Chapter 224 — The Flame That Awakened

In the brief moment before the monster's fist could reach Evan, something strange happened inside his body.

His heart slowed.

Not gradually, but so dramatically that each heartbeat seemed separated by an eternity. The world around him stretched into a distorted slow motion, every falling piece of debris and flickering flame moving as though time itself had been dragged to a crawl.

Evan's bloodshot eyes remained fixed ahead.

A figure was materialising between him and the approaching monster.

At first, it was nothing more than a silhouette.

Then the darkness surrounding the battlefield deepened.

The figure grew clearer.

And Evan's breathing stopped.

The being standing before him was colossal.

It was even larger than the wooden monster that had been hunting him.

An overwhelming presence spread from its body, so immense that Evan could feel pressure settling over his chest with every breath. Yet there was no killing intent within that presence. No hostility.

Evan knew it.

He had been waiting for it.

Brilliant flames radiated from the figure, illuminating the darkness until the wooden monster's enormous body was almost completely overshadowed.

A faint grin appeared on Evan's battered face.

His gaze shifted toward the Crimson Edge.

The weapon was glowing.

Not like ordinary flames.

It looked alive.

"Vela..."

The name escaped Evan's lips with a strange certainty.

"I knew you wouldn't be sleeping at a time like this."

The flaming figure remained silent.

Evan's smile widened slightly.

"I need your strength. Give it to me, and I'll pay the price."

The figure finally revealed its true form.

A colossal Death Phoenix made entirely from living flames stood before him, its enormous wings slowly spreading across the battlefield.

Velma was still trapped within his Summon Space.

She couldn't possibly be here.

Then there was only one answer.

Vela.

The spirit of his blade.

The consciousness that had remained dormant ever since entering the trial.

Vela didn't answer.

She simply stared at him.

For a moment, Evan felt something within that ancient gaze.

Recognition.

Or perhaps...

Resolve.

Then her enormous wings opened completely.

They descended around Evan.

He didn't resist.

He simply stood there and allowed the flames to engulf him.

The instant those wings surrounded his body, his heart suddenly accelerated.

THUMP.

Evan's eyes widened.

THUMP. THUMP.

His heart began pounding so violently that he could hear every beat inside his own ears.

A strange heat spread through his chest.

It wasn't ordinary mana.

It wasn't the flames he had been using until now.

Something deeper was flowing through his heart.

A new source of energy.

A violent, scorching vitality that spread through every vein in his body.

Evan's eyes slowly developed a faint crimson tint.

The heat intensified.

His muscles tightened.

His broken body trembled.

And the wounds covering him began to heal.

The world suddenly snapped back into motion.

The monster's gigantic fist was already inches away from his face.

Evan didn't move.

He didn't need to.

A terrifying wave of flames exploded from his body.

BOOOOM!

Flames erupted outward.

The wooden fist entering his range was instantly scorched, its surface turning black before the entire section shattered into charred pieces.

The monster staggered backwards.

For the first time, it showed something resembling hesitation.

The temperature around Evan continued rising.

Ice began melting beneath his feet.

Broken wood caught fire.

Even the surrounding ground started to crack beneath the unbearable heat.

Yet Evan himself wasn't burning.

His wounds were closing.

His damaged flesh was repairing itself beneath the flames.

His entire body had transformed into something resembling a burning incarnation of white ash and fire.

Evan slowly raised his head.

He could feel it.

The difference was enormous.

His strength had surged.

Almost doubled.

He was approaching the level of power he could normally unleash outside the trial.

But the greatest change wasn't his body.

It was the weapon in his hand.

Crimson Edge was completely submerged in flames.

Its form began changing.

The blade twisted.

The metal reshaped itself.

Flames crawled along its edge as though the weapon itself was awakening from a long sleep.

Then a System notification appeared.

[Item <Crimson Edge>: Temporary seal has been lifted.]

Evan's eyes narrowed.

Another notification appeared immediately after.

[Item <Weapon> has been temporarily elevated to a new horizon of Tier 1.]

Evan's expression changed.

Then came the final warning.

