CHAPTER 538: THRILLING

Ray didn’t stop.

Blood painted his shirt, his arms, and his face. His blade gleamed like obsidian laced with fire and crackling with ember with every swing.

The school had become a ruined maze of scorched walls and shattered glass, and corpses littering around but he moved through it like it was his kingdom. He slaughtered everything that bared its fangs at him either it was mutated animals, monsters, or mutated humans.

And now the whole school was watching him.

Students peered from behind overturned tables, through cracks in classroom doors, or from under stairwells where they hid.

Teachers huddled with the wounded in the nurse’s office. Their eyes tracking the boy they all remembered as the quiet and invisible one.

The boy who now carved a path through death like it was his purpose.

They whispered his name and called him a hero when saw him kill monsters that wanted to kill them.

He was their savior.

But Ray didn’t hear that. Or if he did, he didn’t care.

He wasn’t saving anyone.

He was feeding something vast and unseen inside his soul. The blade in his hand pulsed hotter now. The red glow deepened to something wilder.

Sparks of black and orange lightning ran down its edge, crackling with hunger. It was changing and becoming more stronger.

Just like him.

When he stopped to breathe, he saw the notification window floating in front of his eyes.

[Level Up: 10]

He blinked.

He was level ten already?

He hadn’t been counting. But now that he saw it, he felt his body stronger than it had ever been.

His mind became even sharper, his senses tuned like a predator. And the blade felt heavier in his hand, like it had grown with him.

The whisper in his mind was clearer now. Not just a voice. Ray felt like he had a companion.

Something in this world that didn’t reject him. Something that needed him as much as he needed it.

He smiled again.

But then the building shook hard.

Dust rained from the ceiling. Cracks splintered across the walls. Then a distant crash roared from above as if a meteor had struck the roof.

Screams erupted from every hallway.

Ray turned toward the sound. Everyone was pointing up.

Even from inside the ruined halls, he saw it. Thick and jagged like stone, a massive tail dragging down from the rooftop, armored in black scales and glistening with spikes.

A reptilian giant. And then came the sound.

A growl so deep it made Ray’s spine vibrate.

The fire came next.

A stream of burning death shot downward through a hole in the ceiling.

Flames swallowed the second floor hallway. Screams turned into silence. The beast was hunting indiscriminately.

Ray’s heart pounded.

He watched the fire rise and felt thrilled.

That was not a low leveled beast. That thing was powerful and dangerous.

It was a worthy fight.

And for the first time since this started, he hesitated.

Could he really kill something like that?

Then the voice came again.

"You can."

It was a push that feels like a promise. Not empty. As if the blade knew that he could do it.

Ray’s hesitation vanished in an instant.

With a grin stretching across his blood-smeared face, he turned toward the stairwell.

The scent of ash and fire filled the air. The metal in his grip hummed louder than ever before.

And he climbed step by step toward the rooftop toward the monster.

Ray stepped onto the rooftop.

The air was hot, thick with smoke and the stench of burning flesh.

Ash drifted like snow across the ruined school and flames licked the sky from shattered parts of the building below.

The wind howled louder up here, pushing at his blood-soaked clothes, but Ray didn’t flinch.

Then he saw it.

The creature stood at the far end of the rooftop. Massive, coiled, and seething. It was a wyvern. Red and black scales gleamed under the broken sky, its long serpentine neck curving toward him with a hiss.

Two enormous wings, torn and veined with molten cracks, unfurled slowly. Its claws clicked against the concrete, long and jagged like knives.

Its fangs dripped with heat and from its open maw, sparks of ember leaked with every breath.

Its eyes locked on him. Not on the school or on the dozens of survivors still huddled below.

No, this monster saw Ray and marked him instantly as his target. Or maybe as prey.

Ray froze for a second. His heart pounded so violently it echoed in his ears.

This wasn’t like the other monsters. This wasn’t something mindless that attacked in a straight line. This was a real predator that had intelligence.

It was the kind of beast he’d only seen in games or anime or shows.

And now it was here. Real ans breathing. Staring straight at him.

Ray couldn’t move. For a heartbeat, maybe more, his body refused to obey. His legs were stone. His mouth is dry.

Then the blade in his hand pulsed hot and insistent.

"Do not step back.! You’ve come too far! This is your moment to gain more power!"

Ray’s grip tightened. The fear that had paralyzed him turned into something hotter and sharper.

He exhaled slowly and felt the death, the fire, the silence of the school below, and the monster before him washed over him.

This wasn’t fear anymore.

It was anticipation.

He smiled wide.

The wyvern roared.

It opened its jaws and fire burst toward him.

Ray leapt sideways, rolling behind a bent metal vent as flames engulfed where he’d stood. Concrete cracked and the rooftop groaned, but he emerged fine then sprinting fast with his blade drawn.

The wyvern lunged. Its wings crashed down and sent debris flying as it struck the rooftop, but Ray moved fast, ducking beneath its claws and slicing low along one leg.

His blade met the scale and scraped. No wound.

But he grinned harder.

The blade in his hand shimmered again. He felt its heat, like a heartbeat syncing with his own.

Ray stood tall, wind swirling around him, eyes locked on the monster.

Then he charged again.