Mikella paused right when she was about to launch an arrow from her bow. The man she was targeting, thankfully, did the same, looking back in the same direction where she was staring at.

Something was amiss. She wasn't sure why. Her instincts were screaming at her, but without even realizing what it was, it was just that–screaming.

Whether it'd be out of fear, panic, or just pure instinct to run at her target, she wasn't sure.

Then something scared the ever living crap out of her. A notification was sent to her vision. Unlike the usually light blue color, this one was blaring bright red, and she swore she heard some kind of alarm by the system itself screaming in her ears.

Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!

A creature of the Trial has appeared!

*****

Mikella Ashton, you are tasked to take on the Trial:

-Defeat the Boss of the Trial.

Reward: %$7(*#(

Failure: Death.

Work with the otherworlders, or face it on your own.

Live and survive, or be part of the Terminus.

Several thoughts ran through her head, and she didn't have Parallel Thought to help. She did, however, notice one thing.

The supposed Trials have started, and she was not prepared.

"Fuck!" She screamed, and only just realized she wasn't alone.

"What the fuck is this?!"

Tack, her opponent she had been fighting just seconds ago, looked at somewhere in the distance with a pale look on his face. Unlike his usual confident look, this one screamed of confusion and slight panic.

Then he glared at her. "You! What the fuck is this? Explain!"

"Like hell I know!" She barked back. Then she paused. "Wait, you can see the message?"

"It says 'Find an otherworlder and face it, or run away'! And what the fuck does Terminus even mean?"

Her eyes widened. She didn't give a shit whether Tack died due to the trial, but to hear that Tarials, the people of this world, receiving the same kind of emergency message but telling a different thing made her even more nervous.

If that was the case, then what about the others? What about Zeke?

More importantly, is Clara going through the same thing? Her heart hammered at the idea of this so called 'creature' coming after her too.

Fuck, I have no idea what's going on! She screamed internally, for once the weapon in her hand did not help her calm down at all.

…..

The rest of the attackers went and fled, not giving Zeke any indication of where they were going. They seemed to just pick a random direction and left there.

Honestly, if they were able to leave with everyone out of the tower, Zeke wouldn't care if the attackers were stuck here. They knew full well what they were doing when they attacked, and more so when they saw the unarmed people here trying to survive. They should've known they would be signing a death sentence the moment they accepted this, and Zeke would gladly look the other way.

It still stung him a little, thinking that perhaps he should've said something to prevent them from casually losing their lives, but then something occurred.

Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!

A creature of the Trial has appeared!

*****

Zeke Parlow, you are tasked to take on the Trial:

-Defeat the Boss of the Trial.

Reward: %$7(*#(

Failure: Death.

Work with the otherworlders, or face it on your own.

Live and survive, or be part of the Terminus.

A sudden red notification, like the system was giving him a warning sign, blinded his vision. The alarms were practically screaming in his head as he panicked, only to find out that everyone else is going through the same thing as him.

Literally, everyone around him was panicking, meaning that everyone here received the same warning.

"Zeke, what the hell is this?" Lyle shouted, his eyes widening at the distance, reading his own notification. "Is this the Trial thing Zoan and Hyralc were talking about? Is it happening right now?"

"I don't know," Zeke responded. "This is a first for me. What does it say for you?"

Rather than just explaining it, Lyle just sent the notification to him, which was the same red box containing the same alarm.

Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!

A creature of the Trial has appeared!

*****

As an otherworlder, this trial is not meant for you. However, you have the opportunity to join the fight.

-Defeat the Boss of the Trial.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Reward: %$7(*#(

Failure: Death.

Work with the otherworlders, or face it on your own.

Live and survive, or be part of the Terminus.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Zeke cursed over and over. "Our trial is starting now? Now?! What the hell?!"

Just when Zeke was entering into full on panic mode, he heard something shifting about and turned around, only to find two figures flying out of the forest.

"Incoming!" Lyle shouted. "They're people!"

Zeke couldn't really think any faster before he conjured several constructs made of a rubbery substance. The two figures, both being Saang and Kote, managed to land on the two constructs that stopped the both of them, stopping their momentum long enough to bring themselves falling to the ground with a thump.

After seeing they were still decent, Zeke, Lyle, and Janet came over to them.

They looked… horrifically injured. Saang was bleeding all over, pouring out of her nose and mouth. Kote was even worse off, his arm nearly crushed like paste and bruises that looked like it should've killed a normal man.

Zeke tried to heal but Lyle stopped him. He instead pulled out two extremely glowing red potions out of his bag. His eyes widened at the power emanating from the potions as he cocked them into the canisters and pierced their arms with a loud click, the contents being driven straight into their bodies.

"I got enough potions," Lyle said, answering Zeke's silent question. "So save your mana for whatever it was that got them like this."

Zeke nodded, understanding fully now. After the potion took effect, their wounds healed even quicker than normal. Kote's limb was restored as though time rewounded, and Saang's many wounds closed up in a blink of an eye.

Both Saang and Kote immediately woke up from their stupor, waking up in a hurry and their eyes looking bloodshot. Saang tried to grope the ground, but realized that her weapon was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit!" Saang cursed.

"Saang, what's wrong?" Zeke asked, surprising the Journeymen. "What happened?"

Zeke knew that it wasn't the imposter that did this. It had something to do with the trial, and unfortunately they got involved. Worse yet, Kote still looked as though he was still in fight or flight mode, constantly swiveling his head left and right.

