NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 12: Chapter 12
[Level 25 Gear]
Unique gear gifted for reaching Level 25. Each piece boosts stats individually, but equipping the full set grants a unique bonus.
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[Level 25 Gear: Shirt]- A plain white T-shirt that never gets dirty. No sweat, no odor—wearing it keeps you perfectly clean at all times.
Stat Bonus: [+15 to All Stats]
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[Level 25 Gear: Boxers]
Extremely comfortable, self-cleaning boxers. No more scavenging for replacements—these keep both you and your backside spotless.
Stat Bonus: [+15 Speed, +15 Charm, +10 Durability]
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[Level 25 Gear: Pants]
Long black pants that look simple but offer extreme flexibility and durability.
Stat Bonus: [+20 Speed, +10 Power, +15 Durability, +15 Charm]
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[Level 25 Gear: Shoes]
Red, white, and black shoes designed for peak movement. They enhance kicks, improve speed, and look damn good while doing it.
Stat Bonus: [+20 Speed, +20 Power, +10 Durability, +15 Charm]
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[Level 25 Gear: Cloak]
A black, styleless cloak that protects against the weather while boosting both speed and durability. It even enhances your natural charm.
Stat Bonus: [+10 Speed, +15 Durability, +10 Intelligence, +10 Charm]
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[Level 25 Gear: Weapon]
An ever-changing weapon, perfect for a versatile fighter. It can shift into daggers, arrows, a shield—any weapon you can picture, as long as you have the mana to fuel the transformation.
Stat Bonus: [+20 to All Stats]
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[Set Bonus: Full Level 25 Gear Equipped]
Bonus: [+50 to All Stats], [Unwilling]
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[Unwilling]- When HP hits zero, you gain a second chance at life with 100% HP and MP restored.
Drawback: This skill can only be used once per year, and upon activation, you will lose 5 levels.
Penalty: All rewards gained from those 5 lost levels will be locked until you regain the levels.
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'Damn… this is pretty nice.' Ashburn nodded in approval, his eyes shifting to the new title notification.
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[Impossible Killer]- You killed someone far beyond your strength range. Like an ant crushing a god, you defied the natural order and came out victorious.
Buff: 10x multiplier to all stats for both you and your shadows.
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'What the fuck!' Ashburn almost jumped, eyes widening at the insane buff before him. 10x to all stats? For him and his shadows? That was ridiculous.
Sure, he'd killed Franklin Richards, but only because Franklin was the kind of person who could become a god if he wanted—yet chose to live a normal life instead.
Franklin had been overpowered, no doubt about it. But Ashburn had caught him off guard, striking when he was most vulnerable. 'That title makes it sound like I fought him head-on. If I had, I'd be dead.'
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[100% Arise Chance]- Your next use of [Shadow Extraction] is guaranteed to succeed.
Warning: Using this on a target significantly stronger than you carry the risk of the shadow breaking free and turning against you.
(Note: This risk only applies if the shadow's power far surpasses your own.)
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'Well…' Ashburn sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Looks like I can't use this on Franklin.' He sighed, before his shadow moved, swallowing the corpse and pulling it into Ashburn's shadow storage.
One day, when he was strong enough, he would have Franklin become his shadow, but for now? That was too risky.
"Arise," Ashburn spoke calmly, watching as his new gear materialized across his body. The Level 25 set fit perfectly, boosting his stats the moment it settled in place.
Darkness burst forth from Sue Storm's corpse, swirling like a vortex before collapsing inward. When the shadows cleared, a shadow version of Sue Storm stood before him, eyes glowing faintly.
"Where are Reed, Johnny, and the Thing?" Ashburn's voice was calm, hands tucked into the pockets of his cloak hoodie.
Sue bowed her head slightly. "My lord, Reed Richards is in his lab. Johnny is asleep, same for the Thing." Ashburn nodded, satisfied.
"Lead the way." Without another word, both vanished, slipping into invisibility. But Ashburn wasn't worried about losing track of her. Their shared connection as master and shadow ensured he could sense her presence, no matter what.
Sue Storm was overpowered, plain and simple. Her abilities allowed her to manipulate invisible force fields, granting her control over both defense and offense. She could turn herself invisible, create protective barriers, and project offensive force blasts with pinpoint accuracy. But her constructs were what made her truly dangerous.
They didn't just block telekinesis or energy beams—they could move with enough force to damage Celestials. The only reason Sue rarely weaponized her powers to their full extent was simple, She wasn't a killer.
