A Novel Concept - A death a day, MC will live anyway!

Braato turned to the homunculus with a menacing growl. "I grew up hearing stories of the Champions... It's not my usual thing to bully a Tier 0, but I suppose I can make an exception for a traitor."

Throughout the interaction, Arnold never took his eyes off Priam. "A tank like you can't defeat me," he said without even glancing at the Tier 4.

Frustrated with how the day had gone, Braato bristled at the insult and charged at the homunculus with a roar. His muscles swelled, veins bulging across his forearms. Flesh collided with steel—and won.

Arnold stumbled back, clearly outclassed in raw physical strength. He countered with a powerful uppercut that landed squarely on the Tier 4's chin. The opponent grinned.

"My masseur hits harder than that," he said, headbutting the homunculus with a vicious crack.

Blow after blow drove Arnold backward, though they failed to bring him down completely, even after a minute. Seeing a Tier 0 hold his ground, Braato growled in frustration, his fists glowing with a brown aura. The next uppercut sent Arnold flying, crashing fifty meters away. A white aura surrounded him, and Priam recognized the signature of Conquest.

Braato charged forward as the homunculus teleported, defying even the suppression of a high-level Domain.

Arnold reappeared behind Priam, launching a sneak attack. The young warrior dodged and quickly teamed up with Braato, flanking their foe. What began as a three-way brawl soon turned into a full-blown melee as other tribespeople noticed the fight. Within seconds, Arnold found himself outnumbered—first ten to one, then fifty to one.

The Tier 3s proved resilient, absorbing his physical blows while dealing damage in return. Arnold was soon forced to summon novas and lasers to defend himself. It might have been dangerous if Priam and Braato hadn't instinctively decided to intercept the energy attacks. The tank couldn't annihilate the Var Elegis Champion outright, but his skin was tough enough to shrug off the homunculus's efforts. Finally, Arnold began to retreat.

Dodging arrows and blades with a roll, Arnold found himself unwittingly in the path of a spectral boar's defense. The beast's tusk impaled him. Before anyone could capitalize on the opening, Arnold teleported to the far edge of the clearing. A gaping hole in his chest, the strongest of the rivals was looking mortal at last.

"Since their upgrade, my instincts have been screaming that showing you my true abilities is a bad idea," the homunculus said to Priam, his gaze never leaving his rival. He dismissed the army of Tier 3s with contempt. "If I can't reveal my skillset, then I have no choice but to rely on numbers."

A stone appeared in Arnold's hand, and Priam's eyes widened as he recognized a hearthstone. A reward obtained during the Reunion, capable of connecting its user to a specific location.

Space collapsed and then stabilized as a portal opened, large enough to allow two elephants to pass through side by side.

"Can anyone close that thing?" Priam demanded.

"One of the shamans or Leo could," Braato replied while barking orders to his subordinates.

"Fuck."

As if in response to Priam's frustration, a homunculus stepped through the portal. A dozen followed, and the flood showed no sign of stopping.

[Identification]
[Fourth-Generation Var Elegis Clone - Soulless] - A soulless clone based on Arnold NetSky, the Champion of the Var Elegis. Its body can tank Tier 2 attacks, and its offensive capabilities are even more formidable.
The lack of a soul prevents it from benefiting from the System, but this weakness is partially compensated when it serves as an avatar for a Var Elegis elite. The controller can channel some of their abilities through the clone.
Arnold thinks an army will overwhelm you. He's wrong; it would take far fewer.

As the clones' red eyes turned to match Arnold's, Priam realized the battle was about to spiral out of control.

A Tier 3 fired an arrow at the portal, but a clone stepped in its path, sacrificing itself in an explosion. Immediately, a dozen more raised their hands toward the archer. Before Priam could shout a warning, ten laser beams pierced the tribeswoman. She fell to her knees, her life force barely clinging to her. Growling, she knocked a dozen arrows in an instant and obliterated the homunculi.

By the time that exchange ended, a hundred more clones had crossed through.

With a roar, the other warriors and huntresses charged into the fray. The ground shook, and shockwaves uprooted the trees at the forest's edge. Alongside the Aelbes, Snaherts, and Gaeserts, Priam fought fiercely. Every strike of Promesse was lethal, but for every clone that fell, two more took its place. Ten seconds after the portal opened, a thousand clones had emerged.

