Apocalypse Baby

The truth hit Alex like a cold knife to the gut.

Sharp.

Undeniable.

Humbling.

Adam was stronger.

It wasn't just a hunch or a whisper of doubt in the back of his mind. It was a fact—blinding in its clarity, crushing in its weight.

Just hours ago, Alex had stood atop his own mountain of triumph. He'd killed a prince of the Demon Realm, stared down a Doom-class entity, and walked away with two unique titles, along with three rare essence roots still pulsing with power in his inventory.

He had felt unstoppable.

Invincible, even.

But watching Adam fight… watching him win without breaking a sweat—as if his opponent had been nothing more than a warm-up—Alex felt the ground shift beneath him.

All that pride he'd been carrying in his chest suddenly felt misplaced. Shallow.

There were still summits above him.

And Adam stood calmly atop one of them. Unshaken.

Alex stared at the screen, jaw tight, heart oddly still. Adam didn't gloat. Didn't celebrate. He didn't so much as crack a grin. He just stood there—quiet and unreadable—as if the entire battle had been routine. A task on a checklist. Another box ticked.

The proctor's voice echoed from Adam's stratum, announcing his victory with formal detachment and instructing him to rest. The next round would begin in an hour.

Adam gave a small nod.

Then he vanished in a blur of spatial light—gone as effortlessly as he had arrived.

The viewing screen lingered for a heartbeat, its glow dimming, its hum fading to a whisper. Then it blinked off.

Silence took its place.

Heavy. Dense. Almost suffocating.

Alex stood motionless in the center of his resting chamber, bathed in the stillness. The echoes of Adam's effortless victory clung to the air like smoke. No more cheering spectators. No more flickering images. Just four walls and a silence that felt louder than any roar.

He let out a slow breath.

There was pressure now.

Adam had raised the ceiling.

Had shattered the illusion that Alex was already touching the peak.

He wasn't.

Not yet.

But gods, did he want to.

In less than an hour, the final round would begin. And for the first time since entering this trial, Alex felt something stir deep inside—not fear, but something quieter. Sharper.

A need.

He didn't just want to survive. He didn't just want to win.

He wanted to climb. Higher than ever. Past limits. Past expectations.

Because now he knew—

There were still monsters ahead.

And if he wanted to stand among them, he had to become one himself.

To guarantee his success, he needed to do everything he possibly could to get stronger.

With that thought, he summoned an item from his inventory. His fingers curled around the obsidian-black box.

The lock hissed open silently, revealing a strange, softly glowing bulb nestled inside.

It pulsed gently—off-white, with translucent ridges running along its surface like veins of crystallized smoke.

It looked almost edible.

Like some mutated, luminous garlic.

A label floated into view the moment it appeared:

[2nd Tier Essence Root]

Contains high-density Emi. Can be absorbed via consumption to enhance the internal core.

Alex studied it for a moment and nodded, quite pleased with what he sensed. The amount of Emi it contained was significant. Obvious, perhaps, but with his enhanced detection skills, he could feel it.

This would work.

It was the fastest way he could think of to level up in an hour.

He could summon more clones and have them absorb Emi—just like the clone he'd left running—but would it be enough to propel him forward massively?

Maybe.

But he didn't want a maybe. He wanted a guaranteed result.

He'd seen what was coming. What he had to face.

Adam. Other top contestants. The Deities. Kael. The trial itself.

He didn't know what exactly he would face next, but he knew the final phase would be dangerous.

Any misstep could be fatal.

There would be no resets. No second chances.

And death in there would be guaranteed.

He didn't have the luxury to wait. So he slowly lifted the bulb to his mouth—and bit down.

Crunch.

Bitterness exploded across his tongue. Sharp. Gingery. It burned as it slid down his throat—like swallowing raw roots soaked in Jin.

He winced, but chewed quickly, finishing it in seconds.

Then he stood still, waiting for it to take effect.

At first… he felt a slight buzz. A pulse of warmth across his chest. Like sipping hot tea on a cold night.

