Liam remained on his knees.
The presence before him was so impossible to describe that his mind could barely endure it.
He did not know if he was seeing light, darkness, or both at the same time.
"Ascend… to what?" he asked, his voice trembling.
The figure did not respond immediately.
Only a silence that weighed like a mountain.
Then a voice resonated inside his head.
"You will understand when you deserve it."
An intense heat ran through him from head to toe.
It was as if something had marked him from within.
The figure spoke once more.
"You will be granted a mission. You must hunt one of the ancient beasts of this realm. The Devourer of Dawn."
Liam wanted to ask why, but the words did not come out.
"You will receive two tools. Use them well."
And with that, the figure disappeared.
Silence returned.
It took him several minutes before he could move.
When he finally stood, the ground was different, darker and covered with a fine dust.
In front of him were two objects.
One was a compass.
Small, metallic, with a needle that spun slowly as if searching for something.
The other was a short sword about twenty centimeters long.
Black, with red lines that moved across the blade like living blood.
The hilt had golden engravings that glowed faintly.
Liam took it.
The metal was hot.
He swung it in the air.
It was light, yet he felt it could cut through anything.
"I suppose you and I have work to do" he murmured.
He looked at the compass.
The needle always seemed to point in a single direction.
He took a deep breath and began to walk.
---------------
As time passed, the infernal landscape changed before his eyes.
He crossed mountains that burned like coals, plains covered with bones, forests where the trees wept blood.
At every step new creatures appeared.
Wolves larger and faster than those he had faced before, insects the size of horses, beings with human faces attached to their chests.
Yet none of this mattered
His sword, which had practically become an extension of his body, cut through everything in his path.
With each victory the blue screen appeared, showing the experience points.
Liam kept killing every monster he saw.
Every infernal creature he killed gave him more experience that turned into strength.
It felt good
his power was far beyond what any human could aspire to.
It was comparable to the superheroes that commonly appeared in series or movies.
During his journey he faced enormous beasts.
Some seemed made of fire, others of pure shadows.
On one occasion a serpent surprised him.
Its body measured more than ten meters high and its scales seemed to be made of lava.
He tried to kill it, but failed.
He died in seconds, devoured completely.
He awoke in another place, with his compass and sword still in his hand.
This incident surely made him lose dozens of years of travel.
But he did not care.
After all, he had all the time in the world.
For centuries he continued killing everything that crossed his path.
His mastery with the sword, developed in a self-taught way through experience, reached a level superior to any human in history.
When he finally reached level thirty-five, his body was almost unreal.
Strength: 32
Speed: 29
Agility: 28
Endurance: 30
No points remained to assign.
The landscape kept changing.
There was no longer fire or ash, but a reddish terrain covered in mist.
He advanced for hours until he reached a small stream.
But instead of water, blood flowed.
The place was different from the other places in hell. There were no screams, no torn bodies wherever he looked.
Only silence and a strange calm.
Liam looked at the compass.
The needle spun out of control.
He understood he had arrived.
The air grew heavy.
The river began to stir.
Dark bubbles rose from the depths.
Suddenly a huge figure emerged from the blood.
First a horn.
Then a hand.
Finally a body that seemed to have no defined form.
It was a mixture of reptile and human, covered in black scales that reflected the red light of the sky.
Its face was a mask of bone, and from its mouth came black smoke that smelled of burnt flesh.
"GAAAAA!"
The ground shook when the creature roared.
Liam gripped the sword.
The red lines on the blade glowed fiercely.
"So you are the target," he said in a low voice.
The beast roared again.
The river of blood churned, raising dark waves that struck the shore.
Liam held the sword with both hands.
The blade trembled with a red pulse.
Before him, the Devourer of Dawn emerged completely from the river.
It measured at least twelve meters tall, its body a mass of muscle and black scales covered in crimson liquid.
From its back protruded curved fragments of bone like broken wings, and its head was a deformed skull with several eyes that opened and closed without pattern.
The creature leaned slightly toward him.
Each breath released hot smoke.
Liam stepped forward.
His body was tense, but his mind calm.
All the centuries of death battles with beasts of every shape and kind had turned him into a warrior worthy of the greatest epics.
The monster moved first.
With impossible speed for its size, it struck the ground with a claw.
The impact opened a fissure and a wave of blood rose like a wall.
Liam rolled to the side.
The claw passed centimeters from his head, cutting the air with a dry sound.
