abcnovels
Chapter 228: Defeated Just Like That??
Chapter 228: Defeated Just Like That??
Sterl knelt on one knee. Even after being resurrected, his mind felt like it was being churned, completely blank.
He felt disoriented, the world spinning around him, like he was sinking into a deep pond. Everything around him faded from a vibrant world to pitch blackness.
The last thing Sterl managed to do was pull out the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls from his backpack and take a deep drag.
He had discovered earlier that the energy attribute was somewhat related to the soul. Therefore, using the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls not only provided a large amount of soul experience but also restored energy and alleviated the headache from overexertion.
Sterl could only hope that the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls would still be effective in his current state.
...
"I'm recovered?"
"The Fire of Ten Thousand Souls worked."
When Sterl regained consciousness, he found himself lying flat in the arena. The nourishment of his soul had alleviated his splitting headache.
He looked up at the sky, watching the clouds drift by, everything extremely tranquil.
After getting up, Sterl noticed that the giant moth-like demigod boss had turned into a corpse, most of its blood drained.
The two shield-swords had also fallen to the ground.
The Fire of Ten Thousand Souls lay discarded nearby.
Fortunately, the mystical Flame had some protective qualities, and aside from the portion Sterl had used, it remained intact.
Clearly, a considerable amount of time had passed.
Sterl couldn't help but remark, "This seems to be the first time I've died, huh?"
He had to admit, the feeling of being on the brink of death made him feel both slightly fearful and somewhat exhilarated.
Having faced the greatest primal fear of humanity head-on, Sterl felt his mental strength becoming even more solidified.
"A demigod-level opponent is just too overwhelming. Just the Law Power boosted by their attributes was too much for me to withstand."
"I can only say that the recent battle gave me a glimpse of what it's like for a demigod to wield Law Power."
"My current base attributes make it impossible to contend with a demigod. I can only rely on the special nature of Moon Law to freeze the opponent and maybe force a kill."
"But that's only against bosses. Any player or NPC demigod with a brain wouldn't let me freely use Moon Law."
Sterl reflected on his gains and losses.
He understood that to continue clearing the trial, he had only one strategy—relying on Moon Law to "cheat"!
However, Sterl also realized something else: despite losing consciousness for so long, the trial hadn't ended. Could it be that demigod-level challenges included rest periods?
Sterl opened his panel.
[Yes/No, Start the Next Wave of Challenges?]
Alright, it was actually better than he imagined; he could rest and recover after each wave.
Without hesitation, Sterl sat down in the trial arena and began practicing his arcane skills, simultaneously mending the damage in his mental realm.
As for the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls, he stored it back in his small world to be used at critical moments. After all, even if he drained it all at once, it would only boost his soul level to about eleven or twelve, which might not lead to a qualitative change.
On the contrary, using it to save his life in crucial moments could be very handy.
After the extreme exertion, the starry sea in Sterl's mental realm was in a chaotic state, with many stars on the verge of collapsing.
He needed to slowly nourish them back to health.
It took him a full three days, during which he also created three additional Fate Tokens, before he felt he was back in peak condition.
"Come on! Let's fight!"
Sterl was brimming with passion and confidence in his peak state!
He had even made up his mind that, if need be, he would burn his life force again to forcefully kill the boss!
"Start the next wave of challenges," Sterl confirmed on the panel.
Ding!
With a crisp sound, a vertical pupil suddenly appeared in mid-air.
"Huh?"
Sterl was stunned. Moon Law! Activate!
"Ah?"
Sterl looked around and found himself in a manor-like setting. His Moon Law seemed to have only frozen the sisters Sosia and Sonis outside his room.
"What is going on?"
"Am I already dead??"
Sterl quickly opened the panel to check the battle log.
[You have suffered from "???" using "??? Law," causing you to fall into a state of confusion, remaining time 2399 seconds.]
[You are in a state of confusion, remaining time 2398 seconds.]
[You suffered from "???" using "???," receiving massive damage. You have died.]
"???"
"Is it really that absurd?"
"I got controlled and killed instantly." Sterl was flabbergasted!
It wasn't the strength of the 32nd wave boss that baffled him, but the sheer ridiculousness of it.
He had spent three whole days in the trial arena repairing his mental realm!
He had mentally rehearsed how to use Moon Law to control and kill the boss.
And yet... just like that??
What a waste of effort and emotions.
Had he known this would happen, he might have just opted out of the trial voluntarily.
