Rise Of The Villain : In a World Ruled By Anomalies-Chapter 40 : Extraction Process

Arthur’s body slammed into the ground with a bone-jarring thud, the impact sending shockwaves of pain rippling through his battered frame. Dust and ice shards exploded outward, his vision swimming as he gasped for air.

Jordan’s lips curled into a savage sneer. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a gleaming dagger from his storage ring, its edge honed to lethal perfection, enchanted runes pulsing with dark energy.

He lunged forward, the dagger arcing down with the full intention of cleaving Arthur’s neck in a single, merciless stroke.

Time seemed to slow for Arthur.

Omnicognition activated instinctively, his mind transforming into a supercomputer whirring at impossible speeds. Thousands of calculations hooked together in milliseconds—trajectory vectors, wind resistance from the melting ice, Jordan’s muscle tension, even the subtle shift in his grip.

Every gear turned flawlessly, painting a crystal-clear picture.

But as the data converged, dread sank in.

’No escape,’ Arthur thought. ’He’s too fast. This is it.’

Just as Arthur braced for the end—

Jordan’s hand, the one gripping the dagger, suddenly froze mid-strike, ice crystals spiderwebbing up his arm like venomous vines.

Jordan’s eyes widened in disbelief, his pupils dilating as shock rippled across his face. He whipped his head toward the source.

Isabella.

’Impossible,’ he thought. ’She shouldn’t have recovered this fast. I made sure of that.’

There she stood, unsteadily clutching his grimoire—the S-rank artifact he’d earned from completing a system quest. Its cover glowed with ethereal azure light, pages fluttering autonomously as if alive.

This grimoire chose its owner itself, binding only to those it deemed worthy. It had taken Jordan weeks of relentless trials to earn its acknowledgment, yet Isabella had claimed it in seconds, the book humming contentedly in her grasp.

Jordan’s face turned red with rage, veins bulging on his forehead.

’Are all my efforts here meaningless?’ he seethed inwardly.

"Give it back, you bitch!" he yelled, his voice booming off the frozen walls.

Isabella struggled to stand. Even with the grimoire channeling limitless mana into her depleted channels, her strength was at its lowest ebb. Her strained meridians throbbed like fire, and without healing skills, every movement was agony, her legs wobbling beneath her.

In a blur of motion, Jordan rushed forward, his dagger thrusting to cut her down.

Arthur reacted instantly, rolling to his feet and blocking the dagger with his sword.

Steel clashed in a shower of sparks.

Jordan countered viciously, his boot slamming into Arthur’s chest with explosive force. Arthur rocketed backward, smashing into the wall, cracks spiderwebbing through the stone as his ribs creaked in protest.

"Without your skill, you’re just a weakling, you bastard!" Jordan yelled, his eyes blazing. "Don’t you understand that?"

He grabbed Arthur’s hair, yanking his head back brutally.

"I’ve never liked that pretty face of yours."

Jordan thrust the dagger toward Arthur’s face.

Arthur blocked desperately with his arm.

The blade pierced clean through flesh and muscle.

Blood splattered in a hot arc, soaking the ground.

Agony like never before filled Arthur’s body, white-hot pain lancing from his arm, his nerves screaming as he gritted his teeth against the torment.

"Die!" Jordan snarled.

Suddenly, Isabella mustered whatever mana her body could handle, the grimoire amplifying her will.

"Smiles of Ice!" she whispered hoarsely.

Dozens of razor-sharp ice shards erupted from the floor, piercing Jordan’s back and the arm holding the dagger in a brutal flurry.

He groaned in pain, the dagger clattering from his numb fingers.

In a blur, he spun and kicked her square in the abdomen.

Isabella’s mind spun wildly as she landed hard on the ground, barely conscious, her vision tunneling at the edges to black.

Jordan turned toward Arthur, fury twisting his features.

"You! It all happened because of you!"

He kicked Arthur in the abdomen, the force cracking the ground beneath them, the air exploding from Arthur’s lungs.

Yet Arthur staggered to his feet, his right arm limp and stained crimson, dangling uselessly.

’Now there’s only one way to get out of here alive,’ he thought grimly. ’I have to take the gamble.’

He picked up his sword from the ground with his left hand, his grip tightening despite the pain.

Jordan looked at him with pity and disgust.