Liam lost not a second, stood up and ran straight toward the enemy's body.
The sword cut one of the front legs.
Black blood sprayed and splashed his face.
Yet the cut was not deep.
The skin was hard as diamond.
Before he could retreat, the Devourer's tail struck him with brutal force.
The impact hurled him several meters through the air.
He fell on his back.
The air escaped his chest.
He coughed and forced himself to rise.
The brutal deaths he had endured had given him extreme resistance to pain.
The monster roared again.
The river began to boil.
A rain of burning drops fell on Liam, searing his skin.
He ran forward, dodging another claw that split the ground.
The sword shone with intensity.
He spun and drove the blade into the beast's ankle.
This time the cut was deeper.
The beast staggered, its leg trembled, but it did not fall.
Its central eye opened fully, a red circle that watched him with pure hatred.
A beam of energy shot out.
Liam barely managed to throw himself to the ground.
The beam passed over him and destroyed a nearby rock, reducing it to dust.
The heat was so strong that the air distorted.
Liam rolled and stood.
His breathing was irregular.
But he had no time to think.
The creature moved again.
It advanced with heavy steps that made the earth vibrate.
Liam waited.
He did not run.
When the claw came down, he slid to the opposite side and cut the beast's arm diagonally.
The blade pierced the flesh with difficulty.
The sound was dry, like metal against stone.
A jet of black blood covered him completely.
The arm fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
The beast shrieked in pain.
Its body arched.
The bone wings spread and the air filled with sharp fragments that shot in all directions.
Liam leapt back, but one of the fragments cut his leg.
Blood gushed out.
He fell to his knees.
He pressed the wound with one hand while holding the sword with the other.
The monster advanced again, enraged.
Liam forced himself to stand.
Each step was an effort.
The beast opened its mouth.
Inside, liquid lava could be seen.
The next roar was different, deeper.
An explosion burst from its throat.
A wave of fire spread across the field.
Liam ran.
He leapt behind a rock as the fire covered everything.
The stone cracked and the heat burned his back.
When the fire died, the air was unbreathable.
Everything smelled of ash.
Liam staggered out, his skin scorched.
In the distance he saw the beast breathing heavily, the wound on its arm still bleeding.
He gripped the hilt and advanced.
Each step lifted ash.
The sword still glowed, the red lines brighter than ever.
He raised it and ran toward the monster.
The Devourer lifted its head and let out a roar so strong the air vibrated.
It struck the ground with its tail, creating a shockwave that hurled Liam into the air.
He landed on his feet by pure instinct and kept running.
He leapt toward the creature's chest, using a rock as a boost.
The sword sank between the scales.
The monster screamed, thrashing in fury.
Liam held the weapon with both hands and drove it even deeper.
The roar was deafening.
Blood sprayed backward from its body.
The scales cracked, the inner fire poured out through the wounds.
Liam leapt back.
The beast's body collapsed.
The impact was so great that it made the ground tremble.
The river of blood churned violently and then calmed.
Liam fell to his knees, gasping.
After a few seconds he approached the inert body of the monster.
He pulled the sword from its chest, at first it kept glowing,
but its light slowly faded.
The blade was intact.
Only the red lines kept moving, as if they were breathing.
He looked around.
There was nothing else, only the dead body of the most powerful beast he had ever faced.
For several minutes he did not move.
The pain in his leg and his side was enormous even by his standards.
But he was still alive.
After a few seconds of total calm.
the sky changed color.
It went from red to gray, then to a golden tone he had never seen in that world.
A voice, soft but clear, resonated in his mind.
"Objective accomplished."
Liam raised his head. In front of him appeared a new blue screen, larger than the previous ones.
Beast slain: The Devourer of Dawn
Experience obtained: 100000 xp
Level 35 → 50
45 upgrade points obtained
New designation: Ascendant.
The text blinked once and disappeared.
Silence returned.
He stood up slowly.
The compass still hung from his belt.
He took it out.
The needle no longer spun.
pointing upward.
Liam lifted his gaze.
For the first time in centuries he saw something that resembled the sky.
It was not fire, nor smoke, nor darkness.
It was a distant light that moved like a current in the air.
He sheathed the sword.
The wind blew softly, almost human.
He walked toward the river.
The water of blood had turned transparent.
After a long time he was able to see his full reflection.
However, without warning, a voice resonated in his head.
"There is still something more to do."