But if she wanted to? There was no resisting her force fields unless you were a reality warper, a high-end energy manipulator, or a master manipulator.
She could easily create a bubble inside your head, your heart, or your lungs, expanding it in an instant and killing you on the spot.
And it wasn't theoretical. She had held back a Celestial, damaged Galactus, and stood her ground against beings far beyond most heroes. Sue Storm wasn't just strong, she was a walking nightmare, restrained only by her morality.
So when they appeared in Reed's lab, there was no fight. Sue acted first, without hesitation. A bubble formed around Reed's head, crushing his brain before he could even register their presence.
Just like that, the smartest man alive was dead. Ashburn stepped forward, eyes calm as he looked down at the lifeless body."Arise."
Darkness burst forth, swirling around the corpse until it solidified into a shadow version of Reed Richards.
From there, things went smoothly. Ashburn moved through the building, invisible alongside Sue Storm, her force fields making them undetectable.
From there, things were pretty easy. Ashburn moved through the building with invisible Sue Storm, taking down the rest of the Fantastic Four without much trouble.
The kills pushed him to level 30, another milestone before they headed off to find where Zombie Captain America had been put to rest.
During the battle with Galactus, Captain America, already a zombie, had been killed by the zombified Red Skull.
"You just put his shield here?" Ashburn muttered, reaching down and picking up Captain America's shield.
"I thought it was fitting for his shield to rest alongside him," Reed Richards said softly. Ashburn nodded, acknowledging the sentiment while commanding Captain America to rise. But he didn't stop there.
Moving through the graveyard, Ashburn's eyes swept across the weathered headstones, each marking the resting place of former threats.
"That holds Venom. That's the Rhino's grave. That one's the Juggernaut… but the most powerful would be this one." Sue Storm paused, pointing toward a reinforced containment unit.
"Kl'rt is held there. He had all of our powers." Ashburn nodded, eyes narrowing as he took in the many graves surrounding them.
"Arise." With a single word, darkness burst from the earth, swirling like inky smoke. One by one, shadows crawled out of the graves, Villains reborn, standing ready for their new master.
"Let's go to the X-Mansion," Ashburn said, summoning the newly raised shadows back into his own shadow. With a single step, he vanished, activating [Stealth] as darkness wrapped around him.
Elsewhere… Seated calmly in his wheelchair, Charles Xavier watched the kneeling zombie before him. Scarlet Witch. She knelt in silence, her once free will now shattered under Charles's mental grip.
"Have you located him?" Charles asked his tone calm but edged with impatience. He didn't even need to clarify who. There was only one man he truly wanted to find. Magneto.
The Master of Magnetism was one of the last remaining humans, still running free, though his whereabouts remained unknown.
"No," Scarlet Witch replied blankly.
There was no hesitation, no flicker of emotion. She was completely under his control. It hadn't been difficult. Her unstable mind had left her vulnerable, and when Wanda let her guard down, Charles had struck, binding her with mental chains she couldn't escape.
Now, Xavier had exactly what he wanted, A reality warper at his side. True, he couldn't unlock the full extent of her power. But even a fraction was better than nothing.
"Where could he be… I'm hungry," Charles muttered, baring his sharp teeth in frustration. The endless hunger gnawed at him, and he had no interest in working for food. The energy-based meals conjured by reality warpers never satisfy the craving like the real thing.
Charles frowned, deep in thought, Until something caught his attention. A mind. A strong mind. No… a superpowerful mind, thousands of times greater than the average human.
It was close. Very close.
But before Charles could even lock onto its location, Two arrows—sharp, fast, and glowing with mana, pierced through the window. The glass didn't shatter. The arrows were too fast, too precise, slicing through the air with surgical accuracy.
Thwip! Thwip!
One struck Charles, the other Scarlet Witch, both dead center in the head.
Boom!
The arrows exploded, obliterating their skulls in an instant. The blast wasn't loud, carefully controlled to avoid detection. In the span of a heartbeat, Charles Xavier and the Scarlet Witch were dead.
A heartbeat later, Ashburn appeared, stepping out of the shadows. With a flick of his hand, [Ruler's Authority] activated, silently opening the window as he slipped inside.
His gaze swept over the two lifeless bodies, both headless, before settling on the lingering nullification field fading into nothing.
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[Ding!]
Killed a powerful individual. The host has reached the maximum level gain from a kill.
[The host has leveled up to Level 45.]