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Chapter 309: The Final Trial

Whoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the large golden X collided with the lightning pillars near them, it was as if the incarnation of death himself had passed a verdict onto these lightning pillars before they could even realize their inevitable fate. Even the slightest touch of the large golden X to one lightning pillar was enough for the lightning pillar to disperse, transforming into a large mass of dark blue strands that went towards Herellia’s body to be absorbed.

Noticing this, Horell was left at a loss for words as an aura of immense awe and terror surrounded him at this very instant, his attention fully focused on the large golden X that seemed to be dispersing the lightning pillars like it was cutting grass. With his attention on the large golden X instead of the skill he had cast, the skill naturally dispelled itself, but thanks to the overbearing power shown by Herellia’s skill, even if he did not recast the skill, then they would still be able to wipe out the remaining lightning pillars in one go.

Herellia’s skill, combined with Argentum’s offense boosting buffs, was just that overbearing.

While looking at the large golden X dispel all of the lightning pillars like it was nothing, Herellia could not help but let out an inward sigh of relief as she muttered to herself, “If those lightning pillars knew that they were the reason why I could comprehend [True Submission], then I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t be able to rest in peace wherever they end up in.”

What Herellia meant by the lightning pillars helping her out was due to the recent memories she had while fighting against the lightning pillars. The first sentence she comprehended was ‘Once one dominates, one forces others to submit’ as she savored the feeling of dominating over the lightning pillars with the [Domination] skill, dispelling a large amount of them at once. As for the other sentence, ‘Once one is forced to submit, one can eventually dominate’, she was only able to comprehend that due to the situation where she was at her wit’s end.

Indeed, the situation where she was almost close to death under the power of the lightning pillars was the reason why she was able to comprehend [True Submission] in its entirety, allowing her to cast the skill at that moment. Radiating a brief aura of fear while recalling that memory, she could not help but mutter herself, “I seriously don’t want others to dictate whether I live or die. It’s a really bad feeling.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As the two of them continued to focus their senses of vision towards the large golden X, the large golden X continued to hack its way through the lightning pillars multiple at a time, eventually dispelling all of the pillars that made up the trial sometime later.

Surprisingly, even though all of the lightning pillars were dispersed, the energy stored within the large golden X was still plentiful, allowing it to move further away from the two to who-knows-where. Then again, the two of them did not bother to think as to where it would end up as they knew that they wouldn’t be able to affect any other beings as the area they chose was quite barren.

After seeing the dark blue strands that remained from those lightning pillars head towards Herellia’s body, only then did the two let out a sigh of relief as they lied down on the ground, with Herellia’s reason being immense exhaustion, while Horell’s reason was for the sake of not being left out. Taking in a few deep breaths to increase the rate at which she recuperated energy, she could not help but say, “I seriously hope that was the last trial I have to undergo before successfully clearing my Existence Tribulation. I feel like if I were to undergo one more trial, then I would inevitably die.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Horell said before letting out a slightly boisterous laugh. In response, Herellia let out a boisterous laugh as well, continuing for quite some time before the two let out a sigh of contentment as they focused their vision on the dark clouds. After looking at it for a while, Herellia then focused her vision towards Horell, “Even if there’s one more trial, the heavens wouldn’t be so cruel as to not give us any rest. So far, the lightning bolts in the clouds aren’t doing anything, so that means that we can recuperate the energy we’ve used in the trial.”

“Well, that’s how it was even before this trial,” Horell responded as he turned his head to look at Herellia. “Only now did we realize the importance of the breaks between the trials. We should really cherish it more.”

“Mm,” Herellia uttered in response to Horell’s words before closing her sense of vision to focus on recuperating all of the energy she had expended. As for Horell, he closed his sense of vision as well after seeing Herellia close hers. After that, he went ahead and attuned himself to the mana in the surroundings as that was the main way he could recuperate his energy.

While the two of them were recuperating their expended energies, Argentum looked at the two of them from afar with an aura of immense elation and relief as he let out a loud laugh. Without hesitation, he shouted, “Herellia’s Existence Tribulation is finally over!”

Although it seemed like he did the least out of the three for this trial, he was the most vigilant out of the three, making sure to adapt to any situation when needed as he did not want Herellia to die…or at the very least, he did not want to see Aurus in a depressed state when he would awaken to the fact that Herellia died. Either way, he considered Herellia as a great companion, and that alone was enough for him to accompany her in her Existence Tribulation.

After realizing that her tribulation was now over, he could not help but wonder as to what species Herellia would end up as, even though he knew that she was going to be an Animate. From her current looks, Argentum speculated that she was going to turn into a human, but it was not impossible for her to turn into a human with innate abilities thanks to the enhanced transitional evolution she was given. He eventually recalled the term for these types of humans thanks to Aurus’s memories, knowing that they were called the Awakened.

Other than that, he also pondered on what he should do next after the tribulation, with the first thing that came to his mind being to enhance his comprehension of the other elements to the True Element level. Once he did that, then he would fuse the four elements into the Lesser Origin element, undertake the Origin Trials, and evolve to the next grade.

But unfortunately for him, just as he was about to share his excitement with the resting two, a sound he now slightly dreaded to hear resounded in his mind as a notification screen appeared soon after.

Ding!

