My Charity System made me too OP-Chapter 336: Fighting XIII

Nur'Thaleth didn't move physically—it projected memories and made them corporeal. An illusory Trish, soaked in blood, charged Leon with the Infinity Sword, screaming his name. He hesitated.

The blade was real.

Leon barely blocked with his staff, Shell Reverb mitigating the kinetic feedback. Another projection followed—his former self, the one from Tier I, charging recklessly. He hesitated again.

Each hesitation became damage.

"You are slowed by your empathy," said the Masked One.

"Your fear of failing those you love will be your death."

But then—Leon grinned.

"And you're afraid I'll overcome it."

Leon dropped all his defensive posture and opened his arms, letting the illusions pierce him.

Shell Reverb activated at full flow—Tripart Echo, Karmic Loop, Absolute Return—but he did not direct it.

He absorbed it.

Let it become him.

And then—his form pulsed. Not with rage, but with crystalline clarity. The fear no longer clouded his mind.

It was data.

The illusions cracked. Nur'Thaleth shrieked, its faces contorting as Leon activated his fused core:

Destruction + Aether Blood + Gold Pulse + Echo of Origin.

His hand opened. A single golden-red spear of pure intent formed.

"This is for every version of me you tried to break."

Leon hurled it.

The spear didn't fly—it phased. It struck every mask on Nur'Thaleth's face simultaneously, unraveling the spell matrix in one brilliant flash.

The arena shattered.

Leon stood in silence, panting. The illusion faded. The gatekeeper returned, its true form a simple Obsidian Ant monk.

"You did not conquer fear. You walked through it."

[Victory: Challenger Leon – Rank 29 Defeated]

[Shell Reverb Mastery: 97%]

[Echo of Origin Stability: Strengthened]

As the others returned to him, Roselia embraced him tightly. "You're shaking."

Leon didn't answer at first. Then:

"I saw you die, Roselia. A thousand ways."

She leaned in closer, touching her forehead to his. "Then you've seen exactly how far I'll go to survive for you."

Naval gave a nod. "Rest up, brother. Rank 28's not gonna pity you for your trauma."

Leon smirked. "Good. Because I'm done being afraid."

Leon descended into the next arena—this one was not cloaked in illusion, but reality so dense it bent the air. The floor shimmered like heated obsidian, yet was cold to the touch. Around him stood a vast ring surrounded by spires of dark glass, each one humming with raw pressure.

Waiting for him at the center was the Rank 28 champion: Ka'Zhul of the Pressure Womb, an Obsidian Ant unlike any Leon had seen. Massive, silent, coiled with power not in his limbs but in the air around him. His presence warped gravity itself.

"Ka'Zhul does not speak," a nearby elder intoned. "He compresses all mana around him into a singularity state. Your own power will betray you here."

Leon narrowed his eyes. "So it's not just a fight. It's a suffocation."

[Combat Zone Stabilizing: Gravity Field ×4]

[Warning: Shell Pulse Efficiency Reduced]

[Warning: Core Magic Condensation: Delayed]

Leon's body felt twenty times heavier the moment the duel started. Just walking forward felt like dragging mountains. But Ka'Zhul moved like flowing mercury—effortless, soundless, and devastating.

The first blow was a gravity punch—Ka'Zhul didn't swing. He compressed the space between them and let it collapse. The resulting shockwave hurled Leon across the arena, bouncing once, twice—until he braced using Shell Pulse and skidded to a halt.

"Not the strongest I've fought," Leon said, spitting blood. "But easily the most unforgiving."

He activated Shell Reverb: Absolute Return, using every ounce of kinetic data from Ka'Zhul's strikes. He launched himself forward, channeling all his reverb into his legs, delivering a storm of speed-fueled jabs.

Ka'Zhul simply tilted his body, and gravity shifted again.

Leon's own blows bent around Ka'Zhul, redirected into the ground. Explosions followed, but none landed true.

Leon's vision blurred. Every magic layer was stifled. Gold Magic flickered, Aether Blood was boiling, and even Destruction flared slowly. His Origin Anchor tried to stabilize him—but the pressure was immense.

Ka'Zhul clenched a fist. The gravity field around Leon intensified. His knees buckled. Bones creaked. Blood vessels burst in his eyes.

Then—something cracked inside him.

Not his body—his limit.

"You want pressure?" Leon growled. "I am pressure."

He called forth a condensed version of Destruction Core Pulse, mixing it into a sphere the size of a coin. A trembling orb of Abyssal Gold + Aether Flame + Shell Pulse + Destruction Spark.

Ka'Zhul finally moved—to stop him.

Too late.

Leon slammed the sphere into the ground between them and released it.

BOOM.

A dome of inverted force erupted, canceling Ka'Zhul's gravity field for a single instant—just long enough.

Leon blinked behind him using Shell Pulse Flicker Echo and delivered a blow to the base of Ka'Zhul's spine—not with muscle, but with the stored data of every failed strike. Absolute Return echoed them all back at once.

Crack.

Ka'Zhul dropped to a knee. Then both.

And then—collapsed.

[Rank 28 Champion Defeated: Ka'Zhul the Gravity Core]

[Shell Reverb Mastery: 98.2%]

[New Technique Unlocked: Shell Fracture Pulse]

[Level 602 → 604]

Leon knelt, breathing hard, his muscles twitching from overuse. His knuckles were cracked open. His mana reserves nearly gone. But he was alive.

Roselia ran to him first. "You idiot. You nearly caved in your lungs!"

Leon grinned through the blood. "But I shattered his spine first."

Roman shook his head. "That man was a walking black hole. And you just punched physics."

Milim added, "You're too stubborn to die. I like that."

Leon stood, wiping his mouth. His body felt heavy, yet somehow… lighter.

"Next," he said, "Rank 27."

Despite his injuries from Ka'Zhul, Leon didn't stop. A brief rest, some healing potions, and the focused attention of Roselia's magic stabilized his body. But the burn of momentum—of hunger—still raged inside him.

The next arena was different. It wasn't carved from obsidian or stone—it was suspended in midair, a floating coliseum surrounded by molten skies and flickering motes of radiant flame.

Hovering above the center was his opponent: Vaelis the Emberlight Duelist, a slender Obsidian Ant with a crown of living flame and twin sabers forged from crystallized starfire.

Unlike previous opponents, Vaelis spoke. His voice was like a wind passing over lava.

"You've broken the weight of Ka'Zhul. But speed and grace are another domain, outsider. Can your body dance where the flame becomes thought?"

Leon rolled his shoulders, flames still smoldering in his eyes from the Destruction Core. "I'll dance until the floor cracks."