The light swallowed everything.
For a moment, Ashura felt his breath vanish. The world around him dissolved into an endless white sea, and the sound of reality itself seemed to hush. His boots touched solid ground—but there was no ground. Just a boundless horizon of light, neither warm nor cold.
A soft chime echoed in his head.
[Class Trial Initiated.]
Objective: Overcome Leios, the Guardian of the One.
Restrictions: Authority – Sealed. System Support – 0%. Elemental Output – 0%.
Timer: 10:00:00
Ashura blinked once, then twice. His eyes adjusted to the brightness—and there, standing across from him, was a man.
A tall figure, clad in pure white armor trimmed with faint lines of cerulean light. His hair was silver, falling past his neck, and his eyes were like still water—reflecting neither emotion nor intent. The sword at his side was massive, yet graceful, etched with divine runes that pulsed faintly with power.
Leios.
The name drifted through Ashura's mind like an echo.
The first version of the Nameless God.
The one who once stood guard before the Creator.
Before he became wrath itself.
Ashura exhaled. "So this is how it begins."
Leios's voice carried like a hymn. "You seek to inherit what you cannot comprehend. To walk where gods have perished."
"I'm not walking their path," Ashura said, sliding his sword free with a metallic ring. "I'm carving my own."
There was silence. Then the sound of shifting metal.
Leios raised his blade in a single, fluid motion. The air around him vibrated—not with mana, but something purer. Divine Force. The weight of a being who once stood among gods, sworn to defend the will of creation itself.
"Then show me," Leios said. "Show me if a mortal heart can carry the burden of divinity."
The light trembled.
And then they moved.
The first clash was soundless.
Swords met, and the force of impact rippled through the blank space like a detonation underwater. Ashura slid back three steps, his boots carving invisible trails through the light, and exhaled sharply.
He couldn't feel the system. No map. No health bar. No guides. Only instinct—and pain.
Leios came again, faster this time, his strikes layered, seamless, like flowing script. Ashura parried once, twice—then ducked under the third swing and drove a kick into Leios's ribs. The man barely flinched, his counter coming in the same breath, his blade slicing across Ashura's side and drawing a hiss.
"Still holding back?" Leios murmured.
Ashura smirked despite the pain. "I'm just warming up."
He spun his sword once, switching his stance—left foot forward, blade held horizontally. The Stellar Form. The one he'd developed through endless duels and near deaths.
Leios's eyes glowed faintly blue. "I recognize that stance. It resembles mine."
Ashura's grin widened. "Guess I'm learning from the best."
The second clash was faster—real.
The ground splintered beneath them though there was no ground to break. Every strike sent waves of divine light scattering through the void. Each parry screamed. Each dodge carried the weight of desperation.
But Ashura was adapting.
His body began to sync with the rhythm.
Each heartbeat slower, each thought sharper.
Then he felt it—a flicker. A current deep inside him. Black lightning crackled faintly beneath his skin, restrained, muted by the trial's seal.
Leios noticed it too. "You carry his wrath," he said softly, stepping back. "But you've yet to understand it."
"Then show me."
Leios's aura surged. The blank sky above them bled gold. Circles of light spiraled outward as if the heavens themselves bowed to his call. He lifted his sword, and reality bent.
[Divine Art: Celestial Reversal]
A storm of light rained down. Each blade of light was a judgment, a strike of godly will.
Ashura crossed his sword before him, sliding into a defensive stance. The first wave slammed into his guard, the second shattered his footing, the third pierced through and carved his shoulder open.
He gritted his teeth, rolled forward, and dashed through the storm—each step precise, each movement refined by sheer will. He leapt, twisted, and slammed his sword down.
The clash thundered.
The white plain split, sending fragments of golden dust spiraling into the abyss. Leios caught the strike with one hand, but Ashura's eyes flashed purple and black—Amethyst meeting the void.
He pivoted, feinted low, then drove his knee into Leios's chest before swinging upward, cleaving through his shoulder guard.
Leios staggered back, blood—pure silver—dripping from the wound.
"Good," the god murmured, his tone serene. "You learn quickly."
"I don't have a choice," Ashura replied, panting. "I've died enough to know what happens if I don't."
Leios smiled faintly, an expression almost human. "Then endure."
The second phase began.
Leios dropped his sword. For a heartbeat, Ashura blinked—then the air shook.
The weapon reappeared in his hand instantly, faster than sight. A slash—three cuts in one motion—drove Ashura back, and blood sprayed from his arm and chest.
Ashura coughed, tasting iron, but didn't yield. His aura flared violet, his muscles screaming as he poured everything into his next attack.
The two figures vanished.
The battlefield erupted.
Sparks and fragments of light exploded in every direction. The sound of clashing steel filled the endless void, echoes overlapping into something that resembled music—violent, sacred, and alive.
At one point, Leios's blade slid across Ashura's throat—an inch from death. At another, Ashura's sword pierced through the divine armor, splitting it down the chest.
Both bled.
Both grinned.
Both lived.
But Ashura was faltering. His breaths came ragged, vision dimming. No system support. No authority. Just will.
His mind screamed: Get up.
Leios's next blow shattered his sword in half. Ashura stumbled, clutching the broken hilt, blood dripping from his lips.
Leios raised his sword for the final strike. "You have fought well."
Ashura's eyes snapped open.
The black lightning roared.
[Forbidden Instinct: Transcendent Wrath – Lv. 1 Activation Override]
The void itself darkened.
A black halo unfurled behind Ashura, slow and deliberate, flickering with arcs of lightning that crackled like thunder in silence. The seals tried to resist—but failed. The nameless god's authority wasn't something even divine rules could suppress.
Ashura stepped forward. Each step sent shockwaves through the white floor, the light dimming with each heartbeat.
Leios's expression changed. For the first time—fear.
The mortal swung.
The black lightning swallowed the heavens.
The slash cleaved the world apart.
Silence.
Ashura knelt, his sword buried in the cracked ground, his breathing ragged. His entire right arm was charred, skin peeling where the lightning had burned through.
Leios stood a few meters away, half of his body turned to dust.
He looked at Ashura and smiled faintly. "So… you have it after all."
Ashura looked up, his vision blurred. "What…?"
Leios's form began to fade, his armor disintegrating into golden motes. "That resolve. That defiance. It's the same as his."
The fading god raised a hand, placing it over his own heart. "Remember this, Ashura Bellet… Divinity without purpose is ruin. You must never forget what you're fighting for."
Then he was gone.
The void dimmed. The floor beneath Ashura flickered. A faint hum rose in the distance as the system reactivated.
[Trial Completed: The Guardian Leios – Cleared.]
[Time Remaining: 01:23:11]
[Evaluating Performance…]
[Score: S]
[Reward: Class Evolution Progress 25%. Next Trial Unlocked.]
Ashura dropped to one knee, gripping his sword. The black halo faded behind him, and for the first time in what felt like eternity, he exhaled.
He whispered softly to himself. "One down."
The white void cracked apart.
The next battlefield awaited.