Chapter 39: Orion Wrath/ Oath

Chapter Thirty Nine

Orion’s eyes widened as he tried to step forward, but alas... the restriction held him firmly in place.

No matter how much strength he exerted or how desperately he tried to move even a single finger, his body remained completely frozen, leaving him helpless as he watched Dwaine say the word that was considered the absolute taboo in this place.

"I give up."

Dwaine said it calmly, yet to Orion, those three words felt as though the entire world had collapsed around him. Orion’s face fell because he knew exactly what those words meant. There was nothing else Dwaine could do now. Since he had said those words...

He would die.

No... very soon, he would be erased.

Orion gritted his teeth, his eyes filling with indescribable pain as a single question escaped his trembling lips.

"Why?"

Dwaine looked at him and sighed before giving a simple reply.

"I can’t move forward anymore, no matter what I do... sorry."

Orion didn’t say anything. The answer was understandable, and he knew that, but did understanding make him feel any better?

No, not at all.

Because of the nature of this trial... Karmic Torture... Orion knew that Dwaine must have been experiencing a level of pain that was enough to break even the toughest warrior simply by imagining it.

And that was because of how deep Dwaine’s karma went. Orion was different. Compared to Dwaine, he could almost be said to be having an easy time.

The fact that Dwaine had managed to walk this far alone could be described as nothing short of extraordinary. Orion understood his pain, perhaps more than anyone else could.

That was precisely why he wanted Dwaine to continue following him until they reached the end of the trial and finally became safe. The duo had suffered far too much pain and faced far too many challenges.

They had endured countless hellish trials together, walking through agony that should have broken them and supporting each other whenever either one of them could no longer stand. They had joked together, laughed together, complained together, and taken one step at a time together.

There was no way Orion wanted Dwaine to die here. He didn’t want them to part here, and he certainly didn’t want Dwaine’s story to reach its conclusion here.

But alas... it was too late now.

Dwaine could already feel death closing in rapidly, so he sighed before speaking his final words.

"Orion... please make it to the end."

His voice was gentle.

"Don’t worry about me dying. Let’s say a piece of me is with you."

He smiled faintly.

"As long as you survive, the piece of me that is with you will also survive."

Dwaine paused before continuing.

"So please... don’t copy this selfish friend of yours. Don’t give up."

Orion’s chest ached as he desperately tried to keep his overwhelming emotions in check.

But being Orion... that was impossible.

After all, one of his greatest qualities was his overwhelming emotions. When he felt happiness, he felt it to the extreme. When he felt excitement, he felt it to the extreme, and when he felt anger, he felt it to the extreme as well. Even when he felt sadness, he experienced it with that same terrifying intensity.

The emotional pain he was feeling right now was so overwhelming that it physically hurt. It truly hurt, and tears blurred Orion’s vision as he looked upward.

Then he saw it.

Dwaine’s body was beginning to fade. From his feet upward, his body slowly began turning into countless particles of light. His legs disappeared first, followed by his knees and then his waist, while the light continued climbing upward and slowly erased him from this world.

"Make me one last promise, friend."

Dwaine’s voice remained calm despite the fact that his body was disappearing before Orion’s very eyes.

"Promise me that you won’t give up. Promise me that you will survive."

His voice trembled slightly.

"Promise me."

Orion’s tears flowed freely now. His heart thumped loudly within his chest, each beat carrying an unbearable amount of pain.

"Promise me..."

Orion’s mouth opened, but his voice was barely audible.

"I promise."

The moment Dwaine heard those words, his face bloomed with a sweet smile. It was a smile so warm, so peaceful, and so filled with genuine happiness that anyone who saw it would never have known that he was merely a tiny step away from being completely erased.

"Thank goodness..."

His voice was soft.

"Remember... keep moving forward."

Dwaine’s smile remained as his eyes slowly closed.

"One step at a time. That is our motto."

Those were his final words.

His body completely faded, and the light scattered into the surroundings, disappearing one particle after another until there was nothing left. No body, presence, voice, or footsteps remained behind. There was simply nothing.

Orion stood completely still for a long while, his thoughts churning inside his head.

No... his thoughts were too muffled to make any sense. There were too many emotions, too many memories, too many words, and too many moments flooding through his mind, yet none of them could properly form into a coherent thought.

Then, slowly, his knees gave way, and Orion fell to his knee.

The restriction was gone now.

Dwaine was dead.

Orion lowered his head, and his gaze fell upon the locket in his hand. His lips slowly curled upward, forming the saddest smile he had ever worn.

"You old liar..."

His voice trembled.

"At least stay true to your words."

He stared at the locket.

"Keep moving forward, you say..."

His fingers tightened around it.

"And yet... why did you stop moving forward?"

His eyes reddened.

"Why?"

