Chapter 28: The Trial

Chapter Twenty Eight

The human warriors fell one after another. Again and again.

The strain of suffering thousands of deaths over and over again was simply too much for their minds to bear. Their minds were frayed...

And then shattered. With their consciousness destroyed like that, they were nothing more than broken shells.

The moment they failed the mini test, they were erased. The mighty being seated atop the throne looked down, his gaze settling upon the two figures who had survived the trial.

One was an old human with a unique bloodline and an incredibly strong will. The other was a young human.

His bloodline was weak, yet his will was superior even to that of the old man. And even with such a strong will, he wouldn’t have survived if he hadn’t decided to do something most humans would never dare to do.

"Interesting human..."

The being thought, his eyes locking onto the young human. Two daggers were buried deep within the human’s sides, breaking his ribs and driving deep into his flesh, one on each side.

To think that a human could do something like this... Interesting indeed.

He had broken the death illusion through overwhelming pain. What a sharp... crazy human child.

The being looked at the kid, a small smile curling at the corner of the child’s mouth. He must be experiencing heart-wrenching pain right now.

And yet...

He was still smiling through it. Orion smiled as his eyes finally cleared, the redness slowly fading from them.

He did it. He had really broken the death illusion.

Orion had resisted the death illusion for as long as he could, struggling desperately against the countless deaths that threatened to break his mentality.

But when he realized that resisting alone wouldn’t be enough, and that if he didn’t do something else his mind would eventually shatter...

He stopped resisting. Instead, he put all his focus into gaining control of his two hands.

The daggers were already held tightly in his grip. And then...

Disregarding the fatal pain he knew he would feel, he pierced his ribs with full force. The pain was blinding.

And just as he had hoped...

The pain was overwhelming enough to break the illusion. Now that the illusion had been shattered, however, Orion felt the real pain slam into him.

He nearly fainted. Blood pooled beneath him, quickly forming a small pool of red.

His face became pale as his health deteriorated. He pulled the dagger out.

The pain made him clench his teeth so hard that they hurt. Blood spilled from his lips as he felt himself losing consciousness.

But he struggled to stay awake. Because he knew...

If he lost consciousness, he would die. And he wasn’t ready to die.

Not yet. Still, the wound he had inflicted on himself was too fatal.

His liver had been punctured, and the amount of blood he was losing was overwhelming. Dizziness consumed him.

His grey eyes began to waver, desperately wanting to close.

No.

Don’t.

You can’t.

His gaze continued to close until it seemed as though he would finally fall. And then...

He did something even more crazy. He pierced his own hand deeply with the dagger.

The pain immediately cleared the haze from his mind. More blood pooled beneath him.

The pain was ravaging and merciless, slamming into him from all sides. Several seconds passed in that torment as Orion tried his absolute best to hold on.

But ultimately...

He failed. The dizziness returned.

This time, it was even stronger than before. He wanted to inflict another wound upon himself to clear his mind.

It seemed meaningless. It would only cause him more pain.

Most people would have decided to give up at this point. No...

They would have given up long before this. But Orion was different.

No matter how much pain he had to endure, as long as that pain could keep him awake for even a few more seconds...

He would welcome it. His weak hand clenched around the dagger once more.

His strength was failing him. And yet, he poured everything he had left into that hand.

He swung. The dagger moved toward his already wounded side once more.

But before the blade could meet his bloody flesh...

A voice suddenly spoke. And everything stilled.

"Enough..."

The moment the mighty being seated upon the throne said those words, Orion’s dagger vanished. And not only that...

Orion, who had been so close to death, was restored to perfect health in an instant. His wounds vanished.

The small pool of blood beneath him disappeared as well. But that wasn’t the only thing.

His entire body was restored. An immense vitality surged through him, making him feel as though he were at least two times better...

And stronger... Than before.

Orion’s gaze shook as he stared at the figure seated upon the throne. Of course, he still didn’t dare to stare into his eyes.

Instead, he kept his gaze lowered, looking at his feet. He had been restored to full health.

Not only that... He was even stronger than before.

And all of that had been accomplished with nothing more than a single word from this being. This much power...

The deeds and things that had happened flashed through Orion’s mind, and he finally came to a conclusion.

This being was an existence far too great for someone like him to even fathom. He felt as though he were standing before those all-powerful beings called gods in the ancient texts.

And Orion wasn’t the only one restored by the word the being had spoken. Sir Dwaine had also been restored to full health.

His hands, which had exploded earlier, were completely back. Not only that, his body was filled with vitality like never before.

In fact...

He felt stronger. The moment the duo realized what had happened, they immediately bowed their heads.

"Thank you."

They thanked the mighty being from the bottom of their hearts. To heal them like this...

And even grant them greater strength afterward... Surely, he must be willing to spare their lives.

That was what the duo thought. But their thoughts were quickly shattered.

"You two have passed the mini test."

The being’s calm voice echoed through the palace.

"Now, the true trial will begin."

Dwaine froze. Orion froze as well.

What true trial? Seeing their shocked expressions, the being continued.

"You humans were so puny and foolish..."

His voice remained calm.

"You stepped into this place without even knowing what this place is."

His words reverberated through the palace, shaking the very fabric of existence itself. The duo didn’t dare lift their heads.

They simply bowed their heads and listened. The mighty being remained silent for who knew how long.

Then, finally, he spoke again.

"Do you understand now?"

The moment those four words left his mouth, streams of information suddenly flowed into the minds of the duo. It was a memory they had never possessed before...

And yet, it felt as though they had always had it. They knew everything the being wanted them to know.

This White Palace wasn’t a death dungeon. Nor was it a treasure trove.

No. This place was a Trial Palace...

A place where the legacy of a being they were not worthy of knowing was hidden. If they faced and cleared the trial, they would obtain the legacy known as...

The Origin. But if they failed the trial...

Their soul, body, and mind would be completely erased, never to be seen again. The next moment, when Orion opened his eyes, his surroundings had changed.

He was now standing instead of kneeling. Beside him stood Sir Dwaine.

His eyes covered with the black cloth, his gaze grim as he stared ahead at the Endless stairs before them. The duo didn’t say a word.

Their gazes were grim as they stared at what stood before them. It was a staircase.

A staircase that stretched impossibly high into the white sky. Where the stairs ended...

No one knew. But now, they understood.

This was the trial they were meant to conquer to obtain the Origin. The voice of the mighty being reverberated throughout the place, although he was nowhere to be seen.

"Standing before you are the stairs to the Origin."

"Cross them all to the 1,000th floor and obtain the Origin to win."

"The rules..."

The voice paused briefly.

"Rule number one."

"You are not to take a single step backward once you begin."

"If you do that..."

"You die."

"Rule number two."

"If you decide to remain on a single step forever without moving forward..."

"You die."

"Rule number three."

"If you give up on the trial..."

"The same fate awaits you."

"The only way to survive is to conquer the trial and wield the Origin."

"Any other alternative apart from that..."

"Leads only to one thing."

"Death."

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