>> You have chosen the ‘Amethyst Bridge’ out of the Day 3 daily login bonus <<

---

What appeared from the window was not the gem-like bridge shape I was expecting. Instead,

…A hair tie?

A bracelet made out of some kind of synthetic elastic material wrapped itself around my left wrist.

 “What’d you get?” Luda came over to me.

“Uh,” I held out my hand to her. “This, I guess.”

“Just that?” She tilted her head. “Check the description, KC.”

I did as she said and examined the magenta-coloured band closer.

‘Amethyst Bridge’

“…Ah.”

At once I understood what it was.

“Oh, wow.”

“Is it good?”

“Wait, I’ll show you.”

I picked up a stone shard and threw it up in the air. Pointing an arm at it, I willed the Bridge to activate.

A ray of reddish-pink light fired from my fingers, traveling over to the falling piece of rock in a zig-zag pattern. The moment the beam hit the rock,

*VRMM*

“Ooh…!”

Up in the air, the beam of light seemed to compress as it passed through the rock in the same alternating motion. At the same time, the rock itself slowed down its fall, as if Kamag’s gravity struggled to pull it to the ground.

The light dissipated after a few seconds, and the rock crashed onto the ground with a thud.

“It’s a tractor beam.” Luda said.

“I still have to work out its strength and how many times I could use it, but at least it’s not a one-time use thing.” I nodded.

“An accessory that outright gives you superpowers, huh.”

“Doesn’t your Reticulator count as that too? I don’t even see where all those windows come from.”

“It’s a module, but I guess you’re right.”

As we joined the others, Seola and Soobin shared what they got from the Day 3 login bonus. For some reason, Jina and the others weren’t too concerned with our discussion.

Was it pre-programmed into them to ignore this part of the game?

Either way, counting the others, most of our draws ended up being utility stuff, except for Luda who got a repulsion generator and Yeonjung who rolled a multipack of potato chips.

“It was this, some power cells, or a limited-edition plush toy!” She cried out.

“There, there.” Bona consoled her, assuring that she made the right choice.

I realized there and then that my own login bonuses really weren’t that bad, after all.

Holding the Ovation close and making a note of the Bridge around my wrist, I looked around and observed everyone else in our group of fifteen: All of us had gathered together, and apart from Exy, Memphis and Krieg discussing the plan, everyone else was on standby.

Grear did not show his impatience as his gaze swept over our group. As the Gatekeeper of the Burning Globe Trial, this must have been a common sight for him.

“Have there been, um,”

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Losses of life throughout the Trials?”

“It is our duty as Gatekeepers not to burden the candidates more than they can bear,”

He answered. However, after a brief silence,

“Still, we are but individuals with our own limits; there is only so much we can do.”

Sacrifice and loss are parts of the cycle of life, but some do not understand the tragedy they bring.

The Magna shot me a glance with those words, as if referring to us Humans in particular.

Seeing everyone put their mind into preparations,

“We’re doing our part.”

I only shrugged his words off.

“Anyways—”

*BOOM, BOOM*

Answering the question I was about to ask, thunderous steps resounded a hulking figure approached us from the distance, silhouetted by the late evening light.

“Revel in my flawless physique, heathens.”

A fleshy, muddy lump of earth stood proudly in a vaguely humanoid shape, taller than even Kalasia’s well-built stature. Apart from its eyeless head, its entire body was covered in layers of stone and rubble, clearly taken from the remnants of the ruins in the field.

Right, it’s that thing.

Its arms were thick and much more solidified with rock, to the point that it was impossible to move the fists attached to their ends. As expected, the description of that abominable construct appeared as a window in my system.

‘Lord Wremud (Callousine)’

“A battle-ready form, fit to represent princess Soobin’s glory.”

Lord raised its heavy limbs and… flexed them proudly in front of us.

“I’m not so sure about that.” Xuanyi commented.

I decided not to save my breath instead.

Standing by the central platform of the altar,

“It appears that all of you are ready.”

Grear’s hands rested on the metal rod planted on the ground.

“We are.” Exy answered, representing our group.

“As are we.” Krieg followed, speaking for his group of four.

“Very well.”

The Gatekeeper motioned to the low pillar in front of him.

“The Burning Globe is yours.”

Xuanyi, Jina and I exchanged glances with each other.

“Who’s going to go first?” Xuanyi began.

As the designated batters of the group, the role of making the starting ‘serve’ fell on us.

“I can do it if you want…” Jina offered herself.

 “Sure.” I nodded. “Tell us if the stents can’t hold up.”

The Schisarunn doctor assured us that she was fit to take part in this Trial, but there was no harm in taking our own precautions.

“Alright.”

The Human came forth and stood before the pillar on which the orb was placed. The bronze globe let out a metallic hum as her hand reached out towards it, sensing the presence of a living thing.

This lasted for a brief moment, before—

“…!!”

Jina grabbed and threw it up in the air, minimizing her time in contact with it as much as she could.

*RUMBLE*

The entire region shuddered once again, signaling the emergence of the earth warriors onto the field in front of us.

“Go!”

At Memphis’s order, everyone apart from the three of us rushed into the battlefield, trying to get the jump on them before they could fully form.

Undistracted by the others, Jina kept her eyes locked on the bronze ball as it fell.

At the right time,

*CLICK* *SNAP*

She activated the drill bunker mechanism in her hammer and swung it upwards.

*THRMMM*

With a deafening sound, Jina shot the Burning Globe high into the sky, reducing it into a barely visible dot among the warm colours of the evening.

“Let’s go!” Xuanyi called.

The trajectory of the swing was straight, but a bit more forward than we would have liked.

“I’m sorry…!” Jina apologized as we ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

“No worries. We’ll go on ahead!” I responded.

Firing up the jet module in my shoes, I sprinted forward while keeping an eye on the globe high in the air.

My vision was, however, blocked by an incoming notification window:

[Voice Chat Session Invite]

“Ah, right.”

I accepted the request and connected to everyone else in the group.

“I haven’t worked out how to connect Jina and the rest to the room.” Luda’s voice sounded in my ear.

“It’s fine if it’s just us.” Bona replied. “So who’s supporting the batters and who’s in charge of fighting the knights?”

“Tell the NPCs to focus on the enemies, we’ll coordinate the globe between us.” Xuanyi suggested.

“What about Jina?” Exy asked.

“She’s injured, right? We don’t her to hurt herself.”

“Still…”

“That’s true.” I nodded.

I passed by two stone knights Memphis and Kalasia distracted and circled around another, which was engaged in combat with Egon and Dagmar.

As Xuanyi took the other side,

*VOOM*

I saw the large, futuristic railgun/lance hybrid wielded in her hand, and the floating array of hexagons serving as the shield following behind her.

Both of them had a silver and blue colour scheme, which contrasted with the starry black cloak draped around her back.

She was using controlled blasts from the weapon to propel herself forward!

“Is that…?” I spoke to her.

“I’m taking the next swing, KC!”

She announced her plan of action.

“Get ready in case I miss!”

With those words, she let out another round from her railgun and burst forward ahead.

“Right.”

As I followed after her,

“These things are skilled!”  Luda reported. “We can barely land a hit on them!”

“I’m heading over, Xuanyi, KC.” Bona stated. “Soobin, draw it over to Exy and Yeonjung before it takes you down.”

“Don’t leave me too long, unnie!” She cried out. “Lord, help us out!”

“It’s coming down, girls!” Seola exclaimed.

True to her words, the dimly lit globe quickly reappeared as it approached the ground, thankfully far away from everyone else.

“Go!”

Xuanyi sent the hexagonal array shield forth, attempting to hold it up in the air and slow down its fall.

However,

*THUMP*

It couldn’t bear the weight of the bronze ball and fell alongside with it.

“Ugh.” She exclaimed.

“I’ll do something about it!”

I went around to approach the globe from another angle and morphed the Ovation to its axe form. Ascertaining where it would fall, I struck the axe head onto the ground while firing up its freezing ability.

A trail of icicles burst forward and passed right under the two objects.

Still,

*CRUMBLE*

The stalagmites that appeared was too small and weak to support the fall, and they shattered from the collision.

“That’s all I need, KC!”

Xuanyi nodded, unaffected by the disorienting sound for some reason.

“Bona!”

“Right on time!”

A stone spear swept into the scene.

With a whistling sound, Bona’s Niterib reached the falling objects in no time, and—

*TWANG*

Working in concert with the array shield, the two floating objects rebounded the bronze globe right onto Xuanyi’s path.

“Nice!”

At the same time, a feeling of dread crept up my back. Not a millisecond after,

!!

I dodged to the side, barely avoiding the giant stone sword which struck down the ground where I was.

“Crap.”

A masked earth warrior no one engaged with charged towards me, reforming the weapon it just threw back in its arms.

Not letting me off easy, are you?

The knights were less in number compared to our group. However, having multiple people fight one of them meant that the others were free to attack the rest of us.

As I prepared myself to meet the opponent’s advance,

“Keep it distracted, KC.”

Bona’s voice sounded in my ear.

At the same time,

*THWAP*

The impact of Xuanyi’s weapon against the globe resonated throughout the battlefield as she sent it back to the sky, behind me.

“Someone take care of the ball!”

I yelled as I swung the Ovation, releasing a wave of heat at the knight.

*BRMM*

The attack did nothing to the warrior as it continued to advance.

