GLOBAL AWAKENING: My 10,000x Exp Multiplier-Chapter 39: []Soul Siphoning, The Guardian’s Fall

The heavy suffocating silence of the cathedral was shattered by a loud sound. It was the sound of Pierce Valerius screaming!

It wasn’t a battle cry. It was the frantic and desperate sound of a man realizing he was entirely outmatched.

Pierce charged and swung the Star-Shatter Greatsword in wild sweeping arcs. He desperately tried to keep Vahn at a distance. The plasma blade carved molten trenches into the floor. It destroyed the pews and shattered the iron pillars.

But it was entirely useless.

Without his multiplier carrying his reaction times, Pierce’s movements were tragically slow.

Vahn didn’t even need to use Temporal Step. He simply moved with the fluid punishing grace of his fifty base Agility. He weaved through the devastating strikes with millimeter precision.

Pierce brought the blade down in a heavy overhead chop.

Vahn casually sidestepped as the plasma singed the edge of his jacket. Before Pierce could recover from the massive overswing, Vahn stepped into his guard.

He didn’t use the blade. He delivered a brutal reinforced palm strike directly to the center of Pierce’s breastplate.

The force cracked the Platinum-Tier armor.

Pierce gasped and the breath violently expelled from his lungs as he was sent stumbling backward.

"Your footing is atrocious," Vahn observed coldly and did not let up the pressure. He closed the distance instantly.

Pierce swung a panicked backhand.

Vahn ducked and swept his leg, kicking Pierce’s armored shin. The Alpha’s balance collapsed. As he pitched forward, Vahn drove the pommel of the Soul-Bound Shadow Blade squarely into Pierce’s jaw.

The sickening crunch of bone echoed in the vast room.

Pierce crashed to the floor. His pristine golden helmet dented and slid off his head. Blood spilled from his mouth, staining the polished runic tiles.

He tried to scramble back. His sapphire eyes were wide with absolute panic. He looked at his health bar. It was flashing a dangerous red. For the first time in his entire existence within Aetheria, it wasn’t healing. The red bar stayed empty.

"No... no, this is impossible!" Pierce choked out while spitting blood. "I am the Alpha! I have the backing of the Syndicate! You cannot do this to me!"

"Forty seconds," Vahn replied evenly as he walked slowly toward him. The violet energy of his dagger hummed with eager anticipation. "You spent all your time padding your stats, Pierce. You never actually learned how to fight."

Pierce scrambled to his feet and discarded his heavy useless broadsword. He backed away toward the massive altar at the rear of the cathedral. His arrogance was entirely shattered. It was replaced by the desperate cornered instincts of a rat.

"You think you’ve won?!" Pierce shrieked. His hands frantically searched the hidden compartments of his tactical belt. "I am the Guardian of this city! If I fall, the Overlords will simply glass this entire server! I am your only salvation!"

He pulled a massive jagged crystal from his belt. It wasn’t a standard mana core. It was entirely black and swirled with thousands of screaming ghostly faces trapped within the glass.

It was a Soul Reservoir. A highly illegal abyssal artifact filled with the condensed life-force of every low-level player and civilian the Syndicate had sacrificed to the Spire.

"I will just buy another multiplier!" Pierce roared and raised the crystal high above his head. "I will consume every soul in this city to crush you!"

He prepared to crush the crystal. He intended to forcefully inject the raw unadulterated data into his locked avatar to break Vahn’s Administrator chains.

Vahn stopped walking. His deep purple eyes flared with a sudden intense realization.

He had spent millions of experience points mutating his weapons, his stats, and his localized environment. But he was still relying on the physical limitations of his avatar. The system required him to kill enemies to gain their data.

But looking at the massive swirling vortex of pure experience points trapped inside Pierce’s crystal, Vahn saw a profound inefficiency.

Why break the container and fight the resulting energy when he could simply drain it directly?

’System,’ Vahn commanded. His mind raced through the foundational architecture of his hidden class. ’Access the Architect Permissions. Target. The biological mechanic of Experience Consumption. Initiate forced evolutionary mutation.’

