Nightmare Realm Summoner

The moment Alex made his decision, golden motes of energy slipped free of the Titles in the basin to form in the air before him. They floated to form a buzzing line, crackles of power arcing between them like bolts of lightning.

Pressure radiated from the fragments even before he'd tried to push them together. It was like trying to bring the ends of two magnets with the same polarity together. Alex hadn't even tried to touch them yet, but he could feel the resistance already starting to mount.

Looks like they're not going to go together very easily. Guess that makes sense. I'm pretty sure Cataclysm should be one of the most powerful fragments I've ever gotten.

Alex narrowed his eyes. He could feel both of the fragments within himself. His will wrapped around them like a constricting snake, but they barely even budged. Energy prickled across his thoughts like static.

Difficult or not, he wasn't going to get anywhere just sitting around and staring at the titles. This wasn't the kind of problem that could be solved by sitting and staring. At least as far as Alex had discovered, there was only one way to combine Title Fragments.

Sheer dumb force.

"Here we go," Alex said, though more for his own sake than anyone else's. He let out a slow breath, using it to steady himself before he inhaled once more.

Then he drove every scrap of willpower and mental force he had down on the Title Fragments. There was no gradual buildup of power. He didn't even bother trying with subtlety or working them together like puzzle pieces.

Alex just slammed them together like a monkey bashing two rocks to make fire. An immense wave of resistance drove back against his mental assault and nearly sent him reeling, but he was far from done.

He gritted his teeth and pushed harder. The motes of power buzzed. They trembled and twitched, trying to slip free of his will, but Alex's intent was relentless. He drove the full force of his will into the energy representing the fragments without pause.

And the motes started to grind closer together. They jerked and twitched the closer they came, but the line gradually shrunk as its points approached each other. The closer they came, the more pressure built.

Alex would have pushed harder if he could have. He'd have dug for those last scraps of energy to call upon and claim a surprise victory if there were any left — but there weren't. That would have required him to have left power on the table when he'd started, and he hadn't.

Every single scrap of strength Alex could bring to bear was already being used. The triangle had already shrunk by more than fifty percent, but it was starting to slow as the resistance built.

Strain burned at Alex's body. Even though he wasn't using his physical power to move the Title Fragments together, every single one of his muscles was clenched in concentration. Droplets of sweat rolled down his forehead and his teeth ground against each other.

Come on. Combine!

His command fell on deaf ears. The points of the triangle moved closer still, but every passing second was harder than the last. He wasn't sure how much longer her could push… but so long as the motes hadn't stopped moving entirely, Alex refused to give up.

A hum picked up in his ears as the vibrating motes of power came within a palm of each other. They trembled with sheer energy, fighting to break free of Alex's will. The fragments were moving so close now that Alex could barely even see the motion.

But they were still moving. That was enough for Alex. He ignored the taste of iron in his mouth and the darkness prickling at the edges of his vision. The motes of energy were so close now that he could have sworn they were about to overlap — though that might have just been his sight blurring.

And then they stopped.

At least, it looked like they'd stopped. Alex couldn't tell. They clearly hadn't combined yet, and he couldn't afford to try and look closer without losing his concentration.

Seconds dragged by. Alex's head throbbed and heat prickled against his skull. He couldn't hold this for much longer, but the Title Fragments didn't care about his plight. They just remained, so close to each other that they were nearly a single point.

Nearly, but not quite.

The throbbing in Alex's skull grew stronger. He was at his limit. There were no more reserves of willpower to dig into. Every scrap of mental energy he had was on the table. If the Title Fragments had been going to combine, then they already would have. His mind just wasn't strong enough to give them the final push over the edge.

Fuck it. If my brain isn't enough, then I'll put something else in there as well.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

With a yell, Alex brought his hands together toward the two motes of energy as if he was clapping a particularly annoying insect. He drove every single bit of physical strength his body had into the motion. And that was no small amount.

There was an instant of resistance as his palms connected with the edges of the buzzing energy.

Then a brilliant flash of light tore through his soul. It was followed by a wall of pressure that slammed into his gut and sent him doubling over as all the air was knocked from his lungs.

Alex's concentration shattered. He stumbled back, gasping for breath as stars flashed in front of his eyes. His skull pounded and a wave of dizziness rolled over him. For an instant, he felt darkness threaten to swallow his thoughts.

He clung to consciousness by a thread.

