Felling Valithar, the Ruler of Night,
Almond’s blade became the city’s blight.
His sword, once hidden, now a dragon’s roar,
With a viper’s cunning—lethal to the core.
Patience coiled like a predator’s snare,
Waiting, watching, with an iron stare.
But when the strike came, oh, it was fire,
A blinding storm, chaos to inspire!
Through streets drenched in crimson and fear,
Almond tread where none would dare.
The weak bowed low, the strong met death,
Each victory crowned with a whispered breath:
“No rat is he, but a shadowed king,
Enjoy exclusive content from empire
A blade that cuts through everything!”
Yet the throne of Kings was not his end,
For higher still, his will would ascend!
The Emperor loomed, deep in the stone,
Abysslam, the beast that claimed the throne.
Almond honed his sword to a deadly gleam,
Sharpened by blood, by shadow, by dream.
His will unbroken, his fury a tide,
He faced the beast with the madness inside.
Their clash was thunder, the abyss did quake,
Each strike a promise, each swing a stake.
The city trembled, its heart aflame,
As Sword met Claw in a deadly game.
Then came the thrust that sealed the night,
Abysslam fell to the Sword of Unparralled Might.
The land itself seemed to groan and sigh,
As Almond rose to claim the sky.
From rat to ruler, his legend was spun,
The shadows embraced their chosen son.
With a blade in hand, he claimed his throne!
The city trembled, and the streets bellowed!:
“Hail! All Hail the Unparalleled Sword Emperor’s name!”
…
‘Damn, this is crazy…’ Almond’s eyes contained lights of thrill as he read the evaluation of his trial, the result.
[You have completed the trial of Underworld City Dominion at maximum score.]
[You are a solid sword that is eternally shapeless, yet the sharpest.]
[You are like a deadly snake who grew mighty dragon’s wings and claws, with no less blazing flames in your jaws.]
[Your patience has no end, and your focus is unbent.]
[With your eyes and your blade, you see through everything, cut through anything.]
[Legend unfolds Legend. For your legendary tale, a new legend shall be forged with the decree from Black Will Temple.]
[A Dragon of Mystic, A Master of Sword—the golden dragon born with a snake tail that transforms into a sword with unparalleled might. His eyes capture the weakness of hearts, and his blade cuts through his enemies with the sharpest strikes. Born with cunning and patience, this dragon prides his hunt.]
[Rygaroth the Bladeborn—This dragon shall be born in the Mystic Dragon World. If fate wishes, your lives persist, you two may meet.]
‘A dragon born from my tale?’ Almond’s eyes sparkled. ‘Holy shit. I want to meet that dragon.’
“Hey, hey, you’re totally absorbed, eh?”
Almond blinked as his eyes shifted focus away from the notifications.
“It appears that your trial went very successful,” Liam faintly smiled.
“That’s right,” Gelato grinned. “Your eyes were shining just now, haha. Come on, tell us, what you got?”
Almond laughed, “Well, you caught me.”
“But let me read first,” Almond grinned. “I’ll decide if I want to show or not after that.”
He turned to look at the last notification on the list while Gelato and Liam were briefly surprised.
‘Boss, his behavior changed, but…’
‘Indeed, I’m more impressed with how his behavior is still largely in his control, but it’s also clear that he exposed his position just now,’ Liam chuckled.
‘Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, I know he can wipe the floor with me if he gets serious since you told us that he wasn’t serious in the S-rank dungeon we went in together, but just now, he gave off that vibe…’
‘You are right in your thinking, Gelato,’ Liam smiled. ‘Almond may have grown very strong in these 12 minutes, which were 12 months for him. This time dilation is already one of the biggest rewards, and him spending a year there means his combat ability and his potential with the sword may have bloomed to a new level.’
‘Damn,’ Gelato’s eyes glinted. ‘This brat spent a year there, this monster…how strong is he now? Could it be stronger than you too?’
Liam glanced at him.
