His law of slaughter gave Gehald an edge when killing, the more he killed the stronger he becomes, the higher the number of enemies the larger this boost becomes over time, his slaughter authority also makes him ferocious and intimidating to the enemy which weakens them and makes them falter. He would be deluding himself to think he is special in this regard so he put in extra effort in his attacks. He was using almost all his laws simultaneously to kill efficiently, water to restrain the beasts, earth to increase his strength and defense, life to boost his recovery, and fire to attack. He was going all out killing because he wanted another mark, he didn't intend to miss this one and he didn't have to worry about sneak attacks. Stray attacks from other participants will just phase through him, this is due to the arrangement of the will of the realm. No one could be bothered with anyone else at this point because you can't say no to an extra mark. The most ferocious people were the ones without marks and the ones on a streak, those aiming for full marks. To achieve the perfect pass and skip to the last section of the trial, they must achieve seven marks.
Gerald couldn't help but take notice of some of these ferocious people, they could become his future competition. He also noticed elementals, especially fire elementals, all they were doing was spewing fire and accumulating kills. He was jealous of them, they were like walking flame throwers.
He noticed participants of various races and the ease with which they kill in battle. Races like vampires and their blood magic, phoenixes, and their everlasting flames, giants and their supreme strength, battle sage monkeys and the lethality of their attacks, Griffin's and Pegasus with air superiority, not to mention Dragons. The saying that Dragons are supreme would explain the monstrosity of the damage they can dish out, they are the monsters of the battlefield. He doubted any dragon in this trial has lost a mark and yet they were still going all out. They had transformed from the humanoid form into their natural form, he had to admit that Dragons are the closest race to perfection. He saw all these and he was jealous. The sight of all these unfair advantages spurred him on.
"I won't fail, I must not fail, I will not fail, I shall not fail, I won't fail"
Again and again, he chanted, his very being resonating with unstoppable determination. He turned the energy welling up within him towards slaughter. Rumour has it that the path of perfection leads to eventual perfection, the reformation of a being no matter how flawed into a perfect existence. He doesn't know just what this "Perfection" is, probably only the old monsters at the world god realm do. But he wasn't going to wait that long, he planned to take whatever perfection he could acquire now, and for that, he must not fail.
The killing went on amidst the sound of clashes, roaring beasts, dying monsters, and yells from the participants. Gehald's eyes at this point were already bloodshot, he had entered a strange balance of the fusion between his law of death and that of slaughter. Even his flames have been infused with this force, he didn't notice that has the number of monsters reduced within the premise of the fortress so did the numbers of participants reduce. Before the participants could be critically injured they would be teleported away regardless of their wish to stay. In this strange state of mindless slaughter, his comprehension of the laws of slaughter and death increased exponentially. It was not enough to complete them but it was more than enough to increase his damage output. Deathly black flames spread out from within him to his surroundings and all the beasts that were touched were scorched if the injury was light or completely burner. Those who were scorched found their bodies desiccating before they died. He rushed alone into the midst of the beasts whenever he found his surroundings empty of enemies.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The slaughter continued for a while, the participants would retreat to the fortress to rest once in a while before going back to the slaughter. When five years of this was over they were all teleported out.
They were all teleported to the world where the gravity trial was taken. The sovereigns and grand gods slumped as soon as they were teleported. They were all tired, their mind was tired and their body weary. The atmosphere was deathly silent. The various participants had already been informed of their results, they either got a mark or they didn't. Some started to cry, some had pale emotionless faces, others steeled their mind for the next ordeal. The barrier around each of them prevented communication or interaction, so no one could hear the silent crying or pleading. Reality had come crashing down, while some were indifferent to the circumstances and had verified that they were truly special, truly geniuses. Others have to deal with the bitter truth that they were nothing special, they were probably going to die soon.
Gehald wasn't paying attention to anything except his comprehension of the two laws of slaughter and death. He knew that the supreme law of slaughter and death go hand in hand before this strange experience, but he didn't know it worked. Now that he had realized the link between them he intended to take advantage of this profound knowledge and fully comprehend the two laws. He hoped that he would be able to achieve this so that his soul could achieve a boost that will guarantee his passage in this trial. The next trial will make you either lose a mark, gain another or lose your life if you don't have any. He already had five marks and he would like to keep it that way.
He wasn't alone with this train of thought. Everyone was trying to improve themselves for the last trial, the soul trial, also known as the trial of death or life.