In the sky, a huge eye floated in the position of the shattered star, emitting a dark grey color. Everywhere the grey light passed, the aura around it disappeared like a tide.
Asher felt his cultivation slowly disappearing. From the horrified cries of people around, he could guess that everyone was in the same situation as him.
Rubbing his hand on his forehead, he found a bump. A slight throbbing was felt on that bump, as if something was moving.
"What is really happening?"
No one answered his question. Within minutes, he lost all of his cultivation, even the connection between the chaos sword and Ember was blocked.
However, he could feel that they were still present in his body. He looked around and saw that Austin was clutching his chest in pain. He moved towards him and offered his hand.
"My cultivation…" Standing with his help, Austin spoke in panic. Losing cultivation in this world meant death.
"Not only you, everyone lost their cultivation," Asher shook his head. Hearing his words, Austin breathed a sigh of relief.
Asher moved towards the top of the mountain, and Austin hurriedly followed him. On the way, they saw many disciples in dire states.
Many of them had become old people with wrinkled skin. This was one of the disadvantages of losing cultivation. Most of the people with higher cultivation probably had an age of more than a hundred years, except for some talented cultivators.
Losing cultivation and becoming mortal meant death. The average lifespan of a mortal was just a hundred years. On their way, they saw many such dead bodies. Austin looked at the corpses and clenched his fists.
They were all his brothers from the same academy. Before, they had been happily smiling, but now they were corpses. He found it difficult to control his emotions.
"Austin, you must remember that sometimes death is a relief," Asher suddenly spoke in a low voice.
"How do you know? We have survived now, but them…" His voice choked a little.
"Survived…?" Asher let out a small laugh.
He had a hunch that this was just the beginning. The mysterious man, the eye in the sky, and the loss of aura and cultivation were signs of something horrible. He trusted his instincts.
'This is just the beginning.'
When they reached the top of the mountain, the snow had already started to change its color. It had become grey. Not only the snow, but every plant had also changed its color. They felt that even the air was changing.
'Snow changed, plants changed, air changed…then what about the creatures?'
Asher walked inside the palace at the top. But upon seeing the scene inside, he stood there dumbstruck. In the hall, more than twenty elders had become corpses. From their attire, he could sense that they were important figures of the Divine Sword Academy.
"Master…" Austin roared in pain. He ran towards the man sitting in the middle of the chair. Hugging his body, he cried loudly.
Asher looked at this for a moment and sighed. Seeing the condition of these elders, he could imagine that Ember's father had probably died.
'I am sorry, Ember.'
For some reason, he didn't feel any panic for his mother and uncle. He believed that even if this world was destroyed, they would be fine.
He walked outside of the palace, giving Austin some private time. As he looked up at the sky, the eye was still floating there. A sight fell upon his body, sending chills down his spine, but it quickly disappeared.
'What was that?'
Gazing at the eye, he felt a slight disgust emanating from his heart. This wasn't his feeling, but the chaos sword's. It was the second time he had felt such disgust from the chaos sword. The first time was when it first saw the mysterious man, and now in the presence of this eye. Once again, he felt a throbbing from his forehead.
This time, it was as if something streamed from there into his blood. He sensed his blood slowly changing, taking on a light golden color. His body was transforming gradually; his hair turned blond, and his green eyes shifted to golden.
"What happened to you?" A surprised voice broke his thoughts, and he looked back. Upon seeing Austin, a strange gleam flickered in his eyes.
Above Austin's head, he saw a simple text: "Shadow of Chaos Master."
'Shadow of Chaos Master,' Asher repeated in his mind. As he looked at Austin, he felt his anger and jealousy towards him completely dissipate.
Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of his eyes. Not just his eyes but before the eyes of every living human in this world.
[Welcome to Chaos]
[Congratulations on surviving the first test!]
[Now you have ten tests left, and after completing them, you will face off against the eye in the sky]
The text disappeared for a moment, seemingly giving them some time to adjust their mindset. He glanced at Austin and noticed his mouth hanging open.
'Not just me.'
He waited for the screen to reappear. From the previous words, he could deduce that it was something akin to a survival game from his past life.
[First test: Awakening quest. Awaken hidden bloodline in your body and eye core.]
[Gift: Ticket to the next test. Punishment: Death.]
"Damn, what kind of quest is this?" Asher cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected Chaos to be so shameless.
Across the continent, the sound of uproar echoed. Many people cursed Chaos just like he did. However, their curses were swiftly silenced by their heads exploding. This time, Asher was still cursing Chaos.
"Alright, then, what is this awakening quest? Can't you at least explain it?" he asked through gritted teeth.
[Awakening quest means awakening quest. The countdown starting now. Ten, nine.. .]
Asher felt his head spinning, and a nauseous sensation hit his mouth. His vision grew dark, and he sensed his soul being pulled by something.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself on a battlefield. He was now seeing everything from the perspective of a soldier. This soldier was a coward, hiding among the bodies of fallen soldiers.
'Pretending to be dead. How despicable.'
As he surveyed his surroundings, he noticed that around five other people were doing the same. They, too, were pretending to be dead soldiers. The army had moved forward, leaving a heap of corpses behind. Seeing that the other living soldiers had moved a distance away, the soldier began to crawl backward. This crawling continued for a week.
By now, this soldier was already covered in blood. Four other soldiers crawled alongside him. Asher looked at them with a hint of disgust.
From this point on, they could never return to their hometown. If they did, they would be shunned by the people. He believed that dying on the battlefield was more honorable than fleeing like dogs.
But suddenly, a change occurred. His vision became blurred, and he felt the sensation of his hands touching the ground.