Lyerin stood atop the crumbled remains of the battlefield, his eyes cold as he surveyed the carnage below.
His Pig Orcs were gathering the bodies of the fallen participants, dragging them back toward the Stonehooves Tribe''s maze, their grotesque forms lumbering with brutal efficiency.
The air was thick with the scent of blood and ash, and the sounds of moaning survivors filled the destendscape.
His decision was clear: to level up the Spirit of his Tribe, he needed to ensure the entire Stonehooves Tribe elevated alongside it.
After all, the spirit won''t level up without the whole Tribe not leveling up too.
That meant not just gaining power for himself, but pulling the tribe up with him—and for that, sacrifices were required.
The maze of the Stonehooves was more than just a physicalbyrinth.
It was now a sacred ground, a ce where the tribe''s blood rituals were performed to strengthen the Tribe Spirit.
The blood of the living was the key.
He narrowed his eyes as he turned toward the distance, where the surviving participants from the other tribes huddled in fear.
The Sevarin, Volcaris, and Thrylos ns had been decimated, but not entirely eradicated.
Some survivors had hidden themselves, hoping to avoid the merciless judgment of Lyerin''s Pig Orcs. But there was no escape.
"Take them all," Lyerin ordered, his voice steady and cold. "Drag them to the maze. They are the key to leveling the tribe."
His Pig Orcs, empowered by the growing strength of the Stonehooves Spirit, moved with terrifying speed.
Their hulking forms loomed over the survivors, grabbing them with meaty fists, and carrying them off, despite their screams and struggles.
The more the Pig Orcs fought, the stronger they grew, as if their very existence thrived on the brutality they inflicted.
Their muscles pulsed with raw energy, veins bulging as they heaved the bodies onto their backs.
Far within thebyrinth of the Stonehooves Tribe, the Minotaur, the tribe''s most brutal warrior now, awaited his part in the ritual.
His hulking figure, covered in thick fur and muscle, was an embodiment of savagery.
Standing in the center of the maze, he wielded a massive axe, the de stained with blood from countless executions.
His red eyes gleamed with anticipation as the Pig Orcs entered the maze, delivering the survivors to their fate.
Each participant, trembling in fear, was dragged before the Minotaur.
The maze echoed with their desperate pleas, but there was no mercy here.
The Minotaur raised his axe high, and with a single, swift motion, he brought it down, cleaving through flesh and bone, ending lives in a grotesque disy of strength.
Blood sprayed across the maze, pooling on the stone floor, feeding the ritual that would elevate the entire tribe.
Lyerin stood at the entrance of the maze, watching as the life drained from the bodies of his enemies.
He could feel the shift, the subtle energy of the tribe growing stronger with every life that was sacrificed.
The Stonehooves Tribe was not just evolving; it was transforming into something more powerful than he had ever imagined.
As thest body fell and the Minotaur bellowed in triumph, a notification appeared before Lyerin''s eyes.
Ding! The entire Stonehooves Tribe has leveled up.
Tribe Spirit Protector upgrade in progress...
Lyerin''s lips curled into a grin. This was it. The Stonehooves Tribe Spirit had reached a new level of power, and with it, his Pig Orcs and Minotaur had be nearly unstoppable. But it wasn''t enough.
He knew there was more toe. One more step remained to elevate the Spirit Protector to a truly formidable force.
He nced at the mission notification hovering before him.
He needed one more sacrifice to fully level the Spirit Protector. And he knew exactly where that woulde from.
"They won''t let me go like this," he mumbled to himself, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "The Asuras won''t just sit by and watch."
---
Meanwhile, Back on Earth
The Asura girl who had been tasked with narrating the events for the people of Earth was left speechless.
Her sharp, calcting demeanor had faltered, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the live transmission of Lyerin''s triumph.
The screen before her disyed the utter destruction of the participants, their tribes annihted one by one under the merciless onught of Lyerin and his Pig Orcs.
"How…?" she whispered, her voice betraying her disbelief. "How did he do this?"
Around the world, the people of Earth were glued to their screens, watching the surreal, apocalyptic scene unfold.
They had watched Lyerin decimate entire tribes, single-handedly destroying what should have been insurmountable foes.
Cities across Earth buzzed with frantic energy, murmurs of shock and disbelief spreading like wildfire.
In the face of such power, the people didn''t know whether to fear Lyerin or revere him.
But one thing was certain: Lyerin was no ordinary participant. His rise through the trials was nothing short of unprecedented, and the realization dawned on the Asura girl and the entire world that they were witnessing the emergence of a true force to be reckoned with.
---
The Overseer''s Realm
Far from the battlefield, in the shadowy realm of the Overseers, the leaders of the trial gathered in tense silence.
The Overseer himself stood at the center, his pale face drawn into a deep frown, his eyes glowing with the light of omniscience.
Around him, the six-armed shadows hovered, their dark forms shifting with unease.
"He did another impossible thing!" one of the shadows hissed, its voice like the sound of nails scraping over stone. "He didn''t just elevate the Tribal Spirit—he leveled up the entire tribe too!"
The other shadows muttered in agreement, their voices ovepping in agitation.
It wasn''t supposed to happen this way.
The trial was designed to weed out the weak and test the strong, but Lyerin had shattered the bnce of power with his unprecedented rise.
The Overseer raised a hand, silencing the others. His voice was cold and measured, yetced with concern.
"Lyerin has achieved something beyond our expectations. The Spirit Protector of the Stonehooves Tribe has reached a power level we did not foresee."
"Is he a threat to the entire trial system?" another shadow asked, its eyes narrowing.
The Overseer considered the question for a moment, his gaze fixed on the swirling energy that surrounded Lyerin''s tribe.
"Yes," he finally said, his tone grim. "If this continues, Lyerin could destabilize not only this trial but every future trial we host. The tribes will be too powerful."
"What do we do?" a shadow murmured. "If we allow him to grow further, he''ll be unstoppable."
One of the shadows suggested, "As I said, we could end it now. Absorb Earth like we have with thes of losers. That would halt his progress immediately."
The Overseer shook his head. "No. I repeat. If we do that, thes under the Asura Empire will see it as weakness. They''ll rebel against us, and we cannot afford that kind of insurrection. We can handle them just like those OTHERS IN THE PAST"
A tense silence followed his words. The shadows shifted uneasily, knowing the gravity of the situation. But the Overseer''s mind was already made up.
"There''s only one solution," the Overseer said, his voice low and deadly serious. "We send the Elite Asuras of the Asura Army. Not just then elite, the best elite and exceptional warriors too. Let them deal with Lyerin. Only they have the power to stop him now."
As the shadows murmured their approval, the Overseer''s gaze darkened.
The Elite asuras were ruthless, disciplined warriors, feared across the gxy for their precision and power.
What more of the exceptional ones?
If they couldn''t stop Lyerin, no one could.
But deep down, even the Overseer knew that sending the Elite Elves was a desperate move.
Lyerin had proven himself capable of surpassing every expectation, and now, with the entire Stonehooves Tribe leveled up, there was no telling what he could aplish next.
The final battle was approaching, and the Overseer could only hope that the Elite Elves would be enough to stop the unstoppable force that Lyerin had be.