Chapter 170 - 402-413

Chapter 402 - Rules And Start-2

" This test is known as Territorial conquests. Once the test starts, we will teleport you beyond the border in this place. The land beyond the border has several regions of inferno, hailstorm, dunes, and other such climates. But these things aside, The way to become one of the fifty winners is to get points, and the backside of your black card will display your points. The fifty people with the highest points at the end of the test will pass and join the Chaos Monolith Hills. "

" Now, there are several methods in this test to get the points. "

" The first method. There are many powerful strongholds in this land, and these strongholds are occupied by monsters. You may take down monsters and destroy the strongholds thoroughly to get the points. The points will be distributed based on contributions made by individuals. "

" The second method. After a month of the test, Twenty empty castles will appear randomly. To conquer a castle, One will have to find a Ruler scepter in the castle and hold it for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes of holding the scepter, It will light up, and you will become the owner of that castle. You will get points if you conquer a castle, and your points will increase daily by one thousand points as long as you are the castle's owner and stays within the border of the castle. "

" The Third method. There will be outbreaks of disasters and monsters near the castles you've conquered; surviving it and overcoming it will grant you points. "

" The fourth method. There will be powerful chaos beasts roaming everywhere, and killing them will provide you points. "

" You need not doubt the distribution of points based on contribution because the whole land is covered by the range of Heaven's eye Runic Ward that perfectly distributes the points. You might not know about Runic Wards, but they are made by Rune Artists. Their effects apply as long as you stay within a Runic Ward's range. The Heaven's eye Runic ward is set with profound order that perfectly observes your all movements, actions, etc, and contribution before giving you points. Naturally, We will also be observing you and distributing points based on your performance. "

" Lastly, There are a few hidden ways where one can get points besides the four methods mentioned. "

After speaking till here, The cold beauty paused as she prepared to state the next part about the rules of the test.

But at this time, someone among the participants asked, " Senior. What are those hidden ways? "

Hearing the question, Everyone looked at the person who asked with disdain and speechlessness.

Sen and Tealery laughed while Athan and Shiromi shook their heads. Arcued just snorted and muttered, " Idiot. "

The person who asked the question had a light yellow rocky body structure with a humanoid form. His height was eight feet tall. He became confused because of the small commotion he caused by asking the question.

The cold beauty with crimson hair shook her head with disappointment as she spoke, " You want to know what those Hidden ways are? "

The rock man's face changed as he realized something, and his face turned brown in embarrassment before he hurriedly replied, " N-no. I don't want to know. "

" Hahahaha..."

" Pff...I am shocketh that someone like him is taking the same test as me. "

The rock man wanted nothing more than to bury his head into a pile of rocks. He later realized how foolish his question was when the cold beauty emphasized the word " hidden " when asking him if he wants to know those hidden methods.

" Alright, everyone! Calm down. Now we'll be moving onto some important information regarding the test. "

" First, there are chances of dying during the test. But fret not, Everyone has two lives thanks to Immortal Aegis Runic Ward. "

*Waaaaa...*

Instantly, A huge commotion occurred both inside and outside. Most people didn't know about the Runic wards since they are not sold or used in lower Chaosverse generally. Only Rune Artists can create them, and they are an exclusive bunch from Boundless Pavilion in the Lower Chaosverse. They have strict regulations, and there are more restrictions in this ancient power compared to other ancient organizations.

" Damn...How powerful must this thing be since it can give us two lives? "

" Indeed. Now I feel like becoming a Rune Artists. "

" Dumbass! As far as I know, Boundless Pavilion has never once held any kind of recruitment. Nobody knows how to join that power. In the first place, We are aware of the boundless pavilion because of their shop branches, which sell one of the most important things to us: contact cards. Other than that, at least I don't know much information about them. "

...

Inside the pocket dimension, The lady clapped her hands as a thundering rumble swept across the land before silence descended as everyone looked at the crimson-haired cold beauty.

There was a slight helpless expression in her eyes, but she still cleared the misunderstanding, " The two lives means it will not let you come back to life after you die. Instead, as long as you form this symbol with your order force inside your chaos region, A powerful protection barrier will appear around you and block all attacks for two seconds. "

She showed them a symbol that appeared pretty simple to form since it was just a round circle with a star drawn inside it and an easy pattern inside the star. It basically takes one second to create this symbol inside their chaos region.

After that, the lady continued as her voice turned serious, " You can create this symbol twice and get absolute protection two times for two seconds. Know that It will not work the third time, so don't rely on it even by mistake, or you will lose your life. "

" Now, onto the second important thing: This test will last for three months. And as mentioned previously, The castles will appear once the second month starts. "

" The third important thing: Teams. You can work together with other individuals and form a team, but You will have to create this team officially before the test starts. We will begin the registration of teams shortly. "

" You will have to make your team's name during registration, and it will appear on the front side of your black cards. Forming teams means the distribution of points, but there are also benefits since you can do much more things as a team to get more points overall. However, the team limit is six people per team. "

" Another thing: Despite forming official teams, You all will be separated and appear at random locations after we teleport you once the test starts. But there is a limit to this land. It's not that big. Now most importantly, Once you attack your teammate, you will be instantly disqualified. "

" Oh, and you are not allowed to summon your chaos beasts or chaotic spirits. If you do that, then you will be instantly disqualified. Only your personal abilities will be assessed so work hard but also work smart to pass the test. "

After saying this, The crimson hair cold beauty, and other envoys descended on the ground.

Though after hearing about this team set-up, Some were slightly dissatisfied. But, Many more participants appeared satisfied and happy.

Tealery, Sen, and Shiromi were pleasantly surprised at this and looked at Athan.

Arcued also looked hopefully at Athan. He wanted to see Athan's glory with his eyes.

Athan nodded with a grin as he naturally didn't mind this because he was confident of passing the test either way.

Anyway, he took in Arcued and Tealery in his team after letting them take the oath for a particular reason he will be working in the future. However, that reason has slightly changed. Previously, He wanted to form an organization that can help him progress faster, but now, this goal has turned grander as he had decided to make the strongest power or more like an Empire with him as the leader.

For now, There were only two members: Arcued and Tealery. But Sen and Shiromi might become part of this team too.

" Alright. We will start the registration now. Once you have decided on the teammates of your team, Come to us for the registration. "

Chapter 403 - New Member-1

At this moment, Athan and others were discussing something.

" So, What do we name our team? " Sen asked.

Tealery thought for a moment and spoke, " How about Team Riot? "

" Nah, That's short and plain. " Sen shook her head.

Shiromi seemed to have thought of something and spoke, " How about Team Prima Alphas. It sounds cool, right? "

Hearing this, Everyone looked at Shiromi with surprise. They didn't expect that Shiromi would come up with such a name with her personality.

But no, Her suggestion was rejected.

Arcued thought for a moment before his eyes lit up, " How about Team Void Dwellers? "

" Void Dwellers? Sounds unique. " Tealery stated with a thoughtful expression.

Sen chuckled and nodded, " I am okay with it. It sounds like we are dwellers of the void. "

Shiromi also smiled as she didn't have any problem with it.

But Athan was slightly speechless because this name was obviously based on him and rejected the suggestion, " Umm...Let's choose another team name? "

" Then you suggest a name. " Sen crossed her hands and asked while raising her eyebrows.

Athan thought for a moment and suggested, " How about Team Order Breaker? "

" No. "

" Sounds boring. "

" Another, please. "

Athan wryly smiled before he gave out another suggestion, " Then how about Team Chaos Bringer? "

" Oh, please. This sounds too boring and plain. " Tealery rolled her eyes before continuing, " Let's just go with Void Dwellers. Everyone agrees with me, right? "

Nobody had a problem, and everyone agreed to have their team name as Void Dwellers.

Just as they were going to the envoy for registration, A person walked towards them.

He appeared strong and muscular. His face was not a human but a furry beast that looked similar to a tiger head. He had dark blue skin with light blue patterns. His forehead had a single horn with veins on it as the veins faintly glowed with lightning blue effects.

There was also a tail behind his back that also cracked with faint blue lightning.

Arriving in front of Athan and the group, he grinned while showing his canines and asked, " Hello, My name is Theo Bazilt. You can call me Theo. Anyway, The reason I approached you is to join your team. Hehehe, So... Can I join your team? You are already five people, so why don't you add one more to make a full team? "

Sen asked with a doubt, " Why our team? "

" Before answering that, I'll tell you all about myself. I am from an ancient clan that has been here for a long time. Many of our Ancestors even went to Upper Chaosverse after reaching the limit here. Unfortunately, We were losing hope about Upper Chaosverse because none of our ancestors came back or even contacted us back. "

Taking a short breath, Theo continued as Athan and others listened with a curious expression since it was about Upper Chaosverse.

