Chapter 74: White Column
Wade stood at the edge of the final platform, staring at the massive central column before him.
It rose from the abyss like a monument created by gods. Wide, towering, and crowned in a glow of brilliant white light that shone through the surrounding gloom.
The glow reflected off the endless dark below, turning it silver for a fleeting instant.
He exhaled, steadying himself.
His body ached all over, with every muscle screaming for rest, but his mind was alive with grit.
This was it. The last test.
"All this for more money," he muttered under his breath, half laughing, half wheezing.
All around the central column, dozens of smaller platforms floated.
They were of the same familiar colors of red, yellow, green, and blue scattered like chess pieces around a king.
They shot off in all directions, as if telling him that even if he hadn’t come through this route, this was where he’d have ended up.
He glanced once more at the endless abyss surrounding the column.
This time, it felt alive, like it was waiting for him to take that final step.
"Alright, let’s finish this."
He teleported.
He reappeared atop the glowing white column, and the instant his boots touched the surface, the air shifted.
Light flared from every direction, and the abyss vanished. The column widened, the world around him reshaping.
Ding!
[Scenario Activated!]
[Show Stopper]
When the light dimmed, Wade found himself standing in the middle of an arena.
Tier upon tier of spectral skeletons filled seats that spiraled upward into the heights, clapping, stomping, and howling.
Their ghostly applause filled the space with an eerie, echoing cacophony.
The cold breeze of the abyss was gone, replaced by a thick, heavy atmosphere that smelled faintly of iron and bone dust.
High above, sitting in a grand royal box, was the same Skeleton King he had seen before, sitting crowned, robed, and regal.
The King stood slowly, his every motion graceful. The audience fell silent immediately.
The king’s empty sockets glowed with pale blue fire as he raised his skeletal hand.
"One who survives the colors stands before the crown," his voice boomed, reverberating across the colosseum like thunder. "Prove thy worth, Gladiator."
Then, the ground trembled.
At the center of the platform, stone cracked and split apart. A monstrous shape began to rise, each movement grinding against the air with the sound of shattering glass.
From the widening chasm emerged a Hydra, standing skeletal and colossal, its four heads rising from a body made of fused ribs and spine.
The creature’s bulk took up almost half the arena floor.
Each head shone with a different glow. Red, blue, white, and black, its eye sockets burning with colors that matched their element.
Wade gritted his teeth, drawing his sword.
"Of course it’s four heads," he muttered. "Why stop at one?"
The Hydra reared back, its necks writhing, and the first head struck.
The red head opened its jaws, unleashing a torrent of fire. The blaze swept toward him, roaring hotter than anything he’d faced before.
Wade dove aside, rolling across the platform, and fired off Fireburst in retaliation.
The explosion caught the Hydra’s neck but left barely a scorch mark.
"Noted," he hissed, teleporting backward as the blue head lunged.
Frost gathered in its mouth, and it spewed a cone of ice shards that shredded the stone where Wade had been standing seconds before.
The white head followed, sparks crackling along its jawline before it loosed a bolt of lightning that streaked toward him.
Wade slammed up Aegis of Reflection. The golden barrier absorbed the hit, then sent a fraction of the lightning back.
The Hydra roared as its own energy scorched one of its shoulder bones.
"Yeah, didn’t like that, did you?" Wade growled, smirking despite himself.
But the Hydra wasn’t done.
The fourth head, black and jagged, drew itself back. A hiss filled the air before it spat out bone spikes, dozens of them, like arrows launched from a siege engine.
Wade conjured Basic Ward mid-run, deflecting some of the barrage, but several spikes still clipped him.
Pain flared as one tore across his side, slicing through his armor and flesh. He gasped but kept running, circling the creature, looking for an opening.
The Hydra turned, its massive body moving like a fortress of shifting bones. Each head attacked in rhythm, covering every escape path.
Fire burned the air, frost spread across the floor, lightning shattered his barriers, and the spikes forced him to keep moving.
He used Mirror Step, summoning three illusory copies of himself.
They scattered in different directions, confusing the Hydra momentarily.
The creature struck at one, then another, the illusions bursting apart in flashes of mana, giving Wade precious seconds to act.
He closed the distance, leaping onto the Hydra’s ribcage. His boots clanged against bone.
He raised his sword and drove it into a glowing joint. The bone cracked but didn’t break.
The blue head whipped around, its frosted breath surging upward.
Wade teleported again, landing hard several meters away as the spot he’d been standing on froze solid.
He was breathing heavily now.
His mana reserves were draining fast, and the Hydra showed no signs of slowing.
Then came the black head again. The air hissed as it released a thick green mist. Wade recognized it immediately. Poison.
He leapt back, but not fast enough.
The mist grazed his arm, and agony tore through him. His veins lit up green beneath his skin.
He staggered, choking, his vision flickering.
The poison was eating into his mana, draining him just like the venom of the skeletal manticore had.
His Basic Ward flared weakly, cracking at the edges.
He fell to one knee, clutching his side.
"This... again?" he grunted.
The Hydra stood above him, all four heads drawing power.
The red one’s maw glowed molten, the blue steamed with frost, the white sparked with lightning, and the black shimmered with toxin.
He didn’t have much time.
Wade clenched his teeth and forced his mind to focus. If the venom drains mana... then there’s mana inside it.
He activated Mana Siphon.
His skin prickled as the skill flared to life. He focused on the poison burning through his arm, and slowly, painfully, began drawing the mana from it.
The green glow dimmed. His breathing steadied. The poison’s energy turned cold, sinking into his core.
"Yeah," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "You just fed me."
The Hydra’s heads struck together, their combined roars shaking the very air.
Wade pushed himself up, his eyes blazing with renewed energy. His broken sword ignited with flame once more.
The crowd of skeletons erupted into frenzied cheers as the battered human stood tall again amidst the fire.
"Round two," he muttered, tightening his grip.
And he charged.