God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain let out a heavy sigh.

Two days had passed since his battle with Evangeline.

He turned his head to the side. Coincidentally, Susan was also staring at him.

Their eyes met.

A rush of red ran up her cheeks and she quickly averted her gaze.

Jenny rolled her eyes and nudged Cain from the side,

"What exactly did you say to her?"

Cain shrugged, "What she needed to hear to save your life."

He sniffled and added, "You should be grateful, not teasing."

Jenny chuckled. Then her eyes narrowed,

"There's also Eva. Haven't seen her at all since that day."

She paused then added, "Does she..."

Cain cut her off,

"She's fine. I think."

He honestly wasn't sure.

After that day, he had activated {Intermediate Seal} on Evangeline, allowing her to regain a portion of her memories.

She was able to snap out of the blood frenzy. But with that realization, she didn't feel comfortable traveling with them. As such, she had retreated into her shadow world.

He could understand her.

If he hadn't done something, she would have probably killed them all. That was definitely a tough pill to swallow.

Regardless, it has all happened in the past, and he was eager to put it behind him.

What had happened, also made him understand the true nature of this insidious trial.

Whatever enchantments had been put on them were very intentional.

The inability to tell friend from foe on a chaotic battlefield was terrifying.

On this battlefield created by the Vagabond Knight, there was no place for camaraderie. There could only be indiscriminate death.

If his mind had not been strong, he didn't doubt that he would have killed Roselle when they encountered one another. He would have also killed Susan and Jenny.

By the time he was done with the trial and perhaps regained his memory, he would have nothing but a broken mind and regrets from the guilt.

Such a thing was terrifying.

'Lucky... We were lucky.'

Cain let out a tired sigh.

Over the course of the last two days they rarely encountered any other creatures like themselves. The ones they did encounter didn't seem all that interested in a fight and would go their own way after sighting them as well.

Or rather, they would continue heading where they were going, which was the same place they were headed.

More accurately, where they were.

Cain stared at the enormous throne of bones blankly.

He didn't know how to feel, staring at this thing.

He had no idea how long he had been here, but he could tell it was coming to an end.

So how was he supposed to feel whilst staring at a throne made of bones.

Joy? Fear? Both?

He had no idea.

He tore his eyes away from the thrown and looked around.

From every direction, there were many headed towards this throne of bones.

Compared to the initial numbers that had entered the trial, this seemed almost insignificant.

'A few hundred, maybe a thousand?'

He knew a lot had died, but when it was really put into perspective, it made it all the more terrifying.

They continued heading towards the enormous throne.

As they got closer, Cain could see a figure seated on the throne.

It was a familiar one.

"The Vagabond Knight, Ephistus." Cain muttering to himself.

The figure sat there, unmoving.

Compared to the Ephistus they had seen at the start of the trial, this one wasn't made of stone.

Instead, all Cain could see was metal. Armor made of dark steel and traces of a crimson alloy.

It was streamlined and refined, but also vigorous and bold.

Cain looked again, this time, with the {Eye of Clairvoyance}.

Unseen by the naked eye, the Vagabond Knight held a beating heart in his outstretched arm.

Thousands upon thousands of bloody threads spread out of the heart in all directions. Cain looked down at his chest. One of the threads that left the beating heart was connected to his chest as well.

He frowned.

Eventually, they came to a stop.

There were already a few hundreds gathered around the throne.

In the presence of the throne, Cain found that the bloodlust in him had grown stronger.

In fact, it had grown stronger than ever.

But it also couldn't control him anymore.

'The battlefield teaches control above all things.'

"In a place of absolute madness and chaos, the one with the calmest heart and most reasonable mind, with ability to fight the demons that sneak into the hearts of deranged men, would be victorious."

That was perhaps the true meaning behind the trial. Maybe it was just his mundane interpretation.

Regardless, he could feel that the trial was coming to an end.

And so, they waited.

Finally, there were no more people coming from the distance.@@novelbin@@

This was all of them.

A deep rumble came from the suit of armor seated on the throne of bones.

Then it moved.

The fingers that held the beating crimson heart moved.

Crushing it in his gauntlets.

Cain felt his vision go blurry.

The last thing he was able to see was a magic circle activating beneath his feet.

Then, there was only darkness.

***

{Congratulations to the host for passing the Trial of Slaughter. You have been awarded the title, Warlord}.

{Warlord}: Grants the unique passives, Battle Master and Field of War.

{Battle Master}(passive): When in battle, the host's focus and concentration is enhanced based on the amount of enemies he slays.

{Field of War}(passive): When in battle, the host, as well as others he allows can be influenced by the {Field of War}, and can momentarily enter a {Blood Frenzy} that. Can only be used during after the host has slain a significant number of enemies, or an incredibly powerful enemy.

***

Within the darkness, Cain saw the system prompt fill his vision. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

When it went away, he heard nothing.

He saw nothing.

And he felt nothing.

But only for a moment.

A moment later, he felt the entire world.

When he woke up, he was mesmerized by the world around him.

It was a familiar one, but he didn't think anyone could get enough of it.

They had arrived back at the floating platform that houses the Stone Judges.

There was a soft groan behind him.

He turned around to see Evangeline getting up from the ground, a look of confusion on her face.

To his side was Susan and Jenny, while to his other side was Roselle.

They had all made it out.

"What's going on?" Roselle said groggily.

Susan looked around, "It seems we made it through the first trial."

They were supposed to feel joy.

But that is not what they felt.

Instead, they felt cold terror.

'I don't want to do that ever again.' Cain thought to himself.

The end of the Trial had also been anticlimactic.

There had been no grand battle, no nothing like that.

Instead, it had come to an end just like that.

Cain frowned. Why did he feel so unfulfilled?

He looked around. Compared to the number of humanoids and regular creatures from the mortal realms, the number of those from the Godly and Godless Realms was much higher.

As they were far more powerful, their chances of survival were also higher.

It didn't take long for Cain to locate Grimm and Cello in the crowd. They looked roughed up, but not dead, ar the very least.

After a while of looking, he found Asteron's group too.

They took were still all alive. However, they seemed to have suffered more than Grimmand Cello, particularly Avalon, who had a wing missing from his back.

At the same time he noticed them, Asteron and Grimm also noticed him.

The three exchanged glances, but because they were too far apart, they didn't say anything, nor could they.

Because just a moment later, a dark wisp appeared above the still waters of the central lake.

Then that wisp spun until it became a huge orb of darkness.

In the end, the orb of darkness unraveled to revealed Viden, the Arbitrator.

"Congratulations on completing the first trial. You have passed the first trial, but your woes are yet to end."

He paused for a moment, then added,

"In three hours, the Second Trial will begin."