As Corey saw the face of the Pope before him, Corey gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so hard that soft popping sounds resounded from his fists.
A red color appeared in the sclera of Corey's eyes and his expression twisted little by little as the seconds passed.
"You're not going to say anything?
No response? No action?"
The Pope said with raised brows as he looked at Corey with raised brows and a light grin.
The Pope's eyes then moved to Corey's struggling expression and a light of realization appeared in his eyes.
"Oh, the reason you're not moving is cause you're weak.
I mean, you were too weak to save your sister, and right now, you're still too weak to act.
How do you think your sister and parents would feel about you failing them… twice."
With a mocking smile, the Pope moved to the side and gestured.
With half of his sclera becoming red, Corey who now had a more pronounced twisted expression, looked at where the Pope gestured to, and when he did, his pupils constricted way past it's limits.
Around 20m away from him were three people which he cared the most for in his heart.
Anna, his mom and his dad.
His sister and parents were some meters away from him, but the three of them had chains around their wrists, causing them to be lifted up into the air.
The source of the chains were some open mouths of the corpses on the corpse and bone hills.
Not only were Corey's sister and parents chained, on their bodies were numerous spikes that passed through their bodies.
Corey looked at his 'family' with his sclera which had become 85% red. A few seconds passed and Corey finally stopped looking down, a soft chuckle escaped his lips.
Corey shook his head while chuckling for a few seconds, causing the Pope and the Paragon Ancestor to raise his brows.
"I know this is not real and it's most likely an illusion, but…"
Corey who was speaking, paused, then he looked not at the Pope, no, but the Paragon Ancestor.
"Fuck you for showing me this."
Corey said with a frigid cold expression and tone as he looked at the Paragon Ancestor.
At that moment, he didn't care if the person he was cursing was one of the strongest beings in the multiverse. Nor did he care that the person could most likely end his life in an instant.
At that moment, Corey did not give a damn because he was pissed, extremely pissed off and even angry that the Paragon Ancestor would show him his family in such terrible conditions.
Assuming it was only an illusion of the Pope Corey saw, Corey would not be as pissed and angry as he currently was.
'I can feel my consciousness fading away due to the killing intent that's affecting my mind.'
Corey thought with a frown as he struggled to remain sane. He decided not to look at the Pope, the Paragon Ancestor and his family.
Numerous thoughts went through Corey's mind as he tried to think of a way to pass the tenth step, to overcome his limits and reach the thirteenth step.
'Eh… So you're telling me that I won't pass the tenth step, that I won't gain more power?
'
A soft chuckle escaped Corey's lips once again as he had this thought.
'Because I'm weak I can't stand due to this high gravity-like feeling around me.'
Corey thought as he tried to get up, but he could not, due to the heavy feeling around him and Corey's frown deepened when he realized this.
He knew that if he wanted to have enough strength to break free from the heavy pressure around him, he needed to do something, to give in to the killing intent that was continuously increasing with every passing second.
Although he had this desire, this mad desire to give in to this killing intent and attack the Pope who was looking at him with an amused smile, Corey knew that or to be more exact, he felt that if he gave in to this killing intent, something which he would definitely not like would occur and he would lose the Paragon Ancestor's test.
Realizing this, Corey's frown deepened.
'I hate been weak.
I hate losing things, people I consider precious.
I shall not remain weak… No matter what.'
With an expression containing madness and determination, Corey did the or to be more exact, used the only method, the only skill he could think of that would help him in this situation.
'Focus!'
As soon as Corey used his talent skill, Focus, his eyes changed to pure white and his expression became emotionless.
This was not the normal Focus which used Corey's mana and stamina,
No!
This was the Focus which used Corey's health.
This was the stage of Focus that Corey unknowingly used in the fight against the second guardian.
Apart from the negative side effects that happened to Corey when he used this stage of Focus in his fight against the second guardian, there was just one positive side effect after Corey used Focus in that stage.
Corey could now decide what type of energy he wanted to use to activate Focus.
He didn't need to start with mana, then stamina, then health.
He could decide to start with stamina, or start with mana or start with health.
And this time, Corey started with health without hesitation.
The determination, the desire to surpass his limits and become stronger was so high in Corey's heart that Corey did not care if he had to injure himself.