" We were starting to think that Upper Chaosverse is a perilous place with no return and only doom awaited us if we go there. But everything changed eight thousand years ago. One ancestor contacted us and told us just one thing. [ The world beyond this Chaosvervse is mystical and perilous. If you are unambitious and just want to live plain life until your lifespan runs out, then stay there and don't come here. ] "

Theo laughed after speaking that with excitement gleaming in his eyes, " Who would want to stay here when there is a higher, more powerful world awaited us that is both mystical and perilous. In the first place, We can't make progress after hitting the wall here. So if we want to get stronger and live longer, we can only go to Upper Chaosverse. "

" Anyway, After that ancestor contacts us, something changed about our clan. People of our clan started to be born with unique abilities related body. And when I was born, I also had something unique about me. "

Pausing there, Theo's eyes changed. One could see a faint tiger-like beast head made of blue lightning inside his eyes.

Sen, Telaery, Athan, and others were slightly surprised seeing that.

" I was born with a unique ability related to my eyes. Apparently, This eye power is known as Lightning Predatory, and It has gotten a lot stronger over time since it first appeared. "

Saying this, Theo looked at Athan with a grin, " My eye power can mark someone as prey for me so that I can hunt that prey. I won't go into details of this power, but when I tried to mark you, I felt a threat to my life.

Now that is strange because...Hahaha, I can be considered one of the most powerful among people present here since I reached Orderic Catastrophe four years and six months ago and have made great progress since then. Surely, there must be people powerful than me here, but the threat I got from you after marking you was as if I marked someone of Zen order powerhouse. The threat was direct, ruthless, and with no hope of me surviving. This is the reason I want to join your team. "

Hearing everything that Theo said, Sen and others were surprised but felt that it was expected after hearing about Theo's eye power.

Arcued stepped forward with a broad smile and patted Theo's shoulder, " Hahaha, Not bad. You are talented. To know the greatness of Athan already makes you superior above everyone else here. "

Theo was speechless while Sen, Tealery, and Shiromi wryly smiled.

' Sigh...' Athan wanted to facepalm himself hearing the blabbering of Arcued, ' Just what happened to him that he changed like this? Is it because I helped him break through? But it sounds a bit too stretched if that's the only reason...Something must have happened. To change the core personality like this, it should have something to do with his soul, and the only thing I did was to provide pure soul power to his soul. Hmmm...Maybe that should be the trigger that made him like this. '

Shaking his head, He stopped thinking about it since it was a good thing. He could feel pure loyalty from Arcued. This was something like...If he shared any kind of his secret with Arcued and by chance, Arcued got caught, then with his current loyalty, He would rather kill himself or do something to his own soul such that he won't speak out his secret.

Naturally, there wasn't any secret to be shared since Athan didn't have any valuable thing on him. But he definitely appreciated someone like Arcued, who borderline worshipped him if he wants to create a power that stands at a peak.

" What do you think, Athan? Do we let Theo join our team? " Shiromi asked Athan.

Athan looked at Theo with a grin before speaking, " You look like someone who has a tough will and rock-solid determination. How about I test you a little? "

" Bring it on! " Theo laughed as he took a weird stance as if he was going to pounce on someone, " Don't mind this stance since It's my habit. "

He knew that since the fight was not allowed here, Athan would test him in some other way, but this stance was just his habit, so he instinctively took the stance of fighting.

Chapter 404 - [Bonus ] New Member-2, Nightmare Begins.

" Alright. Be prepared. " Saying this, Athan's eyes changed as a streak of black and white flashed for a brief moment.

' Gaze of Void. '

Instantly, Theo jumped several meters back instinctively, but he didn't escape the terrifying beastly shadow appearing in his mind.

Sen and others were confused as to what just happened. They didn't see Athan doing anything, but Theo jumped back as if encountering a monster.

Inside his mind, He was in the form of a majestic dark blue tiger with white and light blue patterns, but the majestic aura was gone as he looked fearfully at the horrific beastly head that was ten times his size and was ready to devour him whole.

His whole body trembled as sweat appeared like a waterfall. But He didn't fall down. He was scared, but he didn't want to give up.

But this slight commotion attracted surrounding people, and some instantly recognized Theo.

" Hey, Isn't that genius from Bazilt clan, Theo? Their clan is one of the top power in the Gazitreem Continent. "

" Indeed. But his situation seems weird; There's a panicked and a scared look on his face. "

" Damn..He is sweating buckets. What's going on? Someone attacked him with a soul technique or what? "

Athan didn't want to make a scene here, so he just used his Gaze of Void for an instant and then deactivated it.

Theo suddenly regained his bearing after the monster disappeared from his head and heaved a huge sigh of relief while wiping the sweat from his face.

Looking at Athan standing a bit far away, He thought, ' Hell Yeah! My guess was right. This guy is a fucking monster. Hehehe, It looks like this test will be even more interesting than I thought. '

But this commotion attracted the attention of an Envoy as she arrived in front of Theo to inquire, " What happened, boy? Did someone attack you or what? It's strange because generally, Even soul attacks can't go undetected here. What happened? "

This envoy was none other than the blue wavy-haired big sister.

Theo scratched the back of his head as he just laughed, " Nobody attacked me. I was just practicing an unusual technique, and this happened. "

" Hmm...If that's the case, then it's fine. " She nodded and returned but didn't forget to take a glance at Athan and the group.

Afterward, Theo approached Athan and the group before asking with a grin, " So, Athan? Can I join the team now? "

" Well, Your response was not bad, and you didn't give up. Good. You're in. "

After that, They went to register their team name by approaching an envoy.

The envoy asked for the team name, and after that, The envoy did something to the cards as the front of their cards changed.

[ Void Dwellers ] Appeared in golden fonts on their card.

" Remember. You are not allowed to attack your teammates. If you do so, then you will be instantly disqualified. "

Athan, Shiromi, Sen, and others nodded before returning to their place.

There were still people registering, so they will have to wait for some more time before the test begins.

After a while, The crimson-haired cold beauty spoke in a loud voice that spread far and wide, " We will start the test thirty minutes later. So if you want to form teams, then do it fast. "

...

Thirty minutes passed in the blink of them as Athan and others talk about something.

" Alright. Now stand still as after exact three seconds, You will be teleported beyond the border. Gather points according to four methods and try and find new things as there are hidden ways to gather points. "

After speaking this, The crimson-haired cold beauty took out something from her storage ring. This thing looked like a small wooden totem with mystical wood of silver and green color attached to its sides.

This thing shined for a brief moment as the two square kilometer area was enveloped within a barrier.

Athan saw the barrier and felt space fluctuate before he felt a pull that he didn't resist and appeared at another location.

This place had thunder pools, Thunder trees, and the sky was also filled with thunder clouds.

Athan swept his glance in all directions and saw a building-like structure far away.

" It looks like my luck is good. " Athan grinned with his eyes gleaming excitedly that thirsted for battle.

Instantly activating the chaos matrix, He transformed his body into Chaotic-Body: Lightning Dust and flew towards that place which he guessed to be a so-called stronghold.

...

Outside, The people gathered saw the giant cloudy screen flash for a moment before it was sectioned into hundred parts that displayed hundred different participants.

One of the sections also displayed Athan as he moved towards the stronghold.

...

On the other hand, Every envoy's demeanor changed as they took out tables, chairs, and food before talking with one another while observing all participants on a different cloud screen that formed in front of them after the test started.

" Brother, Azilias. Will we be able to see something interesting in this test? "

" Bah, Who knows? Honestly, I just want to be done with this test and return to my Hill. I told them that I didn't want to become an envoy, but I was forced to become one. I would rather train myself there instead of coming here. "

On the other hand, The cold beauty with crimson hair looked at the blue wavy-haired beauty and asked, " Say Rukia, What was that small commotion? "

Rukia grinned as she licked her lips, " I found something interesting, Rezy. Do you see that boy? The one with a pretty face and mysterious eyes. "

Rezy followed the hand of Rukia and soon found the person she was referring to, " What about him? "

" Giggles. He is interesting. I think he will show us some interesting things. "

Rezy didn't know what interesting thing would he show them, but she took note of Athan.

Though none of them knew that what they will see will be far from interesting...It will be a nightmare.

Chapter 405 - Infiltrating, First Experiment-Voidlings With Chaotic Powers.

Athan neared the stronghold and saw four giant beasts flying around the big stronghold.

" So this is the stronghold. There should be some beasts on the ground and inside too. " Athan muttered and descended from the sky lest the beasts sense him.

After descending, He took out his weapon: Blanoir, The hell shredder.

Now that he reached Orderic Catastrophe, He can finally use this chakram wheel weapon.

He infused his order force into this giant chakram wheel before splitting it up into two large disks.

He grabbed the handles in the middle of the disk before a gleam flashed in his eyes, and a mask appeared over his face.

Just as this cool black mask with a dreamy white pattern appeared on his face, His aura vanished, and his presence disappeared. Though the real application behind this is that, His body was completed sealed off such that nothing can come out from his body and nothing can invade his body like the soul sense of others or similar sensing techniques.

Now, if someone scanned this area with their soul sense or any other techniques, They wouldn't discover Athan at all.

But He didn't become invisible, so if someone saw him physically with naked eyes, they could see him.

" Body order technique: Chemo Bend. "

He used a body order technique that he " borrowed " from Ayurin. This technique didn't have any offensive power nor any defensive power.

