Lucien stepped through the red portal and found himself standing in what could only be described as a palace. Massive stone pillars stretched upward into shadow, supporting a vaulted ceiling that disappeared into darkness.
Ornate banners hung from the walls, their colors faded with age but still displaying intricate heraldic designs.
The floor beneath his feet was polished marble, inlaid with gold patterns that seemed to shift and move in the dim light. Torches burned in iron sconces along the walls, casting dancing shadows that made the entire space feel alive and ancient.
This wasn't like any dungeon he'd entered before. This felt real, permanent, like a place that had existed for centuries.
Before he could fully take in his surroundings, a notification appeared in his vision.
Job Change Quest:A New class will be allocated based on the Host's performance.
Time Remaining: 3:00:00
Lucien watched as a timer began counting down from three hours, the red numbers glowing insistently in the corner of his vision.
"So the more I kill, the better class I get, huh?" he muttered to himself. "Just like in the novel."
He knew enough about the novel to know how this worked. The system would evaluate his combat performance, his kills, and his efficiency and award him a class based on the results. If he wanted to become the Shadow Monarch, he'd need to prove himself worthy.
The sound of clanking metal drew his attention. From alcoves and doorways throughout the palace, armored figures began to emerge.
Knights in full plate armor, each carrying a sword that gleamed with unnatural sharpness. They moved with mechanical precision, their empty helmets turning toward him with eerie synchronization.
There had to be dozens of them, maybe hundreds, all converging on his position with single-minded purpose.
"Well," Lucien said, drawing his daggers, "let's see what you've got."
The first knight reached him with surprising speed, its sword cutting through the air in a perfect arc aimed at his head. Lucien ducked under the blade and drove his dagger into the gap between the knight's breastplate and helmet.
His blade scraped against metal, failing to find purchase. The knight backhanded him with its gauntleted fist, the impact sending him sliding backward across the marble floor.
These weren't normal enemies. Each one of these knights could probably give Spider-Man a serious fight, and there were hundreds of them.
Lucien grinned. Finally, a real challenge.
He accessed his inventory and withdrew a new weapon—First Bloom, a dagger he'd recently bought. The blade was longer than his usual weapons, with a subtle curve that made it perfect for slashing attacks. More importantly, it had significantly higher attack power.
"Alright," he said, rolling his shoulders as more knights surrounded him. "Let's dance."
The battle began in earnest. Knights attacked from all sides, their swords moving in coordinated patterns that suggested they shared some kind of hive mind. But Lucien was faster, stronger, and infinitely more creative.
He ducked under a horizontal slash and came up with First Bloom, the blade finding the weak point at a knight's elbow joint. The armor split with a screech of tortured metal, and the knight's arm fell away in a shower of sparks.
Another knight tried to stab him from behind. Lucien spun around its blade, grabbed its helmet, and twisted until something inside snapped. The knight collapsed into an empty pile of armor.
"Come on!" Lucien called out, his blood singing with combat fever. "Is this really the best you can do!?"
Two knights attacked simultaneously from opposite sides. Lucien jumped straight up, letting their swords pass beneath him, then came down with both daggers extended. The blades punched through their helmets with satisfying crunches.
But for every knight he destroyed, two more seemed to take its place. They poured out of the palace's many doorways in an endless stream, their weapons clattering against the marble as they charged.
Behind the front lines of knights, Lucien spotted a different type of enemy. Mages in hooded robes, their faces hidden in shadow, began casting spells from the safety of the rear ranks.
Fireballs the size of basketballs streaked through the air, forcing Lucien to dodge and weave as he fought. Ice spears materialized out of nowhere, shattering against the marble where he'd been standing moments before. The floor beneath his feet suddenly erupted upward as earth-based magic tried to trap him in stone.
"Great," Lucien muttered, slashing through another knight's neck. "Ranged support. Just what I needed. I will definitely collect them in my Army."
The combination of endless melee enemies and magical bombardment from behind made the fight exponentially more difficult. Lucien found himself constantly moving, never able to stay in one place long enough to focus on a single opponent.
