The sound tore through the chamber as its body moved, both axes swinging out wide before it began to spin, slow at first, the blades carving arcs through the air that started to blur together as the rotation picked up speed. The energy along the edges stretched outward, forming a whirling ring of force around it, the ground beneath its hooves cracking as the rotation intensified.
It wasn’t just spinning.
It was building.
Each turn faster than the last, each rotation pulling more force into the motion until the Minotaur became the center of a tightening storm, the axes no longer visible as separate weapons but as continuous streaks of cutting force, the air itself splitting around it.
Then it moved forward.
The spinning mass surged toward me like a collapsing tornado, the pressure hitting before the blades did, forcing me to brace as I brought my axe up, setting my stance and meeting it head-on instead of retreating using [Annihilator Cleave].
The first contact rang out sharp.
Metal met metal, but it didn’t stop there.
The second strike came before I could adjust.
Then the third.
Then more.
The rotation turned each swing into a chain, the force stacking faster than I could react, each impact driving through my arms, pushing me back step by step as I tried to hold the line. The ground cracked under my feet as I dug in, but it didn’t matter.
I couldn’t keep up.
The angle shifted mid-spin, one of the axes cutting lower than the others, slipping past the edge of my defense before I could correct.
It bit in.
Then another.
The rotation didn’t slow, didn’t pause, the strikes tearing through my guard piece by piece as the force overwhelmed my stance completely. My axe was knocked aside just enough—
And that was all it needed.
The spinning mass crashed into me fully. The blades tore through. The sound faded.
The pressure vanished. All that remained was the echo of that roar still ringing in my ears.
My grip loosened and vision dimmed.
The last thing I saw was that spinning blur slowing to a stop.
Then darkness.
I found myself back in front of the throne.
The system responded.
[Trial Failed]
[Level Up!]
[Level 50 -> Level 60]
[Combat Points + 0]
[Influence Points + 0]
[Performance Evaluated]
[Reward Granted]
[Select Law Fragment]
A system panel opened in front of me, listing five fragments.
[Law Fragment: Fire] : A law centered on sustained destruction, allowing attacks to carry a burning effect that continues after impact, consuming both physical matter and energy. Instead of ending fights instantly, it ensures that damage compounds over time, making recovery difficult and turning prolonged engagements into inevitable collapse.
[Law Fragment: Lightning]: A law of violent, instantaneous destruction, enhancing both speed and impact. Attacks infused with this fragment strike with explosive force, discharging energy on contact and chaining through targets in rapid succession. It amplifies execution speed to the point where actions blur, turning every movement into a high-velocity strike capable of overwhelming multiple opponents at once.
[Law Fragment: Ruin]: A law that imposes breakdown on everything it touches. Rather than relying on raw damage, it weakens structural integrity, reducing the durability of targets with each hit. Armor, constructs, and reinforced defenses lose their ability to hold, making subsequent strikes increasingly effective.
[Law Fragment: Decay]: A law focused on gradual destruction, causing targets to deteriorate over time. Each interaction reduces strength, resilience, and energy stability, making it especially effective in extended battles where sustained pressure leads to eventual collapse.
[Law Fragment: Fracture]: A law that targets weakness directly, aligning attacks with points of instability. Strikes become more effective against vulnerable areas, increasing the likelihood of critical damage while also disrupting active defenses, energy constructs, and skill execution.
I was surprised that the trial was offering a Law Fragment even after I had failed. If this was the reward for failure, then what would success have given me? The thought lingered for a moment, but I didn’t dwell on it for long. My focus shifted back to the options in front of me.
I read through each description carefully, weighing them against how I fought and what I had right now in my arsenal.
My eyes settled on one.
Lightning.
It wasn’t just destructive. It was immediate. It struck and ended things in the same motion. And more than that, I already understood it. The only question was whether that understanding would translate into something real in this world. I didn’t hesitate further.
"I’ll take this."
[Law Fragment: Lightning Selected]
The moment the selection registered, the world vanished again as my perception and mind was blinded by a rush of insights.
Movement, faster than thought, flashing through my mind in rapid succession. I didn’t see lightning, I became aware of how it moved. Not in straight lines, but in the fastest possible path, cutting through resistance, adjusting instantly, striking where it could complete its path most efficiently. There was no hesitation in it, no buildup once it committed.
It existed to complete.
To connect.
To end.
I felt the surge of energy racing through channels, branching, splitting, recombining, each path chosen in an instant based on what lay ahead. There was no wasted motion. No excess. Only execution.
Then came the impact. An instant release. Stored energy collapses into a single moment, discharging violently on contact, not stopping at the first point, but bursting outward, chaining, spreading destruction across everything connected. The faster the execution, the less chance the target had to respond, to defend, to exist in the same state it was in before the strike.
The integration completed slowly, the understanding stabilizing as the overload of information faded.
The system responded.
[Law Fragment Integrated: Lightning]
I exhaled, steadying myself as the last traces of the insight settled.
"...Yeah," I muttered quietly.
"This is going to be useful."
A new notification appeared.
[Law Skill Learned]
[Lightning Integration (Passive)]
[Allows the host to integrate Law Fragments into all energy-based actions. Infused skills gain additional properties based on selected Law]
[Current Law: Lightning → increases execution speed, impact discharge, and chaining effect]
[Synergizes with Skill Amplification and Internal Generation]
"So this is how it works. Truly integrated I guess."
Every skill I used from now on wouldn’t just be energy, it would carry the law.
I exhaled slowly.
"Let’s see..."
I shifted my stance slightly, focusing not just on the skill, but on the flow behind it, the way the energy moved through me now, the way it wanted to accelerate, to release faster than before.
"Impact Burst."
The response was immediate.
Energy surged through my legs, but this time it didn’t stay contained. The yellow glow formed first, dense and controlled as always, wrapping around my lower body, but layered over it, threading through it, was something sharper.
Lightning.
Thin arcs of crackling energy spread along the surface, snapping outward in short bursts before pulling back in, merging with the flow instead of replacing it. The pressure built faster, tighter, the delay between activation and release almost nonexistent.
Then it detonated.
My body didn’t just launch.
It vanished from where it stood.
The ground cracked violently beneath me as the burst released, but I barely registered it. The movement wasn’t a push anymore, it was a snap, a sudden displacement as the energy discharged all at once, carrying me forward in a single, violent motion.
By the time my perception caught up, I had already stopped almost fifty feet ahead. I landed hard, my footing sliding slightly as I absorbed the momentum, the faint crackle of energy fading from my body as the surge settled.
I looked back.
"...That’s gonna require some practice," I muttered, straightening slowly.