With the ripple from the golden pyramid, the pressure surrounding the platforms once more increased making all the trial takers falter slightly. Liam used this chance to bring out his trump card.
The improper earthen barrier, only barely holding on and definitely incapable of withstanding the dark mountain all of a sudden disappeared, and in its place huge strong walls were erected.
These walls were pitch black in color and emitted a frigid aura that was capable of freezing anyone who neared it without sufficient protection.
Moreover, the walls looked sturdy, tall, and imposing like that of an unbreachable fortress. Instead of the earthen barrier, the dark mountain descended onto this fortress like an insurmountable being, its might aimed to obliterate any who dared stand against it. But the moment it collided with the pitch-black walls, an unexpected event occurred. The dark mountain, a mass of concentrated malevolence and destructive power, began to slow, its momentum stunted by the frigid aura exuding from the walls. The sight was surreal, as if the very essence of darkness was being sapped away, and sealed into the fortress.
Liam grinned. The first part of his plan had worked.
Thanks to the endless assault of the suicide vampires, Liam's ability to form his own personal dao field had progressed by leaps and bounds in this single trial. He found out what he was lacking and he also knew how to implement it. However, throughout the whole thing, he had made sure not to reveal his true cards and his real strength.
As the dark mountain descended onto the frigid walls, it was entirely swallowed, and the chance that he was waiting for appeared. This was it. He needed to finish this right here and right now before even more reinforcements arrived or before the golden pyramid threw out another curve ball.
As soon as the fortress stabilized, Liam quickly dashed forward and grabbed Rey, Madan, and Lan Deming with his hands. Despite the serious situation, it was an extremely comical scene where Liam looked like an idiot carrying multiple bags awkwardly.
He then cast a fleeting glance at the elf before starting to bolt forward at full speed. Eldrin gulped. No one needed to tell him twice about what this meant. It was go time.
With only a couple of jumps left, Liam was going all out.
Liam's mind reeled from the pain and his entire body felt exhausted, wrung dry as he squeezed everything he had from every single pore in his body. Even the heart fruit was running empty, with some of the chambers becoming completely bone dry.
But Liam did not care. He was really going all out here. Forming the impenetrable fortress was one thing but moving it around and literally carrying it along with him was an entirely different thing.
However, Liam did just that. He took everything he had and moved at an incredibly fast pace, bulldozing down the three vampires standing in front of him.
The elite vampires swung their scimitars at the fortress but it was useless. They were tossed aside by the sheer force exuded by the fortress. It was as if nothing could stand in the path of that fortress.
And before anyone could do anything, right in front of all the pairs of crimson eyes locked onto the fortress, the entire thing jumped from one platform to another.
It did not stop there. The fortress continued moving all the way until it reached the edge of the platform and then made one more leap. Unfortunately, the multiple platforms started shaking at the moment, indicating the beginning of another shuffle.
The vampires grinned. But when the shuffle ended, no one was able to see the fortress again. The many pairs of crimson eyes all trailed to look at the golden pyramid where a new group had already arrived.
Liam dropped onto the surface of the golden pyramid which was surprisingly not a slope but a flat surface. He neither had the energy nor the mental capacity to think and understand what that meant right now.
All he knew was that the monstrous pressure was completely gone and all of them were safe now.
Thankfully, he wasn't able to move an inch on the golden pyramid. Not because he was exhausted but because he simply couldn't. This clearly prevented one party from fighting with another party while on the pyramid, perhaps a small gift from the Spire to those who had reached here with difficulty.
The vampires clearly did not like it as Liam could still feel several eyes on him, eyes full of hostility.
Liam did not care. This worked in their favor and that's all that mattered. He and the rest of the group blankly looked at the mayhem in front of them. Many vampires and even a few other trial takers somehow managed to make it to the pyramid. However, almost 60% of the participants were cleared out, several plummeting to their deaths and some dying in combat.
Liam was even relieved a little to see the bloodsucking lunatics continue to rabidly target some other folks.
Finally, it took a few more minutes when the darkness descended. The golden pyramid and the goddamn platforms completely disappeared from the vicinity as Liam found himself in a lush forest lawn. The trial was officially over and they had survived.
Rey, Madan, Lan Deming, and even Eldrin all collectively gasped, letting out a breath they did not realize they were holding. They had finally crossed the nightmarish trial and with that almost all of the second segment. This should be the last floor, the last challenge floor of the second segment before they receive the big reward.
"Shouldn't this be an individual thing? Or at least last time it was an individual thing…" Eldrin murmured as the elf hurriedly looked around for things that could potentially bash them up, slice them up, or straight up obliterate them.
Usually, a group challenge would have been a good thing but when Liam was involved, the elf knew better than to make any guesses.
However, even after waiting for several seconds, nothing dangerous popped out.
Wait, it couldn't be? Did they directly get the rewards?