CHAPTER 446: NEW TEST

’Niara, lend me a bit of your Bloodline,’ Darian quickly asked the soul meditating deep inside his body, on the verge of awakening.

In the same instant, he felt a surge of power flow into him — dense, pulsating runes that radiated an intimidating presence. The level of that power caught him off guard, but at the same time, he realized he had interrupted Niara at a critical moment. She’d probably take longer to wake up now.

*RUMBLE*

Space-time itself collapsed under the impact of dozens of Dragon Breaths being fired at once. But...

’This feels kinda nostalgic...’ Darian exhaled, manipulating that Bloodline.

In another universe, he had created that dragon-like body using Niara’s Bloodline. It had fused perfectly with his own power, allowing him to learn how to manipulate it a little.

Normally, a Bloodline that powerful would never bow to an outsider, much less allow itself to be used. But Niara was the one who’d handed that power to him, personally suppressing it so he could wield it freely.

There was another time her Bloodline moved on its own and merged with him, helping him, when he revealed his Devil Lord soul to the demons that surrounded Earth. (Chapter 292)

In other words, Darian could freely use the power that came from her. Niara used his black and white power to fight all the time, but he could also use her Bloodline; both of them had learned to share everything they had whenever needed.

Darian wasn’t exactly an expert at it... but this time, the Bloodline moved on its own, as if Niara herself was still in control. He sighed — she knew exactly what to do.

Suddenly, Darian’s entire body changed. A thick, green aura gathered over his skin, forming what looked like scales.

In the skies, the two pairs of red eyes widened in disbelief.

’What the hell?!’

The Will could clearly sense Darian carried a second soul inside him, but... it hadn’t noticed anything special about it before. Now, though, a terrifying primordial power was surging.

It wasn’t just another Primordial Dragon Bloodline — the very Laws of the world were distorting! That was the power of a spiritual root!

**KBOOOOM!!**

A colossal explosion erupted. Darian didn’t even move — dodging would’ve been pointless anyway.

Space went completely wild. After a few seconds, things began to settle, and then...

A blood-covered figure stood tall on the ground, breathing heavily.

He lifted his head, and his red eyes glowed intensely. With a single move, he shot forward, leaving all the draconic beasts behind. After unleashing such a massive attack, they’d slowed down and couldn’t catch up to him anymore.

Darian had survived because the Dragon Breath’s power mostly came from the draconic Bloodlines embedded in those illusions — which was normal. Niara’s power, coming from a Primordial Dragon, could easily suppress that. Combined with the Chaos Celestial Armor protecting him, it allowed him to endure the blast.

He ran without looking back. More draconic beasts appeared, but this time Darian didn’t let himself get surrounded. He wasn’t some clueless rookie — he’d fought at his limits too many times and could feel when he was about to get caught.

He zigzagged, circling and dodging endlessly in a brutal chase — like a rat running from cats. Except in this case, the "cats" were hundreds of thousands of beasts trying nonstop to capture him.

But... he eventually reached the final destination, after three long hours.

Before the channel, the boss appeared.

A colossal silhouette of a draconic beast rose — but this one was alive, not a runic illusion.

"This... is that a Necro Dragon?"

Darian muttered, surprised. Its body was that of a pure, enormous, serpentine dragon, but it radiated a dense Yin of death. The black scales around its body turned the whole area cold and dark.

All over its body, on every single scale, runes pulsed with immense power. Those marks shone with a triple, intertwined light — the energy of Life, Soul, and Mind.

Reviving a dragon’s body was something on a ridiculously high level. That creature wasn’t just reanimated; it was the pinnacle of necromancy. And they had even carved into it runes of pure energy, all perfectly connected.

In the skies, the pair of eyes snorted. That was the strongest boss it had, meant for the final floor.

But it had brought it out early — and even enhanced it a "little" to crank up the difficulty. If this missionary wasn’t affected by elemental or draconic power, then now he was...?

The pair of eyes sensed Darian’s aura change — to calmness and relief.

"What?"

Darian shot forward like lightning, not caring about anything else.

*ROOOOAR!!*

The Necro Dragon roared, and the thousands of runes across its body lit up all at once. The sheer destructive potential was practically infinite.

A tiny "ant" rushed toward it, holding nothing but a strange dagger in his hands.