"Zeke, we need to run," Kote said, his tone hurried and brisk. "Let's grab everyone here and haul ass, now."

Zeke never saw Kote look and sound so horrified of anything. Even Saang didn't question it, her face paling even though she had recovered her life energy enough. Whoever did this to them was clearly too powerful for even experienced Journeymen to handle.

"Well, that's a little…" Zeke hesitated. Can he even leave at this point?

He still didn't know what was going on, but the looks on Saang and Kote's faces showed that they just saw something that shouldn't be here. He looked over at the two behind him, Lyle and Janet waiting for his orders.

What's more, the otherworlders were still in the back, already setting aside everything and ready to leave when they heard that the master of the tower has been defeated and they could get out. What other choice is there but to leave?

"Alright, we'll leave. What about that fake Hamil? Did you take him?"

As though to answer his question, something else came flying towards them. However, it was more like a casual toss than an actual throw meant to kill. That something rolled harmlessly towards them, giving Zeke a good long look at what it was.

It was Hamil. Hamil's head, to be exact. He had that look of horror on his face, his eyes wide as though he couldn't believe what he just saw himself.

Then, the area around the Null Void activated and forced the head to dispel whatever skill it had. Hamil's shocked appearance slowly melted away like a burning candle, revealing another head that was nothing like Hamil.

It was a pale-looking man with brown eyes and long golden hair tied into a pony tail. The man would've looked rather handsome if he hadn't had that still-horrified expression on his face.

And the body, of course. That was important.

"Found the fake Hamil," Lyle said, helping everyone out by stating the obvious.

After that, a woman screamed loud enough to break the sound barrier, causing everyone to react just as badly once they saw the disembodied head just tossed to the side. But that wasn't what made Zeke worry.

He felt it. Something powerful, way more than it has any right to be. Slowly, he turned towards the direction where the toss happened, and saw it. It was just… standing there.

It was a humanoid shape creature, wearing what looked like black armor covered in red streaks. It stood at a massive 8 foot frame that even made the giant trees surrounding it look meek.

Even worse, the head showed what looked like a helmet covering its face, but two red eyes sharply glistened right at the group.

Its presence completely destroyed the veil surrounding them, destroying the Null Void from the creature's pressure. Zeke could feel the connection with the mana snap back together, but his attention was completely taken.

"It's here…" Kote said softly, his tone magnifying his panic to a fever pitch. "It's here already…"

Zeke didn't even have to ask how powerful it was. Even without identifying it, he could tell. A presence that was outside anything he felt before. Not even the Lord from Bastion could compare. If anything, it felt almost like Cronus.

But while Cronus was defined and controlled, this thing was… neither. It was too much.

Still, he identified it just to check.

Castle of Arthurian Knights, Level ?

There was only one question mark, but Zeke knew it was nowhere near a beginner's level. But the name… why does it–

Zeke… Parlow…

A voice rumbled from all over at once, and seemingly nowhere else. His body tensed and his eyes were shot wide open. His heart hammered to hear his own name spoken.

It was a voice made with several thousands of voices put together at once, yet it spoke with perfect clarity. Each of them were at a different pitch, but most of them sounded like men in their later thirties or so. Everyone stood stock still as Zeke looked at the creature stepping ever so slowly towards them.

Towards him.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Zeke didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. It was just like back when…

Back when…

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no."

Zeke shook his head, the memories already rampaging through his head as though it came back with a vengeance.

"Zeke?" Janet asked, a look of concern on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Hey, buddy, you good?," Lyle asked, his look of horror betraying his chill tone.

The creature kept approaching them. Then, slowly, it raised its dark hand and fingers towards Zeke.

You…The voice continued. Then its eyes turned a bright flaming red. Cheater!

Finally, everything clicked in his mind. He turned to the others, breathing in deeply.

"Run!" Zeke shouted with all of his heart and soul. "Run away! Now!"

He spread his arms wide, unleashing his construct to the best of his ability. He didn't care about how much mana he was spending, or how much force he put into it.

The summoned constructs appeared like giant walls around Zeke, covering everyone including the other high-level party members. Without warning, the constructs pushed them backwards at a speed like a charging bull. It also caught the others off, almost slamming into them and moving every single otherworlder away. Some shouted, probably in pain, but Zeke made sure that none of them could be seriously injured. After all, his construct was never meant to be offensive, but the amount of force put into it would still hurt someone enough to leave a bump if they were unlucky.

In an instant, the construct pushed everyone away from the clearing, destroying the entire campsite in a heartbeat as the constructs tore away all the weakly made tents and wooden structures with ease. The power of a Journeymen mage was nothing to scoff at, even if the spell being used was made to be non-offensive.

In another second, the entire area where several dozen otherworlders and his own party members were gone, leaving only Zeke and whatever the fuck the thing in front of him was.

But just when he was prepared to face the thing, it suddenly appeared right in front of him. It winded its arm back wide and slammed the giant fist right at Zeke.

The fist landed on his torso, and the power behind it pushed Zeke towards the ground, and a loud shockwave echoed across the field. If the constructs slightly disturbed the area, then the shockwave alone caused the ground to break and shatter like glass, and the trees surrounding them bent and broke, causing one or two of them to fall over and hit the other trees in response to the blow.

All the while, Zeke saw nothing but the dark body covering his vision entirely.

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