The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Dominating The Rankers – 1

Damian had been fighting nonstop, relentlessly pushing forward without any hesitation.

He had already attained the 21st place in the Power Ranking, never once stopping, despite some of his opponents occasionally trying to talk to him.

From the way they acted, Damian could easily tell that they were human, specifically from his world, Earth.

However, he refused to let them speak. Instead, he continued his assault, forcing them to focus entirely on defending themselves.

His offense was relentless, giving them no time to breathe, let alone hold a conversation.

Damian never stopped to strategize; he simply charged in full force, completely disregarding any traps or injuries he might sustain upon impact with his opponents.

Now, he stood face-to-face with the 20th-ranked fighter.

Damian immediately recognized him—Antonio Romano, one of the seven Vatican generals, a high-ranking member affiliated with the Vatican.

Their eyes met, both narrowing in mutual recognition.

Damian knew exactly what kind of man Antonio was—just another Vatican awakener.

In his eyes, Antonio was a degenerate, selfish, arrogant, and narcissistic, doing everything under the guise of serving God.

In Damian’s opinion, only a few members of the Vatican, such as the late Pope Alexander Augustine, had genuinely tried to do good.

He vividly remembered an incident from his childhood, back when he was just thirteen years old, living in an orphanage.

A group from the Vatican had visited, and the only person Damian had liked was the Pope himself.

He also recalled what he had learned before his regression, during his time working for the Italian Awakener Association.

After the Day of Awakening, everything the Vatican once stood for had crumbled.

The institution, which was supposed to uphold righteousness, had instead succumbed to the very corruption it had once condemned.

The Vatican’s forces abandoned their faith in favor of power and domination, committing all sorts of atrocities under the guise of doing “God’s work.”

Of course, they maintained a pristine image in front of the common people, those who neither understood nor cared about the system or the Tower.

They blamed their actions on enemies of their faith.

While many didn’t believe their lies, there was nothing anyone could do.

The Vatican might not have been the strongest faction within the Tower, but on Earth, they reigned supreme.

Within a year, they had seized complete control of the planet.

Even though the World Awakener Association still existed, it was nothing more than a figurehead, powerless and incapable of challenging the Vatican’s rule.

There were even rumors that Vatican officials had assassinated the Pope around the time the system descended.

But by the time such whispers spread, the Vatican had already amassed so much strength that no one dared to oppose them.

Just a few hours earlier, when Damian had been gathering information about the situation in Solarta from Shiru, he had learned something particularly troubling.

The faction known as [Lord’s Disciples] was actively hunting down a group of women.

Other factions were also searching for them, each with their own motives.

Some hoped to use them as bargaining chips with the Vatican, while others, like the vampires, intended to capture them for themselves.

After all, vampires viewed humans and other lower ranked races as nothing more than slaves, so why would they leave a group of beautiful women free?

Damian had a strong suspicion about who these women were.

They were most likely the former warrior nuns of the Vatican.

Damian shook his head, and as soon as the timer hit zero, he dashed forward, swinging his sword with significant strength.

From the 75th position until now, the fights had not been easily won.

He was no longer able to finish his opponents with a single punch, as they were much stronger.

In fact, his last five opponents had been so powerful that he was forced to use his sword.

Although he didn’t wield the ultimate-grade swords he had obtained from the [Random Martial Weapon Cards], he still relied on [The Eclipse Sword] and [The Monster Slayer] to fight.

He could have used the ultimate-grade weapons, but he chose not to.

Even though [The Eclipse Sword] and [The Monster Slayer] were damaged and covered in cracks, he refused to discard them unless they were completely shattered.

As long as they still held their form, he would continue to use them.

Damian didn’t believe in throwing away a sword just because it was slightly damaged; it was like discarding a perfectly good weapon.

The mere thought of doing so made him emotional.

Even though [The Monster Slayer] had finally broken apart completely, he still had [The Eclipse Sword].

Gripping his sword tightly, Damian slashed at Antonio Romano.

His blade cut through the air in a perfect arc, striking Antonio’s chest.

However, no blood spilled.

Antonio had managed to block with his own sword.

Even so, the sheer force behind Damian’s attack sent Antonio skidding backward, dragging across the ground.

“Oh?” Damian raised an eyebrow, surprised that Antonio had taken the hit so well.

But he didn’t let that stop him.

Without hesitation, he dashed forward again, refusing to give Antonio a moment to regain his momentum.

He struck relentlessly, slash after slash, again and again.

Though he wasn’t using his full strength, he applied enough power to break Antonio’s arms if he kept defending.

Antonio was resilient, but even his defenses were beginning to falter under Damian’s relentless barrage.

