NOVPUBHe'd already jumped, anticipating the maneuver. As gravity pulled him back down, he drove the Eclipse Blade through the beast's skull, timing his strike to the nanosecond when it fully materialized. The blade pierced through brain and spine, erupting from beneath the creature's jaw in a fountain of blood. The Leopard convulsed once, then lay still.
[Experience gained: +50]
[Quest Progress: 32/50]
[ 2 Beast Cores (Category 3) added to Void Storage]
Noah paused, surveying the carnage around him. The corridor was littered with beast corpses in various states of dismemberment, blood and other fluids coating the floor in a macabre mosaic. He'd cleared more than half the distance to the far elevator, stepping over fallen creatures as he advanced. But the most challenging opponent still remained.
[System Alert: 1 Category 4 beast approaching]
[Identified: Armor-Plated Titan]
The containment door at the corridor's midpoint slid open, revealing a behemoth that barely fit through the opening. Standing nearly three meters tall, the Titan resembled a gorilla in basic shape, but its entire body was covered in crocodilian armor plating. Its massive fists bore serrated bone protrusions, and its jaw could easily crush armoured military grade vehicles.
[Category 4 beasts require specific weakpoints to be targeted]
The Titan roared, the sound reverberating through the corridor with enough force to crack the observation windows. It charged with surprising speed for its size, each footfall leaving small craters in the floor.
Noah exhaled slowly, adjusting his grip on the Eclipse Blade. This wouldn't be as straightforward as the others.
The Titan's first attack came like a freight train—a devastating straight punch that would have liquefied Noah's internal organs on impact. He Void Blinked to the ceiling, causing the beast's fist to pulverize the floor where he'd been standing. Before gravity could reassert its hold, Noah pushed off, diving toward the Titan with the Eclipse Blade extended.
The void-enhanced edge struck the creature's shoulder joint—a vulnerable point between armor plates—but only managed a shallow cut before the beast twisted away. The Titan bellowed in rage, swiping at Noah with a backhand that caught him mid-air, sending him crashing into the wall.
[Health Points: 950/1000]
"That actually hurt," Noah muttered, wiping blood from his lip as he extracted himself from the crater his impact had formed. The Titan was already charging again, this time lowering its heavily armored head like a battering ram.
Noah waited until the last possible second before dropping flat against the floor. The Titan's momentum carried it over him, its armored belly barely inches from Noah's face as it passed. The Eclipse Blade flashed upward, catching the beast in its less-protected abdomen, opening a gash that sprayed black ichor across the corridor.
The wounded Titan crashed into the far wall, momentarily stunned. Noah pressed his advantage, Void Blinking to the creature's exposed back. The Eclipse Blade plunged toward a gap in the armor at the base of its spine—only for the Titan to whirl with unexpected speed, catching Noah with a devastating backhand.
[Health Points: 880/1000]
Noah slammed into the ceiling, then fell back to the floor, landing in a controlled roll despite the impact. The Titan charged again, both massive fists raised for a double hammer blow that would pulverize anything beneath it.
'Time to stop playing around,' Noah thought.
[Void Blink]
He teleported directly behind the charging beast, the Eclipse Blade trailing purple energy as it swept horizontally through the backs of the Titan's knee joints. The armor there was thinner, and the void-enhanced edge sliced through cleanly, severing tendons and hamstringing the massive creature.
The Titan crashed forward, its momentum sending it sliding across the blood-slicked floor. It roared in pain and fury, trying to push itself up with its massive arms despite its useless legs. Noah was already moving, Void Blinking onto the beast's back.
"You're tough," he acknowledged, raising the Eclipse Blade high. "But not tough enough."
The blade plunged downward with all of Noah's enhanced strength behind it, driving through the gap in the armor at the base of the Titan's skull. The creature convulsed violently, nearly throwing Noah off as it thrashed in its death throes. He held firm, twisting the blade deeper until the beast finally went still beneath him.
[Experience gained: +500]
[Quest Progress: 33/50]
Noah extracted the core—nearly the size of a basketball and pulsing with intense energy—from the Titan's remains. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
[Beast Core (Category 4) added to Void Storage]
"This will definitely make the boys happy," he murmured, admiring the core briefly before storing it away.
With the Titan defeated, the remaining Category 1 and 2 beasts seemed almost trivial by comparison. Noah tore through them with renewed vigor, the Eclipse Blade singing through the air as it cleaved through flesh, bone, and armor alike.