*CRUNCH*

“Agh!”

It swept its weapon in a horizontal arc as soon I was in reach, taking out a chunk of my Hazard Shield as the force threw me back onto the ground.

Ignoring the chatter in the voice chat, I held my gaze onto the knight as I got back up, making sure it was focused on me.

Morphing the Ovation back into its shield form, I used the cyan lifeforce channels to grow spikes of ice on its surface, intimidating the enemy before me.

A white-blue silhouette slipped behind without its notice, and—

*SLASH*

Streaks of green appeared on its back and side, cut open by the dagger in Bona’s hand.

“Finally!”

“All yours.”

In the span of a second, she left the enemy’s side and disappeared.

Not letting the opponent any leeway to chase her down, I lunged at the warrior and slammed the icicle-covered shield onto its body.

Using the window of opportunity in its stagger, I put away the shield in my inventory and retreated from it.

“How’s the ball!?” I asked the group.

“Yeonjung is setting it up for Jina!” Exy answered.

That should be to the front side of the field, to the left.

“Got it, you need me over there?”

“It’s too close to you, unnie!” Yeonjung reported, before I could get an answer.

“I’ll handle it!”

Right after Soobin said those words,

…!!

A rumble came from their direction. Hearing that sound, I sprinted towards them as quickly as possible.

I reached them and saw the knight hunched down on the ground, as if being pulled down by something. Parts of it were corroded black, spread out from gunshots all over its body.

Soobin held down a baton which glowed the same blue as the light covering the warrior, while Exy kept firing her gun at it in an effort to take it out.

Even the Nagam wasn’t enough to bring it down in a few shots… Just how tanky are these things!?

Moving past their position,

“I’m here!” I called out to Jina and Yeonjung.

While the Human readied her hammer for the next swing,

…What is that?

Yeonjung looked like she was dancing as she manipulated several levitating sabers at once, using them as ledges to guide the bronze globe towards the batter.

“Middle right of the field!” Jina shouted when she saw me.

“Got it!” I turned in the direction she indicated.

Wait.

The only people anywhere near there is…

“Xuanyi!” I spoke into the voice chat. “Are you free to catch the ball!?”

“I’m occupied, KC!”

*THRMM*

The Ore Ditherer’s head connected with the globe, releasing its bunker mechanism and launched it back into the evening sky.

Panic already rose in my heart as I scrambled to activate the jet module and move towards it.

…Most of us are on the left side of the field!

“What about Memphis or Lord?” Luda gasped. “They’re the holders, aren’t they?”

“Neither of them is in position!”

Apart from our third batter, only Kalasia and the four Vyrgatel were in the right position to catch it. Without them in our voice chat group, we couldn’t contact them directly, and it’s not like Xuanyi can spare her attention to tell them about it either.

Even if I rush over there, I won’t make it in time to bat it back up with the Ovation.

All that I can do is…

“The globe is heading your way!”

Reaching the middle of the field, I shouted at the nearest few people I could find.

“What? Where!?”

Dagmar caught my words and looked upwards, locating it with her eyes quickly.

“That’s where Krieg is!”

Lenard estimated the ball’s travel as it flew by them. As his head arced over, however,

*SWISH*

“Damn it!”

Both of them bent their bodies to avoid the sword swung around by the knight they clashed with.

“Got it.”

I thanked them as I kept running throughout the field, going to the upper right where the ball looked like it fell.

If no one’s going to take it…

I kept my breath steady and slowed down my sprint, trying to gauge a clear path towards where the orb was in the air.

Aiming my left hand at it,

“Go!”

I fired a ray of pink light from the Amethyst Bridge towards it. However, I overestimated the velocity of the slowing beam and missed my first shot.

“Ugh, come on!”

I fired a few more rounds immediately after—

*HISS*

The elastic band lit up a bright red and let off a wisp of smoke as soon as the second shot left my hand, its nylon fabric hot against my wrist.

“Really!?”

*RRMM*

Luckily, the last one connected with the bronze globe, slowing down its descent from the air.

Now then—

*FWUP*

*THUNK*

Before I could react, a yellow trail of light flew towards the orb from behind me, bouncing it back up from the impact.

However, even the upwards force was slowed down by the Bridge’s beam.

“What was…”

I jerked back to see Memphis holding a bow in their hand, surprised at what had happened.

They had fired the arrow at the orb, but neither of us would have expected the tractor beam to counteract the push from its impact too.

All of a sudden,

“Behind you!!” I shouted.

In their efforts to help me out, the Ilyid had allowed the knight they were fighting to get close and land a strike on them.

*CRUNCH*

Too late to react in time, the stone weapon dug into the side of their mechanical body with a grisly metal sound, sending Memphis’s figure crashing hard into the ground.

The warrior slowly approached them, ready to deliver the final blow.

In the distance, the ray of pink light grew dim, losing its hold on the bronze globe.

---

“I’m being cornered!” Bona reported in the voice chat session. “Two of them are on me!”

“I’m coming over!” Luda responded.

The advancing stone warriors began to overwhelm some of the group, but I couldn’t spare them any attention as I faced the situation unfolding before me.

“Mem!”

“Memphis!!”

Kalasia and Jina screamed out in unison to urge them up. The Feran had his hands full fighting a spear-wielding knight, and Jina tried to rush over as quickly as she could.

From the advancing knight’s appearance and equipment, I had a feeling that it was not like the others.

“Is no one taking the ball!?” Exy’s voice cracked in the group. “Xuanyi, KC!!”

No one had the capacity to handle the responsibility of the burning globe on top of their struggle against the earth knights.

In the face of this situation, I froze right then and there; it was either I help Memphis up, or keep the globe suspended in the air.

“Krieg! Lenard!”

Dagmar yelled in their direction, trying to inform them of the falling ball.

“The shadows are still too thin.” Egon gritted his teeth, facing the sky.

“…”

Memphis stayed quiet as they tried to get up from the ground.

The Ilyid’s red eye glanced in my direction, alternating between the knight and the falling orb.

Their expression was helpless, not knowing what to say.

Really,

That really was all it took.

“Aah, screw this!”

Any thought of chasing after the ball left my mind as I turned to run towards them.

My hand plunged into the inventory space, trying to find anything I could use in time.

I picked something metal up, aimed it at the knight, and fired.

*SNAP*

*THRP*

A steel crossbow bolt latched itself deep in the warrior’s chest.

Then another one, then two more.

The moment it stopped to look at the metal rods stuck onto it,

*BLAM*

A boulder slammed into its head, causing it to stagger.

“Who was—”

“You owe me your life, machine!”

Lord’s gnarly voice screamed in the distance, its stout form glaring at us while fending off its opponent’s axe strikes.

“Go get the globe, KC!!”

Jina brought me back to my senses as she readied her hammer to strike against the earth knight.

We can do this, is what her eyes told me.

“Got it.” I nodded to her and started moving back towards where it would fall.

My eyes rose back up to the skies, but,

“…Where is it?”

The globe was nowhere in sight.

Has it already fallen?

The moment I started to wonder,

*BOOM*

A cracking sound came from the distance, and I saw the ball fly back up in the air.

…That was weak!

Xuanyi wouldn’t bat with that little strength!

“Damn it, don’t tell me…!”

I hurried over there as quickly as the jets would allow me, and,

…!

What I saw was Krieg, juggling the bronze ball with his hardened limbs, all the while as he continued to evade the s of a spear-wielding knight.

“Krieg!”

Lenard cried out as he tried to distract their enemy’s attention.

“Urgh, huff,”

Clear pain was seen on his expression as the gradually heating globe imparted its effects on his wearing body.

“Over here!” I called out to him.

“Huh?”

The Vyrgatel caught my intentions and attempted to fire up one last blow into the globe, to send it in my direction.

Still,

*THWAP*

That momentary decision left him distracted, and the earth warrior’s spear interfered with his pass.

“No!!”

The deflected blow sent the bronze globe up at a lower angle than intended.

Making every single second count, I rushed over to catch it as fast as I could.

And then,

*SPUTTER*

The jet modules attached to my feet whined, and my path began to veer of course.

“No,”

I tried to grab for the Ovation and use it to reach towards the orb, but my inventory had become a mess from when I tried to save Memphis earlier.

“NO!!”

The pair of problems caught up to me in the worst moment, and,

*THUD*

I couldn’t make it in time.

The burning globe hit the ground,

*RUMBLE*

…And the rest of the Trial crumbled along with it.

---

The globe rebounded once off the field, slowing into a roll in my direction.

Unable to sustain the weight of my body, the jet modules also gave way, plunging me into the surface of the battlefield soon after.

Raising my head, I stared at the orb, which had long since lost its radiance. Turning around, none of the knights could be seen around the area any longer.

Only the scars of battle remained on the field, the only reminder of the intense fight we had just a few seconds ago.

Everyone looked around, stunned; if the warriors they had so much trouble with all disappeared at the same time, that could only mean one thing.

We’ve failed the Trial.

Still prone on the ground, I recalled what had happened in the few minutes since Jina first blasted the globe up into the air.

Bringing out a window corresponding to my status.

“…No wonder.”

I could only let out a sigh.

The fuel for the jet modules on my shoes had completely run out; I had overlooked their energy levels when we were preparing earlier.

And the panic with Memphis’ situation…

No, even before that.

