Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent-Chapter 400: Entering the Tower of Wrath, The Wrath Trials

[Enter the "Tower of Wrath" if you dare, and you will participate in the "Wrath Trials." Do note that you are not allowed to leave once you enter.]

The words etched into the front of the ancient tower echoed silently through Alex's mind as he stood before it.

He read them once. Then twice. Then a third time.

He didn't need to, of course.

His mind was far too sharp to forget something as simple as this, but it wasn't about understanding, it was about acknowledgment, about realizing that the system itself was warning him.

Even so, he took a step forward.

[FateBreaker has accepted the challenge, please step inside the tower to begin.]

The message faded as if the very stone of the tower had whispered it to him.

A moment later...

Fwish! Creeeaak...

The towering obsidian doors groaned as they opened, ancient mechanisms grinding as crimson mist slithered outward from the gap like a living thing.

The interior of the tower was pitch-black, a void of light that looked as though it could swallow a hundred suns and still remain starved.

Zap! Zap!

Bolts of red lightning arced down from the dark clouds above, smashing into the ground beside Alex, each one scorching the marble pathway beneath his feet and sending vibrations through the air.

The message was clear, don't enter.

But that warning had been wasted from the start.

The tower didn't know him, it didn't understand what kind of person FateBreaker really was.

There was no hesitation in his steps, no fear in his breath, not even curiosity, just cold determination.

Because this wasn't about proving anything, it wasn't about chasing glory.

It was about the objective. And Alex never strayed from an objective.

The tower's menacing height cast a long shadow over the land behind him as the doors opened wider.

The crimson fog spilled further, crawling across the ground like spilled blood.

Strange symbols, three of them, glowed on the base of the doorframe in a language Alex didn't recognize.

Still, without slowing down, he crossed the threshold and stepped inside.

[May your strength allow you to survive these trials, FateBreaker.]

That was the last message he saw before the door behind him slowly groaned shut again.

Boom!

Everything went black.

There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls, no sense of time or place, only darkness.

And strangely, for a moment, Alex could still see the world outside, barely, like he was peering through black-tinted glass.

But then the doors slammed shut behind him, and even that faint light vanished.

There was nothing now. A void.

"Three trials," Astolf's voice echoed inside Alex's mind calmly.

The Undead King sounded distant, contemplative.

"The Tower of Destiny had ten floors," Alex replied as he kept moving forward into the black, unshaken, "But this… this place feels heavier, stronger. If it only has three trials, that means each one will push harder."

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No response came from Astolf this time, only silence.

Eventually, after what felt like both seconds and hours, something changed.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Soft lights blinked into existence from nowhere, gradually forming patterns across the ground and walls until the entire chamber was lit.

Alex now stood within a massive, circular room, a kind of entrance hub.

[You have entered the "Tower of Wrath."]

He scanned the surroundings quickly.

The architecture was unnatural, beautiful yet alien.

The floor was forged from a smooth, polished white marble interwoven with black stone, creating a massive yin-yang symbol that spiraled beneath his boots.

Strange red veins pulsed along the walls like they were alive, giving off a soft glow with each beat.

There was a faint hum in the air, the energy of the place wasn't just magical, it was hateful.

[You are currently in the "Hub," which links the three trials.]

A large circular platform stretched beneath him, branching out into three different pathways that extended into the void.

Each path led to a massive, floating platform far ahead.

They hung in mid-air, connected only by the narrow bridges that arced toward them.

Between the branches, directly in the center, was a transparent glass circle on the ground, as if something important would flow through it.

[You will need to clear all three trials, each time you complete one, energy will pour into the platform from the tunnel ahead of you. You will be able to see the power flowing beneath your feet.]

Alex lowered his gaze toward the empty glass conduit in the center.

So that was its purpose.

[Do not fall, or else you will die, by the way.]

His brows twitched slightly.

Peering over the edge of the platform, he saw the truth.

There was nothing beneath him, not air, not clouds.

Just abyss.

He zoomed in with his vision, still nothing.

It extended for kilometers and kilometers in every direction.

"I'll avoid falling," he muttered to himself, "Obvious enough."

[Each trial will be different and more difficult than the last, be wary.]

He stepped forward slowly, keeping an eye on the three branching paths.

The more he looked, the more each trial platform started to stand out.

Each one glowed faintly at the center, and etched onto the surface of every large platform was a different symbol.

The same ones that had been on the door.

[Once all three trials are cleared and the platform is fully charged, you may reach the top of the tower to challenge the final boss.]

Alex rolled his shoulders.

"I don't care about a so-called boss," he said with a calm tone, "The Hatred Demon was stronger than anything this tower could offer, I doubt anything here will last more than ten seconds."

Even so, he didn't let his guard down.

He had come this far without foolishly underestimating anything.

And while he didn't believe he could lose here, he wasn't arrogant enough to dismiss the trials outright.

Especially since he wasn't allowed to leave.

[Your reward will depend on your performance during the trials, do note again—once you entered, there is no escape.]

[Complete the Tower of Wrath, or die like the others.]

[Good luck.]

With that final warning, the panels vanished, leaving only the eerie hum of the tower surrounding him once again.

Alex exhaled through his nose, nodding to himself.

"Alright," he said, stepping forward, "Let's finish this fast, I've got other things to do."

He made his way toward the rightmost bridge first, walking with calm steps across the narrow path that extended into the void.

Below him, the empty glass line remained dark and lifeless.

Upon reaching the far platform, he saw it more clearly now.

At the center was a circular emblem, glowing slightly with a pale red hue.

A strange symbol was carved into the platform's floor:

[♑︎🏱︎]

It resembled an abstract "n" merged with a flag.

It gave off no aura, no presence… but Alex still took a mental note of it.

Just to be thorough, he turned and walked back across the bridge to examine the symbols on the other two platforms.

Each one held a different marking.

Three paths, three trials, three emblems, all tied to the same three sigils from the door.

He returned to the first.

[Initiating first "Wrath Trial."]

[Do you want to participate in this one first? You may begin the trials in any order.]

He tilted his head slightly at the message.

The order didn't matter? But then why did it say the difficulty increased accordingly?

"Then let's get on with it," Alex muttered, "I don't care what the trial is, I'll break it."

He stepped to the center of the glowing platform.

The circular emblem beneath his feet pulsed once in response.

Then a light, soft at first, began to rise around him from the cracks in the stone.

"Yeah," he said clearly, "I'll participate in this trial first."

[Very well.]

The platform beneath his feet shone bright, and the circular emblem became a ring of light.

Energy surged upward like a vortex of power, and within seconds, Alex's vision blurred and was swallowed by pure white.

He was being transported.

The hum of the tower was replaced by silence.

Then— Ding.

A new panel appeared.

[Trial #1: Protect the Flag.]

Alex's gaze sharpened.

"...Protect the flag, huh?"