My Charity System made me too OP-Chapter 316: Back to Obsidian

His gaze lifted toward the horizon as he stepped forward—until the stone balcony ended in a sheer cliff. From there, the shattered world below stretched endlessly. The wind blew around him, warm with power, carrying the scent of obsidian dust and ancient steel.

Behind him, the others approached.

"So," Roman asked with a half-smirk, "you're going back to the Obsidian Ant arena again?"

Leon turned slightly, his eyes calm and blazing all at once. "Of course."

As the Tier VIII energy still pulsed faintly in his veins, Leon stood at the threshold of the Obsidian Ant Arena once more. The ancient obsidian gates recognized his presence now not as an outsider—but as a newly crowned force. The guards bowed as he passed.

Above, the crowd was already buzzing.

"Voidbreaker Leon returns!"

"He's after Rank 50!"

The arena shifted as the announcer's voice rang through the volcanic amphitheater. "The challenger seeks Rank 50—face your foe: Malgrax, the Spiral Shell!"

A tremor echoed from the other side. Leon narrowed his eyes as his opponent stepped forth.

Malgrax stood nearly ten feet tall—an armored juggernaut clad in spiraling, iridescent shell plating that shimmered like molten glass. An elite hybrid of Ant and ancient Rift-creature, his body twisted with evolutionary resilience. His four arms flexed in sequence, and strange crackling pulses of kinetic pressure erupted with each motion.

Leon cracked his neck.

"I'm ready."

The chime rang.

BEGIN.

Malgrax charged—not fast, but with the unstoppable inevitability of a collapsing mountain. His first strike was a two-armed spiral blow—part drill, part slam. Leon ducked low, his feet skimming the obsidian stage with Shell Reverb flowing, converting the kinetic pressure into defensive counter-current.

But the second pair of arms slammed down like warhammers.

Boom!

Leon grunted, the shockwave rattling his ribs. His enhanced Tier VIII body held—but barely. He struck back with a Shell Pulse-infused uppercut, sending a resonance into Malgrax's shell.

It barely made a crack.

"So… he has layered defenses," Leon muttered.

They traded a dozen blows—each one a brutal clash of muscle and momentum. Malgrax used rotational torque to redirect Leon's strikes, forcing him to rethink his timing. Leon switched into partial Body Force stance, combining explosive microbursts of motion with Shell Reverb—building pressure with every parried strike.

Finally, he let loose.

Boom!

A Tripart Echo punch shattered one of Malgrax's secondary arms, sending shell fragments across the arena.

But Malgrax wasn't done.

He roared, his spiral shell glowing red as he unleashed his signature move: Spiral Collapse—a vortex of compressed kinetic force spiraling outward like a tornado of crushing air.

Leon crossed his arms, bracing.

Shell Reverb. Body Force. Tier VIII resilience.

He was hurled back—but remained standing.

And then his eyes lit with golden fire.

He activated Gold Magic, wrapping his fists in radiant hex sigils. Then he invoked a thread of Aether Blood—his muscles surged with premonitory pulses. Finally, a spark of Destruction flared in his palm.

He vanished.

He reappeared behind Malgrax—his staff forming mid-motion—and he brought it down with all three forces fused into one.

Crack—BOOM!

The Spiral Shell shattered.

Malgrax dropped to one knee.

Leon struck again—point-blank—driving a spear of Gold-etched Destruction magic into his chest.

And the giant fell.

The crowd erupted.

[Victory: Rank 50 Defeated.]

[Shell Reverb Mastery: 77% → 81%.]

[Memory Echo Gained: Spiral Torque Shell.]

Leon stood, panting—but victorious. His eyes locked on the announcer, already preparing the challenge for Rank 49.

"Send the next."

As the roaring crowd gradually settled, and Malgrax's defeated body was taken away by the ceremonial guards, Leon stood motionless at the center of the arena. His breath was slow, but the heat of battle still radiated from his skin. Obsidian dust clung to his boots, and fine cracks lined the edge of the arena from the force of his last blow.

Suddenly, a hush fell across the chamber.

From the highest terrace above the arena floor, an ancient figure emerged—cloaked in a mantle of deep obsidian scale-fiber and bearing a staff whose top twisted into the shape of a sealed spiral.

All of the Ants bowed in unison.

Leon turned.

It was Elder Gorranth, the Keeper of the Depth Coil and the last living custodian of the Fourth Layer of Shell Reverb—a technique known only through whispers: Absolute Return.

The elder's eyes glowed a dull amber as he descended the air itself, riding a platform of rippling force. He hovered to Leon's level and studied him in silence.

"You have walked far for one who comes from Above," the elder said, voice like shifting stone.

Leon nodded, quietly respectful.

"You carry echoes in your bones. Rage in your blood. And yet, you do not break. That is the mark of a Shell Reverb warrior worthy of the final gate."

Gorranth extended a clawed hand. A flicker of echoing resonance formed between his fingers—like three overlapping moments in time, vibrating in harmony.

"This is not a strike. It is not a technique. It is the end of a cycle. The moment when every impact ever endured… returns."

He placed the flickering energy into Leon's chest.

Pain bloomed—not physical, but metaphysical. Leon gasped as every battle he had fought with Shell Reverb surged back through him. From Kragg the Wall to Xa'Roj the Tremorblade, to Malgrax and beyond. Each moment of deflection, each recoil, every wound and counterstrike. They folded into a single strand.

A voice in his mind whispered:

Shell Reverb – Fourth Layer Unlocked: Absolute Return

[You can now convert stored kinetic history into a single, unreducible strike. This strike ignores mass, speed, and resistances. One return. One truth.]

[Warning: Overuse may fracture inner channels.]

Leon staggered, his mind swimming with the weight of it. But then he stood straight, the glow fading into calm.

Elder Gorranth gave a final nod. "You may challenge Rank 49 now. But know this: after Rank 40, even Shell Reverb cannot save you unless your spirit holds firmer than stone."

Leon cracked his knuckles, a faint smirk at the edge of his lips. "Then I'll make my spirit diamond."

Roselia, who had descended with the others to the lower tier, placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "We'll be right behind you. But for now… this next climb is yours."

Leon looked up at the tall obsidian gates that led deeper into the temple.

He was ready.