1 A Realm Beyond A Mortal's Gaze.

"Where am I?"

Laine had no idea what had happened. Moments ago, he was on the battlefield fighting the Demon King. But now he was in a place completely unknown to him. Barren land with no one in sight and no vegetation to be seen anywhere. It was like this place was never blessed with rainfall. This wasn't like a desert because there was no sand, but it was just hard ground.

Even his body felt different. His body structure was more compact, and he didn't feel an inch of power emanating through this body. Aura was absent, and he felt as if he was powerless.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in his head,

"Grand Orc Laine, welcome to my humble abode."

"Yes", the voice was that of a male, and it was familiar.

After trying to discern whose voice this was, he suddenly came to a realization.

"Drake?" He finally recognized this voice.

"Not quite. The Drake you know has been killed. I just used his voice so that you felt a little bit safe."

The voice replied.

"Is drake Dead?"

Laine was speechless. He just felt that a hammer had struck his head, and he felt dizzy. He had appointed Drake as a commander of the elite platoon, hence, naturally, he felt responsible. However, Drake was like a brother to him. His loss meant a lot more to him. He was one of the reasons that he had turned against the Demon King. Furthermore, he had promised Luna one thing before leaving for the preparation of the war.

"Make sure that you don't let anything happen to brother. Also, don't you dare to die on me. I still have to give you a beating for the humiliation that you caused me. I will beat you up when you come back, just you wait!"

He had failed Luna. He was the reason her brother was dead.

"If only I had never been born..."

"Oh, are you giving up on life?" The voice asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Just so you know, it was you who killed your soldiers, and not the Demon God's army."

Laine froze. He had just been dealt a major blow, and he didn't even know the reason for it.

"Have I Killed Them?" He was not prepared for this. There was no way that he was going to forgive himself now. Not only was he the reason why the people there had to perform a mass exodus, but he was also the person responsible for taking their lives away.

"I didn't deserve their trust. I don't deserve to live anymore..."

His morale was the lowest it could be. Suicidal thoughts were the only thing that kept coming up on repeat in his mind.

Seeing his current state, the voice chuckled.

"No need to beat yourself up. The Demon God had the grail. There was no way you could have resisted, even if you tried to break through using everything you had. The control was just that powerful. He used a God Level skill, so you were pretty much doomed the second you went against him. But at least you tried, so stop being so gloomy."

"Yes", the voice tried to console him.

He did not respond to the voice this time. His spirit was already broken.

"What about another chance? Do you want to take a shot at another life?"

"No."He answered. "I don't want anyone to suffer anymore because of me."

"What about correcting a mistake? Does that sound interesting?"

The voice had an offer that was just what Laine wanted, other than to kill himself right now.

Correcting a mistake. Laine was skeptical, but he wanted to get to know more about what the person in his mind meant by those words.

"What do you mean by correcting a mistake?"

"If you clear my trial, you will be given the choice of returning to your previous world, or you can start a completely new life in another world." the voice replied.

Laine was now back to his former mental condition. The sadness and void that his eyes were showing were now replaced by pure rage. He wanted revenge. He wanted to avenge. There was not a single obstacle that had enough power to stop him from killing The Demon God, except for death.

"What do I have to do to pass this trial?"

Suddenly, the entire earth started to rumble. From beneath the earth, a being emerged.

"A Grand Dragon?" Laine was awestruck. The aura that the dragon was releasing paled everyone he had met so far in comparison.

"Yo, Laine, right?" The humanoid grand dragon asked.

Laine didn't respond. He could have never thought that he would have to go against a Grand Dragon. This was beyond his abilities. He was trying to size the dragon up to find a weakness, but he couldn't find any blank spots. The dragon in front of him was a perfect warrior.

"Listen, I am not going to fight you."

"Yes", the dragon answered.

"My name is Kiyo, and I am going to train you to fight something even more terrifying than me."