Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Far away in a distant, rocky quadrant of the desert...

A massive makeshift fortress had been hastily thrown together within the past few hours to withstand the brutal waves of beasts that consistently bombarded the region.

Standing on the high crest of a jagged stone hill overlooking the plains below, a terrifyingly large man stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

He was built like a bear, his frame dense with thick, corded muscles. He wore his hair in a buzz cut, and his face was chiseled, wild, and rough, his features set into a dangerously cold look that instilled fear in anyone who looked at him.

He was King Alexei, the number 3 ranked human on the global leaderboard.

He was silently looking down at the expanse below, his dark eyes watching the chaotic defensive line where hundreds of low-level human ascenders were desperately battling against the remaining stragglers of a beast horde.

A deep, heavy scowl colored his face as he observed their pitiful combat movements. These people had practically begged on their knees to be allowed under his banner for safety, yet their attributes were so weak they could barely handle standard Level 10 and below creatures without losing ground.

”Alexei.”

A calm, clear voice cut through the sound of the wind from behind him.

A tall, long-legged woman with skin like polished white jade and a petite, exquisite face that caught the pale moonlight, walked toward the edge of the ridge.

A heavy, dense aura of cosmic essence emanated naturally from her body as she strutted forward with perfect, elegant strides. Her movements were completely precise, balanced without showing a single shred of physical effort.

A heavy, unyielding air of aristocratic pride lingered in her eyes as she cast a brief, cursory glance down at the messy battles in the sandy plains below before turning her full attention to the giant beside her.

King Alexei’s scowl vanished the instant he saw her face. A pleasant, boisterous smile broke across his face, his eyes scanning her lithe curves and thick thighs from head to toe.

He made absolutely no effort to hide his appreciation, though his focus remained steady.

”Woman, I have told you at least five times today,” Alexei laughed, his deep voice booming over the ridge. ”Just say the word and I will hand you anything you desire. Become my woman, and you can have anything you want in this new world. You are exceptionally powerful, and I am even more powerful. Imagine how monstrously mighty our children will be under the rules of essence!”

The young woman, Isolde Di Castiglione simply rolled her eyes, her expression remaining perfectly serene as she stopped a few paces away from him.

”You promise the entire world quite easily, Alexei, but you cannot give what you do not own,” Isolde said, a light, teasing smile touching the corner of her lips.

”Have you forgotten the ladder already? There are still two names sitting above yours.”

King Alexei grunted, his boisterous smile fading into a flat, business-like expression as the names she was talking about surfaced in his mind.

Red, the mysterious number 1 ranker, and that Zara, who had recently materialized out of nowhere to hijack the number 2 spot right from grasp.

He glanced past Isolde’s shoulder, his eyes locking on to the row of silent, heavily armed men standing several meters back to give them privacy.

They were core members of Isolde’s family, and they were the primary reason his interest in her went far beyond simple physical attraction.

Of course, he wouldn’t deny that her exquisite beauty, lithe body and sharp eyes piqued his interest as a hot-blooded man. But it was the raw, disciplined power of the Castiglione lineage that truly intrigued him.

Isolde’s individual level wasn’t anything spectacular. She had only just managed to break through the Level 10 boundary alongside the massive influx of human ascenders that had begun to breach the level over the last few days. Before the trial announcement, she had only been sitting somewhere around number 20 on the global rankings.

But despite that, Alexei’s interest in her was not diminished even in the slightest. And that was because it wasn’t just her alone...

Her brothers, her father, her uncles, and her sisters had all successfully pushed past Level 10 simultaneously.

The situation was so weird and unique because right after the integration, most families were split up all across the world into different sectors. Even the lucky ones who ended up in the same sector as their family members were few and far between, and they only had a couple of relatives with them.

But most of the Castiglione family had been fortunate enough to be dropped within the same sector in Zone 0.

And that was what made them terrifying. The opportunity to rebuild together.

Back on the old Earth, the Italian family had been one of the true, hidden forces running geopolitical matches behind the scenes.

They had always claimed to be completely hands-off regarding public government matters, but their wealth was gotten from owning several private military corporations. They also had their hands in core heavy industries across Europe. In fact, there were rumors that they even had ties with the mafia too, though that was unconfirmed.

And now that the world had changed entirely, with many of their family members being dropped into the same sector, they were no longer hiding their ambitions for power.

Isolde was clearly being groomed as the primary flag-bearer for the lineage. The entire family was collectively advancing together, but at the same time they were pushing Isolde to climb higher than them up the ladder of the global rankings, recognizing that having one of their own high up was going to be vital.

Alexei knew she was moving close to him because of the power he possessed. He also knew she was aware he was interested not just in her pretty face, but also the influence of her family.

It was a mutual, unspoken political understanding, and he was perfectly content to play the game until he got the alliance he wanted.

He opened his mouth to speak, his smile returning as he pictured the future of what their coalition would look like, when all of a sudden, his status panel flashed with an urgent notice.

Alexei’s voice died in his throat. Beside him, Isolde’s serene expression shattered instantly, her jaw dropping as she stared at the same notice that had popped up in her view.

Behind them, the silent members of the Castiglione family gasped in unison, their disciplined postures breaking as they also received the same notice.

Down in the trenches below, the change was instantaneous. The low-level ascenders who had been screaming and hacking at the beasts stopped entirely, their blades hovering mid-air as they blankly stared into space.

Every single person had just received the exact same alert.

A whopping fortune of 135,000 Merits had just been dropped on the heads of the ancient variant high command!

King Alexei’s face went completely flat as he tried to process that number. 135,000 Merits, even to him, was something that sounded like fantasy, not to mention the regular ascenders seeing the same thing.

Isolde turned her head toward him, her face wide with an open, undisguised surprise that was incredibly rare for a woman raised under such rigid, aristocratic discipline.

She knew exactly how to control her facial expressions under extreme pressure, yet the sheer scale and implications of the content of the broadcast had completely dismantled her composure.