Chapter 528 - 528: Guests

Silva looked down at the sword resting an inch from his neck.

He did not move. He studied the blade, then the hand holding it, and finally the girl behind it. She was swaying on her feet, her chest heaving, but her eyes were steady.

A smile slowly crossed his face.

'She really did it.'

"You win," he said.

Dawn blinked. She had said it herself a moment ago, but hearing it from him made it real.

"Congratulations, Dawn," Silva said. He reached up and gently pushed the blade aside with two fingers, and she stepped back, her arms trembling.

He looked her straight in the eye.

"It seems your ability to grow stronger is tied to pushing yourself past your breaking point. You are determined beyond reason. When you want something, you go after it no matter what it costs you."

He paused to let the words settle.

"In the past, you were always determined to go further. But something was holding you back, and you never knew it. You would stop just before the bridge you needed to cross. Today, you forced yourself across it, and that is what let you evolve."

Dawn listened without a word, her fingers tight around the hilt.

"If you keep pushing yourself past your limits like this, you will surely reach higher heights and grow even stronger than you are now," Silva went on. "But it is a double-edged sword. Pushing yourself like that can make you evolve, or it can destroy you in the process. You might go past your breaking point and shatter completely."

His voice was calm and serious.

"It is risky. But as long as your willpower surpasses everything else, you will keep growing."

Dawn tried to answer, and her legs gave out.

She dropped to her knees on the broken stone, and tears began to stream down her cheeks. They were not tears of pain. All the years of struggle, all the nights of watching the others pull ahead, rose up in her chest at once. She had finally reached something new. She had finally become stronger.

She clenched the sword in her hand and made a promise to herself.

'I'll grow stronger. No matter what.'

She lifted her head and looked at him.

"I would rather perish than stop growing stronger," she said, her voice rough. "Now that I know what it takes, I won't stop."

Silva nodded. "I agree with you."

He was about to say more when he felt it.

A presence pressed down on the world, heavy and cold, and he lifted his head toward the sky.

The light dimmed.

A black veil spread over everything, rolling out from the horizon in every direction until the whole sky was covered. The clouds vanished. The air turned still. High above, a circle of deep red appeared, glowing like a sun that had been dipped in blood.

Dawn looked up, confused and shocked. She got to her feet slowly.

"Silva, what is that?" she asked. "What is happening?"

"Seems we have guests," Silva said.

Before he could say anything else, a voice filled the air.

It was thunderous. It came from everywhere at once, rolling across the mountains and shaking the stones under their feet.

"The Empire has decided to test this world. It wishes to see what fruits this world can provide. Every person living here will be subjected to the trials. Everyone who survives and surpasses them will become a warrior and fight for the Empire."

The voice went quiet.

The silence stretched on for several seconds.

Silva stood still, his eyes fixed on the red sun. Then he felt another presence, one he knew well, moving fast through the sky toward it.

Ophelia.

She was heading straight for the red sun.

'I need to be there.'

"Dawn," he said, turning to her. "Head back and wait for me. Don't go anywhere, and don't do anything reckless."

"But..."

"Please."

She looked at him, then nodded.

Silva spread his wings and shot into the air.

The mountain dropped away beneath him. The black veil flew past, and the red sun grew larger and larger in front of him. The air grew hot and heavy as he flew, but he didn't slow down. He crossed the distance at a speed that tore the clouds apart.

When he arrived, he saw her.

Ophelia hovered in front of the red sun with her back to him. And across from her floated another figure.

It was a god. Silva could tell the moment he saw him, the same way he could tell with Ophelia. He was a tall man with long, flowing white hair and a young face, but the way he held himself spoke of something ancient. He wore flowing white clothes that rippled as if in a wind that did not exist.

Ophelia seemed to know him.

"What is happening?" she demanded. "What is the meaning of this?"

The god looked at her calmly.

"Do not act as if you do not know what is happening, Ophelia. The Empire has taken over. It is time for you to follow suit as well, like the rest of us."

Ophelia said nothing. Her fists were clenched.

The god turned his head and noticed Silva, who had stopped a short distance away.

He studied him for a moment, and a faint smile crossed his lips.

"I can sense that you are the strongest among everyone in this world. Therefore, you will be the one to lead the trials, demigod."

Silva said nothing.

The god turned back to Ophelia.

"Normally, you would be permitted to take part in them as well. But the Emperor has asked that you come to him for an audience. Certain actions of yours have fallen out of line over the past few years. You are to answer his call without fail."

His eyes grew cold.

"And if you refuse, your world will be destroyed completely."

The words hung in the red light.

Ophelia stood frozen, and Silva could not move.