My SS-Rank Witcher System

[+1 Constitution…]

[+1 Constitution…]

[+1 Constitution…]

…

Felix had lost count of how many times he'd been cut, how many times he'd been bruised, how many times he'd been punched through, and how many times his life had flashed before his eyes.

But it didn't come without benefits. Every time he bounced right back up after the near-death experience, the class system rewarded him with a Constitution attribute point for surviving. And now he's lost count of that too—the number of notifications for the bonus Constitution attribute that flashed his vision nonstop.

Felix had lost track of his sense of time, and couldn't tell how long the battle had raged on for, but the one thing he could tell was that it had been on for an extended period because now, he knew the pattern of all her attacks like the back of his hand. He knew and had witnessed first-hand every single one of her skill set. Felix could tell their damage scale, their cooldowns, and durations.

The battle had gone from Felix unable to block even one of Nemesis's attacks, as she bombarded him with a torrent of her blood spells, to him landing a few hits every now and then and knowing when to sidestep, duck, or counter.

Nemesis by now had realized how wrong she was. She wasn't the predator she thought she was, and even though she still dominated the battle, she found herself counting down her vast skill set as she became unable to use them due to her insufficient Spirit Pool.

But it didn't stop there. She soon found herself forced to use only her basic skills—and worse, not only was she pale from having lost so much blood from the minor cuts and bruises she incurred from Felix's sneak attack, she found it very hard to breathe from a depleted stamina.

No matter the potency of the potion she consumed—gifted to her by her dedicated followers and sponsors, no matter how far she tried running across the realm to hide and recall to her lobby—nothing seemed to be working. She always found herself back at the dark castle looming in the distance with the undying demon patiently waiting for her no matter how many times she'd obliterated him to smithereens.

It was like she was in a time loop, but the only thing that hinted otherwise was the champion of the Witch Master coated in blood—his own blood—like an abysmal creature summoned from the depths of hell.

Nemesis looked ahead with blurry eyes at the looming dark castle. It looked like her last option now, as she could feel her consciousness slipping away.

If the dark castle had truly once belonged to the Witch Master, then there should be a door leading to the underworld that'll provide her safety from the nightmare she'd stepped into.

With those thoughts, she didn't hesitate further and made a run for it.

Felix, who had been kneeling—propping himself up with his sword—patiently awaited Nemesis's arrival after she'd run off once again, knowing she would wind right back up at that spot after seeing it happen a few times. He didn't chase after her to stop her.

He was exhausted too—mentally. The battle had taken a toll on his psyche, and Felix wanted nothing more than to quickly end the battle and get a shut-in. But at the same time, he found himself strangely attracted to the feeling of a predator toying with its already doomed prey.

He watched Nemesis streak past him as she flew toward the dark castle. He then pulled himself to his feet and pulled out his sword embedded into the ground, dragging it behind him across the barren land as he stalked Nemesis in slow, deliberate steps.

At the corner of his vision was the miniscule, raging comments of his live stream that had garnered over 40 billion active viewers, all thanks to Nemesis's own stream. He had also received a bunch of gifts and endorsements from a few Primordials and Champions alike, but didn't bother with them, nor did he react to whatever his viewers were spamming in the comments section.

He arrived before the dark castle and the slightly ajar door Nemesis had run into. He noticed this entrance was different from the one he usually frequented, and only then did he realize he'd never really toured the dark castle and had no idea what was lying in wait behind the doors.

He deliberately stepped through the opening between the two behemoth doors and was greeted by what looked to be a dimly lit chapel/throne room. The room resembled a church, with clandestine windows engraved with ancient arts and depictions. There were long chairs for an audience set in orderly rows. The only thing different was that where the pulpit should have been, a towering throne seat sat facing the audience.

Crumbled before it like a fanatic devotee in prayer was Nemesis—but she was different.

She was no longer the half-human, half-insectoid demoness with a hard chitin exoskeleton. She was completely human now. Naked. Completely drained of her Spirit Pool, she had reverted back to her original self, leaving her panting heavily as she slowly crawled toward the throne seat.

That was when Felix saw it—something he overlooked due to its insignificant presence in the grand cult room. A crown. An old, withered crown that had lost its luster and was coated in cobwebs. It was sitting on the throne seat.

If Felix had been paying attention and hadn't muted his stream, he would have noticed that upon the reveal of the cult room and the crown, his premium viewers—the Primordials—instantly shot up a notch, with notifications of their presence being made known flashing at the corner of his vision.

Felix was too tired to think any more than he should about it and just made a mental note to explore the rest of the castle later. The only thing left for him to do at that moment was to kill Nemesis and finally get a shut-in after the heated battle that felt like it had lasted a millennium.

Felix took a step forward toward Nemesis, who was weakly crawling up the steps leading to the throne, her arms reaching out toward the worn crown. Felix didn't understand why she wanted it, but didn't think much about it as he loomed over her. Just as her hands grazed the edge of the throne seat, Felix used his foot to flip her over onto her back and without hesitation, raised his sword.

He paused to peer into her eyes with a cold, passive expression, so she could memorize one last time the face of the man who snuffed the life out of her soul. Then he brought down his sword, flicking it across her throat.

He didn't stick around to watch her choke on her own blood as she grabbed hold of her lacerated neck.

The battle was finally over. Victory had been achieved.

And now, he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes, and there was no better place to do that than the throne seat right before him.

Felix slowly picked up the crown and brought it up to his eye level to inspect it, but his vision blurred the next moment, and he knew he didn't have much time before he passed out.

He inhaled deeply and blew the dust and cobwebs off its surface, then turned around to sit on the throne seat. Raising the crown, he let it sit on his head and sank into the throne in a relaxed position.

Then he shut his eyes, ignoring the series of notifications that flashed his vision the next moment. Ignoring the wide-eyed last look of Nemesis as she went limp. Ignoring the thorny vines that tightly wrapped themselves around Lilith and stopped her from barging into the throne room long before Felix even touched the crown. Ignoring the heavy earthquake that shook not just the Witcher's domain the moment, but the underworld as well, and created an abysmal rift that tore through the underworld and swallowed legions of Dark Creatures.

[You have obtained a Transcendant item 'The Crown of Judgement']