Rebirth: Over the Horizon

"It's Heart!" Adam exclaimed when he heard Invidia's riddle.

"Very well... you did good and for your reward..." she gave off an ominous silence and snapped her fingers once again.

The next moment, Adam saw a couple of empty black creatures wearing armors moving towards him. One of them had a sword in his hand while the other had a spear.

Adam, who had been in countless battles, immediately understood what they were going to do next and prepared to dodge their attacks. But at the last moment, his body refused to move!

But, his Insctinst doesn't, he quickly blocked the incoming blow with his hand.

"I won't allow you do not receive your reward. After all, you've earned it." Invidia smacked her lips again as she used her powers to bind Adam to his place.

"You can't do this!" Adam exclaimed.

"Mortal, this is trial, Not some banquet." She said, "You have no idea how 'Difficult' it was when I took the trial... all alone with no one to help, or in your case, you are already this powerful and you also have your golems. So be a good and pass the trial!"

"You-!" Adam exclaimed as the darkness moved closer to him. "You're out of your mind! This wasn't mentioned in the rules!"

"True, I never mentioned, what would happen if your answer is correct now did I? Well now, you know."

Adam was now finally in the weapons reach. They quickly unsheathed their weapons, aimed for Adam's defenseless back, and quickly slashed it twice.

Blood erupted from where the weapons penetrated his skin, his wounds were like a broken water hose... the blood kept coming out of them.

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Adam was in a lot of pain. He was quickly reminded of the pain he felt during his fight with the Black monarch.

This skinning sensation reminded him a lot of it. As the armors walked back to their previous place, he clenched his teeth.

His blood stained the floor, which resembled a night sky. He caught a glimpse of Invidia out of the corner of his eye.

"Tch, what a pity,". Despite witnessing Adam in pain, she had a normal expression on her face "If anything is still unclear, I will clarify it for you. You'll get a cut for each correct answer, and you'll be in pain, but seeing you in tatters after only one riddle... I doubt you'd even make it to the tenth, but that's why it's called a TRIAL!"

'What the hell!? Is she pitying me or encouraging me, what the f*ck is she doing'

'Shit, I don't care what the hell is going to happen anymore'

'I will just answer these shitty questions...and get out of here

"Are... you just... going to talk or... are you going to give... me the next riddle?" Adam panted heavily and straightened his back to face her once again.

"Commendable... commendable indeed..." Inivida murmured, "As you wish, here's your second riddle - Walk on the living. They don't even mumble. Walk on the dead. They mutter and grumble. What are they?"

"I thought... this was... a trial... not some joke." Arnold smiled weakly and taunted her, "It is leaves"

"You a puny little mortal, dare to mock me! Guess I need to discipline you a bit more." Corners of Invidia's mouth twitched as she snapped her fingers again. This time not two but three armors came forward to slash and stab Adam.

But, a huge pressure-filled over her, to the extent she was nearly kneeling.

"INIVIDA!! THIS IS TRIAL NOT SOME CHILD'S PLAY"

After, leaving the words pressure also went away from them, "I am sorry, Master, I got carried away"

"CONTINUE!!!"

For the second time, the two dark monsters approached him.

Adam, who had been anticipating it, hardly flinched, and once they were done, he used 'Heal' to rapidly heal the wounds.

It was hoped that it might at least slow down the blood loss, but it had no effect.

"NEXT!" He yelled angrily, his jaws clenched.

Adam had no idea that She was deliberately sending him easy-to-solve puzzles so that he wouldn't be able to recuperate from his past wounds.

She did so because, despite the fact that failure meant death, He was sent here by a previous apostle, and she couldn't accomplish anything without him.

Her master, Erebus who was also looking at the trial from his own, had strictly prohibited her from taking Adam's life, that is unless she wanted to lose hers as well.

At the surface, it looked as if it was a trial of intelligence but in reality, it was a trial of willpower.

If one needs a power of darkness, he should know to let go of the brightness, and also have to be strong-willed to sacrifice someone at some point at any time.

Erebus wanted to know whether, Adam would be able to ensure hellish pain, and still manage to push through the limits of illusion shackles.

Which was an essential condition for being an 'apostle' of Erebus and could Adam afford it.

When Adam properly answered a riddle, the number of slashes on his body grew by one, and he began to receive more and more wounds.

He had also attempted to use his abilities to create a barrier to defend himself or attack the monster, but the dark creature ate his magic and ignored his barriers, injuring him.

As a result, Adam decided to stop erecting barriers and instead utilize his skills to heal himself but, it only had very little effect.

"NEXT!"

"The Last riddle!- The more there is, the less you see it. What is It?"

Adam was panting more than hard ever before, wishing to forget about everything and relax... his eyelids were becoming heavy. He could no longer feel his legs.

Slowly, very slowly, his entire body became numb. He was losing awareness, but he had to push through it all in order to regain power.

He gently raised his brows. ' Just a step away from Erebus's throne...just a step away from Erebus's throne... "DARKNESS!!"

Darkness engulfed his vision as he spoke these words, but in the final minutes, he noticed a system prompt emerge in front of his eyes.