“We were too complacent with ourselves.”

Exy said what I thought out loud.

“I thought we could handle it just between us.” Xuanyi sighed. “Our formation was a critical oversight.”

We had neglected to spread our team evenly in the battlefield, as well as include the NPCs in our communications.

“Memphis was left alone to fend on their own, too.” I added.

As a result, Memphis and Lord got caught up in their own struggles, leaving their roles as holders underutilized.

Was I too dependent on the girls? Or did I not trust them enough?

I slowly brought myself up from the ground. Joining up with Lenard and Krieg, we walked back to the altar along with the rest of the group.

I made eye contact with the three hunters from before on the way back. Memphis’s head was downcast, while Jina tried to cheer them up the best she could. Kalasia tried to hide his expression, but I could tell that the Feran was disappointed in the outcome too.

Guilt rose up in my heart.

No, it was them that I didn’t trust.  

In my head, I thought that only the girls or myself would play the important parts in the Trial; I undervalued the importance of the NPCs’ roles in the test, probably because they were not players like we were.

“You okay, Krieg?” I reached out to the Vyrgatel clinging onto Lenard’s shoulder.

“I’m fine.”

He pushed through the agony.

“Just… give me a while.”

The toll of the heated globe must have been heavy on him.

“It,” Lenard began. “…It wasn’t your fault, KC. Krieg decided to act on his own accord.”

The way he avoided my eyes, however, told me all I needed to know.

Our mistakes left their dear comrade at risk.

Looking back, I had pushed too much of the burden onto Xuanyi and myself, too; running all over the place trying to do things on our own.

Even if the inventory or jet mess didn’t happen, I wasn’t sure if I had the energy to even bat the globe back up.

“Not only was the plan insufficient, we didn’t even do half of it like we told ourselves to.”

Yeonjung concluded.

“It was really just poor performance on our part.”

---

On top of the central platform, Grear held us in his vision as everyone in the group gathered in front of the altar.

“Pointless. Utterly pointless.” Lord spoke under its breath.

Soobin smacked it on the arm and told it to keep quiet.

The other three Vyrgatel helped support Lenard, while Exy and Bona checked up on Memphis’s condition. Luda also tagged along, asking Jina if she was fine.

“So,”

The Gatekeeper’s words caused everyone to quiet down.

“You were aiming for the quick dispatch of the knights: That is a strategy I’ve seen many groups use.”

His gaze went over everyone.

“And a correct one, too; many of the passing Trial candidates knew that the globe will burn until the last knight is defeated. That was how they kept it from heating beyond their capabilities to handle.”

Still,

“Without the knowledge of effectively dealing with them, however, the tactics you used weren’t thorough enough that a single mistake, cost you your entire progress.”

The point he emphasized made my heart flare with anger.

The knights were tougher than everything we’ve ever encountered; The Nagam did little to their body, and even our strongest member had a tough time dealing with them!

“How were we supposed to know how to fight the warriors in that situation!? You told us nothing about them!!”

I unconsciously raised my voice.

“Calm down, KC.” Dagmar responded.

“He’s still the Gatekeeper, you know.” Kalasia added.

Seeing them try to hold me back, I realized what I just did and bowed down in apology.

“Sorry, I just,”

I shot a glance at the Ilyid, who was still tending to their body.

“I knew that the Trial was ill-fitted for the Vyrgatel, but for even Memphis to get hurt…”

“I will be fine, KC.” The mechanical lifeform reassured me. “Thank you for worrying.”

Grear also nodded, accepting my reasoning.

“As long as you hold your tongue, Human. These are still sacred grounds.”

Sweeping his gaze around the group,

“No one among you is holding the Globe, unless I am mistaken?”

“It shouldn’t be far from where I was before.”

I told the Gatekeeper where I last saw it.

“Understood.”

Turning towards the field, Grear swung the metal rod in his hands in a pattern. Then, as the altar and staff glowed the same purple colour,

*WHOOSH*

We saw the bronze globe fly back towards the altar, slipping through the taller pillars and landing on the short one in front of us.

It returned to its original position from before the Trial began.

After that,

“…”

Nothing else happened for a few moments.

“Well, have you all learned your lesson?”

Grear asked us out of the blue.

“…What do you mean?” Jina responded.

“Have you all learned from your mistakes so that you won’t repeat them?” The Magna reiterated. “Or should I leave you to yourselves for a while longer?”

“…What good would that do now?”

Egon spoke up.

“Much, I believe.”

The Gatekeeper sat back onto the throne at the top of the altar.

“Unless any one of you choose to withdraw from the Burning Globe Trial, in which case it won’t.”

…What?

“But we failed the Trial, didn’t we?” I asked.

“You failed a round, candidate.”

He explained.

“Trials are what tempers our hearts, minds and bodies in life; the Magna are not without reason to make our own tests unrepeatable.”

“Then…”

“You may retake it as many times as you wish; your group will only fail if one or more people give up or are incapacitated.”

---

His words made all of us look at each other.

The preconception that passing the Trial was worth getting injured over went right out the window with that single sentence.

Huge relief came over me, knowing that neither Krieg nor Memphis’s injuries were severe enough to count them out of the test.

As long as we give them time to recover, we can take the trial again; the amount of retries we can attempt were really only limited by how much stamina we have, yet we were allowed to rest between rounds.

Even so,

“…”

The Vyrgatel made eye contact with the rest of the group.

At the same time, that rule also meant that they could no longer follow their plan to withdraw without failing it for the rest of us.

Everyone fell silent as the implications dawned on us.

The other three looked at Krieg, who wore a torn expression as he cast his eyes down on the ground. Despite being the only one injured out of his group, the expression on his face was more out of concern for his family, rather than himself.

The rest of us were anxious as to what his decision will be. I myself wouldn’t want to put up with leaving this Trial empty-handed, but this was a matter of life and death for the Vyrgatel.

“…Krieg.”

Egon called out to him, but his words trailed off in uncertainty.

“…”

Seconds passed by without a sound in the Trial grounds. Before anyone else could speak up,

“…Ah.”

It was Exy who broke the silence, letting out a sigh.

“We won’t get anywhere like this.”

She defused the pressure in the situation.

Beckoning Krieg over to herself,

“Let’s talk about our options going forward, why don’t we?”

“Um.” Dagmar shot her a glance.

“The rest of you can come too; this is about your group, after all.”

Turning to the rest of us,

“This is going to take a while, so we’ll make it a break.” Exy advised.

“You sure you’re going to be fine, unnie?” Soobin asked.

“I have no experience with fights and nonhuman races, but I have dealt with my share of people problems.” She reasoned. “For that side… Memphis, can you help me out?”

The Ilyid nodded in response,

“I shall assist you as much as I can.”

“That’s settled, then.”

As she rounded everyone concerned up, Exy told us not to eavesdrop or interfere with their discussion until they were done.

---

After they left for the shelter, the tension loosened up in our group, and several of us dropped onto the ground with a sigh.

I found myself thankful to Exy for being part of our group today; her experience as WJSN’s leader allowed her to take control of the situation before it got out of hand.

My eyes went to the altar once again. Grear was still seated on the throne, silent.

“Now then.”

Pulling out a few system windows, I turned my attention to my equipment and began to deal with the issues it had.

My stuff had become a ransacked mess in the inventory from the battle earlier. Spending a few minutes putting my items back into their previous arrangement, I also took the Ovation out and let it dry from the melted ice.

Then, dismissing the warnings on my jet modules, I crafted the appropriate fuel cells and used them to charge the boosters back up.

At least I didn’t break anything important.

I examined the elastic band on my wrist while waiting for the replenishment process to finish. It glowed the usual magenta when I thought to activate it, showing no signs of the red light and smoke from before.

It looks like I’ll really have to test this out.

After everything was done, I got up and looked around the area for an object to use the Bridge on.

While I was searching,

“KC, what are you up to?”

A voice called out to me. It was Xuanyi, who came over to me with Bona in tow.

“Looking for a piece of rock. I want to test out the limits of this thing.”

I held up my left arm and pointed to the Amethyst Bridge, showing it to her.

“Oh, is that the slowing ray you used before?” Bona caught on.

“You mean the one with the pink light?” Xuanyi added.

Both their eyes lit up in curiosity.

I thought I showed them how it worked before… or maybe I was wrong.

“Yep. It started acting weird in the Trial before, so I’m thinking of testing it out to see if it’s fine now.”

Bona took out the Niterib in response.

“If it won’t break anything important—”

She offered her spear to use as a test subject, but Xuanyi cut her off before she could finish.

“How about shooting the beam at me?”

She pointed to herself.

It took me a few seconds to process her words.

“…At you?”

“I’d like to see if it works on living things as well.” She pointed out. “Not sure if we can call the earth knights ‘living’, but maybe it can slow them down too?”

“Oh, I see, um.”

I turned to Bona.

“I don’t know if that’s okay, but…”

“It’s just a slowing ray, isn’t it?” She responded. “Xuanyi’s defenses are no joke. She’ll be able to handle anything you throw at her.”

“Alright, let’s do it then.”

I motioned for Bona to move away from Xuanyi, just in case.

In the distance, I also saw Luda come over to us, so I signaled for her to stand back as well.

As soon as we were ready.

“Here goes.” I announced.

“Don’t hold back!”

