As the light of [Fated Cataclysm] faded, silence took over.
The hallway was gone, literally, reduced to nothing but destruction.
Not even the walls remained.
The explosion had torn through everything, exposing the outside world.
From where he stood, Alex could see beyond the city’s limits, which also meant that anyone outside could now see him.
The only things that remained intact were the individual rooms, their strange, sturdy material seemingly resistant to the sheer force of his attack.
But Alex had no time to marvel at the extent of his own power.
His vision was instantly flooded with notifications. Dozens upon dozens of them.
The sheer number of kills had triggered a cascade of messages, each one confirming another life taken.
[You have slain Xelvar Nightfang (Dark Elf), gaining 2.6 billion experience points.]
[You have slain Ragnir Bloodclaw (Wyvern), gaining 2.9 billion experience points.]
[You have slain Kaelith Stormbane (Demi-Angel), gaining 3.1 billion experience points.]
The names kept coming.
Over four hundred in total.
A massacre.
Even Alex hadn’t expected such complete annihilation.
It wasn’t just that they had died, there weren’t even remains.
No bodies. No blood. Not even ashes. It was as if they had been erased from existence.
He had only used [Fated Cataclysm] against Kaelios’ clone, and he himself had received the power of this attack.
But this was still way too much.
His experience bar skyrocketed thanks to that though, allowing to grow even more.
[You have reached level 729!]
[You have reached level 730!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
…
[You have reached level 804, gaining 4 stat points for every attribute and 5 free points to assign.]
Breaking through the level 800 threshold in a single battle, this was on a whole other level of progress.
His status reflected the absurd leap forward.
[Level: 804 (3,800,000,000/6,200,000,000 experience points)]
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Power surged through him, raw and intoxicating.
He wasted no time assigning his newly gained attribute points, though, in truth, the million-point boost from the god blessing had already set him apart from most.
He had also gained a massive amount of extraction points.
As always, he chose to extract attribute points, skill points, and items whenever possible.
But this time, something was missing.
No skill options appeared.
‘Is it because I didn’t get to see their skills before they died?’
He still didn’t fully understand how extraction worked.
But it didn’t matter much to him as long as everything worked out in the end.
As long as it continued to serve him well, that was enough.
With that done, Alex turned his attention back to his surroundings.
[Current Alive in Hallway #5: 43/500]
[Hallway #5 has completed the pre-selection trial.]
So this was it.
The survivors, only 43 out of 500, had officially qualified to participate in the actual trial two days from now.
[You can actually rest now.]
Alex doubted that.
The remaining 42 survivors were likely still inside their rooms, having wisely chosen not to confront him directly.
At least, that was what he thought, until he looked up.
Three figures stood in the open, completely unscathed.
They hadn’t just tanked and survived the attack.
They had been standing there the entire time, watching.
The first was a woman with long, white hair and vast wings extending around her.
A shimmering barrier surrounded her, as if effortlessly shielding her from harm.
“This was… powerful,” she murmured, unfazed.
Beside her stood a towering minotaur, easily three meters tall.
Unlike the woman, he had no barrier, he had simply endured the attack with his body.
“I agree,” he rumbled.
The third was a cloaked man, his entire form shrouded in black.
He exhaled in what sounded like boredom.
“Being immortal sure is helpful,” he muttered. “Oh well.”
None of them spoke to Alex.
They simply gave him a neutral glance before turning and walking back toward their rooms.
Alex’s eyes narrowed.
They had just shrugged off an attack that had erased over 400 high-level beings.
“Be careful,” Alphox’s voice echoed in his mind, “I said Hallway #5 has the overall weakest participants, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some powerhouses in there.”
Alex exhaled sharply, then walked toward another empty room.
The doors weren’t locked, and he wasn’t tired, but sitting down and gathering his thoughts was a good idea.
As soon as he closed his eyes, a golden panel appeared in his vision.
[Are you feeling confident?]
It was Kaelios.
“So you CAN see me, huh?”
[I already told you, I wouldn’t leave my chosen one unsupervised… :)]
“Right.”
[Just watch out. Some of these participants shouldn’t be messed with. And your Destiny Points are low, make sure to retrieve them.]
Alex nodded.
He knew that already.
Kaelios didn’t say anything else.
The panel disappeared, but Alex was sure the god was still watching.
…
Two days passed.
Alex spent them inside his room, eating food from his [Digital Inventory Watch].
The other participants probably had their own ways of getting food, or maybe they simply endured hunger.
It wasn’t his problem.
In the end, only a few of them would survive.
And many of the remaining ones would try to kill him anyway in the actual trial.
Their expressions had been neutral when they survived his attack, but their souls told a different story.
Whether it was due to his improved intuition from the [God Blessing] or the power of his [Cursed Eyes of Truth], he could tell: their destinies led them to fight him.
When the day of the [Dragon Bloodline Trial] arrived, everything was set.
At exactly 8:00 AM, a system announcement rang out.
[All survivors must return to the main lobby.]
[The survivor count will be verified, followed by the “exam” to determine eligibility for the real trial.]
Alex exhaled.
“That exam is just an excuse to eliminate people from unwanted races,” Alphox scoffed. “They’ll use it to keep humans out, no matter how strong you are.”
That was why Alphox had advised him to acquire another race.
Even after wiping out 400 enemies, the dragons wouldn’t accept a human.
But now, he was part of the [Fox Tribe].
“Don’t celebrate yet,” Alphox warned. “I have a feeling they really don’t like you. Be ready to annihilate them if necessary.”
Alex nodded.
He still had to retrieve his 100 Destiny Points. And if anything went wrong…
[World Cleaver] was always an option.
As the survivors of Hallway #5 emerged, Alex counted them.
43, just as expected.
None of them seemed surprised by the low number. If anything, they were pleased. Less competition.
“All the weaklings are gone,” Alphox said. “But that trio from before? Be careful.”
‘I know.’
The others were watching him, too.
“He’s the one who did it?”
“He wiped out 400?”
“Must’ve been his strongest move.”
None of them seemed shocked that he had pulled it off.
Alex smiled.
They thought they had him figured out.
They thought [Fated Cataclysm] was his trump card.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
He still had one move even he had never used before.
Leaving Hallway #5, they entered the lobby.
And that was when he saw them.
In the center of the room, three colossal dragons stood.
Their auras alone made the air tremble.
Alex instinctively clenched his fists.
He recognized it immediately.
These were Primordial Dragons.