Samuel's POV
The winds had calmed after the last battle, ashes dancing around me like fading memories. I sat cross-legged atop a jagged cliff, the Gauntlets of Warden still smoldering at my sides. My breath was steady, but I could feel it—my body evolving… bending toward something far more destructive. It was time to take a look.
"Status Window," I muttered.
A familiar blue screen shimmered before my eyes.
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[Status Window]
Name: Samuel Gebb
Title: Harbinger of Destruction
Level: 174
HP: 130,000 / 130,000
Mana: 60,500 / 60,500
Strength: 570 → 630 (+60 from Warden's Gauntlets)
Agility: 490
Endurance: 610
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[Abilities]
Combat Techniques:
1. Titan Slayer – Boosts damage against colossal foes by 50%. Grants armor penetration.
2. Phantom Step – Blink-speed movement; near-instant teleportation.
3. Crimson Burst – Stores kinetic energy, then detonates in a punch strong enough to crater the ground.
4. Fury Overdrive – +30% strength/speed for 20 seconds. Costs heavy stamina.
5. Heaven's Execution – A finishing strike that cleaves through even divine armor.
6. Dragon Fang Fist – Empowered melee strikes laced with draconic force.
Magical Abilities:
7. Abyssal Flame – Eternal fire that feeds on life-force; can't be extinguished by normal means.
8. Void Spear – Pierces space itself; ignores terrain and shields.
9. Thunderous Wrath – Summons an electrical storm; AoE obliteration.
10. Shadow Dominion – Binds or attacks with autonomous shadows.
11. Mana Fortress – Generates a barrier that blocks incoming damage until shattered.
Unique Skills:
12. Harbinger's Awakening – Near-death buff; doubles all stats for 30 seconds.
13. Predator's Instinct – Real-time battle precognition; heightened reflexes.
14. Warden's Authority – Lesser enemies tremble or submit.
15. Blood Pact Regeneration – Heals proportional to damage inflicted.
16. Heavenly Demon's Will – Immunity to mind control, divine manipulation, and curses.
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I leaned back, a quiet smirk playing on my lips.
"Level 174… and I'm still not done evolving."
The Strength stat alone was a terrifying wall now. 630—most mid-tier monarchs barely scratched 400. Warden's Authority had grown in influence too—beasts, monsters, even some low-ranking nobles bowed unconsciously in my presence.
But it wasn't just raw numbers.
Heavenly Demon's Will… That was something even gods feared. It was more than resistance—it was sovereignty over my own will, my fate.
I rolled my shoulders, feeling the raw weight of the gauntlets as they adjusted to my movements like second skin. Their synergy with Dragon Fang Fist and Crimson Burst had turned every blow into a storm.
"I've become a walking calamity…" I whispered, looking at my hands. "…and they haven't seen anything yet."
Abigail. Joshua. Those fools.
They thought they buried Samuel Gebb.
But what rose from that grave… was the Heavenly Demon, cloaked in fire, lightning, and shadows.
I closed the window, the air around me shimmering as the power inside me stirred.
"Soon… I'll be in the human realm again."
"And the world better pray I come in peace."
________________________________________
After closing the status window, I stood up slowly. The cliff beneath my feet cracked from the mere pressure of my movements. The wind howled, yet it sounded like a whisper to me now. My body had surpassed its mortal limits — I was no longer human in essence. I was a force.
But before I stepped through the Gate Owen mentioned, I needed to do one last thing — test my gauntlets properly.
"Time to stretch a little," I muttered.
________________________________________
[Beastlands — South Ridge]
The first test was an ancient ruin infested with corrupted beasts. They once served kings — now they were mindless monsters.
As I stepped into the heart of the ruins, a hulking four-armed beast made of obsidian and magma lunged at me, snarling with heat pouring from its joints.
"Perfect."
I didn't move.
It struck. Its molten fists crashed toward me like meteorites. I twisted my wrist, activating Phantom Step, vanishing and reappearing behind it mid-swing.
"Dragon Fang Fist."
My gauntlets lit up with deep crimson energy, and I slammed both fists into its back. Bones shattered. The beast roared, but I wasn't done.
"Crimson Burst."
A shockwave exploded from my punch, launching the beast through the ruins and burying it under a mountain of stone.
"Still not enough…" I muttered.
________________________________________
[Trial Arena of Broken Kings]
Here, war constructs awakened to fight any challenger. Their swords were enchanted with anti-magic, perfect to test my defense.
They came — ten at once.
Blades glinted. Runes flared.
I raised my hands, a smile curling.
"Mana Fortress."
A radiant barrier enveloped me. The blades struck, shattering upon impact, as my Heaven's Execution flared up. I leapt forward.
"One swing."
My downward strike crushed five constructs instantly. Their cores shattered, the floor beneath cratered.
The others hesitated — wrong move.
"Thunderous Wrath."
Lightning rained from above, the sky itself howling. Screams echoed as the arena turned to glass from the sheer heat and force.
________________________________________
[Forbidden Depths — Nest of Shadows]
I walked through the dark, where light was swallowed and even demons feared to tread. Shadow creatures lunged from every direction, whispering in tongues.
Perfect for testing Shadow Dominion.
I raised one hand.
The shadows turned on each other, now under my command. They shrieked, recognizing their new master.
I watched coldly as my summoned tendrils tore through them.
"So even corrupted shadows bow before me now?" I laughed. "Fitting for a Harbinger."
________________________________________
By the time I returned to Owen's castle, I was drenched in blood and aura, not a scratch on me.
Krun opened the gates and stepped back, eyes wide.
"Y-You… reek of death."
"Not death," I corrected, wiping dust from my gauntlets, "Power."
I looked at the sky.
"I've mastered them. Warden's Gauntlets now feel like extensions of my soul."
"Owen," I muttered under my breath, smirking, "I'm ready for whatever you've got planned."
The Heavenly Demon had finished warming up.
Now it was time to unleash destruction.