Ember's voice echoes through my mind as the silver blade comes down toward us.

"Block it. This first round shouldn't be difficult with the new power we've gained."

Despite these words, I can't sense the blade's true power. It is tens of times longer than my greater form's rendition of my soul weapon, yet I still act as if this is a deadly strike, putting almost everything I have into a block, even activating the hexagonal defensive array in front of my blade while swinging upward.

Ember grins and flies up to block with a clawed hand as well, but he doesn't even use the silver energy he did while attacking the fiery hound in our last fight.

When the city-sized blade crashes down to slam against my barrier and Ember's claw, I feel its immense pressure, but it stops with ease, not even making it a quarter of the way through my defenses.

A massive silver [3]... [2]... [1]... [0]... floats in the sky, and as the [0] dissipates, so does the entire sword pushing down on us.

The Demon's arm moves back upward into its dormant position, and new text appears.

[Round 2 of 9 Shall Commence.]

The same Demon's arm grows a new silver blade, and on the opposite side of the statue, a second silver blade forms right after.

The first sword that formed instantly flies downward, and Ember's voice sounds in my mind again, his tone a bit more serious than the last transmission.

"Brace for impact..."

My defenses from the last round haven't even dissipated, so I just imbue more divine energy to restore the hexagon and stare upward, ready for another strike.

That hit was strong, but really nothing I can't handle. Even if I didn't block it and took it straight on my chest, I doubt it would have left a mark larger than the first blow I took from Redgrave.

That being said, with my True Core being over five times stronger now, multiplying my absurd boost in stats even higher, it may have given me a new skewed perspective on what is really powerful or not.

Just minutes ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to block that sword without using my full power.

Still, in the back of my mind now, I question whether or not I'm overestimating these trials...

Maybe Redgrave really was the strongest of the big three, and I already fought the toughest battle today...

These brief thoughts are instantly discarded as the blade from above slices through over three-quarters of my hexagonal barrier, proving to be far more lethal than the first round.

Before I even piece this thought together, the second arm swings downward too, following a mirrored flight path and coming down on the exact pressure point to fuse with the first sword.

Together, they press downward and shatter my hexagonal barrier with ease, now clashing blade on blade with my Soul Weapon's greater form and Ember's set of claws.

[3]... [2]... [1]... [0]...

The two swords disappear once the countdown stops, and I immediately restore my energy as quickly as possible to prepare for the next attack while turning to Ember.

"What was that...? The sword got stronger... and there were two... Is it going to get exponentially harder each time?"

Ember finally readies his claws with silver divine threads while replying.

"I've never faced this exact trial before, so your guess is as good as mine. There may be one problem, though. It calibrated the strength difficulty based on both of our potentials, not just yours. So, prepare to push yourself to a new limit. That fight we just had really was a light warm-up."

The next round's text glows in the air as soon as Ember's words cease. Three blades on the Demon statue manifest in its grasp, and the first comes swinging down mere seconds after the last round.

My gaze becomes fully focused on the statue overhead, and instead of just blocking, I jump upward, matching Ember's technique, and my Soul Sword pulses red for the first time since it consumed the leftover artifacts, as now it senses this will be a real challenge and it is intrigued.

The only thing on my mind is stopping the silver blade coming my way as I swing my sword upward and activate my hexagonal defenses, paired with releasing a wave of divine flames using my True Core's new Divine Fire ability.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Even so, my barrier is shattered by the first silver sword like it's glass.

Ember makes contact with the blade with two sets of claws covered in identical silver light, but it doesn't slow it down.

We're both pushed down to the black floor in the center of the testing circle.

I can feel the weight of the blade, tens of times stronger than in the first round.

The second sword moves the instant we get comfortable, and when it slams downward to combine with the first, I feel shockwaves vibrating through my bones.

My telekinesis skill activates, as well as my mana manipulation, wind magic, and all of my gravity control abilities turn on as well, pushing upward on the blade with every trick I have to keep it from moving downward any further.

Ember lets out a roar and sends a pillar of dense flames from his mouth to push the blade upward as well.

It pushes against the sharp side where we block at the same time that the third and final sword comes crashing down.

The imagery of Palmyra falling from the sky flashes back into my mind, but this is so many times heavier, as if the stone was made of pure iron, and a giant demonic god is above applying telekinesis to combat my own to crush us, the bugs below.

Numbers count down in the sky, but I don't even pay attention to them. I just use every bit of strength and energy to hold the three silver blades back.

