The Third Trial, Against the Stoneman

"Men! Get into formation!" Song Ronghua shouted as all people finally returned to the third trial's room. In front of him was a stone with a humanoid form, nicknamed stoneman. The size was a little bigger than an average human, around 2.5 metres in height. There was no distinct trait at the stoneman, except for the pair of a bright red ball around its face, akin to the human's eyes.

Even though the outer appearance was not intimidating at all, he along with the people in front of him had tasted the bitter slap from only one stoneman.

Invulnerable to any slashing or even hacking. Smashing the stoneman into pulp was also an impossible feat, its defence was out of their comprehension. Not only from physical attack, even the spell from Spell User was literally a refreshing breeze for the stoneman.

But their aim was to clear the third trial, not defeating this stoneman. That was the key point.

After receiving Song Ronghua's command, a bunch of men appeared from the alley behind him. Some of them were bandaged, but all their eyes were serious without any hesitation. No one wanted to screw this mission, and their very first step was taking care of the stoneman.

Two people stood at the front-most, while four others were right behind the two. Each of them raised theirweapon. But rather than pointing it toward the stoneman, they kept it as close as possible into their body.

No one was careless and overestimated themselves.

The pair of bright red eyes brightened as the stoneman's body moved, at the direction of the grouped people in front of the stoneman.

Seeing that some people flinched at the moving stoneman, Song Ronghua shouted and encouraged,, "DON'T FALTER! CONCENTRATE AND REMEMBER TO EVADE OR DEFEND! NEVER TAKE ANY OFFENSIVE STANCE! WE WILL NOT ENGAGE THIS LUMP OF STONE, WE ARE ALL BUSY TO BE PART OF THE SWORD OF JUDGEMENT!"

[[[[[[That's right! Sword of Judgement!!!]]]]]]]

[[We are here not to be some cannon fodder, but to claim our honour, our deserved glory!]]

As if they were brainwashed, their grip at the handles tightened and they regained their calmness.

"NOW! THE FIRST PLAN, COMMENCE!"

Song Ronghua's aura was very different from before, full of authority and his body exuded sharpness of a seasoned general.

"YES!" "Eat this shit!"

The two front-most people, little Three and Old Dog brandished their weapon and dashed forward, but they didn't rush it. Both of them was a pair with the least injury among them, hence both were chosen as the vanguard, trying to probe the depth of the water.

As if trying to attract the stoneman's attention, both little Three and Old Dog separated and stood at the stoneman's left and right, keeping a distance on each other.

The stoneman didn't have many reactions, only moved toward the nearest one, Old Dog. Even thought the stoneman's speed was not fast, it was enough to intimidate Old Dog.

"Shet!" Recalling the bad state of his companion before, Old Dog grew groggy and aimed his weapon toward the stoneman.

"STEP BACK, OLD DOG! REMEMBER THE PLAN!" Song Ronghua shouted, reminding Old Dog and instructing little Three, "LITTLE THREE! NOW!"

As Old Dog listened to Song Ronghua's shout, he unconsciously took a few steps back and went into defensive position, while little Three dashed forward and hacked down his axe toward the stoneman's back.

Pa!

A clean hit. After receiving a blow from little Three, the stoneman only swayed a little. But less in a blink on an eye, the stoneman turned its body while swung his hand toward little Three.

BAM! "Urgh!"

The stoneman counter-attacked little Three, but it returned its focus toward Old Dog.

Knowing that he had made a correct conjecture so far and the action before proving one of his conjecture, a slight smirk crept up on Song Ronghua's face.

"NEXT STEP! YOU ASSHOLES! GO!"

Two people beside Song Ronghua dashed forward as each pulled out a long rope from their sleeves. In no time, they arrived in front of the stoneman. Without any deterrence, both people were able to bind the stoneman. One on the right hand's wrist, while the other was at the left leg.

It was only a probing attack, to determine whether the stoneman would react toward a non-lethal attack.

