"Withstand a single direct strike from the Roaring Titan," Sam muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes. "Huh."
Almost immediately after he spoke, a ripple spread across the dark plains beneath him.
From the center of that ripple, the ground cracked apart, and the same massive hand he had already seen twice before burst upward.
It was the Titan’s hand.
"You’re really not going to show your face?" Sam groaned, already expecting no response.
[I do not need to. You’re going to die now.]
[Almost no one, and I mean NO ONE, has ever survived this attack. It is simply too powerful.]
Sam took a deep breath, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.
Then, with a confident grin stretching across his face, he stared up at the enormous hand and said, "Then come on. Give it your all."
[Goodbye, True Primordial.]
The giant hand suddenly opened wide, and in the center of its palm, a strange, unstable sphere of swirling purple energy began to form.
It crackled violently with unstable force, drawing the air toward it, making the atmosphere ripple like heat waves off pavement.
Sam didn’t move. Not even the [Forsaken Clone] next to him budged.
It just stood there, watching silently like Sam did, understanding that this moment wasn’t meant for action.
The power inside the Titan’s hand kept growing, compressing in intensity until it became difficult to even breathe.
[The longer I charge it, the stronger it becomes. With a maximum duration of 60 seconds.]
[However, if I am even grazed while preparing it, the attack is canceled.]
So that’s what this trial really was, an attack that could be stopped easily under normal circumstances, but here, in this fake battlefield, Sam wasn’t allowed to interfere.
He had to take the hit. That was the entire point.
’So the trial’s unfair by design,’ Sam realized. ’There’s no strategy, no dodging, just stand there and survive.’
[So many of your kind have died here... the number is uncountable. Thinking about it fills me with joy.]
At first, Sam had been indifferent. But the moment he heard that last sentence, something inside him changed.
His gaze sharpened. His aura trembled.
’Just like with the Black Sun,’ Sam thought, his jaw tightening. ’Every time they talk about "my kind"... I don’t know why, but it pisses me off more than anything.’
The fury boiled quietly in his chest, and this time, he didn’t suppress it.
The swirling purple energy in the Titan’s palm was compressed one last time before the hand suddenly clenched into a fist.
The power flared like purple fire, spilling across its surface, and then...
The hand came crashing down.
[You will not be missed.]
The earth shattered on impact.
A violent explosion of energy erupted outward, expanding like a tidal wave.
The entire battlefield trembled beneath the force of the strike, and a massive crater formed where Sam had been standing.
The Titan had used this move so many times. Its confidence wasn’t arrogance, it was experience.
This attack had always worked. It ALWAYS killed.
[Well... time to return to my actual duties.]
But just as the Titan began to withdraw, a strange chill ran through its awareness.
The mist hanging over the crater began to clear.
And there, standing right at the center of the destruction, was Sam. Alive.
"...Is that all?" Sam asked calmly, his voice echoing through the silence, "I guess it’s my turn soon, then."
The voice of the Titan trembled with restrained rage.
[I will break your hope. I will CRUSH everything you are. Come forward.]
Sam’s eyes didn’t waver.
He was just as surprised by the sheer intensity of the attack, but he hadn’t been overwhelmed.
His [Eternal Barrier] had absorbed it all in one hit. Just one.
’I get it now... The bigger the possible drawback of an attack, the stronger it is, risk for reward,’ he thought, ’That could be useful.’
The hand slowly retracted back into the ground and vanished. It didn’t try to attack again.
That meant the next time he saw the Titan, it would be in person.
Sam took a slow breath and closed his eyes, steadying himself.
The final battle was close.
[You have completed the "Death Trial." You are being sent back to the main area...]
In the blink of an eye, Sam and the [Forsaken Clone] were swallowed by darkness once more.
The familiar sensation of teleportation passed through his body.
And then, he was back. Back in the quiet plains of the main sub-layer area.
This time, the atmosphere was heavier. Like the air itself was holding its breath.
The second trial gate on the right, now completed, dissolved into particles of light and vanished.
At the same time, the second of the two purple chains wrapped around the main gate shattered loudly, pieces scattering into the void like glass.
Now, the center gate, massive, silent, and ominous, began to shift.
A dark purple glow spread through its frame.
Then it opened to reveal the veil of darkness behind it.
The star-shaped [Titan’s Mark] above the gate flared to life like a sun, casting eerie light across the entire field.
Without hesitation, Sam took a single step forward.
He paused, though, just once.
Opening his status window.
[Guild: Primordial (Leader)]
[Constitution: 23 → 42]
[Affinities: Shadow, Chaos, Void]
[Class Skills: Spatial Inventory, Primordial Evolution, Hell-Mode Analysis, Chaotic Fate, Void Watcher]
[Skills: Primordial Sword Technique (Forsaken), Abyssal Obliteration (Forsaken), Eternal Barrier (Forsaken), Tendrils of Oblivion (Forsaken), Sovereign Inferno (Forsaken), Void Rush (Forsaken), Forsaken Clone (Forsaken)]
He glanced at his stats and smiled. His growth had been rapid. His soul stat, in particular, was nearly at 100 now.
’I can win,’ Sam thought. ’I can actually win this.’
[You have entered the "Titan’s Trial."]
[There is no hope for you anymore.]
Sam emerged into a massive field, much like the others before it, but this one felt... different.
The air was heavy. Still. Waiting.
He didn’t hesitate. He took a fighting stance immediately.
There, far above him, was the [Titan’s Mark].
A massive star-shaped symbol with four sharp points, shining brilliantly with white energy.
It pulsed rhythmically, as though it were breathing.
And even though the symbol hung high above, Sam felt eyes on him. Not metaphorically, literally. He could feel the gaze of the Titan pressing down on him.
[Let us end this once and for all, Primordial. We are all so tired of your persistence.]
Sam scoffed. "Then show yourself. Or are you scared?"
A malicious laugh echoed from all directions at once, making the entire field tremble.
[But... I’m right in front of you, Primordial.]
Suddenly, the very space in front of Sam began to ripple.
White outlines appeared first, tracing the shape of something huge. Then, bit by bit, those lines filled with shadow and depth.
A towering figure appeared.
A monstrous form, completely black, with enormous twisted limbs and flowing, smoke-like tendrils wrapping around it. It looked otherworldly, unnatural.
But what stood out the most... was the mark.
The [Titan’s Mark] wasn’t above the Titan. It was on it.
Right at the center of its head, like a crown, or a curse.
Sam stared at the creature, his breath calm but sharp. The ground beneath him trembled with anticipation.
The Titan bellowed, its voice shaking the stars themselves.