First Trial (Conclusion)

Bam! Bam!

Bullets rained over Alex as he ran towards a corpse. He quickly held the corpse before his body to prevent being shot before tending to his wound. Blood emerged quickly as Alex desperately tried to suppress the bleeding.

Coating the area with mana to reinforce the flesh, Alex tried to cover it using a piece of cloth he had ripped from his shirt. Usually, a bullet wound could have quickly been healed, either using regeneration skills or mana itself. However, Alex did not possess the former, nor did he have enough mana.

A firearm wouldn't have caused a scratch, even if you were a beginner in Telos Dou Dromou. However, not even having experienced the first physical metamorphosis, Alex was incredibly vulnerable to such basic utilization of weaponry.

The corpse Alex had used to absorb the bullets had already tattered, creating many openings for bullets to pass through. He quickly abandoned it and ran to another corpse.

'If I can just kill one person, this will end,' Alex concluded, waiting for the perfect moment to strike one of the men. Even if he managed to survive, if he had many fatal wounds, he would not be able to survive the next trial.

Bam!

A bullet passed through an opening created in Alex's corpse barrier, striking his forearm. Alex suppressed the urge to faint as he ran to another corpse while tending to his wound. Gritting his teeth, he evenly spread mana to all parts of his body, circulating it in place of his blood.

'This won't last long,' Alex noticed as he watched thick, crimson liquid flow down his body. 'What the fuck happened while I was farming kills…?'

Carl was dead, his men were shooting him, and Maxwell was nowhere to be seen.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind swept past Alex's face as he spotted the dark figure of a child. Realizing the figure seemed akin to Maxwell's, Alex called out his name, but to no avail. As he scrutinized the figure, he realized the major differences between Maxwell and the dark child.

'Miasma Manipulation!?' Alex screamed inwardly as he realized the identity of the particles that floated around the child's body. It was miasma, an authority of Demon Nobility used by Barons and Viscounts. 'How the hell…If that's Maxwell, did he go through the awakening process already?'

As a bullet passed a few inches away from his ear, Alex realized Maxwell's awakening wasn't his priority. The former swallowed his saliva before pushing the corpse forward, towards the platoon of Carl's men.

Letting the corpse startle them, Alex sprinted towards one of the men as he clutched Durendal tightly. Then, coating the silver sword with mana instead of his body, Alex swung vertically using all his strength, causing a loud roar to emerge from the blade.

Air bent to his will as the silver sword struck down on the ants that dared defy its master. A bright light shone atop Carl's men as a blade with a width as thin as a stick landed on their heads.

Boom!

A tiny shockwave was formed due to the impact as the sword collided with the flesh of one of the men. The middle-aged man's eyes turned bloodshot as an expression of pure reverence and fear coincided on his pitiful face.

Immediately, his body was crushed under the weight of the Legendary Sword, Durendal. Durendal cried in joy as all that remained of the man was flesh, blood, and bones.

*

The screen emitted a golden light as the room was immediately transformed into a safe zone, free of any combat or bloodshed. The floating djinn appeared with a lazy expression as it gazed at the earthlings beneath it.

[It seems a lot has happened in the past 18 hours. Well, that's obvious, of course.]

It spoke with a cheerful tone as it took a glance at Alex, who sat in a corner.

Alex tended to his wound with a pained expression while keeping an eye on Maxwell, who had collapsed due to overexerting his energy. The former, despite having knowledge of the future, was truly envious of Maxwell, who had a bright future ahead of him if he didn't die.

[I will now show the final result of this trial.]

The screen displayed its usual contents, now showing the final scores for this particular trial.

[Total Kills - 3000]

[1. Alex Horatius - 1257 Kills]

[2. Maxwell Thompson - 390 Kills]

[3. Kyler MacDonald - 120 Kills]

Carl, who had now perished, was not displayed on the screen; nor was Jin or any others who had died. Alex viewed the screen with expressionless eyes as he stared at the blue-gold pouch in his hand.

