The following days passed far more peacefully than anyone inside the Battle Royale probably expected.
While most teams continued tearing each other apart for survival, our group had already secured enough eliminations to guarantee qualification.
That single advantage changed everything.
We no longer needed to chase weaker candidates or throw ourselves recklessly into unnecessary battles.
Instead, we focused entirely on growth.
And according to Authority of Knowledge, the fastest path toward becoming stronger inside the Pocket Dimension was obvious.
The Guardians.
By now, the pattern had become undeniable.
Every biome possessed a dominant creature overflowing with abnormal mana concentrations, each one protecting rare materials, magical resources, or environmental treasures capable of drastically improving equipment and abilities.
So instead of hunting students…
We hunted monsters.
Honestly, everyone preferred it.
The greatest advantage came from Faelyn.
Once we left the frozen biome, the elf quickly proved just how terrifying high-level wind magic became outside direct combat.
By combining compressed wind currents beneath the group with aerial propulsion techniques, she allowed all five of us to travel across the Pocket Dimension at incredible speed.
The first time she launched Kael into the air, he screamed loud enough to scare nearby monsters off a cliff.
The second time, he called it “the greatest thing ever invented.”
Meanwhile, Lyra spent the entire flight trying not to panic every time the wind currents shifted beneath us, and Varkas looked permanently one second away from shooting someone out of pure irritation.
As for Faelyn herself…
She enjoyed every second of it.
Watching her smile while controlling entire streams of wind around the group made something very clear.
She had spent most of her life holding herself back.
Not anymore.
Within two days alone, we crossed more territory than most teams probably managed during the entire examination.
Frozen wastelands gave way to enormous forests overflowing with mana-rich vegetation before eventually transitioning toward massive mountain chains floating partially above the clouds themselves.
And hidden within those skies…
We found the Garuda.
The creature looked magnificent.
A colossal avian monster covered in emerald feathers and surrounded by violent storms powerful enough to split mountains apart.
Every movement of its wings generated hurricanes while compressed wind blades rained constantly across the battlefield below.
Naturally, Kael’s first reaction was:
“I wanna fight the bird.”
“No,” Faelyn answered instantly.
For once, everyone agreed with her.
The Garuda was hers.
The battle itself lasted nearly an hour.
Unlike the overwhelming brutality of the Leviathan or the massacre against Kaelor’s team, this fight felt almost beautiful.
Faelyn moved through the skies alongside the Guardian like a predator born from the storm itself while chains infused with wind mana cut through the clouds at impossible speeds.
Little by little, the Garuda stopped treating her like prey.
It started recognizing her as a rival.
And when Faelyn finally killed it by wrapping her chain around the creature’s wings before dragging it directly into one of its own hurricanes…
Even Kael looked impressed.
The rewards transformed her equipment completely.
Using feathers recovered from the Garuda alongside refined aerial mana crystals hidden inside the creature’s nest, I reinforced both her chain and combat outfit through alchemy and crafting.
The result drastically increased her mobility while allowing wind mana to circulate around her body far more efficiently.
Afterward, she practically stopped touching the ground altogether.
Which she clearly abused immediately.
“You’re showing off,” Kael complained while watching her casually float several meters above us.
“Yes.”
“At least deny it a little.”
“No.”
The next Guardian appeared three days later beneath the surface of an enormous subterranean lake hidden deep inside a thunder biome constantly covered by black clouds and endless lightning storms.
The moment Authority of Knowledge identified the mana signature beneath the water, Kael nearly lost his mind from excitement.
A giant electric eel.
More specifically, a monstrous serpentine creature composed almost entirely of condensed lightning mana.
Every movement through the lake generated massive electrical storms powerful enough to vaporize sections of the surrounding cliffs instantly.
“Please,” Kael whispered emotionally while staring at the water.
“Please tell me I get this one.”
“You’re literally drooling.”
“I’m passionate.”
The fight became complete chaos almost immediately.
Unlike Faelyn’s elegant aerial duel against the Garuda, Kael’s battle against the Thunder Eel looked like two natural disasters trying to murder each other out of pure enthusiasm.
Lightning exploded across the biome continuously while entire sections of the lake evaporated beneath the pressure of colliding electrical mana.
At some point during the battle, Kael actually started laughing like a complete psychopath.
Honestly…
That felt perfectly in character.
When the Thunder Eel finally died, its core alone contained enough concentrated lightning essence to dramatically enhance Kael’s weapons and mana circuits.