He mixed up his attacks constantly—Void Blinking from one end of the corridor to the other, running along walls to avoid lunging beasts, launching himself into spinning attacks that caught multiple creatures in deadly arcs. Blood and viscera sprayed across the walls and ceiling as Noah carved a path of destruction toward the distant elevator.
At one point, five beasts attacked simultaneously. Noah laughed uncharacteristically almost like something had come over him and in truth, something had. The sound coming out of his mouth was of pure exhilaration, as he Void Blinked into their midst. The Eclipse Blade became a dark whirlwind as he spun, channeling void energy through the weapon until it extended its reach, creating a sphere of death that dismembered all five attackers in a single devastating technique.
[Experience gained: +850]
[Quest Progress: 50/50]
[Void Energy: 1100/1450]
[System Notification: 17 Beast Cores (Various Categories) added to Void Storage]
[System Notification: Quest "Survive the Gauntlet" completed!]
[Reward: Mystery Box added to void storage]
Noah reached the elevator doors, which slid open automatically upon his approach. Behind him stretched a corridor of carnage—dozens of beast corpses in various states of dismemberment, blood and fluids coating nearly every surface. The Eclipse Blade, still clutched in his hand, dripped with the evidence of the slaughter.
Inside the elevator, the control panel contained dozens of buttons, but only one was illuminated—sub-level 42.
Noah stepped inside, dismissing the Eclipse Blade with a thought. It dissolved into motes of purple energy that sank into his skin. He casually wiped a spatter of beast blood from his cheek, surveying his reflection in the elevator's polished doors as they closed on the scene of devastation behind him.
"Guess that's where I'm going," he said to the empty elevator, a slight smile playing across his lips.
====
Back at the core of where the entertainment and all the fighting was happening, the ragtag trip of Albright and the Rowes could be sighted.
Commander Albright quickened his pace to keep up with the Rowes as they navigated the service corridor back toward the arena. The distant roar of the crowd signaled the imminent start of the second-year matches.
"Might I ask why you sent Eclipse on that little beast safari?" Albright asked, his voice tight with barely contained irritation. "I'd have rather preferred him present for the grand finale. Let him witness everything he fought to protect crumble before his eyes."
Mrs. Rowe shot him a withering glance, her diamond earrings catching the light as she tossed her perfectly coiffed hair. "Surely you jest, Commander. After what that... that commoner did to our submarine facility?" Her voice dripped with disdain. "Momths of meticulous planning, millions in resources—all reduced to rubble by that insufferable child."
"Need I remind you," Mr. Rowe added, adjusting his platinum cufflinks with manicured fingers, "that we're not staging some melodramatic villain's monologue? Eclipse would be an unnecessary complication." He checked his watch—a timepiece worth more than Albright's annual salary. "The boy has demonstrated a rather annoying proclivity for disrupting well-laid plans."
Albright's jaw tightened. "As much as I despise the brat, you're underestimating him. Even that beast gauntlet won't hold him for long. The boy has a disgusting habit of exceeding expectations."
"Which is precisely why," Mrs. Rowe said, voice lowered as they approached a security checkpoint, "the beast gauntlet isn't the only surprise we've arranged for young Mr. Eclipse." Her smile was glacial. "One should always have contingencies for one's contingencies, wouldn't you agree, Commander?"
The security officers nodded deferentially as they passed, intimidated by the Rowes' presence despite their civilian status. Albright noted with bitter amusement how easily wealth commanded respect that his years of military service never had.
"Now," Mr. Rowe continued after they were out of earshot, "we have other loose ends requiring attention. Lucas Grey will be occupied with Diana Frost and Jayden Smoak—quite the formidable distraction, I'm told."
"And the Headmasters?" Albright inquired.
"The loyal ones are already secured," Mrs. Rowe replied, her heels clicking rhythmically against the polished floor. "Commander Owen and those other tedious military sycophants will be... indisposed during the main event. Our people are in position."
"That leaves just one more troublesome individual," Mr. Rowe said, pausing at the private entrance to their executive box.
Albright's lips curled into a sneer as he finished the thought. "One SS-ranked soldier still in the building with us..."
"Seraphina Brooks," they said in unison, their voices echoing ominously in the empty corridor.
