Path of the Slayer B1 C10. Slice of Heaven

“Am I not going to get the kill?” I asked with a wheeze once one side of my lungs had rebuilt themselves into working order.

The hulking and headless body of the Fallen Slayer tilted from one side to the other. A fountain of dark blood sprayed upward from its shorn neck, with the head lost in the acid flooding the floor of the pit.

Then, when it was about to fall backwards, the headless body jerked to its full height, if you discounted the missing head.

The creature raised its big meaty hand and shambled toward me, still not done with the fight. A part of me found it a little sad that the man who had once been a Slayer couldn’t finish the job like he’d hoped.

Most of me felt amped that I could finish the job instead.

I still had enough Path Energy, even if it meant I had to wring myself dry.

I waited for the shambling body to reach for me, then I thrust the grumbling half ripper straight into the palm. The headless body clamped down with a crushing force, and my metal hand made worrying creaking sounds.

In return, I ordered my Path Energy to stop from healing me and squeezed the dregs into Hellion. The artificer roared boisterously and exuded a frenzy of autosaw energy.

Whirring dark red edges slashed, churned, and tore up the Fallen Slayer’s remaining hand. The creature’s grip intensified, as if this was a match between crushing strength and gory madness.

I had the edge.

Hellion stole Vitality and turned it into Path Energy.

I went around and redirected that Path Energy into Hellion.

It was a perfect loop of persistent violence, leading to the half ripper edging out the win. Autosaw energy blades ripped all the way through in multiple directions, splattering the Fallen Slayer’s remaining hand.

The hulking creature staggered backward, its weakness growing more evident, its Vitality nurturing for my Path and the cursed craze of my half ripper hand.

I balled the artificer hand into a frenzied fist. Ripping and roaring autosaw energy blades covered the knuckles.

Then I launched forward with the help of Apex Fervor and a burst of extra Path Energy. The acid underneath parted away as if there were bombs strapped to my feet.

I flying-tackled the Fallen Slayer, grabbing onto the damaged gorget with my left hand. Then I punched my growling metal fist into the gaping wound where its head had been. My half ripper fist drilled and blended all the way down until my armpit met the ragged gorget.

I poured Path Energy into the half ripper, cycling whatever it gave me back into Hellion in return. The crazed artifice kept spiralling with multiple autosaw energy blades from around the knuckles, the wrist, and the forearm. Together, we created a slurry of damage that annihilated the innards of the Fallen Slayer’s torso.

Even then, that wasn’t enough.

The Fallen Slayer wrapped its remaining arm around my back and squeezed, snapping my spine. I was in too deep at this point, so I absorbed Path Energy to keep me alive while pouring as much as I could get away with to empower Hellion. Meanwhile, the Fallen Slayer kept squeezing, turning my spine to powder, pulping the rest, driving me toward death.

Everything was red and black for me.

Like I was on the line between pain and darkness.

I could choose either.

The red pain.

Or the black darkness.

None of which mattered, though.

I would always choose to keep going. Even if the darkness turned red and the pain turned black, that was my way. That was my Path.

So in the haze and horror of what was happening, I kept urging Hellion onward as I lost all feeling beneath my chest. I wasn’t sure if there was much left of me.

And I think that was fine.

This was my slice of heaven, wasn’t it?

And I found it in an acid pit in the middle of a Hell Realm.

Then the pain returned, and I was reminded of why Hell Realms were called that.

Everything below my chest felt like it was returning paste and powder into the semblance of a human form. For that to happen, the Fallen Slayer must’ve let up on the pressure. But I could still feel great heaps of Vitality getting chugged up by the half ripper while turning the meat inside into a fine slurry.

The carnage didn’t stop until the Vitality from the Final Slayer cut off fully.

The meat stopped resisting as much, becoming even easier to churn. The arm of the Fallen Slayer fell away from me completely, and the body of the monstrous man dropped just the same, crashing backwards into the acid floor.

I flopped onto the breastplate, my lone island amid the desolation.

I slowly retracted Hellion and cut off the Path Energy to the monstrous artifice. It still shook and growled with madness. It still hungered for more red carnage.

I wasn’t sure how to calm it down. I was tempted to dismiss it, but my attention veered to some significant notifications that demanded my immediate attention.

