Zatiel's bloodlust kept growing as he stared at the name at the top of the Prima Universe's Champion Ranking. A dark red aura emerged from him, lowering the temperature in the surroundings.
First, the bloodlust became a mantle around the Neo-Demon's Ancestor, but the next second blasted out like a raging flame.
The clashes between Zatiel and The Sage started when he created a wave in the ocean of fate that the latter perceived.
One of the reasons why the Neo-Demon hated him so much was due to The Sage targeting his people and the fact he used the memories of his family to attack him.
However, Zatiel felt that he needed to kill him from the bottom of his soul because The Sage was the first person in the last billion years that made him feel threatened.
He was the Incarnation of Death and Destruction. His power was so high that no Law Overlord could threaten him, and even the entire Prima Universe working together could only equal him.
Even if he was extremely weak right now, the truth was that not even the Magi World's leader or the Overgod, two of the most powerful Law Overlords, could disturb Zatiel.
Only an existence like the endless darkness should affect his mind, but The Sage, that individual who only displayed Rank 6 battle power, achieved that feat as well.
That is why he went to the extreme of using the entity in the first layer of The Final Purgatory to erase from the timeline everything connected to the clone he captured.
No matter how many clones, incarnations, or avatars The Sage had, that power should have erased all of them.
'Even if his true power was that of a Being of Laws and I could not erase him from the timeline, the entity in the first layer should have more than enough power to have killed him.'
Zatiel regained control over his emotions, and after noticing the way Ancestral Root looked at him, he retracted his bloodlust. Nevertheless, his instincts were still screaming, telling him he needed to kill that man.
The fact The Sage's name was in the ranking did not mean he was still alive. After all, just like NRAI could retain the memories Zatiel had of that man, the World Tree's Abode could also resist the change in the timeline and conserve the information regarding him.
His rational mind told him that The Sage should have died, but deep down, Zatiel felt that that fearful enemy was still there, lurking in the darkness, waiting for the moment to strike.
Zatiel turned to Ancestral Root but shook his head after some thinking.
'Even if he has information about The Sage, he would not give it to me since it would be going against his purpose as an Artifact Spirit. I guess I will have to ask the old tree directly.'
He threw the matter with The Sage to the back of his mind and looked to the other titles.
Number 2. Heavenly Slayer ( 86% completion)
Number 3. Astral Faith Destroyer (85% completion)
Number 4. Supernova of Spacetime (82% completion)
Number 5. Supernova of Death and Destruction (81% completion)
Number 6. Holy Mother (80% completion)
Number 7. Darkness Devourer (79% completion)
Number 8. Vajra Eternal Saintess (77% completion)
Number 9. Endless Void Dragon King (75% completion)
Number 10. True Cultivator (75% completion)
Despite being the first time he took the trial, Zatiel had some knowledge about it.
Theoretically, someone with 100% completion would have the power to reach Rank 10. That was a feat even the Incarnation of Death and Destruction did not achieve, at least not truly.
Those with a completion percentage between 75% to 79% were amazing geniuses that could form powerful Omega Laws and display battle power above their cultivation even after reaching Rank 8.
A completion percentage between 80% to 84% meant they were shining stars even among amazing geniuses. They had extraordinary destinies, and as long their potential kept growing, they could become Law Overlords.
85% was a major threshold. While there was only a 1% difference with 84%, the talent of those with this level of completion reached the Prima Universe's peak.
Reaching above 90% was something Zatiel thought no one but him could achieve, but The Sage succeeded.
Of course, those numbers were not definitive, and they could change in the future, growing or declining. Even Heavenly Slayer could fall in his journey or fail to keep his destinies and potential growing alongside his Rank.
Zatiel made sure to memorize those titles, and there were some he already associated with people he had a connection with.
"Start the next test."
Ancestral Root's eyes narrowed when he heard Zatiel's words. The way the Neo-Demon acted showed the hatred he had against the number 1 Challenger.
In the end, he did nothing. Even if he wanted, he could not harm the Challengers unless the World Tree commanded it.
"Endless Hell focuses on your ability to resist agony. You will be submitted to the worst pain imaginable. There are ten levels, and each one lasts a year. The higher the level you reach, the greater your completion percentage will be. Questions?"
"Do you need to start in the first level?"
"Not really, but it would be better to start from the beginning since it would temper your willpower."
"Start in the tenth level."
Ancestral Root was surprised when he heard those words and saw the seriousness in Zatiel's face.
"Are you sure? Only two Challengers managed to reach the tenth level, and one barely lasted a minute before passing out."
The Neo-Demon's eyes narrowed when he heard that. "What about the other?"
"He completed the tenth level."
A monstrous fighting spirit appeared in Zatiel's eyes when he heard that. He did not need to ask who was the only Challenger to complete the tenth level as he already knew the answer.
Zatiel adopted a meditative position before signaling Ancestral Root to start and closing his eyes.
Once again, he felt a finger touch his forehead, and the next second, a terrible pain assaulted him. It was so horrific that the Neo-Demon failed to maintain his meditative posture for more than five minutes and began to roll in the ground as he grabbed his head and screamed.
"¡AHHHHHH!"
The agony was much worse than when he split his soul and could compare with the pain he suffered the twentieth day of True Will's strengthening.
Even if he felt pain like this before, back then, he only needed to endure a few hours, but now he had to resist an entire year. While the True Will enhanced his ability to withstand pain, there was a limit to that help.
Despite his pitiful appearance, there was no sign of surrender in Zatiel's eyes as he resisted that inhumane torture.
Days became weeks, and weeks became months, but the Neo-Demon screams did not stop.
He would blast his head against the ground from time to time, hoping to ease the pain a little, but it did not help.
When the fourth month of pain started, Zatiel had already lost the ability to think, but he kept enduring.
Whenever he felt the desire to give up, he would stare at the first name on the wood plate, and his instincts would push him to endure and keep fighting.
Finally, after what felt like an endless amount of time, the pain stopped. Right then, the Neo-Demon relaxed for an instant and fell unconscious.
Ancestral Root stared at the young man with respect and waited for him to recover before starting the next trial.