The darkness faded.

His breath returned.

The stars slipped away from his eyes.

God damn it. I'm getting fed up with shit winding me. Seriously. I'm going to find a Title or an ability that specifically buffs my lungs so this doesn't keep happening. Someone else has to have gotten pissed about this before me, so I'm sure they exist.

Alex blinked furiously as control of his features returned to him. He pressed a hand to his forehead and squinted through his fingers to if his efforts had amounted to anything.

The motes of energy were gone.

In their place was a shimmering message from the System, already partially faded. Alex barely managed to read the line in time.

Singularity Core has enriched [Sovereign Cataclysm].

Alex stared at the words until they were completely gone. Thoughts spun through his mind. The Singularity Core had appeared again. It seemed like it was showing up more and more frequently now.

His eyes shot to the mantle of his basin as his heart skipped a beat. A new black line had cut itself into being.

Sovereign Cataclysm: The Singularity Core has grown dense enough to collapse existence around it. Any and all external effects upon your soul or body will inevitably deteriorate until they are torn apart.

Alex stared at the new title for several seconds as he processed it. His initial thought was of confusion. He'd fully expected the new Title to be an offensive one… but this was the exact opposite.

And the Singularity Core… whatever it is, it's definitely becoming more pronounced. This is the first time it's just straight up appeared in a description. What is it?

More importantly, what does this title actually do? The wording is pretty audacious. Boasting about inevitability usually isn't something that I would do lightly.

Alex squinted as he re-read the new title. Then he read it once more.

Wait.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"Holy shit," Alex breathed.

If he understood the Title correctly, it was saying that every effect applied to him that came from somebody else would be destroyed. And, unless the System was suddenly taking up the habit of lying, that really did mean everything. Inevitable was a very strong word.

And it specified my body as well as my soul. Does that mean I can't be poisoned? I can't magically put to sleep, charmed, or whatever other bullshit I'm sure people are capable of? Doesn't that mean I'm basically immune to literally everything other than pure damage?

Alex swallowed.

That was a terrifying Title. The Singularity Core was incredible. Every time it showed more of itself, he wanted to know more about it.

When will it show itself completely to me? Just what the hell is it?

But Alex's thoughts couldn't linger on the core for long. It was clearly revealing itself piece by piece as he got stronger. And, right now, his new Title had his attention in a vice grip.

He knew it was stupid to think of the apocalypse as any sort of game, but the resemblance was there… and games had taught him that the best way to kill pretty much anything powerful was always through debuffs. Stuns, poisons, paralysis, the lot.

Raw damage could only go so far. That became doubly true the more powerful the enemies were. Even in the MMOs he'd played before going to college, only a few classes had been able to temporarily cleanse themselves of crowd control — and those abilities had been on very long cooldowns.

To get the ability to straight up tank every single type of magical control without fail felt completely unbalanced.

Alex didn't miss the other implications the ability had, though.

First, it had mentioned that it tore apart all effects. That included beneficial ones. Nobody would be buffing him as long as he had the Sovereign Cataclysm active. The Title also didn't say how fast the Singularity Core would destroy negative effects. It would probably depend on how powerful they were.

The drawbacks were nothing in comparison to the power the Title promised. Even if the title was only marginally effective, this meant even the most powerful curse would inevitably deteriorate and fall away.

Alex immediately put the title into the last of his active slots. He hadn't even realized he'd wanted this — hadn't realized something this powerful could even exist — but he wasn't about to leave it lying on the table.

Sovereign Cataclysm basically turns me into a Raid Boss. This is one hell of a Title.

One more thought rung in his head.

I'm not the only one with magic like this. Titles are way more incredible than I thought… and that means some other people have equally ridiculous ones. Maybe even stronger ones.

And that meant there were stronger titles waiting for him to claim them as well. Every time Alex learned more about the System, it showed him just how little he knew. There was power beyond belief in this universe.

But between my new domain and this Title… I don't think I'm being arrogant to say that the gap between me and most of the Outworlders is evaporating. It might already be gone at this point. They really fucked up when they tried to steal Earth from us and made the System provide so many more resources in recompense.

Alex grinned.

He'd finally cashed in all the power that the fight against the Region Boss had earned him… and with the announcement that the System had sent to everyone about their success, he got the feeling that it wouldn't be long before he got to put it to use.

I can barely wait. This is going to be good.