[Congratulations, Pathwalker! You’ve slain the Rank 3 Fallen Slayer Portal Boss! Bravo!]

[You’ve inherited the Temporary Title of Raining Ruins Hell Realm Master. This will persist until you leave the Raining Ruins Hell Realm and allow it to reset back into a Challenge Realm.]

[You currently do not meet the requirement to combine this Realm with a Domain.]

[You currently do not meet the requirement to turn this Realm into a Pocket Realm.]

[You currently do not meet the requirement to turn this Realm into a World Realm.]

[Transitioning Raining Ruin Hell Realm from a Challenge Realm into a Passage Realm. Please check your other notifications while the Realm is transitioning.]

“What?” I got out, shifting shakily to my knees, still on the Fallen Slayer’s chest plate. “I really need an explanation.”

I also needed to deal with Hellion. The half ripper was getting shakier and hungrier. I could feel the edges of its cursed teeth nipping at my Path Energy.

Before I could deal with that, a lot happened at once.

A booming noise filled the skies. The ground rumbled far harder than ever before. Golden light appeared in streams from all directions, from the flooded ground and from the skies.

There was so much light and divine System activity, I felt nervous about whatever was going to happen. This was beyond my former mortal comprehension, and even with the help of Path Energy, I was way, way out of my depths.

At the same time, some more notifications appeared in my logs that were even more demanding of my attention. As the Realm went through its divine transformation, I grabbed onto something that felt familiar and within my understanding, although I still wasn’t used to the idea that new powers could come up so fast.

[Congrats! You’ve acquired a new Great Skill: Brutal Musician Grace: Level 11 (Uncommon).]

[Brutal Musician Grace: Level 11 (Uncommon): Ever heard a barbarian play an instrument? I have, and I lost my hearing and my ears! Whenever you’re in the middle of making a thematic and loud statement of musically challenged noise, your agility and dexterity gets a boost.]

I would’ve cheered for joy, but Hellion was chewing on my Path Energy with more zeal. There were more notifications waiting, but the half ripper wouldn’t settle down.

Annoyed, I tried to dismiss it, but the action failed outright.

The Hellion Half Ripper remained a hungry nuisance.

“Stop it, or I won’t summon you for a long time,” I growled.

The metal and edgy hand turned toward me, as if it was its own entity.

Keeping a strong front, I glared at the thing.

More divine activity happened all around us, showering us with gold light.

Finally, the half ripper relented.

The grunting artifice of slaughter and carnage quieted, its dark red energy fading away. Then it became completely inert, with only a deep and suave voice speaking from behind my ear, hiding the cursed existence it harbored with something more affable.

“Apologies, my liege. I can get rather unruly when there’s so much carnage to be had. I will do my best to be more mindful,” said Hellion, as dapper as before.

“You better.”

Taking my focus back to my notifications, I was eager to ignore the divine activity all around me and see more of the goodies. Sometimes, I could be a simple creature at heart.

Especially with a new feature in this sudden Pathwalker life of mine.

Evolutions.

[Congrats! Your Great Skill evolved! From Punching Bag Expertise to Pain Eater Gluttony!]

[Pain Eater Gluttony: Level 31 (Rare): Dude, you really have a thing for taking a beating like it’s your favorite fast food. Well, what doesn’t kill you, makes you more insane, right? Whenever you take a heavy hit or rapid damage, you get a significant boost to toughness, recovery, and counter strikes for a short duration.]

Apparently, Great Skills could evolve.

Though, I wondered why that one evolved instead of Multi-Striker Potency. I’d used multi-striker far more, hadn’t I?

Or was the evolution supposed to say something about me?

Could Path Magic evolve?

Why wouldn’t they? Then again, would I want them to evolve as I was currently? I couldn’t imagine the expense for Path Magic powers that evolved to higher levels and Qualities.

Still, evolutions were an incredible discovery on top of many discoveries.

And there was plenty more still waiting for me.

[Congrats! Path of the Slayer leveled up! 6 to 11!]

[You’ve reached a Major Level Milestone! Please look into your Path Magic section.]

I checked.

I had One Unselected (Choose Here) at the end of the Path Magic section.

