Just over 200km away, back underneath the town, the dark red energy that seeps out from the final isolation pod begins to flow out at a much faster rate.

It is equal parts Qi and Mana, and they are so finely intertwined, they have almost become Soul Energy, but there is still a vital catalyst or energy level that is yet to be reached before the two combine.

However, this blood red energy does not just seep out of the pod and dissolve into the air and through the mana shielding in the room.

It stays surrounding the isolation pod, and slowly swirls around it in a circle as more energy seeps out to add to its mass.

Every second that passes, almost a full minute goes by inside, yet my main body is manipulating the energy that has seeped out of the pod and portions of it are coming back into the small cracks.

It is happening very slowly, but the released Qi and mana that is slipping out from the pod is being circulated back inside.

—

High in the sky above the battlefield, Maria turns to see the Dark Guard with silver laser fixtures on his arms grow many times in size.

Its muscles bulge and ripple beneath the veil of white light that surrounds it.

The armor on its chest and circular metallic cannons on its wrists glow bright orange and expand in size as well to match its new form.

The massive eye on its forehead grows to be the size of a normal human being, and its height reaches nearly 20 meters tall.

It stops glowing white and its true form is revealed.

It's thinner and far more agile-looking than its old form, and as it kicks off the air and zips around Maria in circles, it's clear that its speed and agility have received a major boost.

The heavy silver cannons on its wrists are vibrating and glowing bright orange.

It yells out at the same time both of them shoot out bright lasers of immensely strong Soul Energy in straight lines directly at the Ice Goddess's form.

"I am the fastest of all of the 1st Ranked Guards' forms. On top of that, my firepower is the greatest when I concentrate it in a single beam. Your advantages are gone. You may have killed my ally, but it is only a matter of time before I get my revenge and receive another gift from the Dark One after killing a specimen like you."

He lets out a manic laugh while the energy beams collide with Maria's long Royal Blue Manifested sword.

Her awakened form pulses with Soul Energy being channeled through it, and the majority of its concentration focuses on her blade to block these incoming beams. This lessens her defenses everywhere else, but releases a magnificent wave of blue and orange energy as she blocks the incoming attacks.

The beams are dispersed and flood out to the sides of her blade like hot lava as shockwaves ripple through the air.

The Dark Guard takes this opportunity to shift its position and send in two more fully charged beams at her opposite side.

Maria's awakened form shifts its body and uses the same sword motions to block the two new attacks coming in as well with everything she's got.

Another two attacks come from above the moment she blocks these too.

A game of endurance ensues.

The Laser user witnessed Maria's raw power when it killed the club user with a single blow. It is far too intelligent and agile to be caught up in a trap like that after seeing the aftermath of its first victim.

However, their Soul Energy Strength when concentrated into a single point seems to be nearly even.

After just over a dozen separate attacks from a safe distance away, every single one of them is reflected away by Maria's blade and her icy gaze doesn't leave the Dark Guard for a moment.

She hasn't had a chance to attack back herself yet, but is waiting for the perfect time to strike.

The Laser user is waiting in just the same manner.

Her deflections and guarding tactics are flawless, the only way for it to possibly get a more powerful shot off now would be to charge up for longer or get in closer.

Both options would give Maria enough time to send the attack off when she wants to.

They are both very aware of this, but neither wants to test the waters and get hit by the other's attack.

That is, until a metallic roar fills the air and sends impossibly strong waves of intimidation rippling through the sky.

Out of the corner of Maria's eye, she spots the bright white light starting to fade away from the other remaining Dark Guard with its long silver sword facing Ember in the distance.

It has almost reached its final form as well.

This completely changes the mood of the battle, the laser user even speaks up full of confidence while sending its last attack.

"I may be the fastest, and I may have the most precise pinpoint accuracy with my energy attacks, but I assure you, my raw strength and battle intelligence are unmatched by the Boss. Once I'm done with you, I'll pick up the scraps of whatever is left of your friend—"

Maria's blue sword clashes with these energy attacks, but this time because of the Guard's overconfidence taking a moment to speak, she has enough time to move her awakened form out of the way from one of the beams of energy.

It buzzes loudly while it barely misses her left leg and her blade blocks the remaining attack.

However, she has enough energy remaining after only blocking one beam to send a crescent of her own Soul Energy flying back this time.

The monster's eye widens as it doesn't have enough time to charge its own lasers back up to full power or dodge completely.

The icy blue crescent collides with its right foot, crystallizing it and the grey soul energy around it instantly. The blue aura starts to creep up its leg until a bright blast of orange lasers fill the sky.

It lunges forward, pointing one cannon at its leg and other pointed at the open portion of Maria's side below where her sword just swung.

Two lower powered laser beams shot on short notice are fired off.

One blows off the Dark Guard's own leg, preventing the Icy Soul Energy from spreading while the other cuts a semicircle hole in the side of Maria's Goddess's lower stomach.