A fireball singed his hair as he rolled away from a knight's overhead strike. An ice spear grazed his shoulder, leaving a burning line of cold through his shirt. Earth spikes erupted from the ground, forcing him to leap and twist in mid-air to avoid being impaled.
"You know what?" Lucien called out as he decapitated another knight. "I'm starting to take this personally!"
He began moving more aggressively, pushing through the knight formations to get closer to the mages. A knight's sword caught him across the ribs, tearing through his shirt and leaving a shallow cut, but he ignored the pain and kept moving.
First Bloom found a mage's throat, silencing its chanting permanently. Lucien spun and threw his second dagger at another spellcaster, the blade taking the creature center mass and dropping it instantly.
But even as he eliminated the ranged threats, more knights kept coming. The timer in his vision showed he'd been fighting for over an hour, and his body was beginning to feel the strain.
His movements were still precise, still deadly, but they'd lost some of their earlier fluidity. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and his breathing was becoming labored. The endless waves of enemies were taking their toll.
A knight's mace caught him in the shoulder, spinning him around and sending him stumbling. Another knight's sword opened a gash across his back. The wounds weren't serious individually, but they were accumulating.
Lucien gritted his teeth and kept fighting. Pain was temporary. The weakness was temporary. But the power he'd gain from completing this quest would be permanent.
He lost track of time in the rhythm of combat.
Slash, dodge, stab, roll, repeat.
Knights fell around him in piles of broken armor, but more always took their place. Mages hurled spells from the shadows, but Lucien's daggers found them eventually.
When the timer hit one hour and forty-nine minutes, something changed. The flow of enemies suddenly stopped. The last knight crumbled to pieces under Lucien's blade, and silence fell over the palace.
Lucien stood among the wreckage, breathing hard and covered in sweat and minor wounds. Pieces of broken armor covered the marble floor like metallic snow, and the air smelled of ozone and heated metal.
In the distance, he could see that a new doorway had opened. Massive double doors carved with intricate designs, clearly leading to some kind of boss chamber.
"Finally," he gasped, dropping to one knee among the armor fragments.
His body ached quite a bit. The endless fighting had pushed him harder than any dungeon ever had. But he'd survived, and according to the timer, he still had over an hour left.
Lucien opened his system shop and immediately began purchasing health potions. He downed them one after another, feeling a wave of energy that restored his strength and healed his wounds.
The cuts on his back sealed themselves slowly, the bruises on his ribs faded, and the burning exhaustion in his muscles began to ebb.
He could have healed them slowly, but he did not have the time to do that, so he boosted the process with Health Potions.
After drinking his fifth potion, he felt almost human again. He stretched experimentally, pleased to find that most of the stiffness had left his joints.
Looking toward the boss's chamber, Lucien allowed himself a small smile. "So the next one's going to be Igris, right?"
If this quest were following the Solo Leveling storyline, the final boss should be Igris, the Blood-Red Commander. A knight of incredible skill and power, wielding a massive sword and commanding the loyalty of all the other knights.
It was going to be a hell of a fight.
Lucien opened his system shop again and made one more purchase.
The Knight Killer—a red dagger specifically designed for fighting armored opponents. It was the same weapon Jin-Woo had used to defeat Igris in the original story, with armor-piercing capabilities and enhanced durability.
He did not buy it against the knights he just fought because First Bloom was working just fine.
The weapon materialized in his hand, its crimson blade gleaming with deadly promise.
"Alright," he said, standing up and stabbing his new blade through the air. "Time to meet the boss."
He walked toward the massive double doors, his footsteps echoing in the sudden silence. The Knight Killer felt perfect in his grip, balanced and eager for combat.
Lucien placed his hands against the doors and pushed them open, expecting to see a throne room with a single, powerful knight waiting for him.
Instead, a look of confusion and shock spread across his face as he stared into the chamber beyond.
This wasn't what he'd expected at all.
.....
POWER STONE GOAL: 700 ( 1 Extra Chapter)
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