God of Destruction: Living Among Mortals

Zane dropped to his knees, gasping for breath, his body battered and bleeding from multiple wounds. The Adventurer slowly stirred, coughing and groaning, finally awake.

Relief crept on Zane's face, mingled with extreme exhaustion. He had survived. And he had been able to protect someone else as well, successfully.

Zane pressed a hand to his chest, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. His vision blurred, and the pain radiated from every injury he had sustained. But he had done it. Against the seemingly impossible odds, he had defeated the Vorynth and saved a life.

For the first time since the trial began, Zane allowed himself a long, deep, calming breath. The Vorynth had nearly killed him more times than he could count, but he smiled it off.

Zane slumped against the tunnel wall, panting hard, his body trembling. The Vorynth's body was motionless, its form slowly dissolving into a mist of dark particles that drifted upward like fading stars. The tunnel was silent now, no noises or sounds, just his own heartbeat.

The Adventurer had woken up, but for some reason, possibly due to a minor head injury, he lay unconscious again. Zane set the unconscious Adventurer to the set, his body aching from head to toe.

"Just one minute..." he whispered, closing his eyes.

The ground felt cold underneath him, kind of comforting him. He leaned back, letting himself fall deep into his own consciousness, into a peaceful sleep, for just one minute.

When he opened his eyes again, his heartbeat steadied. The exhaustion hadn't vanished, but his mind was clearer. He glanced toward the Adventurer; the man stirred slightly, groaning and rolling onto his side.

Zane pushed himself up with a grunt, his body protesting for him to stay down and rest more. "You'll be fine now," he said quietly, turning his gaze from the Adventurer to the deeper part of the tunnel, from where the fight had originated.

The black core still waited there, embedded in the stone like a dark heart. Its glow pulsed faintly, slow, deliberate, somewhat alive. Zane didn't see any monsters in sight, no tremors in the ground, the air didn't vibrate with energy, a clear sign of no life, except for him, in the area.

He approached it carefully. Up close, the core radiated with pressure, as though gravity itself was bending toward it. He reached out, his fingers brushing the surface, and felt a wave of cold energy over his arm. It was unlike anything else; the other cores had overwhelming energy, but this one felt like the concept of energy itself.

Zane grabbed it, shifting it to loosen it from the stone it was embedded in. The moment it left its resting place, the tunnel's presence had shifted.

"Alright," he whispered, gripping it tight. "Let's finish this."

He turned back once more. The Adventurer was conscious now, slowly sitting up, confusion in his eyes. Zane gave a small nod, half a farewell, half reassurance, and ran away.

The world seemed to have stretched, sounding folding around him as he moved. Footsteps echoed from every direction, bouncing through the tunnels in chaos.

The chaos at the center was deafening when he arrived. Shouts, explosions, mana blasts, the clash of steel on steel, all of it merged into a single voice of desperation. Adventurers from different guilds were battling fiercely, cores in hand, fighting to make their deposits.

But amidst it all, Zane moved like a ninja, absolutely silent, like a shadow. He appeared near the center, and instead, he stepped into the light, heads turned, some recognizing him, others just sensing danger.

One shouted: "It's him, Zane!" but before anyone could react further, Zane moved.

He left a series of afterimages racing in every direction, confusing their senses. Blasts of all kinds tore through illusions, while the real Zane slipped through the chaos unnoticed. He reached the center in seconds, his heart steady, as the black core reacted to him.

Without hesitation, he threw it in the center, light illuminating instantly, as the ground trembled. A deep, resonant tone rippled through the air, silencing every sound in the chamber.

The light faded. And Zane was now glowing with light, which meant he'd done it. The black core was the key, the one condition that ended the trial instantly. One could win the trial by depositing as many cores as possible in the ten-minute time limit, or more simply, find the black core and deposit it.

"Figures," he said lowly, shaking his head. "Too easy to end something that hard."

He flexed his fingers, the exhaustion finally giving way to clarity. Around him, the trial's environment began to fade, as all the Adventurers were teleported back to the spectator box, where they would be given a five-minute break until the second trial for the Green sin began.

Zane exhaled deeply, the adrenaline fading just enough for his fatigue to return. But there was no rest yet. He'd have to do it all again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, yellow mana crystal.

He decided to press into his chest, and the crystal dissolved into a steam of golden light that spread through his body.

The pain dulled as he felt warmer, his cuts closing, and his mana reserves surged back to full capacity. His muscles stopped trembling, his mind clearing.

"Time for round two,"

As the world around him shifted, the tunnel reformed. The sounds of portals reopening filled the space, new Adventurers entering, fresh and unaware, something he could use to his advantage. The walls glowed faintly, signaling the start of the next cycle.

The instant the countdown hit zero, Zane didn't hesitate. He activated his ability and blurred the moment the light faded away into nothingness.

He blurred through the tunnels faster than any of the new arrivals, retracing his old route with great memory. His footsteps echoed through the tunnel. He knew where to go, the same deep tunnel, where he had found the black core before.