Like a blur, Snow moved—swift, calculated, and almost ghostlike. His figure danced between afterimages, launching precise attacks from every blind spot he could exploit. But the moment his dagger made contact, he felt it.
Clink.
A thin, nearly invisible barrier shimmered around Asmodeus, protecting him effortlessly. The Knight hadn't even moved.
Before Snow could retreat, a pressureless force—like an air blast—struck his body with devastating speed. It sent him hurtling backward like a ragdoll. He crashed against the white stone floor, skidding violently across the arena until he finally managed to dig his dagger into the ground, anchoring himself. The moment he stopped, he doubled over, blood spewing from his lips and painting the pristine floor a deep, violent red.
DING
============================
You have received a heavy impact.
============================
DING
============================
You have broken a rib.
============================
DING
============================
You have a fractured bone.
============================
DING
============================
You are suffering from internal bleeding
============================
DING
============================
Your health has dropped below 45%
============================
DING
============================
AN ENTITY BEYOND TIME AND SPACE HAS NOTICED YOUR PRESENCE.
============================
Snow's pupils trembled as the system windows stacked before his eyes.
"... one hit brought me down to twenty bars..." he whispered under his breath.
An entity...? he thought, glancing toward the sky briefly before pushing the thought aside. Now wasn't the time for distractions. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a faintly glowing vial from his inventory.
His gaze flicked toward Asmodeus—still standing tall, unmoving, unbothered. And beyond him, Ruciel stood in the far distance, still watching.
"|\ Is that all? /|" Asmodeus asked, expression dull and unimpressed.
Snow smirked, blood still dripping from his chin. "Easy now. I'm merely getting started."
Damn it. Forget the Entity, he thought.
What matters now is why the Dagger of Truth still hasn't revealed his weakness.
Taking one shaky step, then another, he bolted forward—and in an instant, his body disappeared, leaving dozens of afterimages behind. Each flickered in and out of sight, forming a ring around Asmodeus.
"|\ Repeating the same technique, huh? /|" the Knight remarked.
Before his words finished echoing, a dagger struck from behind—but his sword intercepted the blow without even a glance.
"|\ I was hoping you were more than— /|"
Another strike came toward his neck, fast and silent—but again, a concentrated, thin barrier materialized just in time to block Snow's blade.
"|\ This. /|" Asmodeus finished, clearly disappointed.
Snow clicked his tongue and dashed back, trying to gain distance. But he wasn't given the chance.
A pulse of energy—round like a compressed sphere—exploded toward him and crashed into his body, slamming him into the ground. The impact quaked the white space like a meteor strike, sending dust and debris into the air.
"|\ I have seen thousands of souls fall before me... yet you are the first to be this weak. /|" Asmodeus muttered, his voice steady, as he looked down at Snow's crumpled form.
He was a proud knight—one chosen to wield the blade of a being known only to him and his kind. As a Chosen Sin, he carried his master's will, judgment, and wrath. And yet... something about the soul before him stirred a distant resonance. Something he couldn't understand.
"|\ Hast thou given up already? /|" he asked, not out of curiosity, but pure disdain. This duel had become beneath him—no challenge, no thrill. Just disappointment.
Snow trembled, propping himself up on one arm—his other broken and limp.
"I... I'm not done!" he shouted, voice shaky but unwavering.
"|\ I see. /|" came the cold reply.
That voice alone sent a shiver crawling up his spine. The aura pouring from Asmodeus wasn't just overwhelming—it was suffocating. And yet, Snow recognized it. He had felt this before... Entities of overwhelming caliber... Beings who transcended mortal understanding.
DING
============================
SWIFT STEPS ACTIVATED
============================
Snow vanished once more, this time his movement resembling a living mirage. Each flicker left behind an illusion—no, a phantom—like dozens of clones orbiting Asmodeus.
DING
============================
SHATTERED STRIKE ACTIVATED
============================
Each afterimage drew its dagger, and in a single heartbeat, they all hurled themselves toward Asmodeus like a storm of blades.
The daggers shimmered with ethereal light and pierced through the barrier without resistance. They struck true, embedding themselves into Asmodeus's body from every angle—spike-like projections jutting out as if he had been impaled from within.
DING
============================
AN ENTITY BEYOND TIME AND SPACE IS IMPRESSED BY YOUR FEAT.
============================
DING
============================
You have dealt no damage.
============================
DING
============================
AN ENTITY BEYOND TIME AND SPACE WISHES TO GIFT YOU AN ITEM
============================
Gbam!
A sudden fist collided with Snow's gut, sending him rocketing across the battlefield like a shooting star. His body crashed through the white floor, flipping several times before slamming into the wall of the void-like arena.
His vision blurred. Something had hit him—but it wasn't Asmodeus.
A distorted voice followed, crackling like a corrupted data stream.
