Fallen Fate Online

Whoooooosh.

Zayne\'s sword flashed with blue flames as he jumped high up.

At the same moment, dozens of piranhas jumped out of the lake, each with a wide open jaw and sharp teeth aimed straight at Zayne.

"Freeze." Zayne whispered before swinging his sword, raining down on the lake, an X-shape flaming cross, blue and cold.

As it approached the fire, the small-sized piranha immediately froze, turning into an ice statues. They fell onto the stone platform, shattering into small shards and not even leaving behind a drop of blood as they froze through. 

Then, the flaming cross reached the water, quickly turning the surface of the lake into a thick layer of ice, calming the light waves and active ripples.

Tap.

Zayne with a calm expression landed on the stone platform on which the ice was slowly spreading in a web pattern.

"Damn, he used that skill against me. I must say its power is impressive." Toruf muttered with a serious look.

"Yeah..." Edvin nodded slightly, "If it were someone weaker or not with such a tough hide and powerful muscles, this one would have turned to ice, just like those piranhas."

"And...? He\'s already passed the first stage?" Kota asked with a confused face, turning her head.

"Are you stupid?" Edvin threw an annoyed look at her, causing Kota to flinch, "Obviously this is just the beginning. Do you think Chaos Trial can be that easy? This is a real trial!"

Kota silently lowered her head, not daring to ask anything more. The last thing she wanted was to anger Edvin, who was interested in watching Chaos Trial in its entirety.

Zayne looked around. The pillar of black stone was still hovering over the lake, which meant the first stage was not yet over, though the piranhas were obviously finished.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

A muffled thud began to come from the depths of the lake, then cracks appeared in the thick layer of ice, gradually spreading across the surface.

Zayne took a step back, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

Whooooooooooosh.

Breaking the ice barrier, a massive creature with a long body and no arms or legs emerged from the water. It was a massive serpent, with sharp blue scales, wide fins at its sharp elongated head, and two amber eyes with horizontal pupils.

"Rooooaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!" Serpent roared, echoing throughout Dark Mist Forest.

Marcus, Fosca, and Sara heard it.

\'Damn... Looks like things are bad. If Zayne Fellen ended up near that monster, we might not make it in time... We have to speed up!" Marcus frowned before rushing forward with more force.

Fosca and Sara exchanged glances, slightly surprised, and tried their best to keep up with their commander. 

"Hmm... If I were an Awakened One like Toruf or Edvin, I would be able to determine the strength of this serpent..." Zayne stared intently at the wriggling monster who was shattering the solid layer of ice with its massive body. 

"However... Considering the circumstances and the fact that this is just the beginning of the Trial, you can\'t be stronger than Terror Grade, right?" Zayne glanced at Serpent, "But, you\'re definitely more dangerous than Champion Grade Ones."

Gradually, Serpent stopped as the entire surface of the lake was now free of ice. Ice debris continued to float on the water, but they could no longer hinder the movement of someone as large as Serpent.

Then, the Serpent\'s gaze fell on Zayne. It continued for a while as if Serpent was sizing up his opponent.

Zayne prepared to attack. and when his opponent finally decided to act, Zayne immediately retaliated as two scarlet wings unfolded behind him.

The Serpent opened its jaw wide, with long sharp fangs, demolishing everything in its path. Not even the stone platform Zayne was standing on could stop the monster. The Serpent just destroyed everything in its path, going straight for Zayne.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

Zayne\'s wings came into motion as he turned into a red flash, heading for Serpent. His trajectory was straight for the monster\'s jaw, but, at the last moment, Zayne took a step to the side.

Crackle.

One of the Serpent\'s fangs grazed Zayne\'s shoulder, leaving a long but shallow cut from which blood gushed.

Zayne didn\'t even pay attention to it, he was willing to get that wound to stay as close to the Serpent as possible. Sometimes, you had to let an enemy wound you to be able to do critical damage right away.

