Chapter 1798: Outer Regions!
Chapter 1798: Outer Regions!
Max’s Dimensional Sovereign Body expanded.
He saw the real sword.
He saw the false cuts.
He saw the delayed attack hidden beneath the platform.
He saw the guardian’s core shifting between its chest, head, and sword hilt.
"No blind spots," Max said softly.
Dragonheart moved.
One slash destroyed the delayed attack beneath him.
The second blocked the sword near his neck.
The third pierced the false spatial body on his left and forced the real guardian to reveal itself.
The fourth struck the guardian’s sword hilt and cracked the hidden core inside.
The guardian staggered back.
Max stepped forward and kicked it in the chest, sending it flying into the Genesis knight that had been chasing him earlier. The two guardians collided, and before they could separate, Max raised his hand and sent a seven-colored lightning bolt through both of their bodies.
The lightning did not fully destroy them, but it disrupted their structure long enough for him to move toward two unstable flames drifting near the center.
Ervin saw Max going for them.
His spear flashed.
A thin spear force shot toward one of the flames, trying to pull it away.
Max’s left hand moved slightly, and space distorted around the flame, shifting it out of the spear force’s path.
Ervin’s eyes flickered.
Max caught the flame.
Revona’s Void Origin Eyes then targeted the second flame, erasing the guardian’s pull around it. But before she could take it, Tamara’s spear struck the ground, sending a wave of war intent that pushed the flame toward her side.
Varkhon appeared from the opposite direction and punched the platform, causing the flame to bounce upward. For a brief instant, all four of them competed for the same flame.
Then Max used his Dimensional Sovereign Body to step into the precise point where all their forces canceled each other.
He took the flame.
Four gazes turned toward him.
Max looked calm. "Good teamwork."
Varkhon stared at him for a moment, then burst into laughter. "You shameless human."
Tamara shook her head, though her war intent rose again. "Do not think you can keep stealing like that."
Revona did not seem angry, but her Void Origin Eyes became deeper. "Then we should stop creating openings for him."
Ervin smiled faintly. "Agreed."
For the next minute, the competition grew sharper.
Tamara, Varkhon, Revona, and Ervin began subtly limiting Max’s opportunities, but they could not fully ignore the guardians either. Max, meanwhile, had to deal with the highest guardian aggression because he still held the most unstable flames.
The trial pressed him with increasing force, sending his personal guardian, the Genesis knight, and several smaller beasts against him at once. He moved through the attacks with terrifying precision, but even he had to admit that the trial was becoming troublesome.
The second stabilization approached.
[03:02]
The arena floor shifted again.
Several platforms began sinking into the void.
The central core released a pulse, and the remaining loose Genesis Flames scattered toward the five outer regions.
[Genesis Flame Scatter Initiated.]
[Outer Regions Activated.]
[Participants May Claim Outer Regions To Increase Stabilization Speed.]
The five colored outer regions lit up fully.
Max immediately understood the new rule. If someone controlled an outer region, the flames they held would stabilize faster, but staying in one region also made them easier to target. It was another balance of risk and reward.
Tamara was the first to move.
She flew toward the crimson region and planted her spear into the ground. War runes spread outward, and the region accepted her power.
[Participant Tamara Has Claimed Crimson War Region.]
[Stabilization Speed Increased.]
Varkhon laughed and charged into the black region.
[Participant Varkhon Has Claimed Black Destruction Region.]
Revona calmly stepped into the silver region.
[Participant Revona Has Claimed Silver Void Region.]
Ervin moved toward the blue region, his spear resting against his shoulder.
[Participant Ervin Has Claimed Blue Abyss Region.]
Max looked at the remaining gold region.
The Genesis knight and his personal guardian were between him and that region, while several smaller guardians moved to block the path. The trial had clearly made his route harder because he had the highest flame count.
Max smiled faintly.
His Vein of Speed came to life.
In the next instant, he disappeared.
The guardians attacked empty air.
Max appeared inside the gold region and placed his foot on the glowing cubic platform.
[Participant Max Morgan Has Claimed Gold Dominion Region.]
[Stabilization Speed Increased.]
The second stabilization began almost immediately.
[03:00]
White light descended once again, and several more flames became fixed into the participants’ marks. Max felt another portion of his flames stabilize, and the pressure around him finally lessened slightly. The others also secured part of their gains, but the remaining unstable flames still circled them, waiting for the final stage of the trial.
[Remaining Time: 03:00]
[Final Phase Initiated.]
[Rule Update: Participants May Invade Outer Regions.]
[Rule Update: Defeating A Personal Guardian Grants 1 Bonus Genesis Flame.]
[Rule Update: Final Genesis Flame Will Appear At 01:00.]
The moment the final phase began, the arena became even more dangerous.
Tamara looked toward Max’s region.
Varkhon looked toward Ervin’s.
Ervin looked toward the center.
Revona looked at all of them.
Max’s personal guardian slowly rose again, its cracked sword hilt glowing as the hidden core repaired itself.
Then the final battle of the second trial began.
Varkhon invaded Ervin’s Blue Abyss Region first.
The demon crossed three platforms in a single leap, his fist descending like a meteor toward Ervin’s head. Ervin did not retreat. His spear rose and met the fist at an angle, redirecting most of the force while the ground beneath him cracked apart.
The two clashed violently, raw demonic strength against abyssal spearmanship. Varkhon’s strikes were heavy enough to crush platforms, but Ervin’s spear always found the weakest point of each attack, turning aside what could be turned aside and piercing what could not.
Tamara did not invade immediately.
She focused on killing her personal guardian.
Her spear moved with brutal discipline, and her war intent formed the faint image of a battlefield behind her. The guardian copied her spear rhythm, but it could not copy her command. Tamara suddenly changed from direct combat to battlefield suppression, forcing the guardian into a corner of her crimson region where war runes had already gathered. Then she thrust her spear through its core.
[Participant Tamara Has Defeated Personal Guardian.]
[Bonus Genesis Flame Awarded.]
Revona used that moment to invade Varkhon’s black region while he was fighting Ervin.
Her Void Origin Eyes erased the defensive pull of his claimed region, allowing her to step inside without triggering the full penalty. She did not try to steal all his flames. She only reached for one unstable flame that had not yet stabilized.
But Varkhon sensed it and roared from Ervin’s region, punching across the distance. A wave of demonic strength tore toward Revona, but she looked at the weakest part of the force and erased enough of it to let the remaining impact pass around her.
She took the flame.
Varkhon laughed furiously. "All of you are thieves."
Tamara replied from her region, "You started with three stolen opportunities."
Max watched the movements of all four while facing his own personal guardian.