Ascension of the last Celestial

Crimson blood sprayed on the dark floor of the cave as another goblin died. Its body was like the first A- goblin Valerian saw, completely ink-black. Since the first encounter with an A- rank goblin, Valerian had fought with three others, and to his disappointment, they all had the darkness affinity.

That was because they were cave goblins, and cave goblins only awaken the darkness affinity as their bodies were made for the darkness through centuries of evolution.

Valerian’s black katana ignited with cosmic fire to burn away the blood clinging to the blade. With a sigh, he began to move forward again.

’This is getting kind of annoying.’

The three A- rank goblins would all use the exact same tactics: they would either try to kill him by making the darkness around him turn to spikes, or immobilize him and then attack with a weapon formed from darkness. While in the beginning it was exhilarating to fight against an intelligent opponent that could utilize an affinity, it soon became dull. Valerian realized why cave goblins still counted among the less intelligent races.

’Why are they all just using the same fighting style! Get a bit creative!’

While he was getting annoyed at the unoriginal way the cave goblins fought, the ceiling suddenly left his spatial perception range.

’Hmm? Did I reach one of the bigger caves?’

Curious, Valerian expanded his range and soon realized the massive scale of the cave he had just stepped into. The ceiling was over a hundred meters tall, and the entire cavern, from the beginning where he stood to the far end, was over one kilometer wide. His spatial senses easily picked up several structures, crude houses that were built down here, forming a subterranean village.

His arrival didn’t go unnoticed by the residents of the cave. The strongest warriors, meant to protect the weaker ones, instantly materialized from the shadows around him. Valerian retracted not just his spatial perception but also his mana senses so that they only covered a two-meter dome around him. But before he shrunk the range, he clearly felt the ranks and numbers of the ones surrounding him.

’Seven A ranks, four A+ ranks, and two S- ranks. This could be interesting.’

If it were anyone else, they would be trembling in fear at the sheer strength of the elite group. But Valerian just had a wicked grin on his face. He loosened his grip on the katana and readied himself for the incoming onslaught.

He didn’t have to wait long. The darkness beneath him began to writhe, and an ink-black goblin hand reached out of the floor, trying to grab his leg and pull him under.

Valerian sprung a few meters to the side to effortlessly dodge the grab attack. But before his feet could even touch the ground, one of the A+ rank goblins appeared inside his two-meter range, thrusting what seemed to be a spear made from pure darkness straight at his throat.

Valerian moved his head to the side just enough that the spear missed him by a hair’s breadth. He pivoted his weight, wanting to swing his katana at the goblin to sever its head. But before the sword could connect, a pair of goblin hands burst from the darkness beneath the attacker, violently pulling the spearman back into the floor, causing Valerian’s strike to cut only empty air.

’One of them acts like a supporter, pulling them through the darkness to save them. That one has to go first. But how do I find him if they keep hiding in the shadows?’

Before he could formulate a plan, he was once again attacked by the coordinated squad. This time, two A-rank fighters rushed him simultaneously, one coming from the left with a dark broadsword, and one from the right wielding dual daggers. Additionally, his senses picked up a hail of heavy spears made from darkness flying down at him from the high ceiling.

The melee goblins entered his close-range dome first, but the airborne spears were moving much faster. In a split-second decision, Valerian decided to test his newly acquired power. Instead of dodging, he called upon his new affinity. He didn’t just summon a wall; he manifested a thin barrier made from the matte-black void of Event Horizon right above him.

The incoming spears slammed into the barrier, but there was no sound of an impact. The moment the projectiles touched the boundary of the matte-black void, the extreme gravitational force of the singularity violently warped their trajectory. The spears were instantly stretched, distorted, and sucked into the center of the barrier, disappearing completely as if they had never existed.

Knowing there was no way they could breach a barrier backed by his mana, Valerian immediately turned his attention to the two goblins approaching him from both sides.

Without moving from his spot, he did a lazy tilt of his head to dodge the horizontal slash of the darkness sword. Slightly shifting the angle of his torso, the daggers made from darkness just barely missed his throat, stabbing uselessly into the air. The two goblins description of shock was palpable as they realized they had completely missed, but before they could trigger their shadow-teleportation to retreat, Valerian acted.

