Chapter 151: Luke vs Midnight Warden

A wall of black steel rose before Luke.

[Midnight Warden – Level 40]

It stood towering, encased in dark armor with no flesh exposed, spectral eyes burning like twin embers behind the helmet. The blade in its hand was already raised—silent, steady, patient. Ready to kill.

Luke scanned the damage. The armor was dented and torn in places—scars from the cave-in that had nearly buried it. Whatever had clawed its way back from that stone grave was no longer a soldier. It had become something far worse. Its final combat form.

The Warden’s roar hit like a shockwave, vibrating through the earth. Luke didn’t move. His kukris pulsed with tension in his grip, but it wasn’t fear that held him in place—it was guilt. Angelica’s body now rested inside his inventory, sealed away by his own hand.

The Warden raised its sword and pointed it at him. There was no choice now. Kill or be killed.

He opened his system interface mid-dodge. The Warden charged, each step cracking the stone beneath its feet like thunder. Luke moved instinctively, barely escaping the first swing. Time was running out. He had four unspent stat points and no room left for caution.

Stats Updated:
Strength: 132 -> 136
Free Points: 4 -> 0

All of it went into strength. No vitality. No mana. Just power.

Steel met steel. The Warden’s attack slammed into Luke with bone-crushing force, launching him across the chamber. He struck the wall, air ripped from his lungs before he could scream. When his vision cleared, the Warden was already above him. The blade came down like divine judgment.

Luke rolled at the last second. The sword shattered the floor where his chest had been. The Warden pressed forward, each swing heavier than the last. Luke blocked with his kukris, arms screaming under the strain. Then a kick drove into his ribs, lifting him from the ground. His body collided with the wall. Pain bloomed like fire. Blood spilled from his mouth.

He tried to get up, but everything failed him. Muscles refused to move. The Warden advanced—unyielding, mechanical, merciless. Sword raised for the final strike.

So this is how I die. It all ends here.

He closed his eyes. A second roar shook the tunnel. This one wasn’t from the Warden. A figure crashed down like a meteor, striking the ground with seismic force. The Warden was flung back into the wall. Luke turned his head, vision swimming in and out of focus.

“…Charlie?”

She stood between him and death, her aura burning with raw power. The air still hummed with the echo of her Force Shout. Furious. Alive. Ready.

Luke staggered upright, one hand pressed to the wound in his side. The spear strike from earlier hadn’t stopped bleeding—he was losing health steadily. One point per minute. Every sharp motion only worsened it.

He looked toward Charlie. She hadn’t used all her stat points yet.

Stats Updated (Princess Charlie):
Strength: 121 (161) -> 123 (163)
Free Points: 2 -> 0

“Charlie…” Luke’s voice came out rough, his eyes never leaving the armored figure rising from the rubble. “We can’t hold anything back. If we save even one move… I die.”

There was no doubt. The Warden would kill Charlie first, then come for him. Even if he tried to run, to climb, to escape—he wouldn’t make it far. A spear would find him. Every path led to death.

But surrender wasn’t an option. Across the cavern, the Warden raised its blade. Its presence pulsed like a living void—steel and silence focused into a single, lethal purpose. Charlie turned to Luke and gave a firm nod.

The Warden charged. Momentum exploded into motion. Luke leapt back—but it wasn’t coming for him. It was coming for Charlie.

The ground erupted. A shockwave of heat and debris tore through the cave like an explosion from the planet’s core. And at the center of the chaos, wreathed in fire, stood a silhouette of defiance.

Charlie.

Steam hissed from her armor. Flames coiled around her limbs like serpents, drawn to the fury in her soul. Her presence pulsed with raw heat, burning through the swirling dust. She had activated Berserker Mode—the power inherited from Morvat himself.

The Warden tilted its head, hesitating. Then it struck.

Charlie and the Warden collided with a force that cracked the cavern. She triggered her core abilities in one burst—Force Shout, Steel Fist, full Berserker ignition. Her stamina surged through her limbs, amplifying every ounce of her strength. She leapt into the air and landed a punch that hurled the Warden across the chamber. It dug its blade into the ground to stop the momentum, but Charlie met it midair with a brutal spinning kick.

At that exact instant, Luke dropped from above.

Demonic Blade Dance. Mimic active. Force Infusion charged.

He became a blur of steel. The kukris slashed across the Warden’s armor, seeking gaps, targeting weaknesses. His mimic—a shadowborn echo—moved in sync, doubling the assault.

The Warden struggled to keep up. Attacks rained from all sides. Charlie drove forward with relentless fury, flaming fists pounding like war drums. Luke circled behind, slashing, stabbing, ducking.

A boulder collapsed beside them, dislodged by the fight—Luke seized the moment and channeled stamina into his legs, diving into the fray. But the Warden roared. It absorbed a barrage from Charlie, caught her with one arm, and spun like a hurricane. The blade carved through the air and struck her full-force, sending her crashing into the far wall.

Luke dashed forward—Dark Dash flashing beneath his feet—both kukris blazing with power. He aimed for the fractured gap in the helmet and leapt. But the Warden twisted mid-spin and intercepted him. Its arm slammed into his side, sending him tumbling across the cave. His back cracked against stone. He rolled, vision swimming, blades scattered.

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He looked up just in time to see the sword descending.

Then—impact.

But not from steel. Charlie smashed into the Warden. Channeling every shred of stamina, her Steel Fist collided with its helmet in a single, devastating strike. The Warden was launched backward, crashing against the wall. Stone shattered. Smoke curled from the crater now etched into its headplate.

Luke coughed blood and staggered upright, breath torn and uneven. The Warden turned slowly, its glowing eyes locking onto Charlie with pulsing hate. Then, it dropped its sword.