World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 133: Liona

Serian rushed to his side, her fear momentarily forgotten as she knelt beside his collapsed form. "Nox? Are you alright? What happened to you?"

He just shook his head, a wry, tired smile on his face. "I think... I think I just leveled up."

"That was not a level up," she insisted, her voice soft but firm. "I felt your power change. It was like... like something broke inside you, and then was rebuilt." She looked at the faint, fading lines of the void-forged armor on his skin. "What was that?"

He couldn’t explain it. He didn’t even understand it himself. ’A fragment of a dead god? What does that even mean?’ He pushed himself to sit up, his body aching with a deep, profound exhaustion.

"I don’t know," he said honestly. "It just... happened."

Mela walked over, her arms crossed, her usual sarcastic anger replaced by a look of wary caution. "It worked. Whatever ’it’ was. The big skeleton is dust. Let’s just get out of this tomb."

Serian looked at Nox, her mind trying to piece together the impossible things she had just witnessed. His power surge, the inhuman transformation, his instant recovery. ’It must be a gift from his sponsor,’ she thought, the idea solidifying in her mind. ’A dangerous, volatile gift, but a gift nonetheless. What kind of being grants such terrifying power?’

Nox wasn’t listening. He was staring at the empty space in front of his face, at a new interface that was sleek, black, and utterly alien. All the numbers, the stats, the long list of skills—they were gone. It was clean, efficient, and cold.

’Liona,’ a voice echoed in his head. It wasn’t a god’s voice from the chat. It was the System itself. It sounded different now. Clearer.

’So you have a name now?’ he thought back.

[That is the designation you have assigned. It is... acceptable.]

He almost laughed. The System had an opinion. ’Okay, "Liona". So what happened to me?’

[Your previous operating system was insufficient. It has been upgraded. All redundant combat subroutines have been consumed and integrated into a single, adaptive paradigm. You no longer need to activate skills. You just need to act. The void will respond to your intent.]

’So no more yelling out skill names in my head like an idiot? I just... do things?’

[Precisely. Efficiency has increased by 47.3%.]

"Nox, are you listening to me?" Serian’s voice cut through his internal conversation. "We need to go. You are not in a condition to fight."

He looked up at her, then at Mela. He dismissed the new interface and got to his feet. He felt tired, yeah, but he also felt... clean. The chaotic energy that had always thrummed under his skin was now a quiet, deep well of power.

"I’m fine," he said, and for once, it felt mostly true. He walked over to the throne and picked up the iron crown and the black orb. The orb felt cold and inert in his hand, its illusion magic gone. He tossed it aside. "Let’s go. This place stinks."

They left the mausoleum, stepping back out into the gray light of the ruined city. The path to the spire, which had been a shimmering illusion before, was now solid and real. The massive, dark tower loomed over them, waiting.

As they walked, Serian fell into step beside him. "Your power... it feels different now," she said quietly. "It is still dark, but it is not as... chaotic. It feels more focused."

"Yeah, well, I got a software update," he mumbled, not even caring if it made sense.

Mela, walking a few feet ahead, glanced back over her shoulder. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes were full of a new kind of respect. A fearful respect, but respect nonetheless. She had seen him as a reckless, brawling human. Now she knew he was something else entirely. Something ancient and terrifying that just happened to be wearing a human’s face.

The closer they got to the spire, the more undead they encountered. But the fights were different now. Nox didn’t need to think about which skill to use.

When a skeletal knight charged, a shield of void energy would simply form on his arm to block the blow. When a zombie got too close, his fist would be coated in dark, hardened chitin before he even thought to punch it. He didn’t have to command the void anymore.

He was the void.

And it was starting to feel really, really good.

They moved through the ruined city, the Lich’s Spire a constant, looming presence on the horizon. The silence between them was a heavy blanket, thick with unspoken questions and fear. Mela walked with her hand never straying far from her needles, her eyes constantly scanning the rubble-choked alleys. She wasn’t just on guard against the undead; she was on guard against the person walking behind her.

Serian kept glancing at Nox. The jagged black armor was gone, and he looked like himself again, but she knew it was just a mask. She had seen what was underneath. She had felt it. The raw, terrifying power that had consumed the Grave Lord wasn’t just a weapon he wielded; it was a part of him.

Nox, for his part, was enjoying the quiet. For the first time, his mind felt clear. The constant, angry buzz that had been his companion for as long as he could remember was gone, replaced by a cool, clean silence.

’So this is what it’s like to not be a walking ball of rage,’ he thought, flexing his hands. He felt a flicker of intent, a desire for a weapon, and a simple, black dagger of void energy formed in his grip. It was effortless, as natural as breathing.

