Kai appeared in the white world of the trials. It had been more than half a year since his last visit.

  Deep within the control chamber, an ancient spirit stirred from his slumber. His voice rasped like dry parchment. “Another one, huh? Hopefully this one’s worth a damn. Let’s see where the link comes from…” He traced the connection through glowing threads of mana.

  “Fallhaven. Noble portal, huh.” The spirit snorted. “Those brats from Fallhaven are always junk. Only that crazy girl eight years ago had any real talent.” He exhaled and triggered the standard greeting.

  ***

  “Welcome to the Second Trial of Sacra. Your objective is simple: survive. Each time you defeat an enemy, a stronger one will appear. Continue until you can no longer fight. If you die, you will feel pain, but you will not perish. This is a spiritual realm. Now, choose your weapon from the rack to your left. The trial will begin shortly.”

  ***

  It was a prerecorded message. The spirit couldn’t be bothered to repeat the same speech endlessly.

  Then a voice echoed through the empty white expanse, familiar, confident, and amused.

  “Yo, old man! Come on, is that how you treat friends?”

  The spirit froze. “ I’ll be damned… How is he here so fast?” Shock rippled through him as he teleported into the arena, a grin splitting his weathered face.

  ***

  “Well, my boy, you came back faster than expected. How have my skills been treating you?” The old spirit beamed, his grin wide.

  Kai chuckled. “It hasn’t been boring, that’s for sure.”

  “When did you reach Knight level? After our last meeting or recently? I remember you were close.” The spirit leaned forward, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

  Kai smirked. “Hmm… why don’t you scan me? That’ll be more fun.”

  The spirit obliged and nearly fell over. His eyes bulged as he scanned again, disbelief etched across his face.

  ?“Nine hells! Leave it to you, you little bastard, to give me a stroke every time we meet! How in the abyss did you reach early Master level at eighteen? This has never happened before! Even that freak Strider was twenty when he hit Master!”

  Kai laughed. “A lot happened. I’d rather not reveal more; you might cheat in the trial.”

  “Hmph! Rude bastard! But you’re not wrong. Hahaha!” The spirit roared with laughter, shaking his head.

  “Alright, let’s get on with the trial. I want to hear your stories later!” His tone shifted to business. “First things first, your level will be adjusted to Peak Knight. Your body will feel weaker, but you’ll still have your aura and spells. Next, since you earned first place last time, we’ll skip the small fry and go straight to the gold names.”

  Kai’s eyes burned with fighting spirit. “Sounds fine to me!”

  “Good! Pick a sword and let’s go!” The spirit summoned an assortment of blades, knowing Kai favored the sword.

  Kai selected one similar in length and weight to his Noxblade, testing its balance with a few swings. “Ready.”

  “Excellent! I’ll be back once you’re done. This time… it won’t be easy.” The spirit’s grin turned sly, as if plotting something.

  He shimmered and vanished back to the control room. Let’s see how strong you’ve really gotten…

  ***

  “Golden rules activated! Summoning the top four, strength adjusted.” A majestic voice echoed as four lights flared at the far end of the arena.

  Kai froze, his face paling. “Hey, you old bastard, are you insane?! Four ranked opponents? Really?!”

  The spirit chuckled silently, offering no reply.

  The lights solidified into figures. The first one Kai recognized instantly was Kaila. But she looked older now, a proper young woman radiating confidence.

  Beside her stood a towering black Dracorious with blazing crimson eyes, gripping a long battle staff. Next came a red-haired youth, who was younger than Kai, with two crimson wings unfurled behind him and twisted horns crowning his head. His golden pupils glowed like molten metal.

  The last figure was a tall Eldari woman. Her golden hair cascaded down to her waist, her eyes cold and regal, yet her face bore an uncanny resemblance to Liliya’s.

  Kai’s breath caught. He could guess the names even before the system confirmed them: Pyrex, Elric Crimsonwing, and Alura Solarius.

