Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 16 - And I Will Be Their Destruction (Patreon)

No, he thought. It can’t be. Not yet!

Had the wave come faster than the others? Had… had the System changed the rules on him?

Xavier gripped his scythe-staff tightly in both hands as he clenched his jaw, struggling to believe what was happening.

It couldn’t already be the next wave! He still had perhaps a quarter of this wave left. Had the enemies really grown that much stronger that he’d slowed down that much?

Or was it because he’d spent so much time meditating?

Whatever the reason, I have to deal with it. I have to keep pushing.

He’d succeeded in achieving the first step of unlocking the Willpower Infusion spell, but that had taken him—apparently—an entire hour!

I’m still standing. Still able to fight, Xavier thought, but he realised he would seriously have to consider retreating from this floor—even if it meant Queen Alastea’s death.

No. I’m not going to let that happen. Not if I can help it.

He would fight until he couldn’t anymore. Anything less… anything less wouldn’t be good enough. He was still trying to prove that he was worthy of what he’d gained. He, by chance or skill or both, had fallen into being the Progenitor of Earth. He couldn’t back down from something just because it was hard.

A hero wouldn’t just get up and walk away from this. A hero would keep pushing. A hero would figure out a way.

Or they would die trying. Xavier figured he could stop short of dying if it really came down to that.

Cycling Willpower out and then back into his core proved to be twice as hard as cultivating it into his core had been in the first place. But though the process was difficult—and required more of his brain space to achieve—it hadn’t taken near as long for him to get started.

The skills I have in these areas from doing this with the Spirit Core must be helping a great deal.

A consistent roarsounded from near the front of the enemies lines—the next wave. Thousands of beasts throwing their maws wide creating a cacophony of noise loud enough to be heard over the fighting.

Probably more wolven. You’d think a galaxy-spanning organisation called “the Endless Horde” would have more variety among its warriors, he thought, not that that was something he needed to be worrying about right now.

The roar reminded him of something else—he would now have three wave bosses on the field. Three E Grade enemies.

Sweat dotted Xavier’s brow. His muscles were tired, tense. This was something he hadn’t needed to worry about much. He’d always been able to regain his freshness between waves. His health wasn’t lowering too much, and his regeneration was enough to keep it in check even when it did—he could withstand far more damage than he’d ever imagined possible.

Yet he was starting to feel a deep fatigue. A weariness that had nothing to do with his Spirit Energy or his health. And no matter how much he pushed his self-doubt away, it kept assailing his mind. Kept pushing at him.

This spell won’t help me. It won’t be enough to turn the tide.

An Elven Duellist—Level 91—slashed at his head with one of its two curved long swords. The pointy-eared bastard had somehow slipped past his Soul Block and was trying to lay into him. Xavier’s scythe-staff was in the middle of separating heads from bodies, and he wasn’t able to bring it up to block.

The sword slammed into his forehead. He felt it break the skin. Blood dripped into Xavier’s left eye and he blinked it away as he crushed the bastard thing’s neck with a Heavy Telekinesis—he should have targeted multiple enemies with that spell, but his anger had made him misstep.

Sloppy.

The wound wasn’t a big one—it healed rapidly, but the blood remained, sticking his eyelashes together and blurring his vision. He couldn’t clear the enemies around him fast enough to even wipe his face. They were too packed in. Every time he took down one, another would pop up. Again and again they came. Never ending.

Endless.

And still he cycled energy through his secondary core. Still he pushed. He looked at his health.

Your health is at 67%.

Xavier cursed. He didn’t bother doing it under his breath. Instead, he shouted it in the face of one of the halberd-wielding demons in front of him before burying Soultaker into its chest, straight through its full-plate armour.

His health was falling. Steadily. It was going down slowly, but it was going down. That’s something he simply couldn’t abide. In all his time here he’d never even needed to take a health potion.

I’m stronger than this. I should be able to deal with this.

Had he been overestimating himself? The others told him that the legends they’d read about in books from the tower library spoke about mighty Denizens that had been able to defeat opponents above their own Grade. The head of the Endless Horde was D Grade.

Somehow, the others thought he might be able to defeat them when he was E Grade. Assuming I’m able to become E Grade before these damned waves overwhelm me. But he’d had trouble defeating one E Grade enemy as an F Grade Denizen. And that’s with him being at what he considered to be the peak of E Grade, even if he was “only” Level 60.

