Chapter 1792: First Trial!
Chapter 1792: First Trial!
The floating cubes continued rotating around the cubic room, and the deep mechanical sound echoing from the walls grew heavier with every passing breath.
Max looked at the system prompt calmly, but his mind was already moving.
Cooperative and competitive. That meant the trial would not simply reward the strongest person, nor would it allow someone to rely entirely on the others and pass safely.
If the system had brought five participants into one space, then there had to be a reason, and since the objective was to obtain Genesis Marks, these marks were likely the true reward of the trial.
As if responding to his thoughts, a new prompt appeared before everyone.
[Genesis Trial Structure Confirmed.]
[Total Trials: 3]
[Maximum Genesis Marks Obtainable: 100]
[Trial One: Genesis Cube Labyrinth]
[Trial Type: Teamwork Assessment And Individual Performance Assessment]
[Maximum Genesis Marks Obtainable In Trial One: 30]
[Warning: Failure Of Cooperation May Result In Reduced Genesis Marks Or Immediate Elimination.]
The moment the prompt appeared, the expressions of the five participants changed slightly.
Tamara narrowed her eyes. "Only thirty marks in the first trial."
The demon crossed his thick arms, his dark red eyes flashing with interest. "That means the later trials will be even more valuable."
Revona’s Void Origin Eyes moved across the floating cubes, and her calm voice followed. "It also means this first trial is likely designed to measure our foundations. If we fight among ourselves too early, all of us may lose marks."
The black-haired young man smiled faintly. "A cooperative trial that still assesses individual performance. That is a clever way to make allies compete without openly betraying each other."
The demon gave a sharp grin. "Since there is cooperation, I think I should share my name. It’s Varkhon."
Tamara looked at him briefly. "A demon genius who gives his name so easily?"
Varkhon laughed deeply. "Names are not the dangerous part of me."
No one responded to that, because at that moment, the cubic room trembled.
The walls began to separate.
The smooth dark-gray cubes forming the room shifted outward one by one, and the space around them expanded with terrifying speed. The floor broke into hundreds of square platforms floating above an endless void, and the ceiling vanished, revealing a dark sky filled with cubic stars. Pathways of glowing lines stretched between the platforms, but none of them stayed still.
Some moved left and right. Some rotated. Some disappeared for a breath before reappearing in another place. Around the entire space, countless cubes of different colors floated like living mechanisms, each one releasing a different aura.
Then the system prompt appeared again.
[Trial One Begins.]
[Genesis Cube Labyrinth.]
[Objective: Reach The Genesis Gate At The Center Of The Labyrinth.]
[Condition One: At Least Three Participants Must Reach The Gate.]
[Condition Two: Participants Must Prevent The Collapse Of The Labyrinth Core.]
[Condition Three: Individual Contributions Will Be Assessed Separately.]
[Genesis Marks Will Be Distributed According To Cooperation, Combat Performance, Perception, Adaptability, And Survival Contribution.]
As soon as the prompt ended, the far center of the labyrinth lit up.
There, suspended above the void, stood a massive white cube gate. It slowly rotated in the distance, and around it floated rings of smaller cubes moving in complex patterns. Between the five participants and that gate stretched a maze of shifting platforms, cube bridges, rotating walls, and countless hidden dangers.
Tamara let out a breath and tightened her grip around her spear. "So this is not only about reaching the center."
Revona nodded. "The Labyrinth Core must not collapse. If we rush blindly, the route itself may break."
Varkhon cracked his neck. "Then someone needs to clear the path."
Ervin raised one hand, and a long spear appeared in his grasp. The spear was black from shaft to blade, but faint silver lines ran along its edge like veins of abyssal light.
The moment he held it, his entire aura changed. The fathomless feeling around him did not become louder, but it became sharper, as if the bottomless abyss Max had sensed earlier had suddenly revealed a single spear point rising from its depths.
Max’s eyes moved to him for a brief moment.
Ervin noticed his gaze and smiled slightly. "I am better with a spear."
Tamara snorted. "Then do not fall behind."
Her own spear appeared in her hand, long, heavy, and covered with war runes. Compared to Ervin’s quiet abyssal sharpness, Tamara’s spear carried the pressure of a battlefield commander. The moment she gripped it, her war intent surged, and the air around her seemed to fill with invisible soldiers marching beneath a banner of conquest.
Revona stood quietly, her Void Origin Eyes glowing faintly.
Varkhon clenched his fists, and the crimson markings across his arms burned brighter.
Max did not draw Dragonheart immediately. Instead, he activated his Dimensional Sovereign Body.
The world changed in his perception.
The cubic labyrinth unfolded before him in countless layers. Every platform, every moving bridge, every rotating cube, every hidden spatial crack, and every concealed attack mechanism appeared within his senses. There was no blind spot. His vision did not rely only on his eyes.
Space itself became his field of awareness, and through that field, he could see through almost everything. He could sense which platforms were real, which were traps, which cubes would attack, which paths would collapse, and which invisible lines connected the labyrinth to its core.
Max’s expression became serious.
"This place has hidden attack sequences," he said. "Do not step on the blue-black platforms. They are linked to spatial blades. The red cubes on the left will release heat beams if we cross too slowly. The silver platforms ahead are safe, but only for three breaths after someone touches them."
Tamara glanced at him. "You can see that?"
Max nodded. "I can see more than that. Follow my route."
No one argued.
Even Varkhon, who looked like the type who preferred smashing through trials, only grinned and said, "Then lead."
Max moved first.
The moment his foot touched the first silver platform, the labyrinth awakened.
Hundreds of cubes around them lit up at once, and sharp rays of light shot out from multiple directions. Max’s Dimensional Sovereign Body captured every trajectory before the beams fully formed, and he immediately shifted his position while giving short commands.
"Tamara, left side. Three attacks."
Tamara moved without hesitation.
Her spear swept outward, and three incoming cube spears were smashed aside with precise and brutal force. Each strike carried war intent, and every time her spear moved, the air trembled as if an army had advanced behind her. She did not merely block the attacks. She crushed them with dominance, then stepped forward and anchored her spear into the platform, stabilizing it just as it began to tilt.
"Varkhon, break the red cube above."
The demon laughed and leapt upward.
His body shot into the air like a cannonball. A red cube opened above them, preparing to release a beam of destructive heat, but Varkhon reached it first. He did not use a complicated technique. He simply punched it. The impact produced a thunderous explosion, and the red cube shattered into burning fragments that scattered into the void.
Varkhon landed heavily on another platform, causing cracks to spread beneath his feet, but he grabbed the edge of the platform with one hand and forcefully held it in place before it could collapse.
"Revona, right side. Hidden void pulse."
Revona’s eyes glowed brighter.
A transparent wave emerged from a dark cube to her right, completely invisible to ordinary perception, but Revona saw it clearly with her Void Origin Eyes. She did not dodge. She simply turned her gaze toward it.
The moment the wave entered the range of her eyes, it began to fade, as if its existence had been erased from the trial itself. The attack that should have struck the group from the side turned into nothingness without making a sound.
Max’s eyes sharpened slightly.
Revona’s Void Origin Eyes were still as strange as he remembered.
No, they were stronger than before.
’Her ability to nullify all attacks is terrifying!’ Max thought silently.