She did a quick estimate.

Roughly one mental tank refilled per minute.

With around a hundred tanks total, and subtracting the thirteen she’d already topped up, that meant a bit more than an hour until she was fully stocked.

Normally, that would’ve taken days.

Maybe even longer if she were doing it alone. But now, with her clones supporting her.

Everything had changed, the time it took halved.

She nodded slightly to herself, humming under her breath.

“With this… I’m more than ready to face the final wave"

Off to the side, Liam stood silently as ever. Motionless. Nothing out of place in the slightest.

Then, it came.

Zooooom.

A loud, celestial horn echoed across the heavens, shaking the very air as it swept through the land like a divine roar.

Its deep note stretched far and wide, thundering into distant valleys and over the land.

Across the lands, Lords, some sleeping, some meditating, some feasting, jolted upright in shock.

Eyes wide, they stumbled to windows, burst through gates, or dashed to the highest tower within their territories.

They looked up.

And there it was.

A blazing red notification shimmered across the sky, so massive it felt like it was pressed directly onto the fabric of the heavens.

"What the hell?"

"What's happening?"

"Oh god, just how crazy is this!?"

----------------------------------------

[Congratulations to the Lord, Liam, and his partner Lord, Mize, for reaching the final wave of the first event in the trial ground]

[A world record has been set. World ranking has been unlocked for the Lord]

[World chat is now unlocked]

[World trading center is now available for the Lord]

[The fate of this world has been rewritten]

----------------------------------------

Every Lord could hear it.

Some blinked in confusion. Others gasped. Most had no idea what any of it even meant.

But a few, just a handful, understood. Or at least… suspected something out of this.

In a faraway plane, where gravity was loose and space bent around towering constructs, a palace floated midair.

Elegant and ethereal, its design was like something from a fairy tale, endless spirals, rotating platforms, translucent bridges weaving between towers of impossible height.

Angels flapped their wings quietly above the structures, their halos glinting beneath the sky.

Yes, true angels.

And high above it all, atop the tallest spire with a smooth, cut-off surface, a circular platform radiated a faint golden hue.

Glowing runes formed strange patterns beneath the surface like veins of light, pulsing softly.

There, in the center of the platform, stood a man.

At first glance, he was entirely forgettable. Plain face. Hair tied in a low knot. Loose white robes cinched by a simple black belt.

Nothing extraordinary at all.

But as soon as the announcement echoed through the sky, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

Then, just as fast, the expression faded, replaced by something unreadable.

He rose slowly from his seated posture, clasping his hands behind his back.

“…The trial ground was forced to broadcast itself across the world?"

He muttered the words with a faint shake of his head.

“and it seems… the fate of this world has been spared destruction.”

A dry chuckle slipped out, low and amused.

But then, his tone shifted.

“…And yet, what awaits after this trial ends may be worse. The fate lying just beyond the veil…” He exhaled deeply, voice trailing.

“A rare occurrence indeed. This Liam… to reach the final wave and trigger a world-wide unlock?”

His brows furrowed.

“That kind of feat is near impossible, unless the lord’s blessed.”

“And to think he had a shard that allowed him to form a partner Lord contract... Ridiculous.”

He scoffed quietly.

“Is he the son of some supreme being?”

“…Or a rising star, ready to shake the infinite realms?”

He laughed again, louder this time.

A sound that echoed across the glowing platform like distant thunder.

"My name is Azrael! Ooo the son of luck, I welcome you! Hahahaha!"

Then, just like that, the scene began to fold into shadows.

The palace dimmed. The angels faded. And the world seemed to blur.

The perspective of the heavens pulled back, past the clouds, panning out just enough to reveal a heavenly golden castle inside a dome somewhere in the world, gleaming faintly beneath the glow of a sky.

At the same time, somewhere in an unknown city.

It was at the top of a tall building. A man in a white windbreaker stood there motionlessly on the edge.

Tall frame, wide shoulder, and the cold piercing gaze that seemed to cut everything in his path.

Once the announcement came, he turned his sight to the side where a man stood there respectfully.

"So the announcement celebrated the lord named Liam... is it?"

"Y-yes, Master. The announcement does says that... " The man on the side hurriedly explained, and it seemed the tall handsome figure couldn't see the announcement the same as the rest.

"A-and it also mentioned of the person that Master is searching for. It seems our task can be completed here as long as we take her away from this trial world, Master"

"I see" his eyes gleamed, thoughtful even, and he turned his gaze slowly to the front, narrowing into the far off land, "Since that demon is here, she should be here too... "

"Since that day she was taken away, that demon became crazy and attacked the whole planet with his demonic army"

"Cities fell, unknown amount of lives sacrificed... " He spoke, but the way his tone sounded...

It was rather, monotone.

However, his tone changed next.

