Chương 533: Chapter 502: A Blessing Bestowed by Darkness

"What level are those Chosen? Are you sure we can't beat them? You're a Chosen too, after all," Pikar asked. He was clearly beginning to struggle with the idea of how powerful someone could become with a strong bloodline. Thalion had no doubt that those Chosen were likely stronger than him, and if they had been married for so long, they might have entered together—which was the real problem. One Chosen he might be able to overwhelm through sheer recovery, but against two, that tactic fell apart.

In general, facing two Chosen should be impossible for him. Maybe in the future, once he reached D-grade, but right now there was no chance.

"They are actually slightly behind me in levels. I gain part of the experience from my plants' kills, which is a huge advantage. But levels aren't everything, and they could easily kill E-grades far above their own level. The fact that they're considered the strongest fighters of the elven faction on this planet should tell you the rest. Thalion, you've fought elven Chosen before. Please tell me you're not considering fighting them." Ricarda seemed very agitated, but there was no reason for it.

Thalion wasn't even thinking about facing those two Chosen yet. Still, this was annoying. The last time, it had worked in his favor that so many Chosen were fighting one another, but here that didn't seem like a viable option. On the positive side, they likely had to run from the Wild Hunt as well, so maybe they wouldn't meet at all. Perhaps this would remain more of a race to gather treasures than a direct confrontation.

"I agree. We won't fight them. Too risky, and I believe we can get first place just by continuing at our current pace. As long as we don't waste time, the others shouldn't have a chance. They likely have a larger group too, which should make it harder for them to hide. With that many leaderboard points, they might even draw the Wild Hunt's attention," Thalion explained.

"Now go ahead and prepare your minions for battle. You have half a day." He had been in too many dangerous situations and to rush now simply because they were panicking or worried that others might score more points was stupid. If this short stop was enough to save lives—or even prevent serious injuries—it was worth it. The others quickly began their preparations while Thalion sat down and worked on his blood, his thoughts returning to the crystal.

If they ended up fighting that girl, the smartest move might be to bring out the crystal and use it to weaken her drastically. The problem was that this would make his Eclipsari form nearly unusable, and that was his best form against any darkness user. In any of his other forms, things could become dangerous. If this was the fifth floor, Thalion still wondered whether the young girl was the empress or just some random member of the old empire. And what had happened in the last thousand years? Was she a survivor?

If so, why return to her empire only to never leave again? Couldn't she have simply taken over one of the other kingdoms? If he had to guess, Thalion would say she had been planning something big by handing out those gifts. Yet he had no idea what that plan could have been. What did she gain by giving away the plant and the lizard egg? She should have been able to dominate those kingdoms by herself, so why bother?

It took some time, but eventually Pikar had three beetles and a small swarm of flies, all glowing with the crystal's light. Ricarda had prepared several plants with luminous flowers. Overall, the flowers had absorbed far more light than the insects. Maybe they would even be able to produce attacks stronger than the crystal's aura. With everyone ready, they walked down the corridor that would lead them to the origin of the little girl—the one responsible for the downfall of two kingdoms.

The other gates led to different kingdoms on the third floor, places the girl had likely influenced as well. But killing her first would bring the greater reward, and they hoped to find more clues about where other fifth-floor areas were located. The earlier stone tablets had made one thing relatively clear: every fifth floor was a dead end, and you had to return upward afterward. The corridor was completely dark, every crystal embedded in its walls destroyed.

For Thalion in his Eclipsari form, that wasn't a problem, but the others began to struggle as they descended deeper and deeper. All the previous corridors had led to chambers, but this time, after what felt like hours, the path ended at a cliff. The drop below stretched into darkness, and strange sounds rose from the depths—sounds Thalion had never heard before. Even he couldn't see anything from their position, which meant they likely had no choice but to fly down.

The rift was absolutely massive, stretching endlessly in both directions with no visible end.

"What now? Should we just jump down?" Ricarda whispered, peering over the edge.

"Not like we have a choice," Pikar muttered. Thalion didn't feel great about this either. Anything could be waiting below, and if there were more than two D-grades, this could turn extremely dangerous very quickly.

"Let me go first. If things escalate, you follow." With those words, Thalion moved to jump into the rift, but Ricarda stopped him.

"Wait—what if something is already watching and attacks us the moment you're gone?" Thalion had no answer to that. He hadn't spotted anything, but he could clearly feel the danger below through his title. It didn't feel like something had locked onto him yet, but that didn't mean it wouldn't once they separated.

"Then we go together," Thalion said, seeing no better option, and jumped. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. He didn't use any movement skills, letting gravity pull him down. By increasing his weight, he accelerated rapidly. The walls rushed past, yet there was still no ground in sight. After nearly a minute of falling, he reached the end of the rift—and dropped into pure darkness. It felt like glitching through the world in a game.

Above him, the stone layers remained visible, but below, something entirely different appeared. A massive sphere of living darkness rotated beneath him, while above it floated a disk—a fragment of what must have once been a vast empire. Everything else had broken apart and fallen into the abyss below. This ruined disk held only two points of interest. Amid the shattered buildings stood a massive black altar lined with glowing red markings. In front of it knelt the girl they had seen in so many murals.

Unlike everything else, she hadn't changed at all. And she was looking directly at him. Thalion immediately disliked it. Those pitch-black eyes—completely devoid of pupils—reminded him far too much of his own in Eclipsari form. For Eclipsari, such eyes were a sign of immense power. He could only hope that didn't apply to her as well.

