Skyler’s eyes had dilated when he had suddenly seen a familiar screen appear before him while fighting against the dark creatures pouring out from the dark hole that had torn open after the sky cracked.
______
The Last Trial Progress:
One of the participants has died.
Remaining participants: 99
_______
The time of their deaths had arrived far earlier than it had in his previous life. After all, because of Skyler’s presence, they had grown stronger much faster than before.
Skyler glanced at the gloomy sky, his heart sinking as he realized what had happened.
Without hesitation, he hurriedly forced his way through the battlefield toward the very center, where Max and his team were still fighting against the endless dark creatures.
His voice erupted across the battlefield.
"No... No, no, no! Retreat!"
Everyone heard him, yet no one stopped.
They continued fighting, blinded by their confidence, believing they could overcome the endless creatures that only continued to increase with every passing moment.
Skyler’s expression turned desperate.
His voice grew hoarse as he looked toward Max and screamed with everything he had.
"Tell everyone to retreat! This isn’t even the real Eldoria! There’s no reason to fight until the very end and throw your lives away!!"
His voice was so loud that everyone in the surroundings heard him. Those who were not real stared at Skyler in shock. Although some of his words were incomprehensible, they couldn’t believe he was asking the only Divine Rank individual present to retreat!
They were so angry they turned hostile.
Some even attacked Skyler.
Max froze at his words, an expression of realization slowly appearing on his face.
But at that moment, Monica, who was closest to him, clicked her tongue.
"Now he’s going to tell us what to do?"
Max frowned but stopped fighting. His words made Monica grit her teeth.
"Stop fighting! Retreat!"
Just as he had ordered that, a low laugh came from the hole in the cracked sky.
"What’s the hurry?"
Everyone froze upon hearing the voice.
The overwhelming pressure that followed forced them all from the sky. Even Skyler, who was far away, fell to his knees. In an instant, every bone in his body shattered.
Through his bloodied vision, he saw a tall, majestic, dark figure slowly step out from the crack in the sky. A faint smile curled at the corners of the man’s lips as he casually swung the dark blade in his hand. All within the blade’s path vanished into nothingness.
Another message screen appeared before Skyler, announcing the deaths of many of the participants. Yet, there was nothing he could do to stop it. Blood trickled down his lips as he watched so many fall before the tall man that had just joined the battlefield.
The tall man would even stop after every attack to savor the screams of the dying.
Skyler’s fingertips trembled as he tried to use the power of his Divine Element. The light surrounding his body drew the focus of the dark figure. Amidst the sea of dead bodies, the figure’s eyes locked onto Skyler. A smile lit up his face as he muttered.
"Interesting."
He reached out his hand toward Skyler to crush him personally. Yet, before he could do so, the human who should never have been able to wield the power of Time with such a fragile body suddenly disappeared.
"Hah?"
The God of Extinction blinked.
"Did he... just use the power of Void?"
Surprise flashed in his pitch-black eyes, which reflected countless tiny stars—the planets and realms he had enslaved. To think that such an insignificant human could grasp another Divine Element in a situation that was so unfavorable to him.
"Interesting indeed."
He suddenly burst into laughter.
Without hesitation, he tilted his head and attacked the only Divine Rank on the planet.
He wasn’t actually supposed to be here.
He should be annoying the other gods.
After all, those under his command regularly invaded countless places.
He only received reports and personally intervened when their first attempt failed.
It was by chance that he had entered this planet out of boredom, never expecting to stumble upon such an interesting sight.
After killing Max, whom he had originally planned to save for last, he closed his dark eyes, followed Skyler’s trail, and vanished.
It didn’t take long for him to find Skyler.
That human had actually entered a crack leading to the Battle Royal. However, what truly shocked the God of Extinction was not the crack itself, but what Skyler was doing.
"You—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the weak human who seemed to have just crawled his way toward the Wheel of Time, leaving a trail of red, activated the device.
Under the God of Extinction’s widened pupils, everything around him vanished.
That was how Skyler’s third life ended.
When he awoke once again in the same place where his second life had begun, he screamed in madness, pounding his fists against the tiled ground. His crazed eyes and the blood staining his hands were enough to terrify anyone who saw him.
"Why?! Why?! Why?! Everything was going so perfectly! It was all supposed to end!!"
After screaming for a long time, he finally took a deep breath and composed himself.
He wiped the blood from his fists onto his clothes before leaving the place in a daze.
But... after that, it felt as though the trial had begun to toy with him. The events he knew started changing one after another.
For example, the ancient tomb that had appeared within the Royal Castle. In his previous life, Max, Jenny, Monica, Elena, Austin, and Isaac had discovered many opportunities there. However, this time, after Queen Elizabeth sent the group to obtain the Sword of Serenity, that same place became dangerous. They all died within the tomb and never came back.
Skyler shook his head in disbelief.
"No... that wasn’t supposed to happen!"
"How did they die... how?!"
Before Skyler used the Wheel of Time in his fourth life, the only thing he had gained was the knowledge of another Divine Element.
It was the element Life.