"Run as swiftly as thou canst, child. I shall do my utmost to ensure that none obstructs thy progress," the winged woman said, unfurling her large wings as though they had been undamaged by the previous attacks. She slowly ascended towards White Flame.
"RUN, MY CHILD, RUN AS SWIFTLY AS THOU CANST!"
Orion needed no further warning. He immediately turned and sprinted toward the gate.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion emanated from behind him, prompting Orion to glance back as he pushed forward with all his might. He saw that the winged woman had finally lost one of her wings, torn apart by several large, slim pieces of rock.
Additionally, a massive rock spike had impaled her stomach, causing Orion to wince inwardly as he immediately activated his gift.
"CRACCKLLEE!!"
Suddenly, rather than converging directly into his hands, Orion felt his lightning gather and coat his legs.
He realized he had discovered a new way to utilize his gift, enabling him not only to detach his lightning from himself but also to envelop his legs with it.
Amid this revelation, Orion decided to experiment with further possibilities, attempting to cover his entire body with lightning.
However, his actions caused lightning to erupt from his hands, while the accumulation around his legs abruptly ceased.
Nonetheless, this setback did not impede Orion's advance. He promptly channelled his lightning into the six-foot greatsword he held, coating it with a vibrant bluish, stinging aura.
With swift decisiveness, he swung the electrified blade downward at an ogre, cleaving it from neck to waist and effortlessly reducing it to smouldering halves.
He continued his charge, moving on to dissect another opponent in his path.
"CRACCKLLEE!! CRAACKLEE!!"
As Orion controlled the strange energy within his body and directed it toward his legs, his lightning flared out once more, enveloping them in a streaking, bluish glow as he maintained his unwavering charge forward.
"BBOOOMM!!"
"BAAMMM!! BOOOMM!!!"
Explosions echoed in the distance behind Orion. However, he had no luxury of glancing backwards and assessing the ongoing developments of their battle. Instead, with the colossal stone gate looming ahead, Orion accelerated his pace, determined to pass through in time and escape from this place.
However…
"Stop!" A voice, neither loud nor too quiet, suddenly rang within Orion's ears. Before he could grasp what was happening, he crashed to the ground as though his legs had become fused with the earth itself.
"SHIT!!" Orion cursed out loud, as he realized that a heavy, coiling chain had entangled his legs, its weight growing more oppressive by the second.
To make matters worse, the solid, barren ground around him began to shift, turning into a dangerous quicksand that threatened to swallow him whole.
'What kind of cheat ability is this?' Orion vehemently swore within the confines of his mind. He was beginning to understand the godly abilities they faced.
Baduum! Baduum!!
Orion's heart raced with the realization that he could die at any moment from now. He drew in a deep breath and unleashed the Vylkr energy stored within both of his Vylkr containers. As the Vylkr energy surged through him, his veins pulsed and constricted, his muscles tightened to an almost painful extent, and the energy melded, reshaped, and strengthened his body tissues. But...
... nothing changed.
Despite the abnormal boost in strength, Orion's body continued to sink deeper into the unforgiving quicksand, the chain's oppressive weight on his legs intensifying.
"You're the only one unaffected..."
Orion's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the familiar voice ahead of him.
"Strange, it seems that I would need to take..."
Orion didn't bother to look up or let White Flame finish his sentence. He immediately activated his last resort.
Vylkr warrior mode!
BADUUM! BADUUM!
The Vylkr energy, once suppressed by his strange energy, erupted from every pore of his skin. Inky black strands of energy emerged, surrounding him in a dense, swirling mass.
Due to the two Vylkr containers within him, the Vylkr energy was now four to six times denser and more chaotic than before.
Gradually, his eyes started to cloud over as the Vylkr energy expanded, turning them into a deep shade of tinted black.
…..
Meanwhile, in the space where Orion and the other eighty-one participants were previously located before entering the trial, Aegis of the Arctic Deity observed the scene reflected in the stream of water that had engulfed Orion and the rest of the participants.
He couldn't help but burst into laughter as his voice echoed through the vacant void, watching Orion climb the collapsed highland, heading straight toward the defeated winged goddess amidst the rubble.
"HAHAHAHAHA! WHAT A BRAVE HUMAN! NAKA... HAHAHAHA! I HOPE YOU'RE WATCHING THIS! HAHAHAHA! AFTER SO MANY YEARS HAVE PASSED, A HUMAN WOULD BE THE ONE TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THIS MOUNTAIN!" Aegis of the Arctic Deity's voice reverberated, causing the surrounding space to tremble with his laughter.
He settled down, a glint in his eyes and a smile on his face, curious about how the human would manage this feat. He couldn't help but marvel at the way Orion had not only obtained the sword from Aerielia but had also bonded with it. Aegis of the Arctic Deity was almost dumbfounded by Orion's cleverness.
Nonetheless, obtaining the sword had been the easy part; escaping with it was where the true challenge lay.
In fact, Orion and the other participants had essentially passed the trial the moment they obtained the divine blood. All that remained was to absorb it fully by reaching a certain distance, crossing the gate to the other side, and thereby completing the trial. If they failed to do so, they would only be able to absorb the amount of divine blood corresponding to the distance they had traversed.
Both Princess Crystalia and her personal guard had managed to secure a few drops of divine blood. However, their progress was cut short, and they were unable to fully absorb the divine blood, receiving only a fraction of its power.
As such, given what he had witnessed thus far, he naturally wanted to test Orion's limits and the extent of his capabilities.
