Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!

The barrier of the General's Tomb's second level had sprung a leak.

A jagged hole gaped open, fragments of shattered wards scattered across the stone, and the rumble of collapsing boulders shook the chamber like the growl of some ancient beast.

Ethan's heart pounded. He forced his hands to move faster, cycling through his skills with frantic precision. Two minutes later, the final wave of monsters crumpled under his strikes, their corpses spilling out a rain of loot across the ground.

Clatter...

Among the scattered weapons and armor, a sharp gleam of darkness caught his eye. Ethan's pulse spiked. Without hesitation, he leapt from the broken pillar where he had been fighting.

It was a General's Token Shard.

Snatching it up, he sprinted for the stairs leading to the third level. One quick glance at his inventory told him everything he needed to know.

General's Token Shard (99).

Just one more. One more and the set would be complete.

"Caw, caw, caw... where do you think you're running off to, little worm?"

The mocking voice made him freeze.

A monstrous crow's head forced its way through the hole in the barrier. Purple flames blazed across its feathers, and its glowing eyes fixed on Ethan with hungry menace.

"You son of a—why don't you come down here instead of hiding, you overgrown chicken!" Ethan yelled back, his voice carrying more bravado than sense.

"Little worm. Die!"

The Crowling God screeched, flames roaring in its eyes as it unleashed a surge of energy. Its beak opened wide, and a torrent of violet power erupted, screaming toward the stone floor.

"Damn... a ranged attacker."

Ethan's body stiffened.

"Swift Stride!"

Power flared through his boots, boosting his speed by seventy percent. His figure blurred, leaving behind a phantom trail as the wave of purple annihilation slammed into the ground he'd been standing on. Stone scorched black in an instant.

But the crow wasn't finished.

It spat beam after beam of searing violet light, each one tearing gouges through the tomb, the shrieks of impact echoing in relentless succession. Ethan's lungs burned as he zigzagged desperately, his Swift Stride seconds slipping away.

"You're playing dirty! Stop spitting, you feathered bastard!" he shouted between breaths.

"Caw, caw, caw... why don't you stop running then, little worm?"

"Caw your sister! I'll stop running if you stop spitting!"

"Caw... I'll stop if you're not afraid!"

Their exchange devolved into a string of absurd insults, man and monster trading taunts like two drunk gamblers. But while Ethan's words dripped with sarcasm, his grin was genuine. The thing really was dim-witted. Just like the old fable of the crow and the fox.

Sure enough, the Crowling God's attacks slowed, distracted by its own outrage.

That tiny delay was enough. Ethan angled himself toward the third-level entrance and pushed his weary body forward.

"Caw, caw... you despicable worm, you tricked me!"

The crow realized too late. It thrashed against the barrier, adjusting its massive body and swiveling its fiery head back toward Ethan.

Ethan's eyes flicked across his skill bar. Swift Stride's cooldown was almost up. Divine Teleportation... still useless. He cursed himself. He should've marked a point on the third level earlier.

And worse—blocking his way at the stairs were a dozen Corpse Guard Warriors, hulking and unmoving, remnants of a group he had dragged earlier but outrun.

He narrowed his eyes, running the math in his head. Either he kited them away in a loop and came back, or he forced a breakthrough when Swift Stride came back online. But that would mean eating at least two hits.

Could he take two strikes from a level seventy-seven monster?

Even at level sixty-nine, after seven grueling days of nonstop fighting, the answer was grim. His gear was reinforced to +30, but low-tier trash. Even in Bear Form, his defense barely scraped past ten thousand.

The warriors hit with thirty-eight thousand base attack. Their Savage Cleave tripled that damage every eight seconds. The first strike would absolutely be Savage Cleave. That was more than a hundred thousand damage in one swing.

A chill threaded through his spine. No, it was safer to lure them away first.

"Little worm... you think you'll escape again? Die!"

The Crowling God's screech cut through the chamber. Ethan looked up, bracing for another barrage.

But this time, no beam came. Instead, a sphere of molten violet began to swell in its throat, its glow so intense that Ethan's stomach clenched.

Not good.

This wasn't another random strike. It was charging something devastating.

If that thing unleashed a full-scale area spell, Ethan would be nothing but ash. Against the Corpse Guard Warriors, he couldn't afford a single hit. Against this crow... not even Immortality would save him if the damage exceeded his limits.

That wasn't just a monster. That was a level two hundred pseudo-divine entity, not a game AI but a true invader of this world. And it wasn't alone—it carried faith energy, divine authority Ethan couldn't even begin to understand.

'Morzan... where the hell had he gone? It had been seven days, and the bastard hadn't so much as answered a call.'

No time for that now.

Ethan's jaw tightened. Swift Stride's cooldown blinked ready. He still had the Immortality Divine Ability. Worst-case scenario, he'd burn a charge here and pray it was worth it.

The crow shrieked, spitting the fireball from its maw.

A purple sun plummeted toward the earth, radiating so much heat that Ethan's skin seared before it even touched. The sheer sight of it left him reeling, a hallucinatory haze clawing at his mind.

His breath caught. Not toward him.

The fireball's arc bent—not for his body, but for the stairs.

The crow meant to obliterate the path.

"No... no, no, no!" Ethan roared, bolting forward.

The impact came like the wrath of gods.

BOOM.

The fireball slammed into the ground, ripping the air apart. A storm of flame and shockwave hurled Ethan across the tomb. He smashed into a stone pillar hard enough to see stars, damage numbers flashing across his vision.

-13,594.

He staggered upright, head ringing. He didn't know if it was the fireball or the collision that hit harder. Instinct screamed louder than pain. He ducked behind the pillar, shoving his hands into the motions of healing.

"Tree Form. Rejuvenation. Healing Touch."

His health ticked upward as the storm raged on. For thirty endless seconds, violet fire tore through the chamber, the wind howling like a hurricane.

When it finally eased, Ethan dared to peek out.

The Crowling God twisted its head, searching. Luckily, the pillar gave him cover, hiding him in a blind spot.

Through the shimmering wall of flames, Ethan caught sight of the staircase. His heart stilled.

The entrance still stood. The crow hadn't destroyed it.

"Phew..." He exhaled, slumping for a moment in sheer relief.

Seven days, and the creature had only managed to punch a hole big enough for its head. Its progress was slower than he'd feared.

Then he saw it.

Amidst the dancing purple flames at the foot of the stairs, something dark and solid glimmered faintly.

A fragment.

The last General's Token fragment.

The Corpse Guard Warriors that had blocked the stairs were gone—annihilated by the crow's attack. In death, they'd dropped the final piece he needed.

Ethan's pulse roared in his ears. He hadn't even planned this far, but fortune had thrown him a gift. Those warriors had been the only monsters on the second floor he hadn't slain, left behind when he'd run too fast.

He never imagined they'd be the ones to drop the final fragment.

But there it was. The piece that would complete his set.

Only one problem remained.

It lay in the heart of the crow's violet fire.

And the flames showed no sign of going out.