"I can't allow such a beautiful existence to live there any longer. She should be here, with me... "

"My precious... "

Snap!

The perspective changed.

The scene snapped back to where Liam and Mize stood.

Above them, the sky glowed in a warped red haze.

Mize’s eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat as she clutched her chest.

Without thinking, she moved, scurrying over to Liam’s side in a flurry of light footsteps in the air, panic flaring in her gaze.

“W-What’s happening?” she asked, her voice tight with unease.

Liam felt her body press against his.

But he didn’t get distracted.

Instead, his arm instinctively slipped around her waist, holding her close.

“I’ve read something about this before,” he murmured, his tone calm despite the heaviness in the air. “When a Lord manages to reach the final wave… the reward granted can change the fate of the entire trial world.”

"But it is such a rare occurrence that there were few records about it"

Mize blinked, eyes still locked on the unnatural red sky. “S-Subvert the trial world’s fate?” she echoed in confusion.

Liam nodded faintly.

His hand moved up to gently ruffle her hair, his touch light, almost absentminded, as if trying to anchor her while his own mind traced the records he’d memorized back from the real world.

“Normally,” he continued, “once the trial ends, the world gets wiped. Erased. Everyone inside gets transported to the warp’s main world, where the next part of our journey begins.”

Mize looked up at him quickly. “T-Then, this means…?”

“This world’s fate is being rewritten,” Liam said, letting a rare smile stretch across his lips. “I wasn’t expecting it to be real either. And I definitely wasn’t expecting the reward to show up before we even finished the last wave.”

He let out a dry chuckle.

“It’s almost like the warp itself gave up on us surviving what’s coming… and just handed us the prize early.”

Mize listened carefully, her face shifting through a whirlwind of reactions, surprise, confusion, fear.

She lowered her gaze, voice quieter now. “Then… once the trial ends… we stay here?”

“Exactly.”

“And this world’s new location?”

He gave a slow shake of his head. “This trial ground will emerge into the warp as a brand new world, as for where... ” he admitted. “Not even I can figure out where the warp might place it.”

"No records mentioned anything after it, so I have no clue for it."

His gaze then lifted, drifting out toward the distant edge of the territory.

“But now…” he exhaled softly, eyes narrowing, “let’s see what the final wave looks like.”

Mize followed his gaze. Her hand gripped the edge of his sleeve, fingers tightening. That nervous flutter in her chest hadn’t gone away.

Because this wasn’t normal.

For the warp to toss the reward first?

It wasn’t confidence in their victory.

No, she was sure of it.

It was a warning.

A silent admission that what was coming wasn’t meant to be beaten at all. Then, leaning closer, she tugged on Liam’s sleeve.

“If it’s too much… let’s just give up,” she whispered into his ear. “We already got what we wanted.

Liam nodded.

He’d been thinking the same thing all along. He wasn’t reckless enough to stake everything on a gamble.

The only reason they’d even made it this far was because of Mize.

Without her, the outcome would’ve been laughable.

Even with his army, he lacked enough high-tier combatants to stand a real chance.

“I get it,” he said softly.

His hand cupped her chin gently, thumb brushing against her cheek in a rare show of tenderness.

But then.

ZOOOOOOMMM!!

A second horn, louder than the first, blared across the skies.

This time, it wasn’t just the lords who heard it.

Everyone did.

All across the world, the ground trembled. The sky vibrated. Cities jolted awake.

Windows rattled, tables trembling...

Human settlements, forces strongholds, camps, everyone froze as the sound shook their very bones.

And then…

Something came from the sky.

“…I-It’s raining golden mist!?”

A voice shouted from somewhere deep inside one of the mortal cities.

People stared, slack-jawed, as the night sky transformed.

Billions of humans rose from their beds, stumbling outside to see the stars swallowed whole by a divine golden shimmer.

Ethereal mist descended from the sky like sacred rain, blanketing the land in an almost dreamlike glow.

“What is this…?”

“Is the heaven descending…?”

“Could this be the prophecy…?”

The whispers rippled through every crowd. Awestruck eyes lifted skyward.

Children clung to their mothers. Awakeners gripped their weapons, uncertain whether to kneel or run.

But that wasn’t all.

From far beyond Liam’s territory, several kilometers out, where the earth split and sky met horizon, a colossal portal appeared.

Ten kilometers tall.

It shimmered gold and white, the inside was filled with a thick golden substances similar to liquid.

The moment it stabilized, a wave of pressure tore through the land.

Spines straightened. Breath caught. Even those unable to see it felt it, a divine dread sinking into their souls.

Back inside Liam’s territory, the two stood at the heart of it all.

And for Liam and Mize, being the closest? Official source is Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

That pressure hit differently.

Their hearts didn’t just pound.

Their hearts fell directly to the bottom.

Mize felt it the clearest, a similar being to her...