Light shone from the sword and it seemed to amplify as his mana was pushed further into the blade.
[Legendary sword, Circe, has chosen its new weilder!]
[
Rhian's eyes widened as he realized how dark it'd truly become. He put Executioner back into the Clandestine Chest and gripped Circe firmly with both hands.
[O…oh! All mighty good!] The creature screeched, then it began charging at him with the clear intent to kill. The rod had grown sharper now.
[You've breached the bounds of the trial!]
[Trial's hardness will be shifted accordingly]
Rhian felt his eye twitch. 'Zane will kill me, this is the second time.'
[Diabolic energy is spreading throughout the 'arena'!]
"Screw this," Rhian grumbled to himself. He summoned Executioner again and triggered the first attribute. The sword began consuming the diabolic energy, and a notification caught his eye.
[The light-based properties of Circe are countering the 'evil' eaten by the Executioner!]
[
[You've earned 2000 species from numerous
Continuing his previous approach, he used Executioner as a shield whilst fighting with Circe. 'Dammit, my arm is cramping up.'
He was managing to overpower the creature, but problems seemed to arise whenever he pushed in too much light-ether. It was the child.
A child who was surrounded by excessive 'diabolic' energy would die on contact with excessive 'light' energy. That was the general principle of how things went. He was in limbo. He could defeat this thing, but he would hurt the girl.
"Dammit!" He pushed the creature far away, only for it to screech even louder. Dark appendages shot out of the creature's back and Rhian cut them down but missed one, which headed straight for the girl.
He reached it, but barely, the appendage wrapped around his arm instead, and he was thrown hard against a wall. Rhian immediately pushed forth again.
[You've triggered earned skill, Hurtle Chase!]
He shoved the creature back into the parallel wall and winced as it screeched in agony. [You… you are evil!]
Rhian wondered if he should respond but eventually decided against doing so. It wasn't of any use anyway. He clashed his sword with the creature again, only for it to deflect it and push Rhian back by grabbing him with one of its appendages.
[
[
He tried fighting it, but the tendrils were scaling up his own body, and suddenly he felt excruciating pain in his shoulder. He cursed loudly and dropped Executioner to try and pull out the tendril that had shoved itself into his wound.
[Warning!]
[You're being contaminated with diabolic energy!]
[Warning!]
[Your mana core is being infected!]
Rhian cut the tendril off but another one reached out just as fast. He coughed out blood as the creature raised him off the ground. Shit. 'Shit. Shit!'
The creature was starting to look more and more like him. It was unnerving, and the more he stared into its eyes, the more he felt as though he was looking into a mirror.
[Who am I?] the thing asked. [Who are you?]
Rhian's eyes widened in horror as the creature reflected his eye color, turning hazel-grey with this sickening emptiness that felt like a void.
[
[Warning!]
[Your mana core is 20% contaminated!]
[Diabolic energy is spreading fast!]
[Warning!]
The creature brought him close to its face. [I am you]
Just then, the ceiling above Rhian split open the same way it had when he'd activated the array formation. The creature looked away from Rhian to the sight and Rhian felt as though he could finally move, or try to move.
[Some
[1000 species have been sponsored!]
Whoever was there, moved fast and before Rhian knew it, he was falling to the ground, with the appendages of the creature wriggling next to him before dissipating. "You!" a woman's voice yelled at him. "Go get rid of any more constraints!"
Rhian fumbled but moved fast. He rushed back and immediately began removing any constraints. 'Wait,' he thought. How could they exit without the quarter of the Fei Resurrection?
He glanced at the person who'd saved him. She looked strong, but against something like that? And whilst keeping their sanities. He needed to use Circe.
"Shit."
That's when an idea struck him.
[You've opened
[You've purchased salt for 150 species!]
Rhian mustered mana into his palm and used it to form a small hovering placeholder.
[Warning!]
[Your fatigue levels are high!]
[Contamination has temporarily stopped but the contaminated mana can only be restored after ??]
He arranged the salt in the array formation he knew best. For the final moment, he let blood drip from his wound into the midst of it all. He then moved the mana placeholder to reside over the girl's body.
[You've activated a protective charm!]
[Those within the confines of the 'salt' will be protected until the death of you!]
Rhian looked back to see the woman in a position no different from his moments prior. She was struggling against the tentacles that were slithering up her body. He summoned Circe into his hand and moved fast.
[You've triggered the elemental nature of Circe!]
[Luxus lvl 1 is activated!]
[You've spent 1000 species!]
[Luxus lvl 1 > Luxus lvl 5]
[Any contamination within you is nullified!]
[You are overwhelming the arena with 'pure' energy!]
