[Two out of three trials cleared.]
Alex didn’t waste a second once the message popped up in his vision.
With a sharp inhale, he unfurled his wings in a single smooth motion, the black feathers glimmering under the dim trial light.
Rather than walking back to the central path like most would, he beat his wings once and soared through the air, gliding directly from the second trial’s platform toward the third.
His landing was soundless, boots lightly touching down on the final platform.
The moment his feet touched the stone, his eyes were already sweeping the area, and soon enough, they locked onto the glowing circle of light etched into the center.
[𖤐]
Cryptic and unfamiliar, just like the ones before.
Alex didn’t waste time trying to interpret it, though he did notice it was a ritual circle.
He exhaled and stepped into the circle without hesitation.
The light surged upward in a flash, and with a blink, the world around him changed.
Ding!
[Trial #3: Wave Summon Ritual]
He opened his eyes again, taking in the new trial ground.
This time, he stood at the center of a vast enclosed arena, the sky sealed off above, the walls towering and dark.
Beneath his feet was a glowing ritual circle, spanning the entire floor like a massive arcane diagram etched into the stone.
“Knew it’d be a ritual,” Alex muttered with a tired groan, scanning his surroundings.
Just then, another message shimmered into view.
[Rules: Monsters will continuously appear around the arena, coming out of the summon ritual until you destroy the five altars at each edge of the star. Good luck!]
As the final word settled, the ritual circle beneath his feet pulsed, its light intensifying.
Then, they began to arrive.
All around the edges of the arena, creatures began crawling out of glowing crimson tears in space, dragging themselves forward through the summoning portals with guttural growls and distorted screeches.
[Level 2,000 Hell Demon]
[Level 1,950 Fire Centipede]
[Level 2,000 Guardian of Hell (Boss)]
Dozens, no, hundreds of monsters spilled out like a tide.
Their forms were warped and violent, glowing with heat and malice.
The ritual wasn’t just a test, it was a siege.
But for Alex, it was a gift.
He raised one hand calmly, his shadowy aura flickering slightly.
“Arise,” he commanded, his voice steady. “Mass Resurrection.”
The ground around him cracked open as undead clawed their way up, shadows of his will, skeletal soldiers armed with ethereal weapons and glowing green eyes.
They hissed and stood ready, dozens of them fanned out across the ritual floor.
“Kill everything that moves,” Alex ordered, his finger pointing outward. “But leave the altars untouched.”
His voice was low, but it echoed through the arena with sharp intent.
“If they spawn infinitely until the altars break, then this is the perfect chance. We’ll evolve you all to A-Rank.”
The undead didn’t question.
They surged forward in silence.
Within seconds, they clashed with the advancing horde.
Slash! Slash!
The [Fire Centipedes] were the first to fall, torn apart by blades and claws.
Their flaming bodies writhed as they were dismantled without mercy.
Then came the [Hell Demons], monstrous beings with molten armor and burning eyes, whose strength could overwhelm most elite players.
But against Alex’s undead, fifty of which instantly charged the [Guardian of Hell], a towering black dog with three snarling heads, they didn’t stand a chance.
The guardian took out a few of his summons with its initial onslaught, thrashing and tearing with rage, but it was quickly overwhelmed.
Dozens of undead latched onto it, hacking and clawing until it collapsed under sheer numbers.
Alex didn’t even flinch.
He simply raised his arm again and summoned more to replace the fallen.
Thanks to how much his cooldown had shortened, the moment a summon died, another was reborn.
His cap was a hundred at a time, but it hardly mattered when he could cycle endlessly.
The battlefield was chaos, his army like a rolling wave of death, carving through the constant flood of enemies.
And Alex, he simply stood at the center, calm, unbothered, focused.
Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. Then thirty.
Monsters kept pouring out. The undead kept fighting.
The notifications piled up like a torrent, but Alex ignored them all.
By the time an hour had gone by, the arena floor was stained with the blackened remains of hundreds of slain creatures.
His level rose steadily, the constant slaughter rewarding him with absurd amounts of experience.
In total, he gained thirteen levels, rising to Level 1470, every kill giving him several billion EXP.
And along with it…
[A-Level Advancement Task: Defeat 50,000 monsters with your undead.] (44,809 / 50,000)
He was so close.
Just a bit more, and they’d reach it.
But then, silence. No new monsters emerged.
The battlefield grew still, save for the faint flicker of magic still glowing in the ritual markings.
His undead stood motionless, awaiting their next targets.
Alex blinked and looked around, confused. “…Huh?”
A minute passed. Still nothing.
“The hell?” He looked up. “TOWER! Where are the monsters?!”
A sharp notification appeared before him.
[This is NOT how this trial was supposed to go.]
Another followed almost immediately.
[You are ruining everything, challenger. It seems you’re only using the monsters we prepared for your own benefit!]
Alex tilted his head. “And… that’s a problem why?”
He was genuinely confused. What else did it expect?
He cleared the first two trials effortlessly and found an efficient method to handle the third.
It wasn’t his fault the system let him abuse it.
No response came. But he got his answer soon enough, in the form of action.
Around the edges of the arena, where five raised platforms held small structures and crimson crystals, a low cracking sound echoed through the chamber.
Crack! Bam!
One by one, the crimson crystals shattered, each bursting into fragments of magic and stone.
He hadn’t touched them.
His undead hadn’t laid a finger on them.
The tower did it on its own.
And once the fifth one broke…
[Good job! You managed to clear the third trial!]
Alex exhaled. “Damn.”
So that was it. The trial gave up on dragging things out.
It clearly realized he could keep farming enemies forever, and rather than let him grow even more overpowered here, it just… ended it.
‘Fine.’
He could find other ways to evolve his undead later.
Ding!
In an instant, Alex was teleported again.
The arena dissolved into light, and he found himself back in the trial Hub for the third and final time.
The platform of the third trial now had crimson liquid flowing off of it, traveling along narrow stone paths that connected all three trial platforms to the main central one.
The red glow flickered brightly, signaling something was changing.
[Three out of three trials cleared.]
The message hovered in front of him, and Alex walked forward, stepping off the final platform and heading toward the large central circle.
His expression didn’t change.
It didn’t matter that he’d just cleared one of the hardest challenge sequences in the game.
To him, this was just the expected result.
‘If I struggled here,’ he thought, ‘then I wouldn’t be ready for the Chosen Games.’
And soon, he stepped into the center platform, the very heart of the trial complex.
The crimson light around it surged, pulsing brighter than ever before.
Then— Ding!
[You have completed all “Wrath Trials” and will now ascend to the top to meet with the “Guardian of the Tower of Wrath.”]
Alex sighed and rolled his eyes slightly. “Yeah yeah, whatever.”
He was ready for whatever was next.