God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The rest of the time went by in the blink of an eye.

There was no time to rest, so Cain had spent most of it discussing the course of action they would take within the trial should they be forced to confront other trial takers.

Suddenly, a deep rumbling filled the air.

The towering stone statue of Buldokak, the Land-Eating Dragon trembled. Cracks raced across its surface, glowing with an eerie golden light. A heavy force, like the gravity of an unseen sun, pressed down on them, thickening the air with raw, oppressive hunger.

Then, the base of the statue opened, and the river that flowed at its base gushed into the open stone orifice.

Asteron tensed. His golden pupils contracted to slits.

"It's starting."

The next moment—the world collapsed.

A surge of violent, pulling force yanked at Cain's body, dragging him into the stream of water.

He barely had time to register the sensation before his body was pulled through an abyss of shifting golden light. His stomach twisted as gravity lost all meaning. It was like falling and floating at the same time, tumbling through an endless void.

He didn't fight it.

A moment later, he was sinking.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

Then—

Everything stopped.

Cain hit the ground hard. The impact was supposed to leave him rattled his bones and send a shockwave of pain up his spine.

But it didn't.

He blinked his eyes violently, trying to get them to adjust to the sudden influx of light to his pupils.

The ground he had landed on was soft, like a bed of flowering rose buds.

It was strange.

He rolled onto his hands and knees, coughing as something thick and humid filled his lungs.@@novelbin@@

The others landed beside him.

Jenny groaned, clutching her rifle. "That was not pleasant."

Susan took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Where… are we?"

Cain finally looked around—

And his breath caught in his throat.

"Damn..."

A vast, undulating chamber stretched endlessly in all directions, its walls made of smooth, translucent, golden-tinged flesh. The ground beneath them was warm, pulsing gently beneath their feet. Strange veins of liquid light pulsed along the walls, running in thick, glowing rivers, illuminating the space in an eerie, amber glow.

Above them was a sea of nothing. Absolutely nothing but an endless void that conjoined with the pulsating translucent walls.

Or maybe it wasn't endless.

Maybe it was just that its limit was so far away, even his superhuman eyes could not see nor comprehend it.

Roselle whispered, fear in every word,

"Could we be inside the stomach of Buldokak?"

That certainly could be the case, Cain thought to himself as he felt the soft flesh beneath his boots shift.

His stomach churned and a shiver ran down his spine.

A deep, resonant rumble filled the space, vibrating through their very bones.

'The Trial of Avarice has begun.'

The air shook.

And suddenly, Cain felt it—

Mana.

Not just mana. An ocean of it.

An endless ocean of extremely pure mana.

It surged through the air, thick and endless, pressing against his skin, his bones, his very mind.

It was raw, unfiltered power—so vast it made him feel insignificant, like a single drop in the midst of an endless storm.

Susan gasped, eyes wide with shock.

"What… is this?"

Roselle clenched her fists, her body trembling slightly,

"I see. This is the trial."

Meanwhile, Cain barely heard them. His own body was already reacting to the influx of mana.

As more and more participants entered, they were swarmed by the overwheming mana. There would be no time for them to worry about him and his team.

While he was thankful that the trial was something like this, its lethality more than made up for it.

It was instinctive.

Cain felt his {Mana Furnace} begin to burn like crazy. His Key Lines expanded and contracted, while the mana flow patterns all around him turned into a stream of tumbling nonsense.

'Shit!'

It was a mana overload.

The physical manifestation of the mana was a golden liquid condensate that appeared on their bodies.

It felt heavy, and the more of it appeared, the more they were weighed down.

It affected their body and spirit at the same time.

He absorbed mana everyday, at every moment. He had grown used to it. He had trained himself, refined his control, and strengthened his reserves.

But this was different.

The mana gushing into him was terrifyingly near infinite.

'It's too much! I have to stop, or I'll die!'

The mana poured into him like a raging river, crashing into every fiber of his being. His body burned, his Ley Lines stretching beyond their limits. His mind pulsed like it was filled with a thousand voices, a thousand impulses—raw greed clawing at him, urging him to take more, more, and more!

But he knew he couldn't. If he did, he would die.

'Vault, open!'

He tried opening the {Elemental Vault}. But for some reason, it didn't work.

His vision blurred.

His thoughts fractured.

Something dark and insidious crept into his mind.

The hunger.

The madness.

Somewhere in the distance, a scream echoed through the void chamber that was the stomach of Buldokak. Someone had already lost control.

Then— there was a sound. It was like an explosion, but much milder. Like a soft pop instead of a loud bang.

An implosion.

A burst of golden energy erupted, and Cain didn't have to see to know exactly what had happened.

Someone had given into the greed and had taken more than they had the capacity for. Their body and spirit couldn't handle it.

As a result, they had lost everything and become nothing, turning into a stream of raw energy that fed the hungry stomach of Buldokak.

Cain gritted his teeth, forcing himself to focus.

'Calm down.'

The first step he took was attempting to calm his {Internal Mana Furnace}. As an evolution of {Mana Heart}, the spirit organ was designed to work passively.

However, if he didn't stop it, that very thing would be the end of him.

A golden crack appeared on his face. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

'Control it. Don't let it consume you.'

The mana wanted him to lose control. It wanted him to take everything.

That was the test.

Those who could resist the greed—who could absorb without losing themselves—would survive.

Those who failed…

Would be consumed by Buldokak instead.

But the succulent, golden hue tinged mana was like sweet nectar. It was impossible not to crave it once it burrowed through your pores.

Cain turned to check up on the others.

Compared to him, they were doing far worse.

Golden cracks were already running through their bodies.

There was another implosion followed by a sprinkle of golden rain.

The concentration of the mana increased a little, putting more strain on them.

Cain gritted his teeth, 'Damn it!'

It was a fate worse than mortal death. If the body and spirit were destroyed, then the soul would be rendered without a tether.

Cain didn't doubt for one second, that a soul would not survive in an environment like this.

Meaning to die in here, would be to die completely.

'Damn it all!'

Indeed, the first trial had been just the starting point. This was the real deal.

Another crack appeared in his face.

And it was not going to be easy at all.