"|\ !##@%=3 /|" she said.
Her words were unintelligible, glitching like broken code. As Snow forced his gaze forward, he saw her—an unfamiliar figure cloaked in radiant white.
A child.
She wore nothing but a sleek bodysuit, her form both ethereal and lethal. Her long white hair sparkled like the tail of a comet, flowing with unnatural grace. There was something terrifyingly celestial about her—a star given form.
She was familiar... in a way.
The same presence that had tried to kill Ruciel moments ago. But there was a difference. That figure had been wrapped in shadow. This one was clothed in light.
Two sides of the same coin.
They were the same entity—one light, one dark. A duality housed in a single body, with different names, different powers... and different rules.
The dark version could only be seen by those who had endured tragedy—souls that were supposed to break, but instead were refined. To beings like her, such souls were sacred. Treasured. And Snow was one of them.
So it hadn't been a surprise when he blocked her earlier attacks—risking his life to do so.
"|\ Calm down, Calib. /|" Asmodeus spoke gently, addressing her by name.
The child—Calib—seemed agitated, as if seeing Snow strike Asmodeus had offended her deeply.
But Asmodeus only smiled. The spikes piercing his body shattered like glass.
With that one smile.
Snow, still gasping from the earlier blow, could only lie there as blood poured freely from his mouth.
DING
============================
You are suffering from severe bleeding
============================
DING
============================
You are under a debuff: -15% movement speed for 1 minute
============================
His eyes shot open. Debuffed?
He had never been hit with a status effect before.
His limbs—heavy. His body—numb. He tried to move, but it felt like his muscles were frozen in place.
Blood escaped his lips once again, dripping like ink on paper
DING
============================
You have been hit with an abnormal status. Your health will decrease drastically
============================
DING
============================
You have received an unknown item
============================
Barely conscious, Snow reached toward his inventory. And there it was—something he hadn't placed there.
A sword.
And... a card glowing with faint cosmic energy.
He immediately retrieved a few potions, drinking them based on his internal wounds and instinctive knowledge of his own body.
DING
============================
You have been cured of all abnormalities
============================
DING
============================
You health has been restored
============================
DING
============================
AN ENTITY BEYOND TIME AND SPACE ANTICIPATES YOUR NEXT MOVE WITH THE ITEMS GIFTED.
============================
Snow clenched his fists, still breathing heavily.
Something's been wrong ever since I stepped into this dungeon... he thought.
There was a pattern—something bigger unfolding. It felt as if his steps had already been predicted, as if the entire path had been laid before him by something far beyond his understanding.
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS DETECTED TWO UNKNOWN ITEMS
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS CALIBRATED THE ITEMS TO THE USER'S CURRENT STATUS
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS DETECTED THE ITEMS ARE OF TEMPORARY USE
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS ACTIVATED THE SKILL CARD: CHAOS CRESCENT MOON
============================
DING
============================
CHAOS CRESCENT MOON (ACTIVE SKILL) (TEMPORARY USE)
GRADE: Legendary
LEVEL: Max
DESCRIPTION: Chaos Crescent Moon is a skill forged in hopes of shattering the stars. Upon executing a 5-Hit consecutive combo, the skill enters its awakened state
DESCENT: Absorbs cosmic energy to unleash a devasting attack said to destroy entire constellations.
NOTE: Chaos Crescent moon can only be used alongside the CHAOS MOON BLADE. Using it without the blade will result in self-destruction of both body and soul.
============================
Snow stared at the notification in awe, his mind spinning.
Legendary skill... MAX level...
He'd never seen anything like it.
His gaze slowly shifted from the card to the sword pulsing gently in his hand—pure silver with an ever-changing pattern that resembled the night sky.
DING
============================
You have equipped the CHAOS MOON BLADE.
============================
Snow's breath caught the moment his fingers curled around the hilt.
It was beautiful.
The grip was wrapped in a pristine white fabric—long enough to accommodate both hands with ease. The cross-guard shimmered in the shape of a black crescent moon, elegant yet deadly. And the blade itself... It looked like it had been carved from frozen starlight, exuding a cold so intense it numbed his palms.
It was unlike anything he had ever wielded.
From across the battlefield, Asmodeus gaze narrowed. For a moment, even his calm demeanor cracked.
"|\ Where did you get that blade? /|" His voice was no longer playful—it was frigid.
Snow didn't bother answering. "Don't ask questions."
His grip tightened. "This time... I'm going all out."
And then it happened.
A surge of memories—foreign, yet painfully clear—flooded his mind. Visions of a warrior... no, a predecessor. Someone who once held the same skill. The original user of PATHFINDER.
As if responding to that long-lost will, a cascade of notifications burst open before his eyes.