The Necro Dragon opened its jaws and bit down with all its might.

When they were less than ten meters apart...

"!"

The Necro Dragon’s massive body — and all its runes — froze for just one second.

**CRACK!**

With a precise strike of his dagger, piercing a single rune on that colossal body, a sharp shattering sound echoed.

Every rune on the creature seemed to lose its connection, and then...

*BOOM!*

The glorious Necro Dragon crashed to the ground, completely ’lifeless’.

"You cheating son of a bitch!"

Darian looked up with a mocking smile and saw the pair of eyes watching him. Using the three life energies against him? That was like throwing water at a fish — he’d had full control over that for a long time.

"Look who’s talking," he muttered softly, moving forward and stepping through the channel.

The twelfth level was cleared! Darian’s heart was racing. Now, he’d secured two more draconic cores and had the three he needed to revive Tir, Eleri, and Awel. Coming to this Trial had already paid off many times over.

On the other side, it wasn’t blurry — just empty. The place looked like a huge dark room, and he could clearly feel the walls surrounding him.

"Hmm? Where are the enemies?"

A heavy snort echoed. "On this last floor, I’ll give you a special new test..."

"New test? Wasn’t everything here pre-set by the Dragon of Chaos? What was this floor supposed to be?"

Darian spoke, but there was no reply. After a minute, he snorted, "Wait? Don’t tell me you—"

"Silence! I’m giving you something good and different, just let me think for a bit!"

"..."

After a few seconds, Darian thought of something and murmured, "Hmm... I need to learn about the Mental Void... gotta enter a mental state that returns to the origin and all that..."

"I got it!" the voice said quickly.

Darian’s eyes lit up.

The voice spoke coldly, "There’s a final test, made for those placed in the Divine-level Trial. It’s something a thousand times below the level you’ve cleared, but it might still be useful. It’s called Celestial Reflection. It creates a reflection that copies your exact movements and power, reading your mind. If you want to train the Mental Void state, this is perfect. The reflection won’t be able to replicate your mind if you enter that state, and it’ll vanish if it can’t read you after one minute."

"Sounds good, let me try," Darian said cheerfully.

At that moment, a strange shadow materialized in front of him. It was an exact physical replica, with the same gaze and aura.

Darian stared at it and clenched his fists. There was no point using anything else — he wouldn’t even activate his physique or any energy.

The two dashed toward each other. Then, a violent clash began — rapid strikes, fast dodges, constant motion.

It was perfectly synchronized: any attack Darian made, the mirror read his mind and dodged first. And Darian couldn’t land a hit or defend either, since the reflection knew exactly where his weaknesses were and exploited them mercilessly.

Fortunately, since neither of them was using any power, they could go at it for days and nights without either one giving up.

One hour. Two hours.

Six hours.

As Darian kept trying, he stopped thinking about it and just kept fighting. He fought until he stopped thinking — letting his body and instincts move freely.

When his heart no longer felt restless, he felt his mind clear. Then, he entered a strange state.

At that moment, the bit of chaos power that remained from before slowly drifted toward his mental sea, stirring it.

However, that delight instantly broke the state.

’Fuck!!’

When he tried to enter that state again on purpose, he realized he couldn’t.

So Darian calmed his mind, trying to regain that feeling. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t reach it — getting so frustrated he almost gave up.

After a while, when he’d calmed down and reflected on what happened, a spark of realization hit him.

’No desire... I can’t want anything. I just have to look inward, observe myself — without judging, without expecting anything.’

This time, he fought without worry or excitement.

When his mind settled, he finally managed it. But this time, he held it. While he fought, the power of chaos flooded his mental sea nonstop.

And then, it gradually took over everything.

However, the state lasted only a few seconds before fading. Even so, Darian didn’t panic or grow nervous. He just kept fighting.

After a while, he entered that state again. Gradually, he began to understand that feeling, staying in it longer and longer each time.

It was a state of empty mind — where he did his best to forget everything, becoming indifferent to all things, like a mere spectator watching himself.

The feeling faded again. But this time, he stood still, watching the reflection also frozen before him.

A second later, that opponent vanished completely.

Only then did Darian snap out of his trance and feel his body.

"Seventh level... I actually did it..."