Meanwhile the Paragon Ancestor who had an indifferent expression throughout the test, had a change in his expression for the first time and his brows furrowed slightly.
Not only did the Paragon Ancestor have a change in his expression, the Pope also had a change in his expression.
"Do you think the selfless state can save you from me?"
The Pope asked but Corey with an emotionless expression, placed his hands on the blood sea and pushed himself up.
Slight cracking and popping sounds resounded from Corey's bones as he stood but Corey just had an indifferent expression and without even glancing at the Pope, he calmly took another step, the eleventh step!
Corey had broken a record which according to the Paragon Ancestor, none had been able to break, but Corey who had made an extremely high achievement which deserved an uncountable number of accolades, had an indifferent expression.
Even as the cold wind increased in intensity, the blood sea churned intensely, the air which had become entirely red due to it being filled with killing intent and the pressure increasing in so much intensity, Corey just had an indifferent expression.
His body was tilted forward slightly due to the high pressure and more cracking and popping sounds resounded from his bones.
"How dare you ignore me you weakling!!"
A voice filled with anger reverberated throughout the nightmare environment and for a second, Corey glanced at the Pope with an indifferent expression before his eyes faced the front once again.
Meanwhile the Pope gritted his teeth and with an expression of madness, he spoke:
"If you dare ignore me one time, I'll make sure your mother and sister are raped, right here, right now!"
Step
Wooosshh!!!
Splash! Splash!
With the same indifferent expression, Corey took another step, the twelfth step, despite the words of the Pope.
"You asked for this."
The Pope said with a crazed expression and in the next instant, he waved his left hand.
The moment he waved his left hand, ten men wearing black masks appeared from the roaring blood sea and just as the Pope said, they started raping Corey's mother and sister.
Five on Corey's mother, Five on Corey's sister.
"Son, why are you doing this. Do as he says and help us!!!"
"Onii-chan please help me!!! It hurts!!!!"
"Do you like seeing us suffer?!!"
Corey's mother and sister spoke with pleading, painful tones mixed with grunts, moans and sounds of debauchery from the ten men.
The sounds, the pleas, the pain reached Corey's ears but without a change in his expression, Corey took another step, the thirteenth step!
Boom!
As soon as Corey took the step, an explosive sound resounded as the blood sea explosively shot upwards and with a method or technique unknown to Corey, Corey did not drown.
He was standing on the blood sea which had covered most of the corpse and bone hills.
With the height of the blood sea, Corey did not need to strain his neck to see the Paragon Ancestor who was sitting on his bone throne.
Over 95% of the Supreme corpse hill the bone throne of the Paragon Ancestor was staying on was engulfed by the blood sea.
The Paragon Ancestor looked at Corey with a surprised and deep gaze.
To say he was surprised would be an understatement.
He definitely did not expect Corey to pass the tenth step, not because Corey was not talented or he did not like Corey.
No!
The main reason he didn't expect Corey to pass the tenth step was because Corey was a normal human and in his past, he, the Paragon Ancestor, was also once a normal human before certain circumstances forced him to change his entire being from the core.
He knew the limitations of a normal human and he knew it well.
'His talent, Omniscience is definitely something.'
The Paragon Ancestor had this thought as he looked at Corey who was trembling and struggling to stand with an indifferent expression.
After looking at Corey for a few seconds, he released a soft sigh and was about to stand but just as he was about to stand, his eyes widened in extreme shock as he saw Corey perform an action which he never expected Corey to perform.
Corey… tried to take another step!
The fourteenth step!
One more step above the thirteenth step!
As soon as Corey took that step, the expression of the Paragon Ancestor changed slightly when he saw something which he never expected to happen, happen.
An extremely dark face that had twelve eyes with no mouth, nose and ears appeared in the surroundings and gazed at Corey with it's eyes closed.
Corey glanced at it and when he did, his body trembled intensely, blood spilled from his orifices, but despite all of this happening to him, he still had an indifferent and emotionless expression.
Not a ounce of fear could be seen on his face.
And with that emotionless expression, Corey placed his right leg on the blood sea and took the fourteenth step!
The moment he took the fourteenth step, Corey appeared behind the Paragon Ancestor's throne as if he was teleported there.
Meanwhile the Paragon Ancestor turned and looked at Corey's back with an extremely deep gaze.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