Only a minute had passed since the battle began, yet Alex already felt the crushing weight of it bearing down on him.
Not the kind of exhaustion that came from running out of stamina or magical energy, he still had enough left in reserve to keep moving, but the deeper, heavier kind.
The kind that came from knowing that death was right there, just a breath away, and unless something turned in his favor soon, it would be over.
[You have died…]
[Reviving…]
The message had already flashed before him more times than he could count.
One by one, his orbs had failed.
Only two remained now, [Orb of the Unbreakable] and [Orb of Purity], the rest had either been avoided, blocked, or simply hadn’t worked against these twisted beings.
The [Orb of Balance], which usually pulled enemies off their feet with its gravitational force, did absolutely nothing.
The pull failed like it didn’t even exist.
When he tried to toss the [Orb of Cataclysm] straight into the core of the [Hell Abomination], hoping it would explode from within like it had in the real world, it did nothing.
Not even a flicker.
Then there was the [Orb of Annihilation], a deadly weapon that summoned fifty blood-forged spears that could pierce through almost anything.
They phased right through the nightmare creatures like they weren’t even there, like illusions trying to hurt shadows.
And that was the problem.
These things weren’t just strong, they were almost completely immune to any form of effect.
He could dodge their attacks. That wasn’t the issue, not even with the [Nightmare Hatred Demon] chasing him relentlessly.
But his skills, his tricks, his orbs, they weren’t enough.
None of them were sticking.
These nightmare versions of his past enemies had a weakness.
He knew that much. He could feel it. Their durability wasn’t high, not really.
But the trouble was finding that weakness.
Beep!
[You have died.]
[Reviving…]
His Destiny Points were running out too.
He only managed to regenerate them by dodging attacks at the last possible moment, gaining some back with every near-death escape, but that wasn’t going to last forever.
He could see the count dipping dangerously low.
And when it hit zero, there’d be no coming back.
What made it worse was how these things acted.
They didn’t talk. They didn’t react. No taunts. No smiles. Not even rage.
They weren’t alive.
They were just remnants, memories given form, constructed from Alex’s past battles, each one more vicious than the last.
They weren’t meant to be fair opponents.
They were designed with one purpose in mind, to kill him.
That is probably half of the reason nobody cleared this trial: people could survive the first few waves, maybe even make it far.
But at a certain point, the game stopped being winnable, and they all died.
SLASH! SLASH!
His claws clashed against the [Hatred Demon]’s sword, a nightmare copy of the real [Hatred Sword] it once wielded in life.
Each blow rang like thunder.
Alex’s arms trembled with the force, his feet dragging back an inch at a time.
And this was while he was also trying to dodge everything else around him:
Spells flying from Isolde’s staff, tentacles ripping through the air from the [Hell Abomination], blazing firestorms launched by Xyrran, the abyssal scythe of the [God of the Abyss], the skeletal claws of the [Undead Lord] bursting from beneath the ground.
It was almost impossible.
Fwish! Slash! Boom!
“Holy…” Another spell narrowly missed. “…Shit!”
Instinct kicked in as he saw the amount of attacks slowly get more overwhelming
Alex didn’t even hesitate.
He immediately activated the [Orb of the Unbreakable].
A split-second decision, one that likely saved his life.
As he activated it, a glowing, indestructible barrier erupted around him, locking him in place.
For five seconds, nothing could touch him, and anything that tried would be reflected back at its source.
And just like that…
FWISH! FWISH! BOOOOOOM!
The [Undead Lord]’s skeletal hands slammed against the barrier, only for those same hands to suddenly explode out of the ground beside him, smashing into his own body and sending the undead monstrosity flying into a stone statue.
The [Hell Abomination]’s flailing tentacles turned inward and whipped its own grotesque form, tearing into its flesh.
Isolde’s [Shadow Comet] reversed in mid-air, curving like a vengeful spirit and exploding in his face.
Varyn’s crescent-shaped slashes did a full turn and sliced his own body;
Xyrran’s firestorm also turned around like a boomerang and engulfed him in flames.
For the first time since the battle started, they were hurt.
Not destroyed. But affected.
Some even collapsed for a second. All except for one.
The [Hatred Demon].
It stood completely still, dark eyes locked onto Alex through the barrier.
Its expression was calm, yet grim.
It watched its allies fall into disarray, and did nothing.
It was waiting. It was smart enough to wait until the barrier disappeared before it attacked again.
Alex clenched his jaw. ‘Even now… you’re still a pain in the ass,’ he growled inwardly. “COME ON.”
The moment the barrier dropped, the demon moved like lightning.
But Alex had been ready.
He activated the [Orb of Purity], enveloping himself in a divine light.
For three seconds now, nothing could harm him.
And in those three seconds, he charged forward, claws out, slamming against the nightmare demon’s [Hatred Sword].
Black tendrils from the [Crown of Calamity] shot out around him, forming into a massive lance that lunged for the demon’s chest, but it narrowly avoided it, weaving through the air like it already knew what would happen.
Despite being invulnerable, Alex was hit over and over again.
In just a few seconds, the hatred demon struck him dozens of times.
None of them dealt damage, but none of Alex’s attacks connected either.
It was a standstill. A brutal, hopeless standstill.
And then…
[Invulnerability has ended.]
The hatred demon didn’t wait. It rushed in again. Alex could tell, this was it.
Even alone, this one nightmare was enough.
They didn’t have every ability their real versions did.
He noticed that, Xyrran hadn’t used any of his advanced skills, and most of the others only relied on basic patterns.
But it didn’t matter.
These nightmare versions were stronger.
Their presence was more oppressive, more intense, more perfect.
They lacked depth, but made up for it with raw overwhelming force.
And now, with the demon’s sword swinging down toward him once again, time seemed to slow.
He hadn’t even reached the [Chosen Games] yet.
After everything, after surviving so much, he was about to die here, in a test?
To a being he had already killed once before? It was almost funny. Pathetic, even.
But even now, even in that frozen moment, Alex refused to let go.
His eyes sharpened. No more doubts. No more fear.
He lashed out with a powerful claw strike, meeting the demon’s sword with everything he had left.
BOOM!
The entire ground shook from the impact.
The hatred demon was pushed back slightly, caught off guard.
Alex staggered. Blood spilled down his arm.
His entire left hand had been destroyed from the force of the clash, his own strength tearing him apart.
But he grinned. Not from madness.
But because now… he saw it.
Fwish! Zip!
The golden glow.
Brighter than anything else in the battlefield. Much faster than before.
He turned toward it.
The [Angel of Destiny] had arrived.
Golden wings spread wide as the angel hovered just above the battlefield, his [Blade of Destiny] already drawn and gleaming.
A wave of relief washed over him.
‘Finally.’
Without wasting a second, Alex raised a shaking arm and pointed at the six remaining nightmares.
“I want you to cut the nightmares,” he commanded.
The angel’s voice echoed back, calm, powerful, final.
[…Very well.]
It was time to end this trial. For good.