But this Order technique can blend his body into the surroundings such that he becomes invisible to the normal naked eyes. Combining this technique with his void mask will make him completely invisible, both physically and spiritually.

' Ehh...It looks like I can't conceal the aura of chakrams. Never mind, I'll take them out when attacking. For now, I need to assess the situation at the stronghold. '

Thinking of that, Athan once again flew towards the stronghold using Lightning Dust, ' I really need a flying technique. Unfortunately, even Ayurin didn't possess one at that time. '

After a while, He arrived at the stronghold and was just ten meters away from the flying beasts guarding the stronghold in the sky.

He looked below and saw another four chaos beasts that guarded the stronghold on the ground.

' That envoy specifically mentioned that we have to work together to destroy the strongholds thoroughly, and the points will be distributed based on an individual's contribution. Hmmm...Thoroughly means we have to completely eliminate all the monsters and destroy those walls, buildings, and watchtowers. '

Athan thought as he looked at the big stronghold that looked like a small village. Since they were told to bring down strongholds by working together, They ought to be very powerful.

After thinking about it for a while, He decided to infiltrate the stronghold silently. The four flying beasts that looked like dark emerald lions with wings were no problem to him, but...

As he moved towards the gate on the ground, He saw four minotaurs-like monsters with two heads standing guard closely. They wore rock armor and held a rocky halberd in their hands.

This was the only entrance because the whole stronghold was covered in a barrier except for this entrance. There would be a commotion if he tried to break the barrier, so he moved towards the entrance silently.

He floated one meter above the ground while moving forward. The monsters were just in front of him, but they didn't seem to notice him at all.

...

Outside, Many people were surprised at seeing a particular screen section. This screen displayed the same stronghold that Athan infiltered, but the person-focused on the screen was not Athan.

" What kind of technique is that? He silently passed through the wall of the stronghold without alerting anyone. That's impressive. "

" Indeed. But if he messed up, then he will be ganged up by the monsters inside the stronghold and die. "

" Look! Another person beside him is entering the same stronghold. His method is equally good, if not better. He walked into the entrance in front of the guardian beasts, but none of them noticed him. Damn. "

" What are you smoking? After he used his technique, We also can't see him anymore. However, We can guess it since the black card on him is being used to trace his moments, and currently, it's showing us the entrance closing on us, which means that he is entering inside. "

" Let's see what will happen now. These two are the only ones who dared to confront a stronghold alone for now while other participants are still wandering. "

...

After Athan went inside the stronghold, He saw many humanoid monsters in armor. This stronghold was basically like a barracks as there were various humanoid monsters with weapons and armors inside as they appeared ready to battle anytime. The number of beasts was approximately thirty-two if he included the two beasts standing on the watchtower with a giant redwood cannon with orange patterns.

' Each one has a powerful aura comparable to Early-stage 4-star beasts. If all of them attacked me at once, then...it would spell bad news.'

Athan thought, and after thinking for a moment, He decided to check out the four buildings inside the stronghold.

He walked towards one of the buildings and found that all it contained were weapons and armors. He then checked the other building, and it contained large red cannonballs with bright orange patterns. There was also a chaos portal in this building.

' This chaos portal might be connected to another chaos portal on the watchtowers. I don't know the firepower of those cannons, but it certainly looks dangerous due to their big size. But hehehe...I got a superb Idea seeing the cannonballs. If their firepower is good enough, then this will be a piece of cake. '

He then waved his hand and released two very small worms from his hand. The worms had a black body made from abyssal darkness and white patterns made from voidpulses.

' First experiment regarding Voidlings. Let's see if it works. ' Thinking of this, Athan pointed his fingers at the two worms floating in front of him and released a very thin thread of voidpulse.

He embedded this thread into the worms to create another pattern on their body before closing his eyes and focusing, ' Order of the Lightning Dust...Transform. '

The pattern of the thread slowly turned bright yellow with light brown sparks in them.

Athan was entirely focusing as he didn't want to mess up here. If something went wrong, then he would instantly transport those two worms into his void region.

But his concerns were unfounded as he succeeded in the experiments. He looked at the two worms that now had an additional pattern of Lightning dust on its body.

Athan then commanded the worms to stay near one cannonball and left this building.

He went to check another build that also contained cannonballs but was surprised to sense someone's presence, ' Not a bad concealing technique, but how did he appear here? '

In front of Athan was a human who wore leather armor and tight clothes. He had dark green hair and looked slim and tall. He was currently checking out the cannonballs in this building.

' Anyway, He is an unfortunate soul since he is here. '

Chapter 406 - YOU F---ING MADMAN.

But He didn't reveal himself and just very slowly entered inside the building while floating a few centimeters above the ground.

He pointed his two fingers towards the ground and released two Voidlings-worms.

He then did the same thing as previously and released a thread of voidpulse and embedded them into the worm's body before transforming them into chaotic power-lightning dust.

But at this moment, Due to transforming voidpulse into lightning dust, The other person in the building instantly sensed its aura in this silent building and looked in Athan's direction.

He revealed doubt because he couldn't see anyone here. But after narrowing his eyes, He saw two tiny worms floating in the air as they wriggled about and thought, ' Why are worms floating? Wait...Why are there worms in the first place? '

At this moment, Athan deactivated his Chemo Bend order technique and grinned at the person, " Good luck. "

Right after saying that, Athan snapped his finger.

Just as he snapped his finger, The two worms in the other building exploded into a small explosion, but that small explosion was enough to trigger one cannonball that was near it.

*BOOOOOM*

Though the big blast of this one cannonball triggered all other cannonballs, Huge blasts started to occur, and the whole building was destroyed.

But the blast continued as their power spread far and wide as more and more cannonballs triggered.

...

A few moments earlier...

Right after Athan snapped his finger, The person in front of him had his face changed into a shock.

But Athan was not idle as he pointed his finger at one cannonball and used an order technique, " Point Zero Bombardment. "

He used it as its minimum power as a small point was materialized near the blast before tremendous and compact lightning dust chaotic power burst out from that point.

" YOU FUCKING MADMAN! "

The green-haired boy cursed as he used his quota of Immortal Aegis Runic Ward to get absolute protection for two seconds.

But he was dumbfounded when he saw Athan not doing the same, ' Hehe. DIE, FOOL. '

Athan just grinned at him as he covered himself in his bony armor and used two defensive order techniques.

The first one was the Spiraling cave of no return as he conjured several spiraling holes around him, and then he used the Quadic Tower Protection order technique that conjured a solid tower of Aegis Starwood chaotic power nature that covered him.

[ Quadic Tower Protection ]

- Covers himself into a solid tower with impressive defense. There are four different layers of protection inside the tower for better protection against different kinds of attacks.

He wanted to use the third technique too, but a powerful impact hit his defense, and he was blasted out from the building and his Quadic Tower was also destroyed.

' Shit...'

He hurriedly used abyssal darkness and consumed all of his voidpulse to create a solid cover as tremendous and horrifying energy impacted him.

*Boooooooooooom.....*

*Booooooooom...*

*Booooooom...*

*Boooooooooooooooooooooooom....*

*Blast...BANG! *

He hit the stronghold's wall before blasting through it and landed on the ground with a boom.

' I didn't want to use abyssal darkness, but I suppose there's no other choice if the explosions of those cannonballs contain this much power. Hmmm...Glad that the fifty percent of abyssal darkness of my current reserve was enough to keep me alive. '

Athan spewed a mouthful of blood as his bones were broken and organs were in a mess.

But he started to recover while focusing on the state of the stronghold.

These compact blasts of cannonballs superimposing on each other created horrifying energy waves that destroyed the entire stronghold and killed everyone inside it. After the first blast, Those four flying beasts' attention was attracted, and they swooped down into the stronghold, but it was their last mistake.

The green-haired person wanted to cry, but no tears came out. He had to use his second quota of immortal aegis runic ward because the blast lasted more than two seconds, and he was utterly not confident of his defensive techniques to keep him safe amidst this terrifying situation.

' I, Gidolynn, swear that I will kill that fucking madman!! Huuu...' Taking a deep breath, He thought, ' He didn't use his quota of protection first, but he should have used it a moment later after realizing the magnitude of these blasts. He should have survived, but his condition must be bad because he must have suffered injuries initially. '

The blasts were subsided, and only destructive energies were left in the atmosphere. Gidolynn started walking towards the direction where he saw Athan blasting away.

After a while, He saw Athan lying on the ground with the bloodied body, ' What's with his clothes? They are not shredded, but blood is passing through them. '

Shaking his head, He threw out useless thoughts as he viciously looked at Athan, " You bastard. Because of you, I wasted my two immortal aegis runic ward's quotas. Now how do I survive for the next three months? "

Athan's eyes were closed because he was focusing on healing. He also noticed this guy coming towards him but didn't pay attention to him.

Though after hearing what he said, He opened his eyes and glanced at him coldly.

His bones had patched up, but there were still cracks on them. Despite that, He released a blast of Skyline blow from his hand on the ground and put pressure on his legs to jump up slightly before gaining a foothold as he stood as valiant as a mountain.