"You still think you can defeat me? Look at yourself. You’re even worse than me—untalented, alone, living just to fight another day, stuck at F-rank forever. And I bet that system of yours is useless too.

It gave you nothing, just a few skills... maybe even worse than mine. So why don’t you just die already? Even if you manage to defeat me, there’s no guarantee you’ll survive the next system user with stronger capabilities.

You are the weakest.

There’s nothing for you here, so why didn’t you just stop fighting?"

Arthur remained kneeling for a moment, blood dripping from his chin onto the shattered ground, each crimson drop sizzling faintly against the melting ice.

His breathing was ragged, his chest heaving in uneven gasps, his body trembling as if it could collapse at any second, his muscles quivering from exhaustion.

Then—

He laughed.

Low.

Hoarse.

Defiant.

The sound bubbled through blood-flecked lips, echoing faintly in the tense chamber.

Slowly, painfully, he forced himself back to his feet, his legs shaking like brittle twigs under his weight.

"You really don’t understand, do you...?"

He wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his good hand, only for more to spill out, trickling warm down his neck.

"I’m not fighting because I think I’ll win."

"I’m not standing because I still have strength left."

His eyes lifted—burning with something far more terrifying than desperation, a feral resolve gleaming in their depths.

"I fight because dying willingly was never an option given to me."

He took a staggering step forward, his sword dragging sparks along the stone.

"I’ve been humiliated... discarded... abandoned... treated like something disposable my entire life."

"My body can break."

"My bones can shatter."

"My organs can fail."

Another step.

"And if survival demands it..."

His voice turned cold, edged with steel.

"I’ll tear myself apart piece by piece."

A faint smile appeared through the blood, crooked and unyielding.

"I’ll crawl."

"I’ll bleed."

"I’ll destroy everything I am and rebuild from whatever remains."

His aura trembled violently, crimson mist coiling thicker around him.

"But I will never choose death."

Arthur’s voice dropped, heavy and absolute.

"Because the moment I accept dying... everything I’ve endured becomes meaningless."

His trembling fist tightened around the sword hilt.

"So if you want me dead—"

His gaze sharpened like that of a cornered predator.

"Stop waiting for me to give up... and kill me yourself."

Jordan smiled, a chilling mix of amusement and malice.

"Wow, that’s a hell of a motivation."

In front of Arthur, a system window ticked silently:

[ Host, just hold on for 30 seconds. The condition will complete and the extraction link will be established. ]

Jordan’s body became a blur, vanishing in a burst of speed as he targeted Arthur’s vitals, the dagger flashing toward his throat, heart, and eyes in a deadly flurry.

Arthur barely dodged, twisting his torso at the last instant—Omnicognition still active, gears whirring to track every dagger trajectory, predicting arcs through the haze of pain.

But with only his left hand—his non-dominant hand—he couldn’t dodge everything.

Voidmorph Carapace deflected some strikes with shadowy resilience, but others slipped through—shallow gashes across his ribs, thigh, and shoulder.

Blood welled hot and fast.

Arthur’s vision started blacking out at the edges, his consciousness fraying like torn cloth. He was barely holding on, his breaths coming in wet rattles.

Jordan grabbed him by the throat, his fingers crushing like iron.

"Game over. I’ve got you."

He reared back to pierce Arthur’s heart, the dagger poised for the kill.

Then—

A voice echoed inside Arthur’s head.

[ Surviving five minutes in combat against Jordan Zane: COMPLETE ]

[ 20 attribute points have been rewarded ]

[ Extraction link has been established... ]

’Start the extraction process!’ Arthur commanded mentally.

Suddenly—

Pain unlike anything before flooded Jordan’s body.

A violent agony surged through him, invisible forces wrenching at him as if trying to tear him apart from within.

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--A/N:-

Hey Guys,

Thank you for your patience and continued support. I’m excited to announce that regular updates for Rise of the Villain: In a World Ruled by Anomalies will officially resume starting today.

I’ve also kept the privilege Chapter pricing as low as possible — 10 Chapters for just 100 coins — so more readers can continue enjoying the story without much expense.

Your support means everything to me, and it’s what keeps this journey going. Stay tuned for the upcoming Chapters... the real chaos is only beginning.

Thank you for being part of this story.

— survivalArtist001