Xuanyi nodded, pulling out the railgun and array shield she used earlier to protect herself. It seems like those two things were a set, after all.

If you say so…!

I charged the Amethyst Bridge to its full potential and released a markedly intense ray of pink light in her direction.

“Yaaa—!”

She let out an unnecessary scream as she ran towards the zig-zag beam, pointing the railgun lance at it. The moment the two of them collided,

*THRMM*

The light bounced as it passed through both the lance and the shield, traveling into her body in that zig-zag motion. Within the light, her figure looked like it was traveling in slow-motion, much more than the stone shard did.

“Wow, now this is something…!”

She commented, seeing the pink light bouncing around all over herself.

*PWF*

The beam faded away after a while, and Xuanyi was able to move normally again as soon as it disappeared.

Still,

“I’m firing a few more!”

“Got it!”

The Bridge once again shone brilliantly, firing a second ray of pink light in her direction.

She swiftly pulled out a holographic window in response, summoning several layers of energy shields to appear in front of her.

Even then,

*PHRMM*

The tractor beam passed through all of them unhindered, once again slowing her down.

Not waiting for the current effect to finish, I charged the band up again, but—

*HISS*

There it is!

In the middle of readying the third shot, the Bridge let out smoke as it glowed an intense red colour.

This time, however, it allowed the third beam to fire, though only at half its maximum charge.

At the same time, a notification appeared on my system.

“Oh, so it uses an energy level thing.”

From the looks of it, the Bridge can only do two or three beams before having to cool down and recover.

Xuanyi’s eyes widened as she saw the third ray traveling in her direction while she was still under the effects of the previous one.

“If that’s the case…!”

*CLICK*

*VOOM*

All of a sudden, both the array shield and railgun in her hands surged with energy, covering both of them in orange-yellow arcs of electricity.

In the face of her amplified defenses,

*PFF*

The tractor beam dissipated before it could reach her.

“Wow.”

As much as I’ve heard about her strength, I was still impressed that Xuanyi could deflect the beam with only her weapon: It did pass through her shields, before.

Anyways,

“…”

From the indicator on my system, it seems like I’ll have to wait a few minutes for the Bridge to cool down every time I run out of uses.

“Is that all?”

The test subject volunteer raised her face above the array shield.

“Yep.” I nodded.

“Come on, Luda.” Bona called for her over after knowing that we were done.

---

After the four of us met back up, Xuanyi reported what she observed after being hit by the Amethyst Bridge’s light.

“The beam seems to obstruct all the forces acting on the target, KC; whether coming from itself or from outside factors like gravity.”

“That would explain what happened with Memphis’s arrow last time.” I nodded.

“It passed through all your shields, too.” Bona noted. “You have negative condition protection in your system, right?”

“Yes, but only from the environment.” She replied. “I guess the light wouldn’t count.”

“The thing where you fired up your weapon, though,” Luda mentioned. “That could block the light on its own!”

“I didn’t expect it to work, to be honest.” Xuanyi scratched her head.

“The lance and shield, was that the Hexacolia you talked about before?”

“That’s right.”

The railgun wielder puffed out her chest. However, her expression quickly changed as if she recalled something.

“Oh, right. Where’s Yeonjung?”

I took a look around the area and found her without much trouble.

“Over there with Seola and Soobin. Why, what about her?”

“That sneaky girl, she had a Sentinel too, all this while!”

Xuanyi scrunched her face in pretend anger.

“What Sentinel?”

I recalled what I saw in the previous battle.

“…You mean those levitating swords?”

The ones she used to guide the bronze globe to Jina before; that was a Sentinel, too?

“I wonder just what in the world she would have gone through to get her hands on the Zyksacohn; even among the Sentinel armaments, those seven sabers are known to be difficult to master.”

Hearing her explanation,

“Well, I mean,”

Luda only shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s Yeonjung after all.”

“If you say it like that… I guess.”

I nodded in agreement to what Bona said.

Finished with our experiment, we went back to the others to see what they were up to.

Jina helped Seola and Soobin work out the specifics of their equipment, while Lord stood to the side with a vacant attitude. Kalasia watched Bona and Luda exchange a few blows with each other, offering advice to them between rounds. Xuanyi caught up with Yeonjung, and the two of them talked about a few things on their own, presumably about the Sentinel armaments mentioned before.

“Oh…!”

I watched Bona evade the rounds from Luda’s scattergun before closing in on her, the corrosive dagger in her hand.

The moment the two made contact,

…?

A smirk appeared on Luda’s lips.

Not a second after,

*BOOM*

The entire area around them imploded in a shockwave, throwing up dirt and rubble everywhere.

That must be the repulsion generator!

Kalasia retreated a few steps back as the sound attracted the others’ attention.

However,

“Wow.”

The dust settled, and the two figures reappeared in front of us.

Luda was still where she was, her eyes widened in shock as they looked at Bona.

The other member wore a relieved expression, having managed to survive that shockwave unscathed.

Like the spear beside her, Bona was floating in midair.

“Thought you’d use the levitation mod to escape the pulse, unnie.”

Luda sighed as she returned to her stance.

“If you can use your new login bonus, it’s only fair that I do, too.”

Bona landed back onto the ground soon after.

“All that’s left is to get used to your new abilities.”

Kalasia commented, arbitrating the fight between them.

“Continue!”

At the Feran’s words, the two women resumed their fight.

“We should spar too, Yeonjung.” Xuanyi said, having watched the scene unfold. “I’m interested to see how far you’ve gotten with the Zyksacohn.”

“I don’t know if I can match up to you, unnie.” The youngest member shrank back.

“How about you start with me, then?”

After hearing their conversation, I offered myself as an opponent.

“I thought you’d rather not lay a hand on us, KC? What happened to that?”

Xuanyi raised an eyebrow in response.

“Well, I can’t lie, the sabers have taken my interest too.” I made my excuse. “And it’s not like I have to go all out too, right?”

“Doubt that.” She leered. “But I’ll let it pass. Let’s see you two go at it.”

“You up for it, Yeonjung?” I turned to her.

Before she could speak, however.

“They’re back.”

Seola’s words drew everyone’s attention.

From the shelter a distance away from the altar, the six people walked back to our group:

Exy and Memphis, followed by the four Vyrgatel.

The resolute looks on their faces told of the conclusion they finally came to.

---

“How did it go?”

Going over to them, I chose to ask Memphis about the decision.

I don’t know, I was… afraid, of hearing the result from Exy or Krieg?

What greeted me, however, was merely a stare from the Ilyid.

“I will not be the one to speak for them, KC.”

Their head turned to the other two, who moved ahead of us towards the altar.

On the throne, Grear’s gaze followed the figures of Krieg and Exy as they approached the base of the central platform.

The Magna let out a chuckle.

“It seems like I can expect something, seeing the determination in your eyes.”

His words took me off guard.

“Does that mean…”

“This is our decision.”

Exy began.

“We will continue to challenge the Burning Globe Trial to the best of our capacity.”

Nodding to her, Krieg also made his announcement:

“Representing the Vyrgatel, we will also offer our full support for the completion of the Trial.”

We looked at each other in response.

“Won’t that be just like before?” Bona interjected.

Gesturing to the group of four,

“Won’t you just push yourself too much again?”

“I can’t see us completing it very soon, either.” Soobin added.

The response Exy gave, however,

“That is exactly the secret of this Trial.”

The group clamored in response to her words,

“The failure condition of the Trial was to ‘give up’, rather than ‘lose’ – this was a test of our endurance, rather than skill.”

She continued.

“The way we will do this is slowly, carefully: Find the most effective solution to finish the fight with the least casualties possible.”

“Trial and error, unnie?”

Luda expressed her doubts.

“How many rounds are we going to do – five, ten? Even with plenty of rest, we’ll burn ourselves out before long!”

“We shall dedicate our efforts to scouting out the knights at first, Luda.”

Memphis took over with their explanation.

“A dedicated team will keep the globe away from our dedicated fighters, such that they can focus completely on seeking out their weaknesses.”

“I thought of that, too.” Xuanyi mused. “The fact that something as large as the earth knights could perform such fluid attacks, means that something must be providing them with the power to do so.”

“Then, what’s the plan, unnie?” Yeonjung asked.

“You know how to play volleyball, right?”

“…AH!”

Exy’s answer made me and the rest gasp, catching on to what she meant.

“…Let’s do this, then.”

Seeing the strategy come together, excitement rekindled itself within me.

---

“You can leave the warriors to us.”

Dagmar stated, turning her arms once more into blades.

“The night is our domain, and the sun has long since set where we are.”

“We’ll support you all we can.”

Seola, Luda and Yeonjung had also offered to join the fighting team, seeing that each of them had owned some form of analysis technology. The Resource Reticulator had already appeared around Luda’s face, while a window floated beside Yeonjung and a visor slotted itself in front of Seola’s eyes.

Ooh, Secret era. Now that’s a throwback.

“Us three batters will make the volleyball team, along with Bona, Soobin and Kal.” I detailed.

“Will the six of you be fine?” Exy asked us.

“We’ll have to depend on you two, Exy and Memphis.” Bona responded. “Don’t let the knights reach us.”

“I will see to it.” The Ilyid nodded.

“Make sure you cooperate with them, alright, Lord?”

Soobin gave her orders to the giant lump of earth, telling it not to step out of line.

“By your orders, princess Soobin.”