Gidolynn was dumbfounded. Not just him but all other watching this scene were shocked that Athan stood up despite his injuries.

" Coward. You became a loser the moment you decided to rely on the Immortal Aegis Runic Ward to survive the next three months here. " Athan slowly walked towards him with his eyes cold and stood just a meter away from him. His overbearing voice thundered Gidolynn and the spectators watching.

A stifling pressure covered Gidolynn as he looked at Athan, ' What the...I am not injured at all while he is full of injuries. I can definitely kill him! '

Athan saw intent to kill in Gidolynn's eyes as he grinned with his eyes gleaming black and white, " Kneel. "

This time, Athan didn't hold back and used more of his soul energy and put more pressure by using his soul sense.

Gidolynn felt suffocation both physically and mentally as his knees gave in, and he fell down on his knees with a thud before he could attack Athan.

He saw a nightmarish beastly head with terrifying white teeth that made it look even more creepy inside his head.

" Weak. " Athan muttered with his expression changing into an indifferent one.

Pointing his finger at Gidolynn, He released a Voidling-Tiger, " Eat him. "

*Rawr...*

Afterward, Athan looked at the back of his card to check his points and saw a four-digit number.

[ 4350 Points. ]

The first name also appeared on the leaderboard.

Athan Void - 4350 Points.

" Now, let's take some rest to recover energies. " Muttering this, Athan swept his gaze at the surroundings before moving towards a thunder tree. More specifically, A cave near that thunder tree.

...

The ten envoys became silent after watching this scene.

But Rezy broke the silence shortly as she asked, " Who was in charge of setting up strongholds? "

A fishhead envoy with two sharp fings growing out of his back responded, " It was me. "

" Blackfinn. Go right now and change all strongholds that are similar to the one that just got blasted apart. "

Blackfinn frowned and asked, " There are not many strongholds with a similar setup like that one. Is it really necessary? "

Rezy nodded with a thoughtful expression, " Yep. It's necessary. If someone like Athan and that Gidolynn encountered a similar stronghold, they would try to blast it from inside using the power of cannonballs to get many points at once. "

Rukia smiled and nodded in agreement, " That Athan had planned well as he created those little worms with his strange power like a time bomb. I bet his original plan was to escape after planting those worms, and after he gets out, He can trigger the worms to explode the whole stronghold. "

" Alright. I'll go and change those strongholds into something different. "

Blackfinn waved his right hand and opened a portal bearing entering inside.

Rukia looked at Rezy and asked, " Interesting, right? "

Rezy's attention was on the screen of Athan and nodded after hearing Rukia, " Indeed. That power to conjure beasts and doing those things...Those were interesting indeed. He seems to have a unique physique cause of how he flew without using any order technique. His body literally changed its fundamental structure. "

Rukia nodded as she also turned her attention to Athan as a smile of temptress formed on her beautiful face, " I like wild ones like him. Hehehe, Let's hope he passes so that I can recruit him to the Roseblade Hill faction. "

Rezy's eyebrows twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Chapter 407 - Tealery And Her Inner Thoughts.

Fifteen days passed since the test started, but Athan didn't encounter any of his team members.

In the past fifteen days, He encountered many monsters that directly attacked him. Naturally, He defeated all of them with ease and got points.

He was still at the no.1 on the leaderboard with 6870 points.

The no.2 had 2890 points.

Athan didn't know, but no.7 in the leaderboard is Theo with 2180 points.

Shiromi is at No. 34, while there are no names of Tealery and Aruced in the Top 50.

...

At this time, Athan was flying in a random direction where he suddenly felt energy waves and sped up.

" Tealery? "

Athan muttered as he dashed forward to help Tealery, who was sieged by two monsters.

Athan pointed his palm at one monster that looked like a grotesque, giant worm and muttered, " Point Zero Bombardment- Twenty Points. "

At this moment, Twenty small points appeared around The worm, and before it could go underground, The twenty points burst out terrifying condense explosions that blasted the giant worm into pieces.

" Athan!..." Tealery looked at Athan with an excited expression because she finally met one of the team members, and It was Athan nonetheless, ' It's my chance. '

Tealery looked at the other crocodile-like monster that had two large and powerful-looking tails. This beast was going to attack her, but Tealery turned resolute as she circulated energy inside her hurridly.

But the monster was fast, so she had to dodge, which she did barely before releasing her one of the most powerful techniques, " Rose of Destruction. "

Dark orange energy burst out around her body before she pushed both of her hands forward and executed her technique.

*Shreeeeeeeeeeee....*

The energy took the form of a giant Rose that first released vines that wrapped around the monster.

After that, the Rose struck the monster with the support of vines. The crocodile beast struggled but couldn't get out as Tealery was supporting this technique even after executing it by providing more energy.

Athan watched quietly and didn't help because if he did, then points will be shared based on contribution, ' That monster...From its aura, It's a Medium stage 4-star beast. But that technique of Tealery is interesting...'

The giant Rose started shrinking after it struck the monster before strange patterns appeared all over the monster's body.

*Grarrrrrrrrrrrr....*

The two-tailed crocodile howled in pain, but its red eyes were focused at Tealery as it still tried to attack her.

But...

*BOOOOOOOOOM...*

The final part of Tealery's technique succeeded as the crocodile was blasted into pieces.

Tealery looked at Athan with a smile and an expression that askes, ' Hehe...That was good, right? '

Athan grinned and nodded, " That was good. "

Tealery was startled, ' Did he read my mind? Of course, that's impossible. '

Naturally, It was impossible. Athan just said it because the way she killed the monster was...good.

" How many points you got? " Athan asked after descending.

Tealery's happy smile turned into a sad one as she showed the back of her card to Athan, " I had 1290 points before killing that monster. But I got 200 after killing it so now I have 1490 points. "

After that, She sighed while shaking her head, " I also had to use one quota of Immortal Aegis Runic Ward to save myself. With the way things are...It's going to be super hard to get into the top 50. "

Athan frowned hearing that and spoke, " That won't do. Hmm....Let's work hard and gather more points. "

" Oh yeah. How many points did you get? "

" 6980. That monster just gave me 100 points. " Athan spoke while displaying his card to Tealery.

Tealery was shell-shocked at the difference between their points, " What the...This difference is just too big. What did you do to get so many points? "

" Not much. I just destroyed a stronghold, not with my own power but by using the power of the stronghold itself. Oh...And take this. "

Athan suddenly remembered about the weapons and took out the bow and a rough-looking slate to her.

" I was going to give you this weapon earlier but forgot about it. It's currently in a sealed state, but it will unseal once you infuse your order force in it. "

Tealery excitedly looked at the bow and infuse order force into it as a powerful aura revealed itself on the bow.

" High-grade 4-star Weapon! " Tealery couldn't help but squeak after seeing the true grade of the weapon and looked at Athan with shining eyes.

" Thank you so much, Athan. I had an early-stage 4-star weapon that my father gave me, but it just broke two days ago as a high-stage 4-star chaos beast attacked me. I had to sacrifice my weapon and a quota of Immortal Aegis Runic Ward to escape. " Tealery spoke with gratefulness and really wanted to take this chance to hug Athan.

' Nevermind. What if he doesn't like it and shove me away? If that happened, Things would become awkward between us. '

Athan nodded with a faint smile, " It's okay. Now check out that slate too. It's a Bow-type Weapon order technique. "

" What! " Tealery was shocked and hurriedly looked at the slate before using her soul sense in the slate.

" It's really a Bow-type Weapon order technique!! " Tealery felt shocked as to how Athan casually gave a high-grade 4-star weapon and a weapon order technique too.

They are damn expensive!! Especially the weapon order technique.

Tealery became emotional as she looked at Athan, ' Could it be that he did this because he likes me? But...His eyes and demeanor don't play such things. '

Seeing Tealery like that, Athan wryly smiled, " It's ok. You don't need to be too grateful about this. I also gave Arcued and Shiromi the same. Since you are in my team, then there's only benefit if you all get stronger. "

Tealery was stunned hearing that as she internally scolded herself, ' You stupid Tealery...phew. Thankfully I didn't take any actions due to my emotion, or it would be such an awkward thing. '

She shook her head and changed the subject, " Let's go to a stronghold. I encountered one earlier, and some people were planning to attack it. They also invited me, but I rejected them since I wanted to find our team first, and It didn't look like I would get many points if I joined them since my strength was way lower than theirs. "

Athan became interesting and grinned, " And here I was trying to find a stronghold. My luck seems bad cause I didn't find one since the one I found on the first day. "

" Then let's go there? "

" Of course. Hahaha. "

Athan and Tealery moved towards a direction in this region filled with ice storms, snow trees, ice mountains, etc.

On the way, they encountered a person but seeing Athan and Tealery two people, He made a beeline and ran away.

While running, He thought, ' That girl didn't have much catastrophic aura on her which means that she didn't complete her first phase of catastrophe. But I couldn't check that guy. Hmm...He must have a powerful masking technique but why would he keep it active while moving? Wouldn't it consume more energy? Strange guy. '

But before they could reach the stronghold, They saw a fight ahead after following the energy waves.

