Chapter 154: Ron Becomes 2nd Echelon
He thrust downward.
An enormous amount of Lightning Mana erupted from the spearhead.
The accumulated energy rapidly transformed into the shape of a massive Thunder Dragon that descended together with Ron’s attack.
The Level 55 Zombie barely managed to bring its polearm between itself and the incoming strike.
The Thunder Dragon crashed down.
BOOM!
The polearm shattered upon impact.
Fragments of dark metal scattered across the battlefield as the Lightning continued straight through the broken defense.
The Thunder Dragon struck the fractured section of armor covering the zombie’s ribs.
The damaged plate exploded apart.
Bluish-white Lightning poured through the opening and tore into the soldier’s body as the overwhelming force drove it into the ground.
The black-gray stone collapsed beneath the impact.
For a moment, the entire area was drowned beneath violent lightning.
Then the light gradually faded.
Ron landed several meters away and turned toward the impact point.
His breathing had become heavy from pushing Thunder God Overdrive and releasing nearly all the momentum he had accumulated throughout the fight.
Faint Lightning still crawled along his spear.
At the center of the shattered ground lay what remained of the Level 55 Zombie Race soldier.
Its armor had been destroyed around the point Ron had repeatedly weakened, while the upper section of its body had been torn apart by the final attack.
Ron stared at the corpse.
Then the System notification finally appeared before him.
[2nd Echelon Advancement Mission completed.]
Ron’s exhausted expression immediately changed.
"Fuck yes."
The Lightning surrounding him began fluctuating before he could move any farther.
His Perfected Lightning Mana Core had already reacted to the completed mission.
Cain approached while keeping enough distance not to interfere with the transformation.
"Stay there."
Ron nodded and lowered his spear before closing his eyes.
The System notifications appeared.
[Perfected Mana Core detected.]
[Advancement foundation confirmed: Perfected Stage.]
[Beginning Core Metamorphosis.]
The Mana surrounding Ron immediately became unstable.
Unlike Elara’s advancement, which had caused frost to spread across the surrounding ground, Ron’s transformation filled the area with increasingly dense Lightning Mana.
Bluish-white currents crawled over his body as his Perfected Lightning Mana Core began undergoing the same fundamental metamorphosis Cain had already witnessed earlier.
Ron’s Perfected Core was being transformed into the foundation for a new Mana Core belonging to the 2nd Echelon, while the quality of the Core he possessed when accepting the mission determined the physical reinforcement he would receive during the advancement.
That was precisely why Cain had insisted that everyone wait until reaching the Perfected Stage.
He turned his attention back toward the rest of the battlefield.
The remaining 1st Echelon soldiers had already been suppressed by Nathan and the others, leaving Ron free to complete his advancement without any danger of being interrupted.
Several minutes later, the Lightning surrounding Ron suddenly intensified.
A powerful pulse of Mana erupted from his body and spread across the nearby ground.
Then the violent energy gradually settled.
Ron opened his eyes, bluish-white light flashed briefly within his pupils.
The Mana surrounding him felt noticeably different from before. It was denser and carried far more power despite flowing around his body with greater stability.
A series of notifications appeared.
[Core Metamorphosis completed.]
[Lightning Mana Core has advanced to the 2nd Echelon.]
[Core Stage: Newly Formed.]
[Physical reinforcement completed according to the Perfected Stage foundation recorded upon mission acceptance.]
[You have successfully advanced to the 2nd Echelon.]
Ron slowly tightened his hand around the spear.
Lightning moved naturally across his fingers before flowing into the weapon.
Even without using any skill, he could immediately feel the difference.
His Mana Core had returned to the Newly Formed Stage, but there was no sense of becoming weaker.
The Core itself had entered an entirely higher Echelon.
Even at its current stage, the Lightning Mana circulating through his body already possessed far greater quality than what his Perfected 1st Echelon Mana Core had produced only minutes earlier.
Before Ron could test the changes further, golden light appeared across everyone’s vision.
[World Announcement.]
[The third player to successfully advance to the 2nd Echelon has appeared.]
[The name "Heavenly Flash" shall be recorded in the history of this World.]
[Heavenly Flash has received a Blue Scroll and a Blue Orb.]
Ron stared at the announcement.
A satisfied smile gradually appeared on his face.
Third in the entire world.
More importantly, he had defeated a genuine 2nd Echelon opponent completely on his own while still remaining at the 1st Echelon.
Cain looked at him for a moment before shifting his attention toward Nathan.
"You’re next."
Nathan nodded.
His own Wind Mana Core had already reached the Perfected Stage, and his Advancement Mission required cooperation with another Level 50 1st Echelon Awakener.
Since Cain still satisfied both conditions, they only needed to find another suitable 2nd Echelon opponent.
The remaining 1st Echelon soldiers had already been brought under control while Ron completed his advancement.
Several were lying across the ground with injuries severe enough to prevent them from fighting back, while the others had been restrained or disabled without being killed.
Sonya stood nearby with Fire Mana gathering around her hands.
Cain looked toward her.
"Finish them."
Sonya immediately moved.
A condensed sphere of flame formed above her palm before shooting toward the nearest wounded soldier.
The second sphere of compressed flame left Sonya’s palm before the first corpse had completely stopped burning.
The wounded Zombie Race soldier lying several meters away tried to drag itself backward.
One of its legs had already been severed near the knee, while a deep cut across its abdomen prevented it from standing.
"Wait!"
The sphere of flame stopped briefly above Sonya’s palm.
The zombie immediately continued.
"We surrender."
Several of the other wounded zombies reacted when they heard those words.
"We can tell you what you want to know."
"The Anchor Gate..."
"Let us live and we’ll tell you everything."
Sonya looked toward them quietly.
For a moment, the Fire Mana gathering around her hand weakened.
Some of the zombies appeared hopeful when they saw it.