He freed the woman first with the locked swords with the creature. He moved fast, landing gashes on the thing.
[Personal skill, Hymn of the Apostle is triggered!]
[Skill is cancelled due to its 'evil' genesis!]
"Shit!" he cursed.
"Keep the right side open!" the same voice called out to him.
Rhian obliged, keeping the right side open whilst tearing down any appendages that came his way. Within a second, the woman was ramming into the creature whilst being surrounded by an aura that could only be defined as 'holy'.
She summoned a sword in her hand and Rhian recognized it to be a Vale; by its appearance, it didn't seem to belong to the 'Genesis'. However, the creator of Vale was a 'neutral' person, so it should be alright.
"Its back must be its weak point," Rhian offered.
She nodded. "You go for the back, I'm going to get that head off it."
Rhian sighed but moved to do just as much. He tore down the tendrils that came towards him and eventually reached something close to an abyss instead of a back. He plunged his sword into the void.
[You're overflowing with 'pure' energy!]
[You're overcoming the diabolic energy!]
The creature screamed and Rhian winced as he realized the voice had become eerily close to his own. Circe shone brightly within the abyss, and Rhian realized belatedly that the surrounding darkness of the skin was dissipating into fragments.
"Watch your head!"
Rhian tilted his head back and just as he did, the thin sliver passed through the creature's neck. And in the next moment, the head landed a few feet away.
Rhian immediately dropped and reached into the abyss to drag the amulet out. Luckily, he was able to do so before the creature disappeared entirely.
[You've killed an 'evil' - genesis
'Oh hell no.'
[7500 species have been earned!]
[A third is deducted as this feat was deduced through collaborative effort!]
He breathed hard and looked up at the woman. "Thank you."
—
Lu Huan struggled to walk and Zane supported him until they were out of the dungeon. He sat the older man down on the dais in the midst of the room.
[Someone has killed a counterpart of the Temple!]
[The balance has become unstable!]
Zane had an idea who that was.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Lu Huan asked him.
[Many
[Some
'Romantic?' Zane bristled. Sure, Lu Huan was charming, but seriously?! The only reason he had to go that close was so that the watchers couldn't read their lips and the Temple Lord was unable to hear them.
"I don't know," Zane confessed. "We have to search every floor to find… yeah."
Just then, the floor underneath them rumbled, and Zane moved so he was standing close to Lu Huan again. "Hold onto this," Zane said.
[You've activated temporary skill, Golden Thread lvl6]
He offered Lu Huan a few of the threads and watched as the older man wrapped them around his hand. The floor rumbled and they were being moved again, with the help of the thread, they could at least stay in one place.
[The 'insides' of the 49th temple are rearranging themselves!]
When the tumbling subsided, it gave way to another floor. Zane moved towards the balcony and noted he was surely over ten floors above the ground.
"Zane!"
Zane turned back to see who'd called him. It had been a woman's voice. But only Lu Huan looked at him with a tilt of his head.
"Here," the voice said. "Up!"
Zane glanced at the narrow roof that extended over the balcony. 'Eek!'
Esmeray was hanging upside down, watching him.
"What are you doing there, ma'am?!" he asked, pointing at her incredulously. "If you fall you'll die!"
She smiled and pushed off the roof, making some part of Zane's soul leave his body and zap right back in when she landed next to him. "To answer your question, I was trying to avoid being placed on another 'floor' during the rearrangement."
Zane glanced at her face. "Is it because you've found where…"
She nodded, as though she knew what he was going to ask.
"Lady Val!"
Zane turned around to see Lu Huan waving at Esmeray. Then he noticed as Esmeray's face filled with this unreadable expression. "I found him injured in the second dungeon."
She nodded, walked over to Lu Huan and gave him a hug before pulling away so she could slap him.
[
[
Zane stared awkwardly.
"You worried Huiliang to death," Esmeray said, voice harsh.
Lu Huan laughed sheepishly. "It wasn't my intention, trust me. And… " His eyes fell on Zane. "If it weren't for this boy, I wouldn't be alive."
Esmeray glanced at him and then back at Lu Huan. "I have a proposition. Has he told you how to kill… that?"
Lu Huan nodded.
"Zane, come here," she called to him.
Zane walked over and she cleared her throat, then with no warning, pulled them both close. "I know which floor he hides."
[Many
"I've scoured this Temple, yet the only floor we haven't been rearranged to is the fifth floor."
"How can you be so sure?" Zane asked.
Lu Huan swatted his head lightly. "You dare question her? She's—"
"Enough," Esmeray said. "Every fifteen minutes, rearrangement takes place. And I've seen this place from 'outside'. I know which floor has been inaccessible."
