CHAPTER 145: CHAPTER 145: FREEDOM

Chapter 145 – Freedom

Hours passed, and Kaden was still sitting in front of the bandits’ territory without moving an inch.

Beasts came—many of them—drawn by the lingering scent of blood and fire. Kaden killed them all, collecting their origin cores to saturate his own.

That’s when he noticed something.

"Why is this so slow?" Kaden muttered to himself as he absorbed another intermediate rank origin core, the change barely noticeable. No... to be honest, he felt no change at all.

But he was lying to himself.

Because admitting it meant facing a harrowing truth.

[You are walking toward transcendence. Your origin core is special. You will need at least master-ranked origin cores to saturate it. Otherwise, using intermediate cores will take you forever.]

"Ah... fucking hell." Kaden dragged a hand down his face, exasperated.

Don’t think that just because he’d beaten Selene and gone toe-to-toe with Daela, he could easily take down a master-ranked beast.

No. Not at all.

That’s not how things work.

Selene wasn’t combat-oriented—her power lay in manipulating minds, making others do her bidding. Kaden’s iron will made him her worst possible opponent.

Daela was his sister. And no matter how much she wanted to win, she never went all out against her cute little brother.

Until now, he hadn’t faced a true master.

A fight where life and death flirt like long-lost lovers... which, knowing them, might not even be a metaphor.

"Master-ranked beasts... how many do I need to saturate my core?"

[It depends. Beasts have types. The more unique ones have cores worth multiples of others.]

[But approximately, you will need thousands of master-ranked beasts.]

Silence.

Kaden didn’t speak for a long while. He sat there, his bloody flame still roaring behind him, wondering if he was developing hearing problems.

"I might have heard you wrong, Death... repeat that?" His voice trembled ever so slightly.

[Thousands. Thousands of master-ranked beasts.]

[Or maybe around a hundred and one grandmaster cores.]

Death added the second option like it was offering him mercy.

Kaden stared at the panel with open disdain.

"And where the fuck would I kill a grandmaster as an intermediate?" he spat.

[So... thousands.] Death’s tone was like a shrug. As if it was saying ’Well, sucks to be you.’

Kaden stayed silent. He’d rather think of a way out than waste words.

’Unless I stumble into a treasure trove of origin cores... or the goddess of luck drops a dead grandmaster in front of me...’

’... things will be bothersome.’

He closed his eyes, breathing in and out, forcing his heartbeat to slow, trying to claw an idea out of this mess.

’Step by step. Break it into smaller goals.’

Tasks that were simple, but effective.

’I’ll get there eventually... no need to rush and cause unnecessary trouble.’

A rustling sound echoed lightly around him, accompanied by steps.

His horse returned.

Kaden smiled faintly, stood, and mounted it with practiced ease.

"Let’s go," he ordered.

The beast obeyed, bolting toward the east.

...

Fokay — Underground Game of Freedom

Inside a cell, Zaki lay on a bed, his body covered in blood and wounds.

The cell was large and strangely luxurious. Everything one might need was there.

He wasn’t alone. Four others were with him.

The sole survivors of the previous game.

A game that had started with more than twenty participants. Now, only five remained.

Zaki didn’t even know how he had survived. He still couldn’t believe it, especially after facing that flaming lion.

It had been fast, precise, merciless. Its flames alone made it something even most intermediate or awakened ranks couldn’t face.

But somehow, against all odds, they had managed to survive for half an hour.

’But for what?’

His eyes grew hazy with fear.

He had come to Fokay seeking strength, strength to return and take revenge.

But this...

This was a death sentence.

"W-we need to escape... we... need to..."

The voice came from the corner.

The others turned.

A small, frail boy was shaking uncontrollably. His soft orange hair clung to his sweat-drenched face, his matching eyes wide and dilated in terror.

"We... have to go. We have to regain our freedom."

A chuckle followed, echoing through the dark gloomy cell.

A bulky middle aged man with black hair and cold brown eyes looked at the boy with pity.

"Freedom? You think only this underground stole that from you?"

He chuckled again, shaking his head slightly before continuing

"There is no freedom in this world. None."

"Let’s say you escape this place... then what?"

"Try to get stronger so you can protect yourself? Lie low to avoid being caught again?"

"Either way, you will still end up doing things you don’t want to do. Where’s the freedom in that?"

His gaze shifted to the still three silent ones—Zaki, a dark-haired gloomy boy with heavy bags under his boundless black eyes, and a silver-haired and green eyed girl with pointed elven features.

"Do you seek freedom?" he asked, his voice low.

The question hit Zaki like a blade.

Did he seek freedom? Of course.

He didn’t want to rot here, forced to play games run by people who acted as if they had the right to grant "freedom" as a prize.

He didn’t want that. He had just begun to change the course of his life... just started to become worthy, to be able to protect Eimi...

How could he accept being locked here to entertain strangers with his life?

He couldn’t.

He had to fight back.

He had to leave.

He had vengeance to take, a promise to keep and someone dear waiting for him.

He couldn’t stay here.

So...

’Do or die.’ Zaki’s will hardened.

"Yes..." he opened his mouth and spoke.

The others turned their gaze toward him.

"I want freedom. It might exist or not... but it doesn’t matter. I will create it. Because I want to get out of here..."

He slowly stood, his gaze sweeping over the rest. They were all looking at him with different kind of expressions.

"...What about you?"

—End of Chapter 145—