Chapter 53: The Final Test: Part 2

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: The Final Test: Part 2

Seconds after Aeon disappeared from the plaza, he found himself in a vast grassland surrounded by lush, tall trees. His boots touching the muddy ground, making him frown.

"Great. I appeared in a mud pit. You are ruining my perfect shoes," Aeon muttered, looking down at his soiled footwear.

He then glanced around. There was no one else in sight. The teleportation system had ensured that every student was dropped into a different location.

Aeon tapped his Astral rune to check the rules and the point system the professor had mentioned earlier. The moment his finger made contact, a holographic display flickered to life above the back of his left hand.

It was a profile page displaying his name and photo. Right below his name was his current score: 0. Beneath the points section was a tab labeled ’Rules.’

Aeon tapped the tab and spent the next two minutes reading through the details. First and foremost, the prompt explicitly stated that participants were permitted to kill one another. Furthermore, once a student was eliminated, half of their accumulated points would be transferred to their killer.

Luckily this didn’t mean that the death is permanent.

Aeon’s brow furrowed when he read this. It wasn’t because he feared someone might kill him and take his points, but rather because of how unhinged the academy’s methods were.

"What a crazy academy. The opening rule allows examinees to butcher each other in here," Aeon murmured, wondering what his future days in this institution would look like.

The point system came next, and it was relatively simple. It mirrored the standard power ranking system, spanning from F-rank to Ex-rank. On this particular island, the strongest Eldritches capped out at C+ rank.

Slaying an F-rank Eldritch awarded 50 points. It made no difference whether it was a low-tier F- rank or a peak F+ rank beast; the point payout remained identical. From that baseline, the point values doubled with each consecutive rank up. This meant that anyone capable of taking down a C+ rank Eldritch would get a massive 400 points.

Another rule specified that students could hold their finger down on the rune for five seconds to instantly teleport off the island. Doing so, however, meant immediate disqualification.

After finishing the rules, Aeon dismissed the hologram and looked back. He then cast his gaze downward, speaking directly to his own shadow.

"Go. Keep an eye on the students. Only intervene when they are in mortal danger or when the Voidbound cultists attack. I can already hear their disgusting whispers echoing in my head. They’re using some kind of device to disable the runes and formations here. That means anything can kill them permanently—the Eldritches, the Cultists, or even themselves."

He paused for a moment, his thoughts turning to those who were important to him. "And protect those who came here with me with your life. Also, strip them of their storage rings. They might have something useful."

For the first time, listening to the stray thoughts of the Voidbound cultists hiding on the island made Aeon desperately wish he could deactivate his passive telepathic perception.

"Yes, my liege."

Glowing red eyes flared within his shadow, and a chorus of distinct, overlapping voices echoed in response. With that confirmation, hundreds of unseen, autonomous shadows detached from Aeon’s shadow and scattered into the depths of the forest.

---------

Meanwhile, inside one of the island’s hidden caves, a group of figures clad in black hooded cloaks over heavy armor stood in a rigid, disciplined formation. Before them stood their leader.

Like the rest, he wore an advanced suit of nano-armor beneath his dark cloak, but he radiated a far denser, more oppressive aura than his subordinates.

The helmet shielding his face retracted, its nanites liquefying and flowing away into his collar. His skin was dark, and two demonic horns curved sharply from the edges of his forehead. His crooked, raspy voice echoed through the dimly lit cavern.

"Is everything prepared?"

One of the cultists at the front immediately stepped forward to report. "Yes, sir. We are fully prepared. The students have already landed. Reports confirm that the scions from all the major nations are present. The only two targets we cannot permanently eliminate are the Phoenix princess and prince, because of their racial reincarnation ability."

Finishing his report, the cultist stepped back into formation, leaving his words to settle as they awaited orders. The demon leader pondered the problem regarding the imperial Phoenix children for a brief moment.

"That is of no consequence," the demon leader spoke up, a cruel edge to his voice. "Even if we kill them now, we are stripping away one of their precious resurrection lifelines."

The Phoenixes are one of the most powerful races in Nexus Earth, renowned for their dominion over fire and rebirth.

Among them, the Imperial Phoenixes stand above the rest, possessing the legendary Nine Lives. Whenever an Imperial Phoenix suffers true death, it undergoes a mysterious process known as Phoenix Nirvana, through which it is reborn from the ashes and granted another life.