Previously, their defeat was guaranteed when each of their pride was challenged. Each of them swung their weapon toward the stoneman without any coordination, only caring to feed their own ego. And the result was devastating. The stoneman retaliate with each swung weapon, and only aimed at those who directly maimed it. Also, the stoneman would replicate the attacks which were aimed at itself, akin to a mirror.

After the earlier probing, it was clear that the stonemanwould only react when he was attacked. And if they couldn't deal with the stoneman with the conventional means, binding the stoneman should do the trick.

Binding or pinning the stoneman down, before finding the solution to take care of it.

The used ropes were wade from fusing three normal ropes, twirled and being hardened with Elemental. As long as the ropes didn't leave that two people's hand, the Elemental surrounding the ropes would be as strong as iron.

Seeing that there was no any reaction toward the ropes and two people who were pulling the ropes, many sounds of cheer exploded from around Song Ronghua.

"We did it!"

"That stoneman doesn't react, it doesn't react at all, right? Only chasing Old Dog?"

"That's right? Like what deputy leader said, there is a weak point, his conjecture cannot be any more right!"

"We can do it! We can clear this trial!"

"Kill this f**ker!"

As if resonating with the surroundings mood, Song Ronghua shouted, "OKAY, MEN! CRACK THIS HARD NUT!"

"""YES!"""

Three more people from behind rushed forward and bound the rope while Song Ronghua and another one Spell User prepared their spell.

"Earth Element! Earth Wall!" "Earth Element! Pit Hole!"

As the stoneman's left leg was raised on the Earth Wall and its right leg was dropped into a shallow hole, it lost its balance and five people who get a hold on ropes pulled it with all they had.

"""NOW!"""

Swiish, BAM!

The stoneman finally fell down after losing its balance while the four limbs were pulled, preventing the stoneman to raise its body.

"DROP IT DOWN!" Song Ronghua manipulate Elemental to continue with another spell along with the other Spell User, "EARTH ELEMENT! MULTIPLE EARTH BINDS!"

A few thick earth vines appeared from the ground, creeping and circling around the stoneman and binding it down.

Along with the spell, all other except for little Three rushed forward and jumped on the fallen stoneman.

"HOLD IT DOWN!"

"Hold his leg down! Hold him using our weight! Don't let this piece of crap to retaliate!"

"Little Three, are you dead?"

"F**k off! Don't go killing me! This much is not enough to kill me!"

"Then move your ass here and do your job!"

Even after being held down by seven people and five people pulled the four limbs and the stoneman's head, they couldn't completely suppress the stoneman down. Especially for those who were holding the stoneman down, they were the first one to feel the retaliation of the stoneman. It was faint, but enough to jolt their heart.

All over the stoneman's body was similar to the floor and wall around this place, only a stone, similar to Stone Tree's body. The only distinction was only a pair of bright red pair of eyes, akin to a pair of fire.

Holding a dagger in his hand, little Three tried to stab the dagger between the small gap. "Damn, should I peel these red beads? Or should I smash it? DEPUTY LEADER! YOUR CALL"

The situation worsened as the seven people who held down the stoneman started to lose their grip – The stoneman started to raise his upper body. Little Three had to make a fast decision, and he threw the hot cake toward Song Ronghua.

Little Three knew that he only had one last chance, they had to be victorious, and he didn't want to bear the burden of becoming the scapegoat, the reason for their second defeat. And Song Ronghua didn't fail him, as the former gace the answer.

Bead after bead of sweat slid down past his head, drenching his whole body. He had been sustainind the Multiple Earth Binds for some time, and it began to take the toll. Faced with such a question, there was only one answer in Song Ronghua's head.

"BREAK IT!"

And at the same time, little Three smashed down the red bead using the handle of the dagger.

Crack!

A distinct crack appeared on the red bead, and a smirk appeared on little Three's face. With the maddening look, he smashed down the dagger's handle toward the cracked red bead a few more times, and the red bead's crack grew wider.

