S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System-Chapter 41: A Fallen Hero

The shriek that tore from Viera’s throat was lost in the cavernous space, swallowed by the guttural snarl of the beast looming over Linx’s broken form.

Dust and grit filled Linx’s mouth. He tried to push himself up, his arms trembling like newborn foals, but the world was a dizzying smear of grey stone and monstrous shadow.

A wet, coppery taste coated his tongue. His strength was a ghost, a memory that had long since fled his body. He collapsed back onto the floor, his breath a ragged, painful stutter.

Ning saw it all. He saw the tremor in Linx’s limbs, the final, desperate effort that yielded nothing.

He saw the Behemoth pivot, its massive, horned head lowering, its maw dripping with a viscous, black ichor. It was coiling for the final, pulverizing strike. They had seconds. Less.

A chime, sharp and cold as ice, cut through the panic in his mind.

[System Update: Critical Threat Detected] [Current Objective: Defend Linx and Eliminate Behemoth] [XP Reward: High Immediate Success Required]

Ning’s eyes narrowed, all emotion draining away to be replaced by a chilling, razor-sharp focus. He didn’t hesitate.

A fire was already kindling in his veins, the remnants of a dozen smaller battles fought today, culminating in a surge of raw power that his very cells screamed to unleash.

[System Update: Level 15 → Level 16 Achieved] [New Ability Unlocked: Mana Surge] [Alert: Fatigue Level Critical]

The alert was an understatement. His muscles burned with a weariness so profound it felt like lead had been poured into his bones. But the new ability, Mana Surge, was a flash flood in a desert. A jolt, violent and electric, shot from the base of his spine to the tips of his fingers.

For a moment, the world snapped into hyper-focus. The exhaustion was still there, a deep, resonant ache, but it was now muffled, drowned out by a tide of pure, untamed energy.

His katana, held in a two-handed grip, began to hum, a faint blue light tracing the length of the blade. He took a step forward, planting his feet on the cracked stone floor.

The Behemoth charged.

Its roar was a physical force, a wave of sound that vibrated in Ning’s chest. The jaws, wide enough to swallow a man whole, snapped forward. There was no time to think, only to act. Instinct took over.

Ning dropped, his body folding beneath the scything arc of a claw that could have torn him in half. Stone chips exploded from the wall where his head had been a fraction of a second before.

He pivoted on the ball of his foot, the Mana Surge lending his movements a preternatural grace. He swung the glowing katana upward in a vicious slash.

The blade met the creature’s flank with a deafening shriek of metal on obsidian. Sparks flew. A long, shallow scratch appeared on the monster’s hide, but it was nothing more than an insult. The Behemoth didn’t even flinch.

Its response was immediate and brutally effective. A backhand swing, not with its claws but with the flat, armored plate of its forearm, caught Ning square in the chest. The world became a blur of motion and a starburst of pain.

He flew backward, his body a ragdoll, and slammed into the far wall. The impact knocked the air from his lungs in a single, desperate gasp. The stone behind him splintered. Pain, white-hot and blinding, flared through his ribs.

[System Update: Fatigue Warning Health at 35%] [Warning: Life Force Diminishing Rapidly]

His vision swam, grey spots dancing at the edges. For a terrifying second, the darkness threatened to claim him. He felt his grip on the katana loosen.

No. Then, another chime, clearer this time, a single, piercing note that cut through the haze. Something inside him, some deep, primal circuit, snapped into place. His mind cleared. This was it.

[System Alert: New Weakness Detected in Behemoth Neck Joint Vulnerable to Precision Strike]

Ning’s eyes shot open, locking onto the monster. It was rearing back, basking in its apparent victory, its throat exposed as it prepared to unleash a torrent of fiery breath.

The joint, a seam of slightly less-armored flesh where the colossal head met the powerful shoulders, was visible for a fleeting moment. An invitation.

He wasn’t going to waste it.

He pushed off the wall, ignoring the screaming protest of his ribs. He channeled everything, the last dregs of his stamina, the grief for Linx, the raw, incandescent power of the Mana Surge and poured it into his blade.

The katana’s blue glow intensified, becoming a brilliant, blinding light. The air around it crackled and vibrated with contained power.

He moved.

The world didn’t blur this time; it slowed. He saw the particles of dust hanging in the air. He saw the flicker of fire beginning to form in the Behemoth’s throat.

The ground trembled with his acceleration as he darted forward, a living projectile aimed at the heart of the storm. He launched himself off the ground, twisting his body into a clean, horizontal arc.

The blade sang as it sliced through the air, a whisper of death that met the vulnerable neck joint with impossible precision. There was no clang of metal on armor this time. Only a soft, sickening schlick as the energized blade severed sinew, muscle, and bone.