The Wremud complied without much resistance.

Huh.

With stakes this high, I guess even the monster would rather not cause much of a fuss.

After all of us got to our positions,

“Best of luck, candidates.”

Grear manipulated the rod in his hands, causing the altar to flicker a light.

“The Burning Globe is yours.”

The volleyball team looked at each other as everyone else spread out over the field. Luda couldn’t work out how to connect the NPCs to our voice chat session, so it was still only the eight of us.

“I’ll make the first serve.”

Offering myself, I walked over to the low pillar and picked up the ball without delay.

*RUMBLE*

Accompanied by the tremors, the earth knights once again rose up from the ground around the field.

“Be careful, fighter team! One of them should be the leader, if the formation remains the same!” Memphis warned.

At the same time,

*FFF*

The bronze globe quickly heated up in my hand, and I let go before it became too hot to bear.

Turning around,

“Catch!”

I used the jet module to propel the side of my foot into the orb, kicking it into the air over the rest of the group.

Jina, Soobin and I were on one side of the area we used as the ‘court’, while Bona, Xuanyi and Kalasia took the other.

The two teams we made up weren’t competing with each other like in an actual volleyball match; both were instead cooperating together to keep the ball in the air as long as we could.

*BOOM*

*CRASH*

From the noise in the distance, it looks like the knights have caught wind of our strategy. I tried to turn in the direction of the sound by reflex, but—

“Don’t worry about them, KC! Get your head in the game!”

Soobin snapped me out of it, and I moved my gaze back to see Kalasia ready to receive the serve.

“We’re on it, volleyball team.”

Exy’s voice sounded in my ear, and I saw the three of them leave our side as they headed to meet the warriors heading for us.

“Right,”

I gathered my resolve and wielded the Ovation.

“Let’s give them as much time as they need.”

---

Despite the ongoing clash of metal and earth resounding uncomfortably close, the six of us managed to keep a steady rhythm going as we passed the globe between each other.

The passes would play out like a typical game while the orb was cooler, then one of the batters would smack it high into the air whenever it heated up too much for us to handle.

“Avoid that axe-wielder, Seola unnie!”

“Your front, Luda. I’m getting a good read on its energy.”

“Over here, Egon! Get out of there!”

The background crosstalk from the fighter team kept us updated on the situation in the battlefield.

From their reports, it seems like there were ten earth knights present in the Trial: Three axe wielders, three spear-bearers, and four sword users, one of which was the leader.

Having fought it before, Memphis has argued that the leader would always use a sword, if the consistency of the formation was to be trusted.

Seola’s Energy Signature Visor couldn’t detect any sort of weak spot from her side, though it was able to pinpoint the moment a warrior would begin its attack.

“It’s heating up, Bona!”

Jina’s words brought me back to the situation,

“Passing it to you, Xuanyi!” Receiving the red glowing globe on the other side of the court, she used the Niterib to direct its course over to the member behind her.

“Here goes!”

*BLAM*

Surging the Hexacolia once again, she put the array shield between the ball and her railgun, then fired out a round. The shot forcefully struck the shield against the glove, blasting it high up in the air.

“That should do it for a while.” Xuanyi exhaled in relief.

Soobin and I did not relax, squinting towards the sky in an effort to gauge the path of the globe when it fell.

Amidst all of that—

*BOOM* *CRACKLE*

A sound unlike any other resonated throughout the battlefield.

“What was that?” Kalasia exclaimed.

Soon after, Luda gave us the answer in the voice chat session.

“…One of the knights are down! Krieg and Yeonjung defeated it together!”

The rest of the group celebrated in the session, while Soobin and I smiled quietly at each other.

We can do this.

“It was a strike to the lower torso which took it out!” Yeonjung reported. “That’s what the data from the Encyclopedic A.I. said!”

“Looks like Krieg confirmed it, too; can’t say for sure at this stage, but the weak point is definitely somewhere around there.”

Luda surmised.

“Good work, fighter team.” Exy stated. “How are you faring, volleyball players?”

*BOOM*

Having its fall slowed down by Soobin’s Momentum Cane, I smashed against it with the Ovation in shield form, bouncing it towards Kalasia.

“We’re holding up, Exy.” Bona answered.

“Good, let’s keep this momentum.” She drew a breath. “I don’t expect to win the Trial just yet, but we’re making good progress.”

“Yup.”

Things were looking good for us, but that was no reason to let down our guard just yet.

---

The fatigue from the previous battle finally caught up to us. In order to preserve our energy and the power in our tech, we decided to call it there after a while and let the bronze globe hit the ground.

*CRASH*

All the other surviving knights crumbled, signaling the failure of the Trial.

The fighter team had already retreated away before then, however, having been informed of our decision.

“I really didn’t think we’d get this far…!”

Jina exclaimed, her bright eyes contrasting with the sweat on her face.

“Me neither.” I replied. “Five out of ten? Who would have guessed?”

That was the amount of warrior constructs the fighter team ended up taking down, counting the one before. True to Dagmar’s words, the Vyrgatel claimed three of the five kills, while Luda and Yeonjung, as well as Lord and Memphis, took out the other two.

“We can do this.” Krieg stated. “We’ll make it through the Trial!”

The rest of his family nodded back at him.

“You alright, unnie? I didn’t hear your name in the kills.” Soobin called out to Seola.

“I didn’t want to use up the Denoted’s rounds,” She shook her head. “And Winterhymn is still too risky to run.”

“Ah, I see.”

On the other hand,

“Did you get any good data too?”

I went over to Luda.

“The materials that made up the knights weren’t any different from the ones in the soil around the area.”

She reported, reading the recorded information off the Reticulator.

“The hardness and sharpness of the weapons must have been conferred by the power crystal on their lower spine.”

“The crystal does that, too?” I exclaimed. “I thought it only gave them the fighting skills that made them so tough!”

“At least now we know what makes them tick, KC.”

It was Yeonjung who interjected, walking up to us.

“Just remove the cracked rock covering their backs, stick a blade or bullet into the core,”

She motioned with her hands.

“Boom, that’s one less construct to worry about.”

“That’s if we can reach it in the first place.” Luda argued. “They’re probably be more careful now that we know where their weak points are.”

“That’s true.” I nodded.

As everyone reconvened, Exy reminded us to go over our equipment once again, repairing or refueling anything that we think we may need in the Trial.

While going through my inventory, I saw Lenard and Egon draw deep breaths as they examined their own condition. For some reason, the life behind their eyes was stronger than ever, despite the fatigue they accumulated.

I recalled what Dagmar said.

“Domain, huh.”

It was already night here on the Trial grounds; that must be why they were in such top condition.

On the other hand,

“…”

Several of us had darker expressions on, the extended period of intense activity taking its toll on our bodies. My limbs and body were starting to ache, despite the Astronaut physique players were blessed with.

Kal and Jina also looked worn out, and even Memphis tried to conserve their energy wherever possible.

“Looks like it’s now or never.”

Krieg stated, seeing the group’s condition.

“That’s right, the next round will decide everything.” Exy agreed. “We’ll be depending on the four of you to bring us to victory.”

“Us, too.” The Vyrgatel nodded. “Pave the way to our win.”

All of us had the same thought in mind – that this round will be our last shot at completing the Trial.

“I look forward to your performance, candidates.”

Grear said, having already returned the bronze globe back to the low pillar.

“Do your best out there!” Aidan added.

The pilot Magna had returned to check up on us, deciding to stay after hearing about our final attempt.

“Count on us.”

Bona declared, exchanging looks with Exy and Xuanyi as she said so.

“That we will.” The Gatekeeper nodded.

Then, with the flash of light that enveloped the entire altar coming from the rod in his hands, the pedestal holding the globe revealed itself once more.

“The Burning Globe is yours.”

---

“On three.” Krieg initiated the countdown.

As the head of the Vyrgatel, he took the helm of the fighting team and spread out the other three across the battlefield, while he himself stayed close to the altar with Exy.

Reaching out her hand above the pillar holding the globe, Xuanyi nodded.

“Three,”

On one side of the field, Seola and Luda readied their respective scanning techs, while Lord stood by as their guard.

“Two,”

Yeonjung exchanged eye contact with Memphis on the other side, both of them readying their weapons.

“One,”

I held my breath, bracing for the round to start alongside the rest of the globe team.

“Now!”

*SHFWAP*

*RUMBLE*

Without delay, Xuanyi used the Hexacolia to bounce the orb right into the air, aiming it in our direction.

Tremors echoed throughout the area, signaling the return of the ten earth warriors.

“Take out their power crystals as quickly as possible!”

“We’ll hold the line here!”

Krieg and Exy gave out their orders, overseeing the whole operation.

Trusting the rest of the group with their roles,

“Mine!”

I claimed the first receive of the falling orb, activating the freezing power of the Ovation in its shield form.

As Soobin and Jina moved away,

*BOOM*

I rammed the charged shield against the globe, sending it back towards Xuanyi’s team.

Before the ball even reached its highest point,

“Three of the knights are heading for the globe team!” Memphis reported.

“…The leader is among them!!”

“What!?” I gasped.

“Already!?” Jina exclaimed as well.

They’re getting serious as well!

“We see them.” Krieg responded. “Is your erse weapon fit to fire, Human?”

“It’s draining to use, but I can hold up for a few minutes.” Exy affirmed.

