Chapter 704 - Reaching The Third Trial
"If you've made it here, it means you have some capability. Nevertheless, my treasures are not that easy to take. Only the worthy can have it, and you have yet to prove that. Now is not too late to turn back."
"Should you venture forward, only greater danger awaits—but only the fearless can inherit my treasures and carry out the great mission of demons. There is no place for cowards among our ranks…"
The recorded projection of the blue-color Arch Demon began speaking before it started to preach the noble goal of destroying the world once more.
Noticing that the contents were, more or less, the same as the first time, Leon waved his hand and ended the recorded projection before it could complete its run.
"There's no need to continue listening to it. Let us continue onward with the trial," Leon casually said to the two ladies.
"Mm."
"Understood."
The two ladies nodded in compliance before Aria suddenly suggested, "We should advance with caution this time. No doubt, this trial will be like the blue demon said—more dangerous."
"And we don't know what kind of trial it will be either, so it won't hurt for us to be more careful, lest something goes wrong."
"Un, you're right," Leon nodded calmly and said, "Let me head in and clear the trial first. You two stay here and wait for me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Leon pushed open the large gates and barged inside before Aria could reply, causing her to be stunned with words stuck on the tips of her tongue.
"I did not mean it like that…" Aria sighed.
Nevertheless, the second trial was proven to be of no challenge for Leon as he waltzed inside with the power of nihility surrounding him, rendering all formations and laws inactive and ineffective.
At the same time, Leon quickly figured out the content of the second trial and realized it would have been a bit tricky to clear through standard methods—methods that did not make use of his overbearing Law of Nihility.
It was a dream trial.
If they had entered the second trial unprepared, the illusion and sound formations would have affected their minds and force them to fall into a dream that they may never wake up from.
Seeing a few skeletal bones lying around, Leon could tell that someone people have entered and even reached the second trial—but no further than that.
"The people who came here most likely starved to death after getting trapped in the endless dream created by the formations of this second trial…" Leon speculated as he studied the human bones.
"Also, if the first trial's formations were only suspected to be Tier-5 formations, then the second trial's formations are definitely at Tier-5."
"That means there is a chance that the last trial will make use of Tier-6 formations…" Leon frowned in thought.
Tier-6 formations could produce the power to threaten even Celestials and Divine Origin Realm Practitioners.
"The Nihility Law should not have a problem negating the effects… Though if it's a Tier-7 formation, then I am not sure anymore if my Nihility Law will still be effective at my current level…" Leon contemplated.
Nevertheless, Leon located the eye of the formation and deactivated it indefinitely before it could work its magic.
Shortly after, Leon headed back outside to fetch Aria and Darlene.
Only a few minutes had passed since he entered at that point, but it did not make the two ladies any less worried when they could not see him.
"How did it go?" Aria quickly asked upon seeing Leon coming out.
"It's cleared," Leon held Aria's hands and gave them a rub with a reassuring smile before he suddenly said seriously, "You made the right call."
"The second trial was harder to guard against and would have been a bit tricky if we had gone inside together. I would have been fine either way, but the two of you would have been put under a sleeping spell."
"I see…" Aria uttered with surprise.
Although she did not mean by her previous words for Leon to enter the second trial alone, it seemed to have worked in her favor.
Nevertheless, she did not like Leon taking on risks alone.
As such, she shook her head and said with a soft sigh, "I don't want to burden you, but I don't want to see you taking on risks alone either… I think we should take on the third trial together."
"The dangers of the third trial won't be anything like the first and second trial. These Arch Demon-level Tombs are no joke. You can easily lose your life if you're not careful."
"I'm not afraid," Aria stared right into Leon's eyes with a resolute look.
"If we cannot even handle an Arch Demon-level Tomb together, then we won't have any chance in clearing Demon Lord-level Tombs and Demon King-level Tombs."
"I'm not afraid either," Darlene added despite being the weakest and least capable of them all. She gritted her teeth and said, "At least, I fear being alone even more."
After looking at the determined looks on both of their faces, Leon knew that he would not be winning any arguments against them.
As such, he quickly gave in with a sigh and said, "Fine. At least let me take the lead."
"That's fine with me."
Aria and Darlene glanced at each other with slight smiles.
Sometime later, the group of three passed through the second trial and entered the lower floor of the third trial.
Without any surprises, the entrance was still guarded by two tall statues and had a recorded projection set in stone.
Given the hidden dangers of the third trial, Aria made a suggestion to ease Leon's worries of bringing them along, "Maybe we should listen to the blue demon's speech this time. Maybe it will contain some useful information or clues regarding the third trial."
"Alright," Leon nodded and allowed the recorded projection to continue running.
"I see you have made it this far. It seems I, Paragon Blackfrost, will have to commend you for reaching this point. However, this is as far as you go. If you foolishly continue to seek my treasures, the third trial will be your resting place."
Contrary to everyone's expectations, the blue-colored Arch Demon did not try to preach demon values to them but tried to discourage them instead.
"Seems like this Arch Demon really doesn't want us to clear the final trial and take away its treasures," Darlene guessed amusedly.
"So it seems."
"Doesn't seem like there was any information we could use to our advantage in the third trial," Aria stated before adding with a frown, "The demon was too stingy and didn't give us any clue at all."
"Well, to be honest, this is its tomb, and it doesn't want anyone taking its treasures. So why would it give us a clue?" Leon shrugged nonchalantly, unsurprised by the turn of events, before saying, "It would be weird if it didn't try to mislead us instead."
"That makes sense…"
After a few moments, Leon eventually pushed the gates open.
However, what everyone found on the other side of the gates was not another dark cave waiting to be illuminated but an already lit space that was much larger than the previous two trial space combined.
Multiple lampstands softly burned with flickering green flames, giving the space an ominous and gloomy atmosphere, while a large coffin can be seen at the center of the space.
"I don't see any path on the end of this big room. Did we reach the end of the tomb already?" Aria muttered with surprise.
"Maybe the blue demon didn't have enough resources to build a third trial and was just making a last-ditch effort scare challengers away?" Darlene guessed before suddenly adding, "I can see a coffin in the middle!"
"It probably belongs to the Arch Demon, but don't let your guard down," Leon frowned with doubt before he said, "The Arch Demon could have designed the third trial like this to make us careless."
As they approached the stone coffin slowly with caution, no traps or formations were activated, even after reaching the large coffin.
Surprised as they were, they took the chance to study the large coffin made entirely of ice, which possessed a frightening coldness that seems to freeze even the surrounding air themselves, spreading cold mist outward ceaselessly.
Darlene slightly shivered from the coldness in the area before Leon kept her warm to avoid her catching a cold.
"Leon, take a look over there!" Aria suddenly pointed to the outer edge where the cold mist seemed to gather before she said, "There seem to be quite a few bones piled along the walls!"
The bones all seemed to vary from hundreds of years to thousands of years, but more importantly, they belonged to both humans and demons!
"Some of these bones are not that old, and they also belong to humans," Leon furrowed his brows after moving away from the coffin to study them.
"If I have to guess, some Battle Masters must have reached this place in the past. However, I cannot tell how exactly did they die…"
There were no damages on the bones, and without any flesh at all, it was impossible to study any wounds that might have been found on the bodies of the fallen humans and demons.
"Still, we can be certain that danger exists here. Perhaps the third trial requires a certain condition to be met before it can begin," Leon shortly stated solemnly while fixing his gaze on the coffin.
It was the most suspicious point of interest.