After refining the materials through alchemy, his daggers gained natural electrical amplification while his body itself became significantly more resistant to lightning backlash.
Which unfortunately made him even more reckless.
“I can feel the electricity in my BONES now,” he proudly announced afterward.
“You say things that genuinely concern me,” Lyra replied.
By the time we left the thunder biome behind us, the group had changed completely.
Not just stronger.
Sharper.
The constant battles against the Guardians forced everyone to evolve at terrifying speed while the resources hidden throughout the Pocket Dimension continuously improved our equipment and mana control. Read this novel at novelping dot com for the best experience.
Even the way we moved together had become smoother now, more natural.
Without needing to speak, everyone already understood their role during combat.
Kael overwhelmed enemies through raw aggression and explosive speed.
Faelyn controlled positioning and movement across entire battlefields.
Lyra stabilized the group constantly through healing and support magic while Varkas dominated long-range combat with increasingly destructive Hellfire attacks.
And me… I adapted.
Every battle unlocked more fragments of the person I used to be.
The next Guardian appeared inside a volcanic biome near the southern edge of the shrinking zone.
Rivers of magma cut through the landscape while ash constantly fell from the blackened sky above us.
Even Kael eventually stopped joking once we approached the center of the region and saw the creature waiting there.
An Ifrit.
More than four meters tall, the monster resembled a burning warrior forged entirely from living magma and compressed fire mana.
Every step melted the volcanic stone beneath its feet while enormous flames twisted constantly around its body like living spirits trapped inside the fire.
Varkas stared at it silently for several seconds before narrowing his eyes slightly.
“You want this one,” I said calmly.
It wasn’t a question.
The demon slowly nodded while infernal flames intensified around his revolvers.
Unlike Kael or Faelyn, Varkas didn’t react loudly when excited, but the growing pressure surrounding his Hellfire already made the answer obvious.
The battle became brutal almost immediately.
Unlike the Garuda or the Thunder Eel, the Ifrit fought without elegance or mobility.
It relied purely on overwhelming destruction.
Entire sections of the volcanic biome exploded beneath every collision while infernal fire and magma storms consumed the battlefield around them.
For the first time since joining the group, Varkas smiled during combat.
Not arrogantly.
Not mockingly.
Pure excitement.
Hellfire erupted from both revolvers continuously while the demon pushed himself harder and harder against the Guardian’s flames.
The battle looked less like a duel and more like two incarnations of destruction trying to consume each other.
When the Ifrit finally collapsed, Varkas remained standing silently in front of the fading flames for several seconds before slowly exhaling.
“…That,” he muttered quietly, “was fun.”
Kael immediately pointed toward him dramatically.
“HE SAID A POSITIVE EMOTION.”
“I regret speaking.”
Using the Ifrit’s core alongside condensed infernal crystals recovered throughout the biome, I reinforced Varkas’s weapons and armor through alchemy.
The modifications drastically increased the destructive power of his Hellfire rounds while improving his resistance to extreme heat.
Even his mana felt denser afterward.
Darker somehow.
For the first time since meeting him, Varkas genuinely looked proud of his own strength.
As the days passed, the shrinking zone reduced the size of the Pocket Dimension more aggressively.
Entire biomes disappeared behind collapsing dimensional barriers while surviving teams were gradually forced closer and closer together.
Yet despite occasionally sensing battles in the distance, we avoided most direct confrontations entirely.
There was no reason to waste energy anymore.
Not when one final presence continued pulling at my instincts constantly.
Authority of Knowledge had noticed it long ago.
A mana signature hidden near the center of the remaining territory.
Darkness.
Not ordinary darkness either.
Something ancient.
The others felt it too once we approached the final biome.
Massive black ruins emerged from the ground like the remains of a forgotten civilization while broken statues and abandoned fortresses stretched endlessly beneath a permanently dark sky.
Even Kael lowered his voice slightly there.
“…This place feels wrong.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The mana itself felt heavier.
Colder.
Almost familiar.
Then we saw him.
A lone armored figure stood motionless in the center of the ruined battlefield beneath the blackened sky.
Dark armor covered his entire body while a massive greatsword rested against the shattered stone beneath him.
Shadows flowed constantly around the knight like living smoke, and despite standing perfectly still, the pressure surrounding him surpassed every Guardian we had faced so far.
Lyra instinctively stepped backward.
Faelyn’s expression hardened immediately.
Even Varkas looked uneasy.
