Chapter 46: One Man Army

The first Essence Knight stepped into view.

Then another.

Then five.

Then twenty.

Then fifty.

The corridor filled.

Essence Knights emerged from every direction.

Some climbed over the walls.

Others pushed their way through narrow passages.

The entire dungeon seemed to be waking up.

Eden slowly raised his sword.

"...That’s a lot."

The knights charged.

Boom!

Eden vanished.

His blade cut through the first knight.

He spun.

Another fell.

He ducked beneath a stone sword.

Countered.

Destroyed another.

Then another.

And another.

For several minutes, Eden tore through them.

Individually, the Essence Knights weren’t particularly threatening.

Their attacks were predictable.

Their movements were slow.

Their defenses were manageable.

But there was one problem.

There were too many.

One became ten.

Ten became fifty.

Fifty became a hundred.

And every time Eden destroyed one, another filled its place.

His breathing grew heavier.

His sword became heavier.

His arms started aching.

"Get out of my way!"

He swung.

CRACK!

A knight’s torso shattered.

Another came from the side.

Eden blocked.

The impact sent him tens of meters.

His boots scraped against stone.

"Seriously?"

He launched himself forward again.

His blade cleaved through another Essence Knight.

Then another.

He continued until his sword was caught between two massive stone weapons.

Eden’s eyes widened.

Three more knights surrounded him.

He kicked one away.

[Phase Shift]

[Offensive form]

[Heir’s Pride]

His body blurred.

He slipped through an attack and drove his fist into a knight’s chest.

Boom!

The creature staggered.

Eden finished it with his sword.

But before he could move—

Clang!

Another strike.

Clang!

Another.

CLANG!

And yet nother.

Eden’s sword trembled.

He looked at it.

A crack had formed along the blade.

"...Oh."

Another knight attacked.

Eden blocked.

Crack.

The crack spread.

His expression changed.

"Shit."

Another blow.

The blade snapped.

The broken half flew through the air and embedded itself into the dungeon wall.

Eden stared at the remaining hilt in his hand.

For a moment, everything went quiet.

Hundreds of Essence Knights surrounded him.

His breathing was ragged.

His entire body hurt.

His strongest skill was unusable.

His sword was broken.

And this was supposed to be a C-Rank Gate?

Eden slowly looked around.

"...Is this really C-Rank?"

One of the knights raised its sword.

Eden stepped backward.

Another knight moved behind him.

Then another.

He was surrounded.

Eden felt something he hadn’t felt in days.

For the first time since entering a C-Rank Gate, Eden felt genuine pressure.

A Challenge that could end with Eden’s death if he slipped up just once.

His grip tightened around the broken hilt.

"Come on..."

He tried to activate Devour.

The System’s warning appeared again.

[Insufficient Attributes.]

His eye twitched.

"Yeah."

Another knight approached.

"Thanks for reminding me."

He swung the useless hilt instinctively.

It did nothing.

The knight raised its weapon.

Eden ducked.

The stone sword slammed into the ground.

He rolled away.

Another attack.

He barely avoided it.

Another.

Another.

His movements became frantic.

His body was exhausted.

His mind was exhausted.

He hadn’t slept properly in days.

He’d barely eaten.

He’d been forcing his body through Gate after Gate, using potions to keep moving, devouring whatever he could, pushing his levels higher and higher.

And now his strongest ability was locked behind a stat requirement.

Eden laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"Heh..."

He looked at the broken sword hilt.

"That’s just perfect."

He remembered something.

The dragon he occasionally created using his devour skill.

He’d shaped its red Essence into dragons.

If he could manipulate Essence like that...

Why couldn’t he shape it into a blade?

Eden stared at the hilt.

"Come on."

He poured Essence into his hand.

Purple Essence gathered around his fingers.

It flickered.

Then dispersed.

Eden frowned.

Again.

He tried to shape it.

The Essence formed something resembling a blade.

Then collapsed.

"Come on."

Another attempt.

The Essence twisted into a jagged mass.

It looked more like a club.

Eden stared at it.

"...That’s fucking ugly."

The Essence disappeared.

Another knight attacked.

Eden dodged.

He didn’t counter.

He simply kept focusing.

Again.

Essence gathered.

Again.

It collapsed.

Again.

Nothing.

The knights closed in.

Eden’s breathing grew heavier.

"Just..."

He gritted his teeth.

"...work!"

Another attempt.

The Essence stretched.

This time, it stayed.

A blade.

Crude.

Unstable.

But a blade.

Eden stared at it.

A translucent purple weapon extended from his hand.

It wasn’t particularly large.

It wasn’t particularly powerful.

The edges flickered irregularly.

But it was there.

Then the System appeared.

[New Skill Acquired.]

[Aura Blade — C-Rank]

Eden froze.

"...Aura Blade."

He looked at the weapon.

Then at the broken hilt in his other hand.

Slowly, he released the hilt.

It fell to the ground.

Eden rolled his shoulder.

A grin slowly spread across his face.

"C-Rank..."

He tightened his grip around the purple blade.

"Should be good enough."

The surrounding knights began advancing.

Eden looked at them.

Hundreds.

Maybe more.

He could barely feel his legs.

His lungs burned.

His head throbbed.

His body screamed at him to stop.

But something inside Eden had already snapped.

He laughed.

A quiet laugh at first.

Then louder.

"Hahah..."

He lowered his head.

His silver eyes gleamed through his messy black hair.

"You know..."

He looked at the endless army.

"I’ve been really fucking tired lately!"

One knight charged.

Eden didn’t move.

Another joined.

Then another.

Eden raised his blade.

"I’m way too fucking tired to think of a strategy."

His grin widened.

"Too tired to have a plan."

The purple blade trembled.

Essence poured into it.

"And way too tired to be careful."

The knights charged.

Eden charged too.

"So come on!"

Boom!

He disappeared.

The first Essence Knight’s head flew.

Eden twisted midair.

Shing!

The second was split from shoulder to waist.

He landed on its corpse.

A third swung.

Eden ducked underneath it and drove his Blade upward.

The knight’s entire arm shattered.

Eden ripped the blade sideways.

Its torso split open.

Another came from behind.

Eden turned.

His blade collided with the stone sword.

The impact nearly knocked him off balance.

Eden laughed.

"That’s it!"

He pushed forward.

The knight’s weapon broke.

Aura Blade carved through its chest.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Purple Essence flashed through the darkness.

Stone exploded.

Fragments flew across the corridor.

Eden moved faster and faster.

There was no elegance anymore.

No measured combat.

No careful resource management.

He simply attacked whatever creature was unfortunate enough to cross paths with him.

Every movement was violent.

Every strike was excessive.

Every kill only made him grin wider.

"COME AT ME!"

The knights answered with hundreds of stone blades.

Eden charged directly into them.

For the first time all week, he wasn’t fighting because he needed experience.

He wasn’t fighting because he needed levels.

He wasn’t fighting because he needed a reward.

He was fighting because he wanted to.

This supposedly C-Rank dungeon had decided to throw hundreds of Essence Knights at him.

And somewhere in the back of his exhausted mind, Eden had finally stopped caring whether this was sane.