Chapter 293: The Ruined and the Forsaken

Bzzt…crash!

Accompanied by a deafening roar of thunder, a bolt of crimson lightning started to make its way down to where Herellia was, radiating an incredibly intense intent of destruction. If one looked closely at the bolt, they would notice that a few small black particles mingled with the crimson energy particles that surrounded them. Unexpectedly, these small black particles were the reason why the crimson bolt had such a level of intent.

Not only that, but the intent radiated by the crimson bolt had its range amplified thanks to the small black particles, making Horell and Argentum feel like Herellia's chances of surviving against the first bolt were slim. In their minds, they thought that she was a tiny wooden boat while the crimson bolt of lightning was a tsunami ready to engulf her whole.

As the lightning bolt hastily made its way to where Herellia was, Horell could not help but make a decision out of impulse. Without thinking about the repercussions of his actions, he started to head towards where Herellia was with the intent of helping her in withstanding the first bolt. Unfortunately for him, a familiar silhouette blocked his path before he could go any further.

"What are you doing, Argentum?" Horell asked Argentum in a tone of slight fury, wondering if the being in front of him truly wanted Herellia to successfully finish her Existence Tribulation. "Can't you see that Herellia is in danger?"

"We can't say that as of yet," Argentum said in a calm and composed tone, a stark contrast to the somewhat impatient hone hidden beneath Horell's words. Recalling what he knew about Power Baptisms, as well as what happened to the trials if one indirectly interfered in one, Argentum did not want to think about the consequences brought forth by direct interference. Naturally, he knew that directly interfering in a being's Existence Tribulation would amplify the difficulty of the trial to a great degree. He just did not know as to what extent it would reach.

On top of that, he felt that it was still too early for them to directly interfere in an Existence Tribulation. In his mind, if they directly interfered in her tribulation right now, then her chances of succeeding would instantly fall down to 0%. With that, he went ahead and talked with Horell about it, telling him, "Since an Existence Tribulation is basically a trial wherein the heavens give the being a chance to go against their fates, that means that the being should shoulder the burden of the trial themselves."

"Of course, that has not stopped other beings from helping the being undergoing the tribulation out," Argentum added, wanting to add some sense to the currently panicking Horell. "Nevertheless, the repercussions brought forth by indirect support instead of jumping into the fray is multiple times lower than the latter."

"In other words, instead of helping Herellia out in her Existence Tribulation, you would instead give her a greater burden to carry, possibly needing your constant support in order for her chances to successfully clear it to barely be above 0%," he continued before asking him, "With that in mind, are you sure you still want to help Herellia withstand the first bolt right now?"

"…" At that moment, Horell was left at a loss for words, prompting him to think over his impulsive decision to help his and Argentum's companion out. In less than a second, he realized that Argentum's words were indeed correct, recalling his memories of Zelefaire's Existence Tribulation in the past. With a sigh of disappointment directed towards himself, he looked at Argentum and apologized, saying, "I shouldn't have let my fear get a hold on me. One of the keys for an Existence Tribulation to succeed is a calm mind, and I've already failed."

"Well, no worries," Argentum said in a comforting tone, wanting to lift up the mood between the two. At this moment, the crimson bolt was now only a few dozen meters away from Herellia, prompting her to utilize her skills as a great amount of crimson red tendrils were conjured on her body.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Without delay, all of the crimson red tendrils headed towards the crimson lightning bolt, giving Argentum and Horell the feeling that Herellia was going to fight against the bolt of lightning with offense. As an aura of curiosity radiated from him, a light chuckle came out of his mouth as he moved to Horell's side and said, "Let's see how strong our alliance leader truly is."

Whoosh!

Just as the two sides were about to collide, Herellia willed all of the crimson red tendrils to converge towards one point, transforming into a large crimson thorn as she shouted, "[Grand Sanguine Arts: Crimson Pierce]!"

Bang!

At the very instant she was finished saying the name of the skill, the two sides had finally collided, resulting in a somewhat deafening explosion soon after. Not only that, but a few trees behind Herellia were blown away thanks to her current position. Surprisingly, after that, the sight of crimson lightning covering Herellia's body did not appear at all. Instead, the crimson thorn she conjured had successfully defended against the crimson bolt, as well as dispelled it!

Swoosh!

As the first crimson bolt was dispelled, it soon transformed into multiple strands of crimson energy tinted with a hint of black. These strands soon headed towards Herellia's body, who did not reject the incoming strands as she knew what they were. Soon after, these strands were absorbed by Herellia, boosting her combat power by a considerable degree.

Seeing as the first crimson bolt that came down was easily handled by Herellia, Argentum could not help but look at Horell and say with a chortle, "What did I tell you? There's nothing to worry about. Herellia is the leader of the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance. Although she would face a hard time against those of a higher existence level, she would take care of things like these with no problem."

"As her companions, shouldn't we have at least this bit of faith in her?" he continued, to which Horell let out an awkward chuckle as he replied, "Alright, alright. You don't need to rub in what happened a few seconds ago."

"Anyways, I have a far more important thing to tell you," Horell said afterward before asking Argentum, "How many rounds do you think Herellia will last until she needs our aid?"

"Hmm…good question," Argentum answered as he mulled over the question. After a few seconds, he then replied, "If my idea of this tribulation is correct, then with the buffs we cast a while ago on her, there would be no problem for her to clear the first trial."

