Your power is incredible

Ares eyed Apollo and heard him say, "You've done great on the first two trials. There's actually a hidden third trial—if you're up for it. You only need to hold out for one minute, and you'll pass."

"What's the trial?" Ares asked.

"You'll face my guardian beast. As long as you can survive for one minute under its attacks, you'll pass."

"In that case, let's not waste any time," Ares urged, motioning for Apollo to get started.

"Very well. As you wish." Apollo gave a slight smile. The next instant, a beam of white light enveloped Ares completely.

He saw a flash, and a crisp system chime rang in his ears. Suddenly he felt weightless; the very next moment, he found himself in a brand-new setting.

Once the glare subsided, Ares stood on what looked like an ancient battleground, swirling with yellow sand. The rush of the wind whistled by, and fragments of ruined walls, scarred by old conflicts, punctuated the desolate landscape. 

[Welcome to the Final Trial of the "Peerless Warlord" Class-Change Quest!] 

The system's mechanical voice echoed in his ears.

At the top-right of his field of view, a small window popped open: [Survive for 1 minute under Apollo's summoned beast's attacks to complete the challenge.]

In the center of the battlefield, a dazzling column of light shot skyward, accompanied by epic battle music. From within that pillar emerged a powerful lion. Slowly, the beast took shape before his eyes.

Ares activated Eye of Insight. At once, the lion's status panel hovered before him:

[Storm Lion (Divine BOSS)] 

[Level: 200] 

[HP: 10,000,000] 

[DEF: 80,000] 

[ATK: 60,000] 

[Skills:] 

1) Fearless Charge: Instantly dash toward the target, inflicting 1.5× ATK on enemies in the path and knocking them into the air (15s cooldown). 

2) Iron Bastion: Boost DEF by 50% for 10s (30s cooldown). 

3) Storm Bite: After a 1s charge-up, deal 2× ATK as a storm AoE in a line 20 ft long and 4 ft wide (20s cooldown). 

4) Storm Strike: For the next 5 attacks, increase attack speed by 30% and ATK by 20% (25s cooldown).

The Storm Lion let out a fierce roar and charged straight at Ares!

Ares's quest goal was to survive for one minute, so killing the lion too quickly would defeat the whole point. Instead of ending things prematurely, he just stood there, letting the beast attack.

"-1," "-1," "-1" … 

A string of bright red forced-damage numbers sparkled over Ares's head.

The Storm Lion suddenly halted, a big question mark practically visible above its head. It couldn't comprehend how its 60,000 ATK failed to dent this human's defense. Exactly how tough could this guy be?

Yawning, Ares flashed a mocking grin. He waved a finger at the lion. "That the best you can do? Show me your top moves. I'm curious."

Something like rage flared in the lion's eyes. It activated Storm Strike, blurring forward with a huge boost in attack speed, sinking savage bites again and again into Ares's body.

But what might look terrifying was little more than a flurry of "-1" overhead. The lion's onslaught kept producing trivial damage that posed no threat at all.

One minute crept by. In that short time, the Storm Lion had launched 380 attacks altogether, and all it managed was 380 points of forced damage in total.

"All right, time's up. This little show can end now." Ares gave a faint smile as he breathed the words.

He slowly raised the Judgment Sword, light dancing along the blade. With a relaxed flick of his wrist, a brilliant wave of energy sliced across the battlefield. A crisp "ding" echoed in the air, and reality itself seemed to shred in its wake.

A staggering damage figure—3,000,000,000,000—floated above the Storm Lion's head. The colossal digits practically took over half the screen, shining even brighter than the swirling desert sands around them.

The Storm Lion didn't have a chance to so much as growl before it dissolved into a cloud of shimmering motes, vanishing from the ancient battleground. Instantly, the entire instance began to quake and break apart.

A blinding flash overtook Ares. He heard the system's announcement: 

"Challenge complete. Congratulations on finishing the final trial of the Peerless Warlord class-change quest!"

When the light receded, Ares found himself back with Apollo's projection. Apollo looked absolutely floored—though only a projection, he was clearly impressed.

He said earnestly, "Your power… it's incredible. Even though I'm just a projection, I can see that your presence is humanity's greatest fortune. Ah, your quest is done. You're free to complete your class change."

With that, Apollo's image began to fade. A new, cheerful system alert chimed:

[Congratulations—you have successfully advanced to Peerless Warlord!]

All at once, Ares's skill bar refreshed, revealing four new skills:

[Raging Battlecry]: Let out a deafening roar, striking enemies within a 20 ft radius with Fear for 5 seconds (30s cooldown).

[Blood Surge]: Increases your ATK by 50% and attack speed by 30% for 10 seconds (40s cooldown).

[Devastation Drive]: Launch a mighty forward dash that deals 3× ATK to all enemies in your path, knocking them back 10 ft (25s cooldown).

[Fighting Frenzy]: The lower your HP, the higher your ATK—up to a 100% increase. Effect persists until combat ends.

Seeing those four new skills pop up, Ares couldn't hide the grin tugging at his lips. He was especially psyched about Raging Battlecry, his very first crowd-control ability. Now he had a reliable way to handle tricky mobs and tough opponents.

"All right, guess it's time to head back to the main city. Should I start my own guild or something…" 

Mulling over possibilities, Ares made his way to the teleport node.

…

Meanwhile, at the Apocalyptic Guild's headquarters in Black Dragon City, Felix wore a furious scowl. The fiasco at the ruins still burned him up inside.

"Guild Master," said a Level 820 Thief—one of Felix's most trusted underlings—"our scouts spotted that newbie who got into the ruins first. He's at the teleport point right now."

Felix clenched his jaw, a malicious glint in his eyes. He paused, then nodded as a sinister idea took shape.

"Fine," he said, fixing his subordinate with a meaningful look. "Go, see if you can recruit him. If he's willing to join up, I'll let the whole thing slide. But if he's not interested…"

The Thief caught his drift, nodding swiftly, then hurried out toward the teleport station.