Second Trial

"Welcome back, participants! This mirror will shortly display the results of the trial."

Back inside the void, the angel of light proceeded to wave his hand, conjuring a towering golden mirror which displayed countless names.

=== Leaderboards: ===

1. Dante - 176 coins

2. Bianca Dale -168 coins

3. Kai Stevens - 154 coins

4. Trenton Rix - 142 coins

…

99. Joshua Cole - 55 coins

100. Solomon Peterson - 54 coins

================

After looking through the long list of names, I had finally found myself at the 9th position. I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised at the result, but as long as I passed the first trial, I would be fine.

Just a few minutes after the results were displayed, Kaia waved the large mirror away and continued to speak.

"Those who were listed will be participating in the second trial. For those who didn't make it, the death reaper will shortly come to you and determine where you will spend eternity."

With a crisp but loud snap, Kaia transported the 100 participants who had passed the first trial to an unknown territory.

Out of nowhere, Kaia's voice echoed across the deserted city that the participants were currently in.

"The second trial will require you to fend off a constant stream of monsters for 6 hours. There will be a safe zone available for you to rest in; however, the monsters on the outside will become stronger for each person that decides to enter the safe zone. You all will be able to utilize your coins from the last round as well as the shop function. You should still have the watch from the first trial with you. They will start buzzing as soon as the monsters start to spawn. Use this time to get ready. Get to know each other. Good luck."

Looking at the anxious people around me, I decided to keep my mouth shut until someone decided to speak up. It wasn't until a couple of minutes later did a young, brawny man with poorly bleached blonde hair speak up in an authoritative voice.

"My name is Alvin Smith, five-star general of the Parida National army. You could say that I have lots of experience in leadership. Follow me if you wish to complete this trial."

He was wearing a camouflage jacket, pants, and cap that paired well with his mildly tanned skin. He gave off a friendly, yet domineering aura that made it hard for someone to approach him. After hearing his words, many decided to follow Alvin and nodded their heads in agreement. I decided to blend in with the crowd, unwillingly nodding my head while my face started to cringe.

I then took the time to look around at my surroundings. The place was a mess, no doubt about it. With fallen structures and fissures in the ground, even the general atmosphere of the place seemed eerie and gloomy. The gray clouds covered the entire sky, blocking out almost every single ray of light that was coming from the sun. The infrastructure also looked weird to me as they were quite tall and dull looking in my opinion.

Finishing my observation of the place, I followed the majority of people to a flat and open area. The area was surrounded by those dull-looking buildings, and it also had a sculpture in the middle. Around the sculpture was a greenish field which released a slight buzzing sound. I concluded that it must be the safe zone that Kaia was talking about.

Alvin, in a calm voice, suddenly called out to the crowd of people standing before him, "This is where we will be fending off the monsters. Those who get injured will be able to step inside the safe zone. We will now start preparations. Each of you will now use your coins to equip yourselves with items as well as weapons. If you are not sure of what to buy, just ask me and I will tell you."

I frowned after hearing Alvin's speech. Was he really just a good guy trying to help out? Or was it something else? I didn't know, but I still kept my eyes on him in case something went astray.

Grabbing out my watch, I opened the shop and promptly bought a greatsword, a bow, some arrows, as well as some stamina recovery potions. Since there was going to be a horde of monsters coming at us, I decided to make use of long ranged weapons as well as weapons with a larger area of effect, such as the greatsword. I honestly didn't want to show Hailstorm to the public at the moment as it will most likely attract greedy eyes.

After a loud discussion between the masses and Alvin, a buzzing sound suddenly sounded on everyone's watches. I took a deep breath and took out my bow and arrow. At first, I could only see a couple of monsters rushing at us. But as time went on, more and more monsters started to appear. Many started to panic and some even decided to fake their injuries just so they could enter the safe zone.

Soon, the monsters outside started to increase in number whereas the amount people fending them off started to decrease, drastically. This didn't go unnoticed by Alvin as he was only commanding from the backline and avoiding all the dirty work.

"I will give those who are faking their injuries one last chance. If you don't go back there and fight, I will personally come and kill you." Alvin shouted as the faces of many people in the safe zone started to pale.

However, one daunting individual decided to pin the blame on Alvin instead, "Wait a minute, if you are so tough, why aren't you fighting? You are just blabbering about and only keeping yourself safe!"

This statement made Alvin's face turn sour as he immediately yelled in a demanding tone, "A commander is the most important person on the battlefield! If that person died, everything would be for naught!"

Many who had heard the person speak earlier also agreed with each other. Soon, a large riot started to form inside the safe zone. And as more and more people died on the outside, the people on the outside slowly started to retreat in fear of dying.

Alvin instantly saw this, and his face started to turn red in anger, "You weaklings! There are many who are still hurt, and you still dare to retreat from the frontlines?!"

For what was happening, I naturally witnessed firsthand, and I couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle. I, unfortunately, knew human instinct very well and I knew that we had only scratched the surface of how evil human nature can be. Unlike the others, I decided to keep fighting the monsters, with the only reason being that it was fun.

Parrying an incoming sneak attack from a three-eyed zombie, I then immediately reacted and slashed its head off with a clean strike. Watching its green blood splatter onto the ground, I casually glanced to my right and observed a nimble figure decimate a ghoul-like creature.

"He's strong, I'd like to fight him sometime." I thought to myself.

Indeed, the person that I was observing was Dante, the number one ranked participant in the first trial. Wearing dark robes large enough to conceal his entire body frame as well as his facial features, he was in fact quite the mysterious one. In his hands was a thin and sharp weapon with a rounded hilt to it. I narrowed my eyes and put my vast knowledge regarding weapons to use.

