[Ding!]
[You have slain an Aberrant beast]
[Soul Fragments full]
[Soul Fragments: 100/100]
Kyle’s gaze lit up as he stared directly at the notification.
To think the Grim Knight was an Aberrant beast, a rank above that of the Tainted.
Tainted.
Aberrant.
Dread.
Calamity.
Ruin.
Those were the ranks of the Tower Deviants, and he had just killed an Aberrant.
The battle had been no easy task.
He had fought against the formidable knight, battled its legion, and only managed to claim victory through trickery and cunning in the end.
Kyle let out a tired sigh as he stared down at the body of the knight.
Then he chuckled.
"Now look who’s on the ground, dead bastard."
[Congratulations]
’More notifications?’
Kyle blinked.
[You are the second individual to kill an Aberrant beast in this realm. You have received a reward]
[Soul Devouring Sword, Vagor]
Kyle’s eyes widened.
"Impossible?"
His mind raced at the notification, his gaze instinctively meeting with his former sword. The blade was chipped in several places and had been made blunt from countless encounters with the Tower’s Fiends.
That sword had carried him through countless battles.
It had saved his life more times than he could count.
But now...
Kyle dropped the sword immediately and willed for his new weapon to appear.
In the next moment, a formless smoke emerged from nothingness, curling through the air before slowly solidifying into existence within Kyle’s grasp.
A shimmering, ghostly blade.
Vagor.
The weapon was a replica of the Obsidian Knight’s sword. It was extremely light in his grasp, yet there was something grim and oppressive about it, as if the blade itself possessed a silent hunger.
[Vagor Description: A blade that cuts according to the will of the user. An Aberrant-ranked blade capable of trapping venom and darkness within itself. Devours the soul.]
Kyle smiled at the description.
Then he dismissed the sword.
His eyes glanced down towards the corpse of the Grim Knight once again.
And then...
His expression turned wary and dark.
[Consume this creature to restore your fate]
[Creature is eligible]
’My fate... and another legion member.’
Kyle swallowed hard.
He slowly lowered himself onto his knees.
The corpse of the Grim Knight lay before him, its monstrous body still radiating an aura of depravity that seemed to seep into the very air.
Just looking at it made Kyle’s stomach twist.
He thought about how much of the horrid knight he would have to devour before the system finally gave him a halt.
He even looked around, searching for anything he could use to make a fire.
But within this crevice, there was nothing.
Only rocky spirals.
Pools of blood.
And the sinister aura of depravity that clung to everything around him.
’This can’t possibly be worse than the taste of a roach...’
With that thought, Kyle leaned forward.
He closed his eyes.
And began devouring.
His mouth shook with disgust.
His tongue recoiled at the revolting taste of the flesh entering his mouth, every bite seeming to carry the taste of death itself.
His stomach twisted violently.
His body screamed at him to stop.
But Kyle forced himself onward.
All he could scream internally was—
Swallow!
Swallow!
Fucking swallow!
Those words rang endlessly through his mind.
And he did so.
With every painful swallow, his body seemed to reject the flesh.
His throat convulsed, stomach churning in disgust.
His heart trembled violently within his chest as if it wanted to escape his body altogether.
Kyle had to use every ounce of his willpower to force the flesh back down, his stomach grumbling and twisting as he filled it with the raw meat of the Grim Knight.
Compared to every other Abomination he and Rita had consumed in this Forsakened hell...
This had to be the absolute worst.
[Ding!]
After what felt like an eternity, Kyle finally heard the sound of the system.
He immediately pulled back.
His body fell backwards onto the ground.
Kyle turned over in repulsion and spat out the remaining flesh in his mouth before finally opening his eyes.
His gaze met with a pool of blood.
And reflected within it was his own pale, dead-looking face.
For a moment, Kyle simply stared at himself.
The face looking back at him seemed almost foreign.
Then he grimaced and turned away, his gaze shifting towards the brilliant holographic projection floating before him.
[You have rescued your fate from the Wall of the Unknown]
Kyle’s gaze slowly turned towards the strange demonic wall.
He searched for his head desperately, and thankfully It was no longer there.
He had freed himself.
At this realization, another sigh of relief escaped his lips.
He turned back towards the system notification and continued reading.
[You have successfully consumed the Grim Knight]
[System Glitch!]
[Soul Fragments: 150/100]
[Return to the Tower to ascend from an Awakened]
Kyle’s eyes glistened with pure excitement.
A flood of strength suddenly washed through his entire being.
His wounds instantly began to close.
Slowly at first.
But he could feel it.
The pain that had been gnawing at his body gradually faded, while his flesh began knitting itself back together.
His Tenacity and Stamina had increased greatly.
’My Soul Fragments jumped even though my core is already filled.’
Kyle’s eyes shone.
’Finally... a glitch in my favour!’
He shifted his attention towards the next set of notifications.
[Bestiary]
[Slots: 2/3]
Kyle’s breath hitched.
"The Bestiary increased."
[Slot 1: Cockroach]
*Undying Resilience.
*Steel Bone.
*Good Companion.
[Slot 2: Grim Knight]
*Mirror of Blades: Can copy and adapt to any sword style over time.
*Good Companion: Lord Knight has joined your legion.
Kyle did not think much about the notifications.
No.
His attention was already elsewhere.
He quickly dismissed the system and stretched out his hand and summoned the Grim Knight.
Immediately, the air around him surged.
The blood pooling around the crevice trembled.
A strange pressure descended upon the surroundings.
Then, out of nothingness, ethereal lights began spinning through the air.
They twisted.
They spiralled.
And slowly, they took shape.
A humanoid figure began to form.
First came the armour, obsidian, dark and heavy.
Then the body, then the helmet, Until finally...
It stood before him.
An almost identical replica of the Grim Knight.
However, unlike the corpse that had once laid before Kyle, this knight’s obsidian armour was far cleaner.
Far thicker and far more imposing.
Its entire body radiated an aura of death that seemed to make the air itself grow colder.
The only visible part of its body was its pair of raging purple eyes.
They burned within the darkness of its helmet like two flames trapped inside an endless abyss.
Yet there was something familiar about its armour.
A texture.
A strange similarity.
Something that reminded Kyle of Lord Roach.
Kyle narrowed his eyes trying but, he couldn’t quite grasp what it was.
Before he could think further—
[Ding!]
[You have awakened your second Companion]
[Name: Lord Knight]
[You have gained an Army]
[Legion: 100]
Kyle’s mouth fell wide open.
"A legion?!"