  ***

  Kai had no time to waste. His aura flared as his body transformed into full Draconic form, horns spiraled upward, wings burst from his back, and crimson scales crawled across his limbs. Royal purple energy surged around him, mingling with the misty green barrier that shimmered like liquid moonlight. Across his upper right chest, the evolved Eternal Moon tattoo blazed, a tree of life entwined with a full moon, glowing so fiercely it shone through his shirt.

  His blade thrummed with power as aura wrapped around it. Kai launched into the air just as a thunderclap split the arena. Kaila had already closed the distance. Red lightning streaked like veins of destruction as she teleported, her twin blades humming with lethal energy. She struck where Kai had stood, but he was faster, hovering above her as her attack shattered the ground.

  Before he could counter, a storm of arrows screamed through the air. Each arrow burned with pure light. At the far edge of the arena, Alura stood poised, her golden bow raining devastation. Kai twisted and darted between the arrows, but there were too many. Arrows pierced his wings, forcing him to shield himself instinctively. “Water Barrier!” he roared, summoning a shimmering wall that held for a heartbeat, then shattered under the relentless barrage. He plummeted like a meteor, slamming into the arena floor.

  The instant he hit, Pyrex and Elric descended like predators. Pyrex’s staff blazed with darkfire, a serpent of living flame coiling around it as he struck downward. Elric’s silver greatsword carved arcs of crimson, its blood-like aura writhing like veins around the blade. Their combined assault smashed Kai deeper into the ground, agony ripping through him as his wings bled burning rivers of blood.

  His barrier shattered. His Eternal Moon pulsed desperately, flooding his body with moonlight and life energy, stitching wounds closed, but the green glow dimmed. Too much energy burned away.

  Kai roared, furious, rage igniting his veins. “You think this is enough to stop me? Dream on, old man!” His voice thundered as he unleashed something new. “Neurotoxin Veil!”

  A pale blue magic circle flared beneath his feet. Invisible mist seeped outward, curling like smoke. Pyrex and Elric lunged, then faltered. Their movements slowed, bodies heavy as lead. The poison was merciless, shutting them down in mere breaths.

  Kai seized the moment. “Thunder Tree: Overflow - Lightning Armor! Haste! Strengthen Legs!” Silver lightning erupted across his draconic form, crackling like a storm given flesh. He blurred forward with a thunderclap, blade slicing toward the immobilized foes, but Kaila was faster. Her blade intercepted his strike in a flash of crimson, sparks exploding as steel met steel. Her second blade carved across his chest, leaving a wound that bled lightning and blood in equal measure.

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  Kai snarled as green light surged, knitting flesh together. “Thunder Tree: Overflow - Lightning Spear!” His sword cleaved the air, hurling a spear of pure lightning that drilled through Kaila’s abdomen. She staggered, crimson aura flickering.

  Before Kai could finish her, pillars of light engulfed Pyrex and Elric. Eldari magic, Alura’s doing. Their bodies shimmered, neutralizing the poison. Damn Eldari! Kai cursed, enraged, as the two attacked as soon as their bodies allowed them.

  Pyrex’s aura erupted into a vortex of darkfire. A colossal serpent of dark flame coiled around his staff, its eyes glowing like embers of hell. With a thrust, he sent the skill hurtling toward Kai. Elric soared skyward, his greatsword raised high as blood rained from the heavens, each drop a blade, slicing through earth and air. The crimson storm drilled holes through Kai’s wings, shredding flesh.

  His Lightning Armor deflected most of the deadly rain, but the serpent slammed into him, forcing him back. Kai gritted his teeth; blade locked against the ethereal burning beast’s fangs. Pyrex detonated the serpent in a cataclysmic blast, and darkfire engulfed Kai, burning cold and merciless.

  Pain seared his nerves. Before he could recover, the blood rain pooled across the ground, then speared upward, piercing his legs and abdomen with crimson spikes.

  Kai staggered, vision blurring. Is this it? His breath came ragged, blood dripping from his scales. No… damn it. This is the best chance I’ll ever have to fight opponents this strong. Let’s go all in.