Yet even the gift of rebirth comes at a price.

Each time an Imperial Phoenix undergoes Nirvana, it loses all of its accumulated cultivation. Only its bloodline, physique, talent, special talent, knowledge, memories, and experiences remain intact.

Thus, although an Imperial Phoenix can rise from death again and again, every rebirth forces it to start its cultivation anew. And once all nine lives have been exhausted, there will be no further Nirvana. And death shall claim them.

The demon then reached into his storage ring and pulled out a specialized device, letting it hover just above his right hand. It was a sleek, golden-and-silver armored apparatus adorned with curved plates and pulsing, blue energy cores.

A manic grin spread across his face, exposing rows of sharp, pointed teeth. "Let the shaw begins."

He channeled his dark energy directly into the core of the device.

Whoosh!

An undetectable disruption wave rippled outward from the cave, washing silently across the entire island. It carried a singular, devastating purpose: to completely disable the defensive formations, runes, and monitoring arrays guarding the examinees without alerting the academy’s external sensors.

-------

Back at the academy, a massive, elongated conference table occupied the center of a spacious command room. The majority of the institution’s professors sat around it, tracking the live feeds on the holographic screens hovering before them. Some of the examinees had already engaged in combat with local Eldritches.

"This year’s batch is highly promising. We even have divine-rank talents among them," one professor noted, looking away from his monitor. He possessed a human-like featurs, save for the two pairs of pristine white feathered wings spanning from his back.

He belonged to the Angel race. Unlike other winged species who preferred to keep their wings hidden,

When they are in humanoid from, angels flaunted them openly.

It was a cultural tradition meant to project grace, though it often made them one of the more exasperating races to deal with due to their deep-seated arrogance and historic resentment toward demons.

Of course, not every angel shared that rigid, prejudiced mindset. While some refused to change, others adapted to modern society to live better lives—or simply because they had fallen in love with a demon partner.

To his left, a dwarf professor spoke up. "You speak the truth, Chen Hao. Five years ago, multiple nations witnessed the awakening of divine-rank children. This year will be fascinating, but significantly more dangerous." He paused, his thick brow furrowing as a sudden thought crossed his mind.

He turned his gaze toward one of the monitoring stations. "Miss Clara, please reinforce and double-check the island’s security systems. I have a terrible feeling about this. I refuse to believe the Voidbound Cult will simply sit on their hands while so many prodigies are gathered in a single, isolated location. They must be plotting something."

Sitting across from him was Clara, the elf professor the dwarf had addressed. She possessed flowing blonde hair, long pointed ears, and striking green eyes. Her flawless beauty made her look as though she had descended straight from the heavens.

Her gentle, melodic voice rang out, projecting a soothing warmth that instantly defused the tension lingering in the air.

"Do not fret. I performed a double-check just five minutes after the examinees were teleported. But you are right; let us run another sweep to be absolutely certain."

With a swift gesture, she tapped the surface of the table. A virtual keyboard materialized onto the polished, mirror on the table, and her fingers began flying across the keys.

A minute passed. Suddenly, a harsh red light flared across the holograms, flashing a prompt in bold, block letters: ACCESS DENIED.

A collective knot formed in the stomachs of everyone present. Clara looked shocked and utterly bewildered. She tried bypassing the prompt to regain control of the security grid, but the exact same lockout message flashed back at her.

Then, the holographic array shifted as the automated emergency overrides detected a fundamental shift in the network.

The screens flashed a different, far more ominous warning, accompanied by a blaring siren.

[SECURITY BREACH. SECURITY BREACH.]

The professors instantly surged out of their seats, their eyes locking onto Clara for an explanation. Chen Hao was the first to speak, his voice laced with urgency.

"Damn it! What is happening, Clara? What’s going on? And what caused the security breach?" Chen Hao demanded, his urgent questions coming one after another and overwhelming her even further.

Clara stared at the crimson warning signs, her hands trembling in sheer horror. Her smooth, elegant composure shattered completely, replaced by a shaky voice thick with dread.

"This is bad... Someone has bypassed our firewall and completely hijacked the network. Whoever is responsible must be operating from inside the island itself. An external hack of this scale is impossible."

The moment Clara’s explanation cut short, a grim realization struck the entire room, and the professors spoke almost in unison.

"The students are in danger."