*Content Warning: This chapter contains mature themes, violence, blood, and morally dark actions. Reader discretion advised.*
***
Void watched the cosmos shift as the gods prepared to descend. He was not reckless. Even now, ambition burned in his eyes, but patience steeled his voice.
"This is not the moment to slay those fools. The empire is theirs, for now. My game runs deeper," Void whispered, gaze fixed on unseen horizons.
"System, count my points," he commanded.
The reply appeared, emotionless: "Host, you've received 4,000 points—eight apostles slain, each worth five hundred. Would you like to create a new skill?"
Void's lips curled. "Yes. Make me a skill that bends destination itself. I wish to step anywhere—beyond time, space, all law."
A shimmering prompt flickered:
**Voidstep Beyond Dimensions (300 pts):** Allows host to step into pure nothingness and reappear anywhere he wills—no space, no time, no laws matter.
Void nodded, pleased. "Acceptable. Now, system—activate."
Energy folded, reality blurred. He vanished in a ripple. But as he prepared to leave, lightning tore through the sky—gods descended in wrath, eyes shining with ancient fury.
The system blared a warning: "Host, emergency. The gods descend—they aim to strike."
Void laughed at the heavens. "You think my retreat signals defeat? Fools. The throne will be mine. Wait and mourn your followers, Void Expanse—your shackles cannot last forever."
One last glance—and one command to his disciple. "Leon, if you survive today, claim your reward. Prove your worth not to me, but the world."
Leon heard through the chaos, blood pounding in his chest.
"Yes, master! I'll win this! I'll show the gods I'm more than another piece in your game!"
Void disappeared into the void, leaving his harsh test behind.
***
### Leon Versus the God of Lightning
The air crackled, heavy with voltage. Before Leon, the God of Lightning took shape—inchoate, eyes searing, limbs crackling with pure thunder. The city trembled. Swordmasters scattered, mortals hid.
Leon's heart hammered. "This is no ordinary fight. If I let up for a breath, I die. But death is not my purpose. Winning is."
He steeled his mind, recalling every technique.
**Echo Flow Technique:**
Move with the rhythm of the world. Read the echoes of every attack, every motion. Adapt, predict, merge.
**Mirror Break Fist:**
Absorb the enemy's power, reflect it—tenfold, with a calm mind. Rage would shatter him, but focus would become his edge.
**Soul Resonance Art:**
His soul hummed—bound to flesh, bone, weapon, and the ground beneath him. He unlocked new potential, fighting beyond his limits.
The God of Lightning's voice boomed: "You—Void's disciple. I'll snuff you out with a flicker. Lightning Spear!"
Bolts rained. Leon disintegrated into motion—side-stepping, rolling, finding rhythm. His senses sharpened by Echo Flow, he read the storm's pattern and ducked beneath the first arc, letting power graze the air above him.
But at every step, danger mounted. The god summoned a new skill, voice ringing:
**Thunder Emperor Strike:**
Lightning molded into a gigantic fist, descending with the weight of stars.
Leon channeled Mirror Break Fist—he met the titanic blow head-on, pain shrieking up his arm, but with a burst of resonance, he reversed the force, flinging energy back. The lightning shattered a dozen buildings—the god staggered, momentarily shocked.
Leon spat blood. His body screamed. "If I hesitate, I'm dead. I have to win!" He taunted aloud: "For every thunder you wield, I'll break it! Come at me, god!"
The God of Lightning snarled. The storm grew wilder.
**Heaven Treader Blitz:**
The god vanished, reappearing above—lightning spears raining down. Leon sensed the invisible echoes, using Echo Flow to evade. He was not flawless; a spear grazed his shoulder, burning flesh, sending agony through his nerves.
Still, he forced himself up. "Is that all? I've seen storms break gods before!"
The god's rage peaked. He unleashed a forbidden technique:
**Judgement Sanctuary:**
A dome of pure electricity surrounded them, sealing all escape. Energy crashed in waves, burning everything.
Leon's survival instincts sharpened.
He breathed, synchronizing his soul with every trembling stone, every charged air particle.
His injuries mounted—but through sheer will, he refused to fall. He watched, studied, learned. At last—he copied the movement, shaping lightning in his own hand, the God of Lightning's own **Thunder Emperor Strike** absorbed.
Leon's fist crackled—not as mighty, but clear, true. He struck, echoing the god's technique. The dome warped, flickered, and burst open.
But the god was relentless. "You think to copy my power? Mortal arrogance!"
**Storm Crown's Wrath:**
Lightning blades fanned out, cutting every direction.
Leon, battered and near death, felt every wound—his skin peeling, bones broken, blood pooling at his feet. Still, he grinned, wild and unyielding.
"I will win. I refuse to die an echo—I'll become a storm myself!"
He met blade for blade—dodging some, countering others. He used Mirror Break, sent two blades flying back. He let one pierce his thigh, using the pain as leverage to close in.
**Soul Resonance Art** burst—the air, the ground, even stray energy became part of him. At the last instant, he drove a copied Thunder Emperor Strike directly into the god's chest. The divine avatar reeled, staggered.
Leon's vision faded, but his fist found its mark again and again.
Finally, with a guttural scream, mortal and storm entwined, he struck the head—Mirror Break reflecting the entirety of the god's remaining force. The god's clone shattered into electric motes.
Leon collapsed, barely breathing, battered, but victorious.
He gasped, voice hoarse but defiant:
"I—I won. Against a god. Master, did you see me? This is real—I won!"
***
### Void in Another World
Void rested in a realm of emptiness. He heard the news with muted surprise.
"System, report."
"Host, your disciple Leon has slain the God of Lightning's clone—you have earned 2,500 points."
Void's eyes narrowed. "A clone, not the real one. Still—he overcame with only three skills. But if Leon survived, he must have copied most of that god's art. Unexpected… but not unprofitable."
He thought calmly, without sentiment. "Let's see how he grows, and how the gods answer this embarrassment."
He gazed into the endless dark, plotting his next move. The challenge to the throne had only just begun.
***