[Book 12: Hollow Hallows]

Claud let out a small sigh as the world around him unravelled and fell apart. Fortunately for him, everyone had been forcibly returned to their original locations the moment the Trial of Aeons ended, preventing him from becoming the culprit of an unfortunate death.

Notifications filled his screen as the wind picked up around him, and his body began to relax.

[ has been completed. Calculating personal mission contribution.]

[Personal mission contribution: 100%]

[Despite your transcendent power, you chose the path of peace. What was fated to be a bloody battle has turned into a congregation of frustrated searchers, and the platform of the Trial remains unstained with death. Few will know how the most mysterious demigod grasped his future power, and even fewer will tell the tale. For your domination of the Cosmic Egg, you have gained 25000 years of lifespan.]

[ has been strengthened by 20 levels].

[ has been completed. Calculating result grade.]

[Result: Grade 1]

[With ingenuity and a divine might, you opted to steal away the Cosmic Egg, sparing the lives of all others present. No one will know how the Omen, one of the strongest Bearers of Destiny in recorded history, chose to turn away from the path of blood. Heralding the world of infinite potential in a deathless place, the Omen has laid the foundation for a transcendent world.]

[The power of entropy fills your veins…]

[ has been strengthened by 10 levels].

[FiBoD:O??? has absorbed four Fragment of Fates. Evolution requirements: 4/4]

[Personal Quest: unlocked. Complete this mission to evolve FiFBod:O???]

[You have expended four levels of to commence the upgrading of ]

Claud let out a small breath as he looked at the notifications, his attention on the assessments, and then smiled. Indeed, he always had the chance to wipe everyone else with a single swipe of his hand. He had verified that days ago, when he used Absolute One to send a message. No one had noticed the sheer amount of mana pumping out of him, not until he released it personally.

Of course, the main reason why he had managed to remain undetected the whole time was actually due to something else he had thought about some time ago. One of the key differences between him and the Frozen Emperor was his Absolute One skill.

Or rather, its Order bonus.

[Skill: Absolute One (Order)]

[Skill effects: Grants immunity to all injury and abnormal effects for ten seconds. User gains access to an endless source of condensed mana at the same time.

Order bonus: Mana Control Proficiency is raised by two ranks for thirty minutes. This increase can transcend all limits. When used with any other skill, that skill’s duration increases to seven days and has boosted effectiveness.

Evolution requirements: Acquire 4 Fragments of Fate.]

The moment Phase 3 started, Claud activated Absolute One in conjunction with Presence Nullification, willing the former to empower the latter. The result was him being completely hidden from the world at large, which was one major reason why he managed to elude detection the whole time. He then snatched the Cosmic Egg, hugged it tightly, and then watched on with amusement as everyone else went mad at his sudden disappearance.

He hadn’t expected Absolute One’s Order bonus to actually be this useful, but who knew that Phase 3 simply wanted him to hold on to something for seven days?

There was, however, another reason why he managed to stay undetected, and that was because he used the Aeon Fold skill to evolve his Flight skill. It was something else he had noticed too — in his Second Tutorial, the Frozen Emperor had a bunch of very powerful skills. Claud had chosen to expend his four Aeon Folds to evolve Flight, turning it into the Will of Freedom skill.

[Skill: Will of Freedom

Skill effects: The user can move freely in all directions, while ignoring all other physical forces, for thirty days.

Passive effect: The user will never suffer from impaired movement and can never be trapped.]

The passive part of this skill was weirdly worded, but what really was important was the active effect, which allowed him to move freely without any restraint.

As a result, Claud moved freely throughout the entire Trial, eluding the more physical methods of searching that everyone else had resorted to with absurd grace and skill. It was a gamble that had ultimately paid off — if Flight evolved into something else, he would probably be somewhat screwed. Of course, now that he had the chance and ability to evolve another skill…

[You have expended four levels of to commence the upgrading of ]

Letting out a small breath, Claud watched as the light died down. The effects of Presence Nullification faded away a second later, and his heart quivered once as a familiar warmth smacked into him and threw her arms around his body.