Her words caught my attention.

The Nagam had that kind of side effect?

“Good.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw darkness envelop the body of the Vyrgatel.

The next moment,

“Cover me.”

Along with the shadows, he disappeared from sight.

*BOOM*

Back in the makeshift court, Kalasia smashed the globe upwards, after having it passed to him by Bona.

“Should I help those two out?” Xuanyi deliberated.

Even with Krieg’s capabilities, two against three was still disadvantageous for them.

“Don’t worry about us.”

Exy replied with a relaxed tone.

“Krieg’s comrades aren’t going to let him get hurt this time around.”

Simultaneously,

*SHING*

*CRUNCH*

The sound of sharp material scraping against rock could be heard in the background of the voice chat session.

“Dagmar!”

“Let’s wreck these blockheads, Krieg.”

“Awesome!” Yeonjung cheered.

“Watch out, on your right!”

We heard Memphis warn her before the sound of clashing flooded the session.

Oh, Yeonjung.

“Mine!” Said the voice in front of me.

I returned my attention to the court and gave Soobin space to claim her receive.

As she smacked it with what looked like the barrel of a shotgun,

“Bat it up, Jina!”

The globe burned a searing red as it arced towards the hammer wielder on our left.

Jina fired up the Ditherer’s drill bunker, and,

“Hyah!”

*THRMM*

She connected the head of her weapon square on the bottom of the orb, blasting it high above the court.

“…Around fifteen seconds!” She informed us of her estimate.

Then, out of the blue,

“There’s a wind blowing.”

Kalasia noted. “…It’s going northwest!”

“That’ll make it fall behind the altar,”

Bona’s forecast drew our attention.

“That’s where the three knights are!!”

“Got it, we’ll keep them busy.” Exy answered.

“I’ll get ready for it.” Xuanyi offered herself, being the nearest one to the position.

“Focus on the fight, Memphis! Leave the globe to them!”

This time, it was Yeonjung who set the Ilyid straight.

Back on the court, the other five of us moved to curve around Xuanyi, who pursued the globe which was already beginning to fall.

In the middle of the chaos,

*CRACKLE* *BOOM*

“Axe wielder down!”

Luda reported our first kill of the round.

“Nice!” I responded.

“I’m going to help Egon out next.” Seola voiced. “You too, Lord!”

“Got it, unnie. I’m going over to Krieg and the rest.”

Noting their report, I made sure not to let down my guard as I performed my role.

The crosstalk is distracting me.

Reducing the volume of the voice chat, I focused on the globe falling out of the sky, ready to help on Xuanyi’s cue.

The globe team began to spread out to surround the ball—

“Damn it.”

*CRASH*

*BOOM*

Along with Exy’s curse, an explosion went off in the area where they were.

Amidst the falling soil and rock,

*RUMBLE*

The giant figure of an earth warrior charged at us, ignoring the attacks on its back.

Ah, crap.

“It’s coming for you!!”

Dagmar’s voice warned us from within the cloud of dust.

---

At her warning, I tightened my grip on the Ovation.

In the forefront of the team,

“Let me see you dance.”

Xuanyi stated, before bringing the array shield down flat on the ground in front of her.

“What are you—”

Before I could finish, she leaped onto the shield,

*VRMMM*

And surged it with energy, blasting her up above the height of the towering knight.

The moment it tilted up to follow her with its gaze,

“Look out~” Xuanyi mentioned.

*BOOM*

Jina struck the distracted warrior’s abdomen with her hammer, causing the earth that made up its body to tremble.

Still,

“No effect!?” The Human yelled.

“That’s definitely the leader, then.” Kalasia pointed out.

The Feran circled around the left of the warrior with Bona, while I took the other side with Soobin.

“I can’t see it, unnie!” The member with me said.

The falling globe was obscured by the debris thrown up by the explosion, and Xuanyi’s figure disappeared into it too.

That means the Momentum Cane will be no use.

From here, none of us could tell what was going on inside the cloud of dust.

Facing that situation,

“I’m going to help her.”

Bona took the lead.

“Kalasia, KC: Leave the warrior as soon as we tell you to.”

“Got it.”

Both of us nodded without delay, turning our attention to the enemy in front of us.

*BLAM* *BLAM*

Soobin shot a few rounds from the shotgun onto its face, giving Jina the window of opportunity to retreat away.

Angered by the harassment,

*BOOM*

The knight slammed both the sword and its other fist onto the ground, causing everyone around it to stagger.

To think we’d have to deal with the boss this early,

I switched the Ovation to its axe form and turned the dial to the left.

“After me, KC.”

Nodding to me, Kalasia lunged towards the furious warrior, brandishing his curved spear.

“Right behind you.”

Seeing the ice begin to form on the blade, I switched it for the Pulsar Beam Saber and followed after him.

“I’ll keep a look out for the globe, guys!”

Soobin called out behind us.

“Got it!” Jina answered, preparing her next attack.

*CRUNCH* *BOOM*

Along with the hefty reverberation,

“Lenard took out another knight!” Yeonjung reported the second kill.

“That’s it,” Exy’s voice sounded. “Don’t give them room to breathe.”

Damn straight.

As Kalasia rushed towards the recovering stone knight,

*ROAR*

He let out a beastly snarl and leaped high into the air, pouncing at the enemy’s neck.

“A mount!”

As the warrior started to struggle, trying to pull the Feran off its body,

*STAB* *SLICE*

I swung the saber a few times at its hand, trying to make it let go of the sword.

Seeing how little an effect my attacks had on it,

“How about this!?”

I switched the Ovation back out and drove the glacial blade into its elbow.

*CRACK*

Ice spread out onto the arm, creeping onto the rest of its body from the shoulder.

“Hm…!”

Kalasia heaved out a breath as he released his hold on the warrior in time, dropping down onto the ground with a roll.

As frost continued to envelop the construct’s entire body,

“Incoming, KC!”

A voice called out behind me.

Without looking back, I ducked low to let the person through, and,

“Luda!”

Jina identified the silhouette that leapt over me towards the knight. Then,

“Try this on for size!”

The moment her palm made contact with our opponent’s frozen body,

*BOOM*

Luda fired her Tectonic Pulse, and a shockwave spread out from those two.

Unable to escape quickly enough, I got caught up in the implosion along with them. The blast interfered with my vision as I was forcefully thrown onto the ground.

At the same time,

*BRMM*

The sound of an impact pierced through the shockwave. Not a moment after,

“KC! Jina! The globe’s coming over to you!”

I barely heard Xuanyi’s voice amongst the noise.

“…It’s still too hot for the others!”

Her words sent my mind into overdrive.

“I have line of sight on the globe!” Soobin made her own report. “Who should I pass it to!?”

Struggling to get up,

“Get it to Jina, Soob—AGH—”

Chunks of rock hit all over my body, whittling down the Hazard Shield levels on the suit.

“Over here, Soobin!”

Behind us, Jina indicated her availability to make the next receive.

Good.

With those two working together, I can focus on the situation in front of me.

Switching the Ovation into its shield form, I removed the rock which hit me and got up as soon as the shockwave subsided.

“Luda! Where are you!?” I yelled.

After a few seconds,

*BLAM* BLAM*

Sounds of gunfire I could recognize as coming from her scattergun accompanied the reappearance of the knight’s large figure, hunched over trying to recover from the implosion.

“Almost there…!”

Reloading as fast as she could, Luda focused her attacks on the warrior’s lower spine, trying to blast away the protective layer of rocks covering its power crystal.

“Get out of there, KC!”

Kalasia urged, reminding me of my role as part of the globe team.

I alternated my attention between him and Luda.

Damn it.

If I missed this chance, the leader knight would recover before Luda can take it out. Will she be okay dealing with it alone?

“…No.” I steadied my thoughts.

I can’t ruin this again by trying to do everything myself.

Pulling myself away from those two,

“…Don’t let your guard down, Luda!”

I turned and ran to join back up with the other three—

“Thanks for holding down the fort, KC.”

Before I could react to that voice,

*SWIPE*

—A shadowy shape traveled across the surface of the knight’s body—

*CRUNCH*

And pummeled its face in with great force.

“…”

In the span of a heartbeat, the entity toppled the knight back onto the ground.

Manifesting from the shadows,

“I’ll take it from here.” He nodded in my direction.

“…Krieg!”

---

*THRMM*

“KC!”

Jina’s voice pulled my attention back towards the globe team.

In front of me, Kalasia and Soobin chased after the red-hot globe, which arced over back towards the altar.

Wait.

“That’s not high enough!” I exclaimed.

Gritting her teeth, Jina told me what happened.

“The Ore Ditherer malfunctioned again! I’ll need a few minutes to fix it!”

“Got it.” I nodded. “I’ll tell the others to protect you while you do so.”

“No need.” She shook her head.

As soon as I saw what she pointed to,

“Ah!!” It finally occurred to me. “Good idea!”

“I’ll join back up with you as soon as I’m done.”

Parting ways with her, I fired up the jet module to boost ahead and catch up with the rest.

“Where’s Jina? Is she going to be okay alone?”

Soobin saw me by myself and asked.

“She’ll be fine.”

Motioning to the altar, Soobin saw the girl run up to it and gasped.

“…Of course!”

“I would have done the same thing myself.”

“…The Southern Niel Hall of Ancestral Guards is also a registered Magna heritage site; its defacement will not give our people your pleasant impression.”

