Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely - Chapter 223

Chapter 223: The Land of Judgment, The Judgment Trials
[You have entered the “Land of Judgment”]

Sam finally stepped into the zone of the fifth mission, and the moment he crossed that unseen threshold he knew there was no turning back.

The rules were clear.

He could not leave this place until it was cleared.

‘Here we go.’

The thought came out flat and steady as his eyes scanned the endless yellow haze that stretched in every direction.

A dense fog clung to the air like a curtain, staining the world with a faint golden glow.

The grass beneath his boots carried a darker shade than what he had seen in the previous zone, almost black at the edges, as though the soil itself had been scorched by judgment.

‘Hm.’

Sam assumed that, much like the previous missions, the objective would be to reach the end of the zone.

But unlike any other awakener who might only need to survive a trial or defeat a single boss to proceed, he knew his task was far more dangerous.

He needed to kill the monarch of this place. The three judges.

Or perhaps the [Judge Monarch], since by now he suspected all three were simply parts of one being.

The fog was too thick for his eyes to pierce, and even his [Void Watcher] skill offered no advantage.

That ability helped him see enemies, not the environment itself.

But he had another way.

Aura Radar!

Sam sent a pulse of raw aura sweeping across the land.

It rippled outward for a hundred meters, brushing over the unseen terrain. Nothing.

No enemies, no traps, not even a flicker of life responded to his scan.

Believing it was safe, he stepped forward.

The ground beneath him shuddered.

BOOM!

An explosion tore through the silence, a flash of yellow light bursting at his feet.

The blast chewed into his defenses, stripping a layer of durability from his [Primordial Barrier] in an instant.

Panels flared before his eyes as the voices of the judges echoed through the air.

[Usually, awakeners would have to go through our “Judgment Trials” to prove if they are guilty or not.]

[Those that are guilty will be allowed to complete this mission without any hassle.]

[But those that aren’t… will have to face the “Lord of Judgment”, also known as our pet.]

Sam narrowed his eyes.

“I’m just gonna kill it too, you know that, right?”

His words were calm, but his grip on his sword tightened.

The three voices always spoke in unison, overlapping until they sounded like a single distorted entity.

They mentioned [Judgment Trials] and something called the [Lord of Judgment], a “pet” that guarded the end.

This mission wasn’t a simple test. It was the real deal.

Harder than the [Maze of the Damned]. Harder than anything he had faced so far.

The [Upper] realm never stopped raising the stakes.

Each mission was designed to break those who were not strong enough, grinding them down until only the most determined survived.

And beyond this mission, two more still waited.

‘But wait.’

Sam’s mind sharpened as time seemed to slow.

‘There are four monarchs left.’

He had already killed the [Pale Monarch]. Now he faced the [Judge Monarch].

But that left three others whose names and powers remained unknown.

Four monarchs. Three missions remaining.

Something didn’t add up.

If each mission held a single monarch, the numbers didn’t match.

Would one mission contain two monarchs? Or was something worse waiting for him at the end?

The thought left a bad taste in his mouth.

More panels appeared, interrupting his calculations.

[But we are as just as one can be, even before a parasite like you.]

[You may have been found guilty, but watching a criminal struggle will be satisfying.]

[Come on, show us if you truly deserve that title of yours. Either way, you will die.]

Another set of panels followed, colder and sharper.

[Even if you manage to reach the final mission and clear it…]

[…We can assure you that you won’t be able to go any further…]

[…After all, they will wait for you there.]

Then, in perfect unison:

[Good luck.]

The panels vanished, leaving only the thick yellow fog and the heavy silence.

The meaning of the [Judgment Trials] became clearer.

It was a system meant to decide who was guilty and who was innocent.

Ordinary awakeners could clear the trials if they proved their innocence.

But Sam was already marked guilty from the start, yet he was still forced to face the trials anyway.

It didn’t bother him.

He knew the monarchs would never fight fairly, and he was ready for anything.

With a deep breath, Sam moved forward.

Primordial Clone!