Her main body controlling the energy manifestation is damaged, and a chunk of flesh is ripped from her side while she coughs up blood.

However, her opponent just moved in far too close for comfort, panicking, and left itself wide open, not to mention crippling itself by slowing down its only advantage.

Blowing off its leg to save it from the spreading ice may have saved its life in the short term, but now it can't run away quite as fast.

Maria brings her sword down to create another slashing motion while the Dark Guard tries to backpedal.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

It manifests a grey Soul Energy leg to replace its lost flesh, but during this process, it has to charge up its orange energy cannons to attempt blocking one of Maria's incoming slashes.

In a fraction of a second mishap, she's turned this entire battle around putting this Dark Guard on the defensive and takes control.

It uses the full power of its beams to disperse the incoming wave of energy, but isn't prepared for the second crescent coming from its blind spot.

It fires off two more hopeless attacks, aimed at the blurry blue figure that has guaranteed its demise.

One of the final lasers hits the Goddess's leg, making a small semicircle hole in Maria's flesh again, while the other beam goes flying off into the open air.

She doesn't even bat an eye, because the crescent that is rocketing at the Dark Guard now cannot be stopped, blocked, or avoided.

She whispers. "It's over."

The creature with the most precise attacks, and greatest speed in the entire Dark One's army, has lost.

It has never had to run.

It has never had to defend from attacks it cannot perceive.

It has never met anyone or anything other than the Dark One itself with enough power to overcome its overwhelming battle strategies.

"A single mistake... and I lost. I was not perfect... No... I was not strong enough. I guess that is what it takes to win. Undeniable strength, or, Perfection."

The second blade hits it from behind and the icy darkness takes over.

The energy in its laser ceases to charge as its arms become stiff.

Its heart stops beating as the blood in its veins becomes as hard as rock.

Its vision fades to blue, then to black as its eye freezes over.

All of the Soul Energy in its being fights to stop the freeze, but it feels like bringing a candle into a raging blizzard.

No matter how much it tries to melt away, the depthless icy force of nature takes over and plunges this Dark Guard into the Abyss of death.

The Soul Energy slash cuts right through its armor and body, turning it completely to ice and shattering into glitter on the spot.

Blood gushes from Maria's leg and side where she was hit with the monster's beams, but a smile stays on her face as the level-up notifications ring in her inner ear.

She covers the wounds with dense Soul Energy to stop the bleeding, and turns to the final battle that is about to take place far away in the sky.

The final Dark Guard that carries a long silver sword continues to grow in size beneath the white glow.

It hits 10 meters in height, but doesn't stop there.

Even reaching 20 meters. This is when the white glow fades away, and the creature beneath it lets out a roar.

However, this isn't where the monster stops growing.

It reaches over 30 meters in height, towering high in the sky, covered in a dense layer of grey Soul Energy so dark it almost looks black.

The silver sword it carried before has expanded in size to fit its new form that is over 10 times as large as the original. An aura of orange soul energy vibrates around this sword so dense and strong, it feels as if the entire blade is wrapped in the laser beams that erupted from the guard that was just killed moments ago.

It finally stops growing and points its sword down at Ember who calmly watches it take its final form.

He stands with the same emotionless expression, and has even put his red energy sword down by his side, but the Soul Energy coming from his being has doubled in density since the battle started, almost like the faucet of power is opening inside him.

An echoing voice comes from the monstrous 1st ranked guard's mouth as it declares battle against Ember below him.

"Do you dare to defy the orders of the Up and coming Demon Lord's strongest Subordinate? Whatever you are, you cannot match my final form in battle. Show me your true form, Dragon. I want to show the Dark One that even creatures of legend can fall to my sword."

Ember crosses his arms and looks up at the orange-coated silver blade, that is over 10 times his human form's size.

"You want to see my true form?"

He pauses for a moment, then shrugs, putting his red energy sword up in the air to match the giant cyclops.

"No. I don't think I will. A mere servant of the Lich King isn't worthy of seeing my final battle form."

His aura pulses Dark Red, letting even more Soul Energy flow out from an invisible core. Then he speaks in a nonchalant manner while his body starts to grow.

"However, you aren't too weak. I'll give you props for the power you've managed to gain on your own. I'll use a new battle form I've been meaning to test out. You'll be a good punching bag."

The final Dark Guard yells in rage, making the dark soul energy around him twist and swirl. The orange light on the silver sword looks almost as bright as a sun, and the monster pulls the blade back to ready a swing.

"You dare mock me! You are arrogant enough to face me without using your full dragon form? How dare you even try!"

Energy surges off the enormous giant in the sky as it lunges forward with speed that doesn't seem physically possible in such an enormous frame.

Its silver blade leaves a dense trail of Soul Energy behind as it rockets down toward Ember.