“You’re back,” a small voice whispered.

“Yeah. I am.” Claud patted Lily’s back. “All safe and sound too. As promised.”

They hugged for a minute more, with Lily patting his body all over to make sure that his flesh was intact or something. It was absolutely adorable, so Claud simply stood still to facilitate the little pats.

After a while, she took a step back, and then landed a little punch in his chest. “Don’t do that next time.”

“Don’t do what next time?” Claud asked.

“Don’t go using that skill just to send me a message, dummy.” Lily smacked his chest again. “I was frightened when you fired an entire lance out of the moon, you know! To make things worse, the Red God and the Blue God even descended — see that red orb in the sky? That’s the Red God undergoing a difficult labour process…”

“A what?”

“A difficult labour process,” Lily replied promptly.

Claud looked at the Red God’s physical…form, and then frowned. He was certain that this form had something to do with why he had been pursued in a different reality. Would the Red God still go after him in this one? It was a question that he really wanted an answer to, but…

Lily pulled out the Looped Encryptor as he made a face, and then asked, “What was the Trial of Aeons like? What did you do there?”

Claud chuckled. “We made a bridge, killed a bunch of insects, and then fought over a right to hold an egg.”

“I didn’t ask for the abridged version, you know.” Lily pulled him over to a bed, and then produced a bunch of snacks from her backpack. “Right, you must be hungry too. Have some food. Preserved meat isn’t going to cut it for your tastebuds.”

Claud nodded in agreement. “The preserved food was quite…icky after a while. But Nero and Dia had it better, though. They were having a tea party during the Trial of Aeons.”

“A what?”

“Tea party.” Claud chuckled. “And Nero was courting the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny too. I swear he knew about her presence there, since he made a beeline to her and started chatting her up.”

“You are talking about the Trial of Aeons, right? Not the Social Gathering of Aeons, yes?” Lily looked at him. “The more you speak, the more I get confused. It’s like telling me to build a bomb, but you add in sugar, chocolate, strawberry slices…are you really sure it’s a legendary event that supposedly decides the fate of the world?”

Claud glanced at his status and rubbed his nose.

Name: Claud Primus

Class: Omen

Lifespan: 25742 years

Active Skills: Presence Nullification (9), Will of Freedom (11), Binding Order (7), Cleanse (6), FiBoD;O??? (0), FiBoD;O??? (0)

Passive Skills: DiL???C, Mana Locus, Omen, Understanding, Master of Permanence, Artificial Life Contractor, Aeon Fold — Omen (38)

Mana Circuit Superimposition: 6.99

Mana Control Proficiency: Master

Authority: 6

Comments: At the crossroads of destiny, you chose peace. You must now accept the outcomes of your choices. The fading embers of sunset will bless you, and all life will embrace your ideals, but no one will ever know what you did.

Claud glanced at the comments once, brushed them off as loony, and turned back to Lily, who was now doubting the event that Claud had gained so much from. “It is a legendary event, I can assure you that. In fact, it’s so legendary that I don’t think I’ll need any more lifestones from now on, because I have over 25000 years of lifespan.”

Lily looked at him, touched his forehead once, and then frowned. “You’re not having a fever, and you look very serious…a hallucination?”

“Let me explain to you what happened during the Trial of Aeons first.” Claud sighed. “It’s a long story, and I was hoping to tell you after I got a bit more ready, but it seems that the Red God might come after us. But I think we came out on top…anyway, I’m going to start narrating now.”

He paused, and then picked up a small biscuit. “Damn, finally. Dia and the others were just nibbling on biscuits the whole time. I was getting really, really hungry.”

“I am not sure what to make of that statement, but do go ahead in narrating the series of events that occurred during the Trial,” Lily replied. “I’ll snack on these, thank you very much…”

Claud chuckled. “Alright. So, after I appeared on the trial grounds…”