Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

Jiggy watched Door-Knob plummet towards the eighth floor. The windows and walls on the eighth floor facing the street had already broken away, and the monster's arm was clearly visible. It retracted its limb, propping itself to try and regain its footing.

Jiggy squatted low and cannoned off the ground, intending to slam into the monster with his full momentum. Alas! He missed his target, instead crashing violently into the walls on the eighth floor, almost exiting the building through the other side.

Door-Knob crashed heavily onto the floor. The monster was quick to react, stomping on the burly man with its enormous feet. The burly man spat out more than two mouthfuls of blood. The sheer force of the stomp caused the floor beneath them to give way, and they both fell to the seventh floor.

Ivan scaled his way rapidly to the seventh floor. Door-Knob lay helpless and incapacitated on the floor. He desperately gasped for air, clearly breathing his last, but he was not going to surrender his life easily. Ivan glanced at the helpless, burly man before his gaze settled with grim determination on the gargantuan monster.

Ivan closed in on the monster and delivered a powerful flying uppercut with his right hand. He surfaced from the impact. The monster quickly shook off the daze. It wildly swiped its massive claws at Ivan. Ivan diagonally wove under the sweeping attacks, delivering precise fist strikes that audibly dislocated the monster's shoulders.

He expertly employed the monster's forward momentum to create a small distance between them, moving a few steps opposite to the monster's direction. The monster halted, sensing the sudden lack of control over its arm. Infuriated, it turned to glare at Ivan. Ivan stood, perfectly poised for action. The monster dashed towards him with blinding speed, creating a negligible sonic shockwave.

Purely by instinct, Ivan widely side-stepped to his right, narrowly dodging the monstrous charge. He quickly spun on his axis, delivering a powerful kick to the monster's back. The force of the attack launched the monster violently out of the building.

Jiggy leaped into the seventh floor. He and Ivan rushed to Door-Knob's side. The burly man was undeniably dead. Jiggy, who had dropped to his knees, took a deep, shuddering breath, struggling to control his emotions. Ivan remained impassive and still, silently wishing his fallen colleague eternal rest in his heart.

"Let's go kill that damn monster." With a firm, resolute determination, Jiggy stood up.

He deliberately cut both his forearms with his rapier. The blood that welled from the cuts eerily floated towards the rapier's blade. The blood transformed to a sinister black colour before it was absorbed by the sword. Instantly, a string of intricate Mandarin characters appeared across the entirety of Jiggy's forearms and face. This was a C-rank ability — Rapier's Rage of Curse.

Jiggy and Ivan leapt off the seventh floor, descending swiftly onto the street. The monster, already healed from its injuries, charged ferociously at them. Ivan and Jiggy broke away, flanking the monstrous creature. On the right, Ivan made the first move on the monster, leaping high towards it with his sword primed to cleave down its head. This movement acted as a crucial distraction, creating a vital opening for Jiggy to attack.

No one knew precisely when it happened, but a sleek black cape was now attached to Jiggy's torso armour, lending a dignified air to his otherwise simple appearance. Jiggy slashed at the monster's left leg, brutally severing it. Meanwhile, Ivan had contorted his body to alter his trajectory, thereby dodging the monster's counterpunch. He expertly wove around the monster's arm and cleaved down on its sternum, audibly breaking the bone.

The monster roared in agony, collapsing to its right knee. Ivan had jumped away, putting a distance of about five metres from the monster. Jiggy was positioned behind the monstrous creature. He aimed his weapon at the monster's neck, but it was too thick to cut through. His rapier got stuck. As he desperately tried to pull it out, the monster reached for its neck, catching the rapier and Jiggy's arm in its huge hands. It then smashed Jiggy against the ground like a whip.

Ivan decided to strike at this critical moment; he dashed forward, primed to cut through the injury he had caused on the monster's chest. The monster had perceived his approach. It was quicker and more agile than the martial artist. A strong punch to Ivan's face and torso repelled him, sending him sprawling down the street.

The monster coughed onto the ground, a mouthful of black blood. It felt a searing pain in its chest. Ivan had precisely planted Black Riot with a throw upon seeing the monster's counterattack. The monster preoccupied itself with carefully removing the sword from its chest. The blade had reached its heart's epicardium.

Squish! A rapier burst through the monster's epicardium from behind, finally reaching the heart. The monster roared, its eyes becoming bloodshot with intense fury. Jiggy made sure to push his rapier further, forcing its blade to protrude out of the monster's chest.

Ivan got to his feet, a triumphant smile hidden beneath his helmet. A string of intricate Mandarin characters spread from the piercing point, rapidly covering the monster's entire body. The spread effect was akin to a virulent poison rapidly spreading through the body. Jiggy left his weapon embedded inside the monster and staggeringly backed away.

The swordsman felt his life ebbing away from him. He felt a mix of complex emotions at this moment. He was mostly sad that he was going to leave this world. He had planned to live a long life so that he could have the chance to witness the moment when humanity finally liberated itself from the oppressive shackles of this reality.

Alas! Life didn't go as planned. He staggered his way to a rubble of concrete and sat heavily on it. He watched the monster corrode bit by bit with a serene smile on his face. Ivan swiftly killed the zombified human beings that walked onto the street, halting the process of the monster's regeneration. The monster showed no further sign of regeneration. Ivan had dealt with every zombified human he could find.

He quickly retrieved his sword and headed over to Jiggy's side. The swordsman grew paler and slimmer with each passing second.

"Jiggy, you did it. You successfully dealt with the monster." Ivan could only utter these simple words. There was no need to inform the dying swordsman that his life was fading.

Jiggy nodded weakly. "I'm glad that I lived to meet incredible people like you. A base rank packing the power of a bronze rank. Thank you for the opportunity to fight alongside your side."

Jiggy shifted his gaze to the sky. He sighed happily. "I'm glad that I don't have unattended matters that I'm leaving behind. It would have saddened me."