But that was it.

His brow twitched.

Was that not enough?

There was no noticeable change in his strength. It was almost as if the root had no effect at all. Frowning, he opened his inventory again.

He had two more Essence Roots left.

7th Tier Essence Roots.

One he'd earned from killing Malik. The other he had received thanks to his title.

He pulled one out.

It was entirely different from the 2nd Tier root—roughly fist-sized, jagged like a chunk of crystallized flame. The [7th Tier Essence Root] radiated raw power. Light warped subtly around its edges, as if it existed half a step out of sync with reality.

Even the viewing screen dimmed in response to its presence.

[7th Tier Essence Root]

Condensed Emi from an apocalyptic entity. Use cautiously.

Alex barely glanced at the warning.

He raised the root to his mouth.

Exhaled once.

Then bit down.

The taste was worse this time—metallic, electric, and bitter in a way that tasted like burnt sugar. The shard shattered like ice under his teeth, slicing into his gums, burning down his throat in jagged waves.

But he didn't stop. He didn't care.

GULP!

He swallowed the last piece.

And waited.

One second.

Two.

Nothing.

Still nothing.

He blinked in confusion.

Did I do something wrong? he wondered.

But the thought barely had time to form before the pain hit.

It came like a detonation behind his ribs.

Alex collapsed to his knees, his breath catching as his chest locked up. Heat surged inside him—wild, directionless, violent.

It was like a miniature sun had ignited within him—and now it was going supernova.

His fingers clawed at the floor, body convulsing.

Then came the regret… he should have paid more attention to the warning.

He tried to scream, but no sound escaped.

Only raw, searing pressure, blooming outward from his core.

Steam hissed off his skin. Sweat boiled into vapor. Emi burst from his pores, invisible currents of energy warping the air like mirages.

He was burning alive from the inside out.

The energy was too much.

Too raw.

Too unrefined.

These Essence Roots weren't meant to be consumed whole. They were supposed to be distilled. Fed into slow alchemical brews. Introduced gradually, drop by drop, through channels the body could adapt to.

But Alex had just crammed two entire cores of high-density Emi into his system within minutes.

Now, his core was overloading.

He could feel it.

The central engine inside him, his Emi processor, the system-forged structure that managed his internal energy flow, was buckling.

Veins lit up beneath his skin.

Not figuratively, literally. Glowing like molten silver.

He clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to tear open his chest just to release the pressure.

He tried to focus.

Tried to guide the flow. Shape it. Tame it.

But this wasn't a stream.

This was a tsunami.

And it was drowning him.

His mind flashed back to Adam's warning.

The system helps humans grow by allowing them to absorb raw Emi gradually. It filters it, calibrates it, makes it safe. Bypass that—and you risk becoming twisted. Like Brakka.

Alex had broken past system restrictions before, through sheer will.

And he thought he could manage the same here.

But now, his will was crumbling beneath the unbearable pain.

His core, his very self, was splintering.

The system interface flickered erratically across his vision.

Notifications and errors flashed in a blur:

[WARNING: Emi Overload]

[WARNING: Core Instability Detected]

[WARNING: Mutation Risk: 78%]

[CRITICAL EMI SURGE INCOMING…]

[FORM INTEGRITY: FAILING…]

Alex's hands twitched violently.

He was losing motor control.

Losing shape.

Muscles twisted unnaturally. Bones flexed under strain. Emi screamed through his channels like wildfire through dry brush.

Another second and he might rupture.

Or worse, mutate.

A beast. No mind. All power. All instinct.

Alex gritted his teeth until blood filled his mouth.

He couldn't let that happen.

He clenched his core and forced the chaos inward. Contained it. Choked it.

Fought the surge with everything he had left.

Then, with a roar, a wave of energy exploded out of him.

His vision blurred—then darkened.

He collapsed.

A dull thud as his body hit the floor.

A twitch.

Then stillness.

The viewing screen in front of him flickered, sensing his collapse.

Then blinked off entirely.

Leaving the chamber in silence once more.