[Unsealing consumes the weapon's remaining vitality.]

[Warning: Estimated structural collapse: Unknown]

Evan stared at the notifications for a moment.

So this was the price.

He didn't care.

Not now.

The moment he gripped the weapon tighter, an overwhelming force surged through his arm.

He could feel the difference immediately.

This wasn't merely a temporary boost.

The weapon had been restrained.

And Vela had just broken those restraints.

Evan looked toward the monster.

"Now..."

His voice was calm.

"...let's finish this."

He took one step.

The next instant, he disappeared.

The monster's dark-green eyes widened.

Evan had already appeared directly before it.

The creature instinctively brought both arms downward, attempting to crush him between them.

Evan's blade moved first.

A horizontal arc flashed through the darkness.

SHING!

Both massive arms were severed simultaneously.

Flames erupted across the wounds.

The monster staggered forward, abandoning the detached limbs as they fell to the ground.

But Evan was already gone.

He appeared directly before its chest.

His blade swung again.

The monster's instincts finally reacted.

The wooden roots covering its upper chest tightened violently, creating layer after layer of dense protection around the pulsing crimson light.

It was protecting the totem.

Evan's eyes sharpened.

The blade fell.

BOOOOM!

The entire defensive layer exploded apart.

Wood and vines were shredded in an instant.

And beneath them...

Evan finally saw it.

The core.

A blood-red orb floated within a thick mist of crimson energy at the center of the monster's chest.

But it wasn't what surprised Evan.

The walls surrounding the orb were becoming transparent.

The blood inside was rapidly diminishing.

Its reserves were being drained.

And beside the orb...

A familiar figure floated within the blood mist.

Evan's eyes narrowed.

The Shaman.

The body that should have been nothing more than a corpse was floating beside the totem.

Yet the Shaman looked completely different from before.

His body was being restored.

His wounds had almost disappeared.

The totem was healing him.

Evan understood immediately.

'So that's what this thing was doing.'

The monster wasn't the true source.

The totem was.

And the Shaman was somehow being sustained alongside it.

But Evan didn't waste another second thinking about it.

He vanished.

His body appeared directly before the exposed chest.

His blade moved toward the blood-covered totem.

The monster reacted instantly.

Wood erupted from its chest, attempting to intercept the attack.

Evan disappeared again.

He reappeared behind the monster and slashed across its back.

The attack tore through layers of wood.

But there was nothing there.

The core was completely protected from behind.

Evan immediately retreated several meters.

The monster's severed arms had already begun regenerating.

Fresh roots crawled from its shoulders.

New wood formed.

It was recovering again.

Evan's flames intensified.

His eyes locked onto the monster's chest.

'So the only way is from the front.'

The monster seemed to reach the same conclusion.

It lowered its body.

Evan's expression changed.

The creature wasn't regenerating this time.

It crouched.

Its enormous body compressed like a spring.

Then it launched itself into the sky.

The ground beneath it exploded.

Evan looked upward.

The wooden giant soared high above the settlement before turning its body downward.

It was coming straight for him.

A falling mountain.

A living weapon.

But Evan didn't move.

His flames grew brighter.

The heat surrounding him intensified until the remaining ice around his feet evaporated instantly.

The monster descended.

Evan's grip tightened around Crimson Edge.

His aura continued rising.

Higher.

Hotter.

More violent.

The monster was almost upon him.

And Evan still stood there.

Waiting for the perfect moment.

Because this time...

He wasn't planning to dodge.

Evan didn't move.

His body remained completely still as he gathered the energy coursing through his veins, allowing it to flow into the Crimson Edge. The weapon began changing in his grasp, its burning form twisting as Vela's power continued to surge through it.

The wooden monster descended like a falling mountain.

Evan's eyes remained cold.

At the final moment, he swung.

A massive flaming slash erupted from the blade.

The attack didn't remain a simple arc of fire. As it travelled through the air, the flames gathered together and formed the vague silhouette of a colossal Phoenix, its body slightly blurred by the overwhelming heat surrounding it.

The flaming bird spread its wings and tore through the darkness.

The monster immediately sensed danger.

