Chương 67: Surge

William dropped into a runner's crouch and exploded forward. The pavement caved beneath his greaves as each thunderous stride fractured the concrete, his massive frame barreling straight toward Gray. Using Shroud Domain early to evade the tank would have been the optimal play. Gray knew that. But burning his ace this early felt wasteful. He considered coating his Soul Blade in his smoke, then remembered how useless it had been against Nabi. The decay effect only seemed to work on Riftborn beasts.

He had to face the charging bull head-on. He dug his heels into the pavement, raised Tobari to his side, and braced for impact. The blade struck William's shield with a deafening clang. The collision sent a painful shudder through Gray's forearms, but the blade didn't leave so much as a scratch on the metal. William never broke stride. He parried the katana aside and drove the broad face of his shield straight into Gray's chest. The impact launched Gray off his feet.

Wind rushed past his ears before his back slammed into the brick wall of a nearby house. The collision emptied his lungs, forcing a dry, ragged cough from his throat. Nothing felt broken. Not yet. William gave him no time to recover. Five heavy strides carried him across the gap, and he loomed over Gray's slumped body. The bottom edge of his tower shield was already descending toward Gray's skull. Gravity Well A vortex ripped into existence barely a foot behind William.

The sudden suction yanked the tank backward and stopped his strike short. William roared as he doubled-over, planting his lead foot. Muscles bulged beneath his armor as he fought against the relentless pull. Gray surged to his feet, gripped his blade tightly, and unleashed a cleave toward William's exposed side. The tank wrenched his shield around to intercept. Too slow. Steel bit deep into William's ribs. Blood welled around the blade, but before Gray could strike again, crimson light erupted from the wound.

The glow coursed across William's torso, streamed down his arm, and poured directly into his shield. A knowing smirk spread across his face. Now fully braced against the vortex, William slammed his shield into the pavement between them. The glow peeled away from the physical shield and expanded into a concussive shockwave. Crimson energy detonated outward. Damage Repulsion The Vanguard's spell stored the kinetic force of incoming attacks, then unleashed that energy back at his opponent fivefold.

The resulting sonic boom ripped Gray off his feet. He hurtled backward and smashed through the wall of the house. This time, the bricks didn't stop him. Wood splintered, drywall burst into clouds of dust, and chunks of debris scattered through the room as Gray tore through the structure. His body skipped across the hardwood floor before his back crashed into a couch hard enough to shove it several feet. A strangled grunt escaped his throat, and the taste of iron flooded his mouth.

His limbs felt impossibly heavy, and every instinct begged him to stay down—to close his eyes and let the darkness take him. Gray spat a thick glob of blood onto the floor and dragged himself onto trembling hands and knees. Just a second. He only needed a couple of seconds to recover. That was all. The crunch of greaves grinding through loose drywall echoed from the doorway. William stepped through the ruined wall and advanced toward Gray's collapsed form. Gray had to move. He had to get airborne.

Shroud Domain The mana stored within his spell pocket emptied in a violent rush. Energy surged through his circuits and burst outward from his sternum. The familiar weightless transformation spread from his chest, dissolving flesh and bone into swirling gray vapor. It raced down his arms, climbed his neck, and swept through his legs— [Shroud Domain] has been cancelled Cancelled?! The transformation had already completed. Smoke had clearly erupted from his body. So what had gone wrong?

He whipped his incorporeal head around and finally noticed the problem. The expanding cloud had stopped barely a foot from his body. Confused, Gray tried to launch himself upward. He rose for less than a second before his head slammed into an invisible ceiling. Reeling from the impact, he lunged right. Another solid surface knocked him back. Left produced the same result. William stood only a few feet away, watching with a triumphant smirk.

"What do you suppose is the best way to counter smoke?" he asked rhetorically.

"You snuff it out." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. With Shroud Domain canceled, the gray mist rapidly thinned. The vapor collapsed inward and was siphoned back into Gray's core. His Wraith form fizzled out moments later, restoring his body to flesh and bone. Gray reached forward and dragged his palm across the invisible wall less than a foot from his face. A mana barrier. William had caged him in. Gray needed his weapon.

His gaze snapped toward the floor, frantically searching the debris for Tobari. White drywall dust coated nearly everything in sight, but there was no familiar glint of the onyx-black steel. Then a faint pulse resonated within his chest. The tether. Even without seeing the Soul Blade, he could sense its exact location through the bond. Under the couch. Tobari must have skittered beneath the furniture when the shockwave blasted him through the wall.

As desperate as Gray was to have it back in his hands, knowing the sword was hidden brought a sliver of relief. If William found his soul blade and somehow managed to destroy it, Gray's life would end with the blade. The irony ran deep. For so long, Gray had used smoke to trap his enemies. He had never considered that something as simple as an airtight prison might be the perfect counter to his Shroud. Out of options, Gray rolled up his sleeves and drove his bare fist into the barrier.

William threw his head back and laughed.

"Even with a warrior's constitution, breaking through that thing would take you all week!" Gray ignored him. He struck the barrier again. And again. Each punch sent sharp pain through his knuckles. Skin split. Blood streaked across the invisible surface, leaving red smears against the unyielding wall. William pumped a mocking fist into the air.

