Night draped Kriegstadt like a shroud of steel. From the spires of the Cathedral of Eternal Flame to the distant volcanic glow of Furnace District XIII, the city of war and wonder churned with anticipation. But under the bright banners and public speeches, deeper currents stirred. Currents that whispered of gods, of starborn relics, and of a child who should not exist.
In a place this vast—this broken—nothing truly remained hidden.
Blood and Steel: The Second Trial Begins
By dawn, a storm of bells echoed across the Obsidian Sector, calling all participants to the Schlachtfeld der Runen—the Runed Battlefield. Unlike the Mirror of Intent, this trial would test real combat ability.
Maximilian stood with hundreds of others in the vast arena, marked by fractured runes and floating iron glyphs suspended midair. The rules were simple:
Survive for ten minutes against an enemy forged by the System.
Bonus: Eliminate your foe.
Grand Bonus: Trigger Class Manifestation.
Participants fought one at a time in randomized order.
He waited in silence, eyes closed, letting his aura settle into rhythm with his heartbeat. While others meditated to calm their nerves, he was doing something else entirely.
"System... initiate inner structure analysis."
"True Class fragments: 3 detected."
"Core Path Alignment: Incomplete."
"WARNING: Host concealment system still in effect."
"True Class: [REDACTED] – Access denied until Bloodright Achieved."
Maximilian gritted his teeth. Even his own System wouldn't show him his full truth. But it didn't matter. He would force the truth to kneel.
The Call
"Participant 717. Maximilian Kriegswald. Prepare."
He stepped forward. The air was heavy—dense with pressure. As he crossed into the arena's center, the glyphs above shimmered, and a rift opened in midair. From the tear emerged a six-armed golem of obsidian and bloodmetal, glowing runes burning across its armor.
[Trial Construct: Abyss Echo – Tier: SS]
Gasps rang out in the viewing balconies. This was a level above what most participants had faced.
"That's impossible," one noble muttered.
"Only top-five ranked guild heirs have faced SS-tier constructs!"
Even Aeliana, watching from above, clenched her fists.
Unleashed
The golem charged. Maximilian didn't move. Time slowed in his mind—System Time Dilation: Active—and calculations flooded his vision.
Strike angle. Power source in thorax. Reinforced mana joints at elbows. Weak to kinetic reversal and quantum disruption.
Then, like a silent explosion, Maximilian moved.
He sidestepped the first strike, his hand glowing not with flame or lightning, but with a faint starlight—a power born not of this world.
He slammed his palm into the golem's chest.
Skill Triggered: [Stellar Collapse – Fragmented]Error: Host Class Undefined. System stabilization required.
The world twisted. A gravity well formed around the golem's chest, crushing inward with a soundless roar. The golem staggered—and then exploded, not in flame, but in spiraling void energy.
"Trial Complete."
"Rank: Unclassed – Combat Rating: SSS Potential."
"Hidden Class Potential: Confirmed."
"Access to Tier 1 Class Evolution Unlocked."
Class Seed Obtained: Stellarmind Nomarch (I)
"Caution: Evolution locked until Bloodright achieved."
The arena was dead silent.
Then came the voices:
"He… he didn't even draw a weapon."
"That wasn't elemental. What even was that?"
"Call the Principals. This isn't normal."
And from high above, Headmistress Lorentzia Stahlgrau, the steel-eyed warwitch of Universität der Ewigen Flamme, took note. So did her rival: Grand Alchemist Etrax von Dunstein, whose university worshipped chaos as creativity.
Even the gods stirred.
The Gilded Knife
That night, Maximilian walked the abandoned library sector of the Obsidian Ring. Between shattered shelves and ancient rune panels, he finally felt the pressure ease.
Or so he thought.
He rounded a corner—and came face to face with a curved dagger at his throat.
"Congratulations," a voice said. Feminine. Cold. Calculating. "You've made enemies faster than anyone in tournament history."
The girl was draped in a coat of deep blue runesilk, her eyes hidden behind a visor of arcanoglass. Her aura pulsed with assassin's intent.
Adelheid von Kreutzer. Blutrabe House.
"You shouldn't be possible," she said, voice laced with amusement. "Which means either you're a liar, a puppet… or something that crawled out of the Dungeon Roots."
Maximilian didn't blink. "I'm just someone trying to survive."
She laughed. "Try harder. There are offers being made on your life already. Fifty-thousand crownchips. That's enough to buy a tower in Geltmark."
Then she lowered the knife.
"I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to watch."
The Gods Speak
That same night, far away in the catacombs beneath Kriegstadt, where only the cults dared tread, a black altar burned with lightless flame.
Figures in silver and bone robes chanted around it, their eyes glazed with divine madness.
One spoke.
"The Starblood stirs again."
"The Curse of Helreich may be undone."
"The forbidden talent… has awakened."
A new god's name was whispered that night:
Sterngott: The Broken Light.
And in the heavens, unseen by mortals, a figure long slumbering opened its eye—just one—and blinked.
End of Chapter 4: Whispers Beneath the Iron Sky