My SSS-Rank Clone Talent: I Level Up Endlessly!

Grey raised his quill pen, channeled spiritual energy into its tip, and began writing on her pages.

The Diamond Empty Void Grimoire had been preparing to act, but when it noticed Grey's movements, it hesitated. Its attention was drawn toward the towering crimson grimoire beside Grey:

"…Are you Lilith?"

"Haha, long time no see," Lilith said with a soft chuckle.

Empty Void narrowed its eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm serving my master," Lilith replied gently. "What else would I be doing? He's already tamed me. Now it's your turn."

"We'll see about that."

With a low growl, Empty Void thrust its hand forward. The very fabric of the void warped at its command, condensing into a massive sword of darkness.

With a simple motion, he slashed at Grey without mercy.

Grey calmly watched the incoming strike and, without haste, wrote upon Ella's pages. A void sword materialized in his hand, and he met the attack head-on.

Bang!

The clash echoed through the space, but the man's strike was too powerful. It cleaved through Grey's void slash effortlessly and continued forward.

Without flinching, Grey turned to the Mending Grimoire and swiftly wrote:

"By my will, the void slash shall mend."

A flash of radiant light burst forth, and in an instant, the incoming slash dissolved into nothingness.

"Oh?" Empty Void muttered, "The Mending Grimoire? I didn't expect you to possess that. This could be troublesome…"

The Mending Grimoire was known to be a natural counter to void-based abilities. While the Void tore through space itself, the Mending Grimoire could restore it, undoing the very nature of the Void.

Like light to darkness, it was the perfect contradiction.

"However," Empty Void said with a widening grin, "it won't be so easy."

Swish!

The air screamed as space was violently torn apart. Eerie darkness surged forth, flooding the entire area like a wave of corruption.

Grey was a moment too late.

The darkness struck him mercilessly. His skin blistered, cracked, and began to peel away as if unraveling from existence itself.

"Ahhh!" A roar of agony tore from his throat. His vision blurred, eyes bloodshot, and for a brief instant, his mind teetered on the brink of madness.

But he gritted his teeth and forced himself back into clarity.

With trembling hands, he raised his quill and desperately wrote in the Mending Grimoire:

"By my will, the void shall mend."

Light burst forth once again.

But… nothing happened.

The void remained untouched and darkness still remained in the place.

Grey cursed in his heart the moment he saw it.

He summoned every Grimoire in his arsenal, invoking spell after spell—but none of them could dispel the eerie darkness.

Instead, one by one, his Grimoires began to wither before his eyes.

They were dying.

"The void is a bane to all living things, including Grimoires themselves," Empty Void's cold voice echoed from all six directions, resonating like a law of the universe. "This is the power of the Empty Void, my ultimate weapon. If you can withstand this, then you will complete this challenge."

'What should I do?' Grey's eyes trembled with a flicker of hesitation. His pupils shifted, instinctively drawn toward Lilith.

She met his gaze.

"Let's do it," he said.

Lilith's voice echoed back, layered with uncertainty. "Oh? Are you sure…?"

Most of Lilith's powers had no effect on Grimoires, except for one.

A single move that could touch even the essence of Grimoires themselves.

Grey gave a firm nod, gathering every last drop of his remaining spiritual energy into his quill. With trembling hands, he began to write on Lilith's pages:

"Primordial Light, return to nothingness."

The moment the final stroke landed, his body was emptied. All spiritual energy drained in an instant. A wave of nausea hit him like a crashing tide, and his vision blurred.

His knees buckled. For a moment, even standing became a struggle.

And yet, he was already beginning to recover.

Then it happened.

A brilliant white light burst forth, pure and untouchable. It surged through the space like judgment itself, devouring the darkness in a flash.

In an instant, the corrupted void was gone.

Everything was cleared.

"So this is the power of your Primordial Light?" Empty Void muttered as the white light surged toward him. "I knew you possessed that ability, Lilith, but I didn't expect a high-tier disciple to activate something of this level."

"Haha… It's my honor to face it."

Rather than retreating, the space around him distorted as eerie darkness flared and he launched himself forward, directly into the heart of the white light.

Grey collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. When a massive amount of spiritual energy vanished from the body, he would face a backlash as well.

"I didn't expect your ability to be this terrifying… Lilith."

"Hmph. You think people fear me for no reason?" Lilith replied proudly. "And that man, Empty Void, he might just die under my Primordial light."

"Eh?" Grey looked ahead, eyes narrowing.

The brilliant white light and the encroaching black haze clashed violently, neither side yielding. For a moment, he fell into deep thought.

Primordial Light.

An exclusive ability of Lilith, one that targeted the very essence of both the living and the non-living alike.

Grimoires were complex beings. Though alive, they lacked souls, which made most of Lilith's powers ineffective against them. But there were exceptions.

And this, Primordial Light, was one of her trump cards.

With a deep breath, Grey sat cross-legged and began circulating what little energy remained in him. A faint image of a budding lotus slowly bloomed in his mind's eye as he initiated his recovery.

Up ahead, the clash between the white light and the void haze raged on, unrelenting.

Minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty.

Almost half an hour had gone by, and still, neither side showed signs of backing down.

Then both lights vanished.

The white brilliance faded. The void haze dispersed.

Lilith's trembling voice broke the silence:

"H-How is this possible…?"

"I won in the end, Lilith," Empty Void said with a ragged breath, his grin stained with fatigue. He raised his void sword and pushed it forward, a flicker of madness in his eyes.

Eerie darkness began to pulse outward from him, spreading like ink in water. The surrounding space warped into a dome of shadows, enclosing everything.

Grey was swallowed once more by the void.

"Even Primordial Touch couldn't defeat me," Empty Void murmured, "You've run out of chances, human."

Even Lilith was now suppressed beneath the crushing weight of the void.

But amidst the consuming darkness, Grey opened his eyes.

Still seated cross-legged. Still calm.

"You're right," he said softly, "I would've been in trouble, if that were truly the end."

Then, he raised his quill, and with steady hands, wrote in Lilith's pages:

"One Soul, Many Paths."

In an instant, the surroundings were swallowed by gloom as a dragon's roar echoed through the void. Behind Grey, a colossal white dragon materialized.

"You can't beat my cheat."

Everything collapsed, even the void itself fractured and fell apart.

The overwhelming pressure drove Empty Void to his knees. Trembling, he stared up at the dragon, fear etched deep into his expression:

"W-What is this thing?"

Grey chuckled, rising slowly to his feet. "This… is my cheat."

He let out a quiet sigh of relief. Thankfully, he had recovered just enough spiritual energy, enough to use Lilith to summon Drayken once more.

Had he been a moment too late, things might have turned truly troublesome.

While all these thoughts flashed through his mind, step by step he walked up to him, extending his hands forward:

"So, did I complete this challenge?"

Empty Void looked at Grey's outstretched hand and took it, rising to his feet with a smile.

"Yeah, you've won. I'm thoroughly convinced that you're not an incompetent human. In fact, seeing that you tamed Lilith, that soul bitch, you had already passed the challenge. But I wanted to test you further, and I was not disappointed."

Then reality shattered quickly, and Grey's vision returned.

The hovering Grimoire, oozing with darkness, appeared before him.

"Human, you better not disappoint me."

"Trust me, I won't."