Capítulo 17: A man making his stance

Upon hearing Leon's words, the Frost Wyvern's eyes narrowed, a flash of annoyance glinting in them.

"I like arrogance, you know. The powerful have the right to be arrogant. But at the same time, I despise it when it comes from the weak, for they have no right to such arrogance. Weaklings who dare to act proud in my presence... Do you know what I do to them? I shatter their pride, break them piece by piece... and then I swallow them whole," the wyvern said in a voice dripping with disdain.

Leon was unresponsive.

Watching this scene unfold on the livestream, the viewers were stirred into a frenzy, their fingers flying across their keyboards as they flooded the chat with comments.

[Dragonslayer123]: "Man, that speech gave me chills. It's like something straight out of an anime!"

[GamerChick101]: "Meh, to me the dragon seems like a typical edge-lord. Only edgy teenagers would find that cool."

[Dragonslayer123]: "You're uncultured."

[XtremeGamer]: "Karen detected! Shots fired! The Karen is mortally wounded!"

[GamerChick101]: "You... you both go to hell!"

"The Karen is angry, gagagaga!"

Their little spat didn't stop the other viewers from sharing what they thought.

[GamerGoddess]: "This Frost Wyvern is really arrogant. But it's fitting for a being of its stature and might. The devs really went all out developing this game—even a monster in the tutorial has a personality and beliefs that it isn't afraid to express proudly."

[XtremeGamer]: "I think it's too arrogant."

[MM]: "You've got it wrong. It's so strong, it can crush Level 1-10 players like ants. It has the right to be arrogant."

[YourNemesis]: "Honestly, this Wyvern would make a great comedic duo with Zeus. If they were working at a circus, they'd be the most popular act there!"

[BlueEyesButNotAWhiteDragon]: "Legend above, do you dare explain what you meant by that?"

[YourNemesis]: "You will have to look at it from my perspective to find it funny. I think its speech was supposed to crush Zeus's resolve and fighting spirit, but it didn't affect him in any way. He's as unhinged as ever. It's like farting in front of a group of strangers who think its normal to fart in public or playing a flute before a cow. It's fucking funny."

He also sent a voice message in the chat.

When the other users of the platform played it, they found out it was of him laughing like a idiot.

[BlueEyesButNotAWhiteDragon]: "Holy crap, now that you mention it, i see that Zeus is completely unaffected by its words!"

[Backshots]: "You all are thinking too much, glorifying his every move. For all we know, he could be struck silly by the Wyvern's skill."

[GawkGawk]: "The commenter above might be right."

[BlindBanana]: "Yeah, it does make sense."

[CyberBlade]: "Yeah, it does. As for what TheReaper said, my little brother has a wild imagination, and he likes to overthink things when there's nothing to it. Just ignore what he said."

[YourNemesis]: "Who's your little brother? Call me daddy!"

[CyberBlade]: "Screenshotting this to show it to our father. It'll be fun watching you get taught a lesson at dinner tonight."

[YourNemesis]: "Big brother, I didn't mean it! Please have mercy on me!"

The greatest rivals were brothers in real life, sharing the same father.

Those who knew this weren't shocked by the revelation.

However, those who had only heard about their rivalry but not their family history were left gawking at their screens.

The two greatest players of Digital Gladiators were real brothers? For them, it was the discovery of a lifetime.

Meanwhile...

The Frost Wyvern's felt pissed, like seriously pissed, as it watched Leon's reaction to its speech—or rather, his lack of one.

After finishing its words, It should have seen him trembling in his boots, not just standing there with an expressionless face. His response had reduced its grand speech to nothing more than a fart in the wind.

"I don't like your attitude," the Wyvern hissed venomously, glaring at Leon. "Kneel down!"

As soon as these two words were said, the lights of the silver and red moons were suddenly blocked out.

The forest darkened significantly, its only remaining source of light coming from the patches of glowing moss clinging to the tree trunks.

Looking above, one could see that the gap, roughly half the size of a football field, in the ominous dark clouds was now covered by a massive, gleaming eye with a slit pupil.

The pupil moved, looking downward.

Immediately, a crushing pressure descended.

Crack! Crack!