[Rewards]

[1000 Kills - Durendal (D-Grade) (Claimed - Alex Horatius)]

[1250 Kills - Merlin's Magic Dust (D-Grade) (Claimed - Alex Horatius)]

[1500 Kills - ??? (C-Grade)]

The djinn's eyebrows rose with slight surprise as he viewed the screen.

[It seems someone named Alex Horatius had monopolized the rewards. Anyways, shall we move on to the next trial?]

Despite the negative reactions of those listening, the djinn only smiled as he flicked his wrist, causing amethyst portals to warp into existence. Alex gazed at the portal with exhaustion visible in his eyes as he clicked his tongue, gritting his teeth in order to stand up.

The other survivors were no different. Exhaustion, fear, and confusion were visible in the eyes of all those watching. Alex headed towards Maxwell, who slept soundly with his head atop a cushion, unbeknownst to his acts.

After confirming that Maxwell was all right, Alex headed towards the man who had exuded a dark aura, much like the former. If Alex's prediction was correct, the man had an inherent skill capable of manipulating or at least influencing an edict of darkness, such as death or destruction.

'Were there this many potential talents from Vancouver?' Alex clicked his tongue once again in envy, remembering the particles of pure darkness bending to Maxwell and the man's will. 'And why does everyone I meet have a talent for evil?'

It wasn't something to be complaining about, but Alex felt it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Could you postpone the… trial?" A youth asked innocently as he looked at the djinn expectantly. The youth's parents had suffered many injuries, which Alex believed was the reason for his request.

Alex scoffed, not because of the youth's situation, but because he had predicted the djinn's answer. It was obviously a big fat…

[No. Everyone, I'll divide you 1000 survivors into groups of 10, and you will explore this dungeon. At the end of it is a core which you need for the next trial. Unless you can manage to gather 50 cores within the 100 dungeons, all of you will instantly perish. I will give you 30 minutes to prepare before you all have to leave.]

Kyl, the djinn created by a lesser demon, had become more audacious and cold ever since the beginning of the apocalypse. The cheerful, childlike voice remained, but his words contained malice instead of innocence.

'His true personality…' Alex couldn't help but reveal a smile as he thought back to his days as a beginner. The terrified silhouette of a weeping child came into view as the smile faded from Alex's face.

Immediately, the silhouette of a broad-shouldered man and a young woman appeared beside the weeping child as they rested their hand on his shoulder. Sorrow seeped into Alex's mind as he took a deep breath, erasing the figures from his view.

'Focus on the present, not the past,' Alex reminded himself as he trotted over to Maxwell, who had now opened his eyes. The former sat beside the latter, concluding that silence was better than an empty consolation.

"I killed him, didn't I?" Maxwell asked with an emotionless tone and a blank expression. "I ripped him apart with my own hands, my own brother."

Alex did not respond; he couldn't. Responding with consolation would be an attempt to bury Maxwell's guilt.

"Yes, you did," Alex said after much thought. "You ripped him apart like there was no tomorrow as if you were a monster. It must have been truly an obscene view, even though I wasn't there to witness it."

Maxwell let out an empty chuckle. "You're not very good at consoling others, are you?"

"Consolation is useless," Alex said disinterestedly. "It makes people delusional and weak. Imagine what would happen if I tried convincing you that it wasn't a big deal, or that you were possessed."

"You're right," Maxwell whispered as he finally broke into tears. It was the first time Alex had seen the tears of the petite child, and it may have been unconsciously, but for a second, he felt sympathy.

The two sat in a room filled with the corpses of those they had murdered, surrounded by blood and other remains of those who ceased to exist. They sat, knowing that their hell would never end and that one day, they would look just like the people they had slaughtered.

But they had to continue. If they had to choose whether to die today or tomorrow, their answer would be the latter, which is why they absolutely had to continue.

"Let's go."