CHAPTER 441: ABILITY TO CHEAT

"No! It’s different, look — there are two marks!" a princess suddenly shouted, alarmed.

In front of the portal, there were two runic marks side by side, looking almost like one. It was a language Darian had heard about before — something extremely ancient, used only by dragons. That’s why he couldn’t understand it.

Everyone stared at it, but...

"This... I’m sure of it, it’s the same mark from the Calamity level the Matriarch described. It’s the highest trial level, the one only she and her generation ever reached. But... there are two of the same mark..."

A prince spoke, and everyone swallowed hard at the same time. That could only mean one thing, according to the language of Dragons: it was a test above the level once considered the maximum — *double* the difficulty.

Everyone turned to Darian.

There was no way they could’ve triggered something like that. In the Matriarch’s generation, there had been countless terrifying geniuses, and even back then, she herself had only been considered above average. Together, these people would, at best, reach an intermediate level. So the only one who could’ve caused this was him.

Darian snorted. "You wanna back out? I’ll go in alone."

"Wait! Once you enter and the test starts, no one else can follow! This level... no, even the one below, the level the Matriarch reached in the past — only she and another ancestor came back alive, and they didn’t even make it past the fifth of the thirteen floors."

"So what? If you’re scared, even if you don’t wanna admit it, you’d better turn back. You’ll just mess with people’s minds when you die." Darian said it without a shred of hesitation.

Tetoya huffed, then stepped forward alongside Zelkov, approaching the entrance. Zelkov turned to face everyone.

"Brother Darian’s right. He’s had nothing and fought for everything with his own life. We, on the other hand, have always had everything — and that’s why we don’t wanna lose it. But... the Matriarch’s already started attacking the virus nests on our planet... and I’ve heard rumors they’re getting ready to fight back."

Everyone’s expression grew tense. None of them were fools — they all knew a massive battle with that planet was coming.

Zelkov continued, his tone serious: "The Matriarch can’t attack that planet directly. She’s counting on us to fight in her place. If we back down now, we might not have enough strength later... Have you all forgotten the results of our fights during the banquet? Many of you weren’t there, but not one of you managed to defeat the princes and princesses in fewer than ten moves like they did. That clearly shows the enemy’s general power level. So, I’ll say it straight — our home depends on us. We are the royal family and the protectors of our world. It’s our duty to become stronger and protect them. That’s why we have to fight to the end — even if we die here."

Everyone clenched their fists and took a deep breath.

Tetoya was surprised, while Darian simply nodded, satisfied. Zelkov had changed a lot — he was no longer acting out of fear and was finally showing his true nature. He was a born leader, someone who knew exactly how to reach people’s hearts with his words.

All those proud people who valued their power above all else were now driven by the will to fight — and die — trying to grow stronger. After all, the humiliation they had suffered before still burned inside them.

"Time won’t wait for us. We either take this chance now — or die full of regrets later," Zelkov finished.

"LET’S GO IN!!"

Suddenly, everyone roared together, without hesitation.

Darian sighed lightly and nodded, and then they all entered at the same time.

*Buzz*

As soon as they crossed to the other side, the entrance snapped shut behind them, trapping them in a world bathed in a strange greenish light. Everything around was blurry — only the ground and a few meters ahead could be seen clearly.

"Ahh!" — a woman’s scream echoed.

As they arrived, Darian’s body tensed under immense pressure, as if a colossal mountain were crushing him.

That overwhelming force made countless people collapse, their bodies trembling in agony as the terrifying pressure threatened to break their bones and crush them to dust.

Tetoya and the other princes and princesses, on the other hand, were flushed red but managed to endure it. Even Zelkov seemed relatively fine.

"This... this is five Fiendgod force points?! When the Matriarch entered, she said that even at level two, there was only one point of pressure!" exclaimed a young man from the royal family.

"What’s going on?" Tetoya asked Zelkov.

"In a Calamity-level test, each floor has a gravitational domain that exerts immense pressure. The previous passage was just a buffer to bring us here. But now, right at the start, the pressure’s already at five Fiendgod force points... and as we move forward, it’ll multiply again and again..." Zelkov replied, stunned.

Darian sighed and pulled out a small crystal that Painita had given him. She had told him about the test before everyone arrived, and when he heard about it, he said he needed to reach two thousand Fiendgod force points. She gave him that crystal — it could measure force points precisely, up to two thousand.

"Is it because there are too many of us? There are at least thirty thousand people here!" someone shouted, almost desperate.

Zelkov shook his head. "It’s not about the number of people — it’s about the group’s overall potential..."

At that moment, several members of the royal family couldn’t hold on anymore — they coughed up blood and dropped to their knees, about to be crushed under the immense pressure threatening to grind them into an unrecognizable mass.

