NOVPUB"Ah... where am I?" Dared was flustered before it all came back to him. He survived the torment, the torture of the third trial... He was stunned.
He felt he wasn't normal anymore. Watching his loved ones being killed over and over again had made him... lose touch.
He felt no attachment whatsoever to them anymore. Like even if they died, he wouldn't feel a single thing.
He looked down at the dark ground, his mind blank.
"Is this killing our emotions?" Dared thought as he stood up, stunned.
All around him, everyone had changed—from the arrogant, egoistic beings they were on the first day they arrived in this galaxy for the trial, to the bored and thrill-seeking survivors of the first trial... to the emotional wrecks of the second trial, having to endure past traumas and regrets.
Now, they had just survived watching their loved ones die before them—being in the body of the killer. Not as bystanders, and not just once, but over and over again in different situations with the same ending.
Their death.
"Sigh... System... what have I become?" Trul looked at his trembling hands as he clenched his fists.
(Host emotional stability is...)
"Is?" Trul asked as he listened to the system.
(Near zero.)
"I don't get it. Explain better," Trul said.
This was just the third trial, and they had all changed—more cold, more calm... more dangerous.
(You barely have emotions of love, kindness, or care.)
"Three years... three fucking years inside that hell..." Trul said calmly as he clenched his fists harder and gritted his teeth—then he grinned.
"I'm excited for the next," Trul said as he looked at everyone.
"One week... hahaha, you all held on. You've spent close to three years in this trial. I'm proud. You all have matured," that devilish voice of the weakest general of the Dreadborne Organization was heard again.
The difference now was, unlike the first or second meeting, they were all quiet, cold, and indifferent—destroyed and broken by what they had seen.
Their arrogance, their ego—all crushed. The smiles were gone, leaving behind a hollow shell to remind themselves they were still alive.
"This is the last and final trial. In this trial, you will fight to the death with only one winner. You will be grouped, of course, and it's random. But there will be only one survivor per group, meaning you have to kill the others to survive . After the trial, you will join the Dreadborne Organization," the voice said and then disappeared.
Everyone looked at each other as their vision blurred, and they suddenly found themselves in space.
Looking around, there was land below them—some kind of floating arena.
The size was just enough to let them move around, but crowded enough to force them to fight.
Dared was stunned and looked around quickly... He could see at least fifty different beings nearby, and there were even more.
"You are all grouped into one hundred. But before this battle royale begins, I have to tell you something," the voice was not heard only in the arena Dared was in, though others had similar arenas nearby.
Yes, everyone could see others across the arenas—it was transparent, but they felt boxed in, though they could see through.
"The total number of contestants—drawn from countless universes—was unquantifiable.
After the first trial, that number dropped to one with hundreds of zeros.
After the second, it plummeted to fifty trillion.
After the third trial... the current number is ten billion.
Note: although you're given a few hours to fight, any arena without a single survivor will be destroyed.
Wish you luck."
The voice disappeared again—and their once lifeless eyes lit up in shock.
Dared was truly stunned. Now, he felt fear... fear of death, and he regretted his actions.
It had really been a smooth ride for him, and he wasn't the only one. The survivors thought it was normal to have made it this far. They expected some deaths, but this? From that massive number that can't be quantified to one with hundreds of zeros... down to ten billion? What's the death rate? 99.9999999999999% dead...
They were the remaining 0.0000000000****1%... terrifying, isn't it?
The fear of death crept in as everyone became anxious, thoughts of whether they'd die started to set in.
At Dared's arena, he looked around. There was no time to dwell on fear... his emotions were strange. Except for fear, he didn't feel pity for the ones he would soon kill—or even distress at the fact that if he survived, 99 others would die.
"Sigh," Dared exhaled as he took a deep breath.
"Most are at Planetary Level One, with a few at Level Two... there's five at Level Three, and that's it. Basically, we're all at the low-level Planetary Realm. He wasn't joking when he said we'd be at the same realm... yeah," Dared relaxed slightly and grinned. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
"Well... let's begin then."
"And so... the last trial begins. Show me you are bloodthirsty. Show me you won't hesitate to kill your kind... to kill your friend, your family—to grow stronger. Show me you are qualified to join the Dreadborne Organization. Survive," the voice commanded as everyone began to move.
The battle at the planetary level began immediately as they all attacked the nearest person and targeted those weaker than them.
As for those at the Galaxy Level... they quietly observed each other, gauging strengths.
Back in the planetary realm, Dared was at Planetary Level One, so he was among the targets as soon as the battle began.
"What the—" Dared muttered as he barely dodged.
"I could've died..." he was stunned as he looked at the attacker.
A knife was in the attacker's hand—blood red.
"Wait—" Dared groaned as he felt a sharp pain from his right side. He looked down.
His clothes were already dyed red. He had been stabbed. Not only that, but his vision began to blur.
"Poison?" Dared struggled to say as the attacker laughed.
"I happen to have the gene of a blue-ringed octopus," the attacker replied as Dared gasped for breath.
"Is this... the end?" Dared thought as his eyes blurred and he collapsed.
"Well, he was weaker than I thought," the attacker laughed as he turned around. He took out a white cloth and used it to wipe his knife, eyes narrowing as he picked another weakling to battle.
At a faraway arena, at the center, was a graceful figure sitting quietly, gazing in a specific direction with love.
Everyone avoided her as blood spilled, screams rang out, and agonizing growls echoed—but she seemed different from everyone else, like she was in her own world.
"He is so handsome," Liya thought as she watched Caius battle and kill his enemies.
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