[Weapon manifestation is a low-tier energy expenditure,] the voice of Liona echoed in his mind, calm and clinical. [It is inefficient for prolonged combat. A physical weapon imbued with your energy is the optimal choice.]

’Yeah, yeah, I get it,’ he thought back, dismissing the dagger. ’Just testing the new OS.’

"Do you hear that?" Mela’s sharp whisper cut through the silence.

They all froze. It was a low, grinding sound, like stone scraping on stone. It was coming from the wide plaza they were about to enter.

They crept to the edge of the plaza, peering from behind the rusted hulk of a bus. In the center of the square, the rubble was moving. Broken pieces of statues, shattered cobblestones, and the bones of fallen undead were pulling themselves together, drawn by an unseen force. The pieces slammed together, forming a hulking, monstrous figure.

It was a golem, easily twenty feet tall, a mismatched colossus of bone and rock. A single, dull green gem pulsed in the center of its chest, the source of its animation.

"A Bone Construct," Mela breathed, her face pale. "I’ve only read about these. They are mindless and feel no pain. Their hides are nearly indestructible."

"We cannot harm it with swords or needles," Serian added, her hand tight on her own blade. "We must fall back and find another path."

Nox just watched the golem take a heavy, grinding step, his expression unreadable.

[Analysis: Target is a Tier-4 Undead Amalgam,] Liona’s voice reported in his mind. [Physical defense is high. Kinetic force is an inefficient method of engagement.]

’So, punching it is a bad idea. Got it.’

[The animating gem is the primary weak point. However, it is protected by a reinforced bone-and-rock composite cage. A direct assault is not viable.]

The golem turned its head, its empty sockets seeming to fixate on them. It let out a low roar, a sound like an avalanche, and began to shamble toward their hiding place.

"Nox, we must leave!" Serian urged, pulling on his arm.

He didn’t move. ’Okay, Liona. You’re the super-smart OS. What’s the optimal solution here?’

[Observation: The target’s right leg is constructed with a higher ratio of bone to rock. The knee joint is a structural vulnerability. A high-impact, focused strike to that point has a 78% probability of compromising the target’s mobility.]

A slow, cold grin spread across Nox’s face. "No," he said, his voice quiet. "We fight."

Before they could argue, he was moving. He didn’t charge straight ahead. He flickered to the left, his new, instinctual movement carrying him across the plaza in a blur. The golem swung its massive, rocky fist, but it was too slow. It smashed the bus they had been hiding behind, crushing it like a tin can.

"He’s insane!" Mela yelled, pulling Serian back from the flying debris.

Nox didn’t stop. He weaved between the golem’s clumsy attacks, getting closer with every step. He wasn’t just dodging; he was analyzing, his Void Gaze skill now a passive part of his perception, feeding him information on the creature’s every movement.

’It’s slow. Predictable. It’s just a big, dumb puppet.’

[Evasive maneuvers are draining stamina,] Liona noted coolly. [A decisive strike is required.]

’I know, I know. I’m getting there.’

He flickered again, appearing right beside the golem’s right leg. The knee joint was exactly where Liona had said it would be, a clumsy joining of femurs and fractured stone.

He didn’t pull back his fist. He didn’t power up. He just dropped his shoulder and drove his entire body forward, focusing all his energy, all his intent, into a single, sharp point on his armored elbow.

The impact was a sharp, cracking sound, like a tree branch snapping in a high wind. The golem’s knee joint shattered. Its massive leg gave way, and the twenty-foot-tall monster crashed to the ground with a deafening roar, shaking the entire plaza.

It was down, but not out. It began to drag itself forward with its powerful arms, its one good leg scraping uselessly behind it.

"He... he crippled it," Mela stammered, her eyes wide.

Nox stood over the fallen monster, a bored expression on his face. He walked calmly to the golem’s thrashing form, ignoring the massive arms that were trying to crush him. He stepped onto its chest and looked down at the glowing green gem.

The reinforced cage of bone and rock was still there, but from this angle, he could see a small gap between the ribs.

He reached down with his void-armored hand, his fingers sharpening into black, chitinous claws. He plunged his hand into the gap, straight through the dusty bones and into the creature’s chest.

He felt a jolt as his fingers closed around the warm, pulsing gem.

He pulled.

There was a wet, tearing sound as he ripped the gem free, along with a handful of whatever passed for the golem’s internal wiring.

The light in the gem faded to a dull green, then went dark. The massive construct shuddered one last time and then fell still, its body collapsing into a huge, inanimate pile of rocks and bones.

Nox stood on its chest, tossing the now-dead gem in his hand.

He turned to look at the two elves, who were staring at him with a mixture of shock and terror.

"See?" he said, his voice calm. "Easy."