Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix
Chapter 1189 - 1189: Start of the challenge

When Rain arrived in front of the throne, he saw a humanoid being standing on it… while the place was well lit, half of his body was covered in shadows, Rain could feel the active effect of some spell there.

"The first person who I found that can use shadow magic…" Rain furrowed his eyebrows.

"You think?" Elisabetha asked. "From what I can feel from here, it only feels like someone who is controlling the power of corruption. The power of the sins without letting them control him."

"Which sin?" Rain asked.

"All of them," Elisabetha replied.

Before Rain could do anything else, the floor began to shake and glow in a red tone. Rain jumped away and then saw a magic circle being formed… before long, something emerged from the ground like it wasn't solid.

A figure emerged, clad in ominous, jet-black armor that seemed to absorb the ambient light. Rain furrowed his eyebrows as the silhouette took form, revealing a fully armored black knight with a double-spiked helmet.

The knight stood imposingly, its armor devoid of any embellishments yet exuding an unsettling aura of darkness. The armor's surface seemed to absorb the surrounding light, creating an effect that accentuated its foreboding presence. The knight's helmet concealed its face, leaving only a shadowy void where features should have been.

Rain's expectations shifted as he gazed upon the armored figure. He had anticipated facing monsters, but this manifestation seemed more akin to a sentient force, a being draped in the embodiment of darkness itself. The contrast between the imposing black knight and the well-lit castle created an atmosphere of tension and anticipation.

In the next moment, the black knight summoned a sword made of shadows… it was bigger than the even two and a half meters tall black knight, but it moved like it was light as a feather.

The black knight charged toward Rain and swung down his sword. In the next moment, the weapon hit the ground… Rain could tell that the power of the attack should have made the entire structure shake, but that didn't happen at all… the place absorbed all of the power of the attack.

"I guess the others won't be able to feel how the battle is here," Rain thought when he landed a couple of meters behind.

An opponent like that was a bit too much for Rain's current skills with the class system only… his build was rather messed up, after all. Trying to block the weapon with his fists wouldn't work… he didn't want to touch that dark sword either… but he could tell that his other weapons wouldn't last for long against that.

"Is this what he is after?" Rain thought. "Breaking my weapons and weakening me?"

The black knight charged again, swinging the sword from one side to the other, with a fluidity that defied his size. While Rain wasn't his domain up, he still kicked the ground from one side to the other while mimicking the effects of Impulse, and that helped him avoid the hits. His goal was to gather as much information as possible, but he was starting to think that it would be useless…

"I have to complete this run and then try again," Rain thought.

Rain raised his guard when the opponent charged, and he dashed forward as well. Before the sword could reach him, Rain hit the chin of the enemy with a palm strike, completely stopping the momentum of his charge and stunning him as well. In the next moment, he jumped to the side and then grabbed the right arm of the enemy on an arm lock.

Before the enemy could muster any strength, Rain broke it, but when he touched the sword handle to take it from the enemy… he suddenly fell to the ground, and he lost his grip over the black knight. Rain got up in a hurry and looked for the enemy, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Victory is yours. You have one thousand points back for your victory," The man on the throne said.

Rain furrowed his eyebrows… that was something that the guys in the down didn't say to him… that seemed like the kind of information some of them should have learned… but as expected, part of their job was only to reveal the information that the king wanted.

The figure atop the golden throne spoke with a voice that carried a suspicious mix of weariness and anger. The voice echoed through the vast castle, reaching Rain's ears with a tone that hinted at the weight of countless years. It was a voice that seemed tired as if burdened by the passage of time, yet beneath that weariness, anger simmered like an eternal flame.

Rain couldn't tell whether the king experienced time in the same way as the people in the town. Still, the presence exuded an everlasting anger that seemed to transcend the bounds of temporal limitations. It was a weariness that came from enduring the weight of countless frustrations and perhaps the relentless passage of time itself.

The mysteries within the castle deepened, and the encounter with the king told a narrative that extended beyond the challenges laid out for the inhabitants of the prison-like environment. The weariness in the king's voice almost showed a tale of perpetual struggle, leaving Rain to wonder about the enigma that stood before him.

Before Rain could think too much about it, the floor began to glow and shake once more. Another suspicious figure emerged from the ground while its body was covered in shadows as well… at that point in time, Rain couldn't help but think that instead of the system of that floor, summoning those things was the ability of the king… the king of power that Rain truly wanted.

"I will have to face him a bunch of times, but this will help me understand his ability," Rain thought as he saw a golem of shadows appear in front of him.

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