Void Evolution System

When the second phase started, a huge omnidirectional wave of light would spread and incinerate everything in its path. To get through it, August needed to use his mana precisely to meld into the light's vibrations and phase through it.

This was an intensely involved process. August could do it, but he found that he expended too much mana in the process and wasn't able to sustain himself through the rest of the coming phases.

It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to attack before the second phase before, but the golden shield that the First Dragon Emperor erected was thick and unpierceable by physical or energy-based attacks.

There was only a fraction of a second between when the shield went down and when the light wave appeared. If August couldn't catch the exact timing, he would be turned into ash before he could do anything.

He'd tried over and over again in the past to hit that mark and evade the wave, but when he found a more reliable solution between the second and third phases, he switched his strategy.

It took him five years to realize a simple fact that he had been blissfully ignorant of beforehand.

The solution was actually incredibly simple.

He was thinking about it as a battle, so he was always doing everything he could to put himself in a better position for coming attacks.

But…why did he need to do that?

When he looked at what the trial itself entailed, he finally realized how stupid he had been.

August never needed to "survive."

He just needed to "land a hit."

If he didn't have to worry about living, then he could do so much more than he could before.

The strategy he was currently employing relied on exactly that.

After hundreds of deaths over the past five years, August was no longer afraid of the feeling.

He pushed himself forward with everything he had. The light-based concepts that pushed his speed, the basic concepts of water that made him nimble and dexterous, and the physique of a dragon that was naturally more versatile in the air than any other species.

With all three of these things backing him, August transformed his body into a blur of light that closed in on the First Dragon Emperor in the fraction of a second his shield took to deactivate.

And, as he had charged his breath as he moved, August was already attacking by the time the air around him turned hazy and golden.

Those two things happened at the same time.

August's attack flew past the barrier of light and made contact with its target.

And his body was turned into ash instantaneously by a kilometer-tall wall of light that formed around him.

In the next moment, he had already returned to the land of the living. Usually, he wouldn't be able to see the results of the previous battle after his return. However, this time was different.

He heard that explosion. The wall of light didn't make any sound. It was a silent and immediate killer. So, August knew exactly where that sound came from.

'I did it.'

He grinned wider than he ever had before.

'Finally.'

With his goal accomplished, the mental fatigue of five years of effort hit him all at once.

August fell unconscious right then and there.

It would be many hours before he opened his eyes again.

***

August did eventually awaken, and the First Dragon Emperor was waiting for him when he did.

[Congratulations, child. You have successfully proven your qualifications. I am proud to say that someone as talented as you will grow into the ruler of dragons.]

He had a wide smile on his face as he spoke.

August immediately stood up and bowed.

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

Not just for the acknowledgement, but for the years of training he'd received, August thanked the Dragon Emperor.

However, was this the end?

He felt a little forlorn as he thought of leaving this emperor alone in this realm, waiting for the next successor to arrive.

[There is nothing to feel sorry about. I am merely a shard of soul. Unless a successor enters this place as you said, my mind and body will enter a state of stasis along with the rest of the realm.]

Even he didn't want to torture himself. The realm had been created so the burden on this small piece of the former emperor wouldn't be too extreme.

[More importantly, I assume you have many things to address in the outside world. Do you really want to stay here with a boring old man like me instead of returning to your people?]

August frowned. He didn't like the way it was phrased, but the First Dragon Emperor wasn't wrong. It was better for August to leave as soon as possible so that he could address the situation outside and see how his plans were progressing.

"Then…"

[Say no more.]

The First Dragon Emperor shook his head.

[Return to your world and take your throne. Focus on the future, not the past. And, if you truly do wish to honor me…then carry my legacy well.]

"Sorry…?"

His legacy?

August was surprised by the words. The First Dragon Emperor never called the throne his legacy, after all. He must have been talking about something else.

[You will learn everything when you awaken. The Emperor's Record will visit you soon and explain to you the things you must learn. And, be mindful of your mind. I have left you a small present there.]

Feeling his body fading from the realm, August couldn't help but feel a little rushed. He felt that there was more he needed to do here, but the First Dragon Emperor refused to give him an opportunity to speak.