At the rate I’m levelling—or rather not levelling, I might make it to E Grade, but I certainly won’t make it to the peak. How could I possibly defeat a D Grade enemy?

He pushed those thoughts aside.

Focus, focus, focus.

Xavier whirled. He sent a Heavy Telekinesis behind him, trying to clear some space, pushing the enemies back. Again and again. He took a step, cast the spell, took another step. With each casting he killed more enemies—gained more Spirit Energy—he wasn’t going to run out of it. Not this time.

I’ll never let that happen again if I can help it.

At the same time he sent Soul Blocks behind him, trying to cover his back. He needed to get out of the fray. Somehow. He was worried about the other members of his party. Things had never gotten this out of hand before, and though the enemy waves had never made for the walls while he was on the battlefield, he didn’t know how long that would hold.

Especially now.

That E Grade wave boss was clever, staying back. And now there are three of them.

He could easily imagine them going for the walls, especially considering that was where they would find the queen they were after. The one whose family had angered the Endless Horde in the first place, all those years ago.

He’d wondered if there would somehow be a way to take the woman back with them, through the door in the Safe Zone, back to the Staging Room and the Tower of Champions.

The woman didn’t wish to run from her problems, worrying it would put others in danger. But she’d allowed him to see if she could step into the Safe Zone.

She couldn’t even see the door. To her, it had looked like a solid wall of stone. Exactly what it had been before they’d come to this floor.

Xavier made a hole through the enemies, climbing over their corpses. It wasn’t just teleportation magic he wished he had right now. He also wished he had the ability to fly—even if it meant having duckling wings like Justin. Though the Airborne Duellist’s wings had grown somewhat since they’d made it here.

Eventually, the wall was in view. He sighed in relief—the enemy still weren’t making for it.

No. They were all simply coming for him.

But he did notice that everyone was watching him. Not just Adviser Kalren, who’d been there when he’d left the wall. All of them. Queen Alastea. Howard. Siobhan. Justin. They stood there, gazing out at the carnage. Gazing out at him.

He wondered if it was time for the others to return to the Staging Room, what with the battle taking a turn for the worst.

But there wasn’t time to talk to them.

At least I know they’re still safe. They’ll flee if they have to.

His back against the moat and the wall, Xavier whirled and faced the encroaching army. Each and every enemy he could see were barrelling straight toward him, ready to sacrifice their lives to try and bring his demise.

Who benefits from all this death? Why put them all through it?

A part of Xavier was excited about this new reality he’d found when the System integrated Earth into the Greater Universe. He’d embraced it. It wasn’t as though he’d had a choice in the matter. He might as well do everything he could to enjoy how things had changed. He loved fantasy. Loved magic. Wanted to explore new worlds. The System had brought all of that.

That, and considering the advantages he’d gained, it hadn’t been too difficult to embrace.

Even with all the worries on his mind about Earth…

But he also felt a deep anger. A rage against the System for doing this not just to his world, but to countless worlds—worlds not only in his universe, but in everyuniverse.

And right now, to him, the Endless Horde represented the System. They represented the needless slaughter it wished for. The conflict and chaos it championed in the Greater Universe.

Right now, they were its avatar.

And I will be their destruction.

That thought started a fire inside of him, and a new idea entered his mind…

The System was the reason for all this carnage, and though it had brought him great power, and perhaps even a longer lifespan, in that moment he hated it for what it did.

People should not have to fight, he thought. If this System is so powerful that it can change worlds, solar systems, galaxies, even other universes, then why must it cause such havoc? Such death?

The idea was only a seed, and he did not know if he would feel it beyond this moment, but if that seed grew, his aspirations would expand well beyond the protection of Earth.

What if I can change things? What if I grow powerful enough to stop such needless death?

He plunged himself back into the fray. In the minutes he’d fought to make it back to the wall, and the precious seconds he’d stood there, casting Soul Block to prevent ranged spells and projectiles from causing him damage, his health had shot back up a good 10% and he’d been able to take a health potion. Though that health potion—being of the lesser variety—had only brought his health up by an extra 6%.

That, and he’d also almost finished cycling 1,000 points Willpower Energy through his core.

He was only 50 points away.

As the Spell Quest ended, and a notification popped up in his vision, Xavier idea came to the forefront of his mind:

What if I can change the System?