NOVEL NEXT Chapter 673
"I see," Sam said. "How do you know so much about all this? I thought you had lived here most of your life?"
"I overhear the nobles talking about it, the few times that I'm near them. The Baroness is especially fond of boasting about how elevated her station is in comparison to what she would be in the other world."
Ezekiel shifted, and his bulk quivered with the motion. His eyes were set upon the horizon, and a growing look of horror stole over him.
"What is it?" Sam asked. He didn't see anything there. His senses should have been more than able to detect whatever Ezekiel could. The horizon was frustratingly blank though, save for the floating clouds that scudded across the sky.
"She's coming," Ezekiel whispered. "We've talked for too long. She must have noticed me."
"Who?" Sam asked, shaking Ezekiel's shoulder. "The Baroness?'
Before the cherub could answer, a flash of light sped across the sky. Sam threw himself to the side instinctively. A whining hum cut through the air as a blade of white energy slashed through the entire cloud, and through Ezekiel's body. Sam was thrown into the air by the force, and he flipped over a few times before teleporting into an upright position.
A statuesque woman hovered before him, majestic wings beating behind her. She had marble colored skin, completely without imperfection. Eyes of brilliant gold peered at Sam, as if not sure what they were seeing.
Her upraised palm still burned with light, but it dimmed over the next few seconds. "Who are you?" she asked. "How did you get here?"
Sam's aura exploded outwards, his eyes flashing red. "Why did you kill him?"
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The woman arched an eyebrow. "Him? You mean that creature Ezekiel? He belonged to me. His life was mine to do with what I wished."
"He told me that you had enslaved hundreds of his kind," Sam replied. "That you compel them to do your bidding."
"And what of it? I am one of this realm's gods." The Baroness raised her palm once more, gathering an orb of light. "And you are a trespasser."
Sam grinned. "Even the gods can die, and you are no god. You're just an E Ranker, like me."
"I am at the peak of the rank, and you aren't even halfway," the Baroness said. "You don't stand a chance."
"Really?" Sam replied, only he was standing behind Sariel, his hammer flecked with blood. "How do you figure that?"
"I-" her words were cut off as her body exploded into tiny chunks, bolts of dancing electricity coursing through the mist of blood.
The flickering light of Dao Juggernaut suffused his form, the skill having made the whole thing possible. Sam was sick of wasting his time with sub par foes. For the last few Tower floors, every one of his major foes had just been an E Ranker. There was only so strong the System could make them, or find, he guessed, and the Baroness was nowhere near the peak.
Another title upgrade came and went, but Sam angrily pushed it aside. He was flailing around here, stuck in the unenviable position of being too strong for most E Rankers, but too weak to fight a D Ranker. He was blasting through the Tower, but if he actually intended to do what nobody had ever done before, he had to have more than that. The difference between an E Ranker and a D Ranker was like night and day. Almost nothing could prepare one to bridge that gap.
"What are you doing?" He roared to the sky. "This was meant to be a challenge! Stop playing around!"
It was risky to taunt the System, but Sam knew that despite all of his potential, he was still nothing more than a fleeting curiosity to the near omnipotent machine that governed the cultivating world. It would simply take his statement into account, if it even noticed it, and respond in kind. Besides, what he was asking for was in line with what the System already wanted.
Are you sure about this?
An ominous System notification appeared in the center of his vision, without any control on Sam's part. It was oddly informal, quite at odds with what the System normally said.
Sam nodded. "Show me what you can do. Give me a real challenge. Not certain death, but something that will actually prepare me for a D Ranker."