Alex stepped into the first room, scanning his surroundings.
It was an average-sized space, lined with ten beds, one for each participant.
Nine figures were already seated, their gazes locking onto Alex the moment he entered.
Hatred burned in their eyes.
Then, with a soft click, the door shut behind him.
Alphox sighed from within Alex’s mind, “I’ll explain everything. This is just like it was before I died.”
Seems like the [Pre-Selection Phase] itself didn’t change much.
After all, why would they even need to change it if it was still effective after thousands of years.
But knowing dragons, Alex knew that this meant the trials of the temple would be brutal.
Alex nodded, taking a seat on the only empty bed.
‘This is it. My final trial before I can finally focus on leveling up and eliminating every god and enemy in my way.’ He clenched his fists.
Gaining the [Dragon Bloodline] would mean more than just power.
It would establish him as the strongest human player, give him one of the most powerful god blessings, and make him capable of facing monsters at level 1,800 or even above.
It would be a game-changer.
Alphox’s voice cut through his thoughts, “Listen up, partner. This is important.”
At the same time, the nine others in the room exchanged glances.
Then, as if responding to an unspoken agreement, they all stood up.
Dark shadow-like panels materialized in front of Alex.
[Stage One: The Closed Room]
[Stage Two: Until Only 100 Remain in the Hallway]
[Stage Three: The Exam]
Alex quickly analyzed the structure.
Each hallway had 5,000 participants, and each room housed ten of them.
That meant there were 500 rooms in total.
And from each of those rooms… only one person could leave.
Alex, too absorbed in the information, made sure to keep an eye on everyone else to make sure he wasn’t killed out of nowhere.
But, what he didn’t expect was…
“Bye-bye.”
A sharp voice whispered behind him.
Alex’s instincts flared.
A bird-man warrior emerged from his own shadow, spear in hand, aiming straight for his back.
At the same time, the other eight competitors lunged forward, rushing him in unison.
“They all hate humans,” Alphox chuckled. “Kill them all.”
Alex smirked, “Didn’t need to tell me twice.”
He was labeled as a human despite carrying the [Fox Bloodline] to qualify for the trial.
But his opponents still saw him as the weakest race, and that underestimation played right into his hands.
Instead of dodging or blocking the spear strike, he let it happen.
Then—
Destiny Shift.
A strange energy pulsed around him.
[This skill allows the user to undo any single event that has occurred within the last 5 seconds.]
[You have undone the attack.]
[-10 Destiny Points.]
Reality rewound.
The bird-man was back in his neutral stance, completely unaware of what had just happened.
“Huh?” He blinked, confused.
Alex didn’t give him time to recover.
He spun around, slashing his [Bleeding Claws] straight into the warrior’s face.
[Weakness Hit! Instant Death.]
Blood splattered as the first enemy fell lifelessly to the ground.
The thing about [Bleeding Claws] that made it so powerful was that if Alex fought a human or monster and managed to damage their head, the damage would always be much higher.
For other races, this would essentially mean instant death sometimes.
Without missing a beat, Alex extended his staff toward the remaining enemies and unleashed—
Arc of Divinity.
A massive crescent wave of divine energy tore through the air.
The attackers braced themselves.
Most of them managed to block or evade, but one was caught off guard.
The energy struck him head-on, sending him crashing against the wall.
He wasn’t dead, but he was injured.
Alex cracked his neck. “Let’s see what else I can do.”
He shifted into a battle stance as the remaining eight warriors rushed in.
The fight was brutal.
Each opponent had combat experience, high stats, and unique abilities, but Alex was on a completely different level.
He danced through their attacks, utilizing his new [Cursed Eyes of Truth] to predict movements way easier than before, dodging effortlessly while countering with precision.
One enemy, a lizard warrior, swung his greatsword at Alex’s head.
Alex ducked, grabbing the lizard’s wrist mid-swing, and twisted.
Snap.
The lizard screamed as his arm broke.
Alex followed up with a [Bleeding Claws] strike, driving his claws through the warrior’s chest.
Then while the claws were plunged in the warrior’s chest, he swiped upward, cutting his body into four different parts.
[Critical Hit! Fatal Injury.]
Another enemy, a mage, attempted to cast a spell—
But Alex gripped his [Demonized Whispers of Shadows].
It was useless to him since the damage was low, but it still had one skill that was useful: Shadow Veil.
Alex disappeared, reappearing behind the mage, and snapped his neck with a swift motion.
One by one, his enemies fell.
Minutes later, the room was silent.
[You are the last alive in your room.]
[Wait for the others to finish. You can rest for now.]
Alex exhaled, glancing at the bodies.
He received several notifications.
[You have slain Elios Birdskye, gaining 2.7 billion experience points.]
[You have slain Evidka, gaining 2.8 billion experience points.]
.
.
[You have slain…]
There were nine notifications since he killed 9 participants.
And of course, he leveled up.
[You have reached level 720, gaining 4 stat points for every attribute and 5 free points to assign.]
[You have reached level 721, gaining 4 stat points for every attribute and 5 free points to assign.]
[You have reached level 722…]
.
.
[You have reached level 728…]
[Level: 728 (1,700,000,000/2,400,000,000 experience points)]
He began collecting their weapons and equipment, extracting whatever resources he could.
A spear, a sword, a few attribute points, nothing particularly useful.
“If I find better armor, I’ll just merge them using synthesis,” he thought.
Then, something occurred to him.
His gaze fell onto his own armor.
[Hatred Armor (Divine): +100,000 Strength, +100,000 Magical Resistance.]
It was still [Divine] rank.
Alex had upgraded [Potential Extraction] recently, allowing him to enhance equipment all the way to [Artifact] tier.
Which meant—
“Can I enhance my own armor?”
He lifted his hand, channeling his skill—
Potential Extraction.
A golden glow enveloped his armor.
“It worked?” Alex’s eyes widened in realization.
He had gotten so used to wearing it that he hadn’t considered upgrading it.
But if it worked on this armor, it would also work on his [Demonized Staff of Hatred].
This was massive.
His armor’s transformation finished.
It had changed, visibly.
The black and red plating now gleamed with crimson and gold highlights, its structure refined and reinforced.
Waves of energy pulsed through it, radiating an aura of dominance.
[You have enhanced “Hatred Armor” (Divine).]
[New Artifact Item: Armor of Pure Hatred.]
[Armor of Pure Hatred (Artifact): +1,000,000 Strength, +1,000,000 Magical Resistance, +1,000,000 Physical Resistance, has a 5% chance to completely negate an attack’s damage.]
“Incredible.”
This was no minor upgrade, it was an entirely new level of power.
And now that he knew it worked, he planned to use [Potential Extraction] on every piece of equipment he had, no matter the rarity.
Even if something was already at [Artifact] rank, there was always the possibility of further enhancement.
There was just one problem.
[Potential Extraction] had a 24-hour cooldown.
“Tch, guess I’ll have to wait.”
For now, Alex shifted his focus back to the trial.
There were still hundreds of fights happening across the temple, each room determining its sole survivor.
Once all 500 battles concluded, only 500 participants would remain in the fifth hallway.
Alex took a deep breath and moved to another bed.
All he had to do now… was wait.