Samuel's POV
The mont I tapped Ascension Threshold, the world around shattered like glass.
No warning. No light.
Just a crack — like the bones of reality snapping — and suddenly I wasn't standing in any realm I knew.
The air was thick with pressure, like standing at the bottom of an ocean made of raw power. The sky above was endless void, pierced by jagged lightning bolts of silver and crimson. The ground below shifted constantly, made of broken tiles etched with celestial runes and divine bloodstains.
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[Welco to the Realm Between Realms]
– Ascension Trial Initiated –
Objective: Survive the Trial of the Seven Echoes.
Warning: Death here is permanent.
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"Of course it is," I muttered, rolling my neck until it cracked.
Then they appeared.
Seven echoes. Seven phantoms — each one a twisted version of .
One with silver flas in his eyes.
Another cloaked in midnight fog.
One wielding a blade of pure lightning.
Another walking barefoot through ti itself.
One burned. One broken. One bound in chains of soundless screams.
All of them... .
A laugh escaped my throat, dry and dark. "So I have to kill myself seven tis to level up?"
The first one — Flaborn Samuel — stepped forward. "No," he said in my voice, only deeper. "You have to conquer every version of yourself that ever could've ruled the cosmos."
"And if I don't?" I asked, drawing my blade.
"You stay here," Shadow Samuel said, "forever. Lost between your regrets and your rage."
I cracked my knuckles. "Fine by . Let's dance."
— The Trial of the Seven Echoes Begins —
The battle exploded into chaos instantly. Flaborn rushed first, a wall of hellfire crashing into my side, but I flipped mid-air, slashing through it with Reality Sever. The blade tore the fla apart — but he reford instantly behind .
"Cheap trick," I grunted, grabbing his head and slamming it into the ground hard enough to crater the tiles.
But behind — Temporal Samuel blinked into existence, his blade already cutting through ti, freezing my movent.
My body locked. "Shit—"
And then Lightning Samuel appeared, descending like a godbolt from above, striking through the chest.
Pain exploded. Blood sprayed.
I roared and triggered Devourer's Pulse, pulling energy from the realm itself and shattering the temporal lock.
"You all want a piece of ?" I growled, standing amidst fire and ruin. "Then co take it!"
The battlefield exploded into a maelstrom of Sams, all versions of my worst decisions, my darkest potential, and my near-godlike mistakes.
And I fought them with everything.
With my Voidstep. With my blade. With my fists. With my rage.
One by one — I killed myself.
Until only one remained — The Bound One. Shackled. Silent. Eyes hollow with despair.
He didn't fight.
He just looked at and whispered, "You are your own final prison."
I stepped forward. My blade lowered.
"No," I said. "I'm the one who broke the chains."
Then I drove my fist into his chest and crushed the silence.
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[Trial Complete – Ascension Successful]
New Title Unlocked: King of the Echoing Void
Level Cap Increased: 300 → 500
New Ability: Void Crown – Dominion Over Fragnted Realms
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The Realm Between Realms collapsed in on itself, and I stood alone, panting.
Bloody. Burned. But unchained.
"Roselle's gonna kill for leveling up again without her."
I laughed.
Then I disappeared into shadow — and returned to the world ready to burn down anyone in my way.
________________________________________
Samuel's POV – Hunt for Forgotten Gods
I landed hard on the edge of a ruined sa, the shockwave kicking up dust and fractured stone as my boots hit the cracked earth. The world beneath groaned like it rembered what true power felt like.
The winds whispered like they carried secrets — ancient, buried, screaming to be found.
I couldn't help but smirk, my shadow stretching behind like it had a mind of its own.
"All right," I muttered, flexing my fingers as sparks of voidlight danced across my skin. "Ti to find another Forgotten God to strike."
Everyone had gone their own way. Roselle and Nocturne to Nerezza. Owen probably nursing emotional damage after seeing Yvette again. Henry off doing whatever brooding anti-paladins do.
But ? I needed more.
More power. More blood. More purpose.
Because I wasn't done yet.
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[System Notification – Hidden Quest Activated]
"The Forgotten Pantheon"
Objective: Track and Defeat the Forgotten God of Dread – Skarnyx the Hollow Howl
Location: Black Maw Crater, coordinates locked
Warning: This entity has devoured lesser deities. Approach with caution.
Reward: One Fragnt of the Forsaken Crown ???
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I whistled low. "Skarnyx, huh? That na sounds like it needs punching."
With a thought, my system map pulled up a blood-red X — far to the north, past the chasms of the Deadfold Wastes, across a land swallowed by blizzards and eternal twilight.
Perfect.
I tapped my blade, and a rush of anticipation spread through my limbs. "Let's see if this Hollow Howl screams loud enough."
And then I leapt — soaring through the air like a cannonball with intent — laughing like a lunatic god-challenger.
Because if Forgotten Gods are real... then I'll beco the one they rember most.
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