Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods
Chapter 107: The Trial of Ascension

Chapter 107: The Trial of Ascension

The wind howled like a storm trapped in a tunnel.

Bel floated inside the vortex, his body spinning, twisted by the powerful wind.

The swirling black and red winds pressed against him from every side, as if the vortex itself was trying to tear him apart.

[Trial Dungeon of Ascension - Initiating...]

[Warning: No Exit Until Completion]

[Synchronizing Equipment...]

A pulse of energy sparked from his inventory.

[Item: Obsidian Core] Rarity: ??? [Effect: Heart of Ruin - Quest Initiated]

The Obsidian Core shot out, hovering before Bel before melting into pure darkness and penetrating his chest.

He gasped as it fused with his heart, sending a violent pulse through his body.

[Item: Obsidian Crown] Rarity: ??? [Effect: Throne of Destruction - Quest Initiated]

The Obsidian Crown formed above his head like a ring of jagged black metal. It glowed once, then sank into his skull like smoke.

[Item: Cloth of Destruction]

Rarity: ???

[Effect: Body of Ruin - Quest Initiated]

The cloth, a looking like a black torn coat, unspooled in the wind, wrapping around him, folding into his skin, burning into his limbs like fire stitching muscle.

[Item: Mark of Destruction]

Rarity: ???

[Effect: Authority of Destruction - Quest Initiated]

Last was the Mark.

It was a black smoke crossed by red lightning, blazing bright before searing itself onto Bel’s forehead.

A dark aura burst from him, a pressure that swallowed the sound in the vortex. He gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing purple.

[System Notification: Processing Inventory for Core Synthesis...]

[Synthesizing... Elemental Core: Fire... Ice... Lightning... Earth... Water...] [Processing: Obsidian Core... Completed]

[Initiating Fusion Protocol: Forbidden Format - Authority Grade]

[Synthesis Complete. Unique Item Created: VOID BALL]

A small black sphere floated before him, then shone red, and its light swallowed everything.

Then... nothing.

Silence and darkness.

Then a breath, followed by a gasp. Bel’s eyes opened.

He sat up quickly, chest rising and falling, hands gripping the earth beneath him. Only... it wasn’t earth.

It was smooth, black stone, like polished obsidian. Strange red particles floated in the air like glowing dust.

"Where...?"

He looked around. Everything was suspended in air. Floating islands of stone hovered in a void of looking like the sky.

Above and below, there was no horizon, just glowing cracks and streams of light weaving between shattered fragments of land.

Bel blinked slowly. It felt like waking from a dream.

"...A dungeon?"

He rose to his feet. His body felt normal, too normal. But then, the memory surged back.

"The obsidian things..."

He looked at his arms, his chest, his hands.

"They went into me. I felt them... merge."

Then he froze.

"Wait... damn! My inventory!"

He panicked, remembering the notification about his items being turned into cores.

He opened his inventory.

"...What the hell?!"

Most of his items were gone. The countless materials, monster drops, and consumables he’d been hoarding for weeks had vanished.

"I... I really let this stuff pile up, but come on! Not like that!"

He scrolled faster.

"Weapons... okay. Still here. Whew..."

But then he paused. Something caught his eye.

A black orb.

"This wasn’t here before..."

He recovered it from the inventory.

The orb floated above his palm, pulsing gently. He could feel it, really feel it.

Like an extra limb. Like someone could feel his ear or foot.

[Item: Void Orb]

Rarity: Mythic

Refinement Grade: C

[Effect]: A weapon bound to the will of its owner. Capable of transforming into any form the wielder can imagine. Reacts to elemental input. Sentient to the user’s intent.

He narrowed his eyes.

"...So this is what it made..."

He held the strange black orb in his hand, eyebrows raised.

"This... is a weapon?"

He turned it slowly, inspecting it from every angle. It didn’t look like any weapon he knew. No edge. No weight distribution. Just a floating orb that floated gently in his palm.

He read the description again.

"A weapon bound to the will of its owner... reacts to imagination."

That part caught him.

Will? Imagination?

His eyes narrowed. That felt familiar.

"Wait... that’s how I open dungeons. I picture the door, and the system responds. Is this... the same?"

He looked around at the floating stone platforms, then back at the orb.

"If it’s here, it has to be important. Maybe... necessary."

He closed his eyes.

Alright. Think.

He pictured a weapon. Something easy. Something simple. Something he could use without thinking.

A sword.

Something sharp. Balanced. Fast.

The orb rippled.

He felt it change in his hand, its shape stretching, forming. The surface hardened.

He opened his eyes.

A long black sword rested in his grip, smooth and sleek, like it had been poured from liquid shadow.

[Item: Void Sword]

Rarity: Mythic Elemental

Affinity: Adaptive

Refinement Grade: C

[Effect]: Changes elemental type based on the element infused by the user. Enhanced by the user’s elemental mastery. Inflicts status effects depending on the element infused.

Bel’s jaw slackened.

"It worked. It actually worked..."

He held it up, letting the red particles in the air glint across its edge.

"An elemental weapon that adapts to all my elements... and inflicts status too? This is insane."

Then another notification popped up.

[Void Orb Enhancement Available]

Materials Required:

Tempest Iron x1000 (Dropped by: Storm-Fanged Basilisk)

Heartwood of the Shardroot Tree x1000 (Dropped by: Ruinwood Warden)

Location: Floor 1 - Fractured Isles of Ruin

Bel analyzed the quest again.

The number of enemies, the materials.

"The system actually wants me to do something specific," he muttered.

He crossed his arms, thinking. A thousand monsters meant quantity over quality. Usually that meant they were weak. That wouldn’t be the issue.

But then his eyes narrowed. His mind went back to the inventory.

"It cleared my inventory... to make space for the quest drops?"

That made sense. But then he had a problem. With a maximum of 150 items, he had not enough room.

And his weapons were still there.

Then, another notification blinked.

[Trial Quest: Heart of Ruin Activated]

Objectives:

Defeat 1000 Storm-Fanged Basilisks

Defeat 1000 Ruinwood Wardens

Defeat Floor Guardian: Malgeirith, the Titan of Hollow Winds

Absorb: Core of Storm

Bel’s breath caught.

"Hollow Winds...? Wind element."

He clenched the Void Sword, looking down at its black surface.

Wind.

One of the two elements he was still missing.

"So that’s why. This is why they weren’t in any dungeon. They’re in this trial..."

He felt more euphoria in a single second than in a whole week. But he had to stay focused.

He exhaled slowly, trying to calm down.

No point worrying about inventory space. The system knew what it was doing. It left his weapons alone, even though it gave him one better.

It had prepared everything. All he had to do now... was kill and see.

Bel closed his eyes. Focused. Extended his senses.

He could feel them. The monsters.

Far off, but nothing was far from his bolt mode.

He was trapped here. This place was sealed. The only way out...

Was completion.

He opened his eyes, a spark of lightning flashing.

"Alright. Let’s go."