CHAPTER 214: THE WALK OF KINGS

Chapter 210: The Walk of Kings

The blue light of the teleportation gate fractured, and the sterile, metallic scent of the Arena was instantly replaced by the thick, humid rot of a primeval jungle.

Heat pressed against us like a wet wool blanket. The air buzzed—literally—with the sound of insects the size of my fist.

Towering trees with bark like iron scales blocked out the simulated sky, leaving us in a perpetual, green-tinted twilight.

[Floor 11: The Forest of Trials.]

[Objective: Locate the Gatekeeper of the Grove.]

[Environmental Hazard: Dense Fog / Hidden Traps.]

My team materialized around me.

They were still reeling from the Floor 10 spectacle. Kaelen looked at me as if I might bite him.

Seraphina was staring at the back of my head, her expression a complicated knot of fear and fascination.

"Form up," I said. My voice was low, barely cutting through the jungle noise, but they snapped to attention instantly.

"Standard formation?" Alex asked, his shield raised, eyes darting nervously at the shifting shadows of the undergrowth.

"No," I replied, adjusting my collar. "We’re walking."

"Walking?" Gideon blinked.

"Boss, this is the Forest of Trials. The guide says it’s crawling with Camouflage Lizards and Treants. It’s an ambush zone."

"I know," I said, stepping over a massive, moss-covered root.

"But ambushes only work if you trigger them. Follow my footsteps exactly. Don’t deviate by an inch."

I started walking.

I didn’t draw Draken. I kept my hands in my pockets, my posture relaxed, bordering on lazy. To the observer, I looked like I was taking a stroll through a park.

To me? I was walking a tightrope over a pit of vipers.

’Aggro Radius: 4 meters. Patrol Path: Circular. Detection: Sound-based.’

My [Quantum Analysis Mind] painted the jungle in vectors and danger zones.

I could see the red outlines of [Camouflage Lizards] clinging to the tree trunks, perfectly blended with the bark.

I could see the dormant mana signatures of [Treants] masquerading as normal trees.

I stepped left. The team stepped left.

I paused for two seconds. They froze.

I stepped right.

A massive lizard, invisible to the naked eye, flicked its tongue inches from my shoulder. I didn’t flinch.

I didn’t even look at it. I just kept walking, knowing its AI loop wouldn’t trigger unless I entered its 3-meter visual cone.

Seraphina, bringing up the rear, let out a small gasp. She had seen the shimmer of scales as we passed.

"It... it didn’t attack," she whispered, her voice trembling. "We walked right past it."

"It didn’t see us," I said calmly. "Because I decided it wouldn’t."

We moved deeper into the forest. The deeper we went, the heavier the pressure became. The fog thickened, reducing visibility to near zero.

"I can’t see anything," Kaelen whimpered. "Chief, are we lost?"

"Close your eyes," I ordered. "If you can’t see, don’t look. Trust the sound of my boots."

We walked for twenty minutes in absolute silence. To the team, it must have felt like a suicide march. To the instructors watching from the gallery, it must have looked like madness.

On the screens in Rolune, Evelyn Whitehound leaned forward, her eyes tracking my path on the minimap.

"He’s not just avoiding them," she muttered, tracing the red dots of enemy mobs. "He’s walking the seam. The exact pixel-perfect line between their detection zones. That’s not strategy. That’s... clairvoyance."

Alastor Greythorn just grinned, his arms crossed. "He’s asserting dominance over the map itself. He’s telling the dungeon that he’s not worth its time."

We reached a clearing.

In the center stood a massive tree, its trunk twisted into a grotesque face. Roots writhed like snakes around its base.

[Mob: Elder Treant (Elite)]

[Rank: E+]

[State: Dormant.]

The path to the next sector lay directly beneath its roots.

"A gatekeeper," Alex said, tightening his grip on his shield. "We have to fight this one. There’s no way around."

"Put the shield down, Alex," I said, yawning slightly. "You’ll pull a muscle."

I walked toward the Treant.

The tree shuddered. Bark cracked and groaned as the massive wooden face opened its glowing green eyes.

A low, earthy growl vibrated through the ground. It raised a branch-arm, thick as a column, ready to smash the intruder.

"GRAA—?!"

I stopped. I looked up at the Treant.

