CHAPTER 196: EX 196. TRUE DEATH

A voice echoed in the endless void, deep and resonant, as though it came from the marrow of existence itself.

"That child did not lie about the boy... he possesses a soul as brilliant as ours."

The voice lingered, heavy with judgment, then fell into silence for a breath before it spoke again.

"This trial will temper him. It will be beneficial. But should he fail... it does not matter. There are others who can take his place."

And just like that, the void dimmed, falling into absolute quiet.

****

A cool breeze rolled across a vast stretch of grassland. The blades whispered as they bent, carrying the smell of dew. On the ground, a young man lay flat, his chest rising and falling in the rhythm of sleep.

The young man was a nineteen year old, with White hair tied loosely at his back. He had calm mask on his face, until his body tensed. His eyes snapped open, blue irises cutting across the horizon with a sharp glint and the calm shifted to alarm.

Leon sat up abruptly, scanning his surroundings. His pulse quickened. The soft caution in his gaze sharpened into dread as he muttered under his breath, almost refusing to accept it.

"...No. It can’t be."

He shot to his feet. His senses spread out, threads of awareness probing the field around him for any trace of his squadmates. Nothing. No familiar aura, no heartbeat, no voices. Just empty grass and a sky too quiet for comfort.

"What the hell happened...?" Leon’s voice carried through the stillness, breaking it like a stone tossed into glass.

Fragments of memory burned through his mind. The altar. The glow. The activation of the trial. He had been expecting the familiar grind of a standard D-rank challenge, nothing he couldn’t bulldoze through. But then, the shift, weight and impossible words etched into the system’s prompt destroyed that expectation.

SSS Rank Trial.

His jaw tightened, and anger crackled in his tone.

"What type of sick prank is this...?"

Leon’s first thoughts weren’t of himself. Nikko and Elizabeth... they would be fine. Those two were powerhouses in their own right. But Adrian and Eden, were still F-rank. They were brave, talented, and pushing past their limits, sure. But here? In this? This wasn’t just beyond them. It was suicide.

Leon clenched his fists, his voice low and steady but laced with iron.

"I don’t know what kind of monsters crawl in this world... but if it’s really an SSS rank trial, then even a rabbit could turn out to be a goddamn executioner."

His hand dipped into his inventory, pulling out the artifact that was bound Bal’ark. The cold weight of it rested in his grip. He stared at it, silent for a long moment, his mind churning.

****

As one entered a trial world through an altar, they always arrived at the same spot. That was how it worked.

There was no such thing as splitting the trial takers.

But no one could have predicted outside interference, not even Leon. And because of it, his squadmates were scattered to God knows where.

Leon’s hand dipped into his inventory, pulling out the artifact bound to Bal’ark. A small, crude bead-like object, dull but cold in his palm. It was designed to inflict agony on the demon lord whenever Leon willed it. Except now... it did nothing, since it was out of range.

He clicked his tongue.

"The others have theirs too. If they’re close, the artifacts will react. That’ll be my way of tracking them down."

As for Bal’ark, Leon wasn’t worried.

"He’s a demon lord. Even sealed, he’ll survive. And here in the trial world, he can’t cause serious damage... not with the way he is."

His gaze swept the endless grass plain. Their were no movement or sound beyond the wind. "For now, I need to find out where I am."

With a flex of his legs, his figure blurred. One heartbeat he stood in the plain, the next he was gone, speed cutting through the world like a blade.

In a forest miles away, Leon reappeared, boots sinking into soft soil. His breath came even, and steady. He glanced back over his shoulder. "That was around a hundred kilometers... and still nothing. No signs of life. Not even a barrier to mark the zone. This can’t possibly get any worse."

A sharp chime cut through his thoughts.

A notification flared across his vision.

[SYSTEM FULLY UPDATED]

Leon narrowed his eyes. "So that’s why I didn’t get anything after waking up. The system was updating itself..."

The next string of text hit harder.

[You have entered the SSS Rank Trial World: Pandora]

[Difficulty: Tier VII]

[World Description: A world filled with countless secrets, that should remain secrets]

[Main Trial Objective: Find out the reason for corruption and stop it]

[Time Limit: One Year]

[Failure Conditions: Exceeding the time limit, getting corrupted, Death]

[Failure Penalty: True Death]

Leon froze, reading the words again. Then again. "...What the fuck."

The SSS rank didn’t surprise him anymore, that much had already been made clear. But the rest... it didn’t add up.

First, this wasn’t called a trial zone. It was a trial world. There had to be a difference. He thought back to his past experiences. A trial zone was like a cage. It had boundaries one couldn’t cross, no matter what. A trial world... His eyes lifted to the endless horizon.

"Maybe it has no boundaries at all. Or maybe they’re so far I won’t ever reach them."

He frowned. "I might be wrong. It could just be the SSS rank making the range wider than the F-rank trial I tackled. But..." He let out a breath. "...I’d be an idiot not to treat this like a whole world."

His gaze shifted back to the trial’s objective. The words themselves unsettled him. "This is just... counterproductive."

The description was clear: a world of secrets, that should remain secrets. And yet the main objective demanded he uncover one of those very secrets. The reason for corruption.

Leon rubbed at the back of his neck, jaw tightening.

"They’re telling me to dig into something I shouldn’t. That’s the trap."

He let out a slow exhale. "It’s an SSS rank trial. Of course it wouldn’t be straightforward."

But his eyes finally landed on the last line. The penalty. His lips pressed thin as he read it out loud, voice low, and almost solemn.

"True death."