The enemy fighters moved the moment the doors finished opening.

But not toward Damon, whom they seemed to purposefully avoid. They moved toward the group behind him. It seemed as though they had their orders and would not go against them, no matter what.

Damon, however, didn’t mind.

He let them go around him as he walked forward.

The battle erupted behind him after taking only a few steps into the hall.

Nyla’s hammer hit the first wave of enemies with a sound like a building coming down. Eve’s soul shots cut clean lines through the press of bodies, while Ning Xiaoyu’s sword found the openings in enemy defences and used them. Theodore ran through the hall like a maniac while Ivy moved with her usual calculated self, shooting her flames exactly where she wanted them to.

Damon didn’t look back at any of it. He walked toward the far end, where the enemy leader stood completely still, waiting for him to approach.

Up close, the scars were more extensive than they’d appeared from the doorway. Every visible part of the man’s body was marked by something that had tried to end him and failed.

Damon used his inspect ability for only a fragment of a second, noting both his level, which was 73 and his class, which was called Overlord.

But as if sensing that Damon was reading right through him, or perhaps simply being done waiting, the man finally moved.

He was fast. Faster than anyone Damon’s ever faced before.

His fist arrived near Damon’s jaw in the blink of an eye, with enough force that it made the air around it compress.

Damon stepped into the shadows at the last moment, coming out from behind and driving his blade toward the man’s spine.

The leader turned as fast as he could.

He moved out of the way, not fully, but just enough to escape the lethal blow and only leave a small graze across his shoulder.

Suddenly, just as Damon managed to recover his blade from the strike and pivot for another, pressure pressed onto him. It was like a physical weight that crashed over him like a wave, and before he could try to escape it, he was pushed a couple of steps back.

At the same time, the man summoned a weapon, a spear with a silver metal tip. He spun it above his head like a helicopter blade before the same pressure-like feeling came from behind Damon and pushed him onto the enemy leader.

’Some sort of telekinesis,’ Damon noted as he stepped into the shadows to avoid the incoming thrust of the spear.

He reappeared a few steps away from the man, sending shards of black ice into his side as he charged forward.

While running, he activated Absolute Comprehension. The man’s class has piqued his interest.

The enemy leader dodged Damon’s ability and raised his arm once more.

[Your Comprehension of the *World’s Authority* has significantly increased.]

The pressure returned, but this time Damon didn’t give it any time to settle.

Once more, he stepped between the shadows, this time striking at the man with his lightning ability.

The speed was at least double that of what the shards moved at. And despite the enemy leader being fast, he was not fast enough to evade, the lightning strike hit his metal armour and buzzed across his flesh.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth through the pain and met Damon’s sword, which was coming straight for his head.

CLANG!

"Not bad," the man said with a forced smirk that hid a ton of pain.

Damon didn’t reply. Through the corner of his vision, as well as through his connection with the Dark Knight, who now joined the battle against enemy troops, he could tell the situation behind him was dire.

Unlike him, who could fight with the enemy leader despite the debuff, the same couldn’t be said about his allies, who struggled against the sudden loss of stats.

It was time to end it.

Damon picked up his speed, which, considering the debuff, was nearly equal to the man before him.

They went back and forth for what felt like longer than it was.

World’s Authority was only more difficult to handle with each exchange. The oppressive weight and direction of the telekinetic ability changed with each attack, making it nearly impossible to establish any patterns.

Luckily, Damon didn’t have to.

With how high his mana already was, using shadow step barely made a dent in his reserves. Even with the debuff, he could spam the ability whenever he liked, escaping deadly blows and striking from the man’s blind spot, adding more scars to the already filled canvas.

[Your Comprehension of the Overlord Class has significantly increased.]

During their next exchange, the enemy leader showed him a completely new use of his ability. His fist crashed against Damon’s side, which normally wouldn’t be much of a problem considering his relic armour, but just as the fist was about to hit, the World’s Authority activated.

CRACK!

A few metal pieces of Damon’s armour shattered at the terrifying strike. It was as if the man’s fist broke the air between him and his knuckles, crashing the two against each other with an otherworldly force.

The enemy leader pivoted quickly, readying himself for another strike when Damon moved between the shadows once more.

The man spun on instinct, expecting another strike from behind.

But Damon never moved. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He emerged from the same spot he disappeared from.

His sword came too fast to evade. It tore through the man’s metal armour and deep into his chest armour, which caved completely under the strike.

The weapon entered and exited in a motion so quick it made the blood look delayed. A second of nothing passed before the crimson began to spray from the gaping hole in the man’s chest.

The enemy leader dropped to one knee. One of his hands found the floor while the other clenched at the wound. His eyes moved up to Damon with an expression that was difficult to register, considering the scenario.

The man was... smiling.

Damon raised a brow, watching the look on the man’s face with a perplexed expression, before he suddenly dropped to his side, and a series of notifications rang in his head.

[You have slain a Level 73 Human: Marcus]

[New Monster Index bonus: +28 Strength, +24 Vitality, +21 Dexterity, +19 Mana]

[You have reached Level 75. You have received 1 Stat Point.]

[You have reached Level 76. You have received 1 Stat Point.]

[Your Comprehension of the Overlord Class has been completed.]

[You have received a class: Overlord]

The sound of fighting behind him changed.

The enemy fighters in the hall paused mid-swing or mid-step, their eyes wide with terror, as one by one, they all began dropping onto the cold floor.