Demons Within I Level Up Endlessly Chapter 61

[ … words ]

In this place, there was no dirt or rust. Everything was so clean and perfect.

The air was electrified. His [Energy Conversion] skill went into overdrive. He felt his mana bar filling up rapidly, the ambient energy flooding into him. But Daniel barely noticed his mana. His eyes were fixed on the center of the room.

Floating in the middle of the chamber, suspended about twenty feet off the ground, was the Core. It was a sphere of light, at least seven meters in diameter.

It was so bright that it was hard to look at directly. It moved and changed. Bands of gold and white light spun around it in steady and precise patterns.

“It’s beautiful,” Daniel whispered, shielding his eyes with his hand. The power radiating from that sphere was enough to vaporize a city in planet earth. This was what the previous explorer had died trying to find.

This was the battery that powered the shifting walls, the golems, and the drones. Daniel walked closer. His footsteps resonated loudly on the floor.

He felt small. He felt somehow insignificant in the presence of such power. But he also felt hunger. His SSS-Grade talent, [Soul Assimilation], reacted to the Core.

It wasn’t a soul, but it was energy. It was the purest form of energy he had ever seen.

“If I could assimilate that…” Daniel thought, a dangerous idea taking root in his mind. “If I could take even a fraction of that power… I would jump straight to Level 10. Maybe higher.” Greed tugged at him.

He remembered Instructor Baldwin’s warning about power not being given, but taken. Here it was. The ultimate power source, just floating there, waiting for someone bold enough to claim it.

He walked to the center of the room, standing directly beneath the massive sphere. The humming sound was so loud it vibrated in his teeth.

He reached up his hand. He wasn’t close enough to touch it physically, but he didn’t need to be.

His talent could bridge the gap. “Just a taste,” Daniel whispered. “Just a sip.” He focused his will. He reached out with his mind, trying to latch onto the swirling energy of the Core.

<Assimilate.>

The moment his intent touched the Core, the room changed. The rhythmic thrumming stopped instantly.

ZAP!

A whip of golden lightning lashed out from the sphere. It moved faster than thought. It struck the ground just inches from Daniel’s feet.

CRACK!

The floor, which looked indestructible, was scorched black. A cloud of smoke rose from the impact point. The heat from the lightning blast pushed Daniel back.

Daniel stumbled backward, his heart skipped a beat.

“Okay! Bad idea!” he shouted, holding his hands up in surrender. The Core didn’t care about his surrender. The rings around the sphere began to spin faster, whining with a high-pitched frequency.

The golden light intensified, turning red at the edges.

He quickly raised his left arm and scanned the sphere with his Databand, hoping to understand what he was dealing with.

[System Core – Primary Hub (Level ???)] [Status: Defensive Mode Active.]

[Energy Output: Infinite.]

[Threat Assessment: Catastrophic. Do not engage. Do not attempt to interface without authorization keys. Defense protocols are lethal.]

“Lethal,” Daniel repeated, backing away slowly toward the edge of the room. “Yeah, I got that part.”

The Core seemed to be watching him. It didn’t fire again immediately, but the golden energy crackled on its surface, ready to strike if he made another wrong move.

Daniel realized his mistake. He had treated the Core like a passive object, like a stone or a dead body. But it was the brain of the Astral Verge.

He retreated to the perimeter of the room, putting distance between himself and the core. He needed to rethink his strategy.

He had to interact with it properly. He looked around the room again, searching for a console, a terminal, anything that looked like a control interface.

However, as he lowered his gaze, he noticed something on the floor that he had missed in his initial awe of the Core. About five meters from the floating sphere of light, a circle of glowing symbols was engraved into the white floor. They pulsed in time with the Core’s energy.

“That has to be it,” Daniel whispered. He approached the circle cautiously, stretching his [Omnivision] to its limit to detect any traps.

When he reached the edge of the circle, he didn’t step inside immediately. Instead, he crouched down, inspecting the runes. They looked similar to the ones on the Omega Shard.

Thinking this was the access point, Daniel reached out and placed his hand on the brightest symbol. He pushed a small pulse of his mana into it, intending to interface with the system.

It was a mistake!

The moment his mana touched the rune, the hum of the room spiked into a deafening screech. The white light of the Central Core flared violently, turning from a peaceful glow into a blinding supernova.

[SECURITY BREACH DETECTED.]

[INITIATING DEFENSE PROTOCOL: LEVEL 6.]

Daniel scrambled back, shielding his eyes, but he wasn’t fast enough to escape the reaction he had triggered.

The light moved and poured out of the Core like liquid fire, streaming down into the circle of symbols Daniel had just touched.

The energy gathered at the center of the room, tightening and solidifying. It took shape, growing taller, broader, and more terrifying with each passing second.

First, legs made of white light formed, followed by a body of solid energy armor.

A faceless helmet formed from the light. It had no eyes or mouth, just a smooth, blank surface that reflected Daniel’s fear.

Finally, a weapon appeared in its hand: a long, double-ended spear made of crackling light.

The light faded slightly, revealing the entity in all its glory. It floated just above the ground, silent and imposing.

Daniel quickly raised his Databand, his heart hammering against his ribs as he scanned the threat.

[Core Sentinel – Manifested Energy Guardian (Level 6)]

[Stats: Variable (Draws Power from Core), High Agility, High Spirit]

[Abilities: Light Spear, Energy Form, Reform, Direct Core Link]

[Threat Assessment: Extremely Dangerous. Immune to conventional stealth. High damage output.]

“What da fuck! Level 6 again?” Daniel cursed, his grip tightening on his Twin Fang daggers. This was the strongest single entity he had faced yet.

It wasn’t a beast acting on instinct, it was a security program designed to eradicate intruders.

The Sentinel simply tilted its head, locking onto Daniel’s bio-signature.

Then, it disappeared. It didn’t teleport, it just moved so fast that Daniel’s eyes couldn’t track it.

“Move!” his instincts screamed. Daniel activated [Shadowsteps], throwing himself to the left in a quick roll.

ZHOOM!

The air where he had been standing sizzled as the Light Spear thrust through the empty space.

The heat radiating from the weapon was strong enough to burn the hair on Daniel’s arm even from a meter away.

Daniel jumped to his feet, sweat instantly forming on his forehead. “Too fast,” he thought. He didn’t have time to think, he had to counter.

He lunged forward, his daggers blurring as he aimed for the Sentinel’s flank. He slashed with all his strength, his [Combat Mastery] guiding the strike for maximum impact.

CLANG!

His C+ Grade daggers, bounced harmlessly off the Sentinel’s hard-light armor. There wasn’t even a scratch.

The Sentinel turned its upper body 180 degrees, an unnatural, mechanical movement, and swept the spear back in a horizontal arc.

Daniel ducked, feeling the weapon whiz over his head. He rolled backward, creating distance.

“Physical attacks aren’t working,” he analyzed quickly. “It’s energy. Maybe magic can disrupt it.”