Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely - Chapter 224

Chapter 224: The Judgment Towers, The Guilty Trials
The primordial clone shot through the air until it reached the enormous golden eye that stared down from the first tower.

Compared to the eye, the clone was nothing but a speck, a shadow against a mountain of flesh and light.

Yet the clone showed no fear.

It hovered in place, wings beating once as it raised its primordial sword.

Dark energy swirled along the blade as it focused its power for a single strike.

Then it swung.

Eclypse Slash!

A crescent of raw force, black and silver, ripped forward.

The slash was half the size of the eyeball itself, a massive wave of destruction that cut through the air with a shriek.

SLASH!

The blade of energy struck.

The giant eye convulsed, a spray of thick golden blood bursting outward as the eyelid slammed shut in pain.

The entire tower groaned and trembled as if wounded to its core.

The clone lowered its sword and watched in silence, a twisted grin carved into its face.

Sam raised an eyebrow, surprised that the attack had actually hurt the structure.

For a moment, the world went still.

Then—

Fwish!

The giant eyelid snapped open again.

But this time, the glowing iris was gone.

The eye had turned black as midnight, and deep within its darkness spun a furious golden vortex.

The air around it warped and howled like a storm.

Even Sam instinctively took a step back.

As he did, the other two towers responded.

Both of their eyes closed at once.

When they opened again, they too had transformed into the same black-and-gold vortex as the first.

The wounds were gone, the blood vanished as though it had never been there.

But the oppressive energy rolling off the towers told him everything.

They were angry.

Ding!

[You are already “Guilty” to the “Judgment Towers”. They will do everything in their power to stop you now.]

“Hm.”

Sam’s face stayed blank, but he noted the change.

The primordial clone, however, simply descended to the ground and landed with a graceful spin.

Its grin widened into something almost childlike, as if proud of the chaos it had caused.

[Good luck.]

[We knew your twisted nature wouldn’t let you do things normally anyway.]

[Befitting of one of “them”.]

The three judges spoke in their overlapping chorus, each word dripping with mockery.

Sam ignored them.

Even he found the clone strange at times, but he had grown used to its behavior.

Perhaps this was simply how it existed.

Above them, the three black eyes with their swirling golden vortexes continued to stare, silent and unblinking.

At the base of each tower, a massive gate stood wide open, waiting for him to step inside.

Before entering, Sam decided to check what lay beyond the towers.

He walked around the massive structures, his footsteps echoing faintly across the stone floor of the arena.

Behind the towers he found a wall of pure energy stretching from one side of the clearing to the other.

The shimmering barrier pulsed like a living thing, and no matter how he tested it, he could not force his way through.

At its center stood a single gate of dark metal, but three enormous chains locked it in place.

Each chain stretched outward and disappeared into the base of one of the towers.

“I guess I actually need to complete them to head deeper.”

Sam summoned his sword and struck the gate with a clean slash.

The primordial blade rang out like a bell and bounced back without leaving so much as a scratch.

“Alright,” Sam muttered, lowering the weapon.

He turned to the clone and pointed toward the nearest gate.

“Let’s get this over with.”

The clone nodded eagerly, its grin refusing to fade.

Together they approached the entrance of the first tower.

The scale symbol engraved above the gate pulsed with light as Sam drew near, the golden glow intensifying until it almost hurt to look at.

If the tower had a mouth, Sam thought, it would be smiling.

After a few silent steps, the gate swallowed him in a flash of yellow light.

The world shifted.

Sam found himself standing in a long stone chamber.

A single massive corridor stretched forward into the distance, lit by a dim golden haze.

Ding!

[Judgment Trial #1: Purity…]

Beep!

[Primordial has already been found guilty. Trial will change for the worse.]

“Damn.”

A normal awakener would have faced a [Test of Purity], but his automatic guilt meant something harsher awaited him.

Ding!

[Trial has been changed.]

[Guilty Trial #1: Corruption]

“Hm.”

Sam’s expression remained calm.

Whether purity or corruption, trial or execution, it made no difference.

He had no intention of running from anything.

