Looking at the surrounding landscape, Eryx found that it was unknown how many years had passed, but it was still exuding strong killing intent.
How strong were those people from back then?
What kind of battle took place here?
With a deep breath, just as Eryx was about to move forward, the sight in front of him distorted a little. Then a screen appeared before his eyes, startling him greatly.
"A corner of an Ancient Battlefield (Low-level Replica): 1,000,000 Energy Points"
Eryx: "..."
He sucked a cold breath of air.
This battlefield was only a corner of an ancient battlefield. Moreover, it was a replica. Although the replica was only low-leveled, it actually amounted to a total of 1 million Points of High-Level Energy which astonished Eryx greatly.
1 million Energy Points was not a low number. With so much energy, Eryx didn't know how much his strength would increase.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Eryx's expression shifted.
This battlefield was a replica. Didn't that mean nothing here was an illusion?
If it wasn't an illusion, then it means this trial was happening in a real place. Everything he had encountered until now was real. He, taking over Azadin's body, is also a reality.
But...
Something didn't seem to fit in place.
Eryx immediately countered his own thoughts with new questions.
If everything he encountered was real, then why didn't the system act back then?
Why did it appear only when he was standing on this battlefield?
Previously, the system appeared when he touched the Ice Poison. But this time, he wasn't even touching anything.
Wait a minute!
Eryx looked down.
His legs were touching the ground.
What does this mean?
"Could it be...?!"
A terrifying idea appeared in Eryx's mind. He could not help but think that this entire battlefield was a treasure.
The system also told him clearly that this place was a Low-Level Replica. Since it is a replica, it was created by someone.
This was clearly a treasure—a treasure worth a million points of high-level energy.
"What would happen if I were to extract energy from this replica?" Eryx thought silently. He hesitated, but then he clenched his fist and made a decision. "No matter what happens, even if it means I fail the trial, I'll at least obtain a million points of High-Level Energy. Aside from everything, I need High-Level Energy Points for my own growth."
Having thought of this, Eryx acted immediately.
Very soon, the energy points in his account increased from 22,140 to 1,022,140.
Something happened as soon as Eryx extracted the energy points.
Right in front of him, cracks appeared in the air like shattered glass. At first, they were small, but they quickly spread in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the entire battlefield was covered in these cracks.
And then...
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed all around him. The battlefield collapsed in an instant. Everything shattered into countless fragments, disappearing into nothingness.
Eryx's heart pounded. For a moment, he thought he was about to die. The force of the explosion was too strong, and he felt himself being pulled into darkness.
But in the next second, he was standing on snowy ground again. The freezing wind brushed against his skin. The snowflakes fell gently from the sky.
Eryx frowned. He was confused.
Just moments ago, he had been on the battlefield, but now…
He looked around and raised his brows in realization.
He was back.
This was the same place where he had stood before falling into the pit, which was like a deep abyss.
But something was different this time.
The endless canyon-like pit was gone. There was no sign of it anywhere.
Before Eryx could determine anything, a mechanical voice echoed in his ear.
[Error. Error.]
[An error is detected in the story of Azadin's awakening.]
[The 'source' has disappeared.]
[Dark fragment detection has failed.]
[The Record of Shadow King—Azadin's World's Chapter: Prologue – The Awakening is collapsing.]
[Due to unforeseen circumstances, ending the trial ahead of time.]
Eryx was stunned. He never thought his one action would cause the story he was living in to suddenly become unstable. He doesn't know what the 'source' is all about, but its sudden disappearance caused the 'Chapter: Prologue – The Awakening' to collapse.
Obviously, this source must be the core of this chapter. Moreover, the Dark fragment, which brought the unexpected turn of events in Azadin's life, disappeared as well.
Eryx had no choice but to connect all the dots to the replica of the corner of an Ancient Battlefield.
Perhaps, the Ancient Battlefield was the 'source', and Dark Fragment was somewhere inside this battlefield.
Eryx suddenly frowned.
If that is true, it means whatever decision he had made in the story till now, everything followed the same path as Azadin's.
After all, Azadin had obtained the Dark Fragment, which completely changed his life. Since the Dark Fragment was somewhere inside the battlefield, it meant Azadin must have chosen to go to the academy, where he received the same assessment. He must have accepted the Ember Queen's request, entered the Morning Snow Pocket Dimension, and experienced the land's collapse. Then, he must have fallen into the pit, faced the overwhelming killing intent, and lost consciousness.
In simple terms, every choice Eryx had made in Azadin's story was exactly the same as Azadin's own decisions.
If the story hadn't abruptly ended, he might never have been able to make a single choice different from Azadin's.
Only now did Eryx realize how difficult this trial was. No wonder the task was to make decisions that differed from Azadin's.
It was no easy task.
[Detected that the story's Chapter: Prologue – The Awakening is collapsing!]
[Forcefully ending the second trial!]
Before Eryx could react, a powerful force wrapped around his body. The world around him shook, and everything before his eyes blurred.
And then, everything turned dark.
Eryx felt a strong wave of dizziness hit him. His stomach churned, and for a moment, he thought he would throw up. But just as quickly as it came, the feeling disappeared.
Everything around him stabilized.
When his vision cleared, he found himself back in the spacious hall. He was still standing inside the circle, just like before.
Three tall pillars stood in front of him, arranged in the shape of a triangle. And in the middle of that triangle, there was a massive statue of a giant lion carved from stone.
Eryx took a deep breath.
It felt as if everything that had just happened—waking up as Azadin, following the assessment to meet Ember Queen, the Morning Snow Pocket Dimension, the battlefield, the fall, and the explosion—was nothing but a dream.
But he knew it wasn't.
Something had gone wrong with the trial. And now, he was back.
As for what has gone wrong, perhaps, aside from him, no one can be clearer about this question.
As soon as Eryx steadied himself, a mechanical voice echoed through the hall.
[Detecting the end of the second trial.]
[Evaluating achievement...]
[Evaluation failed.]
Eryx's eyes narrowed.
Failed?
But it was expected. After all, he did not complete the trial.
The voice continued:
[Detecting an error has occurred during the trial.]
[Searching for the problem...]
[Reviewing the trial process...]
[Detecting the destruction of 'source'.]
[Due to an unexpected situation, the achievement evaluation will be nullified.]
Eryx felt his heart sink.
Truth be told, he wanted to obtain the reward for passing the second trial. Although he doesn't know what the reward might be, he is hoping to obtain something extraordinary. After all, the reward he obtained from the first stone chamber and the second stone chamber were extremely rare treasures.
Not to mention, the mechanical voice clearly scanned his body and detected that he had lost his divine body and bloodline.
The voice also looked at the database and found his original divine body and bloodline.
At the very least, he wanted to know what kind of physique and Bloodline he used to have, which he lost somehow.
While Eryx was still thinking, the mechanical voice echoed in the air again.
[Trial error is our fault.]
[The challenger will be given a reward based on the first trial's achievement evaluation.]
Now this was something he did not expect.
Eryx's eyes flickered as he thought that it seemed he was still going to get a reward.
[Detecting that the achievement evaluation of the first trial is S+.]
[The challenger will be given three options to choose his reward from.]
[The achievement rating for the second trial is S+, the challenger will be given an extra reward.]
[An extra reward will be given as compensation due to the unexpected error.]
Eryx's eyes lit up.
The reward for the second trial and an extra trial for getting an achievement rating of S or above was given. He knew all this already.
He just did not expect to be compensated with another extra reward.
"It seems that extracting energy from the 'source' was not all bad. Not only did I end the trial early, I also obtained extra rewards."
Eryx smiled inwardly and was looking forward to the reward he would be given.