Chapter 52: Friend or foe

When he opened his eyes, all that surrounded him was the same old white void—one that could have stretched for an eternity, or perhaps ended just a few meters away. He couldn’t tell. He suddenly cursed as he experienced the same dragging sensation he always felt when coming to the Trial Space.

​After stabilizing himself, he took a moment to breathe. Even though he had experienced this before, it was something he never quite got used to.

​Once steady, he opened the interface and went directly to the Trial Grounds section. Just as he had left it, there was only one Trial Ground available. However, the countdown at the end of the entry had not decreased much, now reading: 97 days remaining.

​This was the result of using an Access Key earlier to temporarily go to that dimension. During that trip, he had even successfully bound Brend as his second queen. When he returned from that dimension, he had discovered that re-entering required a 100-day cooldown. That was why he hadn’t bothered trying to visit in the short term.

​Now, however, things were different.

​From his inventory, he pulled out a pale-colored stone. Encased inside it was what looked like a delicate hourglass. The stone radiated an ancient, aurora-like glow, as if it didn’t belong to this timeline at all.

​This was a Cooldown Stone, an item capable of instantly removing the cooldown of any entry requirement, up to a maximum limit of one year. And It was more than enough for his current situation.

​Smith directly applied the Cooldown Stone to the Trial Ground’s countdown. The stone dissolved into nothingness. Looking back at the cooldown, Smith watched the remaining days rapidly melt away like snow over an open flame. Within seconds, the cooldown reached zero and disappeared completely.

​He could enter the Trial Ground once more.

​With a single thought, he chose to enter. Just as before, his consciousness was violently pulled into what felt like a chaotic roller-coaster ride. It would be a lie to say he enjoyed it, but he had no power to resist.

​When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the exact position where he had left last time.

But when he opened his eyes he saw Line upon line of soldiers stood in neat formations along the corridor, interlocking their shoulders and shields in a fish-scale defense that choked the corridor from both sides. Farther down the backline, archers stood ready. Judging by their density, there were at most two hundred soldiers on either side. Smith was thoroughly puzzled—his initial thought was that an enemy invasion was underway.

​"You finally decided to show up again," a familiar voice called out from behind him. "Every time you leave, you give me a hard time cleaning up the mess you leave behind."

​Smith turned around. Standing there was Scarlet, leaning casually against the wall, looking as stunning as he remembered.

​What caught his attention was her attire: she wore full red armor with double blade on her waist, and her hair was tied up tightly, giving her a heroic, battle-hardened aura.

​"Is there an enemy kingdom invading?" Smith asked, gesturing around. "Why are there so many soldiers in the corridors?"

​Scarlet looked at Smith for a moment, wondering how to explain what had transpired during the few days he was gone. When he had left, the entire palace had almost been turned upside down by those little demons.

​Before she could speak, a heavy impact echoed from the far end of the corridor. It sounded as though a rhinoceros had slammed full-speed into the defensive wall.

​Smith spun around just in time to see two heavy-armored soldiers thrown into the air. Even without military expertise, Smith knew that a soldier clad in full plate carrying a tower shield weighed at least a hundred and twenty kilograms. To casually fling two of them aside and shatter the front defensive line required strength that couldn’t possibly belong to a normal human—it had to be a beast.

​Looking closer, Smith realized it was a humanoid figure—and "humanoid beast" was no exaggeration.

​The figure stood nearly 2.2 meters tall with broad, massive shoulders. wearng heavy, bronze-colored armor built with a brutalist aesthetic, complete with wicked spikes on the pauldrons. the massive figure wielded a double-headed battleaxe wide enough to double as a door. Smith estimated the armor weighed over a hundred kilograms, and the weapon itself couldn’t be less than fifty.

​Yet, the humanoid beast moved with terrifying speed. Using the flat side of the axe the guy battered soldiers left and right with every swing.

​What puzzled Smith most was that the giant had no intention of killing anyone. He was simply throwing the soldiers around. In one fluid motion, the giant grabbed a soldier by the shoulder guard and tossed him aside like a stray cat on the street, leaving Smith utterly dumbfounded.

​Smith glanced back at Scarlet for answers. If this was an enemy attack, why wasn’t the giant executing anyone? The thrown soldiers only sustained minor bruises; some were already climbing back to their feet, while a few unlucky ones were merely knocked unconscious and being dragged to safety by their comrades.

​Before Scarlet could answer, another commotion erupted from the opposite side of the corridor.

​This time, it wasn’t the raw, brutal power of the humanoid beast. Two fast-moving figures blurred down the hallway, leaving afterimages as they ran in a double-snake weaving pattern. Switching positions at the center of the corridor, they left the front-line soldiers confused as to who would strike first.

​Suddenly, one of the figures thrust a spear forward. The soldiers raised their shields in unison to block the strike, but the spear bent improbably—as if it weren’t made of rigid metal at all. It curved around the shields like a striking snake, biting directly into the weak points of the formation.

​With a swift horizontal sweep of the shaft, the spear struck the helmet of the left shield-bearer, then whipped back around to hit the right. Both soldiers collapsed unconscious, opening a wide gap in the line.

​The second shadowy figure, trailing just behind the spear wielder, charged through the breach. Planting a foot on an upright shield, she vaulted upward, bypassing three defensive lines in a single jump.

​The backline archers were prepared. They instantly unleashed a volley of arrows. The arrows lacked metal tips—they were just wooden shafts—but they carried enough force to disrupt anyone’s momentum.

​Mid-air, the shadowy figure executed an impossible maneuver, running vertically along the corridor wall for several steps. Smith’s jaw dropped at the display.

​Even with her wall-run, a few arrows were still tracking toward her. But before they could land, a second stream of arrows shot from the far end of the corridor, intercepting the incoming projectiles mid-air with surgical precision.

​Smith turned his head, stunned by the incredible marksmanship. A lone figure stood at the far end of the hallway, bow still drawn.

​Despite the air support, the shadowy figure was eventually slowed down. The remaining soldiers threw heavy containment nets into her path. Unable to cut through the reinforced mesh with her daggers quickly enough, her momentum stalled, forcing her to leap back and retreat.

​Smith stood in complete bewilderment. These "enemies" weren’t causing fatal harm to the soldiers, and the soldiers weren’t trying to kill them either. Yet the fighting wasn’t staged—it was intense combat training.

​But who conducts full-scale combat drills in a palace corridor?

​He turned back to Scarlet, desperate for an explanation.

​Scarlet sighed, holding his gaze. "This is the mess you left for me to clean up. And I have to say, it is entirely your fault."

​Smith blinked, thoroughly stunned. "My fault? I was only gone for an hour! How could a short time cause all of this?"