Each pillar of light signified one of the participants.
For now, they were still alive, but it wouldn’t last for long.
’I see, as soon as the coachman disappeared, it all began. There are no ssages from the Arcane Scripture, no strange chanical voice. The Shadow Horizon is not controlled by the Arcane Scripture.’
True, the Arcane Scripture only offered a call to Kain at the most opportune mont so that he could choose - death or trial.
Kain raised his head, watching the seven cots parting the black sky.
"Then who’s setting all this up? This isn’t a one-ti anomaly, based on the coachman’s words, it happens ti after ti."
Kain had a few clues thanks to his conversation with the coachman, but he didn’t have ti for that.
Footsteps rang out behind him, unnoticed at first, but as they approached, Kain felt a threat. It made him turn around sharply.
But it was already too late.
A girl with short black hair pointed her blades at him. The only thing Kain noticed was the purple runes circling her.
At the sa mont, one of the cots abruptly changed its direction. Under the wrong trajectory, it crashed straight into the hill, sending a shockwave across the field.
It was enough to make the girl’s hands shake, and instead of Kain’s heart, she only lightly grazed his shoulder.
The shockwave knocked Kain to the ground and slamd the girl into the tree. She thrust her blades into the trunk to prevent the wind currents from throwing her off the cliff.
At the first decline, she prepared to return to the fight as her eyes opened wide to reflect Kain - a drop of blood floating in front of his palm.
BLAST!
A frosty burst covered her fra with a dense layer of ice. Her fingers twitched, but her hands could not move.
"WAIT! We’re from the sa-!"
BAM!
Kain’s fist smashed into her face with bestial ferocity.
Her muffled cry rang out as the next blow followed.
"Stop... Let tell you... I didn’t know...!"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Kain kept striking. Her teeth clawed at his skin, his knuckles covered in blood, but he didn’t stop until he sealed her skull into the wood.
With shaking pupils, he sank down, processing everything that had just happened.
"FUCK!"
His fist slamd on the ground.
"Why did you do that?!"
His shout went unanswered - the girl was already dead.
’Shit! Shit! Shit!’
’She attacked from behind, she had ti to prepare. She saw the color of my runes, but she still tried to kill !’
This was the main reason for Kain’s unwavering decision to slay the girl.
He didn’t have ti to find out the reasons. There was unknown land and danger all around.
If soone decided to kill him, then he should respond in kind.
Kain was about to leave when a light caught his attention. Runes erged from the girl’s body, releasing a white cube no bigger than a fingernail.
[White Cube
Type: Tool
Enchantnt: ???]
’What? Why isn’t there a Tier? And... Does this count as an Artifact?’ Kain examined the cube.
Aside from its lightweight, there was nothing remarkable about the tiny thing. The only issue was that the cube appeared only after her death.
"Alright, apparently my curse saved again this ti."
Kain clenched the cube and looked towards the hill.
A bright glow was coming from the depths.
If there was a way for Kain to beco stronger, it was to summon the old bridge and receive the reward ntioned by the coachman.
...
Every ti a trial participant died, stars flashed in the sky. For the first ten minutes, the black empty sky was covered in a starry blanket.
Then, silence followed before the storm.
Killing was not mandatory, but the seven cots - hidden behind them was a direct path to the old bridge.
The survivors of the first wave split into piles, heading for the cot impact site.
Step. Step. Step.
"Did you see that? That cot took off and curved down. How can that be?" a young man with white hair exclaid.
The burly guy shrugged his broad shoulders. "I don’t know. The important thing is to get the cot. It’s the most valuable resource."
The green-haired girl adjusted her glasses. "Sothing on that cliff must have drawn it. I think the cot crashed right into the hill."
"None of that matters!"
A harsh voice from the platinum-haired maiden rang out.
"We’re lucky we found each other so quickly. Let’s proceed according to plan. If we can get at least two cots, we’ll have an advantage over everyone else!"
Not five minutes later, their squad reached the field. A dead girl with her head smashed against a tree was the first thing that greeted them.
"What the hell...?" the white-haired guy gulped as the platinum-haired maiden stepped forward. "Elara... That!"
"Yes, that girl... She was one of us. I don’t know from what do she’s from, but her purple runes are still visible."
The burly guy nodded deeply.
"She died this round, the blood is fresh, and I doubt those strange coachn would leave a corpse. What a pity."
"But, who killed her?"
Elara clenched her fist tightly, flas ignited in her blue eyes.
"We will find out. We will avenge our fellow mate." She turned toward the hill. "Whoever you are, an astral dweller, you’re not getting out of here alive!"
Naturally, Elara and her companions did not know the whole truth.
In the deadly skirmish at the tree, there were no inhabitants of the Astral Dinsion. Only humans.
Who but they knew how best to annihilate themselves?
At the sa ti, under the dim light, Kain advanced among the ruined stone statues into the depths of the hill. The passage leading downward appeared to be on his side, as the cot fell sowhere on the lower levels.
’The coachman spoke of many things, but not the nature of the trial. It seems that as a Wanderer, I was supposed to learn everything from the other Keepers, but... I had to take the first call.’
Kain scratched the back of his head.
’Well, at least this ti I should give credit to my curse. If it wasn’t for it, I would have died twice already. I should be more careful.’
With falling pebbles down the steps, Kain reached the cliff - the site of the cot’s fall.
Knights in stone armor ca out of the dark passages one by one, in a fearful stride. They took their ti approaching the crystal, releasing dense white energy.
Soon, not only the knights but also Kain would have to face the cot guardian if he wanted what was hidden inside.
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