I didn’t channel mana. I didn’t activate a skill. I just... looked at it.

But I let my Title slip.

[Title Effect Active: The Tyrant of the Tower]

’Increases fear effects on lower-ranked enemies by 50%.’

Combined with the residual scent of the Ogre Chieftain’s death and the lingering abyssal stink of Draken, the aura I projected wasn’t human. It was the scent of an apex predator.

The Treant froze. Its branch-arm halted mid-swing. The green light in its eyes flickered, dimming.

It sensed it. The food chain had just been updated, and it wasn’t at the top anymore.

"Move," I said softly.

The Treant trembled. Slowly, with a sound of grinding wood that sounded painfully like a whimper, it pulled its roots back. It shifted its massive bulk aside, clearing the path.

It curled into itself, reverting to its dormant state, pretending to be just a tree.

I walked past it without a second glance.

"Thanks," I muttered.

My team stood rooted to the spot, their jaws practically on the floor.

"It... it listened to him," Finn whispered, his mask slipping to reveal pure shock. "He commanded a mob."

"He didn’t command it," Gideon said, his grin widening to a terrifying degree. "He scared it. The vegetation is afraid of him. That’s... beautiful."

"Let’s go," I called back over my shoulder. "Floor 12 is a swamp. I want to get through it before lunch."

The climb from Floor 11 to 19 was a blur of efficiency.

While other teams—Leon’s heroes, Eric’s elites, Magnus’s army—fought bloody, exhausting battles against every mob in their path, Team Anomaly simply... existed.

We walked through the Frozen Labyrinth of Floor 15 without fighting a single Ice Golem. I knew the thermal vents. I knew the shortcuts.

We navigated the Desert of Mirage on Floor 18 by walking in a straight line with our eyes closed, ignoring the illusions that tried to lure us into sandpits.

I didn’t draw my sword once.

I didn’t cast a single spell.

I just walked, hands in my pockets, radiating an aura of absolute, bored certainty.

My team did the fighting when it was unavoidable—small skirmishes, trap disarming—but they did it with a new, fanatical confidence.

They weren’t afraid anymore. How could they be? Their leader made Elite mobs wet themselves just by making eye contact.

By the time we reached the portal to Floor 20, my SP had climbed to a staggering 285,000 from passive bonuses and speed-clears.

But the real prize was waiting.

[Floor 20: The Wolf’s Den.]

[Boss: Dire Wolf King Fenra (E-)]

[Restriction: Squad Mode.]

We materialized in a vast, moonlit clearing surrounded by towering pines. Fog curled around our ankles. In the center of the clearing, atop a rock formation, stood a massive wolf.

Fenra.

He was the size of a carriage, his fur silver-white, his eyes burning blue. Around him prowled a pack of thirty Dire Wolves.

This was the wall. The end of the "Squad Mode" tutorial.

Other teams would form defensive circles. They would tank the pack, have their DPS focus the boss, and burn potions to stay alive.

I looked at my team. They were ready. Alex thumped his shield. Seraphina nocked three arrows at once.

"Alright," I said, turning to them. "This is it. The final floor of the first section."

"We’re ready, Chief," Alex said, his voice rock-steady. "What’s the plan? Formation A? B?"

"Plan C," I said.

They blinked. "C?"

"You guys sit this one out."

Silence.

"Excuse me?" Seraphina asked, her bow lowering slightly. "Did you just say... sit out?"

"The boss has a special mechanic," I lied smoothly. "It enrages based on the number of active mana signatures in its aggro range. If we all engage, it summons reinforcements. Infinite reinforcements."

This was, technically, complete bullshit. But it sounded like something a shitty game dev would design, so it was believable.

"If I go in alone," I continued, "it stays in Phase 1. It’s a duel."

"But... it’s a Boss, Michael," Kaelen said, wringing his hands. "And there are thirty adds."

"I know." I unbuttoned my collar slightly, letting the cool night air hit my skin. "That’s why it’s fair."

I turned to them, my expression hardening.

"Stay behind the barrier line. Do not engage. Do not heal me. Do not fire an arrow unless I am dead. Understood?"

They hesitated. The loyalty I had cultivated was warring with their common sense.

"This is an order," I said, letting a pulse of [Aura Dominion] wash over them. "Trust me."

