Chapter 133: Not Again...
[Ding! You have entered Floor 3!]
As the silver-haired boy climbed the long, exhausting stairs and reached the very end, he was finally able to cross over to the third floor.
He looked around, seeing a dark hall that was remarkably similar to the earlier ones. The only difference was that he could see his surroundings clearly even without using his ’Night Vision’ skill, as the vast hall was illuminated by small embers of fire burning in torches along the stone walls.
Just as he stepped forward this time, he didn’t have to go searching for trouble. The trouble itself walked right up to him.
*SCREECH—!*
Suddenly, from the far corners of the hall, pitch-black dimensional holes tore open in the air. Monsters started to flood into the hall. Alen didn’t look even the slightest bit shocked by their sudden presence; in contrast, he would have felt shocked if there were none, as he was a literal disaster magnet. He was bound to get into new, deadly trouble in each trial he faced, and this floor was no different.
As the swarms of monsters started to appear—goblins, trolls, and orcs—all their eyes turned toward Alen. Not only that, they also actively emitted mana, which proved they were not just regular monsters, but dangerous magical beasts.
As more and more monsters continued to flood infinitely from the dimensional channels, Alen’s expression turned grim. He had barely any mana left in his reserves after passing the grueling last trial.
There was no way he was going to last much longer fighting at this high rate.
He looked at the swarms of monsters filling the hall with terrifying speed. He squeezed his fists tightly, finalizing his combat thoughts.
*SCREAMMM!*
As the monsters’ shrieking screams filled the entire hall and echoed continuously, they launched themselves straight toward the silver-haired boy standing in front of them.
’I also can’t manipulate their minds using sound attacks, like how I used it in my third trial of the Ascension Realm against those other monsters.’
Those previous monsters were just ’unawakened’ beasts, but the ones standing in front of him were ’awakened’ magical beasts. Their senses were far more developed than any normal monster. They were not mindless; they possessed a little bit of intelligence, and that made them far more dangerous. They would fight him while simultaneously reading his tactics and searching for his weaknesses, their instinct is also well developed. It would not be easy to manipulate them with the help of a simple sound attack, as they would remain less affected by it.
The monster swarm circled around Alen and launched themselves toward him with murderous intent.
[Phantom Step!]
Alen tried to dodge them swiftly, leaving fading afterimages behind as he moved fluidly through the chaotic crowd. He punched them hard, imbuing a small, concentrated amount of mana into his bare fists.
*BOOM!*
But just as he expected, when he pulled his fist back after attacking the monster, there was barely a scratch on the beast’s body.
These were not like the fragile undead from earlier who lacked magical power. These monsters’ skin was thick, hard, and compact with brute physical strength. It was always far more difficult when it came to fighting magical beasts like this in close quarters.
A small group of vicious goblins started to circle him, holding small, rusty blades in their green hands.
Alen didn’t wait. He summoned his Crimson Dagger into his hand and launched forward. He slashed deeply through the thick hide of one goblin, then kicked another one forcefully in the chest. He cleanly cut off a goblin’s head and then went to attack another with a swift, deadly motion.
He handled them all with practiced ease. After training with a fast fighter like L for a whole week, he had developed natural instincts to dodge incoming attacks while fluidly changing his stance mid-battle.
But as he was entirely focused on facing the monsters in front of him, he didn’t notice a massive presence looming behind his back. A giant troll, at least five to six meters tall, had quietly snuck up behind him.
Alen saw a massive shadow fall over him. Since the whole room was in a screaming uproar, he hadn’t been able to hear the heavy footsteps coming behind him. He also couldn’t sense the troll’s aura, as he had not increased his senses during the battle; doing so would require him to constantly burn his precious mana, which he currently lacked.
A giant, spiked mace descended straight toward Alen’s head, and he didn’t get the time to dodge out of the way.
*CRASH!* *THUD!*
As the heavy mace dropped directly onto his head, his skull shattered into pieces. Blood sprayed violently across the stone ground. A thick trail of blood slid from the spikes of the mace as the giant troll casually flicked it to clean the weapon. As Alen’s headless body lay still on the cold ground, the entire place reset itself once again.
...
