Chapter 162: After The Trial

"HAAAA!... COUGH!... COUGH!"

I suddenly woke up as if I was being suffocated, struggling to draw breath; both my head and body were heavy. I couldn't think straight, and the pain was horrible—not physical, but more like an emotional ache. I can't recall what happened after Nana-chan showed up inside the secret room, but something deep in my heart is telling me it was something extremely important.

"Ugh... my head," I grabbed the side of my head with one hand and rubbed it, trying to calm down. "What the hell happened?" I had no idea. The last thing I remembered was a bright white light, and the rest was blank.

"That was fast."

"Eh?" I heard a strange voice above me. As I was lying on the ground, I looked up and saw three faceless creatures. For a moment, I was about to jump and pierce them with a blood spear, but fortunately for them, I held back.

"You're welcome to try," the faceless judge on the right said, with a smirk on his lips.

"Fuck you," I raised my middle finger. "I conquered your trial in a short time."

"I'm awesome."

"..."

"Sigh..." the one in the middle sighed and shook his head as if he was disappointed. "Yes, you were fast, but that's by our standards."

"Meaning?" I raised an eyebrow, sitting cross-legged in this dark space.

"Well," the judge on the left spoke, raising his hand, and a big leather book materialized out of nowhere. He opened it and began flipping pages.

'How the hell can he read without eyes?' I couldn't help but wonder.

"Ah, here it is," the faceless judge stopped and pointed at a part in the book, his faceless head turning to face me.

"It took you only one thousand two hundred and fifty-six years to complete the trial of the mind, and it was considered fast."

"Huh??..." I was stunned, and my mind went blank. Soon, a strange feeling filled my chest; the more I thought about the meaning of what I had just heard, the more this strange feeling grew, until—

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" I burst out laughing, throwing my head back and slapping my knees. "HAHAHAHA!!!.... AHH... HAHAHA"

"What's so funny?" the middle faceless judge asked, clearly annoyed by my reaction. But I didn't care; he could go and fuck... cough... No, I needed to be civilized with cosmic entities.

"HAHAHA!!!... Sigh," Calming myself down a bit, I stared at the faceless judge and spoke. "You're joking, right?"

"..."

"No," all three spoke at the same time and in the same tone. The voice shook me to the core; the way they said it was so natural and unnatural at the same time as if what I had just said was the most absurd thing.

"No fucking way, more than a thousand! What about my kids outside?"

"It's true," the faceless judge nodded. "And relax… Time flows differently; not even a full day has passed."

"Phew," I exhaled in relief at those words. The idea of being absent for a thousand years was terrifying.

"But why?? How? It felt like a week at most," I asked.

"The mind is the hardest part," the judge on the left spoke, closing his book and vanishing into the darkness. "No matter how strong you are, if your mind is weak, then you can't hope to achieve your ascension."

"But you have a strong mind, a very strong mind," the faceless judge on the right spoke. "Perverted, yes, but strong nonetheless."

"..."

"Oh... you know what 'pervert' means?" I gasped, covering my mouth and faking a shock. "I didn't think you had the experience."

"What the hell are you talking about!" the one on the left snapped. "Of course we have experience; just last decade, we were in the arms of a lovely, big gir—"

SPLAT!

"SHUT UP!" The other two clapped their hands together, silencing their friend.

"Pfft," I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to suppress the laughter, but it was pointless.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" I laughed so hard, holding my stomach and rolling on the ground. Yes, I was exaggerating, but I needed to let off some steam, or the pain in my heart wouldn't fade.

"Huh?" As I was rolling, I noticed something in the distance. "What's this doing here?"

Standing up, I made my way to the glass tube that somehow had been teleported out of the trial. It was the same glass tube from the secret room, but the difference was the woman inside.

"Well... this can't be called a woman anymore." What was inside the tube, floating in the white substance, was a humanoid body, devoid of anything that could be considered human. It had no eyes, nose, hair, or mouth—only skin, and it was missing reproductive organs. The body was similar to those mannequins used to hang up armor and weapons.

"This is your new body, Queen Morgana," one of the faceless judges said, approaching from behind.

"My new body?" I repeated, turning my head to look at the judge, who was now standing beside me.

"Yes, this is what you get once you finish the mind trial."

"The reward of the mind trial is a body?" I tilted my head, confused. "Shouldn't this reward be in the body trial? Where's the logic in this?"

"Logic is only for mortals," the judge replied as if it were an indisputable fact. "Moreover, the trials are beyond our comprehension."

"..." I kept silent, listening to his words.

"A body is always a reward from one of the three trials," he took a step forward, placing his long, thin hand on the glass. "To ascend, you need a new body—a divine body."

"I see," I hummed, taking a step back, crossing my arms, and staring at the faceless judge. "I guess this body is incomplete, and I must finish the other two trials to obtain the rewards?"

"Precisely," the judges nodded. "What you receive as a reward is unknown to us and will always be tied to whatever divine concept you awaken."

"I see," I said, turning around and staring at the two remaining black doors—the trial of the body and the trial of the heart.

"I recommend taking the trial of the body," one of the judges in the back suddenly said.

"Why is that?" I asked without turning to face him, only shifting my focus to the mentioned trial door.

"The heart is the hardest one, and it's very unpredictable," the other one said. "It would test your heart and soul in ways you can't even imagine, and it would always be related to your past in one way or another."

"My past?" I raised an eyebrow at the word. "But I don't remember my past."

"The mind may forget, but the heart and soul never do," the faceless judge on the left spoke.

"It would be interesting to experience my past," I smirked, feeling my heart pounding faster at the idea.

"No... you're not ready," the faceless judge on the left took a step toward me. His voice was low and calm, but for some reason, his tone scared me. "Go and take the body trial."

"I... I"—I wanted to say no and choose the heart trial, but the fear in his voice and the way he was acting.

"Alright, I'll take the trial of the body."

"Good choice," the faceless judge smiled, a creepy one with all those shark-like teeth.

"Thanks for the warning," I said with a genuine smile. "But one quick question."

"Why are you helping me? Isn't it against the rules?"

"What... Ehhh?" The judges were stunned by the question. They looked at each other for a moment before the one on the right spoke.

"We're not helping... Cough... Our boss said the rules were too restrictive and told us to give you advice."

"An asshole boss?" I said with a calm and emotionless voice, somehow understanding the suffering of these three faceless judges.

"Yeah," the one on the left nodded, a small smile appearing on his lips as he spoke. "He is a real ass."

"But a very kind one," the middle one added.

"And he cares about us a lot," the other one said.

"We're happy with him," the one on the right said, patting his friends.

"I see," I nodded, taking a moment to think about which door to take. Then I turned and offered a small bow to the judges. "Thank you for the help."

"You're welcome, Queen Morgana, and good luck," the judges said in unison, and with that, their bodies turned into shadows, vanishing from the scene, leaving me alone with the glass tube and the two black doors.

"Sigh... I guess there's no point in waiting."

With a sigh, I walked to the right side, where the door leading to the trial of the body was. The door was massive, almost five meters in height and width.

"Here we go." Placing a hand on the doorknob, I pushed it open. Darkness invaded my senses like the last time, and before I knew it...

SPLAT!

"Ouch..." Something similar to a whip slapped my bare ass. I turned and glared at the culprit, but in the next second, I froze.

"MOVE ALONG, YOU LOWLY SLAVE!"

"Oh, fuck me!"

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