His aura flared and a perfect replica of himself materialized beside him, its body glowing faintly with a new color.

Yellow. The mark of the [Judgment] affinity.

‘I wonder how it’ll look when it carries all ten affinities,’ Sam thought, watching the faint golden hue pulse through the clone’s veins.

The last three affinities were the strongest, and when he unlocked them his power, and the clone’s power, would rise to unimaginable levels.

‘I just need to keep moving and clear these [Judgment Trials].’

The clone tilted its head and grinned with its usual twisted smile.

“=)”

Sam ignored it and began to march.

The fog was thick enough to choke, making flight useless.

He kept his feet on the ground and let the dark soil guide him forward.

Primordial Rush!

His body sank into the earth like liquid shadow, moving at the same speed as his full sprint.

The clone stayed above, sword in hand, matching his pace with long, silent strides.

“Just follow me,” Sam ordered.

The clone nodded once, eyes gleaming with an eager hunger for battle.

Fwish!

Sam shot forward beneath the earth, the ground parting like water before him.

The clone raced beside him, each step perfectly aligned with his own.

Minutes passed.

But nothing appeared, neither monsters nor traps.

Nothing but the endless fog.

It became clear that this zone wasn’t filled with creatures to fight.

The true danger lay within the [Judgment Trials] themselves.

Innocent awakeners could clear the mission and leave alive.

But those marked guilty… They would face the pet of the judges.

A beast strong enough to make death a certainty.

For anyone else, guilt meant doom.

For Sam, it meant nothing.

After ten minutes of full-speed travel, the fog finally began to thin.

Golden light bled through the haze as the horizon opened before him.

‘Oh?’

Sam emerged from the ground and rose to his feet.

The sight waiting for him made him pause.

“What.”

Three colossal towers stood before him, stretching so high they seemed to pierce the clouds.

Each tower was built from dark stone and etched with symbols of balance and scale.

The circular clearing around them was still wrapped in the yellow fog, a massive arena isolated from the world.

But the towers themselves were the most unsettling.

Each one bore a gigantic golden eye embedded near its peak, staring down at him with cold judgment.

The pupils spun like tiny black vortexes, each engraved with a dark scale symbol that rotated endlessly.

Then came the familiar sound.

Ding!

Panels appeared before his eyes.

[You have arrived before the first “Judgment Trial”]

[Prove to those watching that you are innocent, or face their wrath.]

[Those that have been proven guilty over the span of the three trials will face judgment.]

Sam’s gaze flicked from one tower to the next.

Each of the three was a separate trial.

Each one demanded proof of innocence.

And even if he cleared all three, he could still be found guilty in the end.

More text followed.

[Clear each of the “Judgment Towers” to receive your verdict in the end.]

[Good luck.]

The panels faded, leaving only the heavy silence of the arena.

Sam’s face remained neutral.

Three trials, and a verdict that meant nothing, because he already knew how this would end.

‘Haha.’

A grin tugged at his lips.

‘I guess it’s fine.’

He stepped forward, ready to conquer each trial, receive his inevitable “guilty” verdict, and finally face the judges and their so-called pet.

But as he moved, a soft sound broke the stillness.

“=)”

The clone had not followed.

Its pale eyes remained fixed on the massive golden eyes above, and its eerie smile widened as an idea bloomed in its twisted mind.

Primordial Wings.

The clone spread its wings in a sudden burst of power, the air crackling around it.

With a single beat it launched into the sky, primordial sword gripped tight, heading straight for the first colossal eye.

Sam turned sharply, eyes widening in surprise.

‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.’

A laugh threatened to escape his throat.

‘Is it actually trying to attack the eyes?’

It looked exactly like that.

The clone flapped harder, climbing higher and higher toward the massive golden iris that stared down from the tower Sam had been about to enter.

Sam could see no point in it.

But he also couldn’t deny the flicker of amusement that crossed his mind.

He was already guilty. No action could make his situation worse.

And if the clone wanted to challenge the towers themselves…

Why not let it try?