"This isn't good… she knew we would come," Pikar said, fear clearly present in his voice as he began to slow his descent. Thalion and Ricarda followed suit. Ricarda grew two large plant-like leaves from her shoulders, using them as wings, while Thalion simply reduced his weight until he floated. This manipulation really was fun. He definitely needed something like that for his human form.

"How is she still level 180? She should have gained at least one level after reaching D-grade," Ricarda said, confusion creeping into her voice. The girl slowly rose to her feet, a smile spreading across her face. It was unsettling—both sinister and oddly genuine, as if she was truly pleased to see them. Then her aura erupted. It hit like a storm. Thalion was thrown upward instantly, his body still too light to resist the force.

The darkness around them deepened, even though there had barely been any light to begin with. Despite being lower in level than the others they had faced, she was unquestionably stronger. In fact, Thalion had the distinct feeling she could have defeated both the queen and the lizard without even trying. The sheer density of her aura made him hesitate for the first time. Was fighting her even the right decision? Turning back, however, wasn't an option in a System Event.

Still, a question lingered in his mind—who was this trial even designed for? The enemies were far too strong. How was anyone without a powerful bloodline supposed to defeat a D-grade opponent? Even the first queen should have been impossible for most. And this girl… She was something else entirely. No wonder only a handful of participants had managed to gain any points at all. If he survived this, he was definitely going to have a talk with Lyrian about System Event design. The girl didn't waste time speaking.

She attacked immediately. She was clearly a mage—but the power she wielded was on an entirely different level. A bolt of black lightning struck Thalion in the chest before he could react. With his body still light enough to hover, the impact sent him flying backward, crashing into the ruined stone structures above. Ricarda activated her boosting skill at full power, her body shifting into the same enhanced form she had used before.

Pikar, on the other hand, wisely decided to stay out of it and created distance immediately. The girl turned her attention to Ricarda. Dark tendrils formed around her and shot forward, trying to ensnare their target. Ricarda abandoned any attempt at offense and focused entirely on evasion, retreating through the air. The lightning hadn't dealt significant damage to Thalion, but the force had been immense, leaving his vision swimming for a moment.

Seeing how quickly things were escalating, he conjured a massive spike of darkness. The girl hadn't moved yet. Maybe… just maybe… he could end this quickly. With the old hag, it had worked perfectly. The moment the spike was fully charged, Thalion fired. One of the tendrils simply moved in its path and deflected it like it was nothing, sending the projectile crashing deep into the disk hovering above the dark ocean.

He hadn't expected much from the sneak attack, but seeing it dismissed that effortlessly didn't exactly boost his confidence. Well then… the hard way. Thalion dissolved as he activated Shadow Step, surging forward toward the girl. He had to engage her directly—maybe that would give the others an opening. He didn't have high hopes of defeating her outright. This was one of those fights where there was no alternative but to win.

Normally, his heart would have been racing, but after so many life-and-death battles, there was only focus. The girl frowned as he reformed right in front of her, one claw already slashing toward her face. An explosion erupted from her body, blasting Thalion backward. He had increased his weight to resist the force, but not too much—he didn't want the pressure to tear his own body apart. Before he could recover, another bolt of black lightning struck him.

This time, he wasn't thrown as far, but the electricity still surged through him, leaving his vision swimming. He forced himself back under control, halting his movement—only to find the girl hovering just four meters away. She extended her hand. Dark tendrils manifested around him instantly, binding his arms to his body and locking his legs together. The pressure increased steadily, tightening with every passing second. His skin absorbed the darkness, but she reinforced the skill faster than he could break free.

Escape wasn't an option. Now… she looked curious.

"So far, none of the sacrifices have returned with enough power to satisfy me… but you are different." Thalion didn't like being called a sacrifice—especially not while being completely overwhelmed like this. It reminded him far too much of his encounter with the fire elf during the first System Event, when he had nearly been burned alive. Still… now it made sense why she had given out those "gifts." It was actually a clever strategy.

Each kingdom had its own affinity, making them unsuitable for something like body tempering—or, in this case, sacrifices. But the gifts had changed that. And once they were altered, they had been sealed away with those crystals.

"Interesting… you aren't taking any damage from my darkness. You might be perfect." Perfect… for sacrifice. That was probably what she meant. But Thalion wasn't done yet. The only reason he hadn't tried harder to break free was that, strangely enough, he was fine with the situation—for now. Being crushed wasn't pleasant, but it bought Ricarda and Pikar time. And if things went well, he might even trigger another mutation.

If she increased the pressure too much, he could still activate Voidtide Manifestation and escape. Trying to consume her with it, however, didn't seem realistic. She was far too dangerous, and there was no need to take that risk yet. The girl had other plans. With a flick of her hand, she hurled him downward—straight toward the black mass below. She must have assumed he had already taken real damage, otherwise he would have resisted.

Darkness gathered around him as he tried to slow his descent—but just as he began to redirect it upward, a violet light tore through his form and erased the darkness instantly. Pikar had brought out the large crystal. It now hovered above him like a miniature sun. The light burned through his darkness, tearing open his skin in multiple places. Normally, that wouldn't have been an issue—but the sudden shock and the blinding intensity overwhelmed him for a split second.

And that was enough and Thalion dropped straight into the mass of living darkness below.