Chapter 408 - Nightmare Begins-0

Arcued was fighting with a serious and resolute expression with a dagger in his one hand and a small round shield in his second hand.

Naturally, That dagger was the high-grade 4-star weapon that Athan gave him. After reaching Orderic Catastrophe, He was able to use its full power.

But He was fighting against a high-stage 4-star monster and was barely hanging.

That monster looked like a rabbit+kangaroo but with explosive muscles and stood like a kangaroo. It had two explosive tails and four muscled hands.

Arcued dodged the attack and used his techniques to defend himself before getting behind the rabbit and using an order technique which he released from his dagger, " Severam Circle-First mark. "

A circular mark with patterns on it appeared on the monster's back, but it endured and cried before kicking Arcued with its legs.

Arcued was ready to defend as she put forward his shield and used another order technique, " Cloudly Faust. "

A dark pink cloud materialized.

*Swooooosh...Boom..*

Arcued got flung back like a bullet leaving from a gun's muzzle and smacked into an icy tree before breaking it and hitting a snowy hill.

*blerrghhh....*

After puking a mouthful of blood, He removed himself from the icy hill, ' Damn! This technique is good, but the rebound is scary. '

He purposefully used that kind of technique to make the distance between him and the monster. Cloud Faust is a technique that can absorb the power of an attack but still be sent back to the user in a scattering form. Naturally, This only works if there are no blocks behind the user to get flung back.

If Arcued was cornered, then he would have died. But since there was vast ground behind him, He used this technique to get tremendous flinging power to flung himself backward to create distance.

' To complete this 5-star technique, I still need to hit that monster with a second and third mark of Severam Circle. '

Arcued thought as he waited for the monster to come here while preparing a trap.

' Essence order technique, Snubbing Needles. '

' Essence Order technique, Vines of Bites. '

' Let's hope that these two techniques can impair the monster for enough time such that I can hit it with two more marks. '

Arcued was planning his fight, but he didn't know that Athan and Tealery were observing him since Athan decided to observe him first instead of helping him. Athan and Tealery were currently hidden on top of a small hill since Athan could also use his lightning dust to levitate Tealery.

" Say Athan, will he really be able to kill that monster? It's a high-stage 4-star beast. Strength-wise, It's more powerful than Arcued. "

Hearing the question of Tealery, Athan just smiled and continued to look at Arcued.

" If he succeeded in his plan, then he can kill that monster. Don't forget; we can learn powerful and complicated techniques while these mindless monsters can't do that. They might be able to use their chaotic powers with order force differently, just like how we use our techniques. But the monsters in this test are slightly weird without not much intelligence. "

Pausing there, Athan grinned, " What's more, Arcued is currently trying something different. He is using the Weapon order technique of dagger along with his own order technique. I know that since I took a look at all weapon order techniques after I got those slates. "

Tealery was surprised, " You mean Arcued succeeded in creating a RenKen order technique? "

" Well. That seems to be the case. He was saying that he has a high affinity with daggers, and in the last fifteen days, He might have gotten some epiphany related to it while fighting, which enabled him to create a RenKen order technique. " Athan stated with a thoughtful expression while observing Arcued.

At this time, The monster also reached Arcued before falling into the trap.

Arcued didn't waste time as he hurridly hit the monster while barely dodging its two explosive tails that tried to hit Arcued. He had to prepare for some time before putting the mark, so he also can't rapidly put the marks on the monster.

Since the rabbit was trapped, He managed to put the second mark but just when he was going to use the third mark after preparing, the left foot of the rabbit broke the vines wrapping around it before hitting Arcued.

Arcued's face changed, ' This foot...It's shining. If I get hit by it, then I'm done for. I need to dodge it. '

As this thought appeared in his mind, his expression turned resolute as he detonated his shield on his right side before the foot could hit him.

The blast slightly flung Arcued to the left side, and that allowed him to dodge the foot.

At this time, The monster broke free from the traps and faced Arcued.

But Arcued smiled with bloody teeth and spoke, " Die, Monster. "

While he was flung to the left side, He had hit the rabbit's ass and put a mark there.

*Kreeeeeeeeeeee...BOOOOOM...*

*Screeeeeeeeee....*

The monster cried in pain as several slashes appeared on its before that started to cut it.

It was cut into two while its back became a mangle of meat, but it seems that the tenacity of this monster was high, and it still attacked Arcued.

' Damn! So that technique wasn't enough to finish off the monster? It looks like I need to refine it more since it also consumed forty percent of my current order force reserve. '

But since the monster was injured, Arcued could dodge it easily and finished it off by cutting its head with the dagger.

Arcued received three hundred points for killing that monster. Seeing this, He knew about the point that beasts of each stage give.

Early-stage 4-star beasts-100 points.

Mid-stage 4-star beasts- 200 points.

High-stage 4-star beasts- 300 points.

" Not bad, Arcued. But you still need to practice more. I can at least kill a high-stage beast with my fully prepared technique. "

Tealery spoke with a grin as she descended with Athan.

Arcued was startled and turned around after hearing the familiar voice, " Emperor! "

Arcued eyes changed as he approached Athan with a bright smile.

Tealery was speechless, but so was Athan as he wryly smiled, " Heal your injuries first. And stop addressing me like that. "

Arcued became serious and nodded, " As you wish. "

He then sat down and took out a blood-recovery pill before healing himself.

Athan raised his eyebrows after seeing that and pointed his index finger at Arcued before releasing a thread of voidpulse to heal the most serious internal damage in Arcued's body.

After an hour, Arcued got up with full recovery and looked at Athan with a smile, " Emp..err, Athan. So what do we do now? "

" Tealery knows the location of a stronghold, so we will be going there. " Athan replied before asking Arcued, " How many points do you have? "

" 1360 after killing that monster. It was the first time I killed a high-grade 4-star beast. " Arcued presented his card to Athan and spoke with a slight disappointment that he felt in himself. He knew that Athan would have far higher points than him. That was his belief.

' I have to keep up with him! '

Athan frowned after seeing Arcued points, ' Too low. What's the point in helping them if they can't pass the test? Hmmm...But they are trustworthy, especially Arcued. '

After thinking for a few moments, Athan thought of an idea and grinned, ' Hehehe...It looks like that's the one choice. '

" You two! Let's go towards the stronghold. "

Seeing that expression and grin of Athan, Tealery and Arcued slightly trembled thought, ' What did he think of in that short time that he formed this familiar yet terrifying expression? '

The idea that Athan thought is going to become a nightmare for many people.

Though they just nodded at Athan before moving in a certain direction. Arcued also knew of a stronghold, but after sharing details with Tealery, It appeared that both knew about the same stronghold.

" It looks like we passed by each other. When did you discover that stronghold? " Tealery asked while running.

" I discovered it yesterday. " Arcued replied without changing his gaze as he focused on the front.

Athan was following behind them and spoke, " When we are one kilometer away from the stronghold, stop running. From that point, We will go incognito by using camouflage-type techniques. "

Chapter 409 - Nightmare Begins-1

Athan, Tealery, and Arcued were watching the large-scale battle happening at the stronghold while hiding in the bushes.

" This stronghold is quite different than the one I destroyed. " Athan spoke while looking at the stronghold.

This stronghold had monsters like orcs, minotaurs with melee weapons, and long-ranged weapons like bows and spears. Their weapons were imbued with random chaotic powers that appeared deadly.

" Damn! If I got hit by them without defense, then I would be dead in a second. " Arcued muttered while wiping the sweat.

Tealery also nodded in agreement with Arcued as a severe expression formed on her face.

Athan thought for a moment before his lips curled into a grin, " You two. Attack those monsters however you want and take care of yourself. This is your test. Attack and Survive. If you're going to pass this test, then show me your resolve. "

Tealery and Arcued gulped, but they didn't want to give up. After coming this far and training hard for the last five years, They definitely wanted to join the Ancient Power, Chaos Monolith Hills.

Especially Arcued, who readily turned determined, ' If I want to see Athan in his glory, I will have to follow him. I can't be left behind. '

Tealery also turned determined, but she caught onto something and asked, " What about you, Athan? From the way you spoke, It seems that you are not coming with us? "

" Correct. Now go. Now that we have met, we can confirm our location through the contact card. " After saying this, Athan stood up and moved towards the stronghold with the giant chakrams in his hands.

He infused order force into them as the chakram lit up in dreadful orange flame, but Athan also added a layer of black aura after consuming twenty percent of his abyssal darkness.

This current 20% of his abyssal darkness was like 80% of his abyssal darkness before coming out of his cacoon.

He also activated the chaos matrix as he put all three chaotic powers into the Void Pyramid.

He also brought his stash of chaos stones on top of the chaos curtain where his umbrella storage was situated in his void region.

Now he wouldn't run out of chaos force as long as he has chaos stones. And the number of chaos stones he has is 1,143,000.

' No need to consume order force for defensive technique unless absolutely necessary. My Chaos body-Aegis Starwood can defend against attacks, and I will make my body layer thicker by consuming more chaos force. Let's see how my current stash of chaos stones last hehehe. '

Athan activated his body chaos trait, The Giant, with a deviant grin on his face and became a twelve-meter tall giant. After that, His body turned dreamy emerald green with the silver pattern as he turned his body into Chaos Body-Aegis Starwood.