"That high of an expectation?" Horell responded in a slightly shocked tone, to which Argentum opened his mouth to respond, only for him to stop midway as a four crimson bolts came down from the dark clouds to smite Herellia down. With his mouth still open, he then went ahead and radiated an aura of slight glee before saying, "You could say that this is my most conservative estimate."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Since four crimson lightning bolts had come down from the dark clouds, Argentum knew that his idea of the current trial was more or less correct, allowing him to let out a soft sigh of relief as he felt that Herellia would truly clear the first trial without any hiccups. The idea he had in mind came when he had just learned the name of the first trial, conjuring up a few hypotheses that seemed to fit the name of the trial. Although the current state of the trial was what he considered as the worst hypothesis out of all the hypotheses he had, it was still within his range of expectations.

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Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

As for Herellia, she manipulated the crimson thorn she had conjured a while ago and split it up into four smaller thorns, utilizing the entirety of her mind in making sure that the four thorns squarely hit the four bolts. Unfortunately, the ideal situation she had in her mind did not appear, which was a scenario wherein the four lightning bolts would be dispelled in one hit, just like what happened a while ago. Then again, the current scenario was not the worst case possible, with two crimson bolts dispelling after the first hit, leaving two crimson bolts behind.

Making sure that she was not going to be hit by these bolts, she hastily manipulated the two free thorns to head towards the two remaining bolts in a pincer formation, dispelling the two remaining bolts without a problem as a decently sized swarm of crimson strands was absorbed by her body not long after.

And just like that, she continued through the rounds of the trial named 'Forsaken Decade', remembering to maintain a calm and composed mind as she knew that panicking would lead her to ruin. After the second round, which consisted of four lightning bolts, the third round of crimson bolts came, allowing nine lightning bolts to make their way towards Herellia. Naturally, she did not want to be in the passive, conjuring two more large crimson thorns, bringing the total amount of crimson thorns she had connected to her body to three. With the buffs she had, as well as her prowess and experience with her skills, the third round of bolts was dispelled without a problem.

Soon, the fourth round of lightning bolts came crashing down from the sky, bringing forth a total of 16 lightning bolts. Although she was about to get hit by the remaining bolts, with half of it being dispelled by the three crimson thorns she had around her, she utilized the movement speed boosting buff cast on her to its fullest potential, seemingly teleporting her way out of an inevitable collision course. After that, she conjured a great number of crimson red tendrils, which then wrapped around the crimson thorns in less than an instant, allowing the thorns to have greater penetrative power. This greater power allowed the thorns to dispel the remaining crimson bolts, enhancing Herellia's combat power by a notch once more. 

As for the fifth round of lightning bolts, which consisted of 25 crimson bolts, Herellia finally felt like she was having a hard time maneuver through the bolts and dispel all of them at once. Noticing this from afar, Argentum could not help but think that he had somewhat overestimated Herellia's combat power, contemplating as to whether or not he should cast another buff on her to alleviate her burdens a bit. After hastily conversing with Horell about it as the two of them looked at her progress of dispelling the bolts, he eventually decided to cast the weakest offense boosting spell he had in his arsenal, sending a small red ball of energy towards her way.

Unsurprisingly, this small red ball of energy was enough for Herellia to turn the tides, going from a state of escaping over 10 bolts at once, to having great confidence in herself that she could dispel all of the bolts in one go. At this point, she had already conjured seven crimson thorns, which had their offensive properties with more crimson red tendrils.

Letting out a sigh of relief as the final crimson bolt was dispelled, she could not help but focus her sense of vision towards Argentum and Horell as she noticed that the dark clouds had gone silent for quite some time. Deciding that it would be faster to talk to them through energy strands, Herellia unhesitatingly went ahead and sent energy strands towards their way, connected the minds of the three.

"Thanks for the buff, Argentum," Herellia said through the connection. "I think I wouldn't have cleared this round without it."

"More like you're making sure you don't want to overexert yourself," Argentum said in response, letting out a playful giggle before adding, "Then again, that's not a bad thing."

"So, what made you talk with us in the middle of your trial, Herellia?" Horell asked after Argentum was finished with his reply, to which Herellia responded, "To be honest, I'm thinking of asking a few more buffs from you two���though I'm having second thoughts. Should I go ahead with more buffs or should I make do with what I currently have?"

"I'm fine with either decision," Horell replied as he shrugged. He then turned his look at Argentum before saying, "How about you, Argentum? What do you think we should do?"

"Hmm…" Argentum pondered over Herellia's request for a bit, weighing the pros and cons of each choice. After about ten seconds or so, he looked at Horell for a bit before looking at Herellia as he replied, "I'd suggest we wait for the next round of bolts to come."

And surprisingly, Herellia followed Argentum's decision. She focused her sense of vision on the dark clouds above while she used the time to repair the crimson thorns she had conjured. Not to mention, she had also used the time to enhance the offensive properties of the thorns by a slight degree as well, giving her more confidence in the upcoming round.

At the very instant she was finished enhancing her thorns, a loud rumble resounded throughout the dark clouds, prompting the trio to focus their senses of vision towards it. In an instant, they felt a wave of destruction far more intense than before envelop their bodies.

Ding!

Concurrently, a notification sound resounded throughout Argentum's mind, eliciting him to hastily read through the latest notification he had received. After skimming through it, Argentum went ahead and sent energy strands to both Herellia and Horell before saying, "Guys…"

"I think it's time for us to cast a few more buffs."

'The heavens have noticed the external enhancement of the trial taker's power. In response, the heavens have decided to adjust the difficulty of the first trial to the current trial taker's power.'

'The trial 'Forsaken Decade' has been changed to…'

'The Decade Waltz of the Ruined and the Forsaken!'

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