The towering trees groaned and cracked, their trunks splintering as the earth beneath them split open.

The grass flattened, pressed into the dirt, while the ground itself revealed small fractures.

Leon fared even worse.

[You have been affected by a skill]

[Your condition has worsened]

[Your time in this world has shortened]

Another notification popped up in his dimming vision, telling that his HP was being drained at an accelerated rate as he was affected by the Frost Wyvern's skill.

This hidden boss was so powerful, he couldn't resist it.

His HP bar was emptying at a accelerted pace.

If previously he was left with a dew dozen seconds to live, then now he had half that time.

The reaper was approaching him with its scythe.

At the same time, he was being pushed to his knees against his will by the pressure descending from above.

It felt as if the weight of the world itself had been thrown on his shoulders and he had to choice but to kneel to his enemy.

The Wyvern wanted to kill two birds with one stone. With one move, it sought not only to break Leon's pride but also to end his life.

But Leon knew he couldn't allow it to get what it wanted. The Wyvern desired the satisfaction of seeing him kneel before it, to watch him break before dying, and if he allowed it to get that, he would lose the chance to obtain the best opportunity present in the early game, and there would be no point in him regression.

Leon gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw tightening as if they were made of steel. His fists clenched so hard that his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood, the warm liquid seeping between his fingers.

The heavens could crumble.

The sky could fall.

The world could end.

Ten thousand gods could fall silent.

The damned could shed tears.

The saint could sin.

But he—he could not fall to his knees.

He could not kneel.

'The No. 1 PvE player in the world could do it in my previous life, so why can't I? Sure, he started the game with a novice starter pack that the company gave him as gift when they invited him to play their game. It gave him a significant edge over others in the tutorial. I, on the other hand, don't have anything special, but there is something even I can do about this situation.'

It was going to be painful, but it was the only way to change the tide of this battle.

Not to mention, at this moment, he would rather suffer hellish pain than kneel to the beast and lose the opportunity to make a change. He was prepared to endure any pain to make that a reality.

He activated his pain settings, cranking them up to maximum.

[DragonSlayer123]: "Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing? Did he really turn on the pain settings and crank them up to the maximum?!"

[ShadowStrike]: "The only thing I can say is that you are not dreaming."

[DragonSlayer123]: "He really did it. I can't believe there's someone willing to play this game on max pain settings. His guts are commendable."

[GamerGoddess]: "Does he not fully understand the consequences of his actions? The game is configured in a way where max pain settings don't cause death or lasting neurological or physical injuries, but it does cause pain so intense it's at the threshold of what a human can handle without being damaged or crippled. I heard a beta tester say it's torture, akin to getting burned alive in some ways!"

"Is he even sane?" a shocked viewer commented.

[GamerChick101]: "No sane person would do that unless they had a twisted hobby."

"Is Zeus secretly a masochist?" another viewer quipped.

"Why did he do that?" a viewer asked in the chat.

[DragonSlayer123]: "Turning on the pain settings comes with added benefits. Like in real life, feeling pain in the game triggers adrenaline, giving you a temporary power boost. It's a risky move, and not many intentionally abuse it. God King Zeus is the first to do it with such gusto."

[Error101]: "What is he thinking? It's just a game; why's he going so far?"

This question was on every viewer's mind.

The answer to it couldn't have been simple.

To them, it was just a game, but to Leon, it was far more.

It was his chance not only to avoid the same mistakes as his past life and ensure he didn't end up forming the list of regrets that haunted him to his death in his previous life and carried over into this one, but also to undo those regrets.

In this game, he saw an opportunity to carve out a path in a world that had been so cruelly constricted against people like him—a world that made life unbearable for the poor, keeping them trapped in poverty no matter how hard they worked with inflation, taxes, and the whims of the government.

Without luck, opportunities, hard work, or the right connections, it was nearly impossible for someone of humble origins to get ahead.

But Leon knew he was in the right place at the right time, and the only thing left was for him to give it everything he had.

With the right effort, he could go further in this life than he ever did in the last one.

He could live much longer too.

So he couldn't give up just because he was confronted with a challenge that seemed seemingly impossible to surpass by normal means.