Despite his inner complaints, Sterl also took this as a wake-up call. He had no idea what Law that vertical pupil used, and it had killed him instantly.
Now... it was best not to provoke those demigods!
Otherwise, some bizarre Laws might kill him without him even knowing how! As for Divine Protection? It's useless in battles of this level!
However, Sterl's mood quickly improved.
The content displayed on his panel brought him immense joy.
[Congratulations, you have completed the 31st wave of the Trial of the Brave!]
[You have earned 64,500 points!]
[You have successfully broken the Trial of the Brave points record (27,800 points)!]
[Based on your points, the top-tier Heroic Spirit Reward Shop has been unlocked for you! You may choose any two items from it!]
[Note: The resources in this shop can only be obtained through the Heroic Spirit Reward Shop, so choose wisely.]
[For defeating "Kant Weir," you have earned an extra reward draw.]
[For defeating "Radiant Shield Sword" across three major realms, you have earned an exclusive reward: [Radiant Glass Body].]
"Sixty-four thousand points!?"
The frustration of being instantly killed by a demigod vanished from Sterl's mind. In the Hall of Valor's Trial of the Brave, the highest recorded score in history was just under 30,000 points.
He had more than doubled that score! It wasn't that he was incapable; it was just impossible to win against an opponent two hundred levels higher!
Looking at the series of rewards, Sterl became even more excited.
First was the exclusive reward shop, which explicitly stated that all resources were exclusive to the shop, indicating their high value.
Then there were the items hinted at by Kant Weir, which the Hall of Valor intended to give Sterl, and an "exclusive reward." These were bound to be extremely valuable.
Sterl decided to start with the lowest value item, the [Radiant Glass Body], to lift his spirits even more.
[Radiant Glass Body]
[Category: Blessing]
[Description: One of the many blessings left by the great being who created the Hall of Valor, obtainable by defeating "Radiant Shield Sword" in the Trial of the Brave across realms.]
[Effect: When your life force is at full value, the first attack you receive will have its damage reduced by 99%, and you can resist one control effect (cooldown: one day).
Passive ability: Your life force, energy, and stamina recovery rates are increased by 100%.]
[Note: This skill cannot be upgraded, but it will always be effective against units below great Divine Power.]
"Seems pretty good?" Sterl thought as he looked at the blessing ability, feeling quite satisfied.
It essentially made the first attack from an opponent nearly ineffective and could perfectly block one control effect—a very handy ability.
As for the increased regeneration of health and mana, for a mana-drained player like Sterl, it was definitely a godsend.
Moreover, the note about the skill made Sterl's expression change instantly!
He was almost too pleasantly surprised.
The fact that it was guaranteed to be effective against entities below great Divine Power essentially added a life-saving divine skill for Sterl!
In the Hall of Valor, no matter how strong a god was, it would take at least two strikes to defeat Sterl! Also, any god using Divine Power to cast a control skill would first have to contend with [Radiant Glass Body]'s immunity.
This blessing was extremely useful!
Sterl felt that if he had this blessing during the Trial of the Brave, he might have cleared an additional wave.
Especially when he read how to obtain the [Radiant Glass Body], he seriously suspected that defeating the next boss might yield another blessing!
After all, such a blessing required a legendary figure to defeat a demigod, something that was usually impossible!
Only someone as absurd as Sterl could achieve it.
"But, was the god who created the Hall of Valor really that... foolish?"
"Setting conditions for obtaining blessings that are basically unattainable?"
Sterl found it a bit puzzling and illogical.
However, he was more than happy to see such a situation because it meant that many blessings still existed in the Hall of Valor.
And Sterl had a chance to get them!
He then turned his attention to the "random reward draw."
After selecting to receive the reward, a large wheel appeared before him, and the pointer spun rapidly before slowly stopping in a small section.
[Congratulations, you have obtained [Silent Domain (Platinum)]]
"Holy crap! A platinum skill!"
One second Sterl was thinking about the fixed rewards and being skeptical about the random wheel, and the next second he was ecstatic.
[Silent Domain (Platinum)]
[Description: A special technique symbolizing the Law of Curses and the Law of Arcane. It seems that some mysterious entity gathered countless demigods and gods to collectively deduce this technique. While the technique itself does not require a demigod to ascend or a god to fall to be condensed, many demigods perished from exhaustion during its research.
What was its creator thinking to warrant such a high cost?]
[Effect: You can create a Silent Domain, producing the following effects.]
Sterl could hardly contain his excitement as he continued reading the description of his newfound platinum skill.