"Braato, the portal!" Priam shouted.

His voice was drowned out by the chaos. Glancing around, Priam caught sight of the Tier 4 at the edge of his vision. The Gaesert chief was doing what he did best: protecting his people. Transformed into a massive boar, he used his body to shield the camp from the barrage of lasers. Most of the clone army had scattered, targeting the weaker tribe members to occupy Braato. Arnold was playing dirty, determined to win.

Out of the corner of his eye, Priam spotted his rival. The homunculus had lost an arm and sported a gaping wound in his solar plexus, but he was winning his gamble. In some areas, the locals were already falling back, overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

"Get out of the way!" Braato roared as the spirit of a colossal boar materialized before him. The spectral beast charged toward the portal, with hundreds of clones rushing to meet it. They self-destructed in tactical nuclear explosions, eroding the construct. Ravaged by radiation, the spectral invocation crumbled just as it reached the portal.

Seeing another column of clones emerging, Priam knew they couldn't win by staying on the defensive. If that portal led to the Var Elegis homeworld, millions—maybe billions—of clones were waiting to cross. Braato might survive in those conditions, but no one else would.

"I'll handle it," said a voice from his shadow.

Priam hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Together."

Opening his mouth, Priam began to draw in the ambient aether. Arnold assumed a defensive stance but made no move to stop him.

Three seconds later, the Breath was ready. Condensed by his draconic lung, amplified by [Breathless], and empowered by his Breath Concept affinity, the primordial energy focused into a singular, devastating point. The Tier 3s standing in front of Priam stepped aside while the clones assembled into a solid wall. No one dared interrupt him. As much as Arnold knew what was coming, he also knew Priam was inevitable.

The Smiling Juggernaut roared. The Breath detonated. The world ignited.

Spectral scales covered Priam's skin as a column of flame shot toward the portal. Everything in its path—air, earth, metal—melted. Pyro, the flames inherited from a candidate for the Eighth Throne, annihilated the Var Elegis army, incinerating the clones.

As if Priam had opened the gates of hell, the world burned. Riding the wave of his own fire, he ignored Arnold's Domain, overwhelming it with the absurd amount of aether fueling his flames. Appearing before the portal, Priam locked eyes with the Var Elegis before he was swallowed by his own shadow. Free from his rival, he started to systematically wipe out the clones.

The connection between Arnold and his army was severed by Jasmine's shadows. Deprived of their Champion's abilities, the homunculi were quickly dispatched by the Tier 3s. Sensing an opening, Braato planted himself in front of the portal, slaughtering each clone as it emerged.

After ten brutal seconds, Priam collapsed onto a patch of grass that had miraculously survived the devastation. His aether, willpower, endurance, vitality, and lifespan were spent. He downed a potion handed to him by a Tier 3 and lay back to catch his breath. Around him, the warriors and huntresses readied their strongest attacks, prepared to strike down Arnold the moment he emerged from the lingering shadow. Had they finally won?

The minutes dragged on, and Priam's expression darkened. He was receiving no feedback from Jasmine's sub-system and began to worry. Her mission had been to stall the homunculus for a few seconds—no more.

As the warriors began to talk among themselves, the Gaesert chief noticed Priam's troubled look.

"Is something wrong?"

"... Jasmine should have released him by now."

"She—"

The ground erupted in a geyser of shadow. A fraction of a second later, a hundred Tier 4-level attacks converged on Arnold's silhouette. A white dome appeared, intercepting the projectiles. Craters pockmarked the orb's surface, giving it the appearance of a moon.

That power felt strangely familiar.

Priam's pupils vanished, and a monochrome sphere materialized without his command. It expanded until it met Arnold's lunar shield. At the point where the two celestial bodies touched, a window opened, and Arnold stared through it. The rest of the world seemed frozen, as though the two rivals stood in another dimension.

"Hecate New Moon," Arnold guessed. "I suppose even among rivals, our relationship is special. As expected—"

"Where's Jasmine?" Priam cut in.

"Dead." Arnold's lunar pupils gleamed as he offered an explanation. "The Full Moon is the nemesis of shadows."