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS FOUND A PATH FOR YOU TO WALK
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS DETERMINED THE USER'S WILL AND HAS TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED THE SKILL CLASS: MASTER OF 10,000 BLADES
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS TEMPORARILY LIFTED THE SEAL
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS CALIBRATED THE USER'S BODY TO WITHSTAND THE EFFECTS OF THE SKILL CLASS: MASTER OF 10,000 BLADES
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HOPES YOU SURVIVE THE BACKLASH OF YOUR UPGRADE
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS CREATED A PATH YOU SHOULD WALK
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER URGES YOU TO WALK THE PATH CREATED
============================
Snow's eyes widened as the information poured into him. For the first time, the visions weren't fragments. They made sense. The skills, the instincts, the understanding—it was as if his body had remembered something it had never learned.
Power surged through his veins.
An aura he had never emitted before—a high-rank hunter's pressure—burst out from his core. The air distorted around him.
His gaze snapped toward Asmodeus, burning red with intensity.
Then—
Flash.
His figure blurred. Snow vanished and reappeared in a single heartbeat, striking down with breathtaking precision. Asmodeus didn't move—but the blade didn't reach him.
Clang!
Calib had stepped in.
She blocked his attack, but barely. Her arms trembled as the force of Snow's blow sent vibrations through her frame. Her eyes flickered. For the first time, she felt it—the weight behind his sword.
Strike after strike followed. Snow was relentless. His upgraded speed and strength made each movement a blur, each swing a storm. And still, Calib held the line—her body moving faster than thought, deflecting each deadly blow before it could reach Asmodeus.
But even Asmodeus noticed it.
"|\ Chaos Moon Blade... Indeed... This is the only blade worthy of my attention. /|" he said with a whisper that rumbled through the air.
Then he stepped forward.
Just one step.
The entire white space surrounding them shattered like a broken mirror. Snow instinctively leapt back, trying to regain distance.
The fragments of white that had once been their battleground now floated, glowing, before rushing toward Asmodeus—attaching themselves to him, piece by piece.
Armor.
Snow's eyes narrowed.
With each attachment, Asmodeus's form transformed—until he stood fully clad in gleaming white armor, etched with celestial markings. A long tattered blue cape hung from his back, and a flowing blue plume extended from his helmet like a lion's mane.
He stood taller now.
Colder.
Stronger.
And Calib... she too had changed.
Where she once stood, now floated a weapon.
A blade—enormous in size, its design eerily similar to Snow's. A black grip, a radiant sun-shaped cross-guard, and a blade so long it dwarfed Snow in height. Its color? A blinding, divine white.
Asmodeus gave a simple swing.
Whoosh!
The gust of wind alone cleared the battlefield, wiping away the void. The shattered space reformed, revealing the landscape as it had been when Snow first entered—a desert littered with ruin and death, soaked in the echoes of bloodshed and chaos.
Ruciel's eyes widened from afar. Even she hadn't expected this level of transformation.
Asmodeus's voice echoed once more, laced with cold judgment.
"|\ From this point on, you will struggle to prove you're worthy of holding that blade. /|"
Then he moved.
One step—just one—and he was already in front of Snow.
CRACK!
A devastating blow collided with Snow's guard. Though he had barely managed to block it, the sheer weight behind the strike sent shockwaves through the ground. The earth split. The arena shook.
Snow's arm bent at an unnatural angle. His sword arm—broken.
"|\ Hm... I merely swung my blade... and you're already falling apart. /|" Asmodeus said, his masked voice more menacing than ever.
He wasn't even using his full strength.
But what intrigued him more wasn't how Snow fought—it was why he could wield the Chaos Moon Blade at all.
Snow stumbled back, gritting his teeth through the pain.
"Get off your high horse!" he snapped, slamming his foot down to halt his retreat. He forced himself upright, blood running down his arm.
Then, eyes narrowing, he pulled open his inventory.
Snow quickly pulled open his inventory—four bottles blinked back at him.
Two health potions.
One stamina booster.
One mana potion.
And a single high-grade potion—the one he'd been saving for Ruciel.
His lips curled in frustration. "Damn it..."
He clicked his tongue, his broken arm pulsing with pain.
If he didn't handle this right... he would die here.
Asmodeus took a step forward, his blade dragging lazily at his side. His head tilted slightly, as though curious.
"|\ You... art thou all talk and no bite? /|" he asked, almost amused.
Snow's glare sharpened. "Don't insult me!" he shouted, raising his sword again despite the pain.
Suddenly—
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS DETECTED A COMMUNICATION LINK
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS LINKED THE USER TO A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL
============================
DING
============================
PATHFINDER HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE TO SPEAK WITH THE EGO: CHAOS MOON BLADE
============================
DING
============================
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK WITH THE CHAOS MOON BLADE'S AVATAR?
YES / NO
============================
DING
============================
YOU ARE NOW ABLE TO SPEAK WITH THE EGO SWORD.
