Reborn To Conquer The Malivic World

CHAPTER 7

Lein froze on the fractured platform, his chest heaving as violet energy crackled in the void around him. 

The floating figure’s weapon gleamed like a shard of the void itself, radiating an intensity that made the Abyssal Hunter hesitate mid-leap. 

For the first time, Lein noticed subtle movements: a faint aura, almost transparent, surrounding the figure, a protective shimmer that distorted the air.

The hunter snarled, rage erupting in a deafening roar. Its tendrils lashed violently, striking pieces of floating rock that disintegrated into dust. 

The void trembled with the force. Lein felt the vibrations through every nerve. The abyss beneath him heaved, threatening to swallow him whole.

The figure raised their weapon, a sleek polearm of silver and violet, and swung it in a wide arc. 

The energy cut through the tendrils like a knife through silk, forcing the hunter to recoil. Sparks of violet and gold collided midair. 

Lein’s heart skipped. He’d never seen anything move with such precision and power.

“Who, who are you?” he shouted, struggling to keep his footing on the unstable terrain. The floating platforms shifted, threatening to collapse under his weight.

The figure’s voice rang out, calm but resonant. “You’re Lein Arcadion, correct? Then I know who you are.”

Lein blinked. “You know me? You mean… my past life? My soul? The fact that I came back?”

The figure didn’t answer immediately. Instead, they pivoted midair, slashing a tendril from the Abyssal Hunter. The energy sizzled, and the hunter shrieked, retreating a few meters.

“You don’t have much time,” the figure said finally, voice echoing like wind through a canyon. “This place, the void, is unstable. If you don’t move, both of us die. Follow me.”

Lein’s mind raced. Follow them? He didn’t even know if he could trust this person. They had arrived just in time, yes, but how did they know about him? And why were they helping?

Before he could respond, the hunter lunged again. Lein barely rolled out of the way as its claws smashed down where he had been standing moments before. 

He felt the vibrations tear through his arms, dislodging fragments of rock from beneath him.

The figure intercepted the next strike, sweeping their polearm in a wide arc. Energy surged, forcing the hunter back once more. “Move! Now!” they commanded.

Lein’s survival instincts took over. He sprinted toward the figure, leaping across a platform that tilted dangerously as he landed. 

His body screamed with every movement, muscles burning from the previous falls, from the trauma, from the sheer intensity of the void. 

But adrenaline surged in a way he had never felt in the real world. In this place, survival meant everything. And right now, he had to trust this stranger.

The figure moved with uncanny agility, hopping from platform to platform with the hunter in hot pursuit. 

Lein followed, dodging chunks of falling debris and avoiding tendrils that lashed unpredictably. 

The void seemed alive, responding to the hunter’s anger and the figure’s energy. Every movement Lein made felt like stepping into a living storm.

“Who, what are you?” he panted, trying to catch up. “Are you… another player?”

The figure didn’t answer immediately. Instead, they glanced back, and Lein caught a glimpse of their eyes beneath the hood: piercing violet, radiant with intelligence and focus. “I am no player. I exist outside the normal rules of this world,” the figure said. “You… are special. More than you know. That is why they hunt you.”

Lein’s stomach dropped. “They?”

“Yes. The Abyssal Hunter is not alone. There are others, creatures, sentinels, beings older than Malivic itself, who see your existence as a threat to the cycle. You… disrupt the balance.”

Lein’s blood ran cold. “Balance? Threat? What the hell does that mean?”

“Focus,” the figure said sharply. “We will discuss this when we are out of the void. Right now, surviving takes precedence.”

The platforms beneath them were increasingly unstable, some dissolving entirely into the colorful void. 

Lein’s legs were trembling, every joint screaming. He spotted a massive gap ahead, a chasm with no visible end, stretching into a swirling abyss of violet and gold.

“Do we jump?” Lein shouted, fear rising.

“Yes,” the figure said simply. “There is no other way.”

Lein’s pulse hammered. The distance seemed impossible, but he didn’t have time to calculate. The hunter was closing fast, tendrils whipping like deadly vines.