Orion hugged the locket tightly against his chest and remained in that position for a long time without moving or speaking. He simply held it close as though doing so could somehow preserve the warmth of the person who had given it to him.

Days passed, then weeks, then months, and eventually many more months. Time slowly lost its meaning.

Orion remained there throughout it all, and after who knew how long, his eyes suddenly snapped open. His gray eyes were clear, but there was no longer any visible emotion within them. There was no sadness, grief, or tears. There was simply nothing.

"Rest in peace, old friend."

He finally said his goodbye before carefully pocketing the locket.

Orion slowly stood, his gray eyes colder than they had ever been since the day he was born. All the pain, grief, and sorrow had already passed through him.

What remained in their place was cold wrath.

His hatred for this trial ground was now greater than any hatred he had ever held. It surpassed the hatred he held toward his real family, the family that had abandoned him and left him to be killed. It was greater than the hatred he held toward the beast that had killed his father, and greater than any hatred he had ever felt in his entire life.

Orion turned his gray eyes forward.

For so long, many things had been pushing him forward through this endless trial of pain and hell: the desire to survive, the desire to return home, the desire to see his family again, the desire to become stronger, the desire to conquer the Origin Trial, the promise he had made to himself, and the promise he had made to Dwaine.

All of those things had pushed him forward, but now another emotion had been added to them.

Pure, absolute spite for this place.

Orion reached for one of his daggers and pulled it out. Without hesitation, he dragged the blade across his palm, causing blood to immediately drip onto the ground, one drop followed by another and then another.

His voice was cold and emotionless, so eerie that anyone who heard it would have felt the hairs on their body stand on end.

"I, Orion Stormblade, swear on my life..."

His voice echoed through the silent trial ground.

"No matter what happens, I will clear this trial. No matter how many dangers it carries with it... I will conquer them all."

His gray eyes remained completely emotionless as he continued.

"Bring whatever danger you can. Whatever pain. Whatever hell. Whatever nightmare you can drop me into."

He slowly raised his head.

"Do your best."

A faint, terrifying smile appeared on his lips.

"Do your worst."

His voice became even colder.

"I will conquer it all and make it to the top."

For the first time, an emotion entered his voice.

It wasn’t sadness, fear, or despair.

It was wrath, cold and absolute.

"And when I finally make it to the 1000th floor..." A terrifying intensity filled Orion’s gray eyes as he continued, "you better have a good explanation ready for all this."

His voice dropped.

"If not... I swear I will tear this place down."

His grip tightened around the dagger.

"Even if it is the last thing I do... I will make you pay."

Without saying another word, Orion stepped forward.

The moment his foot landed on the ground, the Karmic Torture slammed into him from all sides. The absolute torture invaded his existence, crushing it, tearing it apart, and torturing him as it became worse with every passing moment.

And yet... Orion’s emotionless face didn’t change. He simply took another step, then another. It wasn’t that the pain wasn’t overwhelming, nor was it that the torture had somehow become easier. Quite the opposite... it was getting worse, becoming more painful with every passing second.

But compared to the pain he had felt when he lost his friend, this pain seemed almost negligible.

Orion continued walking forward. Even as the Karmic Torture went from bad to worse, from worse to unbearable, from unbearable to hellish, and eventually to something beyond what he had ever experienced before, he didn’t halt his steps.

He didn’t even take a break.

Something deep within Orion had completely snapped the moment Dwaine’s death truly sank into his heart, and the oath he had made... he was going to fulfill it.

No matter what.

Years passed, then decades, and eventually several centuries. Soon, Orion reached the 100th floor, his eyes locking onto the number written above it.

100.

Yet there was no relief in his eyes. Normally, whenever Orion survived another deadly trial, there would be at least some trace of relief, happiness, or satisfaction.

Not this time.

His eyes remained completely emotionless and indifferent.

He simply waited as the trial’s energy restored his being to full health. His core flourished once more, his body returned to its peak condition, his mind recovered, and his soul became whole.

Without taking another break, Orion stepped directly into another trial.

Meanwhile, back on the white throne, the eyes of the mysterious being suddenly snapped open.

A faint trace of shock crossed those ancient eyes.

He really crossed the 100th floor.

The being stared at Orion, and for the first time in a very long while, genuine interest appeared within his gaze.

"This human child..."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the distant figure.

"He really crossed the 100th floor."

He had been watching Orion and Dwaine from the beginning. He had seen countless humans enter this place, watched countless humans fall, and witnessed countless geniuses crumble beneath trials that should have been impossible to survive.

But this human... this child... was the first human to have ever crossed the 100th floor.

"This human child is really interesting."

The being’s gaze remained locked onto Orion.

Yet despite the surprise in his eyes, his conclusion hadn’t changed. Could this child truly reach the 1000th floor?

The answer, in the being’s opinion... was still no.