  “Viridian Heal of the Goddess!” A vast mandala spun into existence behind Kai, its emerald ring glowing like a divine halo. Vines twisted outward like serpents, weaving through the air as motes of green light cascaded over his broken body. Flesh knitted, bones mended, his form restored to perfection in a heartbeat.

  “That’s cheating! What kind of spell is that, you bastard?!” The old spirit’s voice thundered from the control room, half outrage, half awe.

  Kai smirked. “Hydrophina’s Embrace, times three!”

  Three serpents of shimmering water erupted around Kaila, who was still bathed in Alura’s healing light, Pyrex, and even Elric up in the air. The serpents coiled tighter, forming pale blue spheres that constricted like crushing prisons. Pressure mounted, Elric’s wings folded helplessly as he was slammed into the ground.

  Kai didn’t hesitate. “Thunderfire - Blood Moon!”

  ?Above, a colossal moon ignited, burning with raging fire filled with silver lightning, shimmered into the light, and fell over the three bound targets. It plummeted like a divine judgment, detonating against the watery prisons in a cataclysmic blast. The explosion hurled the three figures backward, arcs of destructive lightning carving wounds across their bodies.

  Alura rose fast, smirking as she tossed her bow aside. Kai blinked, then froze as ten radiant swords materialized behind her, orbiting in a perfect circle. She vanished in a flash, reappearing at his flank, blades slashing with a single thought.

  “Toxic Tide!” Kai roared, conjuring a surge of toxic water that crashed forward, forcing Alura back. But her body gleamed with holy light, immune to the toxins. She smiled coldly and unleashed her swords again; they streaked toward Kai like rays of light.

  He ran, parrying what he could, but steel kissed flesh. Blades carved deep gashes across his arms, chest, and face. His Eternal Moon pulsed weakly, struggling to mend the damage. Not good, Kai thought grimly.

  Then his voice cut through the chaos like a blade: “Moonlit Dance - Dance of the Pale God!”

  White brilliance enveloped him. Time seemed to fracture, slowing, bending. Kai moved like a phantom, weaving between strikes with impossible grace. Moonlight clashed against sunlight as two celestial forces waltzed across the battlefield, one attacking, the other evading in a rhythm older than time.

  The old spirit stared, breathless. He had never seen such beauty in the midst of slaughter, a dance of life and death, written in light.

  Seeing her attack fail, Alura pulled her swords back and raised them skyward. Ten blades ascended, forming a blazing imaginary sun that bathed the arena in searing light. Then she soared upward, merging with the radiant sphere, becoming a goddess of sunlight incarnate.

  The sun flared brighter, its brilliance collapsing into a single beam of annihilation. The column of burning light descended, melting everything in its path.

  ?Impossible… her aura has an aspect of burning light?! But she should only be a Master Knight! Kai stared, stunned.

  “All or nothing!” His voice roared across the battlefield. “Noxblade, come to me! Moonlit Dance: Triple Thread!”

  He had long ago sensed that he could summon his Noxblade; it seemed its merge with Soul Sword had made it part of him on a deeper level, even the world of trials saw it as a part of his skills, not an outside weapon.

  The blade shimmered into existence, its dark crimson hilt gleaming against his arm while the white edge glowed like a shard of moonlight. Three threads of pure lunar energy spiraled around it, weaving into a weapon of divine wrath.

  Kai launched upward, slashing into the descending beam. The threads pierced the burning light but couldn’t break through. Snarling, Kai unleashed his full might. “Thunderfire - Ignis Fulgur!”

  ?His second circle ignited with the roar of a true thunderfire dragon. Noxblade erupted, releasing its stored skills in a single devastating surge: Ignis, Thunder Spear, Flowing Currents, all fused into one cataclysmic strike. The combined force ripped through the beam, shattering its core as Kai burst through the storm of light.