But at the same time, little Three realized that his teammates were unable to hold the stoneman down for any longer. The body began to rise even after that binding.

"A little more! A little more! Hold on, guys!" yelled little Three while trying to encourage.

CRACK. . . .

One red bead was broken, and the light in the bead grew dimmer as if losing the fire inside. The broken red bead turned into a lifeless stone, like the stoneman's body.

"ONE DOWN! ONE MORE TO GO! HOLD ON, GUYS! OR I WILL MAKE SURE TO CASTRATE ALL OF YOU!" In euphoria, little Three aimed the other one red bead with more strength.

Crack, crack, crack, crack. . .

It was a race against time. The head of the stoneman was raised and was faced toward little Three, making the latter felt that he was being glared. His heart jolted, he was intimidated by that glare.

Gritting his teeth, he dispelled that feeling.

[No! This thing is not even a living being!]

"F**K YOU!"

CRACK. . . .

With one last smash, the other red bead followed the fate of the first bead. Broken.

Fearing of the stoneman's retaliation, little Three along all people which were pushing the stoneman down leapt back and distanced themselves. Some of them kept adding more distance, while some other raised their vigilance while eyeing the stoneman.

The stoneman fell n the ground, as if strings were cut from the puppet's body.

Silence filled the room, no one dared to make a reckless move, in case of the stoneman chased after that certain poor person. All eyes were nailed to the stone's figure in the middle of the room.

"Hosh. . . hosh. . . Someone. . . No, Old Dog, check it. For other, prepare to cover him." Song Ronghua paled as his head was all drenched. His vision was fuzzy, but he couldn't rest down. Not until he was sure that the stoneman was not moving anymore.

"Er, can I refuse?" Old Dog's eyebrows twitched, wishing that he just heard the funniest joke of the month. But unfortunately, no one gave him the chance to refuse. "Sigh. Just take it as my bad day."

Step, step, step. . .

Taking step by step, Old Dog held his weapon near his chest, in case that the stoneman would aim his vital. But after taking a few careful steps, the stoneman didn't show any movement at all, as if it was a real stone.

Thinking that the stoneman grew smarter, Old Dog only cursed his fate while circling the stoneman.

It was a funny scene, a mighty member of the Sword of Light had to be this sneaky in front of a stone. But for any member, it was not funny at all. Even though they wanted to laugh, they had experienced the non-laughable matter.

After some time, Old Dog's expression darkened. He was not a patient person, and all of these sneaky movements was already challenging his rash nature.

But for the other fourteen people, Old Dog's darkened expression signed that the plan was failed, or maybe a dangerous element still existed. After all, the stoneman itself was already a dangerous element. And also there was a slim possibility that the stoneman was still active.

Thinking about that, all of them paled. Even the paled Song Ronghua could only blame his own bad day. When he thought of giving an order of retreat, Old Dog leapt forward toward the stoneman.

"""F**K!""" "BACK! ALL BACK!"

Seeing that, fourteen people thought that Old Dog already gave up and wanted to kill himself, a suicide! And along with that cursing, the fourteen people rushed back toward the alley, toward the second trial's room.

Swish. . .

Old Dog didn't realize what had happened around him as all of his focus was nailed toward the stoneman's figure.

It had the same hardness, there was no difference from the stoneman before, but currently, it was not moving.

Rubbing, patting, smacking, and even smashing his weapon toward the stoneman's figure, there was no reaction from the stoneman.

If it was before, the stoneman would automatically react and counter-attacked on Old Dog. And now, he was safe. There was no retaliation from the stoneman, and the stoneman returned into a stone.

His eyes brightened as a wide grin crept upon his face. His face couldn't hide the ecstasy he felt, making him whistled.

Punching both of his hands to the air, Old Dog shouted while turning his body around, toward the group.

"WE DID IT. . . . eh?"

Gazing at left and right, all around the room, there was no one. Empty.

". . . Guys? Seriously???"

…