Entering Apocalypse in Easy-Mode-Chapter 499: The Risk

Asqa stood nearby, she kept her focus sharp and unwavering to anything around her.

Clyde sat cross-legged in the center of the desolate plaza, his body surrounded by tendrils of shadowy mist that leaked slowly from his skin. That otherworldly power that once felt strange and horrifying to witness for her now felt almost familiar to her. But for to others that power was still corrupted and terrifying.

The magic of the Ancient One was unlike anything that existed in the natural order. It didn’t hum or glow the same as normal magic, it pulsed in silence like a beating heart from beyond creation.

To anyone who sensed it even from afar, it would feel like something was terribly wrong with reality itself. Especially when it come in this much density.

So Asqa remained vigilant. She stood near him, her bracelet softly glowing, her senses stretching outward across the ruined landscape.

She swept her awareness in a wide radius, scanning for any hint of movement, magic, or intrusion.

Nothing stirred around her. But she didn’t relax.

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Meanwhile, deep within himself, Clyde felt the pull.

It wasn’t violent nor painful but it was absolute. The moment he voiced his need for strength, he sensed the Ancient One respond, not with words but with intent.

Clyde allowed it to take him. freewebnoveℓ.com

His soul was drawn into the darkness, leaving his body behind like a shell in meditation.

"This is His pull. I hope I didn’t ask for too much. I don’t feel anger... that’s a good sign, right?"

A moment later, he felt his feet touch solid ground again.

He opened his eyes—or the spiritual version of them—and found himself once more in the Ancient One’s realm.

The scene was the same as before when he saw it, an endless expanse of black dust underfoot, like burnt ash. Thick gray mist floated across the horizon, obscuring any distant shape. There was no sky above and no light source. The air didn’t move. There was only stillness and His presence.

This place existed outside the laws of time and space. It didn’t belong to the cosmos. It belonged only to the Ancient One.

It was here that Clyde had first seen Archangel Michael performing the ritual—the moment he’d realized the corrupted truth of the Eden and the other realms.

Now, he stood alone once again, scanning the mists.

He saw nothing for a couple of seconds. Then the shadows twisted gathered, and shaped themselves into a figure.

A humanoid form slowly coalesced form the black mist in front of him. As it become more in details Clyde felt a flicker of discomfort.

The figure had taken his shape and face.

It looked exactly like him—same face and same build—but there was something wrong about it. Like a mirror of his soul that lacked the human parts.

It was the Ancient One wearing his face.

Clyde frowned unconsciously. It feels unsettling when He did that.

But then the figure tilted its head ever so slightly—exactly the way Clyde would—but He spoke with His own voice.

"You said you seek strength," He said. "Let us speak of what you are truly ready to endure."

Clyde looked into the eyes of the figure that wore his face. "What do I need to endure?" he asked, his voice steady.

The Ancient One tilted His head again, just slightly.

"Just as you needed to raise your System level to absorb more of my power before... now, if you wish to grow faster, you must compress those efforts. Condense what should take months into one rapid and violent process."

His tone wasn’t cruel. It was matter-of-fact. Honest.

"This method is faster," He continued, "but far more painful. That’s the nature of it. Not because I refuse to help you. Even I have limits... in this current state."

Clyde exhaled slowly through his nose, suppressing a sigh. He knew the Ancient One spoke the truth. As long as He remained incomplete—trapped between existence and resurrection—His intervention would always be restricted.

"I understand," Clyde said. "It makes sense."

"Then you accept the risk?"

"I do," Clyde answered firmly. "If I want to defeat the Higher Beings that want to attack soon, I need to take risks. There’s no way around it."

The Ancient One looked at him—his own face looking back at him—but now, there was a flicker of sadness in His eyes.

"I’m sorry, Clyde," He said. "Had I been fully awakened... I might have seen this threat coming. I might’ve prevented it before it got this far."

Clyde shook his head slowly. "It’s fine. What’s done is done. We move forward."

The figure nodded in silence. Then, finally, the Ancient One smiled. It wasn’t a comforting smile but it was a real one.

"Very well," He said. "I will grant you more of my power. But to accept it, your body must be remade. Reconstructed."

Clyde’s jaw tightened. He didn’t look away.

"It will hurt," the Ancient One added. "More than anything you’ve felt before."

"I can take it," Clyde said without hesitation. He start forcing his mind to think that he really will be able to take it.

"Then go," the Ancient One said, voice already fading. "Return to your body and the best place to rest and prepare yourself."

With that, the figure dissolved—tendrils of black mist unraveling into the formless void once more. The realm darkened as the presence pulled away.

Clyde felt himself rise upward from his place, drawn upward by unseen forces just like how he were pulled before. His awareness ascended, leaving the ash-covered realm behind and just a breath later, he opened his eyes in the real world.

He was back in his body. Back in the ruined city. The air was still stale, the world still dead. but right now he have clearer purpose.

Asqa turned to him immediately noticing that the black mist was dissipating.

"You’re back," Asqa said.

Clyde nodded. "We need to move now to the mansion. The grinding plan is cancelled. I need somewhere safe. Somewhere I can... uhh... be break and rebuild."

Asqa blinked in confusion.

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