The figure leaped first, their polearm extended. Energy crackled around it, striking the far edge of the platform and causing it to solidify beneath their feet.

Lein hesitated. Fear surged, but then he remembered every insult, every betrayal, every moment in his previous life when he was called worthless.

He had survived death more than once. He was stronger now, fueled by rage and pain and the fragment he had claimed.

He sprinted, leaped, and felt the void rip beneath him. For a terrifying second, he was suspended in nothingness. Then, he landed. Solid ground.

The figure landed beside him. “Well done. But there is no time to rest.”

Lein barely caught his breath. He was shaking violently, blood streaking his arms from the numerous cuts and bruises. “Who… who are you?” he repeated.

The figure’s eyes softened, if only slightly. “My name… is Marieta. I was sent to ensure you survive long enough to reclaim the rest of your fragments. You are not yet ready to face what is coming.”

Lein blinked. “Fragments? More than one? How many?”

Marieta’s gaze turned serious. “More than I can count. But each one you claim makes you stronger, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Without them, you will not withstand the hunters, or the ultimate test that awaits you in Malivic.”

Lein barely had a moment to process the information when a massive shadow fell across the platforms. 

The Abyssal Hunter had recovered from its previous blow and was advancing with terrifying speed. 

Its tendrils whipped wildly, striking fragments of the terrain, shattering them into dust. Lein’s eyes widened. “It’s… faster!”

Marieta didn’t hesitate. She leapt in front of him, swinging her polearm with lethal precision. 

The hunter screeched as the energy blast from her weapon slammed into it, forcing it to recoil. “Lein, take the left path!” she shouted. “I will hold it off!”

Lein’s heart raced. He wanted to protest, he wasn’t ready, but instinct overrode fear. He sprinted toward the path Marieta had indicated.

Dodging debris, dodging energy blasts, dodging tendrils that whipped past like spears.

Behind him, Marieta’s battle roared on. The sounds of energy clashing, of the hunter screaming in frustration, echoed through the void. 

Lein couldn’t see clearly, but he could hear it. And he knew she was keeping the hunter at bay, just barely.

As he ran, Lein felt the fragment inside him hum. It pulsed with energy, guiding him, almost whispering in his mind. 

He realized… he could anticipate the hunter’s movements, through Marieta’s attacks, through the void’s chaos, just as he had anticipated Graknor’s strikes.

Rewind Memory, combined with the fragment’s energy, allowed him to act instinctively, to make choices faster than thought itself. 

He vaulted over a collapsing platform, landed on a jagged shard of rock, and rolled to avoid a tendril.

Each move was precise. Calculated. Deadly, if he had the strength. He gritted his teeth. “I’m not worthless… I’m not weak… I survive!”

The fragment pulsed brighter. Lein felt his muscles tighten, his wounds searing but healing partially as the energy coursed through him. He was changing. Becoming more than he had ever been.

Ahead, a massive platform glowed with a soft golden light. Marieta had indicated this was the next checkpoint, a stable area where he could rest briefly, reclaim his strength, and plan the next move.

But to get there, he had to leap across a chasm wider than any he had seen. The hunter was closing in fast, tendrils snapping around him like lightning.

Lein squared his shoulders. “No hesitation.”

He sprinted, timing the rhythm of the platforms, measuring the void itself. The hunter’s shadow loomed behind him, growing larger, closer, hungrier.

Then, he leapt. Time slowed. The fragment within him flared, burning with light. He twisted midair, dodged a snapping tendril, and extended his hands toward the golden platform.

He landed. His knees buckled. Pain shot through him. But he was alive. Behind him, the Abyssal Hunter screeched in frustration, unable to reach the platform in time.

Lein sank to the ground, trembling, blood dripping, chest heaving. He had survived. For now. But the moment of relief was fleeting.

The void shook violently. From the darkness beyond, dozens of violet eyes blinked. New hunters, and then he saw it.

Something massive, something far larger than even the Abyssal Hunter. Its shadow fell over the golden platform. Lein’s stomach dropped. It wasn’t over.