The battlefield had changed completely.
Only moments ago, despair had ruled the convoy.
Warriors had fallen.
Essence reserves had been exhausted.
Weapons were chipped and broken.
Even the strongest fighters were beginning to stagger beneath the endless tide of monsters.
Yet now everything was different.
A wave of hope swept through the battlefield.
The moment Aviana's army of shadow creatures burst from the Shadowed Area, the impossible happened.
The convoy's morale exploded.
Exhausted warriors straightened their backs.
Those who had been preparing themselves for death suddenly found renewed determination.
Somehow, the fatigue weighing on their bodies felt lighter.
The hopelessness choking their hearts vanished.
For the first time since entering the trial, victory no longer seemed impossible.
Above the battlefield, Aviana spread her enormous black-and-gold wings.
She looked magnificent.
Her feathers shone with faint golden light while shadows danced between them.
The injuries that had covered her body earlier were gone.
Her aura had transformed completely.
The timid girl who had entered the Shadowed Area was gone.
In her place stood an Initiate Tyrant.
A ruler among monsters.
A queen of beasts.
The countless shadow creatures flooding the battlefield followed her every command without hesitation.
They slaughtered monsters with terrifying efficiency.
Everywhere they went, enemy ranks collapsed.
Aaron stared upward in disbelief.
Henry's mouth fell open.
Blake almost forgot to fight.
Sarah froze for a brief moment.
Even Ella looked stunned.
None of them understood what had happened.
Yet all of them shared the same thought.
How?
How had Aviana managed to command an entire army of monsters?
It was something they had only read about in ancient records, web novels, and myths.
Yet now it was happening before their eyes.
Meanwhile, Jade watched everything silently.
Even he was shocked.
He had expected Aviana to survive.
He had expected her to return stronger.
But this...
This was absurd.
An entire army obeying her voice.
An entire battlefield changing because of a single person.
Jade couldn't help but think:
"She's becoming terrifying."
Above the battlefield, Aviana's sharp eyes locked onto the Great Monster.
The true ruler of the trial.
The creature responsible for countless deaths.
The being standing between them and freedom.
The Great Monster felt her gaze.
And for the first time—
it became uneasy.
A wave of pressure spread from its body.
The creature's form twisted.
Its flesh stretched.
Its bones cracked.
Then it transformed.
Dark shadows gathered around it.
Massive wings emerged.
Its body grew taller.
A familiar figure appeared.
An Ant Demon.
But not Jade's Ant Demon.
This version was far larger.
Far stronger.
Far more terrifying.
Death aura poured from its body like a black ocean.
The ground beneath it withered instantly.
Even nearby monsters began retreating in fear.
Aviana narrowed her eyes.
The Great Monster had copied Ant Demon's abilities.
Yet somehow it had improved them.
The copied version looked like the nightmare of the original.
Far away, Ella watched the situation unfold.
Her eyes widened.
Then she remembered something.
A fragment.
A possibility.
A way to completely alter the battlefield.
Without hesitation, she summoned her Bad Luck Charm.
The small relic appeared within her hand.
The moment it activated—
the world seemed to shift.
Every monster nearby suddenly turned toward her.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Their eyes locked onto her instantly.
An overwhelming hunger filled the battlefield.
The monsters no longer cared about the convoy.
They no longer cared about Aviana.
They no longer cared about the shadow army.
All they wanted...
was Ella.
Ella smiled nervously.
"Well... let's hope this works."
At the same time, brilliant wings unfolded behind her.
A powerful relic she had obtained earlier.
She launched herself into the sky.
The monsters followed.
Every single one.
Like a tide of madness.
Like a living ocean.
Even the Great Monster hesitated.
Its instincts screamed at it.
Consume her.
Capture her.
Devour her.
The attraction generated by the charm was simply too powerful.
The Great Monster finally abandoned its position.
As it moved, countless monsters were crushed beneath its feet.