“Does this guy have infinite stamina or something?” Antonio grumbled.

He was desperately searching for an opening to use his techniques, but Damian was too fast, too aggressive.

He wasn’t giving Antonio even a second to breathe.

“Fuck it!” Antonio roared as an intense, thick aura exploded from him.

In that brief moment, he managed to create some distance by pushing Damian back a few meters before activating his technique.

“A Qi user?” Damian remarked, instantly recognizing Antonio’s movements.

He jumped back, noticing that Antonio was preparing to unleash something powerful.

Without hesitation, Damian readied his own technique, the strongest one he had, the same one he used to defeat the Heavenly Sword Demon.

“Die, you blasphemer!” Antonio roared, dashing toward Damian.

His sword gleamed with a thick concentration of Sword Qi, and as he slashed, a massive wave of energy burst forth, rushing toward Damian.

Then suddenly, the entire atmosphere in the arena shifted.

The wind howled violently, and the temperature fluctuated.

Every gust of air, every force in the space seemed to be drawn toward a single point: Damian.

His body floated in midair, engulfed in a thick blue aura, as if he were standing within a blazing blue flame.

His hair lifted, defying gravity, his presence overwhelming.

The martial artists, swordsmen, and cultivators watching the battle all had the same reaction; their eyes widened in shock.

As wielders of martial weapons and Qi techniques, they could all sense it.

The technique Damian was about to use was far beyond anything they had ever encountered in Solarta.

“This technique… doesn’t this seem too powerful?”

“Yes… How did he even obtain something like this?”

“This is already ridiculous! He’s fought against 180 Awakeners in a row without resting, and now he brings out a technique like this?”

Among the spectators, Shiru watched in silence.

Her hands trembled, her nails digging into her skin out of sheer frustration.

She had witnessed thousands of battles in this very arena, yet she had never seen anything like this before.

“This has already gone beyond ridiculous,” Shiru sighed. “Not only did he complete the trials in Hell Mode, but he also possesses unmatched power that surpasses everyone in the Power Rankings.”

She no longer doubted any of Damian’s claims.

If he said he had finished the Hell Mode trials, she believed him.

If he said he was the strongest in Solarta, she believed him.

If he claimed he would dominate everything and everyone, she believed that too.

Shiru glanced around at the various expressions displayed by the Awakeners in the arena.

Shock, disbelief, awe, frustration, surprise, bewilderment, dumbfoundedness, utter confusion… So many emotions swirling in the crowd, emotions she couldn’t even name.

Never before had a single person drawn out such a reaction from so many people at once.

“Could he really take the 1st position in the Power Rankings like this…?”

For the first time, Shiru had no choice but to admit there was a high probability that Damian would achieve exactly that.

Damian didn’t even use his full power, yet the aura he emitted made the awakeners in the arena suspect that he might be going all out… Finally.

In reality, he was only using about 30% of his Qi reserves.

If he had used his full power, Antonio might have died, which was against the rules.

The ray of sword Qi left Antonio’s sword and raged toward Damian, but Damian didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

In fact, he didn’t take Antonio seriously at all.

Damian was only using this technique because he wanted to finish the fight quickly.

He wasn’t afraid of depleting his Qi reserves since he had another plan to replenish them.

[Heaven Shattering Sword: Sword Technique Activated]

Damian made a single vertical sword slash, and as soon as he did, a massive sword ray, at least three times larger and more aggressive than Antonio’s, shot out from his blade and collided with the incoming attack.

The two sword rays clashed, triggering a powerful explosion.

Antonio’s attack was completely destroyed, while Damian’s sword Qi weakened slightly but did not stop.

It continued raging toward its target.

The thick ray of sword Qi from Damian’s [Heaven Shattering Sword] technique struck Antonio directly, exploding on impact.

A few seconds later, as the effects of the attack faded, Antonio lay on the ground, unconscious, in the middle of a massive sword-shaped scar on the arena floor.

Blood poured from a deep wound stretching from his neck to his waist.

Damian quickly appeared before him and pointed his hand at the unconscious Antonio.

Slowly, his body began to dissolve into specks of light.

“What’s he doing?”

“Didn’t he already finish the battle? What’s he doing now?”

“Is he going to kill him?”

To the shock of the audience, Damian had no intention of killing Antonio.

Instead, he activated his unique ability and began extracting the remaining Qi from Antonio, replenishing his own reserves.

[Your Qi reserves have been completely replenished.]

But Damian didn’t stop.

He could still sense some lingering Qi within Antonio, and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

He continued extracting every last bit until Antonio was completely drained.

[Your Qi has increased: +15.]