  Alura’s silhouette appeared within the sun, serene, divine, untouchable. Kai’s eyes blazed. “Die, Eldari bitch!”

  ?The Noxblade cleaved in a perfect arc, slicing clean through her head. Her body fell like a broken star.

  On the ground, the remaining three staggered, barely clinging to life. Seeing their comrade slain, they screamed in fury and sacrificed everything for one final assault.

  A colossal hawk of crimson lightning erupted behind Kaila as she soared upward, her left arm gone, her right driving her blade forward. The aura-hawk shrieked and launched toward Kai.

  ?From below, Pyrex and Elric burned their mana to ash as their bodies crumbled. Pyrex’s maw opened wide, summoning the ethereal head of a black dragon. The two roared in unison, unleashing a breath of pure darkfire that warped the air itself.

  ?Elric stabbed his greatsword into his dissolving body, feeding it every drop of blood. His form disintegrated, but the blade floated, then drank the blood pooling across the arena. A crimson bloody figure rose, screaming madness, and hurled itself upward in a final, suicidal slash.

  Kai’s eyes widened.

  ?“Oh, you must be fucking kidding me… What the fuck is this bullshit?!” This wasn’t a fight anymore; it was an execution.

  “I guess I’ll use that… if it works.” Kai’s vision blurred, and then, an image rose into his mind: Viridya striking down Luminarius, her rage and madness echoing through his soul. He felt it. He embraced it. He remembered the feeling of corrupting life and touching upon death in her rage.

  “Life brings Death - Eternal Cycle!”

  ?All three of his circles ignited behind him, spinning like cosmic wheels. Two serpents chased each other’s tails in an endless loop. Packs of burning wolves howled into a lightning-scorched sky. The mandala fractured and reformed into countless transformations, each radiating primal power.

  Kai raised his blade and slashed; his royal aura surged, no longer wild but focused, flowing like a river of inevitability. It pressed forward, unstoppable, embodying Kai’s will. The ability he inherited from Viridya awakened, merging into his purple aura and tinting it with a dull, ominous grey.

  Then his eyes hardened, laughter spilling from his lips, mad, defiant. “River of Styx!”

  ?Florian’s soul magic layered atop his attack. Wraiths clawed their way from the purple torrent, spectral forms dripping with an aura of death and decay.

  The river collided with the crimson lightning hawk, devouring its brilliance. Kaila screamed as her vitality drained, her aura corrupted. The wraiths swarmed the blood-forged figure, sinking into its flesh. Its crimson glow faded to ash as the greatsword clattered lifelessly to the ground.

  ?The last to fall was the black dragon’s breath. The river surged forward, extinguishing the infernal blaze like water smothering fire.

  Then silence covered the arena. The battlefield lay in ruin, crimson cracks splitting the white expanse, mana storms fading into ghostly wisps as the wraiths returned into the void. All ranked challengers were defeated: one cleaved clean in half, others scattered like ash in the wind, and Kaila lay broken and lifeless where she fell before it all shimmered out of existence.

  Kai collapsed, his body broken, his mind blank, mana utterly spent.

  The old spirit flickered into the arena, staring at the ruin with wide, trembling eyes . That was life and death mana, soul magic, thunderfire, moonlight, all of that on top of his water and poison from last time. Just what is this? How is his mind even sane with all that power, and his body that is a legacy of the Dragon King, and even that is mutated beyond recognition?

  He knelt beside Kai’s unconscious form, voice barely a whisper. “Better to let him rest… for now.” A warm smile escaped his worried face.

  ?

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  What to Expect:

  - An epic, multi-book space opera with a large found family and multiple POVs.

  - A powerful but emotionally vulnerable protagonist with chaotic powers he struggles to control.

  - Strong, capable, and sometimes morally gray women.

  - High stakes, cosmic threats, and detailed world-building.

  What NOT to Expect:

  - LitRPG/System elements

  - Lone wolf power fantasy

  - A story that is only about romance

  This story contains mature themes, explicit sexual content, and graphic violence. It is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

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