Chapter 85: Is It Finally About to End?

Above the Armor Giant’s corpse floated three items—the Void Ring, the Stone of Annihilation, and the Cup of Imbalance. These three sacred relics had appeared simultaneously.

Elia reached out to grab them.

However, the moment she touched the three sacred relics, a rumble echoed from deep within the hall, and then a massive light gate slowly opened.

Behind the light gate was darkness that seemed capable of consuming everything… yet within it, specks of starlight flickered, almost like another universe.

“It really did trigger the Final Trial, huh?” Lisa pursed her lips.

Vian, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about what was really going on. The main thing was that this situation suited her perfectly! She’d wanted to finish this damn trial as soon as possible and head back to the castle to sleep from the very start.

So she said, “Let’s go, let’s go!” while pushing Lisa forward. Lisa didn’t resist.

Then, Kiz bent down and picked up the three sacred relics that had lost their glow and fallen to the ground, storing them in her Storage Space.

“Why are you still picking up those three things?” Elia asked in confusion.

“I’ll just hold onto them for now. They might come in handy later.” Kiz shrugged, then quickened her pace to catch up with the two princesses.

Next, the four of them stood before the light gate, staring at the unknown darkness beyond. What lay behind it? None of them knew—not even Lisa.

“Heh, maybe the Final Trial below will be even easier than the previous ones~ I mean, they gave us three sacred relics at once after all.” Lisa joked.

“Heavens… ah, no, no! Progenitor, please bless us, please bless us… May the Final Trial be simple, simple, simple!” After hearing Lisa’s words, Vian immediately clasped her hands together and started praying to the gods.

Elia squeezed Kiz’s soft little hand and smiled. “I know saying this now might be a bit of a flag… but I still want to say it. After we finish this trial, I definitely want to…”

The last part she whispered softly into Kiz’s ear.

Sure enough, the almost-yandere Little Princess didn’t glare at her shyly like she had a few months ago. Instead, she tugged lightly on Elia’s cheek and said, “Then I’ll be waiting. Don’t you dare go back on your word~”

At some point, Elia had come to find this version of the Little Princess even more adorable than before. After all, a yandere demon princess was one of her favorite archetypes from her past life… It’s just that deep down, she preferred bullying the weak, pitiful, easily flustered princess. Ah, she’s definitely not an S!

Oh well, either way, both sides were Kiz—and the one she loved was Kiz.

Then Elia tightened her grip on Kiz’s hand and led her through the light gate.

At the same moment, in a distant other space, a figure clad in a white robe stood amid the void… holding a black box in his hands.

“It worked.” He spoke softly, then looked at the box. A complex magic circle was engraved on its surface.

“Adjusting the trial ground carried great risk… but at least they managed to obtain the three sacred relics… Now it’s up to her…”

Then he lifted his head and gazed at a certain direction in the void. In that direction, a faint light was barely visible.

“Elia… I hope you pass the Final Trial… This world needs you—needs you, the Apocalypse Saintess.”

After speaking, he put away the black box, turned around, and vanished into the void… leaving only faint echoes reverberating endlessly in that other space.

This place… this environment… it’s a bit too absurd…

Elia took in her surroundings. There was no solid ground beneath their feet—only endless stars. And when she looked up, the same was true: a sky full of countless stars.

“Where is this now?” Vian asked blankly.

“I sense an extremely powerful energy fluctuation heading this way. I’d say the final boss of the trial is about to charge right into our faces.”

Sure enough, the moment Elia finished speaking, a light suddenly shone from the depths of the starry sky.

It grew brighter and closer, until eventually it coalesced into the figure of a woman before the four of them.

She wore a white robe, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall to her waist, and her eyes were a deep, pure gold… All of this gave off an intense sense of pressure.

And where did that pressure come from? Mainly because this woman was enormous! At any rate, she looked even bigger than the Armor Giant they’d faced before.

“You’ve finally come… heroes who passed the first four trials.” The woman smiled and looked down at them, speaking in an ethereal voice.

Elia stared up at her and asked, “Who are you?”

“Me? I am the Guardian of this Trial Ground… and also the Examiner of the Final Trial. You may call me the Archangel Ruth.”

“What? You’re the Archangel Ruth?!”

“How could the great Archangel Ruth be a guardian here?”

Lisa and Kiz both widened their eyes in shock. Elia, who knew nothing, and Vian, who couldn’t be bothered to know, were still bewildered.

“That’s not what you need to ask right now… What you need to consider now is… passing my test and obtaining the complete Legacy.” Ruth said solemnly. As she spoke, a dazzling light orb appeared in her palm.

Seeing that Elia was still confused, Kiz whispered an explanation in her ear: “Angels are the highest class of the Heavenly Saint Race. Archangels are the angels among angels—there are only three Archangels in the entire Heavenly Saint Race. I once heard that one of them left the race… Perhaps that’s this Ruth.”

‘What the hell, an info dump out of nowhere! As the original owner of this body and a Saintess, how come I know nothing about this? Well, I guess it makes sense—the Heavenly Saint Race rarely interacts with humans, and they keep themselves well hidden.’

Elia took a deep breath to digest what Kiz had just said, then looked up and asked, “And if we fail? What happens?”

“If you fail, you will die. Also, this is a rule-type trial. Don’t think that because you’re strong, you can escape unscathed…” Ruth said flatly.

“Furthermore, the rules are simple: no use of destructive magic… and I won’t use it either. Also, you may not use [Heavenly God].”

‘Alright, alright, classic ban on her Holy Sword! But she hadn’t planned on using that thing anyway… It hurts a lot! Every pore in her body bleeds, for crying out loud!’

‘Besides, who knows if overusing the Holy Sword would have lasting side effects… So she wouldn’t use it unless absolutely necessary.’

‘Of course, the main reason was… Kiz would be sad to see her bleed.’

‘Anyway, even without the Holy Sword, she was still the strongest in the world. The Saintess physique was just that unreasonable.’

Then Elia stepped forward and said, “Then let’s begin.”

“Courageous.”

Ruth raised her hand and sent the light orb soaring into the sky. The orb transformed into countless beams of light that enveloped the entire starry firmament.

“First round. Let me see your strength.”

Those beams coalesced into countless light blades, shooting at the four from all directions.

[Tenth Step: Divine Might Protection]

Elia cast magic to block the vast majority of the light blades.

At the same time, Kiz swung her scythe and shattered the blades that pierced through the shield.

Next, Ruth waved her hand lightly, and the storm of blades dissipated. Then, countless light chains shot toward them at incredible speed.

Elia dodged one, but another wrapped around her ankle.

The chains tightened instantly, causing her to wince in pain. She closed her eyes, and golden flame surged violently from her body.

The light chains melted rapidly in the fire.

Ruth swung both arms again, and even more light chains surged toward the four. This time, Elia was no longer passive. Golden fire swirled around her as she charged at the chains, burning almost all of them to nothing.

Beside her, Kiz and the others seized the opportunity to coordinate their attacks.

In the time that followed, Ruth continuously changed her attack patterns and the magic she used.

Every strike she unleashed carried an absolute, death-bound Law Force—one misstep and they’d die on the spot.

When Elia pierced Ruth’s shoulder with a light blade, Ruth stepped back and looked down at her wound. A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes.

“Not bad… It’s been a long time since I’ve been injured… Congratulations, you’ve passed the first round of the test.”

As Ruth’s words fell, the starry sky shifted rapidly. All the light blades and chains vanished, and the four of them landed on a stone platform.

“Second round… Let me see your willpower.”