[Congratulations on passing the 3rd Stage.]
Aditya was exhausted. This stage left me physically drained. It was the most exhausting sword fight he had ever had.
He sat on the ground and looked at the man who called himself the administrator of this place.
The man had long, black, spiky hair. His long hair almost covered most of his face, making it harder to see his whole face.
"You're the administration of this place?" Aditya asked.
[Yes, Challenger.]
The man watched Aditya with great interest.
"What is it?" He asked, unable to handle his deep stare.
[I must say, I never expected you to come this far. This is the first time in the history of the Trial that a Peak Fourth Order Cultivator has managed to come this far.]
[Before you, there were a few Peak Fourth Order fools who challenged this trial and thought that they were ready. When I saw you enter, I thought you were another fool who would be eliminated from this trial within the first few minutes.]
Aditya did not respond. Not that he didn't want to talk, because he wanted to save his breath on talking about useless things.
"What is your name?"
[It's Frank! Frank Ferdinand.]
Hearing the name, Aditya was very surprised. He immediately turned and looked at Frank.
"Are you the same Frank who built the Throne and Crown of the Celestial Dragon Empire?" While growing up, Aditya wasn't into the politics of this family. But there were still a few names he always heard around the Royal Palace.
The name 'Frank Ferdinand' was repeated by the King and in the Royal Court many times. This left a deep impression on this person in his mind.
[Oh..! It seems the outside world still remembers me.] - Aditya doesn't know if he was imagining it, but he felt Frank's attitude became more friendly once he recognised him through his work.
[Yes, I did make the Celestial Dragon Crown and the Throne for my friend.]
When he turned around, he saw a man with very long spiky hair. He had intimidating red eyes. He stood 6 feet tall and was wearing a red chest plate.
"So the Dwarves of Mount Soulripper and the Royal Family of the Celestial Dragon Empire were allies since their founding days?" Aditya knew that this was likely the case. But he still wanted to know from one of the founding fathers.
[Yes!]
[Back then, our ideologies aligned. Our personalities were quite similar. It did not take long for us to become friends.] He spoke with a nostalgic face, like he was remembering the good old days.
Aditya nodded and then became silent.
[You are a Dragon. So I assume you are a member of the Celestial Dragon Empire's Royal family?]
"I was exiled around a year back."
[What?] Frank Ferdinand looked very surprised.
[To think the Royal Family exiled someone talented as you....!! I don't have any words.]
[If he saw his current descendants, he would be so disappointed.]
Aditya did not comment.
He stayed silent.
He stood up and picked up the Katana. Although the Katana was caught in the explosion, nothing happened to the weapon.
[Why were you exiled? And what's your status in the Royal Family?] - Frank couldn't help but ask.
"I was the Crown Prince. As for why I was exiled.....!!" Aditya paused to think back.
"It doesn't matter. They just need a reason to get rid of me."
"Start the next Stage."
Frank understood he didn't want to talk about this, so he stayed silent.
After taking 120 seconds of rest, the next round began.
This round, Aditya faced two opponents. There were no rules for this round. All he needed to do was defeat these two opponents to advance to the next round.
It was a male and a female. They weren't like Kael. Both of them had emotions.
The terrain also remained the same. But all the damage that the battlefield had taken from the previous fight disappeared, restoring it to its original state.
Once the fight began, Aditya found himself on the receiving end of their perfectly coordinated attacks.
Both moved at perfect speed.
They took the same time to chant their spells and fire their attacks.
What truly made them dangerous is their perfectly timed coordination in everything.
Whether it is their coordination in attacking or defending, it was perfectly timed to the point that even after 8 years of trying, Aditya couldn't land a single attack on either of them.
Aditya kept trying to break through, but their coordination left him with no openings. When he attacked one, the other was already moving to block.
When he tried to defend, their spells came from opposite sides at the exact same moment, forcing him to split his focus.
Every strike he made was predicted, every counter he attempted was stopped before it even began. It felt like he was fighting against a single being with two bodies.
No matter how sharp his instincts were, he always ended up one step behind. For the first time in a long while, the Dragon Monarch felt the pressure of being completely trapped.
Without realising it, this battle had been going on for about 30 minutes now.
This is the longest battle he has fought in this trial.
His Mana was starting to run low, but his two opponents looked completely fine. They were showing no signs of losing their.
39th minute of the battle, Aditya once again failed to land a clear attack on either of his opponents.
Becuase of depleting almost all of his Mana, he was exhausted and panting heavily.
Seeing this, they attacked.
As they came near him, a huge wave of Crimson flame burst from the ground. The Crimson flame spread in all directions like a wave of water.
"Lana, retreat!" Jake and Lana both came from two sides of Aditya. Both warned each other and tried to retreat.
"There is no escape!" Aditya teleported behind Lana and struck.
His claw tore through her flesh and bone and came out from the other side.
Jake, who was retreating, stopped as he saw this scene.
For a moment, he stood there looking stunned.
He had a look of disbelief.
"This...w...a a trap.....!!" Lana coughed up blood.
"What do you think?" He asked in a cold tone. Their perfect coordination had made life very miserable.
He was fed up and very frustrated about the whole situation.
On top of that, their constant taunts and provoking words made him even more frustrated. At first, he tried to ignore whatever they were saying and focus on the battle, but as time passed on and he kept failing, those words started to strike him.
Lana fell to the ground.
"Now your turn!!" His eyes dangerously glowed red.
Without Lana, Jake had lost almost half of his powers and advantages. Those two perfectly coordinated their attacks and their defence. Whenever he tried to target one, they would have each other's backs and protect one another.
When he tries to land an attack on Jake, Lana's spell hits him in the back. This is just one of many examples.
Even without Lana, Jake's individual skills and power were really strong. He was stronger than the opponent that Aditya faced on the second stage of this trial.
But even that wasn't enough.
Aditya wasn't in a hurry. He was very patient. Without his partner, the chances of Jake winning this battle had drastically reduced. If both of them together previously had about an 80% chance of defeating Aditya, now, without Lana and her perfect coordination, Jake has less than a 5% chance of defeating him.
In the 47th minute, the Dragon Monarch finally ended the battle. He killed the very same way he killed Lana.
At the end, both of them had holes in the exact same spot. Aditya did this purposely.
[Congratulations on clearing the fourth stage of this trial.]
[Now, you are only one stage away from reaching the final stage of this trial.]
[Aren't you excited?] Frank appeared behind Aditya and asked him with a smile.
"I am too exhausted!!" Saying that he took another batch of pills and potions. As soon as he put them in his mouth, his body convulsed and twitched heavily. He almost vomited, but he forcefully covered his mouth and did not let anything come out. It was his body rejecting the pills and potions.
Although he was constantly healing his injuries and recovering his stamina and Mana, consuming too many pills started to affect his mind.
This is the reason why cultivators are told not to take too many pills at the same time, as this can affect their minds. In this whole trial, he is heavily reliant on the pills and potions that his wife made for him.
After a minute and a half, the urge to throw up started to die down. But by this point, he was feeling extra mental strain. He also noticed that despite the pills and potions being of the same quality as before, it was taking him more time to heal his injuries and recover his Mana and Stamina.
'At this rate, forget about winning the Last Stage. I am not sure if I can even clear the Fifth Stage.'
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