Chapter 834 Reign's Test and the Incredible Reward
Reign found himself in a surreal landscape, a manifestation of his memories and experiences. The shadowy figure overseeing the test explained, "Your trial, leader of this team, is to confront the shadows of your past and the weight of your responsibilities."
As the words echoed, the surroundings morphed, and Reign stood in the midst of pivotal moments from his journey. The air felt heavy with the weight of expectations and the consequences of his decisions. The first scene materialized—a reflection of the fateful expedition where they lost a team member.
Reign's heart clenched as he relived the moment. The fallen comrade's voice echoed, speaking gently to him, and also asking him to take revenge for him. He could see the face of Adam, the one person he had been too late to save, only a second had separated him from saving the young man, and he had failed.
As he stared at Adam, shadows appeared around him. The shadows seemed to reach out, threatening to pull him into the abyss of guilt. This was not just a test of physical strength but a battle against the doubts that lingered within his soul.
In the next scene, the image shifted to the encounter with the mysterious person that was Raziel. He had first seen him in a dream, speaking to him, but he had forgotten about it, the words echoing around him being little more than whispers.
Still, he could feel a pressure forming around him, threatening to devour his soul. The whispers in the air intensified, each voice representing the doubts and fears that plagued Reign.
He then saw Zeus and Miriam, he saw once again how he was given his mark. The mark glowed ominously, and a spectral figure emerged—a manifestation of lightning itself, and Zeus, whose reason for marking him he didn't know.
"Your destiny," the shadowy figure declared, "is entwined with forces beyond your understanding. Will you embrace it or resist?"
Reign, standing tall, faced the spectral figure. His swords gleamed with radiant light, a testament to his determination. The fortress itself seemed to tremble as the confrontation unfolded.
The next scene shifted to the aftermath of battles, the sacrifices made, and the responsibility of leading a team through uncharted territories. The whispers grew louder, a cacophony of doubts and uncertainties. The figures of his teammates, both past and present, appeared as ethereal specters, watching him with expectant eyes.
Reign's resolve was tested as he confronted the ghosts of his decisions. The burden of leadership bore down on him, and the fortress itself seemed to close in. The shadows threatened to overwhelm him, but Reign held his ground.
The final scene materialized—a vision of the future. The fortress crumbled, and a colossal force loomed on the horizon. The shadowy figure watched with a penetrating gaze as Reign faced an otherworldly adversary, a harbinger of challenges yet to come.
"Your journey is far from over, young Nephilim," the shadow intoned. "Will you crumble under the weight of destiny, or will you rise to meet it?"
Reign, sweat on his brow, lifted his swords with unwavering determination. The fortress trembled, and the shadows receded.
Suddenly, he found himself in space.
There was nothing there, the stars were smothered, light was gone, and only darkness and cold were left in the universe, but then, something happened, and there was light again.
The very fabric of space seemingly rippled as something came out, and then, like glass that was shattered, the void changed, stars were present again, planets were there again, and he was able to see people ahead.
He was only able to see their backs, however, but something that made his entire being sense fear happened as a hand suddenly appeared in the void and started making a hole through it in order to pass through.
The backs of the group of people were familiar to him, but not all.
Alas, just as he was about to see everything more clearly, the scene was gone. The colossal figure once again appeared in front of him, sitting on a giant throne.
The figure was seemingly panting, but Reign couldn't be sure as it only seemed like that for a mere instant before the figure was normal again. The test was over.
The shadowy figure nodded, a rare expression of approval on its face. "You have confronted your past, your present, and glimpsed into the future. You have faced the shadows within. You have passed."
The fortress itself seemed to acknowledge their success. The dark energy that permeated the air lessened, and a strange calm settled over the once foreboding chamber. The colossal figure stood, its form shifting and dispersing into shadows.
"As promised," it declared, "you are forgiven for trespassing, and a reward awaits you. Witness the battle that unfolds beyond this realm."
"That … is your reward."
"Hmmm … now I remember, it's coming back to me."
"I was summoned here by the system, how peculiar, for me to forget such a thing." The giant said as he seemingly looked around him.
"I guess I won't be able to find out just what had happened just yet." The figure said with a sigh before suddenly looking at Reign and the others and snapping his fingers.
They suddenly found themselves in space.
Looking around, they panicked a bit, before calming down as they realized they were not truly in space, they were only in some sort of illusion that the being on the throne had manifested.
They all suddenly stared at one location as they were able to see two beings standing in the void.
One of them was the same colossal shadow that was sitting on the throne mere moments ago, and the other was an alien of sorts.
It was humanoid, at least that was the only way they knew how to describe it.
The being had two legs and four arms, with two of them ending with long and powerful claws while two had only two large fingers each.
The body of the alien was about 3.5 meters tall and it had a long head that stretched for about half a meter up, instead of hair, there were tentacles coming out of the head.
The being had armor that seemed archaic covering it and it was holding some sort of wand on each of its hands that had two fingers.
Just as they were thinking of what was going on, the two moved.
Well, they didn't move, they were still standing still, but they started fighting.
Shadows arose behind the colossal figure as they stretched out for hundreds of miles around him, blanketing the void behind him.
As for the alien, it seemingly sighed as a ripple passed around him. The void suddenly became grey, everything in thousands of miles around the alien turned grey. Even a nearby star was seemingly affected as the flames coming out became weaker.
The two started fighting, the two beings, as well as their spells and attacks, being the only things that had any color.
The shadowy giant used the shadows, but also summoned a huge sword that he wielded before appearing in front of the alien in an instant.
The alien blocked the sword with his claws before pointing at the giant with the wands, and out of them, gray, seemingly sticky mud came out.
The mud splashed on the giant, suddenly making him much slower as he tried slashing down, only to be blocked by the alien.
Reign and the others were staring at the battle, spectating it with shock in their eyes before suddenly glancing to the side.
An asteroid passed next to them.
Its speed was incredible even though it was gigantic, easily being the same size as Mount Everest. It passed next to them and continued toward the two figures, and as it got near, the eyes of the entire group almost popped out as they saw how the mere ripples from their battle were enough to destroy it, grounding it to dust even when it was over 500 miles away from the two.
Grey and black continued clashing, and soon, it became evident that one was much stronger than the other as his powers started dominating the opponent.
The colossal shadow seemed to be barely breaking a sweat as the alien panted and did everything and anything it could do to try and defeat him.
Blasts from the wands that destroyed anything in its wake were launched, and when hitting the shadow, it could barely push him back a bit.
The beginning of the battle seemed quite even, with the field of gray being much wider in scope than the shadows, but it was never fair to begin with, the giant was stronger, he was simply playing with his opponent and allowing him to do whatever he wanted to do before getting bored.
The battle lasted for a total of 3 minutes, and during that time, Reign and the others saw a planet shake from their clashes and more asteroids being destroyed simply by getting close to the two. In the end, the giant finished the battle by cleaving the alien in two, easily cutting through the claws that had been able to block his sword in the beginning.
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