Its instincts screamed at it to protect its chest.

Thick layers of wood erupted across its upper body, forming a dense barrier around the crimson orb hidden within its torso.

But Evan wasn't aiming for the core.

Not yet.

The Phoenix-shaped slash struck the monster's body.

There was no explosion.

No prolonged struggle.

The entire torso below the wooden chest defence was simply severed apart.

The upper half of the monster separated from the lower half, and within seconds, the massive wooden body below the chest began turning into ash beneath the unbearable flames.

The monster lost its balance and crashed heavily into the ruined settlement.

BOOOOM!

Dust and burning fragments spread across the ground.

The enormous body that had been nearly impossible to injure was now reduced to a broken chest, half-formed arms, and a rapidly collapsing wooden torso.

Yet even in that state, it attempted to regenerate.

Roots began crawling from the broken remains.

Fresh wood pushed outward.

Evan didn't give it the opportunity.

He disappeared from where he stood and instantly appeared above the monster's chest.

Vines shot toward him from every direction.

Thick wooden branches erupted from the ground and twisted through the air like serpents, attempting to tear Evan apart before he could reach the core.

None of them survived.

The moment they entered Evan's flames, they burned into ash.

Evan landed directly before the monster's chest and looked at the crimson orb it was desperately protecting.

His expression remained completely emotionless.

"So this is what you've been protecting."

The monster reacted violently.

More wood erupted around the orb.

Evan's eyes narrowed.

He plunged the Crimson Edge directly into it.

The instant the blade entered the blood-covered orb, the crimson energy surrounding it turned into mist. The dense blood seemed to lose its substance, spreading around Evan's weapon like smoke.

The monster convulsed.

Evan pulled the blade free.

Instead of attacking again, he reached his bare hand into the orb.

His fingers passed through the blood mist.

Something was inside.

Evan grabbed it.

He expected to find the totem.

Instead, he pulled out a body.

The Shaman.

Evan's eyes narrowed as he dragged the weakened body out of the blood orb.

At the same moment, the crimson markings across the totem dimmed slightly.

Evan looked down at the Shaman.

He was still alive.

Barely.

His body had become horrifyingly thin, almost malnourished from the amount of blood and vitality that had been drained from him. His skin clung tightly to his bones, and his breathing was so weak that it was almost impossible to notice.

Evan threw him aside.

Not because he wanted to spare him.

He simply didn't want to burn the Shaman alive in a fit of anger.

His attention immediately returned to the floating totem.

The crimson orb was still connected to it.

Evan stepped forward and pushed his hand inside once again.

But this time, he didn't grab anything.

'You wish to run... Fine...'

Flames began gathering inside his palm.

A tiny sphere of fire formed within the blood mist.

It started small.

Then it expanded.

The blood orb trembled as the temperature inside it rapidly increased.

The totem reacted.

Its wooden body shifted toward the side of the orb, desperately trying to escape the expanding sphere of flame.

Evan watched it without expression.

"You should've run earlier."

He pulled his hand out.

Then he jumped away from the monster.

For a moment, nothing happened.

The flame sphere remained suspended inside the blood orb.

Then it became violent.

The flames suddenly expanded in every direction, filling the entire interior of the crimson sphere.

The blood mist caught fire.

The orb became a miniature sun.

And then it exploded.

BOOOOOOM!

A tremendous wave of flames engulfed the monster's chest.

The remaining wooden body caught fire instantly.

The crimson markings across the totem flickered violently before beginning to fade.

Whatever power had been sustaining the monster loosened.

The wooden giant collapsed.

Its massive body struck the ground and remained there as flames consumed the remaining roots and branches.

The totem itself burned within the destruction.

Evan didn't even look back.

He turned toward the Shaman.

The old Goblin was lying several meters away, his body almost completely drained of blood.

Yet he was still alive.

His eyes slowly opened.

Evan approached him with steady steps.

The Shaman looked toward him and coughed weakly.

A thin stream of blood escaped his mouth.

"Still alive, huh..."

Evan stopped before him.

"Looks like your life still has to be ended by me."

