in a series of small, precisely timed bursts.

One ignited beside the knight’s knee.

Another flared behind its shoulder.

A third detonated near the wound beneath its ribs.

None of the explosions could seriously damage the Shadow Knight. It rejected their consequences almost as soon as they occurred.

But that wasn’t their purpose.

Each burst forced the knight to redirect its authority for a fraction of a second.

Its descending sword slowed.

Its violet aura flickered.

And its stance shifted just enough to compensate for the disturbances.

Exactly as Gray had predicted.

The knight was still stronger, faster, and far more experienced.

But Gray had turned the entire chamber into a trap.

"Now!"

Gray forced the last usable portion of Primordial Essence into his right hand.

The pain was instantaneous.

His arm began to disintegrate, golden light tearing through his already fractured body. His vision darkened, and the system’s warnings blurred together.

[HP: 3 / 1,880]

[PRIMORDIAL ESSENCE — RESONANCE CRITICAL]

[WARNING: HOST STRUCTURAL FAILURE IMMINENT]

Gray ignored everything.

Void Reaper’s Lance!

The skill manifested at point-blank range.

Instead of aiming for the knight’s chest, Gray thrust the lance toward the wound he had created earlier.

The Shadow Knight tried to restore its authority.

But the scattered bursts had forced it to distribute its control across too many points at once. Its power faltered for a fraction of a second, and the Primordial Essence struck the weakened area before the knight could close it.

The lance penetrated deeper.

The knight’s armor cracked.

A sharp, unnatural sound echoed through the chamber.

The Shadow Knight’s greatsword stopped inches above Gray’s face.

For the first time, the knight couldn’t move.

It stared down at the dark lance embedded in its chest, then slowly raised its visor toward Gray.

"You..."

Its voice trembled.

Gray could barely keep his eyes open.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Turns out... thinking is free."

The knight’s fingers loosened.

Its greatsword slipped from its grasp and struck the ground with a deafening crash.

Violet energy erupted from the cracks in its armor, spreading across its body like fractures in shattered glass. The authority that had allowed it to reject the consequences of attacks was collapsing from within, unable to stabilize itself after the Primordial Essence had disrupted its core.

The knight took a stumbling step backward.

"No..."

It clutched its chest.

For the first time, the immense figure looked less like an invincible guardian and more like a dying warrior who had finally encountered something it could not overcome.

Its visor turned toward Gray.

Then, in a voice barely louder than a whisper, it spoke a name.

"...Noir."

The Shadow Knight’s violet eyes dimmed.

"That light..." it murmured. "So... you have returned..."

Its armor began to crumble.

"After all this time..."

The knight lowered its head.

"...Noir."

The last trace of violet light vanished.

Its body shattered into countless fragments of dark energy, which scattered through the chamber before being drawn back toward a single point. The fragments spiraled together, compressing into a small, dark orb suspended above the ground.

A faint violet glow emerged from its center.

Then the system’s voice rang through the silent chamber.

[SHADOW KNIGHT OF DESTRUCTION — DEFEATED]

[EXP GAINED — ??????????]

[LEVEL UP!]

[LEVEL UP!]

[You are now Level 53.]

[40 Stat Points available for distribution.]

[4 Skill Points available.]

Gray stared at the notifications.

He had gained two entire levels from defeating that monster.

Normally, he would have been thrilled.

Unfortunately, he was currently lying on the ground with three HP, a nearly destroyed body, and a strong suspicion that even breathing too hard might kill him.

"Ha..."

A weak laugh escaped his throat.

"Ha... hah..."

He turned his head toward the dark orb.

"So... that was worth it."

His consciousness began to fade.

But before he could lose himself completely, another notification appeared.

[UNIQUE CONDITION FULFILLED]

[[PRIMORDIAL ASCENSION — SEAL BROKEN]

[GENETIC EVOLUTION — LIMITER REMOVED]

Gray’s eyes widened.

The sensation came without warning.

Something deep within his body snapped.

It wasn’t a bone, nor was it another crack in his crystalline carapace. The sound existed somewhere beyond the physical world, like an ancient chain breaking after countless years of confinement.

Then another chain shattered.

Invisible restraints that had bound his evolution began to fall away, one after another. The restrictions that had limited his growth, suppressed his potential, and prevented his body from fully adapting to the power he carried disintegrated into nothing.

The Primordial Essence no longer surged uncontrollably.

It settled.

The golden light beneath his skin dimmed, retreating from the cracks in his body and gathering deep within his core. The pressure that had threatened to tear him apart began to subside.

His regeneration resumed.

[ABYSSAL REGENERATION — RESTORED]

[GENETIC EVOLUTION — ACTIVE]

[HOST STRUCTURE STABILIZING]

Gray released a shaky breath.

"Finally..."

He couldn’t even finish the word before exhaustion dragged him into darkness.

Above him, the dark orb slowly descended.