The dark sword flashed with a blue light that was especially bright due to the moon illuminating the battlefield from high in the night sky. Then, the sharp blade plunged into the Serpent\'s flesh through its dense scales.

Zayne kept advancing, as well as the monster who could no longer stop because of the powerful momentum of his thrust, so the sword effortlessly cut through the monster\'s dense flesh.

Streams of dark blood came out, partially covering Zayne\'s cold face.

"Roooaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!!!" Serpent roared in pain, quickly disappearing beneath the lake.

Things calmed down for a while, but, soon Zayne saw splashes in the water again as well as light ripples. Then, the Serpent reappeared, half of its body covered in blood due to a long wound that started from its head and continued all the way to its tail.

It seemed that the monster could attack Zayne at any moment, but the Serpent did not. The monster stared at Zayne, facing his calm gaze, and then Serpent raised his head high up and disappeared into the lake.

Whooooooooooooosh.

Scarlet flames erupted above where Serpent had just been, and the ripples in the water quickly stopped.

"Hmm? He decided to leave the battlefield?" Zayne was puzzled, then a bitter smile appeared on his face, "Fine. It turns out monsters can be more intelligent than humans. It looks like there\'s something much bigger than this ahead of me."

Zayne raised his head. looking at the stone pillar hovering over the lake, expecting something to happen now. He was fully confident that the first stage had been passed, but, that wasn\'t quite the case.

In fact, Zayne wasn\'t the only one who thought that he had already passed the first stage.

Some monsters were puzzled, glancing at each other. Perhaps in another situation, they would have fought, but right now they were all on the same side, the side of the spectators. All of their attention was directed solely towards Zayne.

Step. Step. Step.

At the same moment, three shadows appeared from the forest, they were Marcus, Sara, and Fosca. In a few jumps, they were on one of the hills that were free of monsters.

Some monsters paid attention to the Fate Knights who had come, but no one moved. The rules were simple, as long as Marcus, Sara, and Fosca were mere spectators like them, there was no reason to fight.

They had and would have hundreds of hours and days for mortal combat, for standing their ground and helping Chaos or Fate. But, only now did they have the chance to watch Chaos Trial, from the best of places!

"Wait... Something\'s wrong..." Sara muttered, looking at the crystal on her belt, "If I\'m not mistaken Zayne Fellen should be right there... in the center of the lake... but, that can\'t be, right?"

Marcus sighed, "Well, I\'d like to agree with you, but not this time... It\'s a lot worse than I thought. Zayne Fellen was kidnapped by Chaos in order to participate in the Chaos Trial. At least that\'s the only theory I have."

Fosca looked at Zayne with a trembling gaze, "Wait... Is this the one we were supposed to rescue...? I could be wrong, but he doesn\'t look like he needs help, I wouldn\'t call him strong though."

Sara turned to Marcus and asked, "Commander, what do we do?"

Marcus grabbed his chin, saying thoughtfully, "Try to accomplish our mission. Maybe when Chaos Trial is over we\'ll have a chance to do it. If not, we\'ll just go back to Falrin and report everything to Order. There\'s nothing we can do to help Zayne Fellen in this situation, he has to get out of Chaos Trial on his own."

"Wait... Is it possible for an ordinary person to participate in the Chaos Trial?" Sara asked.

"Anyone can, but, it\'s a real rarity that Chaos kidnapped him just for the sake of it... Honestly, it\'s all rather strange, but we have no choice but to stay here and watch." Marcus said seriously, with his arms crossed on his chest.

Fosca looked around with a curious expression. She wanted to become stronger, and now she saw hundreds of monsters each of them many times her strength.

\'Unbelievable...\' Fosca gulped, \'They have such frightening auras coming from them, but they don\'t seem to have any intention of attacking us... Are they really that interested in Chaos Trial...?\'

Fosca turned her head, directing her gaze towards Zayne.

He was standing in the middle of the stone platform, waiting for the next stage, but instead, the water began to shake violently.

Then, powerful surges turned into waves behind which a tall silhouette with a long trident-like weapon appeared.