[Participant “Shock” has been killed by “Follower.”]
Stark sat in silence beside the bed where Lilith and Sora were resting.
He was tired, probably more than anyone else, but still, he needed to stay up.
He couldn’t let his [Ultimate Clone] do all the work, and a sudden attack on this room would probably destroy all of it before they even realized it.
Plus, he was too pre-occupied by what would happen next to sleep.
Shock’s death meant there were only seven people left in the trial now.
The one who’d stolen his kill on the [Inquisitor] was gone.
Removing himself, Sora, and Lillith, it left 4 other powerful participants.
The fact they each survived in solo already said enough about their power.
Clever? He was an old man, but Stark had a bad feeling about him regardless, almost as if none of the monsters or participants in this trial were worth using his powers on.
CEO? A maniac, truly, and he was the one who exposed Stark at the beginning, as well as started this whole attack.
Artist? Extremely powerful too, the only one Stark saw the powers of live, since he also fought the [Inquisitor] with him.
And finally, Follower, the most mysterious of them.
His [Focus] skill kept shouting [WATCH OUT] every time he got close at the start, was there a reason for that?
And on the other side of the trial, there were the monsters.
Stark hadn’t met many normal monsters anymore, meaning that they either got all killed, or that the moon trio realized that it would just give experience to the participants, thus removing them.
In both cases, it means only the elite of the elite remained:
Eternal Regret, the creature made of the hundreds of souls from the orphanage children.
The Mayor, Stark hadn’t met him, but he had killed one of CEO’s goons, so he was definitely powerful.
Tormented One, Never met either, no idea what it could be, same thing for the Heartless One.
And finally, the big boss of this trial: the moon apostle.
Stark didn’t know it, but he theorized that the [Moon Trio] was actually but a facade for the real [Moon Apostle].
Maybe defeating all three would reveal him.
Not that it would make a difference anyway.
Right as he was about to continue thinking about the future, though…
The most important announcement of this trial appeared.
An announcement that would change the entire trial.
No.
It would change the entire world.
[Global Announcement: More than half of the participants have been slain, and all conditions have been met for the “Grand Initiation”.]
[Go outside if you aren’t already.]
“Huh?”
The atmosphere around the entire trial darkened.
And it wasn’t just a feeling anymore, it quite literally did.
Stark felt like he needed to go outside, no matter what.
“Clone, protect them,” he whispered, gesturing to Lilith and Sora, and the [Ultimate Clone] nodded in understanding. “I have… a bad feeling.”
Stark left the safe zone of the museum, avoiding the debris from the fallen structure, and finally, he opened the entrance door of the museum.
And that’s when he saw it.
The sky, now a menacing crimson red, cast an eerie glow over the entire landscape.
And most importantly…
“What the hell is that…” he looked up, specifically toward the [Hollow Tower].
The tower was massive, but at the very top of it, a timer appeared, ticking down.
[Time before the ‘Grand Initiation’: 59:37 minutes… 59:36…]
Everywhere in the trial, except for Lilith and Sora, every participant could see that timer too.
And they all wondered: what the hell is the [Grand Initiation].
[This will change the entire world outside.]
[Enjoy while you still can.]
At this point, they were used to the trials and their random encounters/events.
But never has any of them claimed to “change the whole world”.
Were monsters from this trial appear in the real world? Would they be forced to do tasks in the real world, killing millions?!
What the hell was it?
All they could do was wait the hour to see.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three rifts split open in the sky, and the three [Crimson Moons] appeared.
‘So he’s back…’ Stark thought.
[You need to kill all three moons to reveal the “Moon Apostle”, otherwise they regenerate at some point.]
To keep things clear, Stark mentally labeled them Moone, Motwo, and Mothree.
“So it’s time,” Moone grinned, though that was only visible by the massive eye it had.
“Yeah, I guess it was bound to happen at some point,” Motwo sighed, sounding almost indifferent.
“From today onward, the moment this timer hits 0, the end of humanity will begin,” Mothree added.
The three moons couldn’t hear the participants, nor could they see Stark’s exasperation as he shouted, trying to get some kind of response.
It seemed as though they were speaking, but the main goal of this conversation was to announce something to the participants.
“This trial is reaching its halfway point.”
“Agreed.”
“Now the whole world shall see what is happening behind the scenes, beyond what they believed.”
“They will discover the truth.”
“The participants should feel honored,” Moothree dared to add, laughing.
Moone shrugged, as if the lives of the participants were trivial, “Will they be honored? After all, this will be a big deal, won’t it?”
“We’re going to kill them anyway,” Motwo stated flatly. “This is just a warning for humanity.”
The three moons then spoke in unison, their voices merging into a chilling harmony as they all stared at Termina, and specifically at the participants, their pupils darting at their positios.
“The new world order is coming. You will all be bound to your fates.”
And with that, the three moons vanished, leaving Stark to stand alone in the blood-red glow of the sky.
He stared, dumbfounded, at the timer ticking down.
Every word they’d said only served to deepen the pit of dread in his stomach.
“Bro what?” Stark was flabbergasted.
The hell were they even talking about?
“The end of humanity? The truth? New world order?” Stark murmured to himself, reeling from the cryptic words.
None of it made sense, yet every part of him sensed that whatever was coming was monumental.
What in the flying fuck does any of that mean?
For a few moments, he just stood there, transfixed by the timer.
The entire trial was eerily silent now. No monsters roamed the streets; it was as if everything had gone still in preparation for the “Grand Initiation.”
All the moonscorch was gone.
“The halfway point… huh…”
The trial had always been deadly, with monsters and participants killing each other at every turn. But this was different.
This felt like something much larger, something beyond just survival.
Another way of escaping this trial? Maybe?
But before that, they would need to go through the [Grand Initiation].
They claimed that it would change the entire world.
“Probably related to the godless demon,” was Stark’s guess, and he was completely right.
Knowing that no monsters were there anymore, he just sat on the stairs of the museum, looking up.
It was the same thing for all other participants.
Artist drew a bed and rested on it, knowing that no monsters would come to disturb him.
Clever spun his cane, unfazed, biding his time.
CEO too, didn’t do much, deciding to still roam around in case he could find anything.
And then there was Follower.
[It is our time.]
“Yes, master,” Follower whispered to himself, a twisted smile spreading across his face.
[You have received the information. The world will now kneel before “Domination” users. Be ready.]
“Yes…”
He was ready for the [Grand Initiation], more than anyone else.
No… he was thrilled.
The chaos to come was exactly what he had been waiting for.