‘The trial taker has successfully passed the final trial of the heavens with flying colors! Due to the exemplary prowess of power the trial taker has shown in the trial, the heavens have decided to bestow the trial taker a choice.’

‘The trial taker can opt to enhance their final evolution by undertaking one more trial, or they can choose not to and obtain a final evolution that would still be slightly stronger than a normal one thanks to the bonus trial they had undergone.’

‘Do note that because this trial is ultimately a choice of the trial taker, the repercussions of external forces directly interfering in this trial shall be nullified, allowing the trial taker to rely on others to enhance their final evolution.’

‘The heavens are now asking the trial taker about their choice.’

Reading through the notifications he had received on the notification screen, an aura of slight curiosity and dread radiated from him as he let out a sigh while muttering, “I should’ve expected the heavens to throw one more trial towards Herellia’s way. How am I not surprised.”

“Nevertheless, if she agrees to undergo this trial, then her final evolution would most likely be that of an Awakened human. And if she doesn’t, I guess she would become a human with slightly higher stats,” Argentum muttered to himself as he felt that the long term benefits of the former would be far greater than the latter. Then again, he still had to consider Herellia’s current condition, which might lead her to declining the option to enhance her evolution.

“I wonder what she’ll choose?” Argentum asked himself soon after, only to be left at a loss for words as he heard a familiar voice resound in his mind.

“Hey, Argentum. You there?” Of course, this voice came from none other than Herellia, asking him a question. Without delay, he responded, “Yeah? What’s up?”

“Did you obtain any message from the system regarding this choice thing that dictates my future?” Herellia asked soon after, to which Argentum replied, “Yeah. Did the heavens explain what your choices were?”

“The heavens told me that I had the choice between undergoing another trial and declining to finally undergo my final evolution,” Herellia answered his question before adding, “They also told me that if I underwent another trial, then my final evolution would be enhanced, just like my current evolution.”

“What do you think I should choose?” she asked once more, prompting Argentum to ponder over it. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to come up with an answer as he replied, “Well, to be honest, the choice is up to you. Whatever you choose between the two, I and Horell would support you no matter what to the bitter end.”

In response to those words, Herellia went silent for a bit before finally responding, “Alright. I’ve made my choice.”

Whoosh!

After that, the connection between them was cut off while Argentum was left to wait for the notification from the system as he knew that the notifications were not over yet. Thankfully, he did not have to wait for a long time as a notification sound resounded in his mind around half a minute later after the connection between him and Herellia was cut off.

Without delay, he commanded the system to open up the notification screen in his mind before reading through it. Surprisingly, the solemn aura that was radiating from Argentum after his conversation with Herellia…had instantly transformed into that remorse and regret as he said to himself, “Are the heavens playing a prank on us? Now I incredibly regret saying those words.”

Ding!

‘The heavens have now obtained the response of the trial taker. The trial taker has opted to undergo another trial in order to enhance their final evolution!’

‘Since not a lot of time has passed since the trial taker’s previous trial, the heavens have decided to allow the trial taker to rest for longer in order to survive the final trial!’

‘The heavens are now deciding on the final trial of the trial taker.’

‘Taking into consideration the trial taker’s current combat power, as well as the indirect and direct interferences that have been made by external forces…’

‘The heavens have finally decided on the trial taker’s final trial!’

‘The name of the trial is…’

‘Dual Millennium Genesis Strike!’

“You’ve seriously got to be kidding me,” Argentum said to himself as the aura of remorse and regret around him intensified. “Genesis-level lightning bolts? That should only start appearing once one undergoes Primordial Awakening!”

Rummaging through Aurus’s memories, he found out that Abyss-level lightning bolts were the strongest lightning bolts that could appear on a being’s Existence Tribulation. As for Genesis-level lightning bolts, which were one level above Abyss-level bolts, those bolts would only start to appear once one underwent Primordial Awakening, or the tribulation that an Animate would have to go to ascend to a Rank 6 class from a Rank 5 class.

At this point, he did not want to speculate what type of trial they were about to undertake. No, it would be better for him to say that he did not dare speculate what kind of trial they were about to undertake as he knew that, if the three weren’t fully prepared, then they would undoubtedly die from a single Genesis-level bolt.

Ding!

Just as he was about to make his way to where Herellia and Horell were, another notification sound resounded in his mind, prompting him to look at his notification screen once more. As he wondered if the new notifications contained bad news, the aura of remorse and regret surrounding him was finally replaced with slight relief as the new notifications offered them a bit of hope.

‘As this trial is a bonus trial that exceeds the power of a normal Existence Tribulation, the heavens have decided that, if the trial taker were to fail this trial, then the only penalty the trial taker would suffer would be a diminished final evolution. Although the effects of the enhanced transitional evolution would not be as prominent, it would still be slightly better than a normal final evolution.’

‘The heavens have decided to give the trial taker a tip.’

‘Survive.’

Whoosh!

As he closed the notification screen, he then looked at the dark clouds and muttered to himself, “Er…can you really call that a tip?”

Nevertheless, he took the tip given to him seriously as he had a hunch that Herellia would obtain an incredibly strong final evolution after surviving the trial.

And with that, he went ahead and cast all of the movement speed boosting buffs in his arsenal on himself before heading to where Herellia and Horell were, both of them nonchalant to the true nightmarish properties of the trial that was about to strike them.

——–

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