In the beginning zone on Floor 1, where Alen had first appeared, his body respawned again. He materialized right back in the dark corridor.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! NOT AGAIN!"
He clutched his head in absolute shock, his expression turning deathly pale. Thick tears appeared in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks as pure terror filled his entire being. His body was shaking uncontrollably, trembling like never before. He leaned heavily against the wall, preventing himself from stumbling backward and collapsing.
"No... No... no.... Not again..."
His body shook violently for a few long minutes as he struggled to breathe. He couldn’t bear the horrific trauma of facing death yet again.
He stayed just like that, slumped against the wall, for what felt like hours. Finally, his violent shaking subsided as his consciousness returned. His mind slowly calmed down, and his thoughts aligned back to his current, grim situation.
"It seems... each time I fail and die, I will return here and have to start from the very beginning, again and again..."
He looked down the familiar, dark corridor. His eyes looked a little hollow and haunted as he stared at the starting place.
"Again... I will climb it.... I will not back away..."
He stepped forward and started to move. His whole form felt incredibly weak—not physically, but spiritually. He tried his hardest to maintain his fading sanity, even after being trapped in a death zone where he had already died more than once in the most disgusting ways possible.
His figure blurred and was swallowed into the deep darkness of the long corridor. He was walking through the exact same place again, but this time with more knowledge and more possibilities. However, whether he would survive this endless loop without his mind becoming completely broken, no one knew.
...
In a beautiful, large field filled with lush greenery, the open blue sky stretched endlessly above. A warm breeze started blowing through the tall grass, carrying a sense of deep comfort through the air.
Just below the edge of the large grass field lay a beautiful, vast ocean. The blue waves rolled gently against the shore, making the surrounding air feel like a refreshing mixture of salty sea mist and warm sunlight.
A beautiful girl wearing an elegant black gothic gown lay on the grass field, currently unconscious. The gentle breeze continued to flow over her resting figure. Her raven-black, silky hair was smudged lightly across her pale cheeks. Her face was soft, delicate, and flawless, shining even brighter under the natural sunlight of the realm.
Lyris lay there unmoved for a long while as the comfortable breeze continued to fall around her. Suddenly, there was a slight movement in her body. Her eyelashes started to flicker, and her hand began to shake slightly. She stirred awake from her deep sleep, her violet eyes fluttering open to look at an entirely new surrounding, vastly different from the golden ocean she had last seen.
The air here was filled with such peace and comfort that it was almost enough to force her to lay back down and sleep for a while longer.
Finally, after soaking in enough of the comforting warmth, she sat up. She looked around at the serene environment and tucked a few loose strands of dark hair safely behind her ears.
"Where am I now?... The last thing I remember, I was in the middle of absorbing the Divinity..."
Her hand instinctively reached up and rested on the divine mark located on the nape of her neck. It was not just any normal magical mark; it was the sacred mark that made her as one of the most unique and blessed child in the world. It was the mark of the new ’Saintess’.
"Hmph... It seems I am getting close to fully awakening it... I have to be far more careful now than I was before. I cannot let any other people find out about this existence."
She tugged her hair back, making sure to hide the glowing mark completely by covering it with her long, silky hair, which extended all the way down toward her waist.
She looked around the quiet surroundings, taking note of the weird, isolated location. There was no hint of any spire floors or anything else existing nearby. There were no stone staircases, at least not any that were visible to her naked eyes.
She looked out at the beautiful sea, which reflected the sunlight to cast a sparkling, ethereal glow across the water. The lush greenery of the grass she rested on created a profoundly peaceful and calm moment for her to collect her thoughts.
A sudden, unexpected thought crossed her mind out of nowhere.
’Will he be okay?... No, he must be okay. I am sure that whatever challenges he might face, he will complete his own trial. I am absolutely sure of it...’
She waited for a brief moment and then stood up from the grass.
Suddenly, directly behind her, a grand staircase appeared out of thin air. It created a glowing, crystalline ladder that was so incredibly long it pierced straight through the fluffy white clouds high up in the sky.
"Hmph... Let’s go then."
She stepped forward and started to climb the crystal stairs with fluid, graceful steps, maintaining her perfectly calm and expressionless demeanor as always.