Death to Power
Copyright© 2025 by TheSmartOne
Chapter 20: One strike [2]
He was surprised, to say the least.
Nocthar had planned to propose something else entirely—make the boy fight his children to earn his forgiveness ... maybe even a reward. But this little brat?
He wanted to block one of his strikes instead.
“Hahahaha!!”
A deep, thunderous laugh exploded through the dungeon, so heavy it shook the stone walls like they were brittle twigs. Dust rained from the ceiling. The ground itself trembled.
Kaden’s body buckled.
It was like a sonic boom had slammed into him point-blank. He dropped to one knee, breath stolen, his body shaking like a leaf.
‘What the hell? His laughter alone can make me kneel?’
The idea of taking a hit from this thing suddenly felt insane. Maybe—just maybe—proposing to take a direct strike wasn’t the wisest thing he’d ever done.
The laugh slowly died out.
Kaden forced himself back to his feet, blood rushing, muscles screaming. He clenched his fists.
“I don’t know if you’re a fool or just suicidally confident,” Nocthar finally said, baring sharp teeth in a grin.
“But I like it. A little madness is necessary in this world if you want to go far. But madness without strength ... that’s just stupidity.”
He took a step forward, shadows coiling behind him like lazy serpents.
“You said you’d take one strike from me.” Nocthar chuckled again, clearly amused. “A newly awakened brat saying that to me? That’s rich.”
Still ... the boy was lucky. Nocthar’s power was sealed—crippled to a mere fraction. Right now, he could only draw upon the strength of an intermediate-ranked being. A far cry from what he truly was. But enough to test this pup.
“Very well. One strike. Only one,” he said. “And nothing will happen to you ... I swear it—on my name, Nocthar The *****”
“ARGHH!”
Kaden screamed and clutched his head, agony detonating inside his skull like nails driven into his brain. His knees hit the stone again.
Just hearing that name—whatever came after ‘Nocthar’—almost shattered him.
Nocthar tilted his head.
“Oh, right. My bad,” he said with a shrug. “Forgot about that restriction.”
His voice turned colder as he glanced around the dungeon, eyes narrowing at invisible shackles tied to his very being. But he didn’t linger on it. Waste of time, he couldn’t do anything about it anyway. He turned his gaze back to Kaden—still trembling, still standing.
Amusing little thing.
“You ready?” Nocthar asked, voice low but eager. He was done talking. He wanted to see.
See if this one had what it took.
Because power wasn’t enough. Potential wasn’t enough. You needed grit. Madness. Something in your soul that refused to kneel even when your bones begged for it.
So far, Kaden had the madness.
Now Nocthar would test the rest.
Kaden forced himself upright, gasping for air. He could still feel phantom pain from hearing that cursed name. It was ridiculous. Infuriating. But he bit it down.
He wouldn’t complain. Wouldn’t whine. Wouldn’t run.
So he stood.
“I’m ready.”
DING!
[Your quest has changed.]
[Quest: Sudden Test]