With two chakrams in his hand that actually appeared normal-sized now that he became a giant, He dashed forward before throwing his chakrams.

*Zoooooooooom..*

The chakram tore through the air as they hit the orc who was attacking a person, and result...

The orc separated into four pieces before dying instantly.

+250 points

This was the power of his chakram's chaotic power + abyssal darkness.

"Tha-"

The person turned around to thank his savior but saw a giant standing right behind him and catching the chakram that returned to him.

He gulped seeing this emerald giant with silver patterns and wondered what race was this? At least, He had never seen a race with a body like this.

" T-thank you, br...err...Mister? "

Athan grinned and kicked him as the person flew in the middle of the battlefield.

The poor man didn't know why he got kicked, but he became busy defending himself while cursing Athan in his mind.

Athan easily attracted the attention of monsters as two monsters attacked him, but Athan let their weapon hit him to check his defense.

Of course, He activated his Jadeite Skelendrom-Thorn mail body chaos trait and formed another layer of Aegis Starwood over it by consuming chaos force.

The two orcs roared with red eyes as their giant halberd hit Athan's back and shoulder.

*Crackk.....*

*Craccckkkk....*

Cracks appeared on his shoulder and back, but they started to recover due to the two properties of Aegis Starwood: Self-Recovery and Healing.

On top of that, His body's natural healing factor also kicked in, which helped in the recovery of cracks.

Athan smiled at the two orcs, who were stunned despite their mad red eyes because their attacks failed to create the impact they expected.

Athan grabbed one orc by his wrist and tried to throw it, but...

' Urg...It looks like my physical strength is still lacking. Whatever...I can just slice them with my chakrams. '

Before the orcs could attack again, Athan activated the Weapon order technique for the first time to kill the orcs speedily.

" Shadow Shredding of Hell "

Several shadows of the same chakrams appeared as Athan waved his chakrams towards the two orcs.

*Roarrrrrrrr....*

Unfortunately, The weapon order technique didn't wound the orcs that much as they only created superficial wounds at best.

At this time, The orcs attacked Athan again, and their speed was fast, so Athan didn't dodge and took their attacks head-on once again.

But right after that, He threw his chakrams towards the necks of the orcs and beheaded both of them.

+400 points

*Swoooooosh...*

" Dang. That was good. " Athan looked in his chest, and a spear pierced through him behind his back.

Turned around, He saw an ape-like monster on top of the stronghold's watchtower looking at him with red eyes and ready to throw another spear.

" No, you won't, monkey. "

Athan grinned and jumped up before accelerating with Lightning Dust releasing from the soles of his feet.

Naturally, He just wanted to get into the fifty-meters range so that he can use his order technique.

" Point Zero Bombardment-twenty points. "

*BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...*....

+300 points

After that, He floated in the air and slowly descended after removing the spear from his chest.

From what he observed while he was in the air, There were nineteen participants and thirty-one monsters fighting on the ground. While in the sky, There were four beasts, and they were engaged in combat with four people who had flying order techniques. There were also three beasts on the watchtowers of the stronghold that threw spears and arrows.

" It looks like the fight just started since there are only eight corpses of monsters, including the ones I killed. "

Arcued and Tealery were at the periphery and were fighting two monsters.

Athan couldn't remain idle as there were more monsters than the participants, and due to his big size, He was targetted again.

With a grin, He coated the spear with a slight aura of abyssal darkness and threw it towards...a person who had a goat head and a muscular body that was engaged in combat with a monster.

He ignored the person he attacked after that that as the monsters engaged him.

He barely dodged one monster's attack while took a hit of another. But after that, He shredded them with his chakrams but saw that only a faint aura of abyssal darkness remained.

+500

" So far, I killed five monsters with the chakrams. Now from the remaining aura of the abyssal darkness, I can kill three more. So that means with 20% of my abyssal darkness, I can kill eight monsters. Hmmm...That's bad. I expected to kill more with 20%, but their thick and powerful body is consuming more abyssal darkness. "

Athan muttered as he prepared to kill more monsters while also working on his idea.

Chapter 410 - Nightmare Begins-2

Before Athan could get targetted again, He put away his chakrams inside his void region and activated his void robe and void mask.

His presence was reduced to nothing, but he was still visible to the monsters who were coming towards him.

But Athan just flew up in the sky using Lightning dust as he prepared a big move.

First Stance of Destruction: Assault of Heaven.

2 seconds.

He took two seconds to execute the technique, and he got these two seconds thanks to his void robe and void mask.

A dark blue cloud with a purple hue rumbled on top of him before Athan chopped down as the thirty-meter radius area below him turned wasteland as the cloud slammed down.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM....*

The eight monsters below him were obliterated while the six people looked at Athan with anger.

" Why are you attacking us? We have to work together to bring down the stronghold; You damn idiot! "

A woman shouted in irritation towards Athan.

Two of them used Immortal Aegis Runic ward's quota among those six people while the other four defended themselves with their powerful order techniques.

But the defense of those four people was weakening because Athan used this Assault of Heaven with Force of Glittering River's nature.

Even though the lingering destructive energy in the thirty-meter radius didn't damage the six people, Their defenses were shaving away slowly because of the property of Force of Glittering River.

Athan saw that they didn't attack him, and he took this chance to snap his finger.

' Point Zero Bombardment - Twenty points. '

He conjured ten explosion points around the woman who just spoke and another ten around someone who was several meters away from her.

*BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...**BOOOOOM...*....

' Two dead. '

None of them expected that Athan would attack once again, so they were dumbfounded and became angry before attacking Athan.

Athan narrowed his eyes and used Gaze of Void on all of them by consuming half of his soul energy.

The remaining four people's minds were fucked as Athan took out his chakrams and attacked them. He didn't use his abyssal darkness because those four couldn't put any resistance due to the terrifying void beast head appearing in their mind that produced innate fear within them.

The two chakrams shredded them one after another as they died before Athan grabbed his chakrams. He once again consumed twenty percent of his abyssal darkness as a black aura coated the chakrams.

He then looked at another area, ready to repeat his action of killing both monsters and participants.

...

Due to Athan's actions, There was uproar outside...

" What is he doing?!! Why is he killing participants that are working together to destroy the stronghold? "

" That bastard killed my son! Aaaaaaaa! "

" Humph, If you were afraid of your son's death, then you shouldn't have sent him to take the test in the first place. But you are right. He is indeed despicable for attacking them when everyone is working together to destroy the stronghold. "

...

Inside the pocket dimension, Rezy raised her eyebrows and said to Rukia, " Is this what you mean by an interesting thing? Normally, Any sane person wouldn't kill others while joining hands to destroy the stronghold. Sure they might fight later, but not while destroying the stronghold. "

Rukia grinned but didn't say anything as she looked at Athan attacking monsters and other people. Actually, She was also dumbfounded, ' I wonder why he did that? '

The only ones to attack Athan were the monsters, and he took their hits head-on without using defensive order techniques. But Athan attacked both monsters and participants alike.

Some participants noticed him and attacked him with their full power, which forced Athan to use his defensive order technique, but this only happened once so far.

Athan had cleared the ground at this time as no monsters or people remained except for Tealery and Arcued, who looked at Athan with a dumbfounded expression.

" You two. Go and kill those two monsters on the watchtower. After that, collect the storage rings. "

After saying that, Athan flew in the sky while thinking, ' Two monsters and four people. Those four are working together to kill those two monsters, and they will succeed in thirty seconds. They have already discovered my actions and have half of their attention on me. Meanwhile, I have fifteen percent of abyssal darkness remaining....'

Athan started thinking rapidly while flying towards them and thought of a plan.

When Athan was five meters away from the four people, Two of them attacked Athan with their order technique, but Athan conjured four spiraling holes around him while flying forward.

His chakram still had some black aura coated with abyssal darkness as he threw it towards one of the attackers.

The attacker knew about those dreadful chakrams since he saw with his own eyes how they sliced those monsters and cut through other's defense.

So he didn't hesitate to use one quota of his Immortal Aegis Runic Ward, ' Right after blocking his attack, I will use the technique I have been preparing that bastard. '

But the next thing he saw made him want to pull his hair. Wait...He didn't have hair cause his head was full of dark green spikes.

Athan grinned at the guy as he slightly changed the direction of the chakram.

The chakram skipped the guy and hit the monster as it was sliced into two.

The other chakram broke the defense of the second person who attacked it.

But that person was gambling, and he was paying attention to his defense, so when it was going to break, He instantly used one of the two quotas of Immortal Aegis Runic Ward.

At this time, The other two decided to finish off the last flying beast before joining hands to kill Athan.

Athan felt that he could still attack one time before the other two joined hands as he dashed forward with chakrams in his hand and used Point-Zero Bombardment-five points.

Five explosive points appeared around the human male who had bright long brown hair, but he sensed the points and executed a circular defensive technique and also used a strengthening body order technique.