‘Haha, I’m just joking,’ Gelato scratched his head.
Liam shook his head and let out a wry smile. ‘I strongly suspect he is stronger than me based on several factors, but the biggest one is Admiral Rudra’s behavior, and well, the vibe he gave off just now.’
‘Boss, you aren’t jealous, right? Almond seems to be the favorite of Admiral Rudra, after all,’ Gelato snickered.
‘It seems that you need some extra training. We are going to the mountain after half an hour. Get ready.’
Gelato’s face paled.
“Alright, I’ve decided,” Almond said and cleared his throat as he smiled and cupped his fist, “I apologize, but I won’t be showing you the innate talent I awakened.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. But can you tell us its rank?” Gelato asked as he blinked in curiosity.
Almond chuckled and waved his hand, showing the two lines.
[Rygaroth’s Reign]
-Rank: Legendary.
‘Although it’s one rank lower than my other innate talent, it’s still freaking awesome.’
“Alright, seniors. I’ll be taking my leave now. Thank you so much for letting me use this temple.”
“See you on the 1st of January when the battlefield opens,” Liam nodded.
…
Almond returned home and ordered some food.
Everyone else was training, and he was about to do the same after eating.
‘Black Will Temple was awesome, it’s sad I can only enter once,’ Almond sighed and took out his sword before swinging it gently three times and creating a small whirlpool of winds purely with the timing of swings and matching it with winds frequency.
‘The twelve months I got were awesome, wish I could stay there longer,’ Almond sighed again.
Almond actually wanted to stay there longer and even thought of delaying his plans, but when the eleventh month passed by, the Underworld Emperor’s humanoid form arrived in the city, and Almond also got a notification that he only had one month to complete his dominion.
Reluctantly, he trained harder and focused only on his sword for the final battle.
Despite having twelve skills, his most powerful arsenal was still his sword, and how he created sword arts on his own with his advanced control of Mana and proficiency, along with his increasing level of swordplay.
Almond also suspected that no one actually had skills that could defeat Underworld Emperor Abysslam because he was truly too strong for skills possessed by people as one’s own unique power arsenal was necessary, like how each Underworld King was strong, not because of their skills but the power they developed.
The trial was about making oneself stronger, standing out, and developing their own power to a high level in the intense struggle in the ruthless Underworld City. The extracted skills each month were merely a stepping stone and support for survival while becoming stronger.
‘Should I start training my Weapon Art until the battlefield starts or use the Elemental Slab first since it’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll awaken Sand of Vibrant Wave.’
‘Hmmm, I can learn the first stage of the Weapon Art as I am sure I’ll be able to grasp the intent of the first stage and learn it, but I have to be focused for a long, and it could take a few days, which I don’t have right now.’
‘I have about 24 hours, depending on when the Grimworld’s Tutorial makes the announcements are Battlefield of the Mightiest on January 1st. My score in the Throne Territory is set, and I doubt anyone can surpass it, so that’s done as well.’
‘Alright, it’s decided. Acquiring Sand of Vibrant Wave will boost my overall combat power a lot in an all-rounder way, and that could help me a lot in whatever things we have to do on the battlefield event,’ Almond made his decision and took out the Elemental Slab.
Infusing Mana into it, his consciousness soon drifted away into a unique dimension of Sand of Vibrant Wave.
Lily and other super rookies were also training on their own in anticipation of the Battlefield of the Mightiest.
Julian was completing his exercising tasks to unseal his new specialized class skills, giving his all to unlock them as fast as possible.
Roken was imprinting runes on everyone’s gear sets, making them stronger.
Almond had already put his new Spirit Wraith in production before he went for the Black Will Temple, so it was only a matter of time before a new Spirit Wraith was born—centralized on the Heroic Spirit Shamanic Druid Melameron of the Wandering Cursed Meadow!
1 Heroic Spirit x 1 Human Spirit x 18 Epic-rank level 200 Dungeon Boss Spirits!
The result was bound to be amazing.