[The timer of the Dragon Bloodline Trial has reached 0!]
[It is now time to start the Final Calamity.]
“Final Calamity…?” Alex mumbled under his breath.
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His instincts, no, Kaelios, hadn’t lied.
The uneasy feeling that had gnawed at him earlier now made perfect sense.
From this point forward, Alex vowed to trust his instincts implicitly.
This wasn’t just gut feeling anymore; it was a manifestation of one of the many powers granted to the chosen one of destiny.
He’d learned to respect it.
Suddenly, a familiar notification appeared before him.
[I mean…]
Panels flickered into view, revealing Xyrran’s ever-taunting face.
[I did say a calamity would strike at every new hour, didn’t I? And, well… the timer just hit another hour.]
Logically, sure, it made sense.
But it was just pure sadism if you thought about it.
The participants had survived the shrinking barrier, the brutal fights, and countless near-death encounters.
The timer hitting zero should’ve signaled relief, but instead, it brough another catastrophe.
[The barrier will stop shrinking now. This domain… will serve as the battleground for the Final Calamity.]
As his words echoed through the air, the barrier that had been steadily closing in on them trembled and then froze in place.
The suffocating pressure of the walls closing in lifted, but it brought little comfort.
Alex scanned the field: only five participants remained.
Each one was calm, not injured or anything of the sort since they were the overwhelming forces and strongest beings of this trial.
Their eyes met briefly, silent agreements passing between them. This was the endgame.
Xyrran’s voice rang out once more.
[Final Calamity: Primordial Shadows.]
“…”
[All previous calamities forced you to battle one another. But now that the top five have proven themselves, it’s time for the opposite.]
The air grew heavier with each word.
[You will team up to face the creatures I summon.]
A grim realization settled in Alex’s chest.
Teamwork. It wasn’t something he’d been planning on. Not with them. But it seemed he didn’t have a choice.
[There’s no time limit this round. You either eliminate them all… or die trying.]
[Good luck.]
Before anyone could react, the sky darkened, shrouding the domain in an unnatural night.
Ten clouds materialized above them, each crackling with a different hue of lightning.
A foreboding hum filled the air.
The first cloud, a menacing purple, began to tremble.
BOOM!
A bolt of purple lightning struck the center of the domain with a deafening explosion, sending shockwaves rippling through the ground.
Thick mist billowed from the impact, veiling whatever lay within.
As the mist thinned, Alex’s eyes widened in horror.
A dragon.
But not just any dragon.
The Primordial Arcane Dragon!
Its scales shimmered with an ethereal glow, and its massive form radiated an overwhelming aura.
Its lifeless, hollow eyes confirmed it wasn’t the true primordial beast, but that didn’t diminish the sheer pressure it exuded.
Before the shock could settle, the other clouds began to tremble, one after another.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each bolt of lightning brought forth a new horror.
Different-colored mists rose and dispersed, revealing more dragons.
Ten in total, each a clone of a primordial dragon, standing tall and imposing.
Xyrran’s smug voice echoed once more.
[Your goal is simple: defeat the Primordial Dragon clones I’ve created.]
[They don’t possess their full power, but I promise they’ll still make things… interesting.]
[Consider it a 10 versus 5.]
Alex’s gaze darted from dragon to dragon, mentally preparing for the fight of his life.
[Begin.]
The dragons’ eyes locked onto the participants, their murderous intent palpable.
They couldn’t speak, but their purpose was clear, annihilation.
Alex’s [Cursed Eyes of Truth] activated on instinct, revealing crucial details.
[Clones created using the essence of each Primordial Dragon, infused with large amounts of Xyrran’s energy.]
It explained the sheer presence they held.
But it also hinted at a limitation, Xyrran couldn’t have pulled this off without exhausting a considerable amount of his power.
Alex filed that information away for later.
However, despite the detailed analysis, no health indicators appeared.
Likely a feature of their clone status.
Still, Alex estimated they had at least half the strength of their original counterparts.
But even half was more than enough to kill them all.
Alex’s heart pounded.
His resources were running low, Destiny Points especially.
He’d spent too much using Destiny Shift and Threads of Fate earlier.
Now, he’d need to rely on his remaining skills and instincts.
Before he could strategize further, three figures appeared beside him, the trio who had survived his Fated Cataclysm in the hallway.
The Minotaur roared, beating his chest like a war drum, “Let’s crush these overgrown lizards!”
Lira, the white-haired angel, smirked, “They’re just shadows of the originals. No big deal.”
The cloaked man remained silent, his calm demeanor unsettling as ever.
Then there was Astariel, the fallen angel.
Unlike the others, Astariel stood perfectly still, his eyes focused on the dragons.
Without a word, he summoned his twin blades, the Dark Blade and the White Blade.
Alex’s eyes narrowed, recognizing what was about to happen.
For the second time in the entire trial, Astariel began to merge the two weapons, invoking the forbidden skill: [Merged Void Blades].
The air trembled.
Golden cracks spiderwebbed across the ground beneath Astariel’s feet, and a suffocating pressure filled the domain.
The very fabric of reality seemed to resist what was happening.
Then—
BOOM!
The two swords fused into one.
The result was neither light nor dark, neither holy nor cursed.
It was void, a weapon that defied existence itself.
Astariel didn’t hesitate.
With a single, fluid motion, he swung the blade toward the dragons.
A crescent wave of pure annihilation tore through the air, moving faster than the eye could follow.
Half of the dragons didn’t even have time to react.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosion of power erased five dragons from existence in an instant.
[Ignareth, the Primordial Inferno Dragon (Clone), has been slain.]
[Vaelith, the Primordial Frost Dragon (Clone), has been slain.]
[Draegos, the Primordial Earth Dragon (Clone), has been slain.]
[Morgathis, the Primordial Abyss Dragon (Clone), has been slain.]
[Zyphir, the Primordial Storm Dragon (Clone), has been slain.]
Five down.
Five to go.
Astariel, seemingly unfazed, unsummoned his blade and sat down.
“You can handle the rest,” he murmured, closing his eyes.
Alex frowned.
‘Is he sitting out because that attack drained him?’ he wondered.
If so, that was valuable information.
If he ever had to face Astariel in the future, knowing his limits would be crucial.
Lira chuckled, glancing at Alex, “Well, the fallen angel did his part. Guess it’s up to us now.”
Alex wasn’t thrilled about teaming up, but the circumstances left him little choice.
Or did they?
Before he could decide, the remaining dragons moved.
BOOM! BOOM!
The five remaining primordial dragons flapped their massive wings in perfect unison, stirring violent gusts that threatened to knock the participants off their feet.
Their eyes burned with a deadly focus, not on Astariel, but on the rest of them.
It made sense.
Astariel had proven capable of wiping them out in one blow.
Targeting him would only lead to their quick demise.
Instead, they focused on the others, hoping to thin the ranks before anyone else could attempt something similar.
Alex tightened his grip on his weapon, eyes narrowing.
The remaining dragons were the strongest of their kind:
[Vaelros, Primordial Fate Dragon (Clone)]
[Xyrran, Primordial Space and Time Dragon (Clone)]
[Seraphyxis, Primordial Celestial Dragon (Clone)]
[Orvion, Primordial Arcane Dragon (Clone)]
[Xeltharion, Primordial Chaos Dragon (Clone)]
Alex exhaled slowly, feeling his instincts flare.
‘Let’s see if destiny is on our side.’