More panels flickered to life in front of him.

[Description: You can try to run away from your sins, but you cannot hide from them…]

“Never tried to hide anyway,” Sam muttered.

[Your “corruption” will appear in the form of an unbeatable monster. Run to escape from it.]

[The stronger the “corruption” of an individual, the faster and stronger it will be. If it is too much, you will not escape.]

[Win by reaching the end before it.]

“Hm.”

Sam suspected the same rule applied to the [Trial of Purity] for innocent challengers.

The tower would draw out the darkness within them, creating a monster from their sins.

The contestant’s only hope was to flee.

If they failed, the tower would mark them as guilty, forcing them closer to the final confrontation with the impossible “pet” the judges had promised.

For someone already judged guilty, the tower would not hold back.

Ding!

[Begin.]

[Let the weight of your sins crawl on your back and kill you.]

Fwish!

Dark energy exploded outward from Sam’s body in a violent storm.

The pressure was so intense that it stole the air from his lungs.

Even he blinked in mild surprise.

‘These are my sins? But I haven’t done anything that bad.’

[Hell-Mode Analysis: The sheer fact we are alive already makes us the most sinful in existence.]

‘Seems unfair,’ Sam thought, ‘but alright.’

For an ordinary awakener, the trial would likely spawn a small or mid-sized creature to chase them.

But for Sam—whose existence as the last primordial was itself a defiance of the universe—

ROOOOARRR!

A monstrous shape materialized before him.

It was enormous, a hulking demon of blackened flesh and swirling crimson light.

Massive horns curved from its skull, and claws like obsidian blades scraped across the stone floor.

Its eyes burned with scarlet vortexes that glowed like miniature suns.

It roared again, a sound that rattled the walls and sent cracks racing across the corridor.

“Hm.”

Panels appeared, trembling as if even the judges were shaken.

[We have never seen such a sinful being…]

[Even the other primordials did not carry this much…]

[What is this thing… incredible.]

The clone tilted its head at the monster, completely unfazed.

A countdown began to flash in the air.

[3…]

Sam flexed his wings, preparing to move.

[2…]

A glowing barrier blocked the path ahead, but he paid it no mind.

[1…]

These things were supposed to be his sins.

If that was true, then he had nothing to fear.

The clone didn’t even take a stance.

“=)”

It merely smiled wider, staring at the demon with an eerie familiarity.

The demon tilted its head as well, crimson eyes narrowing in curiosity.

The two looked almost identical in color and shape, black bodies streaked with the hues of primordial affinities.

[RUN!]

The barrier before Sam vanished with a flash.

[Come on~]

[Run and show us your distressed face~]

[Haha, so beautiful to see a criminal like you face what they deserve~]

The judges’ voices dripped with cruel amusement.

They expected him to flee in panic.

But Sam didn’t move.

He remained perfectly still, eyes locked on the creature before him.

For a moment he had considered running.

But then another panel flickered into view.

[Hell-Mode Analysis: It won’t attack us.]

Sam exhaled slowly.

‘Thought so.’

Fwish! ZAP!

The demon blurred forward in a single impossible step.

Its speed shattered the air as it appeared directly in front of Sam, faster than even his reflexes could match.

Had he tried to run, it would have caught him in an instant.

So this was the raw power of his “sins.”

If only he could harness it as his own strength.

The judges’ laughter echoed from the unseen walls.

[Haha~]

[Should have run. You thought you could be friendly with that thing?]

[IDIOT!]

The demon lowered its massive head until its crimson eyes met Sam’s.

The vortex within them spun with a force that seemed to pierce through flesh and bone.

It stared deep into him, silent and unreadable.

Sam met its gaze without flinching.

“…”

Beside him, the primordial clone stood perfectly still, its smile stretching impossibly wide.

“=)”

The demon’s head tilted again, the crimson light flickering with a strange recognition, as though it was staring at its own reflection.

But still, it actually didn’t attack him.

Normally, the “corruption” of an awakener would do anything it can do outrun them and kill them.

And yet… this one didn’t do any of that!