"You seem to have already tried something," Lu Huan murmured.
"I have," she replied. "Each time I end up on the fifth floor's balcony and enter inside, I'm sent right back to the entrance."
"The Lord must be using 'rule of his court' on you," Zane suggested.
Ma Chao had done that to him. Zane had willingly gone to the other watcher's court and thus faced his 'rules' there.
[
The both of them stared at him.
"I think I can propose a way, but Sect Leader Lu, it will heavily depend on your mana capabilities."
"Are you sure this is the sixth floor?" Lu Huan asked Esmeray.
'It better be because I'm never climbing down again.' Zane thought to himself.
"Yes," she replied. "Why do you doubt me?"
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats demands you leave the temple now that you've finished the dungeons]
'No can do… and the fact that the trial hasn't officially ended says as much.'
"Sect Leader Lu," he began. "Can you?"
Lu Huan stepped ahead and into the center of the room. Zane moved to the corners along with Esmeray.
[
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats is appalled!]
Lu Huan brought his arm back and struck the floor hard. A crack spread through the jade under them and the Sect Leader brought down his fist again, then again. At the fourth strike, the floor gave away.
Zane exhaled hard as his fall was minimized by Lu Huan, who grabbed both Esmeray and Zane and landed on the ground.
[You've entered the 49th Temple Lord's Court!]
[You're bound to the 'Rule of the Court'!]
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats is furious!]
[
[
Sure enough, as Zane's eyes fell on the throne and then on the woman who sat wearing a tight Chinese dress, he noticed a quarter of the Fei Resurrection hanging off her neck. So it wasn't 'he', but rather 'she who drinks the blood of ten thousand defeats'.
She glared at them. [You puny scum]
"I'm going to get that amulet," Esmeray said, and then moved with her sword raised.
"Ma'am, wait—"
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats has used 'rule of the court']
Esmeray froze, unable to move. Zane gritted his teeth and glanced around. The court was confined to the 'floor' yet again. "Sect Leader Lu," he began. "I think Jade can use some destruction."
Lu Huan seemed to understand. His robes furled as he opened his mana core, then he triggered his skill again.
[
Zane summoned Ember and blocked the incoming attack that would have otherwise led to Esmeray's demise.
[What is it that you want?] The Lord asked, her voice bored and annoyed. Zane wondered if this was what they meant by looks and shitty personality.
"I think it's obvious," Zane replied.
[You destroyed my ceiling, enlighten me]
"How about I just take it from you?" Zane asked. There was also something else he wanted to test. The extent of that skill.
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats has used 'rule of the court']
[Exclusive skill, lvl ?? Has been triggered!]
[Effects of the 'rule of the court' have been lessened]
He moved ahead and towards her throne. The Lord's eyes widened and she snapped her finger, causing a jade statue to appear above him.
"Get it, I'll take care of this!" Esmeray said as she drove her sword into the statue, causing the jade to burst into numerous shards.
A heavy rumble made them all pause. And Zane could only smile as he reached closer to her.
[You dare to destroy my—]
Another rumble cut her off and Zane watched as she began rushing towards Lu Huan who was ramming his bloody fist into the jade floor.
Zane pushed forth himself and yanked her back by her arm. The moment he did so, it felt as though he'd touched flame.
Esmeray rushed past him and grabbed hold of the necklace. She yanked the amulet until the thread it was tied with gave away.
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats is furious]
The heat crept up his arm, and within a second her hand was at his neck and he was being rammed into the same jade flooring. He gasped in pain and narrowly evaded being struck by her again by turning his head to the side.
Another rumble broke through and the silence in between all of them grew louder at the sound of the first crack. Then another.
The Lord moved away from Zane and began running towards her throne. Yet before she could, Esmeray was already there. The woman sat down on the seat and stared down at the Lord. "You look puny," she said.
[Why you—]
But the ground gave way, and the court collapsed. Once again Lu Huan caught onto Zane and dragged him to the corners of the room and then towards the throne which had remained intact.
"You didn't have to do that," Lu Huan mumbled.
"I did," Esmeray replied as she climbed over the throne and jumped off it to stand next to them.
"Shouldn't you check if she's dead?" Lu Huan asked.
"She will be," Zane replied. When they looked at him for an explanation, he raised his hands. "I have a hunch. The spire has been destroyed, and an injured Lord can't do much."
Just as they opened their mouths to question him, a panel opened in front of them.
[Auxiliary Trial: Cold Jade Palace has ended!]
[You've earned 100,000 species as one of the main contributors!]
[Main contributors: Zane Mor, Esmeray Amren, Lu Huan, Rhian Amren, Asha Vardhan]
[You may leave the Temple!]