NOTE: Be careful - you risk being overtaken.
============================
///You are miserable.///
A voice echoed in his mind—cold, powerful, ancient.
Snow's brows furrowed as he parried a blow from Asmodeus. "Who are you?" he asked aloud, breath hitching from the strain.
They clashed again. Sparks flew as steel met steel.
///I am Chaos Moon... one of the Heavenly Swords crafted by our Lord Ukris.///
Snow's blade wavered slightly. That name again.
"Ukris..."
///At this rate, you will die.///
"I didn't ask for your opinion," he spat, dodging a low sweep from Calib.
///Then allow me to offer a proposal.///
"..." He didn't respond but didn't dismiss the voice either.
///Let me take control of your body. In return, I shall defeat Asmodeus—my sword brother.///
Snow gritted his teeth. "Why should I trust you?"
The answer came without hesitation.
///Asmodeus is the right hand of Ukris—the Totem Keeper. The one known as the Pride of our Lord.///
///He was entrusted with Excalibur, the final line of defense. During the fall of Ukris, he alone remained sane, loyal... unshaken. That loyalty earned him his place beside our Lord until the very end.///
///Even with all the upgrades and gifts in the universe, you would never land a scratch on him—not as you are. So let me handle this... trivial matter.///
Snow hesitated, the weight of the truth sinking in. Every clash had made it clearer—he was utterly outmatched.
He exhaled shakily. "If you betray me..."
///I have no reason to. What I do have... is curiosity. Why have the remnants of our Lord chosen you? That is something I must uncover.///
///So tell me... what is your answer?///
A pause.
Then—"Fine."
In the blink of an eye, a cyclone of wind erupted around him, swallowing his form in a vortex of icy mist and pale silver light. His eyes glowed with blinding white. His hair lifted skyward, dancing like flame in the wind.
Then stillness.
He stepped forward—and the stance he took was unlike any Snow had ever assumed before. It was graceful, deadly, deliberate.
Asmodeus narrowed his eyes.
For the first time... he showed interest.
Their swords met.
BOOM.
A shockwave split the desert, a deafening thunderclap following as the very ground cracked beneath them. Blades danced faster than thought—flashes of silver, black, and white collided mid-air in a blur of divine technique and sheer violence.
Ice clashed with flame. Light with shadow.
With every strike, the desert changed. Some parts froze over with jagged spires of crystal. Others shattered into dust, annihilated by explosions of light or dark energy.
From afar, Ruciel watched in stunned silence.
This was not the Snow she knew.
This was something else.
Something greater.
Something terrifying.
"Impossible..." she whispered. "That's Snow? But he's... he's only an F-Rank..."
He moved with terrifying precision—each step calculated, each strike deliberate. Snow, now overtaken by the will of Chaos Moon, danced through the battlefield like a tempest incarnate. Ruciel could hardly keep her eyes on him as sword clashed against sword, light against shadow, ice against fire.
Then—a shock.
A figure crashed into the earth with such force it sent a seismic wave rippling across the shattered desert, kicking up a storm of sand and debris.
Ruciel flinched, shielding her face from the blast.
When the dust finally cleared, her breath caught in her throat.
A wide, blackened crater had torn open the ground—its center darker than night, its edges scorched. And from that abyss, something emerged.
Heavy footsteps echoed.
Asmodeus stepped out of the crater—no longer clad in radiant white, but in armor of absolute black, polished like obsidian. His once-tattered blue cape had turned a deep crimson, fluttering behind him like bloodied silk. From the back of his helm, what had once been a flowing mane of red now gleamed a stark, ghostly white.
His sword had changed, too.
The grip now glowed with eerie white light, but the blade itself... was shadow incarnate. So black it devoured the light around it.
"|\ Interesting... /|" he said at last, voice resonating like a hymn of ruin.
Above, Snow descended slowly, levitating down from the sky like a broken god.
Blood trickled from his mouth and nose. His clothes—what remained of them—hung in tatters. His chest was bare, bruised, and slashed, revealing a hardened, battle-scarred form. He looked nothing like the F-Rank hunter who once trembled at the thought of danger.
In his hands, the Chaos Moon Blade pulsed ominously. It glowed with growing intensity, so cold that the very air around him froze. The sand beneath his feet had turned to crystal, frost etching spiderweb patterns across the ground.
Asmodeus raised his hand—and the shadows behind him stirred.
Five figures rose from the darkness of the crater. Silhouettes at first... until they stepped forward. They were copies of Asmodeus—but each carried something different. One was younger, his armor unweathered. Another bore the scars of age and war. One was clad in gold, another in rusted steel. They were echoes—fragments of who he once was.
A council of himself.
A legacy of destruction.
"|\ You have gained my interest... mortal. /|" Asmodeus said at last, his voice edged with something unfamiliar.
Excitement.
----------------------------------------------
To be continued...