The battlefield was set. Chains stretched between towering pillars, swaying slightly under the weight of the warriors standing upon them. Below, the abyss loomed, ready to swallow anyone who faltered.
From the elevated command platform within the Sentinels' camp, Commander Zhuran Xirong and his vice commander, Wei Jun, observed the ongoing battle with keen eyes. Their expressions remained unreadable as the sounds of clashing weapons and battle cries filled the air.
Zhuran Xirong crossed his arms, his gaze shifting between the three opposing factions.
"Eighteen geniuses from Phoenix Cry, thirty-four from Obsidian Shadow Empire, and thirty-six from Emeral Sovereignty," he murmured, assessing their movements. "A gathering of talents, yet none of them are even a proper unit."
Wei Jun frowned slightly. "Then why did the Patriarch order such a large assembly of Sentinels for this?"
Zhuran Xirong exhaled through his nose. "Because this is not just their trial—it is also one for our Sentinels." His sharp gaze swept over the battlefield before he gave a curt command.
"Squad leaders, choose your opponents!"
At his words, three figures moved instantly.
Gou Ren, a towering figure clad in dark armor, launched himself onto the chain where the Phoenix Cry geniuses fought. His boots struck the metal links with a heavy clang, and the Sentinels under his command shifted in perfect formation behind him. His eyes gleamed with a predatory light as he scanned the young warriors before him.
On another chain, Xian Lihua, a lithe yet deadly figure, landed gracefully in the midst of the Obsidian Shadow Empire's forces, her twin daggers already drawn. The Sentinels under her command spread out like a hunting pack, surrounding their prey.
Further along, Wu Feng descended upon the Emerald Sovereignty's chain, his halberd gleaming as he spun it once before resting it against his shoulder. His stance was relaxed, yet the warriors before him felt the unmistakable pressure of a predator sizing up his prey.
Gou Ren cracked his neck before raising his weapon, his smirk widening.
"Phoenix Cry geniuses... let's see if you're worthy of the legends that precede you."
With that, the real battle began.
---
A Strange Occurrence
The first life was taken.
Sylas moved like a shadow, his Eternal Arms—a short sword gleaming with deadly precision—slicing cleanly through a Sentinel's torso. The razor-sharp blade tore through flesh and bone, splitting the man in half. Blood splattered across the chains, staining them deep crimson. Entrails spilled out, steaming in the cold air.
But then—something unnatural happened.
As if the battlefield itself rejected death, the Sentinel's severed body flickered. The pools of blood, the organs, the lifeless eyes frozen in horror—all of it shimmered and disappeared in an instant.
Sylas's eyes widened. He felt a strange ripple in the air, a presence that shouldn't have been there. His instincts screamed at him—this wasn't normal.
Yet there was no time to dwell on it.
All around the battlefield, similar occurrences unfolded.
Xue Mor's needle-like daggers found their mark, piercing through a Sentinel's throat. He gargled a final, blood-choked breath as ice spread through his veins, freezing him from the inside out. For a brief moment, his corpse stood still, lifeless and rigid—before vanishing into nothingness, as if erased from existence.
Shinryu's gauntlet-clad fist crushed through an enemy's skull with a sickening crunch, splintering bone and spraying blood like a crimson mist. Yet, before the corpse could slump to the ground, it too flickered and vanished, leaving nothing but empty space where a body should have been.
Even Raikai, deep in the enemy's ranks, felt the unsettling shift. His chain blades wrapped around a Sentinel's limbs, pulling until the body was ripped apart. The man's screams were drowned by the battle's chaos, his remains flung across the battlefield—only for every chunk of flesh, every severed limb, every drop of blood to be swallowed by an unseen force and transported elsewhere.
But no one had time to question it.
The Sentinels kept attacking, the geniuses kept fighting, and the battlefield was drowned in blood—only for it to be wiped clean in the blink of an eye.
The mystery lurked beneath the carnage, but for now, survival took precedence.