Priam clenched his fists as he locked eyes with his opponent. That bastard had gotten a mythological mutation from the Colosseum's rewards, too... and he had chosen Hecate Full Moon.

Something shot through the air—a lifeless object hurled by the homunculus. Priam caught Jasmine's dead body. She was beautiful, and if it weren't for the gaping hole in her chest, she could have been mistaken for sleeping.

A surge of spiritual energy flooded Priam's mind—his sub-system implanted in her. It allowed him to feel her final emotions.

"Jasmine…" he murmured, sensing her shock as she realized the Terminator could bypass her shadows. Then came the anger—she had been furious with herself, replaying the promise she made to hold Arnold back, hating her own weakness.

Priam dropped to his knees as the pain overwhelmed him. Arnold had tortured her, trying to extract information about the First. It wasn't just pride that kept her going—it was loyalty. Then, when all hope faded, it was courage that allowed her to trigger the Tribulations that ended her life.

Priam's stomach churned as he felt her loneliness and despair as darkness swallowed her soul.

At the final moment, fear gave way to love. As her life ebbed away, one name lit her soul, pushing back the shadows of death one last time.

"Why are you crying?"

Priam wiped his eyes, laying Jasmine's body gently on the ground.

"Because I kept pointing a weapon at the soul of a friend. I'm so blind, it's pathetic."

I'll free you when I return, Priam promised, closing the eyes of the woman who had sacrificed herself for him out of love. Jasmine had been an enemy just hours ago, his subordinate for weeks, and now... he wished she could be his friend.

"It's time to close this chapter," he whispered, deactivating the Moon hidden in his eye. The backlash almost blinded him, but it hardly mattered anymore.

Reality snapped back, and Priam walked toward the portal. Arnold didn't try to stop him, and Braato gave him a strange look as he destroyed yet another trespassing clone.

"Thanks for the assist," Priam said.

"It was a matter of honor," Braato replied, then added, "Priam?"

"Yeah?"

"That fragment of a dead Moon in your eye… My ancestor mentioned something similar in his writings. If you survive, seek [Curse Resistance] and [Chimera]."

"Will do," Priam answered as he stepped through the portal. With a single step, he had crossed into a new world… and could already feel the Elysian laws digging their claws into him.

A metal plain greeted him. As far as the eye could see, rows of homunculi stood waiting. Pyro tore through the front lines to grant him a safe zone.

Title won!

[Intrepid Explorer - Silver] - There are many ways to earn this Title. You obtained it by being the first to enter the planetary system of a warlike species. The hardest part will be getting out alive.
Meta (Chance) +20%
Note: This Title was renamed after an overwhelming number of petitioners found [Stupid Explorer] insulting.

The first thing Priam did was use his own hearthstone to open a portal back to his Moon, at the exact spot where Arnold's portal was. A tremor rippled through space before the portals collapsed, sending out a gravitational shockwave that obliterated half of Priam's body and wiped out most of the clones standing on the Moon's surface.

Lvl Up: [Space Resistance] lvl 4, 5
CONST +18

When his regeneration pulled him back from death's door, Priam was relieved to see the portal to Elysium had vanished.

Now, he was alone, in a place no one had ever explored before—the home of the Var Elegis. Two stars lit up ten planets, one of which floated directly above him. It resembled Earth, but its oceans were a sickly yellow-brown.

"Sulfuric acid…" Priam muttered. Unlike carbon-based humans, the Var Elegis had silicon-based bodies. The acid oceans made their existence possible.

The rest of the planet was heavily constructed, with each world meticulously terraformed. As it was clear from the artificial landscape under Priam's feet, the Var Elegis appeared uninterested in nature. Upon closer inspection, the metallic plain wasn't a plain at all. The explosion from the portal had revealed a massive hangar beneath the surface.

"An artificial Moon…"

Priam clenched his fists, realizing Arnold wasn't playing in the same league. The Champion of the Var Elegis controlled at least ten planets, and the number of clones at his command... Priam shuddered, understanding that only the looming threat of the Immortals in Elysium kept the Terminator from wiping out the competition.