Entire sections of the battlefield were flattened.
A path of destruction stretched behind it.
The convoy watched in shock as the Great Monster disappeared after Ella.
And then—
they saw it.
A thread glistening
and
The treasure.
A radiant sphere of golden light.
It floated where the Great Monster had once stood.
Brighter than the sun.
Brighter than anything else in the trial.
Jade's heart skipped a beat.
He recognized it instantly.
Fate.
His Fate.
The thing that had been stolen from him.
The thing he had crossed countless nightmares to reclaim.
Without hesitation, Jade rushed forward.
His vines propelled him across the battlefield.
His sword dragged behind him.
His exhausted body screamed in protest.
But he ignored it.
Nothing could stop him now.
He reached the treasure.
And then he froze.
Eight eggs surrounded the glowing sphere.
Each one was enormous.
Each one radiated terrifying power.
The moment Jade stepped close—
cracks appeared across their surfaces.
His instincts screamed.
Danger.
Before he could react—
the eggs hatched.
A blinding light erupted.
The battlefield disappeared.
The trial vanished.
The treasure vanished.
Everything vanished.
BOOM!
The explosion consumed reality itself.
Jade felt himself being thrown backward.
Faster and faster.
Until the world became darkness.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then—
he opened his eyes.
The Void.
He had returned to the endless darkness.
A familiar pressure descended upon him.
A pressure so vast it felt like entire universes were resting upon his shoulders.
The darkness rippled.
Footsteps echoed.
A figure emerged.
This time, Beast God did not appear as an incomprehensible divine existence.
He appeared human.
Tall.
Handsome.
Ancient.
His golden eyes contained countless years of wisdom.
Yet behind them rested endless exhaustion.
Beast God looked at Jade.
Then spoke calmly.
"Jade."
His voice shook the Void.
"Why do you seek your Fate?"
Jade stared at him.
Beast God continued.
"You have been given a gift greater than what most gods could ever dream of."
His gaze became deeper.
"You have been forgotten."
The words lingered.
"You are free from Fate."
"You are free from recognition."
"You are free from destiny."
"You are free from the System."
The god stepped closer.
"And yet you seek to reclaim your chains."
Jade's eyes narrowed.
"I am not a god."
His answer came instantly.
"I am not interested in divine freedom."
He clenched his fists.
"I don't want my family to forget me."
"I don't want my friends to forget me."
"I don't want Aviana, Aaron, Ella, Little Gold, or anyone else to look at me as a stranger."
His voice became heavier.
"I survived more than a thousand dreams."
"I suffered."
"I died."
"I lost everything."
"And after all of that..."
He looked directly into Beast God's eyes.
"I refuse to become nobody."
Silence followed.
Beast God studied him carefully.
Then—
he smiled.
A strange smile.
A sad smile.
The smile of someone remembering an old wound.
"The funny thing, Jade..."
"The gods once wished for exactly what you have."
Jade frowned.
Even more surprising was what Beast God said next.
"Even Fate God."
Jade blinked.
"What?"
Beast God nodded.
"Even Fate God."
Jade was genuinely confused now.
"How could Fate God want to be forgotten?"
Beast God's smile vanished.
The Void trembled.
Then he said quietly:
"Because Fate God was never the only god."
The darkness around them shifted.
Thousands of images appeared.
Countless cages.
Countless infants.
Countless sleeping beings.
Jade's eyes widened.
Beast God pointed toward them.
"Did you think Blood God was chosen because he was the strongest?"
Jade remained silent.
Beast God shook his head.
"No."
"He was chosen because he possessed an affinity for life."
The images multiplied.
Thousands.
Millions.
An endless number.
Jade felt his heartbeat quicken.
He didn't understand.
Not yet.
Beast God looked into the distance.
As if remembering a time older than existence itself.
Then he spoke.
"We started a very... very long time ago."
And for the first time since entering the trial—
Jade realized he was about to learn the secret of the gods themselves.