Chapter 268 - The Third

Wain and Maria occasionally exchanged stares. Even though neither of them intended to attack, they still stared at each other. Wain did not intend to underestimate Maria; after all, she was the first challenger, not he, and that had to be taken into account.

Of course, Wain didn't think Maria was stronger than him, but he knew that their battle would be dangerous for both of them.

Maria appeared in the cave rather quickly, about ten minutes after Wain. However, they waited for the third challenger for over five hours.

Wain didn't know if the others had the same challenge as he did, but he figured that each group's challenge was different. He doubted it could endure five hours fighting against hundreds of First Chronicle monsters.

After several more hours, they finally heard footsteps deep in the third cave. When the last challenger arrived, Wain and Maria were shocked, for it was a shy girl, the former ninth challenger.

She hadn't changed in any way, except for the fact that the black bandage on her arm was dripping blood as well.

"Oh, I didn't think I'd meet anyone here. Hello!" Said the girl and bowed low.

'There's something wrong with her.' Wain and Maria thought at the same time.

'How the hell did she get in here? What abilities does she have? Why is she acting so strange? If she's so shy, why is her blindfold stained with blood? How is that possible?' A multitude of questions popped into Wain's mind in an instant.

He was not a bad judge of character, but now he didn't understand her secret.

"My name is Eva Noir. Nice to meet you!"

"Maria... just Maria..." Maria replied coldly.

"Wain Norheim." Wain smirked and said.

"What an unusual name you have!"

"Huh, I'll take that as a compliment. Eva, are you ready? We've been waiting just for you. This may be the last way for you." Wain's voice changed toward the end, and he began to exude a menacing aura.

"Oh, I hope I can handle the challenges ahead. I want to win." Eva said, smiling pleasantly.

"Enough talk." Maria said sharply and headed for the door.

Wain and Eva nodded and joined Maria in putting their palms against the door.

The three seals glowed brightly, and the door slowly opened. Then the space behind them began to shatter into tiny shards like a mirror. The test showed them that they had to go forward and had no other choice.

They nodded and stepped forward. Behind the door was a portal, and they found themselves in a strange place.

It was a vast, empty area. There were only a few rocks, and the ground was covered in red dust or something similar. In the center of the area flowed a huge but shallow bloody river. They could walk on it, and the water would only cover part of the boots.

Wain, Maria, and Eva were puzzled. The portal closed, and a message appeared in front of them.

[You were able to reach the Eternal Blood River.]

[You have proven yourself worthy of it and were able to use your abilities to get ahead and leave your opponents behind. However, now you will have to do something impossible to get the final reward.]

[For this, there must be only one whole among you.]

Wain, Maria, and Eva looked at each other. They interpreted the condition of the trial as the fact that only one of them had to survive. 

They did not understand why the test called such a simple and understandable task impossible. However, when Wain and Maria wanted to attack each other, another message appeared before them.

[You are in the territory of the Eternal Blood River, so you are immortal.]

"What? We're immortal?" Maria muttered puzzledly.

"That's nonsense..." Wain muttered.

"Hmm, has the test ever deceived us? If it says we're immortal, then we are!" Eve exclaimed.

"Huh, I wish I had your optimism."

[When the test is over, in twenty-four hours there will be changes on a universal scale. Time in this zone is practically suspended. One year here is equal to a minute in the outside world.]

"That sounds threatening. We're like prisoners..." Wain muttered.

"Pff, it doesn't matter. Since we have a clear goal and plenty of time, we can postpone the test for later." Maria said, and a glowing sword appeared in her hand.

She did not give up her desire to kill Wain. To her, he was the true evil that had caused millions of people to suffer, and her in particular. Maria was sure that Wain had done this on purpose to turn their world into ruins.

Wain reacted quickly and blocked the attack. However, suddenly another sword appeared behind him, cutting off his head.

Maria breathed a sigh of relief, but something struck her as odd. She thought their battle would be great, terrible, and bloodthirsty, but it was solved in an instant. However, then she heard an eerie laugh.

"Ahahahaha... shit... that was true..." Wain uttered, or rather his head lying on the ground.

Like a headless horseman, Wain's body suddenly moved and picked up the severed body part and returned it to its place.

"I'll be honest, it wasn't pleasant, but it was worth checking out. Eva was right. The messages never lie. We actually are immortal. Even the severed head was no barrier." Wain uttered, and a message appeared in front of him. Only he saw it.

[You have partially met one of the conditions for evolving a second time.

[Know what death is a hundred times: 1/100]

"AHAHAHAHAHA." Wain laughed out loud, "Looks like I didn't die for nothing. That's what I needed."

'Has he lost his mind?" Maria thought. She decided it was a side effect of the resurrection.

"Well, don't you want to fight again?" Wain exclaimed and armed himself with a platinum sword. He was ready to fight and die for as long as it took.

Maria nodded, and her eyes shone brightly, they were ready to cross their swords, but Eva stopped them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but this challenge was created for the three of us and I, like you, want to win. Before we begin, I want to apologize right away for my behavior." Eva said quietly. She felt awkward and insecure, and even her cheeks were covered in blush.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Maria was puzzled.

Wain said nothing. He felt that Eva had finally decided to show how she got here.

Eva hesitantly touched the bandage on her left arm and began slowly unwinding it. Her legs trembled slightly, and she acted as if she were afraid to fight.

Then she wrapped the bandage tightly around her neck. Wain saw that she could barely breathe. He was as puzzled as Maria.

Eva tilted her head down, and suddenly her aura intensified manifold. Huge streams of gray-bloody energy appeared around her. 

Wain was shocked. He had not felt something like this even from a wyvern, the guardian of the world, or the essence of the world.

The energy coming from Eva was more terrifying than anything he had ever seen before.

Eva lifted her head, and now her eyes and gaze had completely changed. She looked like a crazed, hard-blooded predator.

"Well....which one of you two bitches should I tear apart first? А?!"