The other person whose head was full of green spikes saw this and attacked Athan with the technique that he prepared.

Athan felt danger, but his eyes turned cold as he ignored that attack and rushed towards the two who just dealt the final blow to the flying monster.

" STOP HIM! "

Athan grinned with cold eyes as he threw his chakrams. But these chakrams became slightly different as a dark blue aura was burning on them.

Athan had consumed a lot of his chaos force to coat his chakrams with Force of Glittering River.

' Now they can only block this attack if they used Immortal Aegis Runic Ward's protection. '

But at this time, A powerful attack hit him on his back almost split him into pieces.

' Damn! Not a bad attack power. ' Athan thought as he turned around and grinned at the man whose head was full of long dark green spikes.

Athan used Gaze of the Void on this guy since he had saved some of his soul energy and stretched his hands backward, which caught the chakrams without even looking back, and within that second, He also threw the chakrams once again.

Since the chakram returned to him, Those two also survived and used their quota.

At this time, When he threw the chakrams that sliced the spiky head. Athan felt danger from behind him as he instantly consumed more of his chaos force to release a jet of lightning dust to dodge.

But his legs were still caught up in the attack as they practically blasted apart.

' Hehehe...Three people left. '

Athan forcefully controlled his blasted apart crystalized pieces of emerald of his legs consumed a ton of chaos force to recover.

The three men looked at Athan with cold eyes, but They could not hide their nervousness.

" Do we run or fight? "

" Fight! Kill this bastard. "

" I don't have any quota of immortal aegis runic ward left, So...I can't stay here to face this monster. " The person who had long brown hair spoke as he turned around and spread his wings before flying away.

But Athan's eyes turned sharp as he first threw chakrams towards the two guys who stayed while creating some Point-zero bombardment around to them to block their vision.

He then executed the second stance of destruction: Spear of Silent Death towards the one running.

The Lightning brown giant spear with purple aura silently tore through the air with its immense speed and pierced the long brown-haired person.

Athan snapped his finger as he triggered the spear.

*BOOOOOOOM...*

' Two left. '

Chapter 411 - Athan's Situation, Shiormi's Power.

" Athan...these are the rings we've collected. "

Athan nodded as he took all of them before using his soul sense to check their contents.

' After that fight, Only 15001 chaos stones remained. It looks like I'll need a lot of chaos stones if I want to continue fighting without worrying about running out of energy. ' Athan thought as he took all of the chaos stones from the rings and transported them into his void region.

It was really a close call when he confronted the last two people because he had almost run out of chaos stones. His current order force and chaos force are qualitatively better, so he needs to consume many chaos stones to recover them. Though it was different if he consumed mid-grade chaos stones, he didn't want to waste mid-grade chaos stones on simply recovering his energies.

After taking low-grade and mid-grade chaos stones from the rings, He gave those rings back to Arcued and Tealery, " If you find any useful things from these rings, then take them and make yourself stronger if even a bit. "

" This...."

Tealery and Arcued looked at each other before looking at Athan as they revealed some hesitation.

Athan frowned and shook his head, " I don't need them. If you want to be useful to me, then don't let go of any chance to get stronger. "

Hearing that, Arcued was the first one to turn resolute and even spoke to Tealery as they took the rings and started searching for the useful things in them.

Athan silently nodded before he looked at his own stash.

' 874500 Low-grade chaos stones and 4060 mid-grade chaos stones...It looks like If push comes to shove, I'll have to use mid-grade chaos stones to recover energies to succeed in my plan. '

Suddenly, Athan's face changed as he sat down crossed-legged.

Inside his void region, Catastrophic Codex was churning rapidly with sparks and an aura of black and dark pink.

Outside....On top of Athan, some cracks appeared in the space as black and dark pink chaotic power in the form of a lizard appeared.

The lizard had a black body with dark pink patterns. It opened its mouth and released its two thick pink tongues towards Athan to attack him.

Athan was still sitting with his eyes closed, but he had sensed danger and instantly used his chaos matrix to turn his body into Aegis Starwood chaos body.

A slight crack appeared on his body, but this attack's power was not as strong as the monsters he defeated.

Athan grabbed the tongue before opening his eyes and looked at the monstrous lizard made from chaotic power.

He snapped his finger with another hand as several explosion points appeared and blasted the lizard into sparks of black and pink.

Those black and pink sparks entered inside his void region before going towards the Orderic Codex.

Athan then infused those sparks with the small bean that had a small white vine coming out from it.

*crack...*

After the sparks were infused into the bean, A second small vine was produced from the bean.

" Athan! What happened? "

Tealery spoke as she arrived in front of Athan, and Arcued also followed with a bewildered expression, ' That was...a catastrophe, right? but....'

" Nothing happened. I just experienced my second catastrophe. It was a bit powerful than the first one but not enough to damage me. ", Athan nonchalantly stated, and he stood up.

Tealery frowned slightly and spoke, " It's strange. I've never heard of anyone experiencing their second catastrophe just after twenty days of their first catastrophe. It's said that the more excellent you are, the more catastrophe you have to experience. "

Athan nodded as he had heard this a long time ago, But he was not worried about catastrophe blocking his path. No matter how powerful catastrophes he has to experience, He will just destroy them.

But he had a slight doubt, so he asked, " What do you have in your Orderic Codex? "

Hearing the question, Tealery and Arcued were a bit confused, but they still replied, " Naturally, We have our Order Eidos within it. "

' As expected...' Athan thought and then looked at Arcued, " Come here for a moment; I want to check your Chaos region. "

Arcued walked towards Athan and kneeled without hesitation before bowing his head.

Athan was speechless, but he didn't say anything and put his hand on Arcued's head before entering his soul sense inside Arcued.

He saw that inside Arcued's chaos region; There were two codexes and a chaos curtain just like he had, but the Orderic Codex of Arcued was different than his Orderic Codex.

Arcued didn't have a bean inside his Orderic Codex but a white humanoid person who looked exactly like Arcued. There were some small patterns of order on this white humanoid person.

' Indeed. This is the order eidos. While on the other hand, I have a frigging bean. It looks like I will have to pass many catastrophes to produce order eidos from the bean first. Those small vines from bean should create my order eidos as long as I continue to destroy the catastrophes that come to destroy me. '

After assessing the situation, Athan left Arcued's chaos region and removed his hand on top of Arcued's head.

" Let's continue with our journey. There's nothing wrong with me except that I'll have to pass those catastrophes often. " Athan spoke while moving.

Arcued and Tealery nodded as they followed Athan while splitting up the loot from the ring.

...

Shiromi was currently hidden behind a tree as she looked at the strange hill.

Due to her soul physique, She could sense something peculiar about that hill.

But she also felt a slight danger, and that's why she was checking out the hill while hiding.

She closed her eyes as she used her soul power to form a white spirit bird with a part of her consciousness in it.

The white spirit bird flew towards the hill and searched the hill before finding a small hole that seems to lead deeper into the hill.

' Strange...There's definitely something inside the hill. Could it be one of the hidden methods to earn points? ' Shiromi thought as she controlled the spirit bird to go inside the hole.

After a minute, Her expression changed slightly as her lips curled into a smile, ' As expected. '

But suddenly, She saw three people coming at the hill and checking it out.

They seem to be speaking something, but Shiromi couldn't hear anything because they spoke inside the chaos force barrier.

' It looks like one of them also found something peculiar about the hill. But...I can't let them have it. ' Shiromi thought as her eyes turned cold.

She thought about assassinating them by using her soul power and made a plan.

' Purgatory soul demolition. '

She had been practicing this soul order technique that only those who had passed their soul phase of orderic catastrophe can practice.

It cost her a fortune, and even Youhan Tree had to pay to get it, but their gamble paid off because even though Shiromi had not gone through her Soul catastrophe to make her soul stronger, She could still use this powerful soul order technique due to her unique soul physique.

There was a slight disadvantage since she would experience some mental pain, and her soul energy would be depleted by 80%...But it was worth it.

Chapter 412 - Castle Event, Nightmare Continues-1

It's been a month since the test started...which means that the castle event will start today.

Currently, Tealery and Arcued were recovering their energy and healing their injuries.

Arcued left leg was gone, so Athan was scanning his structure with his soul sense so that he can regrow Arcued's leg.

Tealery was also injured but internally as she was recovery with her eyes closed and a painful frown on her face.

" You two did well in the stronghold fight. "

Hearing the praise from Athan, Tealery and Arcued became happy for different reasons.

But they had a lingering question in their mind, ' Why did Athan kill everyone he encountered? He also slaughtered everyone in the stronghold fight that we just fought. '

They saw Athan not even letting even one person escape as he killed every single one of them despite suffering major injuries in the process that made their current injuries look like a joke.

At this moment, Athan finished scanning Arcued's structure and released Voidpulse to regrow his left leg.

" We'll continue moving after you two recover your injuries. " Athan stated as he looked at the new batch of storage rings and took out the chaos stones within them as his eyes gleamed black and white, ' I need to speed up to complete the plan. Let's hope this castle event provides that opportunity. '

...

Athan's actions have caused many to feel cold in their heart and sweat in their body.

