"Alright, have it your way," Max said finally, his voice low and clipped. With a casual motion of his hand, he used his Omni Guard skill. A hexagonal barrier of forcefield shimmered into existence, its green edges glowing faintly as it expanded to surround the three fallen geniuses.

With a flex of his will, the shield lifted, raising them off the ground in a large protective cocoon. They floated behind him, carried by his power. "If anything happens to them," he added coldly, "it will not be my fault."

Nina's eyes softened with relief, though her face remained solemn. She gave him a single nod before turning to Evan. Evan's gaze lingered on Max, wary and tense, but in the end he also nodded. For both of them, this was enough. They could not accept abandoning their companions to die in the wasteland, where a swarm of centipedes could erupt at any moment and tear them apart.

The group set off once more, yet the atmosphere had changed. The silence was sharper, the air heavy with mistrust. Max walked at the front, his golden crown glowing faintly, while Nina and Evan trailed behind him with guarded expressions. The tension between them was no longer hidden. It was plain, a fracture in their alliance that widened with every step they took.

As time wore on, the weight pressing down on them continued to grow. Each step became harder than the last. Nina's breathing turned heavy, her face pale as sweat dripped down her temple. Evan too struggled, his jaw clenched, his movements slower than before. Even their auras strained against the invisible pressure, and both of them realized they were nearing their limits.

Only Max remained unaffected. His body carried the three additional geniuses within the Omni Guard, and the pressure on him was far greater than on Nina or Evan. Yet the Draconic Essences within his body pulsed with overwhelming strength, reinforcing his frame and allowing him to stride forward as though the crushing force was nothing. Compared to their faltering steps, he walked steadily, each movement calm and controlled.

The difference was clear. Where Nina and Evan were barely enduring, Max bore three times their burden and still advanced without pause. The wasteland tested them all, but its weight only made the disparity between them even more undeniable.

'What is the reason behind this continuous increase in weight on our bodies?' Max thought silently as he moved across the violet wasteland with Nina and Evan beside him. Each step pressed heavier against the earth than the last.

The idea flickered in his mind that perhaps the true trial of this region was not the monsters or the centipedes but the invisible force that relentlessly increased the burden on their bodies. Yet he was not certain. The silence of the wasteland gave him no answer.

Another day passed in suffocating pressure. The land remained barren, and the strain only grew. At last, Nina and Evan's limits reached their breaking point. Their knees buckled beneath them, and they both collapsed onto the ground. Their arms struck the earth, their limbs trembling under the weight as they clawed at the violet soil to stay upright. Neither of them could lift their bodies anymore.

Only Max remained standing, though even his posture had shifted. His breathing deepened, and his muscles tightened visibly under the crushing force.

The black glow of his Dragon Scales Transformation flickered across his body, each scale glowing faintly with draconic power. All one thousand of his Draconic Essences were active, their raw strength flowing through his veins like a raging tide. It was only by relying on this form that he could remain upright. Without it, he would have collapsed long ago.

Carrying the three weakened geniuses within the Omni Guard added a burden so heavy that even a Divine Rank cultivator would have struggled beneath it.

'This is bad,' Max thought, his expression darkening as his crimson eyes shifted toward Nina and Evan. Seeing them on their hands and knees, their shoulders shaking, made his frown deepen. The trial had not even revealed itself, yet already they were broken beneath its weight.

"Are you two finished as well?" Max asked, his tone low but edged with concern as his gaze moved between them.

"I cannot take another step," Nina admitted, her voice trembling. Sweat soaked her robes, and her hand clutched the Fate Compass tightly as though it was the only thing keeping her steady. "The force pressing down is… killing me."

Evan forced his head up, his chest heaving as he dragged in breaths one after another. "Me too," he said through gritted teeth. "The weight here is too much. I can barely breathe, let alone move forward."

Max's frown deepened further at their words. He raised his gaze to scan the wasteland, his senses reaching far in every direction. Yet there was nothing—no markers, no ruins, no signs of a trial site. The land stretched endlessly, barren and unchanged, leaving him to wonder if the trial site was truly here at all or if they had been walking into nothingness all along.

The thought unsettled him, pressing heavier than even the invisible weight itself.

And then...

"Huh? Centipedes are coming this way!" Max muttered, his voice hard and sudden enough to make both Nina and Evan whirl toward him, eyes wide with sudden alarm.

Panic thrummed along Nina's jaw and Evan's shoulders, and both of them turned toward Max as if he were their final hope.

Nina's face drained of color as she tried to find her feet, the muscles of her legs refusing to obey. "What do we do?" she breathed, each syllable trembling with fear. "I cannot move at all."

Evan slammed his palm into the ground in frustration and cursed under his breath, his voice rough with impotent anger. "Damn it," he hissed, each repetition a measure of his helplessness. He looked to Max with a pleading urgency that left no room for politeness.

"Can you take the young miss with you?" Evan asked, the plea sharpening his tone as he struggled to keep it steady. His hand reached out as if to push Nina forward, his lips forming the question like a last resort.

Max's gaze swept over them for a long heartbeat, and he answered with a solemn, tired calm. "I am already at my limit carrying the three of them," he said, nodding toward the hexagonal field where the three collapsed geniuses floated in stasis. "If I carry anyone more, the burden will break me. I will not be able to walk at all."

Those words fell on Nina like cold water. Her shoulders trembled and for the first time since they had met, a raw, honest despair crossed her features. She had led her companions into this trial and now she had to abandoned them for their survival? She would rather die than do this.

Evan's jaw set and his eyes flashed with a hard, terrible resolve. "Leave the three of them behind and take the two of us," he said through clenched teeth, the words forced out like iron. He did not pretend there was tenderness in his voice; there was only cold calculation and the single-minded duty that had driven him since he had sworn to protect Nina.

Nina recoiled as if struck, her voice snapping back like a broken string. "Evan, what are you saying?" she demanded, hurt and disbelief surging together in each word.

Evan did not soften. He squared his shoulders and stared at her with the stubborn, protective ferocity of someone who had pledged an oath. "Young Miss, I promised Young Master to protect your life at all costs," he said slowly and solemnly. "If saving you now means three of our teammates die, then I will accept that cost rather than see you fall here."

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