Slowly, reluctantly, they nodded. They stepped back to the edge of the clearing.

I turned to Fenra.

The Wolf King was staring at me. He growled, a low rumble that vibrated in my chest. The pack snarled, their hackles rising.

I took a step forward.

[System Notification]

[Hidden Condition Detected: Lone Challenger.]

[Warning: Engaging Boss without Squad support increases difficulty by 200%.]

[Reward: Fenra’s Eye of Solitude (Epic).]

I grinned.

"Finally," I whispered. "Some good loot."

I didn’t draw Draken. Not yet.

I activated [Lightning Affinity].

CRACKLE.

Blue-white arcs of electricity erupted around me, dancing over my skin, jumping between my fingers. My hair lifted, charged with static.

I activated [Ice Affinity].

FWOOM.

The fog around my feet froze. A circle of absolute zero expanded, the grass turning to brittle crystal.

I fused them.

[Storm-Frost Aura.]

The lightning turned pale blue. The ice began to hum with energy.

"Hey, puppy," I called out.

Fenra roared. The pack charged. Thirty massive wolves, teeth bared, rushing to tear me apart.

I didn’t move. I waited.

20 meters. 10 meters. 5 meters.

"Now."

I stomped my foot.

[Skill: Judgment Chain (Lightning)]

[Modifier: Aura Infusion (Ice)]

BOOOOOOOOOOM.

A shockwave of frozen lightning exploded from my position.

It wasn’t a chain; it was a web.

The lightning arcs didn’t just shock; they froze.

The thirty charging wolves were caught mid-leap. The electricity seized their muscles, and the ice flash-froze them in place.

In one second, the charging pack was turned into a garden of statues. Thirty wolves, suspended in blocks of crackling blue ice.

The clearing fell silent, save for the humming of the statues.

Fenra stood on his rock, alone. His pack was gone. Instantly.

I walked through the statues, my hands in my pockets, the lightning arcing harmlessly off my shoulders.

I looked up at the Wolf King.

"Just you and me now," I said.

I finally drew Draken. The dark blade drank the moonlight.

"Come down."

Fenra howled, a sound of pure, magical fury, and leaped.

He came down like a meteor, claws glowing with mana, aiming to crush me.

I watched him fall.

’Trajectory calculated. Speed: High. Mass: High. Weakness: Underbelly.’

I didn’t dodge.

I activated [Space Affinity].

Blink.

I vanished from beneath him.

I reappeared in the air, directly above his spine.

Gravity took over. I drove Draken down.

[Siekie Ryoku Arts: Heaven Splitter.]

The blade sank into the Wolf King’s neck, the force of the impact driving him into the ground.

CRASH.

Dust and ice shards flew. The ground cratered.

Fenra thrashed, trying to throw me off, but I channeled [Lightning] directly into the wound.

ZZZAAAAAAAP.

The Wolf King convulsed, his howl cutting off into a whimper. His HP bar plummeted.

I twisted the blade.

"Sit."

Fenra collapsed. His massive head hit the dirt. Data particles began to flake off his body.

[Floor 20 Boss: Dire Wolf King Fenra – Defeated.]

[Time: 0 minutes, 58 seconds.]

[Condition Met: Lone Challenger.]

[Item Acquired: Fenra’s Eye of Solitude (Epic).]

I pulled Draken free and landed softly on the ground.

I stood there for a moment, letting the adrenaline fade.

I looked at the item in my inventory—a silver ring set with a pale blue gemstone shaped like a wolf’s eye.

Perfect.

I turned back to my team..

They were standing at the edge of the clearing, their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open.

They looked like they had just watched a natural disaster take human form.

"Floor 20 cleared," I said, dusting off my shoulder. "Let’s go. I’m hungry."

Alex swallowed hard. "Chief... you... you just..."

"Efficiency," I said, walking past them toward the portal. "It’s all about efficiency."

Behind me, Seraphina stared at my back, her hands trembling.

"He’s not a student," she whispered to Gideon. "He’s a glitch."

The blue light of the teleporter swirled, marking the end of the Squad Phase.

We were heading to the City of Rolune. And I was walking in with an Epic ring, a Mythical dragon, and a reputation that was about to become legendary.

(To be Continued)