A howl of agony, choked and wet, erupted from the Behemoth. Its head lolled grotesquely to one side, held on by a mere flap of skin. The fire in its throat died with a gurgle.

For a moment, the massive body stood frozen, a monument to its own demise, before it crashed to the ground, dissolving into a heap of dissipating shadow and foul-smelling ichor.

[System Update: Behemoth Defeated] [XP Gained: 2,000]

Ning landed heavily, his knees buckling. He staggered back, leaning on his katana like a crutch, gasping for breath.

The Mana Surge receded, and the full weight of his exhaustion and injuries came crashing back down on him. His vision blurred. But Linx was alive. They had bought time.

But the fight wasn’t over. As the last of the Behemoth’s form turned to dust, a deep, resonant tremor shook the ground. From the darkened corridors ahead, a cacophony of roars echoed, ten times, twenty times more numerous than before. A new wave was coming.

But for Ning, there was only one thing that mattered. He turned, his gaze falling on his fallen comrade.

"Linx!" Viera screamed, scrambling to his side. "Linx, answer me!"

Aeris was already there, her face a pale, grim mask as she knelt, her hands hovering uselessly over Linx’s mangled torso. Lian stood a few feet away, her expression a shattered mosaic of guilt and horror, her hands clenched at her sides.

Ning limped over, his heart a cold, heavy stone in his chest. Linx’s breath was a shallow, fluttering thing. His body was a ruin. The system didn’t need to tell him. He already knew.

[System Update: Critical Health Detected in Linx Life Support Failure Imminent]

"No." Viera sobbed, her hands now pressing against the wound, as if she could physically hold his life inside him. "No, no, no! Healer! We need a healer! Somebody do something!"

"Viera." Ning’s voice was rough, strained. "There’s nothing a healer can do for that."

Linx’s eyelids fluttered open. His gaze, cloudy with pain, found Ning’s. A small, grim smile, a phantom of his usual cocky grin, pulled at the corner of his lips.

"Heh... got him, then?" he rasped, his voice a dry whisper of sound.

"We got him," Ning confirmed, kneeling beside him. He felt a lump forming in his throat and swallowed it down. "Rest, Linx. Save your strength."

"No time." Linx coughed, a splatter of blood darkening his lips. "Listen... Ning..." His eyes flickered past Ning, landing for a moment on Lian, a flicker of pain and resignation in them, before returning.

"Finish it... Tao... he has to pay for... for all this..." His hand twitched, a feeble attempt to gesture at his own broken body, at the echoing roars of the approaching monsters. "Promise me."

"I promise," Ning said, his voice thick.

"Don’t... let him win," Linx whispered. His eyes locked on Viera. "Don’t... cry..."

Viera let out a choked sob. "I’m sorry, Linx. I’m so sorry."

"Not your fault..." His breath hitched. His body gave one last, violent tremble, and then... stillness. The light in his eyes faded, leaving behind two empty, staring orbs.

Ning reached out a shaking hand and gently closed them. He placed his hand on Linx’s shoulder, a final, silent farewell. The silence that fell over their small group was more profound than any roar.

[System Update: Heroic Sacrifice Detected Linx] [XP Gained: 0] [Note: Heroic Death Comrade’s Will Strengthens the Party’s Resolve]

Zero XP. The cold, clinical finality of it sent a fresh wave of rage through Ning’s grief. Linx’s life, his sacrifice, was worth nothing to the system. But it was worth everything to them.

The silence was shattered. The roars grew louder, closer. A tide of monstrous forms began to pour from the corridors, slithering abominations, hulking brutes, and chittering swarms of razor-limbed creatures. They were a charging wall of death.

Ning pushed himself to his feet, the sorrow a cold fire in his gut. Linx was gone. But his last words echoed in his mind. Finish it.

He gripped his katana, the blade still faintly humming. Viera slowly rose, her tear-streaked face hardening into a mask of pure fury. Aeris stood beside her, drawing her twin daggers with a quiet, deadly resolve.

Even Lian, her face pale with shame, took a hesitant step forward, raising her staff. They were bruised. They were battered. They had lost one of their own. But they were not broken.

The monsters charged, their collective roar shaking the very foundations of the Guild Hall.

And then... they stopped.

Just like that. The entire horde, a hundred strong, skidded to a halt barely thirty feet away. Their advance, so full of mindless fury, ceased as if a switch had been flipped.

Growls turned into confused, guttural hisses. Heads cocked to the side. The mindless rage in their glowing eyes was replaced by a flicker of something else. Uncertainty. Fear. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

A low, grinding groan began to emanate from the ground beneath their feet. It was a deep, resonant hum that vibrated up through the soles of their boots, making their teeth ache.

The floor trembled, not with the frantic energy of an earthquake, but with a slow, powerful, and impossibly heavy pulse, as if something immense, something ancient, was stirring in the depths below...