[Warning! Attempting to alter fundamental leveling mechanics]

↳ This action requires authorization beyond standard user limits.

’I am the Administrator,’ Vahn dictated. His voice echoed with absolute terrifying authority in the empty space of his mind. ’Bypass limits. Unlock Soul Siphoning.’

[System Override Accepted]

↳ Skill Unlocked: Soul Siphoning.

↳ Grade: Mythic.

↳ Effect: Allows the user to directly convert ambient souls, raw data, and corrupted energy into immediate EXP.

↳ Note: This entirely bypasses combat requirements.

Pierce brought his hand down and crushed the black crystal against his armored knee.

The glass shattered!

A torrential howling geyser of thousands of trapped souls erupted into the air. They swirled aggressively as they prepared to funnel into Pierce’s body.

"Be reborn in the Abyss!" Pierce screamed and threw his arms wide to accept the god-like surge of power.

But the energy never reached him.

Vahn didn’t move. He simply raised his left hand with his palm facing the massive storm of souls. He engaged his new Mythic skill.

"Siphon."

The space between them violently warped. A localized black hole of pure irresistible gravitational force bloomed from Vahn’s hand.

The howling storm of souls abruptly shifted trajectory. They didn’t flow into Pierce. They were forcefully ripped across the room and funneled directly into Vahn!

Pierce watched in absolute horror. The massive reservoir of power he had sacrificed thousands of people to build was effortlessly inhaled by the man in the cheap brown jacket.

The golden text of the hidden firewall flooded Vahn’s vision in a blinding cascade.

[Soul Siphoned]

↳ Base EXP: 1,000.

[Hidden Modifier Applied]

↳ The 10,000x Factor.

↳ Total EXP: 10,000,000.[Soul Siphoned]

↳ Base EXP: 5,000.

Vahn’s internal reservoir skyrocketed!

Millions upon millions of experience points flooded his system. It repaired the residual damage from the Calamity Curse and filled his reserves to a terrifying overflowing capacity.

The sheer volume of raw data made the air around him crackle with physical lightning.

In less than five seconds, the storm was gone. The cathedral was perfectly silent.

Vahn lowered his hand and let out a soft satisfied breath. He looked at his interface. He had enough capital to buy the moon.

He turned his gaze back to Pierce.

The Alpha was on his knees. His hands trembled violently as he stared at the empty air where his salvation had just vanished. His sixty-second timer was up, but it didn’t matter. His spirit was completely broken.

"You..." Pierce whispered. Tears of utter despair mixed with the blood on his face. "You aren’t a player. You’re a monster."

"I am the Architect," Vahn corrected smoothly. He walked forward and stopped directly in front of the broken Guild Leader. "And you are an obsolete line of code."

Vahn didn’t bother using a skill. He simply raised his boot and delivered a single brutal kick directly to the side of Pierce’s head.

The concussive force knocked the Alpha entirely unconscious and sent his limp body sliding across the floor.

The battle was over. The Guardian had fallen!

Vahn sheathed his dagger and turned away from the defeated elite. He looked toward the center of the cathedral. The glowing golden sands of the Chronos Hourglass hovered quietly in the gloom.

He stepped forward and reached out. He secured the Mythic anchor and felt its warm stabilizing energy lock the physical coordinates of Sovereign City into a permanent safe zone.

He had secured the lifeboat.

Vahn turned around and walked back toward the shimmering portal that led back to Earth. He felt lighter than he had in months. The curse was gone, his team was safe, and he possessed the raw power to face the true Convergence.

He stepped through the portal.

The rain of Sovereign City washed over him instantly. He stood in the shattered lobby of the bank. The chaotic noise of the dying city returned.

Standing ten feet away and forming a flawless defensive perimeter were the three most important people in his universe.

Sia lowered her massive shield and let out a breath she had clearly been holding.

Hana beamed. She practically vibrated with relief.

Aria sprinted forward. Her pristine robes were soaked with rain as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest.

Vahn didn’t think about anything else. He just smiled and wrapped his arms around his Priestess. He held her tight against the storm.