A rapier, that's what it was.

As I continued to study Dante's advanced mastery in weaponry, I couldn't help but to marvel at his level of precision and speed. Each of his movements were concise yet terrifying. With a simple jab or thrust with his rapier, the monster that he was facing would be completely destroyed. Leaving a multitude of large holes in his enemies, Dante was a force to be reckoned with.

My blood was boiling with each second, I watched Dante's extraordinary movements. I had previously thought that my weapon mastery had reached its peak, but with Dante's appearance, I no longer thought the same.

I slapped myself across the face as a huge smile emerged from the edge of my lips. Letting out a thundering roar, I recklessly dove into a large horde of monsters in the distance.

…

Meanwhile, the situation near the safe zone was starting to get out of hand. A large crowd of people was protesting, and many were blaming each other for their mishaps. Nobody wanted to risk their precious opportunity such as having one of their wishes granted.

Alving had an ugly scowl on his face. He was yelling and shouting at the people, with spit flying all over the place. The veins in his eyes were bloodshot and his body was shaking in anger. He believed that using his authority as a five-star general, he would be able to pass the second trial with ease. But contrary to his expectations, some idiot just had to rebel against him and start such a mess.

Staring daggers into the person who had spoken ill of him, Alvin thought that the only way to quell his own anger was to get rid of that extra.

Noticing Alvin's glare, the middle-aged man that was probably in his thirties looked up at him with a smug look on his face. This gesture of provocation was the last action needed to break the barrier blocking Alvin's boiling anger. With a swift wave of his hand, Alvin had withdrawn a small firearm out of thin air and immediately proceeded to press on the trigger.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

With three consecutive bursts of explosions, a figure fell limp onto the ground with a smug look still on his face. Upon closer inspection, one could see three precise patches of blood on the man's corpse: one on his forehead, one on his head, and one on his…private area.

The rioting crowd immediately fell silent as they witnessed Alvin's extreme mastery over firearms firsthand. With an evil grin, Alvin let out a small chuckle and casually shrugged the event off like it was nothing in his eyes.

"Now then, do you people have anything else to say?"

Silence remained within the crowd as nobody dared to move a single inch. However, as soon as someone within the crowd noticed a bright, sparkling light shining from the bloodied corpse, all hell soon descended upon the trial.

Not only did the corpse drop all of the person's loot, but they also dropped their soul. Which, on consumption by another, will reinvigorate their bodies, making them an entire notch stronger than what they previously were.

The first person who noticed the bright lights emitting from the dead corpse had felt an enticing aura coming from it, almost like it was begging for her to come towards it. After consuming the soul and claiming the ownerless loot, the woman's greed overtook herself. She savagely started to slaughter the people within the crowd and within moments, many people started to catch on and all hell broke loose.

Only after an excessive amount of bloodshed did the massacring stop. With only about 20 people still remaining within the trials, the monsters pouring in started to increase exponentially. Alvin was among the very few survivors remaining. However, instead of displaying signs of exhaustion, Alvin was in fact the complete opposite. As a matter of fact, all of the contestants who had participated in the battle royale all had domineering and terrifying auras to them; almost like they had gotten stronger.

From a distance, I had a rough estimate at what was happening over at the safe zone. I was definitely surprised at the progression but considering all of the unreal things that had happened already, I quickly went back to my calm and apathetic self.

Quickly scanning at the few people around me, I noticed a multitude of them swiftly rushing back to the safe zone in order to get a grasp of the current situation. I shook my head in disappointment as I knew that going there would be the same as suicide. I didn't try to stop them and continued to face the incoming onslaught of monsters.

The people who had gone back to the safe zone were quickly dealt with by Alvin and his newly formed team. Under his command, a team of 4 people, who had all consumed souls, was chosen to serve as his personal assault team. Each and every one of these individuals were extremely dangerous and powerful so it was best not to mess with them at the moment.

Time was, fortunately, able to pass quickly as only about 30 minutes remained in the first trail. However, the number of monsters appearing was not decreasing while the number of contestants had dropped all the way to 9. In addition, somewhere at the 2-hour mark, the number of people who could occupy the safe zone was limited to 5, and so Alvin and his team quickly snatched up and hogged the safe zone to themselves.

With only me, Dante, Bianca Dale, and Trenton Rix remaining to fend off the monsters on the outside. We couldn't do anything about Alvin and his team, though. They knew that if we didn't defend the safe zone, they would all fail the trial and not have a chance to have their wish fulfilled.

The four of us decided to temporarily team up and fend off the remaining waves of monsters as they were starting to get too difficult for us individually. Although we were unacquainted with each other, we quickly adapted to our fighting styles and skillfully synced with one other.

After only what felt like a few moments, the booming voice of Kaia echoed across the land, signaling the end of the second trial. The four of us instantly fell to the ground and gasped for air. Though, we didn't have time to rest as Alvin and his team decided to ambush us in an attempt to steal our souls, even with the trial coming to an end.

Blocking a sneak attack from the sword user of Alvin's team, Trenton started to fume with anger, "You bastards! How dare you sit around while we fight the monsters and only now approach us!"

"Kukuku. Hand over your souls please." The sword user let out a small laugh as he adjusted the sword in his hand.

Noticing the situation getting out of hand, I was prepared to use Hailstorm in order to finish Alvin's team off. However, all of my worries were for nothing as the familiar voice in the sky saved us from our current predicament.

"Contestants will be teleported to the leaderboard room shortly. "

Turning his attention back towards us, a small smirk appeared on Alvin's face as he turned around and walked away. The rest of his team followed in his footsteps.

As we watched their figures disappear into the distance, the four of us felt a warm sensation flow through our bodies as we also started to dissipate into golden debris.