"And here I thought he was just a scary robot…"

If there had been an atmosphere, the clones would have heard Priam's bitter laugh. The pain, exhaustion, surprise, and grief from a hellish day finally crashed over him. A cocktail of emotions fueled a welcome dose of cynicism. He had thought he was strong, but he was just a big fish in a small pond.

The loneliness, the grim certainty that this timeline was nearing its end, and the knowledge he had gained today all combined to give him perfect clarity. He was glad he had chosen Back in Time as it gave him perspective. Despite all his progress, he was still far from the top—but...

"But that'll change," he promised himself. The past few hours had shattered his dreams, but they had also ignited within him a fierce desire to reshape reality.

All his friends had sacrificed themselves to bring him this far. He had learned a lot, and now he was ready to save them. He would give them the tools they needed to survive their Tribulations and grow stronger. This timeline might be a disaster, but he would change things for them… and for himself.

His current weakness frustrated him, but he knew that the steeper the climb, the sweeter the victory. He was ready to put in the effort and endure pain to earn the right to control his own fate. Next time, he would win!

A plan was already forming in his mind. Spend his rewards, reforge Promesse, train in Valaryth, temper his body, face the Colosseum, and master his Tribulations to reach the pinnacle of Tier 0.

"And then…" Priam's gaze drifted to one of the stars.

Then, he would climb the next mountain—Tier 1. His journey would continue until he reached the Zenith. The Empress had proven that power was everything in this world, and if reaching the top was the only way to be free, then Priam would ascend.

He clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms. This timeline had shown him just how weak he truly was, and Priam refused to stay that way.

"The next one will be different!" he vowed. The Juggernaut never stayed defeatist for long.

The Terrors, Sumstreh, his rivals—they would all fall before him. He would seize every opportunity to rise, proving to the Concepts that his great determination, holistic intelligence, and reckless bravery were worth more than the soulless pragmatism of the Terminator.

With his soul at peace and his heart ablaze, Priam opened his system and accepted his Tribulations.

Across the void, Ayank watched as the System descended on the Champion. A double mental Tribulation plunged him into a powerful illusion. The Empress couldn't peer too closely without drawing the wrath of an entity far beyond her, but she knew it concerned the masks Priam had worn throughout his life.

A classic Tier 0 trial.

Of course, the other Tribulations didn't wait politely for him to finish. One of them sliced his body in half, cleaving through his soul.

"…That's it?" the spectator murmured, disappointed. She had expected more from a rival of the Golden Generation. The Seven were supposed to be grooming monsters for the next Multiversal War, and what she had just witnessed was… underwhelming.

Just as she was about to dismiss her minor clone, Ayank's eyes widened. At her level, spiritual mechanisms were well understood, which made the sight of Priam Azura's soul reborn in an ideal form terrifying. It resembled nothing she had ever seen before. Could it be that Soul, one of the Seven, had intervened personally? Ayank focused all her attention on what came next.

The young Champion regarded his Tribulations with a calculating expression.

"The planets are moving too quickly," he remarked. "The sixth Tribulation is altering the flow of time to force me to finish quickly. I guess the System is punishing me for my greed…"

Priam Azura's words were strange, but most of the Empress's consciousness was preoccupied with a far more significant revelation. The Champion didn't seem fazed by his resurrection! Could it be that he was used to it? If so, he might hold the key to resurrecting the dead. For the first time in millennia, Ayank felt a flicker of hope. Could her quest to reunite with her family be moving forward again?

Suppressing a shiver, she glanced at the Tribulations, assessing the System's fury if she were to kidnap the Champion. Would she have time to drag Priam to another universe before being annihilated? It seemed unlikely, but she couldn't let him throw his life away against an impossible Tribulation. He was too important!

Torn by an immense dilemma, Ayank hesitated so long that the Tier 0 had time to act.

"Back in Time," Priam murmured as a Tribulation hurtled toward him.

For the first time in centuries, the Empress laughed, her joy shattering the planetary system. The Champion was going to survive! She would soon forget, but as long as he stayed in the Wandering Islands, he would inevitably draw her attention. Especially with the Tal Quercus…

All the aether in the universe froze as a Concept near the Zenith manifested. Dimension, one of the Seven, reversed time for a septillion beings.

Fewer than a thousand realized what happened.

Among them, one bet that Priam Azura would shake up the younger generation within five months.

Status...

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