They dissipate once the numbers hit 0, and the massive red and yellow crescent of flames that had been held back in my blade rockets upward, and so does Ember's fiery beam of light.

As the three arms move back to their start position, and the message for round four blinks in the sky, I turn to Ember while breathing heavily.

"If we have six more of these rounds... You're going to need to use that golden light—"

He cuts me off as the swords begin to form in the demon's hands, two on each side.

"My power is sealed for good reason. I can only use so much before we leave this realm. Small bits of silver threads can be used now that I'm a True Core, but any more and I'd be out of commission for quite a while like last time."

The first sword of the fourth round begins to move down, and his eyes become extremely serious, while a bright yellow glow starts to expand around him.

"Activate your Astral Form. This one won't be pretty if we take it on like this."

I stare upward at the incoming blade and do as he says.

—

Outside the tower, the moment I began the trials, the throne flashes silver and everyone, demons and humans surrounding it, received an identical message in their vision.

[All Challengers Have Entered: The Trials Have Begun.]

Simultaneously, a massive transparent dome of silver light, hundreds of kilometers high and thousands of kilometers wide, erupts from the midpoint of the tower up in the sky and creates a forcefield of strange energy around the desolate desert where the Abyss used to cover the lands.

The bronze-horned Demon takes this cue to bring half of the Demon forces, containing two high-level yellow cores, half a dozen orange cores, and over a hundred red cores, to challenge the Central Association's forces that don't even have a single fighter above a mid-level yellow core.

The black-horned Demon, wielding a mysterious long spear, eyes Raven up and down for a few seconds while the other head general leaves, then gives the orders to his identical battle squad to move out toward the Crimson Army and Inner Circle.

Everyone's auras are semi-concealed, as the Generals on the battlefield know if they were to push their pressure on their subordinates, they would all be knocked unconscious before the battle even began.

This is evident as many yellow flashes of light simultaneously burst upward into the sky, away from the tower at a 45-degree angle in varying directions.

Half a dozen yellow cores from the Association's squad collide with the three generals from the demon squad deep into the dead zone of Sector 3, and the bronze-horned Demon Dagger wielder watches his two underling generals toy with the Association's remaining strongest troops like mice.

The Commanders and Demonic Knights charge toward the two groups of central association workers and wield foreign Demonic Soul Energy strengthened by divine energy that overpowers every single one of the humans in less than 15 seconds.

They don't go for the kill, mostly immobilizing or knocking out the humans as per their orders, because once the world is conquered, strong humans will be necessary for labor.

Meanwhile, the black-horned spear user and Raven fly the furthest away, toward the silver barrier's edge in Sector 2, almost a thousand kilometers away, before they release their True Cores' Auras.

The Demon doesn't immediately attack, but still cautiously looks at her with his arms crossed, and the spear spinning around his body slowly.

He speaks while grinning to show his sharp white teeth.

"You're the strongest one left on this planet, it seems. All of your leaders that could have taken us out will be killed inside the throne. Our Lord Vermillion is destined for unfathomable greatness. The humans of this world are doomed; it would be in your best interest to give up now before I make you wish you died with your leader."

Raven pulls out her two silver blades, pointing them forward with sharp eyes.

"I could say the same to you... Put down your spear now and I'll make your death quick and painless."

At the same time, two massive mana-dominated divine Auras ripple outward from Sector 1, as Abby and Maria both pull from the 1% borrowed stats available to them from over 18 million Links of loyalty to combat the two high-level yellow cores that follow them.

Two more strong purple auras ripple out from near the tower, as Arie promotes Luna to a Commander and she gains 0.25% borrowed stats, while 13 enormous demonic eyes appear in the sky.

Arie uses the remaining 0.75% borrowed stats to power up his greater archer form and use the link through Luna's eyes to watch the Association's troops being decimated. Simultaneously, he keeps an eye on the second squad of approaching orange and red demonic forces. His strongest arrow is pulled back, ready to kill with pinpoint accuracy within milliseconds.

Fisher and Lydia lead the Crimson Army into battle to take on the Demonic forces four times their size.

Monk, The Saint, and the two orange cored disciples glow white, growing and activating unique Qi powered greater forms to follow close behind the Crimson Army's troops. My three doubles hover above them all, ready to take on red-cored Demonic Knights and sacrifice these mana manifestations if necessary to save my allies.

Raven and the black-horned Demon are the first to collide, silver blades against a long black spear; sending an ominous divine energy ripple throughout the entire silver dome, signifying that the battle outside the throne has begun.