Second World

"Are you sure you want to enter?" Peniel asked.

"Not really," Jack replied. "But I don't see much of a choice. One of these portals might take us out of here. This time when Greed is not around, it is the best time to find out."

Peniel didn't say anything further. She also admitted staying here was not good. They couldn't expect Greed to continue being a good host. He was one of the bad Gods, after all.

Jack took a deep breath. Both his weapons were at the ready. He then stepped through the portal.

He came out to another world. He was on barren plains with red soil that stretched as far as his eyes could see. There was nothing at all. Even the sky looked barren. There was no cloud. The sky was empty and also red in color.

Although the scenery was slightly different, he felt as if he was back to the time when he was undergoing the Time Sage's trial.

He looked back. The portal was still there. He heaved a relief. This should mean that he could go back if he chose to. But the portal was red. He didn't think much about it, probably it was in line with this place which was mostly red.

He looked around the place again. There was nothing. He was not keen to go exploring this barren land that seemed to have nothing. The place looked truly large. What happened if he lost his way and couldn't find his way back to this portal? He could be trapped here forever.

He wondered if the other portal was the same. When he was about to return through the portal, he saw something in the distance.

It was hazy at first, some things were appearing on the horizon. As time passed, those things became more apparent. They were humanoid and they were approaching. When they were near enough for Jack's Dragon Eye to see, he found that he recognized these humanoid creatures. They were the black armored mutated soldiers that he had seen before inside the Ancient Battleground.

From the way these soldiers were coming, with their weapons waving around and their mouths shouting battle cries, Jack could safely assume that they didn't come in peace. Jack checked his radar. It was working here, those soldiers were registered as red dots, indicating hostiles.

He readied himself. He cast Barrier and Magic Weapon. He then used Inspect when the soldiers were in range. They were level 50 basic Outlaws.

'Just basic?' Jack thought disappointedly.

Despite the enemy being at an equal level as him, since they were only basic grade, they didn't pose much threat. There were ten of these enemies.

Jack went over to meet them. They started attacking once Jack was in range. Since the opponents were just basic grades, Jack just used standard attacks utilizing his Formless Flowing Sword style.

Half of the ten soon fell. At this time, he noticed some more red dots approaching in the distance.

"Hm?" Jack looked over. There were more enemies this time. Twenty new enemies approached.

When they got near, Jack used Inspect and found that all of them were also level 50 basic grade.

Jack snickered. He got no problem against these opponents. "Is this all you got?" He shouted as he finished the remaining five of the first wave just before the second wave arrived.

As he fought against the second wave, a third wave appeared. Thirty basic-grade outlaws.

It continued on. Fourth wave. Fifth wave. Until the tenth wave, there were one hundred basic-grade outlaws.

"Crap! Is this place meant for me to be overrun by weak enemies? Bring it on!" Jack started to use his AOE skills and spells. Shredding Fang, Whirlwind Slash, Arcane Turbulence, and so on. He mowed down enemies with speed.

The next wave appeared in the distance when he was still fighting the existing enemies.

"More weak enemies? Come then!"

But when this eleventh wave came near, Jack noticed some among them were of the elite grades. Their levels were still 50, though.

It was still opponents that he could deal with. So, he continued.

By the time it was the twentieth wave, all the new enemies were level 50 elite, no more basic grade. The number was fixed at one hundred per wave starting from the tenth wave.

"Uh-oh, I think I can see where this is going," Jack said. He stole a glance at the portal not far away. If his hunch was right, he might need to escape at one point. He was glad that he was not too reckless and let himself wander too far away during the battle.

Special elite enemies started appearing on the twenty-first wave. Jack tried to fight conservatively because he would need his powerful skills later, but it was getting harder and harder. The new wave appeared every time the previous wave was down to half. If he didn't finish the previous wave before the next wave arrived, he would be fighting against more than one hundred enemies.

He started to struggle. This was a never-ending mode where the enemies became stronger with each wave. He was not unfamiliar with this mode. Some past games had this mode as well. The good thing about this mode was he received exp points from defeating all these enemies. No loots, though. He sent a part of his mind to check his Container of Souls in his storage, no increase. This place was similar to the Training Ground. It only provided exp points.

He was slightly relieved about this place. He was not sure how long he would be trapped inside Greed's sanctum. If he was trapped for a long time without an avenue to level up, he would again get left behind by the others. With this place, at least he could keep up.

By the time it was the thirtieth wave, every enemy was a special elite. He had utilized most of his skills and spells except for the ultimate ones that had a long cooldown. Normally, he was still able to cope, but fighting non-stop at an ever-increasing intensity took a toll. Luckily, Jack had a large pool of skills, he had been cycling his skills continuously.

He had also summoned Therras and his wolves. The ten wolves couldn't last that long. They were good when they coordinated against a single opponent. But when they were outnumbered, they pretty much lost their edges. The last of the ten wolves had just died when the thirtieth wave hit. His Therras, fortunately, was still going strong. With its armor, it could survive lots of punishment. Not to mention with the increased speed its armor provided, he was able to dodge many attacks.

When Jack saw the thirty-first wave in the distance, he wondered if he should call it a day. There would definitely be a rare elite in that wave.

He decided to continue. When this next wave arrived, Jack summoned his Spirit Weapon. He had also tried summoning Arlcard but failed. Like Greed had said, he couldn't send a signal out from here, so he couldn't call Arlcard to his aid.

Together with his Spirit Weapon and Therras, Jack faced the thirty-first wave. Inside this wave, there were three level 50 rare elites. Jack activated Asura. With four additional limbs holding Storm Breaker's copies, he faced the three rare elites at the same time while Therras and Spirit Weapon dealt with the rest.

Each pair of hands clashed with one rare elite. His Hundred Synchronous Thoughts allowed him to divide his attention three ways, wearing the rare elites with both his martial arts and skills.

After a grueling battle, he finally took down the three rare elites. As he was catching his breaths, he saw another wave appearing in the distance. He could still go on! His Blade Dancer was close to level up already, one more wave should do it. After the level-up, he would call it quits. He cast Magic Field and started to spam all his spells, trying to clear up the remaining enemies before the next wave arrived.

When the next wave arrived, he spotted six rare elites. Since he was planning to exit after this wave, he decided to use his big guns. His spirit weapon also almost run out of duration. He waited until the six rare elites converged on him before he cast Myriad Venomous Vipers to hold them in place. He then activated Overlimit and used Lightning God Barrage. At the same time, his spirit weapon executed its finishing mode.

The resulting explosion vanquished many other special elites while the six rare elites' HP was down to less than half. He then used the Ultimate Beast skill. Therras transformed into its hulking sovereign mode. Together, they beat up the six half-dead rare elites.

Jack's Blade Dancer increased to level 51 then. After the feat, he used Charge and ran towards the portal, just as the next wave appeared in the distance. He threw himself into the red portal.

*CLANG*

He felt as if he had crashed into a solid metal wall.

"Aw, hell…" He looked at the portal in consternation.