I Ascend Alone-Chapter 157: Everdeep Bastion Part IX

He didn't budge. Instead, he pushed forward.

One slash. Two. Then a dozen. A relentless assault with precision unlike anything I'd seen. Each movement was a dance—not of beauty, but of judgment.

And yet, Lutharax withstood it.

His dark form twisted, rotating with savage fury, releasing a roar that shattered several nearby pillars and sent obsidian shards raining across the floor.

He retaliated, his claws glowing with molten voidfire, and slammed them toward Seraphveil, only for Seraphveil to stop the blow with both blades crossed above his head. The impact cratered the ground beneath them, but he remained unshaken.

"This one... is worthy," Lutharax hissed.

Seraphveil's voice answered, low and cold.

"You face more than power, beast. You face his will."

Then he surged again, this time with his wings bursting open—sending out a nova of pure blacklight that illuminated the entire 7th floor.

-

The ground cracked under the weight of their power.

Seraphveil and Lutharax clashed in the center of the 7th floor, each strike shaking the dungeon like thunder. They moved fast—faster than most could follow—blades and chains flashing through the dark.

Lutharax was terrifying in his full form.

Twelve living chains swayed behind him like ancient limbs, snapping and coiling with every motion. A jagged crest of bone jutted from his back, while dark shadows hardened into thick armor around him. His eight glowing eyes didn't burn with fire—but with something worse. Death. Pure, crushing death. Every step he took made the air feel heavier, like the world itself was sinking.

But Seraphveil didn't flinch.

He darted through the air, wings spread wide—four in total, each pulsing with abyss energy. He blocked a chain with one arm, slashed through another with a sword made of shadowlight, and spun in midair to land a clean strike across Lutharax's side.

The beast growled, tail lashing out like a whip, but Seraphveil blocked it and kept moving.

They went blow for blow.

When Lutharax unleashed a wave of void pressure, Seraphveil met it head-on—wings crossed, body braced. When Lutharax sent his chains flying, Seraphveil dodged, deflected, and pushed forward, cutting through the storm.

In the shadows behind the battle, I watched quietly.

Vorathos shifted beside me.

"His technique... it's sharp. Clean. I think he was born for this, my Lord."

Umbraezer nodded. "I agree."

I kept my eyes on the clash. "Lutharax isn't losing. He's just not serious."

Seraphveil soared upward, then dove—slamming his blade down on Lutharax's bone crest, sending a shockwave through the floor.

"Do you believe he can win, my Liege?" Vorathos asked.

I answered without looking away. "I do not know. Yet."

"Then why—"

"I didn't let him fight Lutharax to win. He's there because I can feel that he wanted to prove himself."

Chains lashed upward.

Seraphveil twisted midair, his four wings folding inward to brace for impact. The chains struck like lightning—crackling with dark power, each one aiming to tear him apart. But his form didn't falter. His blades spun in tight arcs, slicing through several tendrils, though two managed to wrap around his leg and arm, yanking him toward Lutharax.

A claw, cloaked in molten voidfire, came crashing down.

BOOM!

Stone shattered as Seraphveil was driven into the floor. The impact left a jagged crater, the edges glowing faintly from the heat of Lutharax's aura. Dust billowed outward—but within it, a pulse of blacklight surged.

Seraphveil shot back up—his armor cracked, but his eyes calm. One of his wings had torn, but it quickly began stitching itself back together with abyssal energy.

With a flap of his wings, he appeared behind Lutharax, blades glowing with sharpened shadow. He carved an "X" across the beast's back—clean, deep strikes—but Lutharax spun with unnatural speed and slammed a tail coated in void plating into Seraphveil's ribs.

Seraphveil crashed against a wall, cracks spreading outward, but he launched off it the next second, both blades spinning in front of him like a vortex of death.

Each time Seraphveil struck, Lutharax adapted—his chains moving to intercept, his armor thickening, his claws burning brighter. But Seraphveil kept up, weaving between blows, carving pieces off his foe in flashes of darkness.

In the distance, Vorathos spoke again, voice hushed.

"I didn't expect this level of fight. They are pushing themselves beyond limits.."

Umbraezer's molten eyes narrowed.

"But it's not enough yet."

He was right because despite everything, Lutharax hadn't begun to bleed.

Then came another roar.

Lutharax planted all four limbs into the ground. His twelve chains rooted themselves into the stone like anchors. From his chest, a ripple of void exploded outward, an aura burst, pure pressure, not physical, but mental, spiritual.

It slammed into Seraphveil like a mountain dropped from the sky.

Even I flinched.

Seraphveil hovered, locked in place, fighting to keep his wings open.

His blades trembled slightly. His shadowlight dimmed.

Lutharax slowly raised his head, eyes burning brighter than ever.

"You are strong," he said, "but you do not carry despair."

Seraphveil's answer came slowly, voice rough now.

"Because I carry his will... not despair."

He raised one blade again, the other at his side.

And then, despite the pressure, he stepped forward—resisting, enduring, rising.

From the shadows, I watched with a sharp breath.

Vorathos turned to me.

"My Lord... I think he is not getting serious yet."

Umbraezer nodded once.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed."

Lutharax roared, then he coiled low to the ground, then surged forward like a bolt of living destruction. Seraphveil raised both blades, crossing them just in time to catch the charge, but Lutharax was faster now. He spun, chains wrapping around Seraphveil's limbs and wings like hungry snakes. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Then

CRACK!

A claw drove straight through Seraphveil's abdomen.

The knight's body jolted, voidfire erupting from the wound. His blades slipped from his hands as Lutharax's claws twisted inside him. The dungeon floor shook again as Lutharax lifted him high—impaled.