This realm was made to last until a successor candidate passed or failed their trial. Only a few hours after that moment would it shut down and return to stasis, but August had spent those precious hours unwillingly unconscious.

The information he needed would be transmitted to him regardless. As would the rewards he earned for his efforts.

Only, his conversation with the First Dragon Emperor ended here.

[Goodbye, child. May fate smile favorably upon you.]

Those words were the last August heard from the former emperor.

His world turned black without his consent.

But, no matter how much he wanted to stay, it was definitely best for him to leave.

After all, if he was even a single minute late…

…then everyone he cared for would die.

***

The first thing he saw was the rubble.

It was confusing.

'Did more time pass than I thought?' He foolishly wondered.

But, as his vision cleared, he realized that the rubble was filled with corpses. Blood-stained pieces of rock littered the entire cavern.

August's eyes narrowed instantaneously as he felt something off.

The emotions he carried over from the other realm disappeared from his mind. He wasn't allowed to feel them anymore.

In the distance, Wilhelm was staring at him. It seemed that he'd returned at some point. Three Holy Clan geniuses stood around him, almost as if they were holding him back, while everyone else on the cavern's border was relatively in the same position.

Except…

'Lucas…?'

Why was Lucas over there with Wilhelm, and why was he looking at him with such a strange expression?

Only at this point did August think to look at his periphery.

And that was when it all sunk in.

That was when his ears stopped ringing and he finally realized that the cavern was currently filled with sound.

Valerie. She was pinned against a single large tree, her arms limp and her legs trembling. There were only two people in front of her, but there was a row of corpses leading to where they stood, all with the same blue hair.

Juno. His body was already on the ground. He was bleeding from head to toe, but he gripped the earth with all of his strength to exert even a little more mana to form a defense around himself. Again, there was only one enemy in front of him, but the incinerated remains of many others surrounded him in every direction.

Yuna. Collapsed atop a hill of corpses with a blade through her stomach, she took deep breaths as she tried to contain her life force.

Mikaela. She was also collapsed, but with no clear injuries on her body. Her pale complexion and empty eyes made it clear that she'd suffered some sort of mental trauma.

August's eyes trembled when he saw Valerie and shook even more fiercely when they saw Juno, Yuna, and Mikaela.

When he looked down, though, they were practically quaking.

Directly in front of him, practically in his lap, was a body with barely any breath left in it. That brown hair, that face…August knew it well.

'Melania…?'

Every visible bit of skin on her body was covered in dense black lines that looked almost like tattoos. They had a slight green tinge to them, especially in the skin nearby; the only indication that it was truly an infection.

A pair of eyes.

Eyes were sometimes called windows to the soul. They showcased such a wide range of emotions with nothing more than their expansion and contraction that it was almost like magic.

August's panic and confusion; his pain was clear when his eyes trembled and quaked.

However, when his mind finally put all the pieces together, when it looked at the blue hair of the corpses, the state of its allies, and the presence of that man in this place, his eyes did something entirely different.

Right, they stopped quaking altogether.

In a single instant, they narrowed so much that they almost disappeared entirely.

"You…"

It was a single word. It came out of a body that had aged five years in the past few hours, so it was quite raspy and awkward.

Yet, the chilling quality it contained, the pure hatred and rage laced within, made it impossible to take lightly.

August's eyes were on Wilhelm.

As the person he was aiming his eyes at, Wilhelm saw the emotions contained within more clearly than anyone else.

No, it wasn't just emotion.

Contained within those eyes was a single concept.

Death.

Death and only death.

The innocent and joyful appearance of August Void that people knew, the calm and tactical appearance of August Void that people knew; neither was present in this moment.

The current appearance of August Void could only be described in one way.

'A monster.'

It was a thought that many in the cavern shared as they watched him.

But, the fact that this particular thought came from Eris Noct made it all the more significant.

Even those who didn't know fear felt that emotion when they looked at him.

And before any of them could prepare themselves, he showed them exactly why.

BOOOOOOOOM!