CHAPTER 445: CLEARLY CHEATING

"The next three tests are pretty simple — they’re just battle training," The voice of the Chaos Dragon’s will rang out coldly.

"There’ll be tons of enemies trying to stop you, but all you need to do is move forward and defeat the final boss to reach the next floor. However, I must warn you. Every enemy automatically adjusts to your power level, copying your body and offensive strength. The final boss, of course, is stronger than your current self. If you choose to take this test, I won’t save you if you’re in danger. And you can only leave after clearing the current floor."

Darian nodded, not caring much, then suddenly had an idea and turned to the others, asking, "Each opponent’s level matches whoever they’re fighting, right?"

"Yes."

Hearing that, Darian nodded again. "Perfect. It’ll be good for them to enter the next floor and fight. Once we’re out of here, they’ll face a real war. They need to get used to fighting with all the extra power they just gained. If I clear the floor, can they stay and keep training?"

"I understand. No problem. After you clear the floor, I’ll keep the test active. Once you finish everything or decide to leave, I’ll release them as well."

When the voice confirmed it, a massive portal appeared in front of everyone. All the princes and princesses clenched their fists, feeling a burning urge to fight. They really did need to adjust fast to all those changes.

"Let’s go."

When Darian stepped forward, everyone followed him.

On the other side, the scenery was a burning wasteland surrounded by erupting volcanoes.

Lava pulsed and flowed everywhere. The sky was filled with thick, dark clouds, and violent thunder kept crashing against the ground, shaking it nonstop. The air itself was razor-sharp, cutting like blades. Everything there radiated primal hostility and imminent danger.

*ROAR!*

Suddenly, terrifying beastly roars echoed from every direction.

When they looked around, they saw themselves surrounded by a massive army of beasts — easily hundreds of thousands.

"Baize Lion!"

Zelkov shouted, stunned. Then, a beastly figure over twenty meters tall, looking like a lion with horns, three eyes, and white fur, stepped toward him. That was his beast race.

And it wasn’t just him. Tetoya saw an Earth Qilin approaching her; everyone else also saw beasts of their own races moving in to attack. The enemy army didn’t strike all at once — they stopped, and only the beasts corresponding to each of them advanced to fight their match.

This was going to be an endless battle. After each one defeated their own opponent, another would come; the only way to end it all was to push forward through the enemy army, carving a path straight to the end of the floor.

Darian noticed they didn’t have real flesh-and-blood bodies — they were rune-created illusions that became solid once they moved. That way, their power levels could be properly adjusted.

"Be careful. You could easily lose your lives here," Darian said slowly to everyone, gripping their weapons. "This battle will decide whether you truly deserve everything you gained — and whether you deserve to walk out of here alive. If you get careless, you really will die here. You’re no longer princes, princesses, or privileged figures hiding under the wings of the Matriarch and the Emperor. This is the real trial of blood — a rehearsal for when we step onto an actual battlefield. Now go — slaughter them!"

"Kill!"

They all roared furiously and charged forward, not caring if the enemies were real or illusions, determined to wipe them out.

Darian turned and saw a human approaching him slowly — then smirked coldly.

His eyes and body changed, emanating a dense gray light — the sixth level of the Chaos Celestial Armor was fully active.

**BANG!!**

He punched, and the space in front of him shattered. The power of chaos was fused with his physical strike.

That illusion was completely caught off guard and exploded instantly, without even managing to fight back.

It was supposed to be on the same level as him, but it definitely couldn’t imitate the power of Chaos. Not even if the Chaos Dragon herself were present could she perfectly replicate that power. At best, she could create an opponent with a similar level of physical strength — but nothing more.

Yet before Darian’s explosive attack infused with chaos, something on an "equal" level never stood a chance.

Along with the illusion vanishing, a massive opening was blown through the middle of the enemy army.

Darian didn’t waste a second — he disappeared like lightning, using *Chaos Blink*. He didn’t even need to manipulate spatial power to use this new technique at a basic level; it wasn’t even a third of his full possible speed, but it let him move instantly.

All the illusory beasts roared in rage, closing in to block him. But he just shot forward through them, shifting directions slightly and casually throwing punches and kicks to clear his path.

To clear each floor, all you had to do was reach the end and take down the boss. Someone who could run like him had a massive advantage.

Of course, with even the tiniest mistake — and with every single enemy trying to stop you — it was almost impossible to pull off. But since all opponents were restricted to the same "level" of power as him, and Darian had plenty of experience fighting armies way stronger than that, it was actually pretty simple for him to sense their energy fluctuations and just run through.

In half an hour, Darian finally saw a massive portal ahead. As he approached...

"ROAR!"

A gigantic draconic beast appeared in the skies — it looked like a beautiful winged serpent. Its long, sinuous body was covered in bright yellow scales that radiated a powerful earth-element aura.

Darian smiled. That was a draconic beast known as an Amphiptere, and because of its earth element, it had insane defensive power. After fighting through that entire army, having to face an even stronger beast that specialized in defense was definitely the kind of boss made to crush you.

But...

A dagger appeared in his hand. He exhaled sharply, and his elemental control burst to the limit.

When he leapt into the sky, the whole place — overflowing with elemental energy — seemed to freeze in time.

Unfortunately for whoever designed this trial, an environment like that was the perfect gift for him.

"Blinding Break!!!"

Dense lightning, fire, and wind elements surged around him in an instant. Then came a devastating strike — a multicolored blade, two meters long, that looked like it could split the world in half. Space itself cracked as it advanced; nothing could withstand that easily.

*BOOOM!*

Up in the sky, a pair of red eyes shifted slightly. In mere seconds, with a single move, the terrifying boss was wiped out like an insect.

That will let out a sigh. A missionary was always scary, since they used techniques created by immortals. But the human standing before it... that devastating strike of his clearly had plenty of flaws.

That surprised it quite a bit. It was obviously his own creation. He was really building his own path instead of relying on what others handed him.

It limited him at the start, sure — but as he advanced, it’d definitely let him soar far higher than the rest.

’This missionary... really resembles him...’ thought that Will.

Like lightning, Darian shot through the portal and moved on to the twelfth floor.

The Will of the Chaos Dragon didn’t even bother asking if he wanted to continue — it just snorted, preparing the next programmed challenge. But it waved a hand and made a few last-minute changes.

Darian stood still in a hazy space. After about two minutes, everything began to stabilize, revealing the new area.

This time, he was in a barren desert, with no sign of elemental power anywhere. Still, he could sense faint fluctuations underground, like everything there had just been drained.

He smirked. "You’re clearly cheating here, huh?"

The Will above didn’t answer — it just snorted dryly.

Darian didn’t care and started moving forward.

Then... the ground trembled and split in several directions. The skies and horizon filled with massive mountains.

He dashed forward as fast as he could, but from every direction came Wyverns, Drakes, Hydras, Amphipteres — all the purest and most terrifying types of draconic beasts.

Each one was made to be stronger than him. What used to be a boss was now just part of the army he had to break through.

*BUZZ!*

Suddenly, space buzzed, and the world’s color shifted.

Darian saw all those draconic beasts open their mouths, releasing an overwhelming power — Dragon Breath, something only creatures born with draconic bloodlines could use.

Before, they had moved in perfect coordination to surround him. Now, they launched a devastating attack from every side. The whole thing was designed to make escape by speed alone completely impossible.

"This is definitely a cheat!"

Yeah, that challenge was clearly being tailored just to catch him.

Darian took a deep breath. In his primordial core, all the power of Chaos surged through his body at once. But even then, that obviously wouldn’t be enough.