Overpowered Awakening: I Became Invincible With A Broken Talent-Chapter 192: The Challenge

Marlon’s eyes fluttered open inside a magnificent hall that stretched so high above him that he could not even begin to estimate its true height. It extended so far in every direction that it would take at least half an hour to walk from one end to the other.

The walls were made of pure gold. The engravings carved into them were white, which struck him as strange, as it should have been the other way around. The contrast gave the entire hall an unnatural and unsettling beauty.

As he observed the place, a look of pure confusion adorned his face as he wondered where he was. He wasn’t even this confused when he was floating in space, observing a planet-level being devouring an entire planet before his very eyes.

He should be inside a memory.

The memories were usually about his world, about the planet eater, or a few times about the unimportant personal life of the aurax.

But this time, not only was he standing in an empty hall, there were no beings in sight. No movement. No sound. The silence pressed against his ears.

Nonetheless, just as he was pondering his location, a sudden surge of power spread across the hall.

The power was so overwhelming that his body shivered violently and his knees bent instinctively before he could even process what was happening.

He gritted his teeth and tried to overcome the sudden pressure, but it was fruitless.

The more he tried to resist, the stronger it became, as though the force was deliberately crushing his defiance.

Within a few seconds, he was forced to bow to the unknown power, with his entire body laid flat on the ground on his stomach.

Lifting his head at that moment proved to be a difficult task, as his body suddenly stopped submitting to his commands.

"What the heck..." he cursed under his breath.

This was the most present he had ever felt in a memory fragment.

It didn’t even feel like he was reliving a memory, to be frank. It felt more like his entire body and soul had been transferred to a new place, and he was experiencing everything firsthand instead of merely spectating from a distance.

"Raise your head..."

As he fought against the suffocating pressure, a voice suddenly echoed across the hall, speaking directly to him, judging by its tone and choice of words.

At that moment, his head, which had stopped heeding his nerve commands, lifted as though the pressure restraining it had been momentarily loosened.

His eyes spotted a new scene that had not been present earlier.

Ahead of him, a glowing white throne floated a few inches above the ground, suspended within a cloud of smoky golden energy that twisted and coiled like living mist.

Seated atop the white throne was a being whose entire body was golden, as though it had been carved out of pure gold by the hands of a divine sculptor.

It was humanoid, the only difference being the two white horns with black stripes that protruded from its bald head.

The eyes of this being were entirely black, like the void itself. They seemed to pull whoever gazed into them inward, as though they were endless pits without a bottom.

Layers of golden energy fluttered over its body like burning flames restrained within a perfect form.

It was the one who had just spoken to him.

Marlon did not respond, or rather, he could not respond.

Despite being innately fearless, especially with the possession of an ability that cheats death itself, at this moment he felt true, crippling fear. His heartbeat pounded heavily against his ribs. A cold sensation crept up his spine. For the first time in a long while, he felt small.

"You’ve managed to defeat two of my strongest offspring in such close succession, even... really interesting..." the being said, its voice calm yet filled with faint amusement.

Marlon deduced it was speaking about the dragon-taming aurax and the feral aurax.

"That feat is enough for me to grant you an audience with me..." it continued.

Following its words, the energy pressing Marlon down vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, and he rose slowly to his feet, staring straight into the eyes of the foe before him. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I am the Aurax King, the father of all the aurax you have slain so far," it finally introduced itself.

Marlon still could not respond. An Aurax King? He did not even need to gauge its power to tell that it was a thousandfold stronger than him. The difference between them felt immeasurable.

"You can speak... I can’t kill you now, even if I want nothing but to squash your flesh and devour your soul.... So feel free. Ask whatever you want, Originless One."

"Originless One..."

Marlon repeated the words in his mind.

This was the second time he was hearing this unfamiliar term, and both times he had been referred to by it.

After hearing the Aurax King’s declaration that it could not kill him, a large portion of the fear gripping his mind loosened. It did not disappear entirely, but it gave him just enough courage to speak.

"What do you mean by Originless One?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain steady.

The Aurax King’s eyes fluttered slightly in confusion.

"You don’t know who you are and what you represent?"

Marlon shook his head. Of course he didn’t. He hadn’t even heard of the term more than once in his entire life, and even then, it had not been explained.

With his response, the Aurax King burst into laughter.

It laughed for over two minutes as though it had just been told the most absurd and hilarious joke in existence. The golden energy around its body rippled as its laughter echoed endlessly throughout the hall.

"Haha..."

It continued laughing, much to Marlon’s annoyance. He had simply asked a question. When did it turn into something worthy of ridicule?

"The Originless One does not know why he is the Originless One... That is the best joke ever..." it said amidst its laughter, its dark eyes glinting with strange amusement.

"Is it that strange?" asked Marlon.

"No... It’s just funny," it responded calmly, as though nothing about the situation was unusual.

Marlon kept quiet. He realized responding now would only be a waste of time.

Instead, he simply stared at the Aurax King, waiting, knowing that a being like this would not summon him here merely to laugh.

"I will not bother to tell you what you are. Go find out yourself. I am sure those disgusting Astral bastards would be able to explain it to you... Dammit, I should’ve focused on destroying those worms before your world..."

The last part of its words were muttered grumbles, spoken with clear irritation, but they still provided Marlon with a fragment of information that he required.

"Since you would not tell me what that term means, then can you tell me why you summoned me here? More importantly, how did you bring me here? This is not a memory fragment..." Marlon asked, his voice steadier now, though caution still lingered in his eyes.

The Aurax King observed him quietly for a few seconds, its void-like gaze fixed upon him as though dissecting him layer by layer, before it finally opened its mouth and began to explain.

It spoke in a rude and rough tone, its voice carrying an undercurrent of disdain. Nearly half of its explanation included insulting the Vereenas, as it seemed to hold a particular and deeply rooted hatred for their race.

It told Marlon that it had already suspected the interference of the "Astral bastards," also known as the Vereenas, in the mission it had given.

Although it did not believe they would be capable of assisting in the defeat of the index-3 aurax, they had proven it wrong and somehow made it work despite its expectations.

Because of this prediction, it had purposely implanted a special kind of mechanism within the feral aurax, who, according to it, was its favorite offspring. That mechanism ensured that when Marlon eventually managed to kill him, his soul would not scatter or dissipate, but instead be redirected directly to this domain.

Marlon’s eyes narrowed slightly as he processed the implication. From the very beginning, he had been walking inside a trap designed by a being far above him.

As for the reason it had summoned him, it was to challenge him.

To force him to prepare for their eventual confrontation, as it had grown bored being nothing more than a spectator, observing events unfold without a worthy or interesting opponent to engage.

The date of the fight remained undecided. It would step in whenever it felt that Marlon had risen enough in strength, or at the moment he surpassed any of its expectations.

With all this said, it casually flicked its hand, as though brushing aside something insignificant, and the golden space around Marlon distorted violently.

In the next instant, he was sent back to the Vereenas, who were already growing worried over his sudden and prolonged absence.