Is this really a Game?!

The moment Reign and the rest of the team reached the portal, blitzing through it, the world around them dissolved, turning into a bright white light. The horde of monsters, the stench of blood and flesh, the endless roars, the oppressive heat and moisture of the jungle –all of it vanished in a mere instant.

Reign and the others stumbled on the cold, smooth floor of the arena, some of them even outright falling on the floor. Their bodies ached, their breaths ragged and uneven as the adrenaline and power that had previously kept them going began to fade. Their transformations had ended, the adrenaline had left their bodies, and now, deep exhaustion had taken hold, making them all feel sluggish and incredibly tired.

For some time, no one spoke, the only sounds present were their labored breathing and groaning thanks to their sore muscles.

But they could all hear the system's voice echoing in their heads.

[ Hell Trials 4 Completed ]

[ The Final Trial awaits, the challengers are expected to challenge it in no longer than 3 days, if they fail to reach the deadline, they will be forcibly transported to the final hell trial. ]

"This is new, a time limit was previously not present." Reign stated with his breath uneven.

"Probably because this is the final trial, it seems like the system doesn't want us to waste any more time," Beast said from the side, taking a deep breath before slowly getting up, his arms trembling slightly from the strain.

Reign glanced around, observing his teammates. Wolf's scales had receded, leaving his skin bare, sweat dripping from him, mixed with blood that was flowing from some minor wounds. Shadow darkness had disappeared, his complexion pale, and his hands trembling slightly.

"That one, was tough." Reign stated as the others chuckled weakly.

"Still, we made it." Shadow added as he rolled onto his back with a groan. "If you hadn't used the Nephilim form, though, I wonder if we would have made it."

"No use in thinking about that, the trials are, after all, made with our strength in mind, it is a given that we would all need to go all out in order to pass them," Wolf said as he exhaled sharply before running a hand through his sweat-drenched hair. "Let's just hope we pass the next one quickly, we have spent too much time here already."

"Yeah, I wonder how much time has passed back home. I just hope everybody is doing fine." Shadow said weakly as Reign, Jin, and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"This might be the longest evolution challenge we have ever done," Laura added from the side, prompting the others to nod in agreement.

"For now, let us rest, and then we will go and tackle the final trial, we have indeed lost too much time here."

Reign and the others went back to their room, they ate, they drank a bit, they soaked in the recovery pool, and rested their weary bodies before going to their respective rooms and falling asleep, allowing their fatigue to be removed as they all instantly fell asleep in the comfort of the high-quality beds present in the rooms.

After sleeping for over 10 hours each, they met in the living room. Usually, sleeping 3-4 hours would be enough for them to recover to their peak states, but this time, that was not possible. They had truly pushed themselves to the utmost, and thus, were incapable of taking a quick break to recover and needed a much longer one.

"Ahhhh, I feel so gooodddd!!!" Shadow shouted as he stretched his limbs, smiling widely.

"Yeah, calm down, let's eat and then go to the next trial." Reign said as he stuffed a piece of beef put inside fresh bread in Shadow's mouth.

"Weough alwreadhy ghowing?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full. I have no idea what you're saying." Reign said as he flicked his finger at Shadow, hitting his forehead with a tiny lightning bolt, causing the latter to groan in pain and quickly massage his forehead.

"Ash."

"I think he called you an ass," Beast said as Reign was about to flick his finger at Shadow again, only stopping after seeing the latter recoil right away. He chuckled in response before continuing to eat.

After they finished.

"Yeah, I believe the faster we go to the trial, the better, we can't afford to waste any more time." Reign said as he massaged his temple upon sitting down.

"I didn't think much before, but it truly does seem like we have stayed here for far too long, who knows what might have happened back home?"

The others all nodded in agreement. Challenges were usually like this, sometimes, you would spend multiple months in one, only to find out that back home, a week or two had passed, while sometimes, it was the opposite.

They had no idea just how long they had been here, they were floating in space, thus there was no day and night cycle, making it impossible to guess just how long had truly passed.