There was no rule saying that we couldn’t use the altar itself during the Trial.

As part of the site itself, the knights wouldn’t dare destroy the very thing that made them.

“It’s coming down, KC.”

Kalasia’s words returned my focus to the falling bronze globe.

“…”

Taking a good aim, I held out my left arm and fired a ray of light from the Amethyst Bridge at it, using only a fourth of its maximum capacity.

With that amount of lead I gave it…

*PHRMM*

“Yes!”

Seeing the slowing beam land on the orb straight on, I deduced the position it would fall to and made my way over there.

“Should I keep it floating for you?” Soobin offered.

“I’ll be fine. Keep the Momentum Cane conserved, Soobin.” I shook my head.

“We’re a bit away from the battle, Humans.” Kalasia pointed out.

True to his words, we were well out of the knights’ reach, west of the altar on the opposite side of our starting point.

“Let’s make a court here and be ready for whenever the wind blows again.” He suggested.

“Got it.”

The pink light from the Bridge dissipated shortly after, and the burning globe started to fall again.

Hm.

However, I was already below it.

With a heavy swing of the Ovation,

*THUMP*

I sent the globe flying back into the air, turning it into a mere blip in Kamag’s sky.

“Phew.”

Ascertaining that the situation was under control on our side, the four of us let out breaths of relief.

“I’m surprised that you could swing that thing so strongly, KC.” Soobin pointed out.

“It’s the weapon, Soobin.”

Spinning the Ovation back into its shield form,

“This thing shouldn’t be as light as it is, given the size and material.”

Before we could continue our conversation,

“We’re here!”

“Is everyone okay?”

The ones who met back up with us were Xuanyi and Bona.

“We’re alright.” Kalasia informed them. “How about you two?”

“Barely.” Bona sighed. “The fight between the three knights, Exy and the Vyrgatel got so intense that I had to hide behind Xuanyi’s array shield.”

Xuanyi, however, had an unusually serious expression in contrast.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“…Exy’s pushing beyond her limits with the Nagam. I know that look on her face when I see it.”

“Then—!” I shot her a look.

A second passed in silence.

“Dagmar’s there with her.” She relaxed her expression. “I’ll have to trust her to keep our leader from doing anything stupid.”

“I see.”

I was still worried, but at least someone was looking out for her too.

“What about Luda’s situation?”

Kalasia asked, his eyes still pointed towards the sky above us.

“Krieg was still fighting the knight when we passed by them, trying to get her as many opportunities to shoot at its power crystal as he could.”

Bona detailed her observation.

“That thing is definitely on another level compared to the others.”

“On the other hand, Seola unnie and Yeonjung also gave their reports in the voice group.”  Xuanyi added.

“Ah, the one about Lenard and Egon taking out two other knights, right?” Soobin responded.

“With that, there should be…”

I tried to recall their previous reports.

“Six of them left, including the leader.”

Bona told me the answer right away.

“Seeing how little time had passed since we started, we’re already doing much better than the previous two rounds.”

“That’s good news.”

Kalasia interjected. Gesturing with his arms stretched out,

“Spread out, team. The globe is coming down.”

“Right!”

Regaining focus back on our situation, I gripped the handle of the shield and moved outwards, forming a perimeter around the place with the others.

The Feran managed to receive the globe safely and continue our play, passing it between each other.

A few moments later,

“Spear-bearer down!”

Exy reported into the voice chat.

“Woohoo!”

Yeonjung cheered again, and I could hear Memphis thank her for covering for them previously.

On the other hand,

“Retreat from the fight, Exy. We will fail the moment you get taken out.”

Egon’s voice in the background urged her to leave.

“Did you get hurt?” Seola asked, having heard it as well.

“Just a bit tired, that’s all.” She insisted.

Before I could protest, however,

“Pick up the slack for me, you three. Don’t want a certain someone to get angry at me for going too far.”

Exy complied with his request, and relief came over me.

“Well,”

Using the Niterib to divert the globe in Soobin’s direction, Bona couldn’t help let out a giggle.

“We have Dawon to thank for that.”

Xuanyi laughed as well.

Hearing Dawon’s name,

“…Heh.”

I understood what the two of them were referring to.

*THWAP*

Seeing the globe glow an intense red as Soobin passed it to me,

“I’m passing it to you, Xuanyi – bat it up!”

“Got it!”

Taking heed of my own advice, I made sure not to strain myself as well.

Praying for everyone to be fine, I continued to perform my role in the group and do my part in the Burning Globe Trial.

As several minutes passed,

“We’ve taken the spear-bearer down!”

“Axe warrior defeated!”

Seola and Yeonjung reported two more kills, this time from their own contribution.

On the other hand,

“Sorry I’m late!”

“Let’s do this.”

Two other people approached our side.

“Jina! Exy unnie!” Soobin responded.

The two of them joined up with us, having met up while Jina was repairing her hammer.

“Take the next one, Jina!”

I had her ready as soon as she was in position.

“Right!” She nodded.

“How about you, Exy?”

Moving out of the way, Bona asked her.

“You’re not thinking of joining us in that state, are you?”

Indeed, Exy still had a fatigued expression, despite having spent time to recover from the Okira-Nagam’s effects.

Xuanyi focused her attention on using the Hexacolia’s array shield to support Jina’s receive, but it was clear that she shared the same concern.

“Nah.”

Thankfully, she shook her head.

“I’ll keep a look out in case the knights come after us.”

“That’s good.” I responded.

“That’ll leave us free to concentrate on the globe.” Kalasia added.

*THRMMM*

Jina struck the orb square on with the Ditherer, shooting it up to the night sky with the newly repaired bunker mechanism.

“A wind is blowing.” Kalasia reported.

With a confident nod,

“Northwest again, which is good for us.”

Where we are, the wind would take the globe further away from the knights, rather than towards them.

We can do this.

With the globe team complete again, we continued our coordinated efforts, preventing it from reaching the ground.

With some attention free to spare, I turned the volume back up in the voice chat.

Luda, Seola, Yeonjung,

From the tone of their voices, everything seemed to go well on the fighters’ side too.

At this rate—

*RROOAARR*

Suddenly, a hideous growl echoed throughout the field.

“Wh, what’s happening!?”

Even all the way here, Jina couldn’t help but shiver at the sound of that roar.

“Fighter team, what’s going on?”

Without delay, Exy spoke into the voice chat session, requesting an update on the situation.

“…It’s the leader, unnie!”

Yeonjung was the one who answered.

“It’s rallying the others and rushing towards the altar—no, to you!!”

“That thing again!?” I exclaimed. “Give up already!”

“Stop them as much as you can!” Exy ordered.

“We’re trying, but they’re too aggressive!” Seola responded.

“AH—!!”

The sound of rubble accompanied Luda’s yell.

We felt like the tables had been us at the last moment, right when victory was in our grasp.

If that’s the case…

“Batters, keep your focus on the globe.”

Kalasia stated, before I could say anything.

“If worst comes to worst, the rest of us will have to turn our attention to the knights.”

“Why not us too!?”

“We can fight!”

Xuanyi and I protested.

“Stand down, the two of you.”

Exy’s words cut us off.

“She’s right,” Bona took her side. “The globe is the key to the whole Trial, after all.”

“Urgh…!”

I couldn’t find the words to argue with her.

“Your turn, KC!” Jina called.

Acknowledging her heads-up, I expanded the Ovation’s surface area with ice and got into position to receive the orb.

“You three better take care of yourselves!!”

Xuanyi also yelled, frustrated.

It was ironic that the group’s strongest people were given the task of handling the globe, rather than clash with the knights themselves.

Still,

“Here!”

Obeying the order given to us, she motioned for me to pass the globe over to her.

With a nod,

*THUMP*

I hit the orb in the direction she ran in, using the cold to reduce the heat as much as possible.

“Here they come!” Soobin reported.

Between the three of us and the approaching warriors, Bona, Soobin and Kalasia stood in a line with Exy, forming the last line of defense.

Their backs facing us told me of their determination to meet the enemy forces head-on.

In the voice chat,

“Get up, Luda!”

Seola’s voice could be heard. In the midst of the chaos,

“We’re coming over as soon as we can… huh?”

“Wait!”

The moment the knights appeared before us,

“…!!!”

A shocking scene unfolded, leaving anyone that would witness it horrified.

---

The three earth warriors rushed in our direction as quickly as they could.

However,

*RRAAAGGGHH*

The rock and soil that made up their bodies and weapons were in tatters, and even the masks that covered their heads shattered, showing parts of their faces underneath.

Despite being soulless constructs,

*GGGRRAAAAAOOO*

…Fear could be seen behind their eyes.

“What’s going on?” Bona asked.

“…They’re,” Soobin continued. “They’re running from something!”

Their words made the batter team put up our guard; whatever that something was, we didn’t want to face it unprepared.

Before any of us could do anything, however,

“It’s over.”

The shadows our bodies cast on the ground stretched and thinned, pulled on by something away from us.

Flocking towards the terrified warriors, the puddles of jet-black gathered and congealed into a humanoid shape between the enemy and our defense line.

A being emerged from the darkness of the night, speaking with a familiar voice.

*BOOM*

If not for Xuanyi batting the globe up at the last second, the sudden development catching us off guard would have cost us the round.