Meanwhile, something inside me reacted violently the moment my eyes landed on the knight.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Haut du formulaire
Bas du formulaire
The ruined biome had fallen completely silent.
No wind moved through the shattered structures surrounding us, and even the shrinking zone seemed strangely absent there, as though the Pocket Dimension itself avoided disturbing the territory ruled by the armored figure standing before us.
The knight slowly raised his head, and the moment he did, darkness spread across the ruins like a living tide.
Lyra instinctively stepped backward while Kael placed himself slightly in front of the group without taking his eyes off the Guardian.
Faelyn’s wind mana immediately began circulating around everyone defensively, and even Varkas looked visibly uneasy now, infernal flames flickering nervously around his revolvers.
The Leviathan had been overwhelming.
The Ifrit had been destructive.
But this… this felt sharp.
Ancient.
Like standing in front of a warrior that had spent centuries killing everything crossing his path.
Authority of Knowledge activated instinctively inside my mind.
Unknown Dark Guardian.
Ancient combat-type entity.
Extremely high compatibility detected.
That final sentence lingered longer than it should have.
Compatibility.
The knight slowly lifted his greatsword afterward, and the ruins around us reacted instantly.
Black mist erupted through the shattered ground while dozens of abandoned weapons buried beneath the battlefield started trembling faintly as though responding to his presence alone.
Kael quietly exhaled.
“Please tell me we’re not fighting THAT.”
“We aren’t,” I answered calmly.
Everyone immediately looked toward me.
Then I stepped forward alone.
Lyra’s expression tightened instantly.
“Noctis…”
“This one is mine.”
The words came out naturally.
Not arrogantly.
Not emotionally.
Like stating something obvious.
The Dark Guardian continued staring at me silently while shadows flowed around his armor in slow waves.
Unlike the other monsters we had fought until now, this creature radiated neither rage nor bloodlust.
Only emptiness.
A warrior that had continued existing long after death itself should have claimed him.
Strangely…
I understood that feeling.
The knight moved without warning.
The ruins exploded beneath his acceleration while the massive greatsword crossed the distance between us almost instantly.
Even I barely blocked the attack in time.
The collision between his blade and my scythe detonated across the biome hard enough to crack nearby structures apart while darkness erupted violently around us.
Fast.
Very fast.
But unlike Kaelor’s rage or the chaotic brutality of previous Guardians, the knight fought with absolute precision.
Every strike targeted lethal angles.
Every movement chained perfectly into the next without wasting even the slightest motion.
It felt less like fighting a monster and more like dueling a veteran executioner forged entirely for war.
And for the first time since entering the Battle Royale…
I smiled during combat without hatred behind it.
The knight attacked again immediately, his greatsword carving through the battlefield while black slashes erupted through the ruins around us.
I answered with my own darkness, shadows colliding against shadows while shattered stone and black mist flooded the biome beneath the pressure of our duel.
Behind us, the others had already retreated farther away from the battlefield.
Not because they lacked courage, but because they understood this fight existed somewhere beyond them.
Even Kael, who normally charged toward danger with suicidal enthusiasm, remained silent while watching the clash unfold.
The Dark Guardian continued pressing forward relentlessly.
Every collision between our weapons sent shockwaves tearing through the ruins while darkness swallowed more and more of the battlefield around us.
Yet despite the violence, the battle felt strangely natural.
Familiar, almost.
Like fighting against a reflection of something I used to be before reincarnating into this world.
Then suddenly, the knight stopped.
For the first time since the duel began, the Guardian stood motionless while darkness slowly spiraled around his armor.
The ruined battlefield fell silent again beneath the black sky overhead.
And then…
The knight knelt.
Kael blinked in complete confusion behind me.
“…What?”
Even Faelyn looked stunned.
Slowly, the Dark Guardian lowered his greatsword before pressing it into the shattered ground in front of me like an offering.
The shadows surrounding his body began destabilizing afterward while cracks of black light spread across the ancient armor piece by piece.
Authority of Knowledge activated once more.
Trial acknowledged.
Compatibility confirmed.
Dark Relic inheritance available.
The greatsword started dissolving into darkness.
At the same moment, the Guardian’s armor collapsed alongside the rest of his body, scattering into black ash carried away by the wind.
Only a single object remained behind afterward: a dark crystal pulsing slowly with abyssal mana beside the ruined blade.
Silence settled across the battlefield.
Then Kael finally spoke.
“…Okay, what the hell just happened?”