"Combine your strength and summon the Dragon Soul Domain!" Tetoya shouted.

It was a simple magical technique everyone in the royal family had learned, though it required burning a bit of their own bloodline.

In an instant, all the princes and princesses joined forces and ignited their draconic bloodlines to the limit, summoning a greenish barrier around the huge group. But the moment that barrier appeared, the space around them trembled — and their expressions changed.

The pressure increased. It was like opening an umbrella under a waterfall — the barrier shattered instantly. With the impact, all the princes and princesses coughed up blood.

"How can this be?! If this keeps up, half of us will die on the first floor!" Tetoya shouted, clearly shaken.

Almost a third of the royal family members couldn’t handle that crushing force and collapsed one after another. Some even started losing consciousness. If things continued that way, they really would be crushed to death.

They were all talented, all carried dense draconic bloodlines. But... in the past, Zelkov had been just as weak as they, so it wasn’t a surprise. Some had simply never taken their training seriously. Zelkov, though — he had changed drastically since meeting Darian and after that banquet fight. He was definitely under immense pressure, but he refused to bow.

Then, suddenly, someone shot up into the sky.

Everyone turned and saw a seven-colored light flash in his eyes. The next instant, the pressure on them dropped.

They all stared, amazed. While Darian hovered in the air above them, a transparent dome appeared over his head, filled with countless translucent runes.

That was power drawn straight from the trial. As he remained above everyone else, those runes concentrated around him, and due to their sheer density, they formed a dome around him.

That’s when they realized — the terrifying gravity was caused by invisible runes. Thankfully, the dome Darian created was wide enough — about fifty meters across — and inside it, the pressure dropped significantly. Seeing that, Zelkov and the others quickly dragged the unconscious inside, giving them a chance to recover.

But there were too many who had fainted, and the space wasn’t enough. Just as everyone started to panic, Darian rose even higher into the air.

Each meter he ascended, the air cracked with explosive booms, and after three meters, fractures spread across the sky like thin ice about to break.

"This is my limit," Darian said loudly. At that moment, the force pressing on him exceeded a thousand Fiendgod points.

It wasn’t his true physical limit. He wasn’t just holding back unimaginable gravitational pressure — he also had to worry about the space below. If he went higher, the space itself could collapse — and he had no idea how many would die from that.

Still, the dome around him expanded — from a few meters wide to several hundred.

Tetoya narrowed her eyes, watching as every member of the royal family got safely inside the dome. She and the other princes stayed outside, since they could endure it, as could many of those inside.

Just as she was about to shout in frustration, Zelkov spoke quickly:

"What the hell are you all doing?! This is the draconic trial, not a shelter! If you can endure it, then endure it! Try to adapt to this space as fast as you can! Don’t you get what this pressure is? It can rapidly increase your physical power! As long as you keep resisting it, this force will stimulate your body’s potential, letting you benefit endlessly! Make the most of it while Brother Darian’s still holding on — value this chance!"

Tetoya sighed. She’d been about to yell at everyone, which probably wouldn’t have helped much.

Zelkov truly was worthy of being a prince — more mature than the rest, acting with calm firmness and clear reasoning.

The unconscious quickly woke up. Without needing orders, they left Darian’s protection to keep receiving that colossal pressure’s baptism, while helping each other, dragging back those who fainted again.

After a few minutes—

"Darian, how are you holding up?" Tetoya asked, worried he wouldn’t last much longer under that crushing force.

"I don’t think I can last much longer... At most... at most..."

His voice trembled. Hearing that, everyone went pale — until he finished:

"At most... I can hold out ’til next year."

"You bastard! Answer seriously!!" Tetoya exploded, stomping her foot hard enough to shake the ground.

Everyone tried not to laugh — some even failed. In the middle of all that tension, that moment brought a rare bit of relief.

Darian sighed inwardly. That kind of thing wasn’t really his style, but he’d trained soldiers before and learned something important: sometimes, saying something random and easing the mood made training or learning way more effective than just cranking up the difficulty.

What no one knew was that while enduring that crushing pressure, Darian’s body was pulsing with power. For him, this was divine training — his muscles and bones were like dried riverbeds being filled with rain, his strength rising nonstop.

Two hours passed.

The weakest ones, after countless pauses and rotations, finally got used to that environment. They couldn’t resist indefinitely, but they wouldn’t be crushed instantly anymore.

Seeing that everyone was starting to adapt, Darian didn’t wait any longer.

"Let’s move forward. Everyone should endure as much as possible while advancing; then you can rest and keep going. This test wasn’t designed to be done this way... but who cares? Let’s just say having the skill to cheat is a kind of talent too."

People looked up at him and smiled faintly.