At this point, I shouldn’t be shocked any further, but there was still room for me to be amazed. I was certain Level 11 was the equivalent of reaching Rank 2, and I was getting rewarded with another power for that!

Hadn’t I gained enough?

Was I allowed to have this much?

Rank 2s would normally get one extra power or none at all with their growth. Still, getting to Rank 2 was a great achievement that would make their Vitality, Aether, Suppression, and special powers stronger for hitting the higher Rank.

But with my growth, I was certain I could fight a Rank 3 gold adventurer even if I was at the equivalent tier of a Rank 2. After all, I’d just taken down a Rank 3 monster while I was the equivalent of a Rank 1, right?

Nevermind all the monsters that had battered the Fallen Slayer up to this point.

And nevermind the tactics I used.

I was pretty sure I was absurdly strong.

My powers kept multiplying my capabilities and pushing me to ridiculous degrees. There was no other way for me to win otherwise without my growing powers.

Because the difference between a Rank 3 and Rank 2 was far greater than the difference between a Rank 2 and a Rank 1, which meant the difference between me and a Rank 3 was huge, but I could overcome that with the right advantages.

What advantages would being a Realm Master give me?

I’d never heard of it.

I looked up, putting aside my notifications to peer into all the divine golden light.

It was blinding and powerful. The air shook hard with all the divine activity of the System. Then I noticed gaps in the light and saw incredible sights.

Demolished structures reversed all of their damage as if time was rewinding for them. The noxious clouds became harmless vapors. All the acid drained away, and golden cocoons wrapped up the remaining monsters.

The System was transforming the hellish landscape into something else, something less damaged and damned. I wasn’t sure how far the System could take it with a place that was supposedly a Hell Realm.

Being damned was in its nature, wasn’t it?

Curious, I reached out to a nearby stream of light. My hand passed through it, feeling its warmth and vibrancy, but no more than that. The light was harmless to me.

Smiling, I stepped off my throne and hit solid ground. The acid really was gone.

For a moment, I worried the Fallen Slayer would get washed away by the streams of golden light. But the hulking corpse remained, along with the head and the sword.

The golden streams bent around the Fallen Slayer’s remains, leaving it all alone. It was as if the System knew that I had … some sentimental value … with the dead creature and left it be.

“It seems you’re still busy, System,” I said. “I’ll, um, focus on powering up further.”

I checked my selection of Path Magic powers. I saw the old ones: Hunter’s Mark, Bullish Knock Up, Stampeding Run, Giant Slam, Crashing Parry, and Death Flurry.

Then I saw seven more, with one at the end that surprised me.

[Path Lightning: Level 31 (Rare): Sometimes, you just gotta hit them with some lightning. You can do that easier with this power, though the lightning might not come out normally, since it’s influenced by your Path.]

[Path Fire: Level 31 (Rare): Oh, look, a room filled with your enemies – and it’s a room with lots of dry wood. It looks like a great place to set a fire, right? But how it comes out is heavily influenced by your Path.]

[Path Acid: Level 31 (Rare): Oh, buddy, this is a sick power. People might look at you crossly. There isn’t much flexibility with this style of magic, but it might synergize decently with your Path if you use it right.]

[Path Darkness: Level 31 (Rare): Come on. You know you want to. Become one with the darkness and let out your inner edge-boy. You can do this easier with this power while it’s influenced by your Path.]

[Path Magnetism: Level 31 (Rare): This is more advanced than the usual elemental powers while also less direct. You could do some interesting magnetic tricks with this while it’s influenced by your Path.]

[Berserker’s Rhapsody: Level 31 (Exquisite): In rage and carnage, can happiness be found? Maybe so. Maybe not. Why don’t you try? Engage with your berserk nature fully, enhancing your strength, speed, and toughness as long as you’re willing to lose yourself a little or a lot.]

[Battle Rex: Level 61 (Epic): Okay, hear us out. This is wildly expensive for you. But … it would be badass. With lots and lots of Path Energy you might not even have in your own body currently, summon a magic Tyrannosaurus Rex to fight alongside you. He can be a challenging companion, but he’s far stronger, deadlier, smarter than the usual T-Rex. He can also tap into your Path Magic while you tap into the Battle Rex’s primal nature, if you have the extra energy to spare.]