Chapter 163 - Trial of Arrays

[Passive Ability: Berserk

Grants the Host a slight increase in Strength with every kill. The accumulated enhancement gradually increases the Host’s physical prowess, but prolonged use can influence the Host’s mind, inducing bloodlust, aggression, and mental corruption.

The Host must maintain control, lest the Berserk instinct consume their reason.]

[Passive Ability: Ecstasy

The more the Host engages with the world, the greater the sense of Ecstasy they experience. Combat, physical exertion, intimacy, and even the simplest movements can trigger this effect.

Ecstasy strengthens the Host’s mental and spiritual stability, protecting the soul from external attacks and helping resist mental corruption caused by abilities such as Berserk.]

[Passive Ability: Warmonger

When fighting alongside allies, the Host’s presence strengthens their combat potential.

The greater the number of allies actively participating in battle, the stronger the enhancement provided to them, increasing their strength, fighting spirit, and overall combat effectiveness.

The ability reaches its greatest effect during large-scale battles.]

Cale smiled.

’Now that I think about it, the reason I can devour more than one flame must be because of the yin attributes of my body, along with the huge yang attributes of a dragon and phoenix. Heh, if someone got to know this, they might desire my body... in more than one way.’

They reached the next stage.

Sesrir, now regaining his composure, asked, "Where are we now? Do you know the next trial too?"

Cale smirked.

"Well... it’s something related to arrays and formations. Although I’m not too confident, we can still handle a few."

He did indeed knew a bit about how to break arrays.

Cale summoned Null and let the massive centipede crawl across their entire path ahead of them.

After walking for three hours—

Zoop!

Null was suddenly pulled into a sword array.

Magic circles materialized from above and below, pressing down with crushing force as tens of swords were shot every second in rapid succession.

Cale quickly pulled Null back, the centipede retreating to safety.

"Let’s change the route."

He sent Null left.

An ice formation erupted, freezing the entire space.

To his right—

A stone formation blocked the path entirely.

’Sigh... these are way too many arrays here.’

[Another candidate must have passed through the same route, setting up traps for host.]

Cale’s eyes fluttered slightly. He looked at Sesrir.

"Another candidate? Among those few... who the hell knew how to set up formations anyway?"

"How should I know? I doubt anyone of them was that proficient in setting them up," Sesrir shrugged.

’We are indeed covered by arrays.’

On another side, several kilometers ahead, Tian and Mark were walking through the formation-laden landscape.

"Oh, look, there’s some kind of tomb here," Mark pointed out, gesturing toward a structure in the distance.

Both of them walked toward it through a tunnel-like passage.

They simply cut through the beasts charging toward them, but both Tian and Mark were powerful enough. An Apex Stage and an Emperor Stage had little difficulty with such obstacles.

"The further we walk, the more complex the arrays get," Mark observed. "Looking at this, I think in some time we might encounter arrays we need to destroy with brute force."

Tian sighed heavily.

"That will damage our souls too much... even just breaking one formation will give you damage which requires days to recover!"

But they weren’t fools.

Tian was a high-tier mage and array designer. As they passed through each formation, he deliberately set up smaller arrays in their wake — designed to cause problems for anyone following behind.

If the followers died, excellent. If not, they’d at least be wounded and slowed down.

It was a calculated strategy that required no additional energy use on his part.

Back at Cale’s location, both he and Sesrir were floating high in the air, though there was a restriction on how high one could ascend flying.

Cale asked casually, "How is it? Whose signature do you sense?"

Sesrir, whose eyes had been closed in concentration, replied, "It’s that Tian and Mark. Tian is likely the one setting up traps for us."

He opened his eyes and looked at Cale.

"How about we follow them? We have an approximate idea of where most traps are located. And they will likely be our meat shields in this way. Let’s follow them."

Cale sighed.

They walked several meters ahead, and then Cale pointed at a seemingly ordinary location. Like everywhere else, it appeared as normal as it possibly could be.

"Go there."

Sesrir frowned, walking toward that place hesitantly.

"Here? What is—aah!"

Tens of mosquitoes, each the size of a fist — erupted from the formation with violent force, all attacking exclusively toward Sesrir.

"Y-you tricked me!"

Cale laughed.

"Haha, you said you could detect most of them. What happens when we encounter something like this?"

Although not exactly accurate, thanks to his demonic eyes, Cale could easily sense the location of each and every trap and array with quite the precision, unlike Sesrir who could only detect a limited number.

Sesrir’s weapons flashed as he cut through the mosquito swarm with quite ease, his movements precise despite the relentless assault. The insects fell by the dozens, their blood spraying across the ground as his blades found their marks with unerring accuracy, yet more kept coming—an endless tide of chitinous bodies seeking his blood.

Mid-fight, Cale’s eyes remained glued to the formation itself.

Suddenly, he raised his hands, and essence appeared on his fingertips, manifesting like paint on an invisible canvas.

Within a few brush like moves, he drew something across the array’s pattern, as if drawing on the formation itself.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

His fingers traced intricate pathways through the array’s structure, disrupting its flow.

Snap!

With the final snap, the entire array broke like glass, its patterns shattering and dispersing into nothingness. All the mosquito monsters vanished simultaneously, their existence dependent entirely on the formation’s power.

Sesrir let out a grateful sigh.

"Damn, you saved me again. Hahaha! As expected of the Soul Devouring Demon Lord!"

Cale tsked dismissively.

"Hmph, what demon lord? Call me the Divine Lord of Chaos."

"Divine lord? You sure talk big, kid," Sesrir laughed, shaking his head.

With that, they continued ahead, slowly, breaking and shattering formations as they encountered them. Many times they couldn’t break through, forcing them to choose alternate routes that bypassed the more complex arrays.

But slowly, they progressed deeper into the trial stage—leaving a wake of destroyed formations in their path.