Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely - Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Second Guilty Trial, Deception
[Guilty Trial #2: Deception]

“Hm.”

Sam stood still as the chamber around him shifted, his expression as calm and unreadable as ever.

Darkness swallowed the walls.

The golden glow of the massive scale ahead dulled to a lifeless black.

The two towering doors on either side, which once held radiant carvings of an angel and a demon, now stood blank and silent.

Whether this trial was the standard version or a crueler one meant nothing to Sam.

He only needed to finish it.

That was all that mattered.

Ding!

[Description: Being honest is something that many people should aspire to be.]

[Do not lie, for if your deception is seen through, you will face a horror linked to it.]

The words burned in the air before fading, leaving a single line of glowing text above the dark scale and between the two empty doors.

It read:

[Are you strong enough to defeat what’s ahead?]

“….”

Sam stared at the words in silence.

This wasn’t a question about facts.

It wasn’t asking for truth.

It was asking for something no one could truly know.

Could he defeat the [Monarchs]? The [Colossals]? The [King] waiting beyond all of this?

Even Sam didn’t have that answer.

“Maybe,” he said under his breath.

[Hell-Mode Analysis: There is no right answer. This is a trick trial once more. That is why it is called ‘Deception’.]

Sam’s eyes flicked between the two doors.

There was no yes or no. No truth to weigh on the scale. Only emptiness.

It was nothing but a cruel game.

The judges wanted him to die.

They knew he could not die permanently as long as his determination endured, but they could try to grind it down with endless pressure, force him to doubt, and crush him beneath impossible odds.

Sam kept his face blank as he stepped forward.

“Go to the next,” he told the primordial clone, “Since we don’t know anything, it doesn’t matter what happens.”

“=)”

The clone smiled wide and nodded before gliding toward the door on the left.

Sam moved to the door on the right.

Both reached for the handles at the same time.

Fwish! Ding!

[Bad choice~]

[You die!]

[Haha…]

Panels of glowing text from the three unseen judges filled the air, but Sam barely had a second to read before his door flung open.

“Huh.”

Thousands of black arrows exploded outward, filling his vision like a storm.

“Oh well.”

Sam had no chance to dodge.

The arrows struck him all at once.

-1! -1! -1!

Each arrow chipped away at the durability of his [Primordial Barrier], shattering it almost instantly.

The rest pierced through his body, tearing him apart before he could even react.

[One down.]

[Many more to go.]

[We know you’re going to come back.]

Sam’s vision dimmed as his body collapsed.

Ding!

[You have died.]

Darkness swallowed him, and the void returned.

The same endless black where the shadowed figures of the primordials stood in silence.

“Don’t blame me,” Sam said with a casual shrug, “I can’t know what’s going to happen.”

It wasn’t frustration that filled him, only mild annoyance.

Why bother killing him with traps? They knew he could revive endlessly as long as his determination remained.

And they clearly wanted to test that more than anything.

[You can’t give up yet, Sam Walker!]

[Even through their endless attempts, they can’t make your determination falter!]

[Keep pushing forward.]

Sam’s expression didn’t change as the words faded.

His consciousness slipped away as [Determination is Fuel] triggered.

A surge of power pulled him back. Light tore through the void.

Sam opened his eyes again inside the trial chamber.

The holes left by the arrows were gone, his body whole once more.

A faint aura shimmered around him, healing everything as if nothing had happened.

[Truly incredible to witness it in real time.]

[The only one we have ever seen capable of that was the “King.”]

[I mean, they are of the same kind, so it is not unexpected.]

‘Same kind…?’

Sam’s eyes narrowed as he read the panels.

The King could revive endlessly too? But all the primordials were supposed to be dead.

What did they mean by “the same kind”? A connection?

He shook his head. Not the time to dwell on it.

The primordial clone hovered beside him, its eerie grin never fading.

‘Looks like one out of two doors leads to death,’ Sam thought.

[Hell-Mode Analysis: The real trial would have asked questions and, based on your answers, you would face something at the end.]

“Hm.”

This version was clearly worse. The judges weren’t even pretending to be fair.

But fairness had never mattered to Sam. He only needed to reach the end.

He rose calmly and looked at the next set of doors.

New glowing text formed above the blackened scale.

[Are you going to die?]

“…”

Again, a question with no meaning.

No answer mattered.

Sam pointed to the door on the right and ordered the clone to take the left.

They opened them together.

[Wrong again!]

[I guess primordials ARE indeed unlucky. No wonder they all died.]

[Hah.]

BOOM!

A massive bomb materialized in front of Sam and detonated instantly.

The explosion tore through him, reducing his body to ash before he could take a step.

Ding!

[“Determination is Fuel” has activated.]

Light rebuilt his body, restoring him to perfect form once more.

His face darkened slightly, a shadow of irritation flickering behind his eyes.

But he said nothing. He simply moved forward.

Another question appeared. Another meaningless choice. Another death.

Arrows, blades, collapsing walls, crushing, each door hid a different trap, each ending with the same result.

Death. Revival. Death again.

The judges’ laughter echoed after every failure.

[Such persistence!]

[Let’s see how long you can last.]

[How many times before even a primordial breaks?]

Sam ignored them. Each time he revived, he stood silently, his face blank.

By the ninth death, he knew there was no logic to the pattern.

The doors weren’t tests of knowledge or morality.

They were pure deception. An endless cycle designed to waste his time and grind down his will.

But his will did not waver.

If this trial wanted to measure the strength of his determination, then he would show them.

Again and again if needed.

On his tenth attempt, a final line of text glowed above the scale.

[Final Question: How strong is your determination to face those impossible odds?]

Sam didn’t even pause to think.

He chose a door at random and stepped through.

This time, there was no trap waiting.

Ding!

[You have responded to all 10 questions, and will now face your “Deception”.]

The judges’ voices fell silent.

For the first time since the trial began, no arrows fired, no bombs exploded, no blades fell.

Sam emerged into a vast chamber larger than any he had seen before.

The air was heavy and cold, thick with a pressure that made the ground tremble under his feet.

The primordial clone walked beside him, its wide smile never fading.

At the center of the chamber, the darkness began to stir.

Ripples spread across the floor as if the stone itself were water.

A deep, hollow sound rumbled through the air, slow and deliberate.

[You have a bad feeling about this.]

“Hm…”

Sam’s eyes narrowed as he stared into the shifting shadows.

Something enormous was awakening within the void.