"Keep at it, buddy. I'll leave you to your little escape attempt." He turned toward the ruined doorway.

"In the meantime…" His grin widened.

"I'll go collect those Contribution Points by finishing off Braindead over there real quick." William pivoted on his heel and crunched through the debris toward the street. Both of Gray's hands pressed flat against the curved wall of his invisible cage. Panic seized Gray's mind as his entire spell loadout was on cooldown. But even if his abilities were available, what could he realistically do? Half his skillset was built around evasion—specifically tailored to keep himself alive.

How was he supposed to protect anyone else? Where was the godlike power that had supposedly slaughtered half the Primordials? Gray had been backed into a corner. And he had only one option left. To create his own power. A thin glass vial dropped from his dimensional ring into his palm. Purple liquid sloshed inside, sealed beneath a wooden cork. The Jade Lotus stimulant. Until this moment, Gray had never seriously considered drinking it.

He had kept the vial strictly as evidence—a potential lead in his parents' murder. His hand trembled hard enough that the fragile glass rattled between his fingers, and disgust twisted his face at the thought of relying on Ivan's miracle power boost, but pride wasn't going to save his brother. He couldn't let emotion override logic. What?! You kept that? You don't drink those, boy! Gozen roared inside his skull. Gray shut him out.

He popped the cork with his thumb, tipped his head back, and swallowed the stimulant in one gulp. Bitter herbs and copper flooded his tongue. The effects hit immediately. Fire erupted inside his core, swelling into a scorching pressure that radiated through his body, and his muscles tightened until they practically vibrated beneath his skin. The dull ache in his ribs vanished. The exhaustion weighing down his limbs disappeared with it, overwritten by a violent surge of adrenaline.

Armed with this newfound strength, Gray drew back his fist and drove a right cross into the barrier. Nothing. He struck it again, then frantically inspected the point of impact. Not even a hairline fracture marred the surface.

"No, no, no!" Gray roared, punctuating each word with another bloodied punch against the mana construct. Then text flashed across his vision. [Wraith] has come off cooldown [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gray blinked. It should have taken several more minutes for the spells to become available. He didn't have time to question it. Wraith was useless while he remained sealed inside the airtight barrier, which left him with only one viable option. Gravity Well Gray locked onto William's retreating back.

A vortex tore into existence directly around the tank, violent currents wrapping around his massive frame. William's stride halted instantly.

"Do you really think this is going to stop me?" William didn't even bother struggling. He merely glanced over his shoulder, a condescending smirk spreading across his face.

"All I have to do is wait out the duration, kid." He was right. Without Gray there to capitalize on the temporary restraint, the spell amounted to nothing more than a brief delay. The vortex rapidly weakened, its violent suction fading into a harmless breeze. William rolled his shoulders and casually stepped free as the remaining currents dissolved around him. Gray never stopped attacking the barrier. He hammered his fists against the cage in blind fury—each punch driven by desperation rather than form.

His knuckles were mangled and slick with blood, and even with the stimulant coursing through his veins, the force behind his strikes wasn't enough to break through the unyielding wall. William strode onto the cracked asphalt of the main road and continued forward. A few houses away, Hyun's unconscious body lay exactly where Gray had left him. And William was closing the distance. Inside the sphere, Gray's frantic punches devolved into desperate slaps against the unbreakable mana glass.

Tears of frustration burned his eyes. He was completely out of options— [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown"What? Already?" Gray rasped, a hysterical edge of relief creeping into his voice. He didn't waste time questioning the impossible cooldown reduction. Gravity Well A vortex tore open above the asphalt barely a foot behind William.

"What?! Again?!" William bellowed. The sudden vacuum ripped his legs out from under him. His face slammed into the pavement as his arms were wrenched skyward. Gray was wondering the exact same thing. Then he noticed something in his peripheral vision. Blue mist was bleeding out of the surrounding air, streaming into his nose and mouth with every ragged breath. Beneath his chin, a thicker azure current poured directly into his sternum and vanished into his core. Mana. An overwhelming amount of it.

The sheer volume flooding his system triggered a terrifying rush of euphoria. Every nerve in his body seemed to vibrate. Pressure built inside his core faster than he could contain it, and the urge to release overwhelmed every rational thought. He was a vessel overflowing. Casting was the only way to keep himself from bursting. [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gravity Well Another singularity materialized along the curb and violently dragged William backward.

Seconds later— [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gravity Well A fresh vortex opened over the sidewalk. William tumbled across the concrete, his armor grinding against the pavement. [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gravity Well The next tornado pinned the scrambling brute against a front-yard fence, warping the metal gate inward beneath his weight. [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gravity Well Dirt and grass ripped free as William was hauled backward across the lawn.

[Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gravity Well His armored body slammed into the concrete steps leading to the front door. [Gravity Well] has come off cooldown Gravity Well Gray detonated the final singularity at the threshold of the living room. The suction seized William's massive frame and dragged him all the way back through the doorway before dumping him onto the floorboards. Through Gray's vision, Gozen witnessed the impossible rapid-fire barrage of magic.

"How could they have developed it to this level so quickly?!" Gozen roared into his empty living room, his eyes wide with disbelief.