The Multiverse Hunter

Ali took another spoonful of custard, savouring the creamy texture before setting the empty dish aside. He washed it down with a sip of water, his gaze shifting toward the stairs as a blind woman ascended with measured steps, heading straight for the table where Zain and Ashley were seated.

"Have you made your decision?" the leader of the Earth Guild in the Slum asked, her tone firm yet devoid of hostility.

Zain hesitated for a brief moment before responding. "I will give my answer to your boss on the second level."

The blind woman's expression remained neutral, but Ali could sense her displeasure. She exhaled through her nose before offering one last statement. "Just remember that we will match whatever they offer you."

With that, she turned and made her way back down the stairs, leaving Zain to sigh and shake his head. Ashley reached across the table and placed a delicate hand over his, flashing him a sweet, reassuring smile.

"They're annoying me" Zain muttered, rubbing his temple.

"Zain, don't let them get to you. This is actually a good thing", Ashley cooed. "If all five guilds are interested in you, that means you're doing really well in Paradise, right?"

Her voice was honeyed, expertly laced with warmth and admiration, and as she stood up alongside him, she leaned in just enough for her presence to feel more intimate.

As they descended the stairs, Ashley instinctively glanced back at Ali, locking eyes with him.

Her breath hitched, and her cheeks flushed pink as a wave of something raw—desire, curiosity, something primal washed over her.

Ali's black eyes bore into her with a gaze so deep, so consuming, that for a brief moment, she forgot where she was. Her lips parted slightly, but then she blinked, regaining control of herself just in time to mask her emotions behind her usual innocent, doting expression.

She quickly hugged Zain's arm and turned away.

Ali, still seated by the window, watched them disappear into the crowd.

'So the guilds want to recruit him…He'll have more options once he reaches the second level' he mused, his thoughts lingering on the conversation he had overheard.

'Just one more world and I'll be done here.'

"I don't like her", Catherine said suddenly, settling into the seat across from Ali. Her sharp eyes followed Ashley as she vanished into the streets below.

"Why?"Ali asked casually, propping his chin against his hand.

"She's playing him. I know it," Catherine said with certainty. "Call it a woman's instinct."

"Dangerous thing, that... Women's instinct got me in trouble in the past."

"Then just don't play with a woman's heart, and you'll be safe, Ali," she teased, her lips curling into a smirk.

Ali said nothing, simply staring out the window with that same detached expression, watching the endless flow of players moving through the Slum.

"Anyway, how did your last mission go?" Catherine asked, changing the subject.

Ali turned his head slightly to look at her, his face unreadable. For a brief second, she worried that she had overstepped, that she had pried into something he didn't want to talk about.

"Attack on Titan. I was sent there." His voice was flat, indifferent. "It was boring."

With that, he stood up, signalling the conversation was over.

"'I'm sorry for asking a question like that. It was stupid of me," Catherine said quickly, watching him rise.

"Don't worry about it," Ali replied without looking back. "Everyone in the Slum will know where l've been soon anyway."

Catherine sat frozen for a moment, processing his words.

Hours Later

Ali sat alone in his apartment, his recently repaired Sith uniform neatly folded beside his bed. He checked the time on his interface before reclining against the mattress, closing his eyes for some much-needed rest.

—

"Ali."

"Ali, wake up. The food is ready."

Ali opened his eyes and found himself staring at the long dining table in his childhood home. Every seat was occupied by a familiar face-his family, all of them, waiting for him with warm smiles, the scent of home-cooked meals filling the air. His father sat at the head of the table, nodding toward the empty chair beside him.

Ali's chest tightened. He reached out toward them, his fingers stretching—And suddenly, everything changed.

The warm, inviting home dissolved into cold silence.

Ali now stood alone in a vast graveyard, surrounded by dozens of tombstones. Each one bore his family name, the very graves he had dug with his own hands.

A suffocating weight settled over him.

HAH.

HAH.

HAH.

Ali woke up, drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.

"FUCK."

His fist slammed into the wall beside him, cracking the bones in his hand, but he barely felt the pain.

He rose from the bed and stormed into the bathroom, stepping into the shower without hesitation. Ice-cold water crashed against his head and shoulders, washing away the sweat but doing little to erase the memories.

'I fucking hate sleeping...'

Half an hour later, Ali emerged, his Sith uniform fitting snugly over his muscular frame. He wolfed down ten ration bars, strapped his weapons to his belt, and stood ready.

"Teleportation in 3...2...1."

—

When Ali opened his eyes, he found himself standing on the outer edge of a massive stone coliseum.

The battlefield was circular, stretching nearly two hundred meters in diameter, its surface made of weathered stone tiles, some cracked and chipped with age.

The arena sloped downward toward the centre, forming a shallow crater-like depression, and was enclosed by a towering translucent purple barrier that hummed faintly with energy.

The air was thick with an eerie silence.

But Ali's focus wasn't on the environment.

Across the battlefield, standing tall and motionless, was a ten-foot-tall knight clad in ancient golden-bronze armour.

His armour gleamed under the ambient light, engraved with intricate patterns reminiscent of an ancient order long forgotten.

Despite the sheer weight of his metal plating, the knight stood with a grace that suggested terrifying speed beneath all that heavy protection.

In his right hand, he wielded a massive, brutal longsword, its edge shimmering with an unnatural sharpness. In his left, he carried a towering shield adorned with the emblem of a great beast, its surface jagged and battle-worn. A single sharp horn jutted from the front of the shield, a deadly weapon in its own right.

"Boss Mission: Defeat the Crucible Knight."

Ali read the alert from his interface, narrowing his eyes.

'A boss mission? I've never heard of that before... There's still much I don't know.'

He exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as he reached for his black weapon handle.

Step by step, he began moving toward the centre of the battlefield, his muscles coiling in preparation.

The Crucible Knight mirrored his movements, his heavy, armoured footsteps echoing like distant war drums as he approached.

Ali analysed his opponent with keen eyes. 'No wasted movements. No hesitation.

The way he carried himself... he was strong.'

They stopped exactly ten meters apart.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then—BOOM.

The stone tiles beneath them shattered as they simultaneously lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant.

Ali's quinque carved a vicious red arc through the air, while the Crucible Knight's colossal blade came crashing down with terrifying force.

BOOOO0000м.

The two swords collided with an earth-shaking impact, sending a shockwave rippling across the arena.

Ali gritted his teeth as his arms buckled under the sheer weight of the strike. His muscles strained, and in less than a second, he was forced down onto one knee.

The Crucible Knight's strength was monstrous, his sword pressing down like an executioner's blade.

'What the fuck kinda strength is this?!'

With a sharp twist of his wrist, Ali redirected the force just enough for the knight's blade to scrape past his own, slamming into the ground with a deafening CRACK, splitting the stone beneath them.

Ali rolled backward, quickly hopping away to create distance.

With a sigh, he reached for his Sith jacket and tossed it aside.

' just paid to have that fixed..!'

He knew he wasn't going to leave this fight with his clothes in one piece.

Please donate some of your power stones, it would help my ff massively.

Five chapters ahead of webnovel on patreon.com/Rondo312