Once it makes contact, there is a bright white glow and an eruption of Red and Orange that collide.

The sound of energy colliding this time sounds like space itself is tearing apart with their clash.

The bright white light fades away, and Ember holds his bright red energy manifested sword against the silver and orange blade coming down on him.

However, he looks very different.

Ember has grown almost 3x in size.

Part of his body is covered in black glossy scales, while other portions are shielded in blood red manifested Soul Energy Armor.

A long pointed tail comes from his back, and so do a set of dark wings proportional to his larger body.

It is a human-dragon hybrid form, and the energy being released from his Soul Energy core has grown magnitudes in power.

He still has arms, legs, a human body, and a human face, but many features have shifted to be dragonoid in nature. I wasn't aware of this form at all. It must be a perk he's kept hidden from one of his rank ups, or had been capable of doing all along. Every time he's been in his dragon form in the past, anyone that has seen it has been killed on the spot. If this is a step down from his true dragon form, I'm incredibly curious to see what he looks like now that he's ranked up a second time. Ember has awakened a tier of energy level beyond anything I've ever seen.

In a fraction of a second, he transformed and stopped the enormous monster's incoming blade with nothing but a Soul Energy manifested sword of his own.

Ember shows a toothy grin, flaps his wings, then swings his sword upward to release a bright red slash of Soul Energy that sends the silver sword upward and pushes the Dark Guard back with a look of fear in its eyes.

Ember flies forward without hesitating at all, swinging his manifested blade across his body and letting it clash over and over with the enormous silver sword.

The Dark Guard is pushed back over and over, and it looks like Ember is just toying with it.

Every slash he throws seems to be pulling from a deeper pool of power.

It's impossible to tell if Ember has been holding back this whole time, or if this is a direct cause of my main body absorbing energy and having an awakening while Ember fights.

The Guard yells out while being pushed back further away from the battlefield.

"Impossible. How- How are you getting stronger? I can see one's true strength with a single gaze. At the start of our battle, I was guaranteed to win. Yet, this power... Where is it coming from? Who are you, really?"

Ember continues to mercilessly attack the giant, pushing him far off into a desolate portion of the desert while staring through its soul with his crimson eyes, then finally responds.

"I thought you were the Strongest in the Dark Continent. Mr. Number 1? You're going to kill us all? The Lich King will save you, won't he?"

Ember swings his blade with another surge of new power.

This time as it collides with the silver sword, the metal cracks and shatters into pieces, sending the Dark Guard flying back again, this time rocketing toward the empty desert floor.

Ember dives down to follow the Guard's descent, his crimson blade grows larger and larger, glowing so bright red that it fills the sky.

The Dark Guard fights back with everything he has, creating an orange blade in one hand to replace the shattered silver sword, then a dark grey blade in the other made from its own Soul Energy.

Then, Ember speaks up in a low tone that only they can hear.

"You were pretty strong, it's a shame you had to work for the Lich King. You would have been a great Labyrinth Guardian."

Ember pauses, staring the monster in the eyes.

"You want to know who I really am? You're going to die right now, so I might as well humor myself and see if anyone still remembers."

Ember whispers a few words to the creature, and its pupil shrinks to the size of a pea in an instant.

It shudders and all of the Soul Energy surrounding its body vanishes as it loses the will to fight.

Ember swings his blade across his body and slices the defenseless monster in half right down the middle, splitting its head and heart in one shot.

The red crescent follows through and hits the desert floor, making an enormous slit in the ground, followed by the earth-shaking thuds of the monster's corpse.

This is followed by level up notifications ringing in Ember's inner ear as he floats back toward the battlefield and whispers to himself.

"I guess he did remember."

Ember arrives above the endless army of Ghouls that continues to fight with the Flame Emperor's Elites down below, then looks out into the empty desert facing Sector 1.

"I know you're watching, you have been this whole time. When will you show your face, Lich King...?

—

Back underground in the bunker below the town, the red swirling energy around the final isolation pod swirls much faster, and the bright light coming from inside the pod only grows more as the level-up notifications ring inside my main body's inner ear.

[Level Up] x177

There is another pulse of light from inside the pod as my main body opens up its status and upgrades a single skill.

The dense red energy that comes out from the pod begins to change its consistency.

More and more of it flows out, and the rate at which it spins around the humming and vibrating machine increases.

It gets to a point where wind is blowing through the room because of the energy's rotational speed.

Then, once it seems to have hit a dangerous level to the point where it could damage the shielding of the bunker, the red energy starts to shrink.

It all comes back into the pod and disappears inside in a matter of seconds.

The room goes silent, and even the humming and buzzing of the isolation pod halts.

There are hours left on the timer above it, however, it appears there isn't any Qi or Mana remaining in the pod.

The door clicks open, and the first thing to touch the white floor is a boot covered in a Dark Red, almost Black, Soul Energy Aura.