They all got ready, checked their equipment, and were ready to go to the trial. They had to go to the gate for the trial, and upon doing so, they met the same person as always. She merely nodded at them.

"Good luck with this final trial."

Reign and the others nodded at her before going in. Once they were all gone, she suddenly furrowed her brows and stared at the portal leading them to the challenge before chuckling.

"It was this challenge, huh, unexpected, for the final one to be this."

She had barely finished speaking before the portal shimmered and Reign and the others suddenly appeared again, all of them confused as they stared at her, as well as the system notification in front of them.

[ Hell Trial 5 has been concluded, the challengers have finished all hell trials and are eligible to take the final challenge trial again, best of luck to the challengers. ]

"What … just happened?"

Reign and the others found themselves in darkness upon entering the hell trial, they could not see each other, hear each other, or see where they were. In an instant, they found a cold energy suddenly assaulting them, attempting to break into their bodies.

It was then that their marks activated, as well as their abilities, blocking the cold energy from getting in. For Laura, it was her demonic energy that blocked it, while for Greenie, his body alone was enough to block the energy from harming him.

"It was an endurance trial, one has to withstand the energy for extended periods of time, for many, it is a nightmare, for you, however, it is the easiest challenge as your powers alone make you highly resistant to it, not to mention the marks, which block it completely."

"For this trial, you have passed it with a perfect rating, thus, it was concluded immediately. There was no point in you staying when you would not be harmed at all."

"That … was it?"

"Yes, would you like to attempt the final trial again now?" She asked them, upon which Reign merely nodded, and in an instant, a bright light appeared above them, and they disappeared.

"I wonder, just what is the supervisor thinking? They will gain the arena's recognition like this, is that fine?" The woman thought out loud before slamming her mouth shut and staring around, worried that somebody had heard her, only relaxing after several seconds upon noticing that nothing had happened.

As for Reign and the others, they were back in the final trial. They were back in the Gauntlet of Ascension.

This time, however, it was much easier. Not only were they more powerful compared to the previous time, but the teams … were not as powerful.

There was no anomaly like Radagan, and thus, after fighting for some time, holding the throne and blocking all combatants, they found themselves fighting the last handful of people, who were barely holding on.

Reign had gone all out, used his Nephilim form, and had sent all of the enemies flying back, some of them crushed in an instant, while the rest had done the same, not holding back in the slightest, crushing all those that tried to defeat them.

And thus, just like that, the final trial was over, with Reign and the others victorious, being sent to a huge platform above the gauntlet, where the light shone on them, initiating their evolutions.

They had no idea how long their evolutions had lasted, but they all emerged from their cocoons after a while, all much more powerful than they were previously.

"That was … easy," Greenie stated as the others nodded at him, all of them still confused at what happened, and how they were able to easily pass the final hell trial, as well as the gauntlet.

[ The players have evolved, the challenge is complete, teleporting them back in 3, 2, 1 … ]

Before they could even attempt to gauge their new strength, they were blinded by a white light and teleported out of the arena.

"Finally, they took their sweet time completing this," Hemmel said as he tapped the armrest of his sofa. A large screen was in front of him, and on it was the broadcast of Reign and the others. He had kept a close watch on them for all the Hell Trials, and after their evolution, he had taken out a crystal which had recorded it all and placed it on a diagram on his desk.

The diagram shone, and then the crystal was gone, teleported somewhere far away.

"Now, I wonder how surprised they will be upon going back?" Hemmel asked with a smile before shaking his head.

Reign and the others were blinded for a second before feeling the pull of the teleportation. Their bodies spun in space, moving with immense speed before they stopped.

They opened their eyes, thinking they were about to see the comforting faces of their people, as well as Doncaster, only to be met with weapons pointed at them.

A powerful array was activated around them, creating immense physical and magical pressure on them. They quickly realized they were surrounded, and multiple powerful auras were present, all of them aiming at them.