Against the backdrop of the shimmering neon sky, a gargantuan eagle fought the high-altitude gales. Rose hung from its talons, her brunette hair a frantic silk shroud around her face as she peered down at the progress of Elias Crowe. His light-staircase was a fragile thread in the vast blue. The Lords beneath him were flagging, their aether reserves depleted, forced to chug potions to maintain their precarious footing.
The eagle was no mere beast; it was a transformed Lord from Steven's retinue. The metamorphosis was a harrowing, bone-snapping ordeal, but their devotion to Rose made the agony irrelevant.
'The Crimson Lord's team has vanished,' Rose mused, her eyes scanning the horizon for a trace of Leo. 'Did they fail at the start?'
Elias, suspended hundreds of meters above the canopy, felt the atmospheric pressure crushing his lungs. Each breath was a victory. 'We are losing momentum,' he thought, glancing at the trembling hands of his architect Lord.
The silence of the upper atmosphere was shattered by a sound like the world breaking.
BOOM! WHOOSH!
A physical wall of air slammed into Elias's group, scattering them as autumn leaves in a hurricane. ''NOOO!'' Elias's scream was lost in the roar as he felt gravity reclaim him. He looked up, his heart freezing in his chest. A colossus was cutting through the clouds, a literal mountain of flesh defying the laws of gravity.
Rose's intuition screamed at her. ''Dive! Fly away, now!'' she commanded the eagle.
The transformed Lord banked sharply, his wings groaning under the sudden stress of the shockwave. Rose braced herself, watching in stunned silence as the silhouette of the giantess passed. She could see Hye-na anchored to the titan's palm, her spear buried deep in calloused skin to resist the wind.
On the forest floor, the remaining hunters were paralyzed. A Lord pointed a trembling finger toward the heavens. ''Since when can giants fly?''
Hye-na didn't share their fear. As she clutched her spear, the roar of the wind sounded like music. 'Exhilarating,' she thought, her lips curving into a rare, sharp smile.
'She leaped the entire distance in a single bound,' Leo thought, his mind struggling to process the sheer scale of the power she generated.
The giantess touched down on the island's precipice, the impact sending a ripple through the floating continent. The Empress stood a few paces away, her expression one of dry amusement. The giantess gave a small, awkward cough, avoiding the sovereign's gaze as she tilted her hand to the marble floor.
''Here you go, human,'' the giantess rumbled, her voice vibrating through the marble floor.
Hye-na leaped from the massive palm, her boots skidding slightly on the reflecting surface. The island was a sanctuary of absolute silence, barren save for the center where a crystalline bracelet rotated within a halo of ancient, humming runes.
''Approach,'' the Empress commanded, standing as a silent sentinel beside the artifact. Hye-na moved forward, her gaze locked onto the source of the power that had called to her throughout the trial.
With a gentle touch, the Empress activated the final sequence. The runes flared, and the bracelet drifted toward Hye-na like a living thing. ''Accept it. The weight of the Evergreen is now yours to carry.''
Hye-na reached out, her fingers closing around the cold metal. Her eyes mirrored a mixture of iron determination and a rare softness for the companions who had bled to bring her here.
Suddenly, the sky fractured with light as a system notification roared across the Umbra region.
[REGIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT]
[A monumental achievement has been recorded. Lord Silent March has claimed the legacy of Empress Athena Evergreen: The Benevolent Saintess.]
[A new title has been forged: Heir to Evergreen.]
Hye-na was enveloped in a pillar of emerald light. In a trance-like state, she felt centuries of knowledge and power flooding her consciousness. The Empress watched with a mother's warmth. 'Our journey begins now, my heir,' she thought, her physical form dissolving into a thousand shimmering motes that swirled into the bracelet.
The giantess looked down at Leo, her grin wider than ever. She unleashed a shout that shook the very foundations of the floating island. ''Do not grow complacent, shorty! Next time, I shall not be so lenient!''
With a final laugh, the colossus was pulled into the artifact, leaving the island in a sudden, heavy silence.
Across the sky, Rose's silhouette flickered and vanished, her expression one of cold frustration.
Elias Crowe, suspended on his crumbling stairs of light, glared at Leo as the teleportation light claimed him. 'That variable must be erased,' he mused. 'He is becoming a catastrophe we cannot afford.'
The forest below emptied as the Lords were forcibly recalled. Leo's team stood together until the very end, the last to be whisked away from the battlefield.
When Hye-na finally opened her eyes, the darkness of her pupils had been replaced by a permanent, haunting emerald glow. She gasped, her hand trembling as she clutched the bracelet, before she, too, was swept back into the dimension of the Cathedral.
Inside the Cathedral of Infinite Ceilings, the disqualified Lords had been watching the broadcast with bated breath. Baron, once the undisputed king of the rankings, stood with white knuckles. 'A failure of a team cost me everything,' he hissed to himself. 'That legacy should have been mine.'
The hall erupted in a deafening roar as the Cold Princess appeared. To many, she was more than a Lord; she was a goddess to be worshipped.
As the various teams materialized, the atmosphere turned into a chaotic mix of celebration and mockery. Finally, the Crimson team arrived—Ben, Elara, Luna, Noel, and Leo—followed closely by the newly crowned Heir to Evergreen.
The sharp sound of a rhythmic clap silenced the room. D5, the liquid guide, hovered above them in his immaculate navy suit. His eyes lingered on Hye-na with a knowing glint. 'A cleverly veiled farce, Athena. You always did have a flair for the dramatic,' he thought.
''I sense a lingering dissatisfaction regarding the rewards of this trial,'' D5 announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the cathedral. "Fear not. Your performance has been meticulously calculated into points. Use them wisely in the shop. Furthermore, as promised, the elite ten shall receive their spoils. Behold the final standings.''
He swept a hand toward the air, and a massive holographic board ignited with the names of the victors.
Rank | Lord | Points | Rewards
1 | Silent March | 100,000 | Hero Summoning Crystal, Astral Ruin Armor, Resource Pack (Epic)
2 | Crimson Lord | 70,000 | Epic Grade Summoning Scroll, Kingfall Armor, Resource Pack (Rare)
3 | Rose | 50,000 | Epic Grade Summoning Scroll, Throneguard Plate, Resource Pack (Rare)
4 | Elias Crowe | 45,000 | Rare Grade Summoning Scroll, Resource Pack (Rare)
5 | Only Noel | 30,000 | Rare Grade Summoning Scroll, Resource Pack (Rare)
6 | Baron | 25,000 | N/A
7 | Princess Luna | 22,000 | N/A
8 | Diana | 19,000 | N/A
9 | Ben | 15,000 | N/A
10 | Steven Lockwood | 15,000 | N/A
A heavy silence fell over the room as everyone processed the list. Then, it suddenly broke into a roar of confusion and shock.
''Is this a joke?'' someone shouted from the crowd. ''Who the hell is OnlyNoel? And Princess Luna?''
''Wait, look at the names,'' another Lord pointed out, his voice shaking with disbelief. ''Crimson lord, OnlyNoel, Princess Luna, and Ben... they're all in the same party! That's four people from one team in the top ten!''
Baron stared at his name in sixth place, his face turning a dark shade of purple. He had been the favorite to win, and now he was sitting behind a 'nobody' from Leo's team. ''This is impossible,'' he hissed, his hands trembling with rage.
Rose's gaze was glued to Leo's name. Second place. She had been so sure of her own superiority, yet here he was, towering over her on the scoreboard. ''He actually did it,'' she whispered to herself, her disappointment mixing with a new, dangerous curiosity.