He had to pull through even if meant dipping his foot in the abyss.

[YourNemesis]: "You wouldn't understand."

[Error101]: "???"

[YourNemsis]: "Those who do understand have probably walked in his shoes or reached a certain level of awareness. Those who don't never will unless they're willing to step out of their comfort zones and see the world for what it truly is."

People who excel at only one thing, people who have nothing to lose and much to gain... these types of people view the world through a different lens than the average individual. They possess a drive that most others don't. They will go to great lengths to get what they want. Some are even crazy enough to risk their health, sanity, and even lives for a chance at greatness. TheReaper was one such person because of what he'd been through to become the man he was today. Leon was another.

Of course, not many people had the ability to comprehend such a mindset.

Most of the viewers watching Leon's livestream dismissed TheReaper's words, thinking that what CyberBlade had said a while ago about him was the truth. He had a wild imagination, and when he was letting it run loose, it was better to ignore him.

Meanwhile, TheReaper's brother had a completely different insight than him. "So unsightly. He's desperate to impress his viewers. Must be a poor bastard," Jason muttered with disdain, while sitting in the comfort of his cozy and luxurious room.

...

Argh!

The pain Leon felt after turning on the pain setting and cranking it to maximum while the Wyvern's skill was crushing him was unlike anything he had ever experienced, making him feel like his entire body was being torn apart from the inside out, like being flayed alive while his bones shattered one by one.

The agony he was in was unbearable, but it had the effect he desired.

Adrenaline was pumped into his bloodstream in massive amounts.

The extra boost he needed to push back against the pressure came in waves.

Giving 200% of his efforts, he began to fight back against the overwhelming force that threatened to strip him of his pride.

To the Wyvern's shock, the human who was about to touch the ground straightened up, his back as unyielding as a pillar of heaven.

The Wyvern didn't like it, not one bit.

"You struggle in vain," it snarled, increasing the strength of its signature skill.

The pressure descending from the sky concentrated entirely on Leon.

Blood gushed out of his seven orifices, as well as every pore of his skin.

His body was entirely covered in blood, as were his weapons and armor.

It seemed like he would drop dead in a couple of seconds at most, yet, like a god-king, he stood tall—uncrushable, unbreakable, revered throughout the ages.

The viewers were taken aback.

But the one most shocked was the beast.

"How can you remain standing even now?" the frost Wyvern asked in shock.

To achieve this feat, he had strained every muscle was strained to its absolute limit. But all that came out when he opened his mouth was a bestial roar.

"HWARGH!"

It was a roar of defiance.

To put it simply, it was the desperate cry of a man resisting the pull of the inevitable, of his fate.

He hadn't even begun to change it.

He was still very much destined for grief, misery, and an early death as he was in his previous life.

Fate had willed it.

But was he willing to accept such a fate?

The answer was no.

So, he would defy fate with every ounce of his strength.

He would defy it until his last breath.

The roar also carried another message: Don't underestimate the will of the common man. They are the majority. The world was built on their backs!

Whoosh!

A wind blew, carrying with it an intense stench of blood from Leon.

The Wyvern trembled.

Clearly, the man before it was weaker, but it still felt fear.

"Why do you go so far? You are just accelerating your death."

"My pride isn't something just any street dog can easily break," Leon spat defiantly. His voice came out strained and weak but the blaze of defiance in his eyes was as unwavering as ever, burning more furiously than a thousand suns. "You can forget about making me kneel!"

The Frost Wyvern felt infuriated beyond words.

It was a hundred-year-old demon, not the strongest among the ranks of demons, but definitely up there. It had the blood of demonic dragons coursing through its veins. So how dare a mere human defy its will? How dare a mere human look down on it time and again?

Demons were known for their fiery tempers, especially those who had the blood of demonic dragons in their veins.

They were easy to anger and nearly impossible to pacify. Once enraged, they would forget everything else and focus solely on killing.

The Frost Wyvern didn't betray its demonic heritage either. It gave in to its instincts.

"Then I will just kill you," it hissed, its voice seething with fury, as it prepared to end Leon's life right then and there. He was going to die in some seconds anyway, but the Frost Wyvern decided to end his life a little sooner to soothe its anger.