He raised the Crimson Edge.

The Shaman's breathing became heavier.

"...Human."

His voice was barely audible, but the hatred within it remained unchanged.

"Don't think surviving this time means you will survive later. My master will take your head one day or another."

He coughed again, forcing the remaining blood from his lungs.

"I'll wait for you on the other side."

Evan stared at him for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah..."

A faint smirk appeared on his face.

"Keep dreaming. Don't worry. I'll send your master behind you after some time."

The Shaman's eyes widened slightly.

Evan plunged the Crimson Edge into his chest.

The blade pierced straight through his heart.

The Shaman's body went limp.

The final breath escaped his mouth.

The Shaman was dead.

Evan slowly pulled his blade free.

But he didn't celebrate.

Something had caught his attention.

He turned back toward the burning remains of the wooden monster.

Most of its body had already collapsed into charred fragments.

Yet Evan noticed something moving within the flames.

A faint crimson pulse.

His eyes narrowed.

He walked toward the left side of the burning corpse.

There.

Among the destroyed roots and ashes was a tiny piece of wood.

It was barely larger than his palm.

A faint crimson light pulsed from its surface.

The totem.

Evan stopped before it.

A cold smile appeared on his face.

"You thought I would miss you again?"

He raised his leg.

"Not possible."

His foot came down.

CRACK!

The small wooden fragment shattered beneath his heel.

The crimson light vanished.

The last remaining connection between the totem and the monster disappeared completely.

The final enemy of the settlement was dead.

Only then did Evan's flames begin to fade.

The blazing aura surrounding his body weakened rapidly as the temporary unsealing effect began to disappear.

The overwhelming strength Vela had granted him drained away.

Evan's knees buckled.

His body fell backwards.

He landed on the ruined ground and stared silently at the night sky above.

Countless stars had appeared between the branches.

For a brief moment, Evan simply watched them.

His breathing became slower.

His consciousness began slipping away.

The Crimson Edge gradually returned to its normal form.

The flames disappeared from the blade.

Evan's body finally reached its limit.

His eyes closed.

He lost consciousness.

At almost the same moment, a series of notifications began appearing before him.

One after another.

They recorded the result of the battle.

The completion of the trial.

The rewards.

The changes to his status.

The consequences of what had just occurred.

But Evan was already unconscious.

He couldn't see any of them.

He couldn't hear them either.

The battlefield fell into silence.

The once-living Goblin settlement had become nothing more than a ruined graveyard.

Bodies covered the ground.

Ice pillars stood among burning trees.

Broken walls surrounded the remains of the settlement.

And at the center of it all, Evan lay motionless beneath the starry sky.

Far away from that battlefield, however, something else had already noticed what happened.

Deep within the forest, in a heavily defended territory surrounded by layers of natural barriers, stood a massive hut.

The structure was crude compared to human architecture, but its size and defences revealed that its occupant was no ordinary Goblin.

Inside the hut, a figure suddenly opened his eyes.

His gaze turned toward the distant direction of the settlement.

For several seconds, he remained silent.

Then his eyes narrowed.

"Hmmm..."

A low voice echoed through the massive hut.

"So he failed too."

The figure slowly rose from his position.

"Even after releasing the Totem Spell..."

His expression darkened.

The next instant, an enormous aura erupted from his body.

BOOOOM!

The entire forest trembled.

Trees shook violently.

Leaves were torn from their branches.

Animals fled from the surrounding area in panic.

The countless creatures living within the forest instinctively fell silent.

For several moments, not even the wind dared to move.

The figure continued staring toward the distant settlement.

A cold pressure spread across the forest.

And somewhere beneath that overwhelming aura...

A terrifying killing intent slowly awakened.

__

A/N:

Hello everyone, this is the author.

I apologise for the irregular updates recently. I've been dealing with some issues on my end, but I'm doing my best to become more consistent moving forward.

I've also realised that the story's pace has been slower than I'd like, so I'll be working on improving the pacing in the upcoming chapters while continuing to develop the story properly.

Thank you for your patience and for continuing to read.

I hope you'll enjoy what's coming next.