As soon as we laid eyes on his well-built figure,

“Egon…!!”

I yelled out.

He looked back at us and calmly nodded, before motioning with his head towards the enemy.

Following his gaze,

“Oh my God.”

Countless more streaks of darkness crept up to the three knights in a flash, enveloping them in a storm of attacks that seemed to torment their very existence.

They continued to roar in pain as the shadows tore into their bodies, carving out chunks of earth from them like meat from bone.

“That was their last mistake, KC.”

Egon explained, his eyes staring in the enemy’s direction.

“They thought to run from us Vyrgatel; we who stalk the night.”

Like a pack of wolves, the shadows struck at the warriors and toppled them in their tracks, leaving their forms miserably writhing before Exy and the others.

Returning to their humanoid forms, Lenard and Dagmar swiftly moved over to the two escorting knights’ backs, and—

*CRACKLE*

*BOOM*

The two Vyrgatel effortlessly struck their sharp limbs into their backs, making short work of the warriors on their own.

The leader and the one remaining knight made a desperate last attempt to crawl in our direction, even through the flurry of strikes that came from Krieg’s shadows.

As soon as it came close to our last line of defense,

“…”

*CRUNCH*

Egon silently drove his foot into its temple, sending it crashing in the opposite direction on its back.

*GGRAAAA—*

Even its death throes were cut short as Krieg dug into the power crystal under its spine, crushing it within his hardened arm.

---

*CRACKLE* *BOOM*

The last knight crashed onto the ground, disintegrating into shapeless lumps of earth along with the others.

Silence passed over everyone who witnessed its death, even the others in the fighting team who rushed here as quickly as they could.

A few seconds after, the bronze globe fell from the air into Jina’s hands.

Despite holding it for more than a few seconds,

“Did we do it…?”

Jina gasped as soon as she realized it:

The globe no longer burned its red.

 “…We did it!”

Luda was the first one to cheer.

“We completed the Burning Globe Trial!”

The rest of us looked at one another and raised our voices.

“WOOOOO!!”

“HELL YEAH!”

“God, that was insane!”

“An ordeal and then some, indeed.”

The girls went up to hug one another and cheer, celebrating overcoming the trial that laid before them. Bona and Luda pulled Jina and Kalasia in to join them, and even Lord was caught up in the merriment, letting out its proud laugh.

The four Vyrgatel barely looked at each other before Memphis and Exy came up to them, bringing them along to join the rest of us in our celebration. If it wasn’t for Krieg’s insistence, the four of them would already be thrown up in the air, having made the most contribution to our success.

“It was the night that turned the game around, wasn’t it?” Kalasia recalled what he knew of their people.

“I would disagree.” Egon disputed. “Had we waited until the sky was fully dark, the lack of vision would have hampered the rest of the team.”

Especially the globe team, he shot a glance in my direction.

“Still, after the leader rushed us the first time in the beginning, I thought we’d have a difficult time ahead of us.” I pondered as well.

“But as soon as the first few warriors fell, our numbers levelled, and,”

Slice, I ran the side of my palm across my own neck.

“It really was over before I knew it. Makes our failure in the first round look so darn sloppy in comparison.”

“You kept the globe out of our way this time, maybe that’s why.”

Egon’s serious expression lasted for a few seconds, before breaking out into a rare smile.

“You have our gratitude, too; we wouldn’t have done this without everyone else.”

I only nodded in response, proud of our group.

“Believe in us.”

Krieg interjected, joining the conversation.

“That’s what your leader Exy told me.”

“Wait,” I turned to him. “Did she tell you that she was the leader?”

The Vyrgatel shook his head.

“I’ve assumed the responsibility over my family all these years, KC.” He answered. “I know the look in the eyes she gazed at the rest of you with.”

From one head to another, I suppose, he shrugged.

After the festivities have died down,

“Now then,”

Gathering around the altar, we waited for Grear to speak.

With a light tone of voice, the Gatekeeper asked:

“What does it feel like, overcoming the failure you suffered just moments ago?”

“It’s a great feeling.”

“Yeah.”

All of us pretty much felt the same thing.

Seeing the group come to a consensus,

“I’m sure you have been told this in your upbringing,”

He began.

“But it is moments like these, working together and doing your part to overcome the challenges before you with the best of your abilities; these are what earns you your success.”

Sweeping his gaze over the group.

“The way of the Magna is like this: Improving yourselves every single day, striving to reach your potential and the potential even beyond that.”

“The Trials, the Apprenticeship, the Proving, the Pilgrimage; all our rites exist to serve the same purpose.”

Thus,

“To seek guidance from the Magna is to partake in and respect these tests, candidates.”

Standing up from the throne, Grear made his way down from the central platform and nodded to Aidan.

“I’ll get the bus ready.”

The other Magna nodded before leaving.

“That means…!” Jina muttered.

“All of you have proven to your Gatekeeper that you possess the necessary foundation to join in our rites.”

Grear turned to us.

“Congratulations for passing your Foundation Trial, candidates.”

---

[Day 3, Noon]

Most of us had dropped down onto the ground, resting and recovering while waiting for Aidan’s transport aircraft to arrive.

I was discussing about what happened in the Trial with the others when a notification rang.

“Oh, it’s mine.”

Luda raised her hand, checking her system to see what it was about.

Seeing the window open,

“Oh…!”

She turned to the rest of us.

“It’s Dawon, everyone! She’s calling me!”

Ohh!

All the members went to her as soon as they heard what she said.

“Can all of us fit in your camera, Luda?”

Bona asked as the rest of us players gathered around her.

“Should we go, too?”

“Why not?”

Jina and the others hesitated, but joined us as well after we invited them. Only the Vyrgatel stood back, discussing their future plans among themselves.

“I’m picking it up.” Luda gave us the signal.

The moment the call connected, Dawon’s face could be seen in the window.

“Ludie—”

She began, before realizing how many eyes were on her.

“Oh? What’s going on!?”

“Afternoon unnie!” Yeonjung smiled.

Looking at the background, it looks like Dawon was out in the city, though I can’t tell which one.

“Is that Meritus Selatan?” I asked her.

“No, it’s somewhere else, KC.” She replied. “We’re doing a few rounds of busking around a few countries.”

“Ooh.”

It made sense for Nadeum to have countries too, but I wonder how that would work.

Before I could continue the conversation,

“Say hi to the others, girls!” Dawon glanced to her side.

She walked over somewhere and turned the camera around,

“What’s wrong, unnie— Ah!!”

“It’s the rest of our members!”

“Really?”

What entered the frame were the figures of three people, who was going around setting up the stands and instruments for what looked like a busking venue to the side of the street.

“…Dayoung, Yeoreum!”

“You’re there too, Tim.”

Yeoreum was talking to another Shaen, while Dayoung mulled over the tracklist with Timayther when the call window panned to them.

“Afternoon, everyone!” Dayoung began.

“Luda, KC! How are you doing?”

The Mun Shaen also recognized us and greeted.

“We’re doing fine, everyone.” Luda answered. “We’ve just finished our Trial and are waiting to return to Deusrust, now.”

“How did it go, unnie?” Yeoreum asked.

With a deadpan expression,

“It was hell.”

Seola stated the conclusion we came to.

“What? Was it really that difficult, unnie?” Dawon responded, worried.

“In its own way.” Xuanyi explained. “We had so many close calls ourselves during the battle.”

“There was a battle!?” Dayoung’s eyes widened.

“It’s a long story, we’ll tell you all about it in the chat group.”

Exy wrapped the conversation up.

“Are you doing fine on your side, girls?”

“We’re doing well, unnie.” Yeoreum stated. “Dawon’s current Path wants us to promote DT Coastline like an indie group, so this was what we came up with.”

“A music band, huh? That takes me back.” Kalasia mentioned.

“Oh, a Feran.” Tim noticed him.

“Doing well for yourself, water boy?” He grinned.

We took the time to introduce everyone to each other, including the Vyrgatel who waved back when Luda pointed the window at them.

“And it was all sixteen of you who participated in the Trial together?” Dawon inferred. “It must have been a ride.”

“Fifteen.” Soobin spoke up. “Fifteen people and one creature.”

“I’d prefer if you don’t lump me with the rest of these savages, either.” Lord sighed.

“On the other hand, five cities?”

Bona crossed her arms.

“That’s already a world tour, isn’t it?”

“If you say it like that, I guess so unnie!” Dayoung giggled.

“We’re hoping for Eunseo and the others to join us later in the day.” Dawon stated. “But other than that, we’re doing just fine.”

“That’s good.” Exy nodded. “With the Trial over, the rest should be smooth sailing for us, too. Hopefully.”

“Have fun, girls! You too, Tim.” Luda grinned as the call neared its end.

“We will, Miss Luda!” The Mun Shaen responded.

“You too, everyone.” Dawon reciprocated. “See you all soon.”

---

A few moments later, the whirring sound of Aidan’s personnel transport aircraft reached our ears.

As I got up and joined everyone else, anticipation rose up in my heart.

“Arbosienn.”

I repeated the name of our destination.

The completion of the Trial meant that we could finally interface with the Kamag in their cities, one of which was the city of spires Deusrust attached itself to.

“I wonder what you will hold for us.”

“The best way to find out is go there and experience it for ourselves, right?”

It was Luda who answered my question with a smile.

“Let’s go, KC!”