Instead of using his sword, he pushed his Event Horizon affinity into the ground beneath their feet.

The ground turned into a flat, absolute darkness that reflected zero light. Instantly, the gravity inside his two-meter dome multiplied by a hundredfold. The two goblins didn’t even have the time to cry out; the immense physical weight crushed them instantly to the floor. Their bones cracked audibly under the pressure, pinning them to the stone like insects.

From the shadows outside his dome, the supporter goblin frantically tried to open a dark portal beneath his crushed comrades to pull them out of danger. But the moment the supporter’s mana touched Valerian’s domain, [Law Breaker] activated. The unique skill violently severed the connection, denying their mana from saving them by teleporting through the darkness. The dark portals simply dissolved into nothingness.

To ensure they wouldn’t move again, dark chains made of condensed gravity flew out of the ground, tightly binding their broken bodies to the floor, sprawling their limbs out.

Just like that, Valerian had not only neutralized the ranged attack but also completely immobilized two of their elite fighters in less than a second.

Seeing their frontline warriors crushed and bound so easily, the remaining goblins froze. The collective nervousness turned into pure terror. The shadows around the cave trembled as the hidden monsters feared that coming anywhere near him would mean being bound like the two on the floor, or instantly erased by that strange, light-devouring darkness.

"What? Scared now?" Valerian’s voice echoed coldly through the massive cavern.

The cave goblins didn’t speak his language, so they couldn’t understand the mockery in his words. However, they didn’t need a translator to understand the absolute gap in power. They realized they couldn’t beat him. They couldn’t even touch him. Driven by primal fear, the elite squad did the only thing that could save their lives, they turned around and ran.

As Valerian heard their frantic footsteps moving away in all directions, the wicked grin vanished from his face, replaced by pure annoyance.

’Seriously? They are running? Haaa... and I thought that this would actually be fun.’

With a disappointed thought, his spatial perception expanded to its full range, mapping out the entire square kilometer of the cavern. He could clearly feel the panicked goblins running for their lives, trying to scramble back into the deeper tunnels or hide inside the crude stone buildings.

Valerian raised his left hand. With a simple, casual snap of his fingers, the shadows of the cave revolted against their masters. Massive spears made from darkness burst violently from the stone floor beneath the fleeing warriors. The spikes impaled the seven A-ranks, the four A+ ranks, and the remaining S-rank before their reflexes could even register the danger. Even the two goblins he had previously bound to the ground didn’t survive, as dark spikes pierced through their chests from below, ending their whimpering.

’Well, that was a huge disappointment. I just hope that the ones closer to the center, especially their chief, don’t just lose hope like that. I need a real challenge.’

As he began to move through the large cave with a calm, relaxed pace, the non-combatant residents inside the buildings looked outside through small cracks in their doors, paralyzed with fear. They had just witnessed the absolute slaughter of their strongest protectors—monsters meant to shield the entire colony—killed without a single drop of sweat. And now, the executioner was casually walking between their homes.

Valerian glanced at the houses, his glowing purple eyes cold and indifferent.

’I should probably kill the rest too. Leaving a colony behind will just be a hassle later.’

A massive surge of mana left his core, flooding the entire cavern. Thanks to his absolute spatial perception, he knew the exact coordinates of every single goblin hiding inside the stone structures, down to their very breathing patterns.

Inside the houses, a brief surge of relief passed through the hidden families as they noticed the terrifying human was simply passing by the buildings without actively attacking them. They thought they were safe.

But this relief passed faster than their primitive minds could comprehend.

Valerian didn’t need to swing his sword or throw a spell. He simply channeled the crushing gravity of Event Horizon through the very spears of darkness that had impaled the warriors outside. The gravity field expanded outward like an invisible wave, passing through the walls of every single house.

Instantly, the atmospheric pressure inside the buildings skyrocketed. The gravity pulled every hiding goblin toward the ground with terminal force, crushing them against the stone floors before they could even scream. In a matter of two seconds, the entire population of the outer cavern was wiped out.

With a single, effortless thought, Valerian had killed every single goblin living in that section of the cave without them being able to put up a fight. But to him, it didn’t matter much. There was no remorse, no guilt, and no second thoughts. He simply shook the dust off his coat, turned his back on the silent village, and moved on toward the next deep corridor.