Especially those who were outside.

" Why is that young man killing everyone? Sigh...Now I am worried about my daughter. He doesn't spare any man or woman and kills everyone that he sees. "

Some of them had red eyes as they looked at Athan on the cloudy screen. They saw him killing their sons, daughters, and relatives.

" Why is there a need to kill others? At first, I felt that those envoys made enough preparations to decrease casualties by introducing that immortal something runic ward. But...That fucking devil is too powerful. "

" Indeed. He is just unkillable with his unique physique or something. He also recovers even if his limbs are cut off. Which power cultivated him, and where is he from? "

At this moment, Several people were trying to unearth the origins of Athan.

Ayurin, Drizzly, Yone, and all other members of Hidden Dragon Troupe were watching with speechlessness. Even their first leader was here since this was an important occasion, and he had a bewildered look on his face since the moment when he saw Athan fighting in the second stronghold.

He wore a shirt that was open near his chest, had a red hat on top of his head, and also long red hair that reached his shoulder. A sword was hanging on his waist, and there was a name on the handle, Zank's Torment.

He looked at Yone as his eyes twitched slightly and asked, " Was he that of a monster? He seems more than what you reported to me the previous time. "

Yone wryly smiled as he looked around before whispering, " Should we get the hell out of here? Some of them are trying to find out about him and his origins. If they know that he is from our organization, then we'll face some serious troubles. "

Zank, The first leader of Youhan Tree, snorted before looking at Athan with an impressed expression on his face, " What are you smoking? Are we afraid of them? What's more, Athan is not known and a completely dark horse, unlike those sons and daughters of big clans. I doubt they can trace his origins to us. "

" You two are underestimating the current Athan. " Ayurin interjected with a calm smile.

Everyone looked at Ayurin as she continued, " His actions are based on a certain plan, and I don't think that he hasn't thought about the consequences of his actions. Let's just watch. I'm sure he will do something about it. "

...

The envoys were also discussing Athan, but they were way more laid back than the outside people. After all, The lives of those people didn't matter to them. They are just here to conduct a test and bring a batch of young ones to the Chaos Monolith Hills.

" Say, Rukia. Do you know why that Athan is killing everyone he sees? Is he that thirsty for blood? If he is unstable, then I'll have to inspect him thoroughly. " The cold-beauty Rezy spoke as she looked at Athan.

Rukia was sitting on the comfortable sofa beside her while eating some fruits.

A soft giggle left her mouth before she stated, " Stop joking, Rezy. "

After saying that, She continued to eat while looking at the giant cloudy screen and observing all participants.

Rezy's serious expression and cold face twitched slightly hearing what Rukia said.

' I am not joking, though. '

Her gaze went to Athan in the cloudy screen as she narrowed her eyes. She seems to be thinking something regarding Athan.

One of the envoys stood up and spoke, " I'll activate the castles since it's time. "

Rukia nodded, " Yep. Do it fast. Oh, and summon one near Athan. I want to see if he repeats his actions again or not. "

Although speechless, The envoy nodded, " Alright. You and your whims, Rukia. "

...

At this moment, Tealer and Arcued were still recovering, but suddenly, colorful clouds gathered in the sky just tens of meters away from them.

This commotion was big due to the colorful clouds and their rumbling sound as Arcued, Tealery, and Athan looked at them.

" Could it be...Is it the castle event? " Tealery spoke with doubt as she looked at the clouds.

Athan grinned as he looked at the commotion caused by the clouds, ' Now this is good. It looks like a lot of people will gather here due to the commotion. '

Arcued saw Athan's eyes and shivered, ' Will he once again? '

They saw colorful sparks showering from the colorful clouds as a castle materialized on the ground.

" It will take some time for people to gather. We'll go after thirty minutes. How much time do you two need to heal yourselves? "

Hearing the question of Athan, Tealery and Arcued speculated that they would need at most 20 minutes to recover.

Chapter 413 - Nightmare Continues-2

Arcued and Tealery recovered after twenty minutes before they looked at Athan, who was staring at the castle and the clouds a few hundred meters away from them.

Nobody said anything as they continued to wait.

After ten minutes passed, Athan suddenly spoke, " We'll wait for twenty meters more. "

Arcued and Tealery, who were standing behind him, nodded silently.

...

After twenty minutes passed, Athan spoke as his face formed a grin, " Let's go. It's time for the hunt. "

They activated their camouflaged techniques before silently moving towards the castle.

When they were just fifty meters away from the castle, They could see and hear a big commotion.

Athan told them to stop here and stay hidden for a while.

Meanwhile, He pointed his finger in front of him and consumed a bit of his abyssal darkness and voidpulse to conjure two Voidlings.

They looked like thumb-sized black sparrows with white patterns on them.

He then commanded the sparrows to move towards the castle.

" I want to make a sneak attack on a large scale. For that, I'll need to assess the situation at the castle. You two will stay here until I succeed and come to the castle later. "

" Got it. " Tealery spoke as she didn't have any problem.

Arcued just nodded at Athan with complete trust in his eyes.

Athan had infused his soul energy in the sparrows and connected his soul sense to them so that he could see the scene at the castle.

Currently, A woman who had a long and sharp emerald horn on her forehead was running with her equally beautiful emerald hair dancing behind her. She held a scepter in her hand.

A human girl and a white stone man who had brown patterns on his body protected this woman as she continued to run.

Twenty-nine people were chasing behind the trio while occasionally releasing order techniques.

But it didn't take long before the woman with the long emerald horn had to give up the scepter because of too much pressure because she was feeling the threat of her life.

' I only have one Immortal Aegis Runic ward quota, but I still have to hold this scepter for fifteen minutes. It looks like I'll have to give it up just like the previous person...sigh. '

But unlike the previous person who threw the scepter at her so that she becomes everyone's target, She had a different idea.

Looking in the left direction of the jungle, She gritted her teeth and threw the scepter in the jungle area that was several hundred meters away from the castle.

Athan saw this through the sparrows and frowned, but he suddenly had an idea as he licked up lips, ' That jungle....great. It's a great place to assassinate them. '

The jungle was thick and vast, and he even had his powerful camouflage abilities.

He commanded the Voidlings-sparrows to follow the crowd while he looked at Arcued and Tealery before speaking, " Plan change. You two go to the castle and stay there. I'll return after finishing my work. "

After saying that, He moved towards the jungle area that was the exact opposite of this location.

He had already activated his void robe, void mask and used the Chemo Bend order technique.

Before entering the jungle, He created five more Voidlings-sparrows and scattered them so they can find prey for him.

The previous two sparrows were already following two groups of people.

After entering the jungle, He arrived near one group and silently moved behind them as they tried to find the scepter.

' One will be dead with Spear of Silent Death while I need to kill other two quickly before they can use their quota of immortal aegis runic ward. '

At this time, he wished that he could conjure more than one Spears of Silent Death at a time.

' Wait...I can hit two birds with one stone since two of them are sticking together. '

Athan observed them and waited for the chance to use his Spear of Silent Death such that one spear would pierce through two of them. After all, The Spear of Silent Death is a big and long spear, unlike the normal spears.

After two minutes, That chance finally came as he executed The spear of silent death.

Without any sound or even a ripple in the air, The spear traveled at a breakneck speed before hitting two men who looked like normal humans.

Right after releasing the spear, Athan also made a dash towards the third person of their group and released a 3-star order technique that had similar nature to the spear of silent death, but its attack power was way lower than it.

' Boomerang of Silent Slash. '

Athan released two boomerangs that shot towards the single person who panicked after hearing the cries of his teammates but didn't notice two boomerangs that were coated in abyssal darkness arriving towards them.

*Slash...*

Stunned, The person looked below to see three parts of his body... disintegrating with not even ash remaining.

' NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....'

A silent cry of his soul reverberated that no people heard.

The other people who were roaming inside the jungle heard the sound of the explosion of the spear of silent death and cries, but their focus was on finding the scepter, and just through that, two groups had a fall-out.

But none of the group noticed a single, thumb-sized cute sparrow silently following them. They were pets of the reaper of death.

...

At this moment, It was very silent outside.

People gathered here to watch this test and see their sons, daughters, and relatives' glory.

But what they were seeing was a dance of death. A person seemed to have an immense thirst for blood as he let no person escape from his deathly grasps.

...

It's been an hour since Tealery and Arcued were staying in the castle. The group of long emerald horn women was also staying in the castle.

Both of them had noticed each other, but none of them moved and stayed hidden.

But it was at this time that they saw Athan flying towards them with a scepter in his hand. They could see him because Athan removed his mask and undone his chemo bend order technique.

Athan noticed both groups and threw the scepter at Arcued with a grin on his face.

" Take it from those two. " Athan stated as he just floated while crossing his arms.

The long emerald horn woman and the two people with her were startled for a moment. They were going to attack Athan to snatch the scepter from him but seeing that he threw the scepter at Arcued, They dashed towards Tealery and Arcued.

Tealery and Arcued were dumbfounded as they looked at Athan, but they didn't have time to say anything as the trio released their order techniques towards them.